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The History of Herodotus: Page 26
Volume One - Book IV
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160. This Battos had a son called Arkesilaos, who first when he became
king made a quarrel with his own brothers, until they finally departed
to another region of Libya, and making the venture for themselves
founded that city which was then and is now called Barca; and at the
same time as they founded this, they induced the Libyans to revolt
from the Kyrenians. After this, Arkesilaos made an expedition against
those Libyans who had received them and who had also revolted from
Kyrene, and the Libyans fearing him departed and fled towards the
Eastern tribes of Libyans: and Arkesilaos followed after them as they
fled, until he arrived in his pursuit at Leucon in Libya, and there
the Libyans resolved to attack him. Accordingly they engaged battle
and defeated the Kyrenians so utterly that seven thousand hoplites of
the Kyrenians fell there. After this disaster Arkesilaos, being sick
and having swallowed a potion, was strangled by his brother
Haliarchos,[145] and Haliarchos was killed treacherously by the wife
of Arkesilaos, whose name was Eryxo.
161. Then Battos the son of
Arkesilaos succeeded to the kingdom, who was lame and not sound in his
feet: and the Kyrenians with a view to the misfortune which had
befallen them sent men to Delphi to ask what form of rule they should
adopt, in order to live in the best way possible; and the Pythian
prophetess bade them take to themselves a reformer of their State from
Mantineia of the Arcadians. The men of Kyrene accordingly made
request, and those of Mantineia gave them the man of most repute among
their citizens, whose name was Demonax. This man therefore having come
to Kyrene and having ascertained all things exactly,[146] in the first
place caused them to have three tribes, distributing them thus:--one
division he made of the Theraians and their dependants,[147] another
of the Peloponnesians and Cretans, and a third of all the
islanders.[148]
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Then secondly for the king Battos he set apart domains
of land and priesthoods, but all the other powers which the kings used
to possess before, he assigned as of public right to the people.
162. During the reign of this Battos things continued to be thus, but
in the reign of his son Arkesilaos there arose much disturbance about
the offices of the State: for Arkesilaos son of Battos the Lame and of
Pheretime said that he would not suffer it to be according as the
Mantineian Demonax had arranged, but asked to have back the royal
rights of his forefathers. After this, stirring up strife he was
worsted and went as an exile to Samos, and his mother to Salamis in
Cyprus. Now at that time the ruler of Salamis was Euelthon, the same
who dedicated as an offering the censer at Delphi, a work well worth
seeing, which is placed in the treasury of the Corinthians. To him
having come, Pheretime asked him for an army to restore herself and
her son to Kyrene. Euelthon however was ready to give her anything
else rather than that; and she when she received that which he gave
her said that this too was a fair gift, but fairer still would be that
other gift of an army for which she was asking. As she kept saying
this to every thing which was given, at last Euelthon sent out to her
a present of a golden spindle and distaff, with wool also upon it: and
when Pheretime uttered again the same saying about this present,
Euelthon said that such things as this were given as gifts to women
and not an army.
163. Arkesilaos meanwhile, being in Samos, was
gathering every one together by a promise of dividing land; and while
a great host was being collected, Arkesilaos set out to Delphi to
inquire of the Oracle about returning from exile: and the Pythian
prophetess gave him this answer: "For four named Battos and four named
Arkesilaos, eight generations of men, Loxias grants to you to be kings
of Kyrene, but beyond this he counsels you not even to attempt it.
Thou however must keep quiet when thou hast come back to thy land; and
if thou findest the furnace full of jars, heat not the jars fiercely,
but let them go with a fair wind: if however thou heat the furnace
fiercely, enter not thou into the place flowed round by water; for if
thou dost thou shalt die, both thou and the bull which is fairer than
all the rest."
