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The History of Herodotus: Page 32
Volume Two - Book VI
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40. Now this Miltiades son of Kimon had at the time of which we speak
but lately returned[27] to the Chersonese; and after he had returned,
there befell him other misfortunes worse than those which had befallen
him already; for two years before this he had been a fugitive out of
the land from the Scythians, since the nomad Scythians provoked by
king Dareios had joined all in a body and marched as far as this
Chersonese, and Miltiades had not awaited their attack but had become
a fugitive from the Chersonese, until at last the Scythians departed
and the Dolonkians brought him back again. These things happened two
years before the calamities which now oppressed him: 41, and now,
being informed that the Phenicians were at Tenedos, he filled five
triremes with the property which he had at hand and sailed away for
Athens. And having set out from the city of Cardia he was sailing
through the gulf of Melas; and as he passed along by the shore of the
Chersonese, the Phenicians fell in with his ships, and while Miltiades
himself with four of his ships escaped to Imbros, the fifth of his
ships was captured in the pursuit by the Phenicians. Of this ship it
chanced that Metiochos the eldest of the sons of Miltiades was in
command, not born of the daughter of Oloros the Thracian, but of
another woman. Him the Phenicians captured together with his ship; and
being informed about him, that he was the son of Miltiades, they
brought him up to the king, supposing that they would lay up for
themselves a great obligation; because it was Miltiades who had
declared as his opinion to the Ionians that they should do as the
Scythians said, at that time when the Scythians requested them to
break up the bridge of boats and sail away to their own land. Dareios
however, when the Phenicians brought up to him Metiochos the son of
Miltiades, did Metiochos no harm but on the contrary very much good;
for he gave him a house and possessions and a Persian wife, by whom he
had children born who have been ranked as Persians. Miltiades
meanwhile came from Imbros to Athens.
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42. In the course of this year there was done by the Persians nothing
more which tended to strife with the Ionians, but these things which
follow were done in this year very much to their advantage.-- Artaphrenes the governor of Sardis sent for envoys from all the cities
and compelled the Ionians to make agreements among themselves, so that
they might give satisfaction for wrongs and not plunder one another's
land. This he compelled them to do, and also he measured their
territories by parasangs,--that is the name which the Persians give to
the length of thirty furlongs,[28]--he measured, I say, by these, and
appointed a certain amount of tribute for each people, which continues
still unaltered from that time even to my own days, as it was
appointed by Artaphrenes; and the tribute was appointed to be nearly
of the same amount for each as it had been before.
43. These were
things which tended to peace for the Ionians; but at the beginning of
the spring, the other commanders having all been removed by the king, Mardonios the son of Gobryas came down to the sea, bringing with him a
very large land-army and a very large naval force, being a young man
and lately married to Artozostra daughter of king Dareios. When
Mardonios leading this army came to Kilikia, he embarked on board a
ship himself and proceeded together with the other ships, while other
leaders led the land-army to the Hellespont. Mardonios however sailing
along the coast of Asia came to Ionia: and here I shall relate a thing
which will be a great marvel to those of the Hellenes who do not
believe that to the seven men of the Persians Otanes declared as his
opinion that the Persians ought to have popular rule;[29] for
Mardonios deposed all the despots of the Ionians and established
popular governments in the cities. Having so done he hastened on to
the Hellespont; and when there was collected a vast number of ships
and a large land-army, they crossed over the Hellespont in the ships
and began to make their way through Europe, and their way was directed
against Eretria and Athens.
44. These, I say, furnished them the
pretence for the expedition, but they had it in their minds to subdue
as many as they could of the Hellenic cities; and in the first place
they subdued with their ships the Thasians, who did not even raise a
hand to defend themselves: then with the land-army they gained the
Macedonians to be their servants in addition to those whom they had
already; for all the nations on the East of the Macedonians[30] had
become subject to them already before this. Crossing over then from
Thasos to the opposite coast, they proceeded on their way near the
land as far as Acanthos, and then starting from Acanthos they
attempted to get round Mount Athos; but as they sailed round, there
fell upon them a violent North Wind, against which they could do
nothing, and handled them very roughly, casting away very many of
their ships on Mount Athos. It is said indeed that the number of the
ships destroyed was three hundred,[30a], and more than twenty thousand
men; for as this sea which is about Athos is very full of sea
monsters, some were seized by these and so perished, while others were
dashed against the rocks; and some of them did not know how to swim
and perished for that cause, others again by reason of cold.
