 Book 1, Part 1 of Herodotus's Histories. Book 1, Part 1, Paragraphs 1-15. This is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Heliconassus, so that things done by man not be forgotten in time, and that great and marvellous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians, not lose their glory, including among others what was the cause of their waging war on each other. The Persian-Learned Men say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the dispute. These, they say, came to our seas from the sea which is called Red, and having settled in the country which they still occupy, at once began to make long voyages. Among other places to which they carried Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise, they came to Argos, which was at that time preeminent in every way among the people of what is now called Helas. The Phoenicians came to Argos and set out their cargo. On the fifth or sixth day after their arrival, when their wares were almost all sold, many women came to the shore, and among them especially the daughter of the king, whose name was Io, according to Persians and Greeks alike, the daughter of Eynikas. As these stood about the stern of the ship, bargaining for the wares they liked, the Phoenicians incited one another to set upon them. Most of the women escaped, Io and others were seized and thrown into the ship, which then sailed away for Egypt. In this way the Persians say, and not as the Greeks, was how Io came to Egypt, and this, according to them, was the first wrong that was done. Next, according to their story, some Greeks, they cannot say who, landed at Tyre in Finisher and carried off the king's daughter, Europa. These Greeks must, I suppose, have been Cretans. So far then the account between them was balanced. But after this, they say, it was the Greeks who were guilty of the second wrong. They sailed in a long ship to Io, a city of the Colchians, and to the river Faces. And when they had done the business for which they came, they carried off the king's daughter, Medea. When the Colchian king sent a herald to demand reparation for the robbery and restitution of his daughter, the Greeks replied that, as they had been refused reparation for the abduction of the Argyve Io, they would not make any to the Colchians. When they say, in the second generation after this, Alexandros, son of Priam, who had heard this tale, decided to get himself a wife from Helas by capture, for he was confident that he would not suffer punishment. So he carried off Helin. The Greeks first resolved to send messengers demanding that Helin be restored and atonement made for the seizure. But when this proposal was made, the Trojans pleaded the seizure of Medea and reminded the Greeks that they asked reparation from others, yet made none themselves, nor gave up the booty when asked. So far it was a matter of mere seizure on both sides. But after this, the Persians say, the Greeks were very much to blame, for they invaded Asia before the Persians attacked Europe. We think, they say, that it is unjust to carry women off, but to be anxious to avenge rape is foolish. Wise men take no notice of such things, for plainly the women would never have been carried away had they not wanted it themselves. We of Asia did not deign to notice the seizure of our women, but the Greeks, for the sake of a Lacedemonian woman, recruited a great armada, claimed to Asia, and destroyed the power of Priam, ever since then we have regarded Greeks as our enemies. For the Persians claim Asia for their own and the foreign peoples that inhabited it. Europe and the Greek people, they considered to be separate from them. Such is the Persian account. In their opinion it was the taking of Troif which began their hatred of the Greeks. But the Phoenicians do not tell the same story about Io as the Persians. They say that they did not carry her off to Egypt by force. She had intercourse in Argos with the captain of the ship. Then finding herself pregnant she was ashamed to have her parents know it, and so lest they discover her condition she sailed away with the Phoenicians of her own accord. These are the stories of the Persians and the Phoenicians. For my part I shall not say that this or that story is true, but I shall identify the one who I myself know did the Greeks unjust deeds, and thus proceed with my history, and speak of small and great cities of men alike. For many states that were once great have now become small, and those that were great in my time were small before. Being therefore that human prosperity never continues in the same place, I shall mention both alike. Cresus was a Lydian by birth, son of Alietes, and sovereign of all the nations west of the river Hallis, which flows from the south between Syria and Paphlegonia, and empties into the sea called Yuxain. This Cresus was the first foreigner whom we know who subjugated some Greeks and took tribute from them, and won the friendship of others, the former being the Ionians, the Eolians, and the Dorians of Asia, and the latter the Lacedaemonians. Before the reign of Cresus all Greeks were free, for the Cimmerian host which invaded Ionia before his time did not subjugate the cities, but raided and robbed them. Now the sovereign power that belonged to the descendants of Heracles fell to the family of Cresus, called the Mermnadi, in the following way. Candolese, whom the Greeks call merciless, was the ruler of Sardis. He was descended from Alcius, son of Heracles. Agron, son of Nynus, son of Belaus, son of Alcius, was the first Heraclit king of Sardis, and Candolese, son of Mersus, was the last. The kings of this country, before Agron, were descendants of Lydus, son of Attis, from whom this whole Lydian district got its name. Before that it was called the land of the Mi'ai. The Heracliadee descendants of Heracles and a female slave of Yardinus received the sovereignty from these and held it because of an oracle, and they reigned for twenty-two generations, or five hundred and five years, sons succeeding father, down to Candolese's son of Mersus. This Candolese then fell in love with his own wife so much that he believed her to be by far the most beautiful woman in the world, and believing this he praised her beauty beyond measure to Gaige's son of Desulis, who was his favourite among his bodyguard. For it was to Gaige's that he entrusted all his most important secrets. After a little while Candolese, doomed to misfortune, spoke to Gaige's thus, Gaige's, I do not think that you believe what I say about the beauty of my wife. Men trust their ears less than their eyes, so you must see her naked. Gaige's protested loudly at this. Master, he said, what an unsound suggestion that I should see my mistress naked. When a woman's clothes come off she dispenses with her modesty too. Men have long ago made wise rules from which one ought to learn. One of these is that one should mind one's own business. As for me I believe that your queen is the most beautiful of all women, and I ask you not to ask of me what is lawless. Making thus Gaige's resisted, for he was afraid that some evil would come of it for him. But this was Candolese's answer. Courage, Gaige's, do not be afraid of me that I say this to test you or of my wife that you will have any harm from her. I will arrange it so that she shall never know that you have seen her. I will bring you into the chamber where she and I lie and conceal you behind the open door. And after I have entered my wife too will come to bed. There is a chair standing near the entrance of the room. On this she will lay each article of her clothing as she takes it off, and you will be able to look upon her at your leisure. Then when she moves from the chair to the bed, turning her back on you, be careful she does not see you going out through the doorway. As Gaige's could not escape he consented. Candolese, when he judged it to be time for bed, brought Gaige's into the chamber. His wife followed presently, and when she had come in and was laying aside her garments, Gaige's saw her. When she turned her back upon him to go to bed, he slipped from the room. The woman glimpsed him as he went out, and perceived what her husband had done. But though shamed, she did not cry out or let it be seen that she had perceived anything, for she meant to punish Candolese. Since among the Lydians and most of the foreign peoples it is felt as a great shame that even a man be seen naked. For the present she made no sign and kept quiet. But as soon as it was day she prepared those of her household whom she saw were most faithful to her, and called Gaige's. He, supposing that she knew nothing of what had been done, answered the summons, for he was used to attending the queen whenever she summoned him. When Gaige's came the lady addressed him thus, Now, Gaige's, you have two ways before you. Decide which you