164. Thus the Pythian prophetess gave answer to
Arkesilaos; and he, having taken to him those in Samos, made his
return to Kyrene; and when he had got possession of the power, he did
not remember the saying of the Oracle but endeavoured to exact
penalties from those of the opposite faction for having driven him
out. Of these some escaped out of the country altogether, but some
Arkesilaos got into his power and sent them away to Cyprus to be put
to death. These were driven out of their course to Cnidos, and the men
of Cnidos rescued them and sent them away to Thera. Some others
however of the Kyrenians fled to a great tower belonging to Aglomachos
a private citizen, and Arkesilaos burnt them by piling up brushwood
round. Then after he had done the deed he perceived that the Oracle
meant this, in that the Pythian prophetess forbade him, if he found
the jars in the furnace, to heat them fiercely; and he voluntarily
kept away from the city of the Kyrenians, fearing the death which had
been prophesied by the Oracle and supposing that Kyrene was flowed
round by water.[149] Now he had to wife a kinswoman of his own, the
daughter of the king of Barca whose name was Alazeir: to him he came,
and men of Barca together with certain of the exiles from Kyrene,
perceiving him going about in the market-place, killed him, and also
besides him his father-in-law Alazeir. Arkesilaos accordingly, having
missed the meaning of the oracle, whether with his will or against his
will, fulfilled his own destiny.
165. His mother Pheretime meanwhile, so long as Arkesilaos having
worked evil for himself dwelt at Barca, herself held the royal power
of her son at Kyrene, both exercising his other rights and also
sitting in council: but when she heard that her son had been slain in
Barca, she departed and fled to Egypt: for she had on her side
services done for Cambyses the son of Cyrus by Arkesilaos, since this
was the Arkesilaos who had given over Kyrene to Cambyses and had laid
a tribute upon himself. Pheretime then having come to Egypt sat down
as a suppliant of Aryandes, bidding him help her, and alleging as a
reason that it was on account of his inclination to the side of the
Medes that her son had been slain.
166. Now this Aryandes had been
appointed ruler of the province of Egypt by Cambyses; and after the
time of these events he lost his life because he would measure himself
with Dareios. For having heard and seen that Dareios desired to leave
behind him as a memorial of himself a thing which had not been made by
any other king, he imitated him, until at last he received his reward:
for whereas Dareios refined gold and made it as pure as possible, and
of this caused coins to be struck, Aryandes, being ruler of Egypt, did
the same thing with silver; and even now the purest silver is that
which is called Aryandic. Dareios then having learnt that he was doing
this put him to death, bringing against him another charge of
attempting rebellion.
167. Now at the time of which I speak this Aryandes had compassion on
Pheretime and gave her all the troops that were in Egypt, both the
land and the sea forces, appointing Amasis a Maraphian to command the
land-army and Badres, of the race of the Pasargadai, to command the
fleet: but before he sent away the army, Aryandes despatched a herald
to Barca and asked who it was who had killed Arkesilaos; and the men
of Barca all took it upon themselves, for they said they suffered
formerly many great evils at his hands. Having heard this, Aryandes at
last sent away the army together with Pheretime. This charge then was
the pretext alleged; but in fact the army was being sent out (as I
believe) for the purpose of subduing Libya: for of the Libyans there
are many nations of nations of various kinds, and but few of them are
subject to the king, while the greater number paid no regard to
Dareios.
*****
168. Now the Libyans have their dwelling as follows:--Beginning from
Egypt, first of the Libyans are settled the Adyrmachidai, who practise
for the most part the same customs as the Egyptians, but wear clothing
similar to that of the other Libyans. Their women wear a bronze
ring[150] upon each leg, and they have long hair on their heads, and
when they catch their lice, each one bites her own in retaliation and
then throws them away. These are the only people of the Lybians who do
this; and they alone display to the king their maidens when they are
about to be married, and whosoever of them proves to be pleasing to
the king is deflowered by him. These Adyrmachidai extend along the
coast from Egypt as far as the port which is called Plynos.
169. Next
after these come the Giligamai,[151] occupying the country towards the
West as far as the island of Aphrodisias. In the space within this
limit lies off the coast the island of Platea, where the Kyrenians
made their settlement; and on the coast of the mainland there is Port
Menelaos, and Aziris, where the Kyrenians used to dwell. From this
point begins the /silphion/[152] and it extends along the coast from
the island of Platea as far as the entrance of the Syrtis. This nation
practises customs nearly resembling those of the rest.
