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The History of Herodotus: Page 27
Volume Two - Book V
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BOOK V
THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED TERPSICHORE
1. In the meantime those of the Persians who had been left behind in
Europe by Dareios, of whom Megabazos was the commander, had subdued
the people of Perinthos first of the Hellespontians, since they
refused to be subject to Dareios. These had in former times also been
hardly dealt with by the Paionians: for the Paionians from the Strymon
had been commanded by an oracle of their god to march against the
Perinthians; and if the Perinthians, when encamped opposite to them,
should shout aloud and call to them by their name, they were to attack
them; but if they should not shout to them, they were not to attack
them: and thus the Paionians proceeded to do. Now when the Perinthians
were encamped opposite to them in the suburb of their city, a
challenge was made and a single combat took place in three different
forms; for they matched a man against a man, and a horse against a
horse, and a dog against a dog. Then, as the Perinthians were getting
the better in two of the three, in their exultation they raised a
shout of /paion/,[1] and the Paionians conjectured that this was the
very thing which was spoken of in the oracle, and said doubtless to
one another, "Now surely the oracle is being accomplished for us, now
it is time for us to act." So the Paionians attacked the Perinthians
when they had raised the shout of paion, and they had much the better
in the fight, and left but few of them alive.
2. Thus it happened with
respect to those things which had been done to them in former times by
the Paionians; and at this time, although the Perinthians proved
themselves brave men in defence of their freedom, the Persians and
Megabazos got the better of them by numbers.
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Then after Perinthos had
been conquered, Megabazos marched his army through the length of
Thracia, forcing every city and every race of those who dwell there to
submit to the king, for so it had been commanded him by Dareios, to
subdue Thracia.
3. Now the Thracian race is the most numerous, except the Indians, in
all the world: and if it should come to be ruled over by one man, or
to agree together in one, it would be irresistible in fight and the
strongest by far of all nations, in my opinion. Since however this is
impossible for them and cannot ever come to pass among them,[2] they
are in fact weak for that reason. They have many names, belonging to
their various tribes in different places; but they all follow customs
which are nearly the same in all respects, except the Getai and
Trausians and those who dwell above the Crestonians.
4. Of these the
practices of the Getai, who believe themselves to be immortal, have
been spoken of by me already:[3] and the Trausians perform everything
else in the same manner as the other Thracians, but in regard to those
who are born and die among them they do as follows:--when a child has
been born, the nearest of kin sit round it and make lamentation for
all the evils of which he must fulfil the measure, now that he is
born,[3a] enumerating the whole number of human ills; but when a man
is dead, they cover him up in the earth with sport and rejoicing,
saying at the same time from what great evils he has escaped and is
now in perfect bliss.
5. Those who dwell above the Crestonians do as
follows:--each man has many wives, and when any man of them is dead, a
great competition takes place among his wives, with much exertion on
the part of their friends, about the question of which of them was
most loved by their husband; and she who is preferred by the decision
and so honoured, is first praised by both men and women, then her
throat is cut over the tomb by her nearest of kin, and afterwards she
is buried together with her husband; and the others are exceedingly
grieved at it, for this is counted as the greatest reproach to them.
6. Of the other Thracians the custom is to sell their children to be
carried away out of the country; and over their maidens they do not
keep watch, but allow them to have commerce with whatever men they
please, but over their wives they keep very great watch; and they buy
their wives for great sums of money from their parents. To be pricked
with figures is accounted a mark of noble rank, and not to be so
marked is a sign of low birth.[4] Not to work is counted most honourable, and to be a worker of the soil is above all things
dishonourable: to live on war and plunder is the most honourable
thing.
7. These are their most remarkable customs; and of the gods
they worship only Ares and Dionysos and Artemis. Their kings, however,
apart from the rest of the people, worship Hermes more than all gods,
and swear by him alone; and they say that they are descended from
Hermes.
