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The History of Herodotus: Page 08
Volume One - Book I
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150. Now the Aiolians lost Smyrna in the following
manner:--certain men of Colophon, who had been worsted in party strife
and had been driven from their native city, were received there for
refuge: and after this the Colophonian exiles watched for a time when
the men of Smyrna were celebrating a festival to Dionysos outside the
walls, and then they closed the gates against them and got possession
of the city. After this, when the whole body of Aiolians came to the
rescue, they made an agreement that the Ionians should give up the
movable goods, and that on this condition the Aiolians should abandon
Smyrna. When the men of Smyrna had done this, the remaining eleven
cities divided them amongst themselves and made them their own
citizens.
151. These then are the Aiolian cities upon the mainland,
with the exception of those situated on Mount Ida, for these are
separate from the rest. And of those which are in the islands, there
are five in Lesbos, for the sixth which was situated in Lesbos, namely
Arisba, was enslaved by the men of Methymna, though its citizens were
of the same race as they; and in Tenedos there is one city, and
another in what are called the "Hundred Isles." Now the Lesbians and
the men of Tenedos, like those Ionians who dwelt in the islands, had
no cause for fear; but the remaining cities came to a common agreement
to follow the Ionians whithersoever they should lead.
152. Now when the messengers from the Ionians and Aiolians came to
Sparta (for this business was carried out with speed), they chose
before all others to speak for them the Phocaian, whose name was
Pythermos. He then put upon him a purple cloak, in order that as many
as possible of the Spartans might hear of it and come together, and
having been introduced before the assembly[155] he spoke at length,
asking the Spartans to help them.
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The Lacedemonians however would not
listen to him, but resolved on the contrary not to help the Ionians.
So they departed, and the Lacedemonians, having dismissed the
messengers of the Ionians, sent men notwithstanding in a ship of fifty
oars, to find out, as I imagine, about the affairs of Cyrus and about
Ionia. These when they came to Phocaia sent to Sardis the man of most
repute among them, whose name was Lacrines, to report to Cyrus the
saying of the Lacedemonians, bidding him do hurt to no city of the
Hellas, since they would not permit it.
153. When the herald had
spoken thus, Cyrus is said to have asked those of the Hellenes whom he
had with him, what men the Lacedemonians were and how many in number,
that they made this proclamation to him; and hearing their answer he
said to the Spartan herald: "Never yet did I fear men such as these,
who have a place appointed in the midst of their city where they
gather together and deceive one another by false oaths: and if I
continue in good health, not the misfortunes of the Ionians will be
for them a subject of talk, but rather their own." These words Cyrus
threw out scornfully with reference to the Hellenes in general,
because they have got for themselves[156] markets and practise buying
and selling there; for the Persians themselves are not wont to use
markets nor have they any market-place at all. After this he
entrusted Sardis to Tabalos a Persian, and the gold both of Crœsus and
of the other Lydians he gave to Pactyas a Lydian to take charge of,
and himself marched away to Agbatana, taking with him Crœsus and
making for the present no account of the Ionians. For Babylon stood in
his way still, as also the Bactrian nation and the Sacans and the
Egyptians; and against these he meant to make expeditions himself,
while sending some other commander about the Ionians.
154. But when Cyrus had marched away from Sardis, Pactyas caused the
Lydians to revolt from Tabalos and from Cyrus. This man went down to
the sea, and having in his possession all the gold that there had been
in Sardis, he hired for himself mercenaries and persuaded the men of
the sea-coast to join his expedition. So he marched on Sardis and
besieged Tabalos, having shut himself up in the citadel.