will follow. You must either kill Candolese and take me and the throne of Lydia for your own, or be killed yourself now without more ado. That will prevent you from obeying all Candolese commands in the future and seeing what you should not see. One of you must die. Either he, the contriver of this plot, or you, who have outraged all custom by looking on me uncovered. Gaige's stood a while astonished at this. Presently he begged her not to compel him to such a choice. But when he could not deter her and saw that dire necessity was truly upon him either to kill his master or himself be killed by others, he chose his own life. Then he asked, Since you force me against my will to kill my master, I would like to know how we are to lay our hands on him. She replied, You shall come at him from the same place where he made you view me naked, attack him in his sleep. When they had prepared this plot and night had fallen, Gaige's followed the woman into the chamber, for Gaige's was not released nor was there any means of deliverance, but either he or Candolese must die. She gave him a dagger and hid him behind the same door, and presently he stole out and killed Candolese as he slept. Thus he made himself master of the king's wife and sovereignty. He is mentioned in the iambic verses of Arkyllicus of Paris, who lived about the same time. So he took possession of the sovereign power and was confirmed in it by the Delphic Oracle. For when the Lydians took exception to what was done to Candolese and took up arms, the faction of Gaige's came to an agreement with the rest of the people that if the Oracle should ordain him king of the Lydians then he would reign, but if not then he would return the kingship to the Heraclidae. The Oracle did so ordain, and Gaige's thus became king. However, the Pythian priestess declared that the Heraclidae would have vengeance on Gaige's posterity in the fifth generation, an utterance to which the Lydians and their kings paid no regard until it was fulfilled. Thus the Mirmnadi robbed the Heraclidae of the sovereignty and took it for themselves. When gotten it, Gaige's sent many offerings to Delphi. There are very many silver offerings of his there, and besides the silver he dedicated a horde of gold, among which six golden bowls are the offerings especially worthy of mention. These weigh thirty talents, and stand in the treasury of the Corinthians, although in truth it is not the treasury of the Corinthian people, but of Sipselos, son of Ietion. This Gaige's then was the first foreigner whom we know who placed offerings at Delphi after the king of Frigia, Midas son of Gordias. For Midas too made an offering, namely the royal seat on which he sat to give judgment, and a marvellous seat it is. It is set in the same place as the bowls of Gaige's. This gold, and the silver offered by Gaige's, is called by the Delphians, Gaigeon, after its dedicator. As soon as Gaige's came to the throne, he too, like others, led an army into the lands of Miletus and Smyrna, and he took the city of Colophon. But as he did nothing else great in his reign of thirty eight years, I shall say no more of him, and shall speak instead of Ardis, son of Gaige's, who succeeded him. He took Prayini and invaded the country of Miletus, and it was while he was monarch of Sardis that the Smyrians, driven from their homes by the nomad Scythians, came into Asia, and took Sardis all but the Acropolis. End of book one, part one, recording by Graham Redman. Book one, part two of Herodotus' histories. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Graham Redman. Histories, volume one by Herodotus of Halecarnassus, translated by A.D. Godley. Book one, part two, paragraphs sixteen to thirty-six. Ardis reigned for forty-nine years and was succeeded by his son Sadiates, who reigned for twelve years, and after Sadiates came Aliates, who waged war against D.O.C.'s descendant Sirexys and the Meads, drove the Smyrians out of Asia, took Smyrna, which was a colony from Colophon, and invaded the lands of Kladsomini. But he did not return from these as he wished, but with great disaster. Of other deeds done by him in his reign, these were the most notable. He continued the war against the Milesians, which his father had begun. This was how he attacked and besieged Miletus. He sent his army, marching to the sound of pipes and harps and base and treble flutes, to invade when the crops in the land were ripe. And whenever he came to the Milesian territory, he neither demolished nor burnt nor tore the doors off the country dwellings, but let them stand unharmed. But he destroyed the trees and the crops of the land, and so returned to where he came from. For as the Milesians had command of the sea, it was of no use for his army to besiege their city. The reason that the Lydian did not destroy the houses was this. But the Milesians might have homes from which to plant and cultivate their land, and that there might be the fruit of their toil for his invading army to lay waste. He waged war in this way for eleven years, and in these years two great disasters overtook the Milesians, one at the battle of Limoneon in their own territory, and the other in the valley of the meander. For six of these eleven years Seriati's son of Ardis was still ruler of Lydia, and it was he who invaded the lands of Miletus, for it was he who had begun the war. For the following five the war was waged by Seriati's son, Aliati's, who, as I have indicated before, inherited the war from his father, and carried it on vigorously. One of the Ionians helped to lighten this war for the Milesians except the Chians. These lent their aid in return for a similar service done for them, for the Milesians had previously helped the Chians in their war against the Erythrians. In the twelfth year, when the Lydian army was burning the crops, the fire set in the crops blown by a strong wind caught the temple of Athena called Athena of Asesos, and the temple burned to the ground. For the present no notice was taken of this, but after the army had returned to Seriati's, Aliati's fell ill, and as his sickness lasted longer than it should, he sent to Delphi to inquire of the oracle, either at someone's urging or by his own wish to question the God about his sickness. But when the messengers came to Delphi, the Pythian priestess would not answer them before they restored the temple of Athena at Asesos in the Milesian territory which they had burnt. I know this much to be so, because the Delphians told me. The Milesians add that Periandus, under Sipsilus, a close friend of the Thracibulus, who was then sovereign of Miletus, learned what reply the oracle had given to Aliati's, and sent a messenger to tell Thracibulus so that his friend, forewarned, could make his plans accordingly. The Milesians say it happened so. Then when the Delphic reply was brought to Aliati's, he promptly sent a herald to Miletus, offering to make a truce with Thracibulus and the Milesians during his rebuilding of the temple. So the envoy went to Miletus. But Thracibulus, forewarned of the whole matter, and knowing what Aliati's meant to do, devised the following plan. He brought together into the marketplace all the food in the city, from private stores and his own, and told the men of Miletus all to drink and celebrate together when he gave the word. Thracibulus did this so that when the herald from Sardis saw a great heap of food piled up, and the citizens celebrating, he would bring word of it to Aliati's. And so it happened. The herald saw all this, gave Thracibulus the message he had been instructed by the Lydian to deliver, and returned to Sardis. And this, as I learn, was the sole reason for the reconciliation. For Aliati's had supposed that there was great scarcity in Miletus, and that the people were reduced to the last extremity of Misery. But now on his herald's return from the town he heard an account contrary to his expectations. So presently the Lydians and Milesians ended the war, and agreed to be friends and allies, and Aliati's built not one, but two temples of Athena at Asesos, and recovered from his illness. That is the story of Aliati's war against Thracibulus and the Milesians. Periander, who disclosed the oracle's answer to Thracibulus, was the son of Sipsulus and sovereign of Corinth. The Corinthians say, and the lesbians agree, that the most marvellous thing that happened to him in his life was the landing on Tenerus of Orion of Methimna, brought there by a dolphin. This Orion was a lyre-player, second to none in that age. He was the first man whom we know to compose and name the Dithyram, which he afterwards taught at Corinth. They say that this Orion, who spent most of his time with Periander, wished to sail to Italy and Sicily, and that after he had made a lot of money there, he wanted to come back to Corinth. Trusting none more than the