8. The manner of burial for the rich among them is this:--for
three days they expose the corpse to view, and they slay all kinds of
victims and feast, having first made lamentation. Then they perform
the burial rites, either consuming the body with fire or covering it
up in the earth without burning; and afterwards when they have heaped
up a mound they celebrate games with every kind of contest, in which
reasonably the greatest prizes are assigned for single combat.[5] This
is the manner of burial among the Thracians.
9. Of the region lying further on towards the North of this country no
one can declare accurately who the men are who dwell in it; but the
parts which lie immediately beyond the Ister are known to be
uninhabited and vast in extent. The only men of whom I can hear who
dwell beyond the Ister are those who are said to be called Sigynnai,
and who use the Median fashion of dress. Their horses, it is said,
have shaggy hair all over their bodies, as much as five fingers long;
and these are small and flat-nosed and too weak to carry men, but when
yoked in chariots they are very high-spirited; therefore the natives
of the country drive chariots. The boundaries of this people extend,
it is said, to the parts near the Enetoi, who live on the Adriatic;
and people say that they are colonists from the Medes. In what way
however these have come to be colonists from the Medes I am not able
for my part to conceive, but everything is possible in the long course
of ages. However that may be, the Ligurians who dwell in the region
inland above Massalia call traders /sigynnai/, and the men of Cyprus
give the same name to spears.
10. Now the Thracians say that the other
side of the Ister is occupied by bees, and that by reason of them it
is not possible to pass through and proceed further: but to me it
seems that when they so speak, they say that which is not probable;
for these creatures are known to be intolerant of cold, and to me it
seems that the regions which go up towards the pole are uninhabitable
by reason of the cold climate. These then are the tales reported about
this country; and however that may be, Megabazos was then making the
coast-regions of it subject to the Persians.
11. Meanwhile Dareios, so soon as he had crossed over the Hellespont
and come to Sardis, called to mind the service rendered to him by
Histiaios the Milesian and also the advice of the Mytilenian Coës, and
having sent for them to come to Sardis he offered them a choice of
rewards. Histiaios then, being despot of Miletos, did not make request
for any government in addition to that, but he asked for the district
of Myrkinos which belonged to the Edonians, desiring there to found a
city. Histiaios chose this for himself; but Coës, not being a despot
but a man of the people, asked to be made despot of Mitylene.
12.
After the desires of both had been fulfilled, they betook themselves
to that which they had chosen: and at this same time it chanced that Dareios saw a certain thing which made him desire to command Megabazos
to conquer the Paionians and remove them forcibly from Europe into
Asia: and the thing was this:--There were certain Paionians named
Pigres and Mantyas, who when Dareios had crossed over into Asia, came
to Sardis, because they desired themselves to have rule over the
Paionians, and with them they brought their sister, who was tall and
comely. Then having watched for a time when Dareios took his seat
publicly in the suburb of the Lydian city, they dressed up their
sister in the best way they could, and sent her to fetch water, having
a water-jar upon her head and leading a horse after her by a bridle
round her arm, and at the same time spinning flax. Now when the woman
passed out of the city by him, Dareios paid attention to the matter,
for that which was done by the woman was not of Persian nor yet of
Lydian fashion, nor indeed after the manner of any people of Asia. He
sent therefore some of his spearmen, bidding them watch what the woman
would do with the horse. They accordingly followed after her; and she
having arrived at the river watered the horse, and having watered him
and filled her jar with the water, she passed along by the same way,
bearing the water upon her head, leading the horse after her by a
bridle round her arm, and at the same time turning the spindle.
13.
Then Dareios, marvelling both at that which he heard from those who
went to observe and also at that which he saw himself, bade them bring
her into his presence: and when she was brought, her brothers also
came, who had been watching these things at no great distance off. So
then when Dareios asked of what country she was, the young men said
that they were Paionians and that she was their sister; and he
replied: "Who then are these Paionians, and where upon the earth do
they dwell?" and he asked them also what they desired, that they had
come to Sardis. They declared to him that they had come to give
themselves up to him, and that Paionia was a country situated upon the
river Strymon, and that the Strymon was not far from the Hellespont,
and finally that they were colonists from the Teucrians of Troy. All
these things severally they told him; and he asked whether all the
women of that land were as industrious as their sister; and they very
readily replied to this also, saying that it was so, for it was with a
view to that very thing that they had been doing this.