45. Thus
fared the fleet; and meanwhile Mardonios and the land-army while
encamping in Macedonia were attacked in the night by the Brygian
Thracians, and many of them were slain by the Brygians and Mardonios
himself was wounded. However not even these escaped being enslaved by
the Persians, for Mardonios did not depart from that region until he
had made them subject. But when he had subdued these, he proceeded to
lead his army back, since he had suffered great loss with his land-
army in fighting against the Brygians and with his fleet in going
round Athos. So this expedition departed back to Asia having gained no
honour by its contests.
46. In the next year after this Dareios first sent a messenger to the
men of Thasos, who had been accused by their neighbours of planning
revolt, and bade them take away the wall around their town and bring
their ships to Abdera. The Thasians in fact, as they had been besieged
by Histiaios the Milesian and at the same time had large revenues
coming in, were using their money in building ships of war and in
surrounding their city with a stronger wall. Now the revenues came to
them from the mainland and from the mines: from the gold-mines in
Scapte Hyle[31] there came in generally eighty talents a year, and
from those in Thasos itself a smaller amount than this but so much
that in general the Thasians, without taxes upon the produce of their
soil, had a revenue from the mainland and from the mines amounting
yearly to two hundred talents, and when the amount was highest, to
three hundred.
47. I myself saw these mines, and by much the most marvellous of them were those which the Phenicians discovered, who
made the first settlement in this island in company with Thasos; and
the island had the name which it now has from this Thasos the
Phenician. These Phenician mines are in that part of Thasos which is
between the places called Ainyra and Koinyra and opposite Samothrake,
where there is a great mountain which has been all turned up in the
search for metal. Thus it is with this matter: and the Thasians on the
command of the king both razed their walls and brought all their ships
to Abdera.
48. After this Dareios began to make trial of the Hellenes, what they
meant to do, whether to make war with him or to deliver themselves up.
He sent abroad heralds therefore, and appointed them to go some to one
place and others to another throughout Hellas, bidding them demand
earth and water for the king. These, I say, he sent to Hellas; and
meanwhile he was sending abroad other heralds to his own tributary
cities which lay upon the sea-coast, and he bade them have ships of
war built and also vessels to carry horses.
49. They then were engaged
in preparing these things; and meanwhile when the heralds had come to
Hellas, many of those who dwelt upon the mainland gave that for which
the Persian made demand,[32] and all those who dwelt in the islands
did so, to whomsoever they came to make their demand. The islanders, I
say, gave earth and water to Dareios, and among them also those of
Egina, and when these had done so, the Athenians went forthwith urgent
against them, supposing that the Eginetans had given with hostile
purpose against themselves, in order to make an expedition against
them in combination with the Persians; and also they were glad to get
hold of an occasion against them. Accordingly they went backward and
forwards to Sparta and accused the Eginetans of that which they had
done, as having proved themselves traitors to Hellas.
50. In
consequence of this accusation Cleomenes the son of Anaxandrides, king
of the Spartans, crossed over to Egina meaning to seize those of the
Eginetans who were the most guilty; but as he was attempting to seize
them, certain of the Eginetans opposed him, and among them especially
Crios the son of Polycritos, who said that he should not with impunity
carry off a single Eginetan, for he was doing this (said he) without
authority from the Spartan State, having been persuaded to it by the
Athenians with money; otherwise he would have come and seized them in
company with the other king: and this he said by reason of a message
received from Demaratos. Cleomenes then as he departed from Egina,
asked Crios[33] what was his name, and he told him the truth; and
Cleomenes said to him: "Surely now, O Ram, thou must cover over thy
horns with bronze for thou wilt shortly have a great trouble to
contend with."
51. Meanwhile Demaratos the son of Ariston was staying behind in
Sparta and bringing charges against Cleomenes, he also being king of
the Spartans but of the inferior house; which however is inferior in
no other way (for it is descended from the same ancestor), but the
house of Eurysthenes has always been honoured more, apparently because
he was the elder brother.