Corinthians, he hired a Corinthian vessel to carry him from Tarentum. But when they were out at sea, the crew plotted to take Orion's money and cast him overboard. Discovering this, he earnestly entreated them, asking for his life and offering them his money. But the crew would not listen to him, and told him either to kill himself and so receive burial on land, or else to jump into the sea at once. Abandoned to this extremity, Orion asked that, since they had made up their minds, they would let him stand on the half-deck in all his regalia and sing, and he promised that after he had sung he would do himself in. The men, pleased at the thought of hearing the best singer in the world, drew away toward the waist of the vessel from the stern. Orion, putting on all his regalia and taking his lyre, stood up on the half-deck and sang the stirring song. And when the song was finished, he threw himself into the sea as he was with all his regalia. Though the crew sailed away to Corinth, but Adolphin, so the story goes, took Orion on his back and bore him to Tenerus. Landing there he went to Corinth in his regalia, and when he arrived he related all that had happened. Periander, skeptical, kept him in confinement, letting him go nowhere, and waited for the sailors. When they arrived they were summoned and asked what news they brought of Orion. When they were saying that he was safe in Italy and that they had left him flourishing at Tarentum, Orion appeared before them just as he was when he jumped from the ship. Astonished they could no longer deny what was proved against them. This is what the Corinthians and lesbians say, and there is a little bronze memorial of Orion on Tenerus, the figure of a man riding upon Adolphin. Alietes the Lydian, his war with the Milesians finished, died after a reign of fifty-seven years. He was the second of his family to make an offering to Delphi, after recovering from his illness, of a great silver bowl on a stand of welded iron. Among all the offerings at Delphi this is the most worth seeing, and is the work of Glaucus the Keon, the only one of all men who discovered how to weld iron. After the death of Alietes his son Cresus, then thirty-five years of age, came to the throne. The first Greeks whom he attacked were the Ephesians. These besieged by him dedicated their city to Artemis. They did this by attaching a rope to the city wall from the temple of the goddess, which stood seven states away from the ancient city which was then besieged. These were the first whom Cresus attacked. Afterwards he made war on the Ionian and Aeolian cities in turn upon different pretexts. He found graver charges where he could, but sometimes alleged very petty grounds of offence. Then when he had subjugated all the Asiatic Greeks of the mainland and made them tributary to him, he planned to build ships and attack the islanders. But when his preparations for shipbuilding were under way, either bias of Prayini or pitticus of Mittellini, the story is told of both, came to Sardis and, asked by Cresus for news about Helas, put an end to the shipbuilding by giving the following answer. O King! The islanders are buying ten thousand horse intending to march to Sardis against you. Cresus thinking that he spoke the truth, said, would that the gods would put this in the heads of the islanders to come on horseback against the sons of the Lydians. Then the other answered and said, O King! You appear to me earnestly to wish to catch the islanders riding horses on the mainland a natural wish. And what else do you suppose the islanders wished, as soon as they heard that you were building ships to attack them, than to catch Lydians on the seas, so as to be revenged on you for the Greeks who dwell on the mainland whom you enslaved? Cresus was quite pleased with this conclusion, for he thought the man spoke reasonably, and, heeding him, stopped building ships. Thus he made friends with the Ionians inhabiting the islands. As time went on, Cresus subjugated almost all the nations west of the Hallis, for except the Silicians and Lysians, all the rest Cresus held subject under him. These were the Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians, Marriandinians, Calibis, Paphlegonians, Dothracian Thinians and Bithinians, Karyons, Ionians, Dorians, Eolians, and Panphylians. And after these were subdued and subject to Cresus in addition to the Lydians, all the sages from Helas who were living at that time, coming in different ways, came to Sardis, which was at the height of its prosperity. And among them came Solon the Athenian, who after making laws for the Athenians at their request, went abroad for ten years, sailing forth to see the world, he said. This he did so as not to be compelled to repeal any of the laws he had made, since the Athenians themselves could not do that, for they were bound by solemn oaths to abide for ten years by whatever laws Solon should make. So for that reason and to see the world, Solon went to visit Amesis in Egypt and then to Cresus in Sardis. When he got there, Cresus entertained him in the palace, and on the third or fourth day, Cresus told his attendants to show Solon around his treasures, and they pointed out all those things that were great and blessed. After Solon had seen everything and had thought about it, Cresus found the opportunity to say, My Athenian guest, we have heard a lot about you because of your wisdom and of your wanderings, how as one who loves learning you have traveled much of the world for the sake of seeing it. So now I desire to ask you, Who is the most fortunate man you have seen? Cresus asked this question, believing that he was the most fortunate of men, but Solon, offering no flattery but keeping to the truth, said, O King, it is Tellus the Athenian. Cresus was amazed at what he had said, and replied sharply, In what way do you judge Tellus to be the most fortunate? Solon said, Tellus was from a prosperous city, and his children were good and noble. He saw children born to them all, and all of these survived. His life was prosperous by our standards, and his death was most glorious. When the Athenians were fighting their neighbours in Elyusis, he came to help, routed the enemy, and died very finely. The Athenians buried him at public expense on the spot where he fell, and gave him much honour. When Solon had provoked him by saying that the affairs of Tellus were so fortunate, Cresus asked who he thought was next, fully expecting to win second prize. Solon answered, Clearbiss and Byton. They were of Argyve stock, had enough to live on, and on top of this had great bodily strength. Both had won prizes in the athletic contests, and this story is told about them. There was a festival of Hera in Argos, and their mother absolutely had to be conveyed to the temple by a team of oxen. But their oxen had not come back from the fields in time. So the youths took the yoke upon their own shoulders under constraint of time. They drew the wagon, with their mother riding atop it, travelling five miles until they arrived at the temple. When they had done this, and had been seen by the entire gathering, their lives came to an excellent end. And in their case the god made clear that for human beings it is a better thing to die than to live. The Argyve men stood around the youths and congratulated them on their strength. The Argyve women congratulated their mother for having born such children. She was overjoyed at the feet and at the praise. So she stood before the image, and prayed that the goddess might grant the best thing for man to her children, Theobis and Byton, who had given great honour to the goddess. After this prayer they sacrificed and feasted. The youths then lay down in the temple, and went to sleep, and never rose again. Death held them there. The Argyves made and dedicated at Delphi statues of them as being the best of men. This Solon granted second place in happiness to these men. Cresus was vexed, and said, My Athenian guest, do you so much despise our happiness that you do not even make us worth as much as common men? Solon replied, Cresus, you ask me about human affairs, and I know that the divine is entirely grudging and troublesome to us. In a long span of time it is possible to see many things that you do not want to, and to suffer them too. I set the limit of a man's life at seventy years. These seventy years have twenty-five thousand two hundred days, leaving out the intercalary month. But if you make every other year longer by one month, so that the seasons agree opportunely, then there are thirty-five intercalary months during the seventy years, and from these months there are one thousand fifty days. Out of all these days in the seventy years, all twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty of them, not one brings anything at all like another. So Cresus, man, is entirely chance. To me