155. Hearing
this on his way, Cyrus said to Crœsus as follows: "Crœsus, what end
shall I find of these things which are coming to pass? The Lydians
will not cease as it seems, from giving trouble to me and from having
it themselves. I doubt me if it were not best[157] to sell them all as
slaves; for as it is, I see that I have done in like manner as if one
should slay the father and then spare his sons: just so I took
prisoner and am carrying away thee, who wert much more than the father
of the Lydians, while to the Lydians themselves I delivered up their
city; and can I feel surprise after this that they have revolted from
me?" Thus he said what was in his mind, but Crœsus answered him as
follows, fearing lest he should destroy Sardis: "O king, that which
thou hast said is not without reason; but do not thou altogether give
vent to thy wrath, nor destroy an ancient city which is guiltless both
of the former things and also of those which have come to pass now:
for as to the former things it was I who did them and I bear the
consequences heaped upon my head;[158] and as for what is now being
done, since the wrongdoer is Pactyas to whom thou didst entrust the
charge of Sardis, let him pay the penalty. But the Lydians I pray thee
pardon, and lay upon them commands as follows, in order that they may
not revolt nor be a cause of danger to thee:--send to them and forbid
them to possess weapons of war, but bid them on the other hand put on
tunics under their outer garments and be shod with buskins, and
proclaim to them that they train their sons to play the lyre and the
harp and to be retail-dealers; and soon thou shalt see, O king, that
they have become women instead of men, so that there will be no fear
that they will revolt from thee."
156. Crœsus, I say, suggested to him
this, perceiving that this was better for the Lydians than to be
reduced to slavery and sold; for he knew that if he did not offer a
sufficient reason, he would not persuade Cyrus to change his mind, and
he feared lest at some future time, if they should escape the present
danger, the Lydians might revolt from the Persians and be destroyed.
And Cyrus was greatly pleased with the suggestion made and slackened
from his wrath, saying that he agreed with his advice. Then he called
Mazares a Mede, and laid charge upon him to proclaim to the Lydians
that which Crœsus suggested, and moreover to sell into slavery all the
rest who had joined with the Lydians in the expedition to Sardis, and
finally by all means to bring Pactyas himself alive to Cyrus.
157. Having given this charge upon the road, he continued his march to
the native land of the Persians; but Pactyas hearing that an army was
approaching to fight against him was struck with fear and fled away
forthwith to Kyme. Then Mazares the Mede marched upon Sardis with a
certain portion of the army of Cyrus, and as he did not find Pactyas
or his followers any longer at Sardis, he first compelled the Lydians
to perform the commands of Cyrus, and by his commands the Lydians
changed the whole manner of their life. After this Mazares proceeded
to send messengers to Kyme bidding them give up Pactyas: and the men
of Kyme resolved to refer to the god at Branchidai the question what
counsel they should follow. For there was there an Oracle established
of old time, which all the Ionians and Aiolians were wont to consult;
and this place is in the territory of Miletos above the port of
Panormos.
158. So the men of Kyme sent messengers to the
Branchidai[159] to inquire of the god, and they asked what course they
should take about Pactyas so as to do that which was pleasing to the
gods. When they thus inquired, the answer was given them that they
should deliver up Pactyas to the Persians: and the men of Kyme, having
heard this answer reported, were disposed to give him up. Then when
the mass of the people were thus disposed, Aristodicos the son of
Heracleides, a man of repute among the citizens, stopped the men of
Kyme from doing so, having distrust of the answer and thinking that
those sent to inquire were not speaking the truth; until at last other
messengers were sent to the Oracle to ask a second time about Pactyas,
and of them Aristodicos was one.
159. When these came to Branchidai,
Aristodicos stood forth from the rest and consulted the Oracle, asking
as follows: Lord,[160] there came to us a suppliant for protection
Pactyas the Lydian, flying from a violent death at the hands of the
Persians, and they demand him from us, bidding the men of Kyme give
him up. But we, though we fear the power of the Persians, yet have not
ventured up to this time to deliver to them the suppliant, until thy
counsel shall be clearly manifested to us, saying which of the two
things we ought to do." He thus inquired, but the god again declared
to them the same answer, bidding them deliver up Pactyas to the
Persians. Upon this Aristodicos with deliberate purpose did as
follows:--he went all round the temple destroying the nests of the
sparrows[161] and of all the other kinds of birds which had been
hatched on the temple: and while he was doing this, it is said that a
voice came from the inner shrine directed to Aristodicos and speaking
thus: "Thou most impious of men, why dost thou dare to do this? Dost
thou carry away by force from my temple the suppliants for my
protection?" And Aristodicos, it is said, not being at all at a loss
replied to this: "Lord, dost thou thus come to the assistance of thy
suppliants, and yet biddest the men of Kyme deliver up theirs?" and
the god answered him again thus: "Yea, I bid you do so, that ye may
perish the more quickly for your impiety; so that ye may not at any
future time come to the Oracle to ask about delivering up of
suppliants."