52. For the Lacedemonians, who herein agree
with none of the poets, say that Aristodemos the son of Aristomachos,
the son of Cleodaios, the son of Hyllos, being their king, led them
himself (and not the sons of Aristodemos) to this land which they now
possess. Then after no long time the wife of Aristodemos, whose name
was Argeia,--she was the daughter, they say, of Autesion, the son of
Tisamenes, the son of Thersander, the son of Polyneikes,--she, it is
said, brought forth twins; and Aristodemos lived but to see his
children and then ended his life by sickness. So the Lacedemonians of
that time resolved according to established custom to make the elder
of the children their king; but they did not know which of them they
should take, because they were like one another and of equal size; and
when they were not able to make out, or even before this, they
inquired of their mother; and she said that even she herself did not
know one from the other. She said this, although she knew in truth
very well, because she desired that by some means both might be made
kings. The Lacedemonians then were in a strait; and being in a strait
they sent to Delphi to inquire what they should do in the matter. And
the Pythian prophetess bade them regard both children as their kings,
but honour most the first in age.[34] The prophetess, they say, thus
gave answer to them; and when the Lacedemonians were at a loss none
the less how to find out the elder of them, a Messenian whose name was
Panites made a suggestion to them: this Panites, I say, suggested to
the Lacedemonians that they should watch the mother and see which of
the children she washed and fed before the other; and if she was seen
to do this always in the same order, then they would have all that
they were seeking and desiring to find out, but if she too was
uncertain and did it in a different order at different times, it would
be plain to them that even she had no more knowledge than any other,
and they must turn to some other way. Then the Spartans following the
suggestion of the Messenian watched the mother of the sons of
Aristodemos and found that she gave honour thus to the first-born both
in feeding and in washing; for she did not know with that design she
was being watched. They took therefore the child which was honoured by
its mother and brought it up as the first-born in the public hall,[35]
and to it was given the name of Eurysthenes, while the other was
called Procles. These, when they had grown up, both themselves were at
variance, they say, with one another, though they were brothers,
throughout the whole time of their lives, and their descendants also
continued after the same manner.
53. This is the report given by the Lacedemonians alone of all the
Hellenes; but this which follows I write in accordance with that which
is reported by the Hellenes generally,--I mean that the names of these
kings of the Dorians are rightly enumerated by the Hellenes up to
Perseus the son of Danae (leaving the god out of account),[36] and
proved to be of Hellenic race; for even from that time they were
reckoned as Hellenes. I said "up to Perseus" and did not take the
descent from a yet higher point, because there is no name mentioned of
a mortal father for Perseus, as Amphitryon is for Heracles. Therefore
with reason, as is evident, I have said "rightly up to Perseus"; but
if one enumerates their ancestors in succession going back from Danae
the daughter of Acrisios, the rulers of the Dorians will prove to be
Egyptians by direct descent.
54. Thus I have traced the descent
according to the account given by the Hellenes; but as the story is
reported which the Persians tell, Perseus himself was an Assyrian and
became a Hellene, whereas the ancestors of Perseus were not Hellenes;
and as for the ancestors of Acrisios, who (according to this account)
belonged not to Perseus in any way by kinship, they say that these
were, as the Hellenes report, Egyptians.
55. Let it suffice to have
said so much about these matters; and as to the question how and by
what exploits being Egyptians they received the sceptres of royalty
over the Dorians, we will omit these things, since others have told
about them; but the things with which other narrators have not dealt,
of these I will make mention.
56. These are the royal rights which have been given by the Spartans
to their kings, namely, two priesthoods, of Zeus Lakedaimon and Zeus
Uranios;[37] and the right of making war against whatsoever land they
please, and that no man of the Spartans shall hinder this right, or if
he do, he shall be subject to the curse; and that when they go on
expeditions the kings shall go out first and return last; that a
hundred picked men shall be their guard upon expeditions; and that
they shall use in their goings forth to war as many cattle as they
desire, and take both the hides and the backs of all that are
sacrificed.