you seem to be very rich, and to be king of many people. But I cannot answer your question before I learn that you ended your life well. The very rich man is not more fortunate than the man who has only his daily needs, unless he chances to end his life with all well. Many very rich men are unfortunate. Many of moderate means are lucky. A man who is very rich but unfortunate surpasses the lucky man in only two ways, while the lucky surpasses the rich but unfortunate in many. The rich man is more capable of fulfilling his appetites and of bearing a great disaster that falls upon him, and it is in these ways that he surpasses the other. The lucky man is not so able to support disaster or appetite as is the rich man, but his luck keeps these things away from him, and he is free from deformity and disease, has no experience of evils, and has fine children and good looks. If besides all this he ends his life well, then he is the one whom you seek, the one worthy to be called fortunate. But refrain from calling him fortunate before he dies. Call him lucky. It is impossible for one who is only human to obtain all these things at the same time, just as no land is self-sufficient in what it produces. Each country has one thing, but lacks another. Whichever has the most is the best. Just so, no human being is self-sufficient. Each person has one thing, but lacks another. Whoever passes through life with the most and then dies agreeably is the one who, in my opinion, O King, deserves to bear this name. It is necessary to see how the end of every affair turns out, for the God promises fortune to many people and then utterly ruins them. By saying this, Solon did not at all please Cresus, who sent him away without regard for him, but thinking him a great fool because he ignored the present good, and told him to look to the end of every affair. But after Solon's departure, divine retribution fell heavily on Cresus, as I guess because he supposed himself to be blessed beyond all other men. Directly as he slept he had a dream which showed him the truth of the evil things which were going to happen concerning his son. He had two sons, one of whom was ruined, for he was mute, but the other, whose name was Attis, was by far the best in every way of all his peers. The dream showed this Attis to Cresus how he would lose him when struck and killed by a spear of iron. So Cresus, after he awoke and considered being frightened by the dream, brought in a wife for his son, and although Attis was accustomed to command the Lydian armies, Cresus now would not send him out on any such enterprise, while he took the javelins and spears and all such things that men use for war from the men's apartments and piled them in his storeroom lest one should fall on his son from where it hung. Now while Cresus was occupied with the marriage of his son, a Phrygian of the royal house came to Sardis in great distress and with unclean hands. This man came to Cresus' house and asked to be purified according to the custom of the country. So Cresus purified him. The Lydians have the same manner of purification as the Greeks, and when he had done everything customary he asked the Phrygian where he came from and who he was. Friend, he said, who are you and from what place in Phrygia do you come as my supliant? And what man or woman have you killed? O King! the man answered, I am the son of Gordias, the son of Midas, and my name is Adrastus. I killed my brother accidentally, and I come here banished by my father and deprived of all. Cresus answered, All of your family are my friends, and you have come to friends where you shall lack nothing staying in my house. As for your misfortune, bear it as lightly as possible, and you will gain most. So Adrastus lived in Cresus' house. About this same time a great monster of a boar appeared on the Mision Olympus, who would come off that mountain and ravaged the fields of the Misions. The Misions had gone up against him often, but they never did him any harm, but were hurt by him themselves. At last they sent messengers to Cresus with this message. O King! a great monster of a boar has appeared in the land who is destroying our fields. For all our attempts we cannot kill him. So now we ask you to send your son and chosen young men and dogs with us, so that we may drive him out of the country. Such was their request, but Cresus remembered the prophecy of his dream and answered them thus, Do not mention my son again. I will not send him with you. He is newly married, and that is his present concern. But I will send chosen Lydians and all the Huntsmen, and I will tell those who go to be as eager as possible to help you to drive the beast out of the country. End of Book 1, Part 2 Recording by Graham Redman Book 1, Part 3 of Herodotus' Histories This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Graham Redman Histories, Volume 1, by Herodotus of Halicarnassus, translated by A.D. Godly Book 1, Part 3, Paragraphs 37-62 This was his answer, and the Missions were satisfied with it. But the son of Cresus now entered, having heard what the Missions had asked for, and when Cresus refused to send his son with them, the young man said, Father, it was once thought very fine and noble for us to go to war and the chase and win renown. But now you have barred me from both of these, although you have seen neither cowardice nor lack of spirit in me. With what face can I now show myself whenever I go to and from the marketplace? What will the men of the city think of me, and what my newly wedded wife? With what kind of man will she think that she lives? So either let me go to the hunt, or show me by reasoning that what you are doing is best for me? My son, answered Cresus, I do this not because I have seen cowardice or anything unseemly in you, but the vision of a dream stood over me in my sleep, and told me that you would be short-lived, for you would be killed by a spear of iron. It is because of that vision that I hurried your marriage, and do not send you on any enterprise that I have in hand, but keep guard over you so that perhaps I may rob death of you during my lifetime. You are my only son, for that other, since he is ruined, he doesn't exist for me. Father, the youth replied, no one can blame you for keeping guard over me when you have seen such a vision, but it is my right to show you what you do not perceive and why you mistake the meaning of the dream. You say that the dream told you that I should be killed by a spear of iron, but has a bore hands? Has it that iron spear which you dread? Had the dream said I should be killed by a tusk or some other thing proper to a bore, you would be right in acting as you act. But no, it was to be by a spear. Therefore since it is not against men that we are to fight, let me go." Father's answered, My son, your judgment concerning the dream has somewhat reassured me, and being reassured by you, I change my thinking and permit you to go to the chase. Having said this, Creasers sent for Adrastus the Phrygian, and when he came addressed him thus, Adrastus, when you was struck by ugly misfortune for which I do not blame you, it was I who cleansed you, and received, and still keep you in my house defraying all your keep. Now then, as you owe me a return of good service for the good which I have done you, I ask that you watch over my son as he goes out to the chase. See that no thieving criminals meet you on the way to do you harm. Besides, it is only right that you too should go where you can win renown by your deeds. That is fitting for your father's son, and you are strong enough besides. O king, Adrastus answered, I would not otherwise have gone into such an arena, one so unfortunate as I should not associate with the prosperous among his peers, nor have I the wish so to do, and for many reasons I would have held back. But now, since you urge it, and I must please you, since I owe you a return of good service, I am ready to do this. And as for your son, insofar as I can protect him, look for him to come back unharmed. So when Adrastus had answered Cresus thus, they went out provided with chosen young men and dogs. When they came to Mount Olympus, they hunted for the beast, and finding him formed a circle and threw their spears at him. Then the guest called Adrastus, the man who had been cleansed of the deed of blood, missed the bore with his spear, and hit the son of Cresus. So Atis was struck by the spear, and fulfilled the prophecy of the dream. One ran to tell Cresus what had happened, and coming to Sardis told the king of the fight and the fate of his son. Distraught by the death of his son, Cresus cried out the more vehemently because the killer was one whom he himself had cleansed of blood, and in his great and terrible grief at this mischance he called on Zeus by three names—Zeus the Purifier, Zeus of the hearth, Zeus of comrids, the