160. When the men of Kyme heard this saying reported, not
wishing either to be destroyed by giving him up or to be besieged by
keeping him with them, they sent him away to Mytilene. Those of
Mytilene however, when Mazares sent messages to them, were preparing
to deliver up Pactyas for a price, but what the price was I cannot say
for certain, since the bargain was never completed; for the men of
Kyme, when they learnt that this was being done by the Mytilenians,
sent a vessel to Lesbos and conveyed away Pactyas to Chios. After this
he was dragged forcibly from the temple of Athene Poliuchos by the
Chians and delivered up: and the Chians delivered him up receiving
Atarneus in return, (now this Atarneus is a region of Mysia[162]
opposition Lesbos). So the Persians having received Pactyas kept him
under guard, meaning to produce him before Cyrus. And a long time
elapsed during which none of the Chians either used barley-meal grown
in this region of Atarneus, for pouring out in sacrifice to any god,
or baked cakes for offering of the corn which grew there, but all the
produce of this land was excluded from every kind of sacred service.
161. The men of Chios had then delivered up Pactyas; and after this
Mazares made expedition against those who had joined in besieging
Tabalos: and first he reduced to slavery those of Priene, then he
overran the whole plain of the Maiander making spoil of it for his
army, and Magnesia in the same manner: and straightway after this he
fell sick and died.
162. After he was dead, Harpagos came down to take
his place in command, being also a Mede by race (this was the man whom
the king of the Medes Astyages feasted with the unlawful banquet, and
who helped to give the kingdom to Cyrus). This man, being appointed
commander then by Cyrus, came to Ionia and proceeded to take the
cities by throwing up mounds against them: for when he had enclosed
any people within their walls, then he threw up mounds against the
walls and took their city by storm; and the first city of Ionia upon
which he made an attempt was Phocaia.
163. Now these Phocaians were the first of the Hellenes who made long
voyages, and these are they who discovered the Adriatic and Tyrsenia
and Iberia and Tartessos: and they made voyages not in round ships,
but in vessels of fifty oars. These came to Tartessos and became
friends with the king of the Tartessians whose name was Arganthonios:
he was ruler of the Tartessians for eighty years and lived in all one
hundred and twenty. With this man, I say, the Phocaians became so
exceedingly friendly, that first he bade them leave Ionia and dwell
wherever they desired in his own land; and as he did not prevail upon
the Phocaians to do this, afterwards, hearing from them of the Mede
how his power was increasing, he gave them money to build a wall about
their city: and he did this without sparing, for the circuit of the
wall is many furlongs[163] in extent, and it is built all of large
stones closely fitted together.
164. The wall of the Phocaians was made in this manner: and Harpagos
having marched his army against them began to besiege them, at the
same time holding forth to them proposals and saying that it was
enough to satisfy him if the Phocaians were willing to throw down one
battlement of their wall and dedicate one single house.[164] But the
Phocaians, being very greatly grieved at the thought of subjection,
said that they wished to deliberate about the matter for one day and
after that they would give their answer; and they asked him to
withdraw his army from the wall while they were deliberating. Harpagos
said that he knew very well what they were meaning to do, nevertheless
he was willing to allow them to deliberate. So in the time that
followed, when Harpagos had withdrawn his army from the wall, the
Phocaians drew down their fifty-oared galleys to the sea, put into
them their children and women and all their movable goods, and besides
them the images out of the temples and the other votive offerings
except such as were made of bronze or stone or consisted of paintings,
all the rest, I say, they put into the ships, and having embarked
themselves they sailed towards Chios; and the Persians obtained
possession of Phocaia, the city being deserted of the inhabitants.