14. Then Dareios wrote a letter to Megabazos, whom he had left to command his
army in Thrace, bidding him remove the Paionians from their place of
habitation and bring them to the king, both themselves and their
children and their wives. Then forthwith a horseman set forth to ride
in haste bearing the message to the Hellespont, and having passed over
to the other side he gave the paper to Megabazos. So he having read it
and having obtained guides from Thrace, set forth to march upon
Paionia: 15, and the Paionians, being informed that the Persians were
coming against them, gathered all their powers together and marched
out in the direction of the sea, supposing that the Persians when they
invaded them would make their attack on that side. The Paionians then
were prepared, as I say, to drive off the army of Megabazos when it
came against them; but the Persians hearing that the Paionians had
gathered their powers and were guarding the entrance which lay towards
the sea, directed their course with guides along the upper road; and
passing unperceived by the Paionians they fell upon their cities,
which were left without men, and finding them without defenders they
easily took possession of them. The Paionians when they heard that
their cities were in the hands of the enemy, at once dispersed, each
tribe to its own place of abode, and proceeded to deliver themselves
up to the Persians. Thus then it happened that these tribes of the
Paionians, namely the Siropaionians,[6] the Paioplians and all up to
the lake Prasias, were removed from their place of habitation and
brought to Asia; 16, but those who dwell about mount Pangaion, and
about the Doberians and Agrianians and Odomantians,[7] and about the
lake Prasias itself, were not conquered at all by Megabazos. He tried
however to remove even those who lived in the lake and who had their
dwellings in the following manner:--a platform fastened together and
resting upon lofty piles stood in the middle of the water of the lake,
with a narrow approach to it from the mainland by a single bridge. The
piles which supported the platform were no doubt originally set there
by all the members of the community working together, but since that
time they continue to set them by observance of this rule, that is to
say, every man who marries brings from the mountain called Orbelos
three piles for each wife and sets them as supports; and each man
takes to himself many wives. And they have their dwelling thus, that
is each man has possession of a hut upon the platform in which he
lives and of a trap-door[8] leading through the platform down to the
lake: and their infant children they tie with a rope by the foot, for
fear that they should roll into the water. To their horses and beasts
of burden they give fish for fodder; and of fish there is so great
quantity that if a man open the trap-door and let down an empty basket
by a cord into the lake, after waiting quite a short time he draws it
up again full of fish. Of the fish there are two kinds, and they call
them /paprax/ and /tilon/.
17. So then those of the Paionians who had been conquered were being
brought to Asia: and Megabazos meanwhile, after he had conquered the
Paionians, sent as envoys to Macedonia seven Persians, who after
himself were the men of most repute in the army. These were being sent
to Amyntas to demand of him earth and water for Dareios the king. Now
from lake Prasias there is a very short way into Macedonia; for first,
quite close to the lake, there is the mine from which after this time
there came in regularly a talent of silver every day to Alexander; and
after the mine, when you have passed over the mountain called Dysoron,
you are in Macedonia.