first because he wanted the god to know what evil his guest had done him, the second because he had received the guest into his house, and thus unwittingly entertained the murderer of his son, and the third because he had found his worst enemy in the man whom he had sent as a protector. Then the Lydians came bearing the corpse with the murderer following after. He then came and stood before the body, and gave himself up to Cresus, holding out his hands, and telling him to kill him over the corpse, mentioning his former misfortune, and that on top of that he had destroyed the one who purified him, and that he was not fit to live. Upon hearing this, Cresus took pity on a drastus, though his own sorrow was so great, and said to him, Friend, I have from you the entire penalty, since you sentence yourself to death. But it is not you that I hold the cause of this evil, except insofar as you were the unwilling doer of it, but one of the gods, the same one who told me long ago what was to be. So Cresus buried his own son in such manner as was fitting. But a drastus, son of Gordias, who was son of Midas, this drastus, the destroyer of his own brother, and of the man who purified him, when the tomb was undisturbed by the presence of men, killed himself there by the sepulchre, seeing clearly now that he was the most heavily afflicted of all whom he knew. After the loss of his son, Cresus remained in deep sorrow for two years. After this time, the destruction by Cyrus, son of Cambyses, of the sovereignty of Astioges, son of Cyaraxes, and the growth of the power of the Persians, distracted Cresus from his mourning, and he determined, if he could, to forestall the increase of the Persian power before they became great. Having thus determined, he had once made inquiries of the Greek and Libyan oracles, sending messengers separately to Delphi, to Abbey in Fosher, and to Dodona, while others were dispatched to Amphiarios and Strophonius, and others to Brancidi in the Mylesian country. These are the Greek oracles to which Cresus sent for divination, and he told others to go inquire of Ammon in Libya. His intent in sending was to test the knowledge of the oracles, so that if they were found to know the truth, he might send again, and ask if he should undertake an expedition against the Persians. And when he sent to test these shrines, he gave the Lydians these instructions. They were to keep track of the time from the day they left Sardis, and on the hundredth day, inquire of the oracles, what Cresus, king of Lydia, son of Alietes, was doing then. Then they were to write down whatever the oracles answered, and bring the reports back to him. Now none relate what answer was given by the rest of the oracles. But at Delphi, no sooner had the Lydians entered the hall to inquire of the God, and asked the question with which they were entrusted, than the Pythian priestess uttered the following hexameter verses. I know the number of the grains of sand and the extent of the sea, and understand the mute and hear the voiceless. The smell has come to my senses of a strong shelled tortoise boiling in a cauldron together with a lamb's flesh, under which is bronze, and over which is bronze. Having written down this inspired utterance of the Pythian priestess, the Lydians went back to Sardis. When the others as well, who had been sent to various places, came bringing their oracles, Cresus then unfolded, and examined all the writings. Some of them in no way satisfied him. But when he read the Delphian message, he acknowledged it with worship and welcome, considering Delphi as the only true place of divination, because it had discovered what he himself had done. For after sending his envoys to the oracles, he had thought up something which no conjecture could discover and carried it out on the appointed day. Namely, he had cut up a tortoise and a lamb, and then boiled them in a cauldron of bronze covered with a lid of the same. Such then was the answer from Delphi delivered to Cresus. As to the reply which the Lydians received from the oracle of Amphiarius, when they had followed the due custom of the temple, I cannot say what it was, for nothing is recorded of it, except that Cresus believed that from this oracle too he had obtained a true answer. After this he tried to win the favour of the Delphian god with great sacrifices. He offered up three thousand beasts from all the kinds fit for sacrifice, and on a great pyre burnt couches covered with gold and silver, gold and goblets, and purple cloaks, and tunics. By these means he hoped the better to win the aid of the god, to whom he also commanded that every Lydian sacrifice what he could. When the sacrifice was over, he melted down a vast store of gold and made ingots of it, the longer sides of which were of six and the shorter of three palms' length, and the height was one palm. There were a hundred and seventeen of these. Four of them were of refined gold, each weighing two talents and a half. The rest were of gold with silver alloy, each of two talents' weight. He also had a figure of a lion made of refined gold, weighing ten talents. When the temple of Delphi was burnt, this lion fell from the ingots which were the base on which it stood, and now it is in the treasury of the Corinthians, but weighs only six talents and a half, for the fire melted away three and a half talents. When these offerings were ready, Cresus sent them to Delphi, with other gifts besides, namely two very large bowls, one of gold and one of silver. The golden bowl stood to the right, the silver to the left of the temple entrance. These two were removed about the time of the temple's burning, and now the golden bowl, which weighs eight and a half talents and twelve miney, is in the treasury of the cladzominians, and the silver bowl at the corner of the forecourt of the temple. This bowl holds six hundred nine-gallon measures, for the Delphians use it for a mixing bowl at the feast of the divine appearance. It is said by the Delphians to be the work of Theodorus of Samos, and I agree with them, for it seems to me to be of no common workmanship. Moreover Cresus sent four silver casks, which stand in the treasury of the Corinthians, and dedicated two sprinkling vessels, one of gold, one of silver. The golden vessel bears the inscription given by the Lacedaemonians, who claim it as their offering. But they are wrong, for this too is Cresus' gift. The inscription was made by a certain Delphian, whose name I know but do not mention, out of his desire to please the Lacedaemonians. The figure of a boy through whose hand the water runs is indeed a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did not give either of the sprinkling vessels. Along with these Cresus sent, besides many other offerings of no great distinction, certain round basins of silver, and a female figure five feet high, which the Delphians assert to be the statue of the woman who was Cresus Baker. Moreover, he dedicated his own wife's necklaces and girdles. Such were the gifts which he sent to Delphi. To Amphiarius, of whose courage and fate he had heard, he dedicated a shield made entirely of gold, and a spear all of solid gold, point, and shaft alike. Both of these were, until my time, at Thebes, in the Theban Temple of Hismenean Apollo. The Lydians, who were to bring these gifts to the temples, were instructed by Cresus to inquire of the oracles, whether he was to send an army against the Persians, and whether he was to add an army of allies. When the Lydians came to the places where they were sent, they presented the offerings and inquired of the oracles in these words. Cresus, king of Lydia, and other nations, believing that here are the only true places of divination among men, endows you with such gifts as your wisdom deserves. And now he asks you whether he is to send an army against the Persians, and whether he is to add an army of allies. Such was their inquiry, and the judgment given to Cresus by each of the two oracles was the same, namely that if he should send an army against the Persians, he would destroy a great empire, and they advised him to discover the mightiest of the Greeks, and make them his friends. When the divine answers had been brought back, and Cresus learned of them, he was very pleased with the oracles. So altogether expecting that he would destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he sent once again to Pytho, and endowed the Delphians, whose number he had learned, with two gold status apiece. The Delphians, in return, gave Cresus and all Lydians the right of first consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges, the chief seats at festivals, and perpetual right of Delphian citizenship to whoever should wish it. After his gifts to the Delphians, Cresus made a third inquiry of the oracle, for he wanted to use it to the full, having