57. These are their privileges in war; and in peace
moreover things have been assigned to them as follows:--if any
sacrifice is performed at the public charge, it is the privilege of
the kings to sit down at the feast before all others, and that the
attendants shall begin with them first, and serve to each of them a
portion of everything double of that which is given to the other
guests, and that they shall have the first pouring of libations and
the hides of the animals slain in sacrifice; that on every new moon
and seventh day of the month there shall be delivered at the public
charge to each one of these a full-grown victim in the temple of
Apollo, and a measure[38] of barley-groats and a Laconian
"quarter"[39] of wine; and that at all the games they shall have seats
of honour specially set apart for them: moreover it is their privilege
to appoint as protectors of strangers[40] whomsoever they will of the
citizens, and to choose each two "Pythians:" now the Pythians are men
sent to consult the god at Delphi, and they eat with the kings at the
public charge. And if the kings do not come to the dinner, it is the
rule that there shall be sent out for them to their houses two
quarts[41] of barley-groats for each one and half a pint[42] of wine;
but if they are present, double shares of everything shall be given
them, and moreover they shall be honoured in this same manner when
they have been invited to dinner by private persons. The kings also,
it is ordained, shall have charge of the oracles which are given, but
the Pythians also shall have knowledge of them. It is the rule
moreover that the kings alone give decision on the following cases
only, that is to say, about the maiden who inherits her father's
property, namely who ought to have her, if her father have not
betrothed her to any one, and about public ways; also if any man
desires to adopt a son, he must do it in presence of the kings: and it
is ordained that they shall sit in council with the Senators, who are
in number eight-and-twenty, and if they do not come, those of the
Senators who are most closely related to them shall have the
privileges of the kings and give two votes besides their own, making
three in all.[42a]
58. These rights have been assigned to the kings
for their lifetime by the Spartan State; and after they are dead these
which follow:--horsemen go round and announce that which has happened
throughout the whole of the Laconian land, and in the city women go
about and strike upon a copper kettle. Whenever this happens so, two
free persons of each household must go into mourning, a man and a
woman, and for those who fail to do this great penalties are
appointed. Now the custom of the Lacedemonians about the deaths of
their kings is the same as that of the Barbarians who dwell in Asia,
for most of the Barbarians practise the same customs as regards the
death of their kings. Whensoever a king of the Lacedemonians is dead,
then from the whole territory of Lacedemon, not reckoning the
Spartans, a certain fixed number of the "dwellers round"[43] are
compelled to go to the funeral ceremony: and when there have been
gathered together of these and of the Helots and of the Spartans
themselves many thousands in the same place, with their women
intermingled, they beat their foreheads with a good will and make
lamentation without stint, saying that this one who has died last of
their kings was the best of all: and whenever any of their kings has
been killed in war, they prepare an image to represent him, laid upon
a couch with fair coverings, and carry it out to be buried. Then after
they have buried him, no assembly is held among them for ten days, nor
is there any meeting for choice of magistrates, but they have mourning
during these days. In another respect too these resemble the Persians;
that is to say, when the king is dead and another is appointed king,
this king who is newly coming in sets free any man of the Spartans who
was a debtor to the king or to the State; while among the Persians the
king who comes to the throne remits to all the cities the arrears of
tribute which are due.
60. In the following point also the Lacedemonians resemble the Egyptians; that is to say, their heralds
and fluteplayers and cooks inherit the crafts of their fathers, and a
fluteplayer is the son of a fluteplayer, a cook of a cook, and a
herald of a herald; other men do not lay hands upon the office because
they have loud and clear voices, and so shut them out of it, but they
practise their craft by inheritance from their fathers.
61. Thus are these things done: and at this time of which we
speak,[44] while Cleomenes was in Egina doing deeds[45] which were for
the common service of Hellas, Demaratos brought charges against him,
not so much because he cared for the Eginetans as because he felt envy
and jealousy of him. Then Cleomenes, after he returned from Egina,
planned to depose Demaratos from being king, making an attempt upon
him on account of this matter which follows:--Ariston being king in
Sparta and having married two wives, yet had no children born to him;
and since he did not acknowledge that he himself was the cause of
this, he married a third wife; and he married her thus:--he had a
friend, a man of the Spartans, to whom of all the citizens Ariston was
most inclined; and it chanced that this man had a wife who was of all
the women in Sparta the fairest by far, and one too who had become the
fairest from having been the foulest. For as she was mean in her
aspect, her nurse, considering that she was the daughter of wealthy
persons and was of uncomely aspect, and seeing moreover that her
parents were troubled by it,--perceiving I say these things, her nurse
devised as follows:--every day she bore her to the temple of Helen,
which is in the place called Therapne, lying above the temple of
Phoebus; and whenever the nurse bore her thither, she placed her
before the image and prayed the goddess to deliver the child from her
unshapeliness. And once as the nurse was going away out of the temple,
it is said that a woman appeared to her, and having appeared asked her
what she was bearing in her arms; and she told her that she was
bearing a child; upon which the other bade her show the child to her,
but she refused, for it had been forbidden to her by the parents to
show it to any one: but the woman continued to urge her by all means
to show it to her. So then perceiving that the woman earnestly desired
to see it, the nurse showed her the child. Then the woman stroking the
head of the child said that she should be the fairest of all the women
in Sparta; and from that day her aspect was changed. Afterwards when
she came to the age for marriage, she was married to Agetos the son of
Alkeides, this friend of Ariston of whom we spoke.