18. These Persians then, who had been sent to Amyntas, having arrived came into the presence of Amyntas and
proceeded to demand earth and water for king Dareios. This he was
willing to give, and also he invited them to be his guests; and he
prepared a magnificent dinner and received the Persians with friendly
hospitality. Then when dinner was over, the Persians while drinking
pledges to one another[9] said thus: "Macedonian guest-friend, it is
the custom among us Persians, when we set forth a great dinner, then
to bring in also our concubines and lawful wives to sit beside us. Do
thou then, since thou didst readily receive us and dost now entertain
us magnificently as thy guests, and since thou art willing to give to
king Dareios earth and water, consent to follow our custom." To this
Amyntas replied: "Persians, among us the custom is not so, but that
men should be separate from women. Since however ye being our masters
make this request in addition, this also shall be given you." Having
so said Amyntas proceeded to send for the women; and when they came
being summoned, they sat down in order opposite to the Persians. Then
the Persians, seeing women of comely form, spoke to Amyntas and said
that this which had been done was by no means well devised; for it was
better that the women should not come at all, than that they should
come and should not seat themselves by their side, but sit opposite
and be a pain to their eyes. So Amyntas being compelled bade them sit
by the side of the Persians; and when the women obeyed, forthwith the
Persians, being much intoxicated, began to touch their breasts, and
some no doubt also tried to kiss them.
19. Amyntas seeing this kept
quiet, notwithstanding that he felt anger, because he excessively
feared the Persians; but Alexander the son of Amyntas, who was present
and saw this, being young and without experience of calamity was not
able to endure any longer; but being impatient of it he said to
Amyntas: "My father, do thou grant that which thy age demands, and go
away to rest, nor persevere longer in the drinking; but I will remain
here and give to our guests all that is convenient." On this Amyntas,
understanding that Alexander was intending to do some violence, said:
"My son, I think that I understand thy words, as the heat of anger
moves thee, namely that thou desirest to send me away and then do some
deed of violence: therefore I ask of thee not to do violence to these
men, that it may not be our ruin, but endure to see that which is
being done: as to my departure, however, in that I will do as thou
sayest."
20. When Amyntas after having made of him this request had
departed, Alexander said to the Persians: "With these women ye have
perfect freedom, guests, to have commerce with all, if ye so desire,
or with as many of them as ye will. About this matter ye shall be they
who give the word; but now, since already the hour is approaching for
you to go to bed and I see that ye have well drunk, let these women go
away, if so it is pleasing to you, to bathe themselves; and when they
have bathed, then receive them back into your company." Having so
said, since the Persians readily agreed, he dismissed the women, when
they had gone out, to the women's chambers; and Alexander himself
equipped men equal in number to the women and smooth-faced, in the
dress of the women, and giving them daggers he led them into the
banqueting-room; and as he led them in, he said thus to the Persians:
"Persians, it seems to me that ye have been entertained with a feast
to which nothing was wanting; for other things, as many as we had, and
moreover such as we were able to find out and furnish, are all
supplied to you, and there is this especially besides, which is the
chief thing of all, that is, we give you freely in addition our
mothers and our sisters, in order that ye may perceive fully that ye
are honoured by us with that treatment which ye deserve, and also in
order that ye may report to the king who sent you that a man of
Hellas, ruler under him of the Macedonians, entertained you well at
board and bed." Having thus said Alexander caused a Macedonian man in
the guise of a woman to sit by each Persian, and they, when the
Persians attempted to lay hands on them, slew them.
21. So these
perished by this fate, both they themselves and their company of
servants; for there came with them carriages and servants and all the
usual pomp of equipage, and this was all made away with at the same
time as they. Afterwards in no long time a great search was made by
the Persians for these men, and Alexander stopped them with cunning by
giving large sums of money and his own sister, whose name was Gygaia;
--by giving, I say, these things to Bubares a Persian, commander of
those who were searching for the men who had been killed, Alexander
stopped their search.
