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The History of Herodotus: Page 19
Volume One - Book III
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95. Now if we compare Babylonian with Euboïc talents, the silver is
found to amount to nine thousand eight hundred and eighty[82] talents;
and if we reckon the gold at thirteen times the value of silver,
weight for weight, the gold-dust is found to amount to four thousand
six hundred and eighty Euboïc talents. These being all added together,
the total which was collected as yearly tribute for Dareios amounts to
fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty Euboïc talents: the sums
which are less than these[83] I pass over and do not mention.
96. This was the tribute which came in to Dareios from Asia and from a
small part of Libya: but as time went on, other tribute came in also
from the islands and from those who dwell in Europe as far as
Thessaly. This tribute the king stores up in his treasury in the
following manner:--he melts it down and pours it into jars of
earthenware, and when he has filled the jars he takes off the
earthenware jar from the metal; and when he wants money he cuts off so
much as he needs on each occasion.
97. These were the provinces and the assessments of tribute: and the
Persian land alone has not been mentioned by me as paying a
contribution, for the Persians have their land to dwell in free from
payment. The following moreover had no tribute fixed for them to pay,
but brought gifts, namely the Ethiopians who border upon Egypt, whom
Cambyses subdued as he marched against the Long-lived Ethiopians,
those[84] who dwell about Nysa, which is called "sacred," and who
celebrate the festivals in honour of Dionysos: these Ethiopians and
those who dwell near them have the same kind of seed as the Callantian
Indians, and they have underground dwellings.[85] These both together
brought every other year, and continue to bring even to my own time,
two quart measures[86] of unmelted gold and two hundred blocks of
ebony and five Ethiopian boys and twenty large elephant tusks.
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The Colchians also had set themselves among those who brought gifts, and
with them those who border upon them extending as far as the range of
the Caucasus (for the Persian rule extends as far as these mountains,
but those who dwell in the parts beyond Caucasus toward the North Wind
regard the Persians no longer),--these, I say, continued to bring the
gifts which they had fixed for themselves every four years[87] even
down to my own time, that is to say, a hundred boys and a hundred
maidens. Finally, the Arabians brought a thousand talents of
frankincense every year. Such were the gifts which these brought to
the king apart from the tribute.
98. Now this great quantity of gold, out of which the Indians bring in
to the king the gold-dust which has been mentioned, is obtained by
them in a manner which I shall tell:--That part of the Indian land
which is towards the rising sun is sand; for of all the peoples in
Asia of which we know or about which any certain report is given, the
Indians dwell furthest away towards the East and the sunrising; seeing
that the country to the East of the Indians is desert on account of
the sand. Now there are many tribes of Indians, and they do not agree
with one another in language; and some of them are pastoral and others
not so, and some dwell in the swamps of the river[88] and feed upon
raw fish, which they catch by fishing from boats made of cane; and
each boat is made of one joint of cane. These Indians of which I speak
wear clothing made of rushes: they gather and cut the rushes from the
river and then weave them together into a kind of mat and put it on
like a corslet.
99. Others of the Indians, dwelling to the East of
these, are pastoral and eat raw flesh: these are called Padaians, and
they practise the following customs:--whenever any of their tribe
falls ill, whether it be a woman or a man, if a man then the men who
are his nearest associates put him to death, saying that he is wasting
away with the disease and his flesh is being spoilt for them:[89] and
meanwhile he denies stoutly and says that he is not ill, but they do
not agree with him; and after they have killed him they feast upon his
flesh: but if it be a woman who falls ill, the women who are her
greatest intimates do to her in the same manner as the men do in the
other case. For[90] in fact even if a man has come to old age they
slay him and feast upon him; but very few of them come to be reckoned
as old, for they kill every one who falls into sickness, before he
reaches old age.
100. Other Indians have on the contrary a manner of
life as follows:--they neither kill any living thing nor do they sow
any crops nor is it their custom to possess houses; but they feed on
herbs, and they have a grain of the size of millet, in a sheath, which
grows of itself from the ground; this they gather and boil with the
sheath, and make it their food: and whenever any of them falls into
sickness, he goes to the desert country and lies there, and none of
them pay any attention either to one who is dead or to one who is
sick.
101. The sexual intercourse of all these Indians of whom I have
spoken is open like that of cattle, and they have all one colour of
skin, resembling that of the Ethiopians: moreover the seed which they
emit is not white like that of other races, but black like their skin;
and the Ethiopians also are similar in this respect. These tribes of
Indians dwell further off than the Persian power extends, and towards
the South Wind, and they never became subjects of Dareios.