62. Now Ariston it
seems was ever stung by the desire of this woman, and accordingly he
contrived as follows:--he made an engagement himself with his comrade,
whose wife this woman was, that he would give him as a gift one thing
of his own possessions, whatsoever he should choose, and he bade his
comrade make return to him in similar fashion. He therefore, fearing
nothing for his wife, because he saw that Ariston also had a wife,
agreed to this; and on these terms they imposed oaths on one another.
After this Ariston on his part gave that which Agetos had chosen from
the treasures of Ariston, whatever the thing was; and he himself,
seeking to obtain from him the like return, endeavoured then to take
away the wife of his comrade from him: and he said that he consented
to give anything else except this one thing only, but at length being
compelled by the oath and by the treacherous deception,[46] he allowed
her to be taken away from him.
63. Thus had Ariston brought into his
house the third wife, having dismissed the second: and this wife, not
having fulfilled the ten months[47] but in a shorter period of time,
bore him that Demaratos of whom we were speaking; and one of his
servants reported to him as he was sitting in council[48] with the
Ephors, that a son had been born to him. He then, knowing the time
when he took to him his wife, and reckoning the months upon his
fingers, said, denying with an oath, "The child would not be mine."
This the Ephors heard, but they thought it a matter of no importance
at the moment; and the child grew up and Ariston repented of that
which he had said, for he thought Demaratos was certainly his own son;
and he gave him the name "Demaratos" for this reason, namely because
before these things took place the Spartan people all in a body[49]
had made a vow[50] praying that a son might be born to Ariston, as one
who was pre-eminent in renown over all the kings who had ever arisen
in Sparta.
64. For this reason the name Demaratos[51] was given to
him. And as time went on Ariston died, and Demaratos obtained the
kingdom: but it was fated apparently that these things should become
known and should cause Demaratos to be deposed from the kingdom; and
therefore[52] Demaratos came to be at variance greatly with Cleomenes
both at the former time when he withdrew his army from Eleusis, and
also now especially, when Cleomenes had crossed over to take those of
the Eginetans who had gone over to the Medes.
65. Cleomenes then,
being anxious to take vengeance on him, concerted matters with
Leotychides the son of Menares, the son of Agis, who was of the same
house as Demaratos, under condition that if he should set him up as
king instead of Demaratos, he would go with him against the Eginetans.
Now Leotychides had become a bitter foe of Demaratos on account of
this matter which follows:--Leotychides had betrothed himself to
Percalos the daughter of Chilon son of Demarmenos; and Demaratos
plotted against him and deprived Leotychides of his marriage, carrying
off Percalos himself beforehand, and getting her for his wife. Thus
had arisen the enmity of Leotychides against Demaratos; and now by the
instigation of Cleomenes Leotychides deposed against Demaratos, saying
that he was not rightfully reigning over the Spartans, not being a son
of Ariston: and after this deposition he prosecuted a suit against
him, recalling the old saying which Ariston uttered at the time when
his servant reported to him that a son was born to him, and he
reckoning up the months denied with an oath, saying that it was not
his. Taking his stand upon this utterance, Leotychides proceeded to
prove that Demaratos was not born of Ariston nor was rightfully
reigning over Sparta; and he produced as witnesses those Ephors who
chanced then to have been sitting with Ariston in council and to have
heard him say this.
66. At last, as there was contention about those
matters, the Spartans resolved to ask the Oracle at Delphi whether Demaratos was the son of Ariston. The question then having been
referred by the arrangement of Cleomenes to the Pythian prophetess,
thereupon Cleomenes gained over to his side Cobon the son of
Aristophantos, who had most power among the Delphians, and Cobin
persuaded Perialla the prophetess of the Oracle[53] to say that which
Cleomenes desired to have said. Thus the Pythian prophetess, when
those who were sent to consult the god asked her their question, gave
decision that Demaratos was not the son of Ariston. Afterwards however
these things became known, and both Cobon went into exile from Delphi
and Perialla the prophetess of the Oracle was removed from her office.