22. Thus the death of these Persians was kept
concealed. And that these descendants of Perdiccas are Hellenes, as
they themselves say, I happen to know myself, and not only so, but I
will prove in the succeeding history that they are Hellenes.[10]
Moreover the Hellanodicai, who manage the games at Olympia, decided
that they were so: for when Alexander wished to contend in the games
and had descended for this purpose into the arena, the Hellenes who
were to run against him tried to exclude him, saying that the contest
was not for Barbarians to contend in but for Hellenes: since however
Alexander proved that he was of Argos, he was judged to be a Hellene,
and when he entered the contest of the foot-race his lot came out with
that of the first.[11]
23. Thus then it happened with regard to these things: and at the same
time Megabazos had arrived at the Hellespont bringing with him the
Paionians; and thence after passing over the straits he came to
Sardis. Then, since Histiaios the Milesian was already engaged in
fortifying with a wall the place which he had asked and obtained from
Dareios as a reward for keeping safe the bridge of boats (this place
being that which is called Myrkinos, lying along the bank of the river
Strymon), Megabazos, having perceived that which was being done by
Histiaios, as soon as he came to Sardis bringing the Paionians, said
thus to Dareios: "O king, what a thing is this that thou hast done,
granting permission to a Hellene who is skilful and cunning to found a
city in Thracia in a place where there is forest for shipbuilding in
abundance and great quantity of wood for oars and mines of silver and
great numbers both of Hellenes and Barbarians living round, who when
they have obtained a leader will do that which he shall command them
both by day and by night. Therefore stop this man from doing so, that
thou be not involved in a domestic war: and stop him by sending for
him in a courteous manner; but when thou hast got him in thy hands,
then cause that he shall never again return to the land of the
Hellenes.
24. Thus saying Megabazos easily persuaded Dareios, who
thought that he was a true prophet of that which was likely to come to
pass: and upon that Dareios sent a messenger to Myrkinos and said as
follows: "Hisiaios, king Dareios saith these things:--By taking
thought I find that there is no one more sincerely well disposed than
thou art to me and to my power; and this I know having learnt by deeds
not words. Now therefore, since I have it in my mind to accomplish
great matters, come hither to me by all means, that I may communicate
them to thee." Histiaios therefore, trusting to these sayings and at
the same time accounting it a great thing to become a counsellor of
the king, came to Sardis; and when he had come Dareios spoke to him as
follows: "Histiaios, I sent for thee for this reason, namely because
when I had returned from the Scythians and thou wert gone away out of
the sight of my eyes, never did I desire to see anything again within
so short a time as I desired then both to see thee and that thou
shouldst come to speech with me; since I perceived that the most
valuable of all possessions is a friend who is a man of understanding
and also sincerely well-disposed, both which qualities I know exist in
thee, and I am able to bear witness of them in regard to my affairs.
Now therefore (for thou didst well in that thou camest hither) this is
that which I propose to thee:--leave Miletos alone and also thy newly-
founded city in Thracia, and coming with me to Susa, have whatsoever
things I have, eating at my table and being my counseller."
25. Thus
said Dareios, and having appointed Artaphrenes[12] his own brother and
the son of his father to be governor of Sardis, he marched away to
Susa taking with him Histiaios, after he had first named Otanes to be
commander of those who dwelt along the sea coasts. This man's father
Sisamnes, who had been made one of the Royal Judges, king Cambyses
slew, because he had judged a cause unjustly for money, and flayed off
all his skin: then after he had torn away the skin he cut leathern
thongs out of it and stretched them across the seat where Sisamnes had
been wont to sit to give judgment; and having stretched them in the
seat, Cambyses appointed the son of that Sisamnes whom he had slain
and flayed, to be judge instead of his father, enjoining him to
remember in what seat he was sitting to give judgment.
26. This Otanes
then, who was made to sit in that seat, had now become the successor
of Megabazos in the command: and he conquered the Byzantians and
Calchedonians, and he conquered Antandros in the land of Troas, and
Lamponion; and having received ships from the Lesbians he conquered
Lemnos and Imbros, which were both at that time still inhabited by
Pelasgians.
27. Of these the Lemnians fought well, and defending
themselves for a long time were at length brought to ruin;[13] and
over those of them who survived the Persians set as governor Lycaretos
the brother of that Maiandrios who had been king of Samos. This
Lycaretos ruled in Lemnos till his death. And the cause of it[14] was
this:--he continued to reduce all to slavery and subdue them, accusing
some of desertion to the Scythians and others of doing damage to the
army of Dareios as it was coming back from Scythia.