102. Others however of the Indians are on the borders of the city of Caspatyros and the country of Pactyïke, dwelling towards the North[91]
of the other Indians; and they have a manner of living nearly the same
as that of the Bactrians: these are the most warlike of the Indians,
and these are they who make expeditions for the gold. For in the parts
where they live it is desert on account of the sand; and in this
desert and sandy tract are produced ants, which are in size smaller
than dogs but larger than foxes, for[92] there are some of them kept
at the residence of the king of Persia, which are caught here. These
ants then make their dwelling under ground and carry up the sand just
in the same manner as the ants found in the land of the Hellenes,
which they themselves[93] also very much resemble in form; and the
sand which is brought up contains gold. To obtain this sand the
Indians make expeditions into the desert, each one having yoked
together three camels, placing a female in the middle and a male like
a trace-horse to draw by each side. On this female he mounts himself,
having arranged carefully that she shall be taken to be yoked from
young ones, the more lately born the better. For their female camels
are not inferior to horses in speed, and moreover they are much more
capable of bearing weights.
103. As to the form of the camel, I do not
here describe it, since the Hellenes for whom I write are already
acquainted with it, but I shall tell that which is not commonly known
about it, which is this:--the camel has in the hind legs four thighs
and four knees,[94] and its organs of generation are between the hind
legs, turned towards the tail.
104. The Indians, I say, ride out to
get the gold in the manner and with the kind of yoking which I have
described, making calculations so that they may be engaged in carrying
it off at the time when the greatest heat prevails; for the heat
causes the ants to disappear underground. Now among these nations the
sun is hottest in the morning hours, not at midday as with others, but
from sunrise to the time of closing the market: and during this time
it produces much greater heat than at midday in Hellas, so that it is
said that then they drench themselves with water. Midday however has
about equal degree of heat with the Indians as with other men, while
after midday their sun becomes like the morning sun with other men,
and after this, as it goes further away, it produces still greater
coolness, until at last at sunset it makes the air very cool indeed.
105. When the Indians have come to the place with bags, they fill them
with the sand and ride away back as quickly as they can, for forthwith
the ants, perceiving, as the Persians allege, by the smell, begin to
pursue them: and this animal, they say, is superior to every other
creature in swiftness, so that unless the Indians got a start in their
course, while the ants were gathering together, not one of them would
escape. So then the male camels, for they are inferior in speed of
running to the females, if they drag behind are even let loose[95]
from the side of the female, one after the other;[96] the females
however, remembering the young which they left behind, do not show any
slackness in their course.[97] Thus it is that the Indians get most
part of the gold, as the Persians say; there is however other gold
also in their land obtained by digging, but in smaller quantities.
106. It seems indeed that the extremities of the inhabited world had
allotted to them by nature the fairest things, just as it was the lot
of Hellas to have its seasons far more fairly tempered than other
lands: for first, India is the most distant of inhabited lands towards
the East, as I have said a little above, and in this land not only the
animals, birds as well as four-footed beasts, are much larger than in
other places (except the horses, which are surpassed by those of Media
called Nessaian), but also there is gold in abundance there, some got
by digging, some brought down by rivers, and some carried off as I
explained just now: and there also the trees which grow wild produce
wool which surpasses in beauty and excellence that from sheep, and the
Indians wear clothing obtained from these trees.
107. Then again
Arabia is the furthest of inhabited lands in the direction of the
midday, and in it alone of all lands grow frankincense and myrrh and
cassia and cinnamon and gum-mastich. All these except myrrh are got
with difficulty by the Arabians. Frankincense they collect by burning
the storax, which is brought thence to the Hellenes by the Phenicians,
by burning this, I say, so as to produce smoke they take it; for these
trees which produce frankincense are guarded by winged serpents, small
in size and of various colours, which watch in great numbers about
each tree, of the same kind as those which attempt to invade
Egypt:[97a] and they cannot be driven away from the trees by any other
thing but only the smoke of storax.
108. The Arabians say also that
all the world would have been by this time filled with these serpents,
if that did not happen with regard to them which I knew happened with
regard to vipers: and it seems that the Divine Providence, as indeed
was to be expected, seeing that it is wise, has made all those animals
prolific which are of cowardly spirit and good for food, in order that
they may not be all eaten up and their race fail, whereas it has made
those which are bold and noxious to have small progeny. For example,
because the hare is hunted by every beast and bird as well as by man,
therefore it is so very prolific as it is: and this is the only one of
all beasts which becomes pregnant again before the former young are
born, and has in its womb some of its young covered with fur and
others bare; and while one is just being shaped in the matrix, another
is being conceived. Thus it is in this case; whereas the lioness,
which is the strongest and most courageous of creatures, produces one
cub once only in her life; for when she produces young she casts out
her womb together with her young; and the cause of it is this:--when
the cub being within the mother[98] begins to move about, then having
claws by far sharper than those of any other beast he tears the womb,
and as he grows larger he proceeds much further in his scratching: at
last the time of birth approaches and there is now nothing at all left
of it in a sound condition.