170. Next to
the Giligamai on the West are the Asbystai:[153] these dwell
above[154] Kyrene, and the Asbystai do not reach down the sea, for the
region along the sea is occupied by Kyrenians. These most of all the
Libyans are drivers of four-horse chariots, and in the greater number
of their customs they endeavour to imitate the Kyrenians.
171. Next
after the Asbystai on the West come the Auchisai: these dwell above
Barca and reach down to the sea by Euesperides: and in the middle of
the country of the Auchisai dwell the Bacales,[155] a small tribe, who
reach down to the sea by the city of Taucheira in the territory of
Barca: these practise the same customs as those above Kyrene.
172.
Next after these Auschisai towards the West come the Nasamonians, a
numerous race, who in the summer leave their flocks behind by the sea
and go up to the region of Augila to gather the fruit of the date-
palms, which grow in great numbers and very large and are all fruit-
bearing: these hunt the wingless locusts, and they dry them in the sun
and then pound them up, and after that they sprinkle them upon milk
and drink them. Their custom is for each man to have many wives, and
they make their intercourse with them common in nearly the same manner
as the Massagetai,[156] that is they set up a staff in front of the
door and so have intercourse. When a Nasamonian man marries his first
wife, the custom is for the bride on the first night to go through the
whole number of the guests having intercourse with them, and each man
when he has lain with her gives a gift, whatsoever he has brought with
him from his house. The forms of oath and of divination which they use
are as follows:--they swear by the men among themselves who are
reported to have been the most righteous and brave, by these, I say,
laying hands upon their tombs; and they divine by visiting the
sepulchral mounds of their ancestors and lying down to sleep upon them
after having prayed; and whatsoever thing the man sees in his dream,
this he accepts. They practise also the exchange of pledges in the
following manner, that is to say, one gives the other to drink from
his hand, and drinks himself from the hand of the other; and if they
have no liquid, they take of the dust from the ground and lick it.
173. Adjoining the Nasamonians is the country of the Psylloi. These
have perished utterly in the following manner:--The South Wind blowing
upon them dried up all their cisterns of water, and their land was
waterless, lying all within the Syrtis. They then having taken a
resolve by common consent, marched in arms against the South Wind (I
report that which is reported by the Libyans), and when they had
arrived at the sandy tract, the South Wind blew and buried them in the
sand. These then having utterly perished, the Nasamonians from that
time forward possess their land.
174. Above these towards the South
Wind in the region of wild beasts dwell the Garamantians,[157] who fly
from every man and avoid the company of all; and they neither possess
any weapon of war, nor know how to defend themselves against enemies.
175. These dwell above the Nasamonians; and next to the Nasamonians
along the sea coast towards the West come the Macai, who shave their
hair so as to leave tufts, letting the middle of their hair grow long,
but round this on all sides shaving it close to the skin; and for
fighting they carry shields made of ostrich skins. Through their land
the river Kinyps runs out into the sea, flowing from a hill called the
"Hill of the Charites." This Hill of the Charites is overgrown thickly
with wood, while the rest of Libya which has been spoken of before is
bare of trees; and the distance from the sea to this hill is two
hundred furlongs.
176. Next to these Macai are the Gindanes, whose
women wear each of them a number of anklets made of the skins of
animals, for the following reason, as it is said:--for every man who
has commerce with her she binds on an anklet, and the woman who has
most is esteemed the best, since she has been loved by the greatest
number of men.
177. In a peninsula which stands out into the sea from
the land of these Gindanes dwell the Lotophagoi, who live by eating
the fruit of the /lotos/ only. Now the fruit of the lotos is in size
like that of the mastich-tree, and in flavour[158] it resembles that
of the date-palm. Of this fruit the Lotophagoi even make for
themselves wine.