received true answers from it, and the question which he asked was whether his sovereignty would be of long duration. To this the Pythian priestess answered as follows. When the Medes have a mule as king, just then tend a footed Lydian by the stone-strune Hermus, flee, and do not stay, and do not be ashamed to be a coward. When he heard these verses, Cresus was pleased with them above all, for he thought that a mule would never be king of the Medes instead of a man, and therefore that he and his posterity would never lose his empire. Then he sought, very carefully, to discover who the mightiest of the Greeks were, whom he should make his friends. He found by inquiry that the chief peoples were the Lassidimonians among those of Doric, and the Athenians among those of Ionic stock. These races, Ionian and Dorian, were the foremost in ancient time, the first a Pelasgian, and the second a Hellenic people. The Pelasgian race has never yet left its home. The Hellenic has wandered often and far, for in the days of King Ducalian it inhabited the land of Thea. Then the country called Histaeon under Ossa and Olympus, in the time of Dorus, son of Helene. Driven from this Histaeon country by the Cadmians, it settled about Pindus in the territory called Macedonian. From there again it migrated to Dryopia, and at last came from Dryopia into the Peloponnes, where it took the name of Dorian. What language the Pelasgian spoke, I cannot say definitely, but if one may judge by those that still remain of the Pelasgians, who live above the Tirini in the city of Creston, who were once neighbours of the people now called Dorians, and at that time inhabited the country which now is called Thessalian, and of the Pelasgians who inhabited Placia and Silacy on the Helispont, who came to live among the Athenians, and by other towns too which were once Pelasgian, and afterwards took a different name, if, as I said, one may judge by these, the Pelasgians spoke a language which was not Greek. If then all the Pelasgian stock spoke so, then the Attic nation, being of Pelasgian blood, must have changed its language too at the time when it became part of the Helenes. For the people of Creston and Placia have a language of their own in common, which is not the language of their neighbours, and it is plain that they still preserve the manner of speech which they brought with them in their migration into the places where they live. But the Hellenic stock, it seems clear to me, has always had the same language since its beginning, yet being when separated from the Pelasgians few in number, they have grown from a small beginning to comprise a multitude of nations, chiefly because the Pelasgians and many other foreign peoples united themselves with them. Before that, I think, the Pelasgic stock nowhere increased much in number while it was of foreign speech. Now, of these two peoples, Cresus learned that the Attic was held in subjection and divided into factions by Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates, who at that time was sovereign over the Athenians. This Hippocrates was still a private man when a great marvel happened to him when he was at Olympia to see the games. When he had offered the sacrifice, the vessels standing there full of meat and water, boiled without fire until they boiled over. Kylan, the Lacedaemonian who happened to be there and who saw this marvel, advised Hippocrates not to take to his house a wife who could bear children, but if he had one already, then to send her away, and if he had a son to disown him. Hippocrates refused to follow the advice of Kylan, and afterward there was born to him this Pisistratus, who when there was a feud between the Athenians of the coast under Megacles, son of Alchemyon, and the Athenians of the plain under Lycurgus, son of Aristoleides, raised up a third faction as he coveted the sovereign power. He collected partisans and pretended to champion the uplanders, and the following was his plan. Wounding himself and his mules, he drove his wagon into the marketplace with a story that he had escaped from his enemies who would have killed him, so he said, as he was driving into the country. So he implored the people to give him a guard, and indeed he had won a reputation in his command of the army against the Magarians when he had taken Nicaea and performed other great exploits. Taken in, the Athenian people gave him a guard of chosen citizens, whom Pisistratus made clubmen instead of spearmen, for the retinue that followed him carried wooden clubs. These rose with Pisistratus and took the Acropolis, and Pisistratus ruled the Athenians, disturbing in no way the order of offices nor changing the laws, but governing the city according to its established constitution, and arranging all things fairly and well. But after a short time the partisans of Megacles and of Lycurgus made common cause, and drove him out. In this way Pisistratus first got Athens, and, as he had a sovereignty that was not yet firmly rooted, lost it. Presently his enemies, who together had driven him out, began to feud once more. Then Megacles, harassed by factional strife, sent a message to Pisistratus offering him his daughter to marry, and the sovereign power besides. When this offer was accepted by Pisistratus who agreed on these terms with Megacles, they devised a plan to bring Pisistratus back, which, to my mind, was so exceptionally foolish, that it is strange, since from old times the Hellenic stock has always been distinguished from foreign by its greater cleverness and its freedom from silly foolishness, that these men should devise such a plan to deceive Athenians, said to be the subtlest of the Greeks. There was in the Pianian deem a woman called Fire, three fingers short of six feet four inches in height, and otherwise two well formed. This woman they equipped in full armour and put in a chariot, giving her all the paraphernalia to make the most impressive spectacle, and so drove into the city. Heralds ran before them, and when they came into town proclaimed as they were instructed, Athenians, give our hearty welcome to Pisistratus, whom Athena herself honors above all men, and is bringing back to her own acropolis. So the Heralds went about proclaiming this, and immediately the report spread in the deems that Athena was bringing Pisistratus back, and the townsfolk believing that the woman was the goddess herself, worshipped this human creature, and welcomed Pisistratus. Having got back his sovereignty and the manner which I have described, Pisistratus married Megacles' daughter according to his agreement with Megacles. But as he already had young sons, and as the Alchmionid family was said to be under a curse, he had no wish that his newly wedded wife bear him children, and therefore had unusual intercourse with her. At first the woman hid the fact. Presently she told her mother, whether interrogated or not I do not know, and the mother told her husband. Megacles was very angry to be dishonored by Pisistratus, and in his anger he patched up his quarrel with the other faction. Pisistratus, learning what was going on, went alone away from the country altogether, and came to Eretria where he deliberated with his sons. The opinion of Hippias prevailing that they should recover the sovereignty, they set out collecting contributions from all the cities that owed them anything. Many of these gave greater months, the Thebans more than any, and in course of time, not to make a long story, everything was ready for their return, for they brought Argyve mercenaries from the Peloponnes, and there joined them on his own initiative a man of nexus called Ligdemis, who was most keen in their cause, and brought them money and men. So after ten years they set out from Eretria and returned home. The first place in Attico, which they took and held, was Marathon, and while in Camp there they were joined by their partisans from the city, and by others who flocked to them from the country, deemsmen who loved the rule of one more than freedom. These then assembled, but the Athenians in the city, who, while Pisistratus was collecting money and afterwards when he had taken Marathon, took no notice of it, did now, and when they learned that he was marching from Marathon against Athens, they set out to attack him. They came out with all their force to meet the returning exiles. Pisistratus men encountered the enemy when they had reached the temple of Pelinian Athena in their march from Marathon towards the city, and encamped face to face with them. There, by the Providence of Heaven, Pisistratus met Amphilitus, the Achananian, a diviner, who came to him and prophesied as follows in hexameter verses, the cast is made, the net spread, the tony fish shall flash in the moonlit night. End of book one part three, recording by Graham Redman. Book one part four of Herodotus' histories. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Graham Redman. Histories volume one by Herodotus of Heliconassus translated by A. D. Godly. Book one part four paragraph 63 to 78. So Amphilitus spoke being inspired. Pisistratus understood him and, saying that he accepted the prophecy, led his army against the enemy. The Athenians of the city had, by this time, had breakfast, and after breakfast some were dicing and some were sleeping. They were attacked by Pisistratus men and put to flight. So they fled, and Pisistratus devised a very subtle plan to keep them scattered and prevent them assembling again. He had his sons mount and ride forward. They overtook the fugitives and spoke to them as they were instructed by Pisistratus telling them to take heart and each to depart to his home. The Athenians did, and by this means Pisistratus gained Athens for the third time, rooting his sovereignty in a strong guard and revenue collected both from Athens and from the district of the river Strymon, and he took hostage the sons of the Athenians who remained and did not leave the city at once and placed these in Naxos. He had conquered Naxos too and put Ligdemis in charge, and besides this he purified the island of Delos as a result of oracles, and this is how he did it. He removed all the dead that were buried in ground within sight of the temple and conveyed them to another part of Delos. So Pisistratus was sovereign of Athens, and as for the Athenians some had fallen in the battle, and some with the alchemyonids were exiles from their native land. So Cresus learned that at that time such problems were oppressing the Athenians but that the Lacedaemonians had escaped from the great evils and had mastered the Tegeans in war. In the kingship of Leon and Hygesicles at Sparta the Lacedaemonians were successful in all their other wars, but met disaster only against the Tegeans. Before this they had been the worst governed of nearly all the Hellenes and had had no dealings with strangers, but they changed to good government in this way. Lycurgus, a man of reputation among the Spartans, went to the oracle at Delphi. As soon as he entered the hall the priestess said in Hexameter, You have come to my rich temple, Lycurgus, a man dear to Zeus and to all who have Olympian homes. I am in doubt whether to pronounce you man or god, but I think rather you are a god, Lycurgus. Some say that the Pythia also declared to him the constitution that now exists at Sparta, but the Lacedaemonians themselves say that Lycurgus brought it from Crete when he was guardian of his Nephilia Bouties, the Spartan king. Once he became guardian he changed all the laws and took care that no one transgressed the new ones. Lycurgus afterwards established their affairs of war, the sworn divisions, the bands of thirty, the common meals, also the effers and the council of elders. Thus they changed their bad laws to good ones, and when Lycurgus died they built him a temple and now worship him greatly. Since they had good land and many men they immediately flourished and prospered. They were not content to live in peace, but confident that they were stronger than the Arcadians asked the Oracle at Delphi about gaining all the Arcadian land. She replied in Hexameter, You ask me for Arcadia. You ask too much. I grant it not. There are many men in Arcadia eaters of acorns who will hinder you, but I grudge you not. I will give you Tegea to beat with your feet in dancing and it's fair plain to measure with a rope. When the Lacedemonians heard the Oracle reported they left the other Arcadians alone and marched on Tegea carrying chains relying on the Deceptive Oracle. They were confident they would enslave the Tegeans, but they were defeated in battle. Those taken alive were bound in the very chains they had brought with them, and they measured the Tegean plain with a rope by working the fields. The chains in which they were bound were still preserved in my day hanging up at the temple of Athena Alia. In the previous war the Lacedemonians continually fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeans, but in the time of Cresus and the kingship of Anaxandrides and Ariston in Lacedemon the Spartans had gained the upper hand. This is how. When they kept being defeated by the Tegeans they sent ambassadors to Delphi to ask which god they should propitiate to prevail against the Tegeans in war. The Pythia responded that they should bring back the bones of Aristis, son of Agamemnon. When they were unable to discover Aristis' tomb they sent once more to the god to ask where he was buried. The Pythia responded in hexameter to the messengers. There is a place Tegea in the smooth plain of Arcadia where two winds blow under strong compulsion. Blow lies upon blow, woe upon woe. There the life-giving earth covers the son of Agamemnon. Bring him back and you shall be lord of Tegea. When the Lacedemonians heard this they were no closer to discovery, though they looked everywhere. Finally it was found by Lycass who was one of the Spartans who are called doers of good deeds. These men are those citizens who retire from the knights the five oldest each year. They have to spend the year in which they retire from the knights being sent here and there by the Spartan state never resting in their efforts. It was Lycass, one of these men who found the tomb in Tegea by a combination of luck and skill. At that time there was free access to Tegea, so he went into a blacksmith shop and watched iron being forged, standing there in amazement at what he saw done. The smith perceived that he was amazed, so he stopped what he was doing and said, My Lyconian guest, if you had seen what I saw then you would really be amazed, since you marvel so at iron working. I wanted to dig a well in the courtyard here and in my digging I hit upon a coffin twelve feet long. I could not believe that there had ever been men taller than now, so I opened it and saw that the corpse was just as long as the coffin. I measured it and then reburied it. So the smith told what he had seen and Lycass thought about what was said and reckoned that this was a resty's according to the oracle. In the smith's two bellows he found the winds. Hammer and anvil were blow upon blow, and the forging of iron was woe upon woe, since he figured that iron was discovered as an evil for the human race. After reasoning this out he went back to Sparta and told the Lacedaemonians everything. They made a pretense of bringing a charge against him and vanishing him. Coming to Tejea he explained his misfortune to the smith and tried to rent the courtyard, but the smith did not want to lease it. Finally he persuaded him and set up residence there. He dug up the grave and collected the bones, then hurried off to Sparta with them. Ever since then the Spartans were far superior to the Tejeans whenever they met each other in battle. By the time of Cresus inquiry the Spartans had subdued most of the Peloponnese. Cresus then, aware of all this, sent messengers to Sparta with gifts to ask for an alliance, having instructed them what to say. They came and said, Cresus king of Lydia and other nations has sent us with this message. Lacedaemonians, the God has declared that I should make the Greek my friend. Now therefore since I learned that you are the leaders of Hellas I invite you as the Oracle Bids. I would like to be your friend and ally without deceit or guile. Cresus proposed this through his messengers and the Lacedaemonians who had already heard of the Oracle given to Cresus welcomed the coming of the Lydians and swore to be his friends and allies, and indeed they were obliged by certain benefits which they had received before from the king, for the Lacedaemonians had sent to Sardis to buy gold intending to use it for the statue of Apollo which now stands on Thornax in Laconia, and Cresus when they offered to buy it made them a free gift of it. For this reason and because he had chosen them as his friends before all the other Greeks the Lacedaemonians accepted the alliance. So they declared themselves ready to serve him when he should require and moreover they made a bowl of bronze engraved around the rim outside with figures and large enough to hold 2700 gallons and brought it with the intention of making a gift in return to Cresus. This bowl never reached Sardis for which two reasons are given. The Lacedaemonians say that when the bowl was near Samos on its way to Sardis the Samians descended upon them in warships and carried it off, but the Samians themselves say that the Lacedaemonians who were bringing the bowl coming too late and learning that Sardis and Cresus were taken sold it in Samos to certain private men who set it up in the temple of Hera, and it may be that the sellers of the bowl when they returned to Sparta said that they had been robbed of it by the Samians. Such are the tales