109. Just so also, if vipers and the
winged serpents of the Arabians were produced in the ordinary course
of their nature, man would not be able to live upon the earth; but as
it is, when they couple with one another and the male is in the act of
generation, as he lets go from him the seed, the female seizes hold of
his neck, and fastening on to it does not relax her hold till she has
eaten it through. The male then dies in the manner which I have said,
but the female pays the penalty of retribution for the male in this
manner:--the young while they are still in the womb take vengeance for
their father by eating through their mother,[99] and having eaten
through her belly they thus make their way out for themselves. Other
serpents however, which are not hurtful to man, produce eggs and hatch
from them a very large number of offspring. Now vipers are distributed
over all the earth; but the others, which are winged, are found in
great numbers together in Arabia and in no other land: therefore it is
that they appear to be numerous.
110. This frankincense then is
obtained thus by the Arabians; and cassia is obtained as follows:--
they bind up in cows'-hide and other kinds of skins all their body and
their face except only the eyes, and then go to get the cassia. This
grows in a pool not very deep, and round the pool and in it lodge, it
seems, winged beasts nearly resembling bats, and they squeak horribly
and are courageous in fight. These they must keep off from their eyes,
and so cut the cassia.
111. Cinnamon they collect in a yet more marvellous manner than this: for where it grows and what land produces
it they are not able to tell, except only that some say (and it is a
probable account) that it grows in those regions where Dionysos was
brought up; and they say that large birds carry those dried sticks
which we have learnt from the Phenicians to call cinnamon, carry them,
I say, to nests which are made of clay and stuck on to precipitous
sides of mountains, which man can find no means of scaling. With
regard to this then the Arabians practise the following contrivance:--
they divide up the limbs of the oxen and asses that die and of their
other beasts of burden, into pieces as large as convenient, and convey
them to these places, and when they have laid them down not far from
the nests, they withdraw to a distance from them: and the birds fly
down and carry the limbs[100] of the beasts of burden off to their
nests; and these are not able to bear them, but break down and fall to
the earth; and the men come up to them and collect the cinnamon. Thus
cinnamon is collected and comes from this nation to the other
countries of the world.
112. Gum-mastich however, which the Arabians
call /ladanon/, comes in a still more extraordinary manner; for though
it is the most sweet-scented of all things, it comes in the most evil-
scented thing, since it is found in the beards of he-goats, produced
there like resin from wood: this is of use for the making of many
perfumes, and the Arabians use it more than anything else as incense.
113. Let what we have said suffice with regard to spices; and from the
land of Arabia there blows a scent of them most marvellously sweet.
They have also two kinds of sheep which are worthy of admiration and
are not found in any other land: the one kind has the tail long, not
less than three cubits in length; and if one should allow these to
drag these after them, they would have sores[101] from their tails
being worn away against the ground; but as it is, every one of the
shepherds knows enough of carpentering to make little cars, which they
tie under the tails, fastening the tail of each animal to a separate
little car. The other kind of sheep has the tail broad, even as much
as a cubit in breadth.
114. As one passes beyond the place of the midday, the Ethiopian land
is that which extends furthest of all inhabited lands towards the
sunset. This produces both gold in abundance and huge elephants and
trees of all kinds growing wild and ebony, and men who are of all men
the tallest, the most beautiful and the most long-lived.
115. These are the extremities in Asia and in Libya; but as to the
extremities of Europe towards the West, I am not able to speak with
certainty: for neither do I accept the tale that there is a river
called in Barbarian tongue Eridanos, flowing into the sea which lies
towards the North Wind, whence it is said that amber comes; nor do I
know of the real existence of "Tin Islands"[102] from which tin[103]
comes to us: for first the name Eridanos itself declares that it is
Hellenic and that it does not belong to a Barbarian speech, but was
invented by some poet; and secondly I am not able to hear from any one
who has been an eye-witness, though I took pains to discover this,
that there is a sea on the other side of Europe. However that may be,
tin and amber certainly come to us from the extremity of Europe.
116.
Then again towards the North of Europe, there is evidently a quantity
of gold by far larger than in any other land: as to how it is got,
here again I am not able to say for certain, but it is said to be
carried off from the griffins by Arimaspians, a one-eyed race of
men.[104] But I do not believe this tale either, that nature produces
one-eyed men which in all other respects are like other men. However,
it would seem that the extremities which bound the rest of the world
on every side and enclose it in the midst, possess the things which by
us are thought to be the most beautiful and the most rare.