67. With regard to the deposing of Demaratos from the kingdom it
happened thus: but Demaratos became an exile from Sparta to the Medes
on account of a reproach which here follows:--After he had been
deposed from the kingdom Demaratos was holding a public office to
which he had been elected. Now it was the time of the Gymnopaidiai;
and as Demaratos was a spectator of them, Leotychides, who had now
become king himself instead of Demaratos, sent his attendant and asked
Demaratos in mockery and insult what kind of a thing it was to be a
magistrate after having been king; and he vexed at the question made
answer and said that he himself had now had experience of both, but
Leotychides had not; this question however, he said, would be the
beginning either of countless evil or countless good fortune for the
Lacedemonians. Having thus said, he veiled his head and went forth out
of the theatre to his own house; and forthwith he made preparations
and sacrificed an ox to Zeus, and after having sacrificed he called
his mother.
68. Then when his mother had come, he put into her hands
some of the inner parts[54] of the victim, and besought her, saying as
follows: "Mother, I beseech thee, appealing to the other gods and
above all to this Zeus the guardian of the household,[55] to tell me
the truth, who is really and truly my father. For Leotychides spoke in
his contention with me, saying that thou didst come to Ariston with
child by thy former husband; and others besides, reporting that which
is doubtless an idle tale,[56] say that thou didst go in to one of the
servants, namely the keeper of the asses, and that I am his son. I
therefore entreat thee by the gods to tell me the truth; for if thou
hast done any of these things which are reported, thou hast not done
them alone, but with many other women; and the report is commonly
believed in Sparta that there was not in Ariston seed which should
beget children; for if so, then his former wives also would have borne
children."
69. Thus he spoke, and she made answer as follows: "My son,
since thou dost beseech me with entreaties to speak the truth, the
whole truth shall be told to thee. When Ariston had brought me into
his house, on the third night[57] there came to me an apparition in
the likeness of Ariston, and having lain with me it put upon me the
garlands which it had on; and the apparition straitway departed, and
after this Ariston came; and when he saw me with garlands, he asked
who it was who had given me them; and I said that he had given them,
but he did not admit it; and I began to take oath of it, saying that
he did not well to deny it, for he had come (I said) a short time
before and had lain with me and given me the garlands. Then Ariston,
seeing that I made oath of it, perceived that the matter was of the
gods; and first the garlands were found to be from the hero-temple
which stands by the outer door of the house, which they call the
temple of Astrabacos,[58] and secondly the diviners gave answer that
it was this same hero. Thus, my son, thou hast all, as much as thou
desirest to learn; for either thou art begotten of this hero and the
hero Astrabacos is thy father, or Ariston is thy father, for on that
night I conceived thee: but as to that wherein thy foes most take hold
of thee, saying that Ariston himself, when thy birth was announced to
him, in the hearing of many declared that thou wert not his son,
because the time, the ten months namely, had not yet been fulfilled,
in ignorance of such matters he cast forth that saying; for women
bring forth children both at the ninth month and also at the seventh,
and not all after they have completed ten months; and I bore thee, my
son, at the seventh month: and Ariston himself also perceived after no
long time that he had uttered this saying in folly. Do not thou then
accept any other reports about thy begetting, for thou hast heard in
all the full truth; but to Leotychides and to those who report these
things may their wives bear children by keepers of asses!"
70. Thus
she spoke; and he, having learnt that which he desired to learn, took
supplies for travelling and set forth to go to Elis, pretending that
he was going to Delphi to consult the Oracle: but the Lacedemonians,
suspecting that he was attempting to escape, pursued after him; and it
chanced that before they came Demaratos had passed over to Zakynthos
from Elis; and the Lacedemonians crossing over after him laid hands on
his person and carried away his attendants from him. Afterwards
however, since those of Zakynthos refused to give him up, he passed
over from thence to Asia, to the presence of king Dareios; and Dareios
both received him with great honour as a guest, and also gave him land
and cities. Thus Demaratos had come to Asia, and such was the fortune
which he had had, having been distinguished in the estimation of the
Lacedemonians[59] in many other ways both by deeds and by counsels,
and especially having gained for them an Olympic victory with the
four-horse chariot, being the only one who achieved this of all the
kings who ever arose in Sparta.