178. Next after the Lotophagoi along the sea-coast
are the Machlyans, who also make use of the lotos, but less than those
above mentioned. These extend to a great river named the river Triton,
and this runs out into a great lake called Tritonis, in which there is
an island named Phla. About this island they say there was an oracle
given to the Lacedemonians that they should make a settlement in it.
179. The following moreover is also told, namely that Jason, when the
Argo had been completed by him under Mount Pelion, put into it a
hecatomb and with it also[159] a tripod of bronze, and sailed round Pelopponese, desiring to come to Delphi; and when in sailing he got
near Malea, a North Wind seized his ship and carried it off to Libya,
and before he caught sight of land he had come to be in the shoals of
the lake Tritonis. Then as he was at a loss how he should bring his
ship forth, the story goes that Triton appeared to him and bade Jason
give him the tripod, saying that he would show them the right course
and let them go away without hurt: and when Jason consented to it,
then Triton showed them the passage out between the shoals and set the
tripod in his own temple, after having first uttered a prophecy over
the tripod[160] and having declared to Jason and his company the whole
matter, namely that whensoever one of the descendants of those who
sailed with him in the Argo should carry away this tripod, then it was
determined by fate that a hundred cities of Hellenes should be
established about the lake Tritonis. Having heard this the native
Libyans concealed the tripod.
180. Next to these Machlyans are the Auseans. These and the Machlyans
dwell round the lake Tritonis, and the river Triton is the boundary
between them: and while the Machlyans grow their hair long at the back
of the head, the Auseans do so in front. At a yearly festival of
Athene their maidens take their stand in two parties and fight against
one another with stones and staves, and they say that in doing so they
are fulfilling the rites handed down by their fathers for the divinity
who was sprung from that land, whom we call Athene: and those of the
maidens who die of the wounds received they call "false-maidens." But
before they let them begin the fight they do this:--all join together
and equip the maiden who is judged to be the fairest on each occasion,
with a Corinthian helmet and with full Hellenic armour, and then
causing her to go up into a chariot they conduct her round the lake.
Now I cannot tell with what they equipped the maidens in old time,
before the Hellenes were settled near them; but I suppose that they
used to be equipped with Egyptian armour, for it is from Egypt that
both the shield and the helmet have come to the Hellenes, as I affirm.
They say moreover that Athene is the daughter of Poseidon and of the
lake Tritonis, and that she had some cause of complaint against her
father and therefore gave herself to Zeus, and Zeus made her his own
daughter. Such is the story which these tell; and they have their
intercourse with women in common, not marrying but having intercourse
like cattle: and when the child of any woman has grown big, he is
brought before a meeting of the men held within three months of that
time,[161] and whomsoever of the men the child resembles, his son he
is accounted to be.
181. Thus then have been mentioned those nomad Libyans who live along
the sea-coast: and above these inland is the region of Libya which has
wild beasts; and above the wild-beast region there stretches a raised
belt of sand, extending from Thebes of the Egyptians to the Pillars of
Heracles. In this belt at intervals of about ten days' journey there
are fragments of salt in great lumps forming hills, and at the top of
each hill there shoots up from the middle of the salt a spring of
water cold and sweet; and about the spring dwell men, at the furthest
limit towards the desert, and above the wild-beast region. First, at a
distance of ten days' journey from Thebes, are the Ammonians, whose
temple is derived from that of the Theban Zeus, for the image of Zeus
in Thebes also, as I have said before,[162] has the head of a ram.
These, as it chances, have also other water of a spring, which in the
early morning is warm; at the time when the market fills,[163] cooler;
when midday comes, it is quite cold, and then they water their
gardens; but as the day declines, it abates from its coldness, until
at last, when the sun sets, the water is warm; and it continues to
increase in heat still more until it reaches midnight, when it boils
and throws up bubbles; and when midnight passes, it becomes cooler
gradually till dawn of day. This spring is called the fountain of the
Sun.
182. After the Ammonians, as you go on along the belt of sand, at an
interval again of ten days' journey there is a hill of salt like that
of the Ammonians, and a spring of water, with men dwelling about it;
and the name of this place is Augila. To this the Nasamonians come
year by year to gather the fruit of the date-palms.