117. Now there is a plain in Asia bounded by mountains on all sides,
and through the mountains there are five clefts. This plain belonged
once to the Chorasmians, and it lies on the borders of the Chorasmians
themselves, the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaians;
but from the time that the Persians began to bear rule it belongs to
the king. From this enclosing mountain of which I speak there flows a
great river, and its name is Akes. This formerly watered the lands of
these nations which have been mentioned, being divided into five
streams and conducted through a separate cleft in the mountains to
each separate nation; but from the time that they have come to be
under the Persians they have suffered as follows:--the king built up
the clefts in the mountains and set gates at each cleft; and so, since
the water has been shut off from its outlet, the plain within the
mountains is made into a sea, because the river runs into it and has
no way out in any direction. Those therefore who in former times had
been wont to make use of the water, not being able now to make use of
it are in great trouble: for during the winter they have rain from
heaven, as also other men have, but in the summer they desire to use
the water when they sow millet and sesame seed. So then, the water not
being granted to them, they come to the Persians both themselves and
their wives, and standing at the gates of the king's court they cry
and howl; and the king orders that for those who need it most, the
gates which lead to their land shall be opened; and when their land
has become satiated with drinking in the water, these gates are
closed, and he orders the gates to be opened for others, that is to
say those most needing it of the rest who remain: and, as I have
heard, he exacts large sums of money for opening them, besides the
regular tribute.
118. Thus it is with these matters: but of the seven men who had risen
against the Magian, it happened to one, namely Intaphrenes, to be put
to death immediately after their insurrection for an outrage which I
shall relate. He desired to enter into the king's palace and confer
with the king; for the law was in fact so, that those who had risen up
against the Magian were permitted to go in to the king's presence
without any one to announce them, unless the king happened to be lying
with his wife. Accordingly Intaphrenes did not think it fit that any
one should announce his coming; but as he was one of the seven, he
desired to enter. The gatekeeper however and the bearer of messages
endeavoured to prevent him, saying that the king was lying with his
wife: but Intaphrenes believing that they were not speaking the truth,
drew his sword[105] and cut off their ears and their noses, and
stringing these upon his horse's bridle he tied them round their necks
and so let them go.
119. Upon this they showed themselves to the king
and told the cause for which they had suffered this; and Dareios,
fearing that the six might have done this by common design, sent for
each one separately and made trial of his inclinations, as to whether
he approved of that which had been done: and when he was fully assured
that Intaphrenes had not done this in combination with them, he took
both Intaphrenes himself and his sons and all his kinsmen, being much
disposed to believe that he was plotting insurrection against him with
the help of his relations; and having seized them he put them in bonds
as for execution. Then the wife of Intaphrenes, coming constantly to
the doors of the king's court, wept and bewailed herself; and by doing
this continually after the same manner she moved Dareios to pity her.
Accordingly he sent a messenger and said to her: "Woman, king Dareios
grants to thee to save from death one of thy kinsmen who are lying in
bonds, whomsoever thou desirest of them all." She then, having
considered with herself, answered thus: "If in truth the king grants
me the life of one, I choose of them all my brother." Dareios being
informed of this, and marvelling at her speech, sent and addressed her
thus: "Woman, the king asks thee what was in thy mind, that thou didst
leave thy husband and thy children to die, and didst choose thy
brother to survive, seeing that he is surely less near to thee in
blood than thy children, and less dear to thee than thy husband." She
made answer: "O king, I might, if heaven willed, have another husband
and other children, if I should lose these; but another brother I
could by no means have, seeing that my father and my mother are no
longer alive. This was in my mind when I said those words." To Dareios
then it seemed that the woman had spoken well, and he let go not only
him for whose life she asked, but also the eldest of her sons because
he was pleased with her: but all the others he slew. One therefore of
the seven had perished immediately in the manner which has been
related.