71. Demaratos being deposed, Leotychides the son of Menares succeeded
to the kingdom; and he had born to him a son Zeuxidemos, whom some of
the Spartans called Kyniscos. This Zeuxidemos did not become king of
Sparta, for he died before Leotychides, leaving a son Archidemos: and
Leotychides having lost Zeuxidemos married a second wife Eurydame, the
sister of Menios and daughter of Diactorides, by whom he had no male
issue, but a daughter Lampito, whom Archidemos the son of Zeuxidemos
took in marriage, she being given to him by Leotychides.
72. Leotychides however did not himself[60] live to old age in Sparta, but
paid a retribution for Demaratos as follows:--he went as commander of
the Lacedemonians to invade Thessaly, and when he might have reduced
all to subjection, he accepted gifts of money amounting to a large
sum; and being taken in the act there in the camp, as he was sitting
upon a glove full of money, he was brought to trial and banished from
Sparta, and his house was razed to the ground. So he went into exile
to Tegea and ended his life there.
73. These things happened later;
but at this time, when Cleomenes had brought to a successful issue the
affair which concerned Demaratos, forthwith he took with him
Leotychides and went against the Eginetans, being very greatly enraged
with them because of their insults towards him. So the Eginetans on
their part, since both the kings had come against them, thought fit no
longer to resist; and the Spartans selected ten men who were the most
considerable among the Eginetans both by wealth and by birth, and took
them away as prisoners, and among others also Crios[61] the son of
Polycritos and Casambos the son of Aristocrates, who had the greatest
power among them; and having taken these away to the land of Attica,
they deposited them as a charge with the Athenians, who were the
bitterest enemies of the Eginetans.
74. After this Cleomenes, since it had become known that he had
devised evil against Demaratos, was seized by fear of the Spartans and
retired to Thessaly. Thence he came to Arcadia, and began to make
mischief[62] and to combine the Arcadians against Sparta; and besides
other oaths with which he caused them to swear that they would
assuredly follow him whithersoever he should lead them, he was very
desirous also to bring the chiefs of the Arcadians to the city of
Nonacris and cause them to swear by the water of Styx; for near this
city it is said by the Arcadians[63] that there is the water of Styx,
and there is in fact something of this kind: a small stream of water
is seen to trickle down from a rock into a hollow ravine, and round
the ravine runs a wall of rough stones. Now Nonacris, where it happens
that this spring is situated, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneos.
75.
The Lacedemonians, hearing that Cleomenes was acting thus, were
afraid, and proceeded to bring him back to Sparta to rule on the same
terms as before: but when he had come back, forthwith a disease of
madness seized him (who had been even before this somewhat
insane[64]), and whenever he met any of the Spartans, he dashed his
staff against the man's face. And as he continued to do this and had
gone quite out of his senses, his kinsmen bound him in stocks. Then
being so bound, and seeing his warder left alone by the rest, he asked
him for a knife; and the warder not being at first willing to give it,
he threatened him with that which he would do to him afterwards if he
did not; until at last the warder fearing the threats, for he was one
of the Helots, gave him a knife. Then Cleomenes, when he had received
the steel, began to maltreat himself from the legs upwards: for he
went on cutting his flesh lengthways from the legs to the thighs and
from the thighs to the loins and flanks, until at last he came to the
belly; and cutting this into strips he died in that manner. And this
happened, as most of the Hellenes report, because he persuaded the
Pythian prophetess to advise that which was done about Demaratos; but
as the Athenians alone report, it was because when he invaded Eleusis
he laid waste the sacred enclosure of the goddesses;[65] and according
to the report of the Argives, because from their sanctuary dedicated
to Argos he caused to come down those of the Argives who had fled for
refuge from the battle and slew them, and also set fire to the grove
itself, holding it in no regard.
76. For when Cleomenes was consulting
the Oracle at Delphi, the answer was given him that he should conquer
Argos; so he led the Spartans and came to the river Erasinos, which is
said to flow from the Stymphalian lake; for this lake, they say,
running out into a viewless chasm, appears again above ground in the
land of Argos; and from thence onwards this water is called by the
Argives Erasinos: having come, I say, to this river, Cleomenes did
sacrifice to it; and since the sacrifices were not at all favourable
for him to cross over, he said that he admired the Erasinos for not
betraying the men of its country, but the Argives should not even so
escape. After this he retired back from thence and led his army down
to Thyrea; and having done sacrifice to the Sea by slaying a bull, he
brought them in ships to the land of Tiryns and Nauplia.