183. From Augila
at a distance again of ten days' journey there is another hill of salt
and spring of water and a great number of fruit-bearing date-palms, as
there are also in the other places: and men dwell here who are called
the Garmantians, a very great nation, who carry earth to lay over the
salt and then sow crops. From this point is the shortest way to the
Lotophagoi, for from these it is a journey of thirty days to the
country of the Garmantians. Among them also are produced the cattle
which feed backwards; and they feed backwards for this reason, because
they have their horns bent down forwards, and therefore they walk
backwards as they feed; for forwards they cannot go, because the horns
run into the ground in front of them; but in nothing else do they
differ from other cattle except in this and in the thickness and
firmness to the touch[164] of their hide. These Garamantians of whom I
speak hunt the "Cave-dwelling"[165] Ethiopians with their four-horse
chariots, for the Cave-dwelling Ethiopians are the swiftest of foot of
all men about whom we hear report made: and the Cave-dwellers feed
upon serpents and lizards and such creeping things, and they use a
language which resembles no other, for in it they squeak just like
bats.
184. From the Garmantians at a distance again of ten days' journey
there is another hill of salt and spring of water, and men dwell round
it called Atarantians, who alone of all men about whom we know are
nameless; for while all taken together have the name Atarantians, each
separate man of them has no name given to him. These utter curses
against the Sun when he is at his height,[166] and moreover revile him
with all manner of foul terms, because he oppresses them by his
burning heat, both themselves and their land. After this at a distance
of ten days' journey there is another hill of salt and spring of
water, and men dwell round it. Near this salt hill is a mountain named
Atlas, which is small in circuit and rounded on every side; and so
exceedingly lofty is it said to be, that it is not possible to see its
summits, for clouds never leave them either in the summer or in the
winter. This the natives say is the pillar of the heaven. After this
mountain these men got their name, for they are called Atlantians; and
it is said that they neither eat anything that has life nor have any
dreams.
185. As far as these Atlantians I am able to mention in order the
names of those who are settled in the belt of sand; but for the parts
beyond these I can do so no more. However, the belt extends as far as
the Pillars of Heracles and also in the parts outside them: and there
is a mine of salt in it at a distance of ten days' journey from the
Atlantians, and men dwelling there; and these all have their houses
built of the lumps of salt, since these parts of Libya which we have
now reached[167] are without rain; for if it rained, the walls being
made of salt would not be able to last: and the salt is dug up there
both white and purple in colour.[168] Above the sand-belt, in the
parts which are in the direction of the South Wind and towards the
interior of Libya, the country is uninhabited, without water and
without wild beasts, rainless and treeless, and there is no trace of
moisture in it.
186. I have said that from Egypt as far as the lake Tritonis Libyans
dwell who are nomads, eating flesh and drinking milk; and these do not
taste at all of the flesh of cows, for the same reason as the
Egyptians also abstain from it, nor do they keep swine. Moreover the
women of the Kyrenians too think it not right to eat cows' flesh,
because of the Egyptian Isis, and they even keep fasts and celebrate
festivals for her; and the women of Barca, in addition from cows'
flesh, do not taste of swine either.
187. Thus it is with these
matters: but in the region to the West of lake Tritonis the Libyans
cease to be nomads, and they do not practise the same customs, nor do
to their children anything like that which the nomads are wont to do;
for the nomad Libyans, whether all of them I cannot say for certain,
but many of them, do as follows:--when their children are four years
old, they burn with a greasy piece of sheep's wool the veins in the
crowns of their heads, and some of them burn the veins of the temples,
so that for all their lives to come the cold humour may not run down
from their heads and do them hurt: and for this reason it is (they
say) that they are so healthy; for the Libyans are in truth the most
healthy of all races concerning which we have knowledge, whether for
this reason or not I cannot say for certain, but the most healthy they
certainly are: and if, when they burn the children, a convulsion comes
on, they have found out a remedy for this; for they pour upon them the
water of a he-goat and so save them. I report that which is reported
by the Libyans themselves.