28. Otanes then effected so much when he was made commander: and after
this for a short time there was an abatement[15] of evils; and then
again evils began a second time to fall upon the Ionians, arising from
Naxos and Miletos. For Naxos was superior to all the other islands in
wealth, and Miletos at the same time had just then come to the very
height of its prosperity and was the ornament[16] of Ionia; but before
these events for two generations of men it had been afflicted most
violently by faction until the Parians reformed it; for these the
Milesians chose of all the Hellenes to be reformers of their State.
29. Now the Parians thus reconciled their factions:--the best men of
them came to Miletos, and seeing that the Milesians were in a
grievously ruined state, they said that they desired to go over their
land: and while doing this and passing through the whole territory of
Miletos, whenever they saw in the desolation of the land any field
that was well cultivated, they wrote down the name of the owner of
that field. Then when they had passed through the whole land and had
found but few of such men, as soon as they returned to the city they
called a general gathering and appointed these men to manage the
State, whose fields they had found well cultivated; for they said that
they thought these men would take care of the public affairs as they
had taken care of their own: and the rest of the Milesians, who before
had been divided by factions, they commanded to be obedient to these
men.
30. The Parians then had thus reformed the Milesians; but at the time
of which I speak evils began to come to Ionia from these States[17] in
the following manner:--From Naxos certain men of the wealthier
class[18] were driven into exile by the people, and having gone into
exile they arrived at Miletos. Now of Miletos it happened that
Aristagoras son of Molpagoras was ruler in charge, being both a son-
in-law and also a cousin of Histiaios the son of Lysagoras, whom
Dareios was keeping at Susa: for Histiaios was despot of Miletos, and
it happened that he was at Susa at this time when the Naxians came,
who had been in former times guest-friends of Histiaios. So when the
Naxians arrived, they made request of Aristagoras, to see if perchance
he would supply them with a force, and so they might return from exile
to their own land: and he, thinking that if by his means they should
return to their own State, he would be ruler of Naxos, but at the same
time making a pretext of the guest-friendship of Histiaios, made
proposal to them thus: "I am not able to engage that I can supply you
with sufficient force to bring you back from exile against the will of
those Naxians who have control of the State; for I hear that the
Naxians have an army which is eight thousand shields strong and many
ships of war: but I will use every endeavour to devise a means; and my
plan is this:--it chances that Artaphrenes is my friend: now
Artaphrenes, ye must know,[18a] is a son of Hystaspes and brother of
Dareios the king; and he is ruler of all the people of the sea-coasts
in Asia, with a great army and many ships. This man then I think will
do whatsoever we shall request of him." Hearing this the Naxians gave
over the matter to Aristagoras to manage as best he could, and they
bade him promise gifts and the expenses of the expedition, saying that
they would pay them; for they had full expectation that when they
should appear at Naxos, the Naxians would do all their bidding, and
likewise also the other islanders. For of these islands, that is the
Cyclades, not one was as yet subject to Dareios.
31. Aristagoras
accordingly having arrived at Sardis, said to Artaphrenes that Naxos
was an island not indeed large in size, but fair nevertheless and of
fertile soil, as well as near to Ionia, and that there was in it much
wealth and many slaves: "Do thou therefore send an expedition against
this land, and restore it to those who are now exiles from it: and if
thou shalt do this, first I have ready for thee large sums of money
apart from the expenses incurred for the expedition (which it is fair
that we who conduct it should supply), and next thou wilt gain for the
king not only Naxos itself but also the islands which are dependent
upon it, Paros and Andros and the others which are called Cyclades;
and setting out from these thou wilt easily attack Eubœa, an island
which is large and wealth, as large indeed as Cyprus, and very easy to
conquer. To subdue all these a hundred ships are sufficient." He made
answer in these words: "Thou makest thyself a reporter of good things
to the house of the king; and in all these things thou advisest well,
except as to the number of the ships: for instead of one hundred there
shall be prepared for thee two hundred by the beginning of the spring.