165. But as for the Phocaians, since the men of Chios would not sell
them at their request the islands called Oinussai, from the fear lest
these islands might be made a seat of trade and their island might be
shut out, therefore they set out for Kyrnos:[165] for in Kyrnos twenty
years before this they had established a city named Alalia, in
accordance with an oracle, (now Arganthonios by that time was dead).
And when they were setting out for Kyrnos they first sailed to Phocaia
and slaughtered the Persian garrison, to whose charge Harpagos had
delivered the city; then after they had achieved this they made solemn
imprecations on any one of them who should be left behind from their
voyage, and moreover they sank a mass of iron in the sea and swore
that not until that mass should appear again on the surface[166] would
they return to Phocaia. However as they were setting forth to Kyrnos,
more than half of the citizens were seized with yearning and regret
for their city and for their native land, and they proved false to
their oath and sailed back to Phocaia. But those of them who kept the
oath still, weighed anchor from the islands of Oinussai and sailed.
166. When these came to Kyrnos, for five years they dwelt together
with those who had come thither before, and they founded temples
there. Then, since they plundered the property of all their
neighbours, the Tyrsenians and Carthaginians[167] made expedition
against them by agreement with one another, each with sixty ships. And
the Phocaians also manned their vessels, sixty in number, and came to
meet the enemy in that which is called the Sardinian sea: and when
they encountered one another in the sea-fight the Phocaians won a kind
of Cadmean victory, for forty of their ships were destroyed and the
remaining twenty were disabled, having had their prows bent aside. So
they sailed in to Alalia and took up their children and their women
and their other possessions as much as their ships proved capable of
carrying, and then they left Kyrnos behind them and sailed to Rhegion.
167. But as for the crews of the ships that were destroyed, the
Carthaginians and Tyrsenians obtained much the greater number of
them,[168] and these they brought to land and killed by stoning. After
this the men of Agylla found that everything which passed by the spot
where the Phocaians were laid after being stoned, became either
distorted, or crippled, or paralysed, both small cattle and beasts of
burden and human creatures: so the men of Agylla sent to Delphi
desiring to purge themselves of the offence; and the Pythian
prophetess bade them do that which the men of Agylla still continue to
perform, that is to say, they make great sacrifices in honour of the
dead, and hold at the place a contest of athletics and horse-racing.
These then of the Phocaians had the fate which I have said; but those
of them who took refuge at Rhegion started from thence and took
possession of that city in the land of Oinotria which now is called
Hyele. This they founded having learnt from a man of Poseidonia that
the Pythian prophetess by her answer meant them to found a temple to
Kyrnos, who was a hero, and not to found a settlement in the island of
Kyrnos.[169]
168. About Phocaia in Ionia it happened thus, and nearly the same
thing also was done by the men of Teos: for as soon as Harpagos took
their wall with a mound, they embarked in their ships and sailed
straightway for Thrace; and there they founded the city of Abdera,
which before them Timesios of Clazomenai founded and had no profit
therefrom, but was driven out by the Thracians; and now he is honoured
as a hero by the Teïans in Abdera.
169. These alone of all the Ionians left their native cities because
they would not endure subjection: but the other Ionians except the Milesians did indeed contend in arms with Harpagos like those who left
their homes, and proved themselves brave men, fighting each for his
own native city; but when they were defeated and captured they
remained all in their own place and performed that which was laid upon
them: but the Milesians, as I have also said before, had made a sworn
agreement with Cyrus himself and kept still. Thus for the second time
Ionia had been reduced to subjection. And when Harpagos had conquered
the Ionians on the mainland, then the Ionians who dwelt in the
islands, being struck with fear by these things, gave themselves over
to Cyrus.