188. The following is the manner of
sacrifice which the nomads have:--they cut off a part of the animal's
ear as a first offering and throw it over the house,[169] and having
done this they twist its neck. They sacrifice only to the Sun and the
Moon; that is to say, to these all the Libyans sacrifice, but those
who dwell round the lake Tritonis sacrifice most of all to Athene, and
next to Triton and Poseidon.
189. It would appear also that the
Hellenes made the dress and the /aigis/ of the images of Athene after
the model of the Libyan women; for except that the dress of the Libyan
women is of leather, and the tassels which hang from their /aigis/ are
not formed of serpents but of leather thongs, in all other respects
Athene is dressed like them. Moreover the name too declares that the
dress of the figures of Pallas has come from Libya, for the Libyan
women wear over their other garments bare goat-skins (/aigeas/) with
tasselled fringes and coloured over with red madder, and from the name
of these goat-skins the Hellenes formed the name /aigis/. I think also
that in these regions first arose the practice of crying aloud during
the performance of sacred rites, for the Libyan women do this very
well.[170] The Hellenes learnt from the Libyans also the yoking
together of four horses.
190. The nomads bury those who die just in
the same manner as the Hellenes, except only the Nasamonians: these
bury bodies in a sitting posture, taking care at the moment when the
man expires to place him sitting and not to let him die lying down on
his back. They have dwellings composed of the stems of asphodel
entwined with rushes, and so made that they can be carried about. Such
are the customs followed by these tribes.
191. On the West of the river Triton next after the Auseans come
Libyans who are tillers of the soil, and whose custom it is to possess
fixed habitations; and they are called Maxyans. They grow their hair
long on the right side of their heads and cut it short upon the left,
and smear their bodies over with red ochre. These say that they are of
the men who came from Troy.
This country and the rest of Libya which is towards the West is both
much more frequented by wild beasts and much more thickly wooded than
the country of the nomads: for whereas the part of Libya which is
situated towards the East, where the nomads dwell, is low-lying and
sandy up to the river Triton, that which succeeds it towards the West,
the country of those who till the soil, is exceedingly mountainous and
thickly-wooded and full of wild beasts: for in the land of these are
found both the monstrous serpent and the lion and the elephant, and
bears and venomous snakes and horned asses, besides the dog-headed
men, and the headless men with their eyes set in their breasts (at
least so say the Libyans about them), and the wild men and wild women,
and a great multitude of other beasts which are not fabulous like
these.[171]
192. In the land of the nomads however there exist none of
these, but other animals as follows:--white-rump antelopes, gazelles,
buffaloes, asses, not the horned kind but others which go without
water (for in fact these never drink), oryes,[172] whose horns are
made into the sides of the Phenician lyre (this animal is in size
about equal to an ox), small foxes, hyenas, porcupines, wild rams,
wolves,[173] jackals, panthers, boryes, land-crocodiles about three
cubits in length and very much resembling lizards, ostriches, and
small snakes, each with one horn: these wild animals there are in this
country, as well as those which exist elsewhere, except the stag and
the wild-boar; but Libya has no stags nor wild boars at all. Also
there are in this country three kinds of mice, one is called the "two-
legged" mouse, another the /zegeris/ (a name which is Libyan and
signifies in the Hellenic tongue a "hill"), and a third the "prickly"
mouse.[174] There are also weasels produced in the /silphion/, which
are very like those of Tartessos. Such are the wild animals which the
land of the Libyans possesses, so far as we were able to discover by
inquiries extended as much as possible.
193. Next to the Maxyan Libyans are the Zauekes,[175] whose women
drive their chariots for them to war.
194. Next to these are the Gyzantes,[176] among whom honey is made in great quantity by bees, but
in much greater quantity still it is said to be made by men, who work
at it as a trade. However that may be, these all smear themselves over
with red ochre and eat monkeys, which are produced in very great
numbers upon their mountains.