77. Being
informed of this, the Argives came to the rescue towards the sea; and
when they had got near Tiryns and were at the place which is called
Hesipeia,[66] they encamped opposite to the Lacedemonians leaving no
very wide space between the armies. There the Argives were not afraid
of the open fighting, but only lest they should be conquered by craft;
for to this they thought referred the oracle which the Pythian
prophetess gave in common to these and to the Milesians,[67] saying as
follows:
"But when the female at length shall conquer the male in the battle,
Conquer and drive him forth, and glory shall gain among Argives,
Then many wives of the Argives shall tear both cheeks in their mourning;
So that a man shall say some time, of the men that came after,
'Quelled by the spear it perished, the three-coiled terrible serpent,'
The conjunction of all these things caused fear to the Argives, and
with a view to this they resolved to make use of the enemy's herald;
and having so resolved they proceeded to do as follows:--whenever the
Spartan herald proclaimed anything to the Lacedemonians, the Argives
also did that same thing.
78. So Cleomenes, perceiving that the
Argives were doing whatever the herald of the Lacedemonians
proclaimed, passed the word to the Lacedemonians that when the herald
should proclaim that they were to get breakfast, then they should take
up their arms and go to attack the Argives. This was carried out even
so by the Lacedemonians; for as the Argives were getting breakfast
according to the herald's proclamation, they attacked them; and many
of them they slew, but many more yet took refuge in the sacred grove
of Argos, and upon these they kept watch, sitting round about the
place. Then Cleomenes did this which follows:--
79. He had with him
deserters, and getting information by inquiring of these, he sent a
herald and summoned forth those of the Argives who were shut up in the
sanctuary, mentioning each by name; and he summoned them forth saying
that he had received their ransom. Now among the Peloponnesians ransom
is two pounds weight of silver[68] appointed to be paid for each
prisoner. So Cleomenes summoned forth about fifty of the Argives one
by one and slew them; and it chanced that the rest who were in the
enclosure did not perceive that this was being done; for since the
grove was thick, those within did not see how it fared with those who
were without, at least until one of them climbed up a tree and saw
from above that which was being done. Accordingly they then no longer
came forth when they were called.
80. So Cleomenes thereupon ordered
all the Helots to pile up brushwood round the sacred grove; and they
obeying, he set fire to the grove. And when it was now burning, he
asked one of the deserters to what god the grove was sacred, and the
man replied that it was sacred to Argos. When he heard that, he
groaned aloud and said, "Apollo who utterest oracles, surely thou hast
greatly deceived me, saying that I should conquer Argos: I conjecture
that the oracle has had its fulfilment for me already."
81. After this Cleomenes sent away the greater part of his army to go back to Sparta,
but he himself took a thousand of the best men and went to the temple
of Hera to sacrifice: and when he wished to sacrifice upon the altar,
the priest forbade him, saying that it was not permitted by religious
rule for a stranger to sacrifice in that place. Cleomenes however bade
the Helots take away the priest from the altar and scourge him, and he
himself offered the sacrifice. Having so done he returned back to
Sparta; 82, and after his return his opponents brought him up before
the Ephors, saying that he had received gifts and therefore had not
conquered Argos, when he might easily have conquered it. He said to
them,--but whether he was speaking falsely or whether truly I am not
able with certainty to say,--however that may be, he spoke and said
that when he had conquered the sanctuary of Argos, it seemed to him
that the oracle of the god had had its fulfilment for him; therefore
he did not think it right to make an attempt on the city, at least
until he should have had recourse to sacrifice, and should have learnt
whether the deity[69] permitted him or whether she stood opposed to
him: and as he was sacrificing for augury[70] in the temple of Hera, a
flame of fire blazed forth from the breasts of the image; and thus he
knew the certainty of the matter, namely that he would not conquer
Argos: for if fire had blazed forth from the head of the image, he
would have been conqueror of the city from top to bottom,[71] but
since it blazed from the breasts, everything had been accomplished for
him which the god desired should come to pass. Thus speaking he seemed
to the Spartans to speak credibly and reasonably, and he easily
escaped his pursuers.[72]
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