170. When the Ionians had been thus evilly entreated but were
continuing still to hold their gatherings as before at the Panionion,
Bias a man of Priene set forth to the Ionians, as I am informed, a
most profitable counsel, by following which they might have been the
most prosperous of all the Hellenes. He urged that the Ionians should
set forth in one common expedition and sail to Sardinia, and after
that found a single city for all the Ionians: and thus they would
escape subjection and would be prosperous, inhabiting the largest of
all islands and being rulers over others; whereas, if they remained in
Ionia, he did not perceive, he said, that freedom would any longer
exist for them. This was the counsel given by Bias of Priene after the
Ionians had been ruined; but a good counsel too was given before the
ruin of Ionia by Thales a man of Miletos, who was by descent of
Phenician race. He advised the Ionians to have one single seat of
government,[170] and that this should be at Teos (for Teos, he said,
was in the centre of Ionia), and that the other cities should be
inhabited as before, but accounted just as if they were demes.
These men[171] set forth to them counsels of the kind which I have
said: 171, but Harpagos, after subduing Ionia, proceeded to march
against the Carians and Caunians and Lykians, taking also Ionians and
Aiolians to help him. Of these the Carians came to the mainland from
the islands; for being of old time subjects of Minos and being called
Leleges, they used to dwell in the islands, paying no tribute, so far
back as I am able to arrive by hearsay, but whenever Minos required
it, they used to supply his ships with seamen: and as Minos subdued
much land and was fortunate in his fighting, the Carian nation was of
all nations by much the most famous at that time together with him.
And they produced three inventions of which the Hellenes adopted the
use; that is to say, the Carians were those who first set the fashion
of fastening crests on helmets, and of making the devices which are
put onto shields, and these also were the first who made handles for
their shields, whereas up to that time all who were wont to use
shields carried them without handles and with leathern straps to guide
them, having them hung about their necks and their left shoulders.
Then after the lapse of a long time the Dorians and Ionians drove the
Carians out of the islands, and so they came to the mainland. With
respect to the Carians the Cretans relate that it happened thus; the
Carians themselves however do not agree with this account, but suppose
that they are dwellers on the mainland from the beginning,[172] and
that they went always by the same name which they have now: and they
point as evidence of this to an ancient temple of Carian Zeus at
Mylasa, in which the Mysians and Lydians share as being brother races
of the Carians, for they say that Lydos and Mysos were brothers of
Car; these share in it, but those who being of another race have come
to speak the same language as the Carians, these have no share in it.
172. It seems to me however that the Caunians are dwellers there from
the beginning, though they say themselves that they came from Crete:
but they have been assimilated to the Carian race in language, or else
the Carians to the Caunian race, I cannot with certainty determine
which. They have customs however in which they differ very much from
all other men as well as from the Carians; for example the fairest
thing in their estimation is to meet together in numbers for drinking,
according to equality of age or friendship, both men, women, and
children; and again when they had founded temples for foreign deities,
afterwards they changed their purpose and resolved to worship only
their own native gods, and the whole body of Caunian young men put on
their armour and made pursuit as far as the borders of the Calyndians,
beating the air with their spears; and they said that they were
casting the foreign gods out of the land. Such are the customs which
these have.
173. The Lykians however have sprung originally from Crete
(for in old time the whole of Crete was possessed by Barbarians): and
when the sons of Europa, Sarpedon and Minos, came to be at variance in
Crete about the kingdom, Minos having got the better in the strife of
parties drove out both Sarpedon himself and those of his party: and
they having been expelled came to the land of Milyas in Asia, for the
land which now the Lykians inhabit was anciently called Milyas, and
the Milyans were then called Solymoi. Now while Sarpedon reigned over
them, they were called by the name which they had when they came
thither, and by which the Lykians are even now called by the
neighbouring tribes, namely Termilai; but when from Athens Lycos the
son of Pandion came to the land of the Termilai and to Sarpedon, he
too having been driven out by his brother namely Aigeus, then by the
name taken from Lycos they were called after a time Lykians. The
customs which these have are partly Cretan and partly Carian; but one
custom they have which is peculiar to them, and in which they agree
with no other people, that is they call themselves by their mothers
and not by their fathers; and if one asks his neighbour who he is, he
will state his parentage on the mother's side and enumerate his
mother's female ascendants: and if a woman who is a citizen marry a
slave, the children are accounted to be of gentle birth; but if a man
who is a citizen, though he were the first man among them, have a
slave for wife or concubine, the children are without civil rights.