195. Opposite these, as the
Carthaginians say, there lies an island called Kyrauis, two hundred
furlongs in length but narrow, to which one may walk over from the
mainland; and it is full of olives and vines. In it they say there is
a pool, from which the native girls with birds' feathers smeared over
with pitch bring up gold-dust out of the mud. Whether this is really
so I do not know, but I write that which is reported; and nothing is
impossible,[177] for even in Zakynthos I saw myself pitch brought up
out of a pool of water. There are there several pools, and the largest
of them measures seventy feet each way and is two fathoms in depth.
Into this they plunge a pole with a myrtle-branch bound to it, and
then with the branch of the myrtle they bring up pitch, which has the
smell of asphalt, but in other respects it is superior to the pitch of
Pieria. This they pour into a pit dug near the pool; and when they
have collected a large quantity, then they pour it into the jars from
the pit: and whatever thing falls into the pool goes under ground and
reappears in the sea, which is distant about four furlongs from the
pool. Thus then the report about the island lying near the coast of
Libya is also probably enough true.
196. The Carthaginians say also this, namely that there is a place in
Libya and men dwelling there, outside the Pillars of Heracles, to whom
when they have come and have taken the merchandise forth from their
ships, they set it in order along the beach and embark again in their
ships, and after that they raise a smoke; and the natives of the
country seeing the smoke come to the sea, and then they lay down gold
as an equivalent for the merchandise and retire to a distance away
from the merchandise. The Carthaginians upon that disembark and
examine it, and if the gold is in their opinion sufficient for the
value of the merchandise, they take it up and go their way; but if
not, they embark again in their ships and sit there; and the others
approach and straightway add more gold to the former, until they
satisfy them: and they say that neither party wrongs the other; for
neither do the Carthaginians lay hands on the gold until it is made
equal to the value of their merchandise, nor do the others lay hands
on the merchandise until the Carthaginians have taken the gold.
197. These are the Libyan tribes whom we are able to name; and of
these the greater number neither now pay any regard to the king of the
Medes nor did they then. Thus much also I have to say about this land,
namely that it is occupied by four races and no more, so far as we
know; and of these races two are natives of the soil and the other two
not so; for the Libyans and the Ethiopians are natives, the one race
dwelling in the Northern parts of Libya and the other in the Southern,
while the Phenicians and the Hellenes are strangers.
198. I think moreover that (besides other things) in goodness of soil
Libya does not very greatly excel[178] as compared with Asia or
Europe, except only the region of Kinyps, for the same name is given
to the land as to the river. This region is equal to the best of lands
in bringing forth the fruit of Demeter,[179] nor does it at all
resemble the rest of Libya; for it has black soil and is watered by
springs, and neither has it fear of drought nor is it hurt by drinking
too abundantly of rain; for rain there is in this part of Libya. Of
the produce of the crops the same measures hold good here as for the
Babylonian land. And that is good land also which the Euesperites
occupy, for when it bears best it produces a hundred-fold, but the
land in the region of Kinyps produces sometimes as much as three-
hundred-fold.
199. Moreover the land of Kyrene, which is the highest
land of the part of Libya which is occupied by nomads, has within its
confines three seasons of harvest, at which we may marvel: for the
parts by the sea-coasts first have their fruits ripe for reaping and
for gathering the vintage; and when these have been gathered in, the
parts which lie above the sea-side places, those situated in the
middle, which they call the hills,[180] are ripe for the gathering in;
and as soon as this middle crop has been gathered in, that in the
highest part of the land comes to perfection and is ripe; so that by
the time the first crop has been eaten and drunk up, the last is just
coming in. Thus the harvest for the Kyrenians lasts eight months. Let
so much as has been said suffice for these things.