120. Now about the time of the sickness of Cambyses it had come to
pass as follows:--There was one Oroites, a Persian, who had been
appointed by Cyrus to be governor of the province of Sardis.[106] This
man had set his desire upon an unholy thing; for though from
Polycrates the Samian he had never suffered anything nor heard any
offensive word nor even seen him before that time, he desired to take
him and put him to death for a reason of this kind, as most who report
the matter say:--while Oroites and another Persian whose name was
Mitrobates, ruler of the province of Daskyleion,[107] were sitting at
the door of the king's court, they came from words to strife with one
another; and as they debated their several claims to excellence,
Mitrobates taunting Oroites said: "Dost /thou/[108] count thyself a
man, who didst never yet win for the king the island of Samos, which
lies close to thy province, when it is so exceedingly easy of conquest
that one of the natives of it rose up against the government with
fifteen men-at-arms and got possession of the island, and is now
despot of it?" Some say that because he heard this and was stung by
the reproach, he formed the desire, not so much to take vengeance on
him who said this, as to bring Polycrates to destruction at all costs,
since by reason of him he was ill spoken of: 121, the lesser number
however of those who tell the tale say that Oroites sent a herald to
Samos to ask for something or other, but what it was is not mentioned;
and Polycrates happened to be lying down in the men's chamber[109] of
his palace, and Anacreon also of Teos was present with him: and
somehow, whether it was by intention and because he made no account of
the business of Oroites, or whether some chance occurred to bring it
about, it happened that the envoy of Oroites came into his presence
and spoke with him, and Polycrates, who chanced to be turned away[110]
towards the wall, neither turned round at all nor made any answer.
122. The cause then of the death of Polycrates is reported in these
two different ways, and we may believe whichever of them we please.
Oroites however, having his residence at that Magnesia which is
situated upon the river Maiander, sent Myrsos the son of Gyges, a
Lydian, to Samos bearing a message, since he had perceived the designs
of Polycrates. For Polycrates was the first of the Hellenes of whom we
have any knowledge, who set his mind upon having command of the sea,
excepting Minos the Cnossian and any other who may have had command of
the sea before his time. Of that which we call mortal race Polycrates
was the first; and he had great expectation of becoming ruler of Ionia
and of the islands. Oroites accordingly, having perceived that he had
this design, sent a message to him and said thus: "Oroites to
Polycrates saith as follows: I hear that thou art making plans to get
great power, and that thou hast not wealth according to thy high
thoughts. Now therefore if thou shalt do as I shall say, thou wilt do
well for thyself on the one hand, and also save me from destruction:
for king Cambyses is planning death for me, and this is reported to me
so that I cannot doubt it. Do thou then carry away out of danger both
myself and with me my wealth; and of this keep a part for thyself and
a part let me keep, and then so far as wealth may bring it about, thou
shalt be ruler of all Hellas. And if thou dost not believe that which
I say about the money, send some one, whosoever happens to be most
trusted by thee, and to him I will show it."
123. Polycrates having
heard this rejoiced, and was disposed to agree; and as he had a great
desire, it seems, for wealth, he first sent Maiandrios the son of
Maiandrios, a native of Samos who was his secretary, to see it: this
man was the same who not long after these events dedicated all the
ornaments of the men's chamber[109] in the palace of Polycrates,
ornaments well worth seeing, as an offering to the temple of Hera.
Oroites accordingly, having heard that the person sent to examine
might be expected soon to come, did as follows, that is to say, he
filled eight chests with stones except a small depth at the very top
of each, and laid gold above upon the stones; then he tied up the
chests and kept them in readiness. So Maiandrios came and looked at
them and brought back word to Polycrates: 124, and he upon that
prepared to set out thither, although the diviners and also his
friends strongly dissuaded him from it, and in spite moreover of a
vision which his daughter had seen in sleep of this kind,--it seemed
to her that her father was raised up on high and was bathed by Zeus
and anointed by the Sun. Having seen this vision, she used every kind
of endeavour to dissuade Polycrates from leaving his land to go to
Oroites, and besides that, as he was going to his fifty-oared galley
she accompanied his departure with prophetic words: and he threatened
her that if he should return safe, she should remain unmarried for
long; but she prayed that this might come to pass, for she desired
rather, she said, to be unmarried for long than to be an orphan,
having lost her father.
125. Polycrates however neglected every
counsel and set sail to go to Oroites, taking with him, besides many
others of his friends, Demokedes also the son of Calliphon, a man of
Croton, who was a physician and practised his art better than any
other man of is time. Then when he arrived at Magnesia, Polycrates was
miserably put to death in a manner unworthy both of himself and of his
high ambition: for excepting those who become despots of the
Syracusans, not one besides of the Hellenic despots is worthy to be
compared with Polycrates in magnificence. And when he had killed him
in a manner not fit to be told, Oroites impaled his body: and of those
who accompanied him, as many as were Samians he released, bidding them
be grateful to him that they were free men; but all those of his
company who were either allies or servants, he held in the estimation
of slaves and kept them. Polycrates then being hung up accomplished
wholly the vision of his daughter, for he was bathed by Zeus whenever
it rained,[110a] and anointed by the Sun, giving forth moisture
himself from his body.
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