174. Now the Carians were reduced to subjection by Harpagos without
any brilliant deed displayed either by the Carians themselves or by
those of the Hellenes who dwell in this land. Of these last there are
besides others the men of Cnidos, settlers from Lacedemon, whose land
runs out into the sea,[173] being in fact the region which is called
Triopion, beginning from the peninsula of Bybassos: and since all the
land of Cnidos except a small part is washed by the sea (for the part
of it which looks towards the North is bounded by the Gulf of Keramos,
and that which looks to the South by the sea off Syme and Rhodes),
therefore the men of Cnidos began to dig through this small part,
which is about five furlongs across, while Harpagos was subduing
Ionia, desiring to make their land an island: and within the isthmus
all was theirs,[174] for where the territory of Cnidos ends in the
direction of the mainland, here is the isthmus which they were digging
across. And while the Cnidians were working at it with a great number
of men, it was perceived that the men who worked suffered injury much
more than might have been expected and in a more supernatural manner,
both in other parts of their bodies and especially in their eyes, when
the rock was being broken up; so they sent men to ask the Oracle at
Delphi what the cause of the difficulty was. And the Pythian
prophetess, as the men of Cnidos themselves report, gave them this
reply in trimeter verse:--
"Fence not the place with towers, nor dig the isthmus through;
Zeus would have made your land an island, had he willed."
When the Pythian prophetess had given this oracle, the men of Cnidos
not only ceased from their digging but delivered themselves to
Harpagos without resistance, when he came against them with his army.
175. There were also the Pedasians, who dwelt in the inland country
above Halicarnassos; and among these, whenever anything hurtful is
about to happen either to themselves or to their neighbours, the
priestess of Athene has a great beard: this befell them three times.
These of all about Caria were the only men who held out for any time
against Harpagos, and they gave him trouble more than any other
people, having fortified a mountain called Lide.
176. After a time the Pedasians were conquered; and the Lykians, when
Harpagos marched his army into the plain of Xanthos, came out against
him[175] and fought, few against many, and displayed proofs of valour;
but being defeated and confined within their city, they gathered
together into the citadel their wives and their children, their
property and their servants, and after that they set fire to this
citadel, so that it was all in flames, and having done so and sworn
terrible oaths with one another, they went forth against the
enemy[176] and were slain in fight, that is to say all the men of
Xanthos: and of the Xanthians who now claim to be Lykians the greater
number have come in from abroad, except only eighty households; but
these eighty households happened at that time to be away from their
native place, and so they escaped destruction. Thus Harpagos obtained
possession of Caunos, for the men of Caunos imitated in most respects
the behaviour of the Lykians.
177. So Harpagos was conquering the coast regions of Asia; and Cyrus
himself meanwhile was doing the same in the upper parts of it,
subduing every nation and passing over none. Now most of these actions
I shall pass over in silence, but the undertakings which gave him
trouble more than the rest and which are the most worthy of note, of
these I shall make mention.
*****
178. Cyrus, so soon as he had made subject to himself all other parts
of the mainland, proceeded to attack the Assyrians. Now Assyria has
doubtless many other great cities, but the most famous and the
strongest, and the place where the seat of their monarchy had been
established after Nineveh was destroyed, was Babylon; which was a city
such as I shall say.--It lies in a great plain, and in size it is such
that each face measures one hundred and twenty furlongs,[177] the
shape of the whole being square; thus the furlongs of the circuit of
the city amount in all to four hundred and eighty. Such is the size of
the city of Babylon, and it had a magnificence greater than all other
cities of which we have knowledge. First there runs round it a trench
deep and broad and full of water; then a wall fifty royal cubits in
thickness and two hundred cubits in height: now the royal cubit is
larger by three fingers than the common cubit.[178]
179. I must also
tell in addition to this for what purpose the earth was used, which
was taken out of the trench, and in what manner the wall was made. As
they dug the trench they made the earth which was carried out of the
excavation into bricks, and having moulded enough bricks they baked
them in kilns; and then afterwards, using hot asphalt for mortar and
inserting reed mats at every thirty courses of brickwork, they built
up first the edges of the trench and then the wall itself in the same
manner: and at the top of the wall along the edges they built chambers
of one story facing one another; and between the rows of chambers they
left space to drive a four-horse chariot. In the circuit of the wall
there are set a hundred gates made of bronze throughout, and the gate-
posts and lintels likewise. Now there is another city distant from
Babylon a space of eight days' journey, of which the name is Is; and
there is a river there of no great size, and the name of the river is
also Is, and it sends its stream into the river Euphrates. This river
Is throws up together with its water lumps of asphalt in great
abundance, and thence was brought the asphalt for the wall of Babylon.