*****
200. Now when the Persian helpers of Pheretime,[181] having been sent
from Egypt by Aryandes, had arrived at Barca, they laid siege to the
city, proposing to the inhabitants that they should give up those who
were guilty of the murder of Arkesilaos: but as all their people had
taken a share in the guilt, they did not accept the proposals. Then
they besieged Barca for nine months, both digging underground passages
which led to the wall and making vigorous attacks upon it. Now the
passages dug were discovered by a worker of bronze with a shield
covered over with bronze, who had thought of a plan as follows:--
carrying it round within the wall he applied it to the ground in the
city, and whereas the other places to which he applied it were
noiseless, at those places where digging was going on the bronze of
the shield gave a sound; and the men of Barca would make a countermine
there and slay the Persians who were digging mines. This then was
discovered as I have said, and the attacks were repulsed by the men of
Barca.
201. Then as they were suffering hardship for a long time and
many were falling on both sides, and especially on that of the
Persians, Amasis the commander of the land-army contrived as follows:
--perceiving that the Barcaians were not to be conquered by force but
might be conquered by guile, he dug by night a broad trench and over
it he laid timber of no great strength, and brought earth and laid it
above on the top of the timber, making it level with the rest of the
ground: then at daybreak he invited the men of Barca to a parley; and
they gladly consented, and at last they agreed to make a treaty: and
the treaty they made with one another was taken over the hidden
trench, namely that so long as this earth should continue to be as it
was, so long the oath should remain firm, and that the men of Barca
should promise to pay tribute of due amount to the king, and the
Persians should do no further violence to the men of Barca.[182] After
the oath the men of Barca trusting to these engagements both went
forth themselves from their city and let any who desired it of the
enemy pass within their walls, having opened all the gates; but the
Persians first broke down the concealed bridge and then began to run
inside the city wall. And the reason why they broke down the bridge
which they had made was that they might keep their goats, since they
had sworn to the men of Barca that the oath should remain firm
continually for so long time as the earth should remain as it then
was, but after that they had broken it down, the oath no longer
remained firm.
202. Now the most guilty of the Barcaians, when they
were delivered to her by the Persians, Pheretime impaled in a ring
round about the wall; and she cut off the breasts of their wives and
set the wall round with these also in order: but the rest of the men
of Barca she bade the Persians carry off as spoil, except so many of
them as were of the house of Battos and not sharers in the guilt of
the murder; and to these Pheretime gave the city in charge.
203. So the Persians having made slaves of the rest of the Barcaians
departed to go back: and when they appeared at the gates of the city
of Kyrene, the Kyrenians let them go through their town in order to
avoid neglect of some oracle. Then as the army was going through,
Badres the commander of the fleet urged that they should capture the
city, but Amasis the commander of the land-army would not consent to
it; for he said that they had been sent against no other city of the
Hellenes except Barca. When however they had passed through and were
encamping on the hill of Zeus Lycaios, they repented of not having
taken possession of Kyrene; and they endeavoured again to pass into
it, but the men of Kyrene would not allow them. Then upon the
Persians, although no one fought against them, there fell a sudden
panic, and they ran away for about sixty furlongs and then encamped.
And when the camp had been placed here, there came to it a messenger
from Aryandes summoning them back; so the Persians asked the Kyrenians
to give them provisions for their march and obtained their request;
and having received these, they departed to go to Egypt. After this
the Libyans took them up,[183] and killed for the sake of their
clothes and equipment those of them who at any time were left or
straggled behind, until at last they came to Egypt.
204. This army of the Persians reached Euesperides, and this was their
furthest point in Libya: and those of the Barcaians whom they had
reduced to slavery they removed again from Egypt and brought them to
the king, and king Dareios gave them a village in the land of Bactria
in which to make a settlement. To this village they gave the name of
Barca, and it still continued to be inhabited by them even down to my
own time, in the land of Bactria.
205. Pheretime however did not bring her life happily to an end any
more than they: for as soon as she had returned from Libya to Egypt
after having avenged herself on the Barcaians, she died an evil death,
having become suddenly full of worms while yet alive: for, as it
seems, too severe punishments inflicted by men prove displeasing[184]
to the gods. Such and so great was the punishment inflicted by
Pheretime the wife of Battos on the men of Barca.
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END OF BOOK IV
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