about the bowl. Cresus mistaking the meaning of the oracle invaded Cappadocia expecting to destroy Cyrus and the Persian power, but while he was preparing to march against the Persians a certain Lydian who was already held to be a wise man and who from the advice which he now gave won a great name among the Lydians advised him as follows. His name was Sandonis. O king you are getting ready to march against men who wear trousers of leather and whose complete wardrobe is of leather and who eat not what they like but what they have for their land is stony. Further they do not use wine but drink water, have no figs to eat or anything else that is good. Now if you conquer them of what will you deprive them since they have nothing but if on the other hand you are conquered then look how many good things you will lose for once they have tasted of our blessings they will cling so tightly to them that nothing will pry them away. For myself then I thank the gods that they do not put it in the heads of the Persians to march against the Lydians. Sandonis spoke thus but he did not persuade greasers. Indeed before they conquered the Lydians the Persians had no luxury and no comforts. Now the Cappadocians are called by the Greeks Syrians and these Syrians before the Persian rule were subjects of the Meads and at this time of Cyrus. For the boundary of the Median and Lydian empires was the River Hellis which flows from the Armenian mountains first through Silicia and afterwards between the Mati'ina on the right and the Phrygians on the other hand. Then passing these and still flowing north it separates the Cappadocian Syrians on the right from the Paphlegonians on the left. Thus the Hellis river cuts off nearly the whole of the lower part of Asia from the Cyprian to the Yuxain Sea. Here is the narrowest neck of all this land. The length of the journey across for a man traveling unencumbered is five days. The reasons for Cresus' expedition against Cappadocia were these. He desired to gain territory in addition to his own and these were the chief causes. He trusted the oracle and wished to avenge a styrogyz on Cyrus. For Cyrus, son of Cambyses, had conquered a styrogyz and held him in subjection. Now a styrogyz, son of Cyraxes and the king of Medea, was Cresus' brother-in-law and this is how he came to be so. A tribe of wandering Scythians separated itself from the rest and escaped into Median territory. This was then ruled by Cyraxes, son of Freyortes, son of Deoses. Cyraxes at first treated the Scythians kindly as suppliants for his mercy and as he had a high regard for them he entrusted boys to their tutelage to be taught their language and the skill of archery. As time went on it happened that the Scythians who were accustomed to go hunting and always to bring something back once had taken nothing and when they returned empty handed, Cyraxes treated them very roughly and contemptuously being as appears from this prone to anger. The Scythians, feeling themselves wronged by the treatment they had from Cyraxes, planned to take one of the boys who were their pupils and cut him in pieces then dressing the flesh as they were accustomed to dress the animals which they killed to bring and give it to Cyraxes as if it were the spoils of the hunt and after that to make their way with all speed to Aliati's son of Saddiati's at Sades. All this they did. Cyraxes and the guests who ate with him dined on the boys flesh and the Scythians, having done as they planned, fled to Aliati's for protection. After this, since Aliati's would not give up the Scythians to Cyraxes at his demand, there was war between the Lydians and the Meads for five years. Each one many victories over the other and once they fought a battle by night. They were still warring with equal success when it happened at an encounter which occurred in the sixth year that during the battle the day was suddenly turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. So when the Lydians and Meads saw the day turned to night, they stopped fighting, and both were the more eager to make peace. Those who reconciled them were Cyanusus, the Cylician, and Labinetus, the Babylonian. They brought it about that there should be a sworn agreement and a compact of marriage between them. They judged that Aliati's should give his daughter Arienus to Astyagis, son of Cyraxes, for without strong constraint agreements will not keep their force. These nations make sworn compacts as do the Greeks, and besides, when they cut the skin of their arms, they lick each other's blood. Cyrus had subjugated this Astyagis then, Cyrus own mother's father, for the reason which I shall presently disclose. Having this reason to quarrel with Cyrus, Cresus sent to ask the oracles if he should march against the Persians, and when a deceptive answer came he thought it to be favourable to him, and so led his army into the Persian territory. When he came to the river Hallis, he transported his army across it by the bridges which were there then, as I maintain, but the general belief of the Greeks is that Thales of Miletus got the army across. The story is that, as Cresus did not know how his army could pass the river, as the aforesaid bridges did not yet exist then, Thales, who was in the encampment, made the river which flowed on the left of the army also flow on the right in the following way. Starting from a point on the river upstream from the camp, he dug a deep semicircular trench, so that the stream turned from its ancient course would flow in the trench to the rear of the camp, and passing it would issue into its former bed, with the result that as soon as the river was thus divided into two, both channels could be forwarded. Some even say that the ancient channel dried up altogether, but I do not believe this, for in that case how did they pass the river when they were returning? Passing over with his army, Cresus then came to the part of Cappadocia called Cteria. It is the strongest part of this country, and lies on the line of the city of Sinope on the Yuxain Sea, where he encamped and devastated the farms of the Syrians. And he took and enslaved the city of the Pterians, and took all the places around it also, and drove the Syrians from their homes, though they had done him no harm. Cyrus, mustering his army, advanced to oppose Cresus, gathering to him all those who lived along the way. But before beginning his march, he sent heralds to the Ionians to try to draw them away from Cresus. The Ionians would not be prevailed on, but when Cyrus arrived and encamped face to face with Cresus there in the Pterian country, the armies had a trial of strength. The fighting was fierce. Many on both sides fell, and at nightfall they disengaged with neither side victorious. The two sides contended thus. Cresus was not content with the size of his force, for his army that had engaged was far smaller than that of Cyrus. Therefore, when on the day after the battle Cyrus did not try attacking again, he marched away to Sardis, intending to summon the Egyptians in accordance with their treaty. For before making an alliance with the Lacedaemonians, he had made one also with Amesis, king of Egypt, and to send for the Babylonians also. For with these two he had made an alliance, Labinetus at this time being their sovereign, and to summon the Lacedaemonians to join him at a fixed time. He had in mind to muster all these forces and assemble his own army, then to wait until the winter was over and march against the Persians at the beginning of spring. With such an intention, as soon as he returned to Sardis, he sent heralds to all his allies, summoning them to assemble at Sardis in five months' time. And as for the soldiers whom he had with him, who had fought with the Persians, all of them who were mercenaries he discharged, never thinking that after a contest so equal, Cyrus would march against Sardis. This was how Chrysus reasoned. Meanwhile snakes began to swarm in the outer part of the city, and when they appeared, the horses, leaving their accustomed pasture, devoured them. When Chrysus saw this he thought it a portent, and so it was. He at once sent to the homes of the Telmesian interpreters to inquire concerning it. But though his messengers came and learned from the Telmesians what the portent meant, they could not bring back words to Chrysus, for he was a prisoner before they could make their voyage back to Sardis. Nonetheless, this was the judgment of the Telmesians, that Chrysus must expect a foreign army to attack his country, and that when it came it would subjugate the inhabitants of the land. For the snake, they said, was the offspring of the land, but the horse was an enemy and a foreigner. This was the answer which the Telmesians gave Chrysus, knowing as yet nothing of the fate of Sardis and of the king himself. But when they gave it, Chrysus was already taken.