180. Babylon then was walled in this manner; and there are two
divisions of the city; for a river whose name is Euphrates parts it in
the middle. This flows from the land of the Armenians and is large and
deep and swift, and it flows out into the Erythraian sea. The wall
then on each side has its bends[179] carried down to the river, and
from this point the return walls stretch along each bank of the stream
in the form of a rampart of baked bricks: and the city itself is full
of houses of three and four stories, and the roads by which it is cut
up run in straight lines, including the cross roads which lead to the
river; and opposite to each road there were set gates in the rampart
which ran along the river, in many in number as the ways,[180] and
these also were of bronze and led like the ways[181] to the river
itself.
181. This wall then which I have mentioned is as it were a
cuirass[182] for the town, and another wall runs round within it, not
much weaker for defence than the first but enclosing a smaller
space.[183] And in each division of the city was a building in the
midst, in the one the king's palace of great extent and strongly
fortified round, and in the other the temple of Zeus Belos with bronze
gates, and this exists still up to my time and measures two furlongs
each way,[184] being of a square shape: and in the midst of the
temple[185] is built a solid tower measuring a furlong both in length
and in breadth, and on this tower another tower has been erected, and
another again upon this, and so on up to the number of eight towers.
An ascent to these has been built running outside round about all the
towers; and when one reaches about the middle of the ascent one finds
a stopping-place and seats to rest upon, on which those who ascend sit
down and rest: and on the top of the last tower there is a large
cell,[186] and in the cell a large couch is laid, well covered, and by
it is placed a golden table: and there is no image there set up nor
does any human being spend the night there except only one woman of
the natives of the place, whomsoever the god shall choose from all the
woman, as say the Chaldeans who are the priests of this god.
182.
These same men say also, but I do not believe them, that the god
himself comes often to the cell and rests upon the couch, as happens
likewise in the Egyptian Thebes according to the report of the
Egyptians, for there also a woman sleeps in the temple of the Theban
Zeus (and both these women are said to abstain from commerce with
men), and as happens also with the prophetess[187] of the god in Patara of Lykia, whenever there is one, for there is not always an
Oracle there, but whenever there is one, then she is shut up during
the nights in the temple within the cell.
183. There is moreover in
the temple at Babylon another cell below, wherein is a great image of
Zeus sitting, made of gold, and by it is placed a large table of gold,
and his footstool and seat are of gold also; and, as the Chaldeans
reported, the weight of the gold of which these things are made is
eight hundred talents. Outside this cell is an altar of gold; and
there is also another altar of great size, where full-grown
animals[188] are sacrificed, whereas on the golden altar it is not
lawful to sacrifice any but young sucklings only: and also on the
larger altar the Chaldeans offer one thousand talents of frankincense
every year at the time when they celebrate the feast in honour of this
god. There was moreover in these precincts still remaining at the time
of Cyrus,[189] a statue twelve cubits high, of gold and solid. This I
did not myself see, but that which is related by the Chaldeans I
relate. Against this statue Dareios the son of Hystaspes formed a
design, but he did not venture to take it: it was taken however by
Xerxes the son of Dareios, who also killed the priest when he forbade
him to meddle with the statue. This temple, then, is thus adorned with
magnificence, and there are also many private votive-offerings.
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