And it is right that the king himself also should join in approving
this matter."
32. So Aristagoras hearing this went back to Miletos
greatly rejoiced; and Artaphrenes meanwhile, when he had sent to Susa
and communicated that which was said by Aristagoras, and Dareios
himself also had joined in approving it, made ready two hundred
triremes and a very great multitude both of Persians and their allies,
and appointed to be commander of these Megabates a Persian, one of the
Achaimenidai and a cousin to himself and to Dareios, to whose daughter
afterwards Pausanias the son of Cleombrotus the Lacedaemonian (at
least if the story be true) betrothed himself, having formed a desire
to become a despot of Hellas. Having appointed Megabates, I say, to be
commander, Artaphrenes sent away the armament to Aristagoras.
33. So
when Megabates had taken force together with the Naxians, he sailed
with the pretence of going to the Hellespont; but when he came to
Chios, he directed his ships to Caucasa, in order that he might from
thence pass them over to Naxos with a North Wind. Then, since it was
not fated that the Naxians should be destroyed by this expedition,
there happened an event which I shall narrate. As Megabates was going
round to visit the guards set in the several ships, it chanced that in
a ship of Myndos there was no one on guard; and he being very angry
bade his spearmen find out the commander of the ship, whose name was
Skylax, and bind him in an oar-hole of his ship in such a manner[19]
that his head should be outside and his body within. When Skylax was
thus bound, some one reported to Aristagoras that Megabates had bound
his guest-friend of Myndos and was doing to him shameful outrage. He
accordingly came and asked the Persian for his release, and as he did
not obtain anything of that which he requested, he went himself and
let him loose. Being informed of this Megabates was exceedingly angry
and broke out in rage against Aristagoras; and he replied: "What hast
thou to do with these matters? Did not Artaphrenes send thee to obey
me, and to sail whithersoever I should order? Why dost thou meddle
with things which concern thee not?" Thus said Aristagoras; and the
other being enraged at this, when night came on sent men in a ship to
Naxos to declare to the Naxians all the danger that threatened them.
34. For the Naxians were not at all expecting that this expedition
would be against them: but when they were informed of it, forthwith
they brought within the wall the property which was in the fields, and
provided for themselves food and drink as for a siege, and
strengthened their wall.[20] These then were making preparations as
for war to come upon them; and the others meanwhile having passed
their ships over from Chios to Naxos, found them well defended when
they made their attack, and besieged them for four months. Then when
the money which the Persians had brought with them had all been
consumed by them, and not only that, but Aristagoras himself had spent
much in addition, and the siege demanded ever more and more, they
built walls for the Naxian exiles and departed to the mainland again
with ill success.
35. And so Aristagoras was not able to fulfil his
promise to Artaphrenes; and at the same time he was hard pressed by
the demand made to him for the expenses of the expedition, and had
fears because of the ill success of the armament and because he had
become an enemy of Megabates; and he supposed that he would be
deprived of his rule over Miletos. Having all these various fears he
began to make plans of revolt: for it happened also that just at this
time the man who had been marked upon the head had come from Hisiaios
who was at Susa, signifying that Aristagoras should revolt from the
king. For Histiaios, desiring to signify to Aristagoras that he should
revolt, was not able to do it safely in any other way, because the
roads were guarded, but shaved off the hair of the most faithful of
his slaves, and having marked his head by pricking it, waited till the
hair had grown again; and as soon as it was grown, he sent him away to
Miletos, giving him no other charge but this, namely that when he
should have arrived at Miletos he should bid Aristagoras shave his
hair and look at his head: and the marks, as I have said before,
signified revolt. This thing Histiaios was doing, because he was
greatly vexed by being detained at Susa. He had great hopes then that
if a revolt occurred he would be let go to the sea-coast; but if no
change was made at Miletos[20a] he had no expectation of ever
returning thither again.
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