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The History of Herodotus: Page 49
Volume Two - Book IX
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98. The Hellenes however, when they were informed that the Barbarians
had gone away to the mainland, were vexed because they thought that
they had escaped; and they were in a difficulty what they should do,
whether they should go back home, or sail down towards the Hellespont.
At last they resolved to do neither of these two things, but to sail
on to the mainland. Therefore when they had prepared as for a sea-
fight both boarding-bridges and all other things that were required,
they sailed towards Mycale; and when they came near to the camp and no
one was seen to put out against them, but they perceived ships drawn
up within the wall and a large land-army ranged along the shore, then
first Leotychides, sailing along in his ship and coming as near to the
shore as he could, made proclamation by a herald to the Ionians,
saying: "Ionians, those of you who chance to be within hearing of me,
attend to this which I say: for the Persians will not understand
anything at all of that which I enjoin to you. When we join battle,
each one of you must remember first the freedom of all, and then the
watchword 'Hebe'; and this let him also who has not heard know from
him who has heard." The design in this act was the same as that of
Themistocles at Artemision; for it was meant that either the words
uttered should escape the knowledge of the Barbarians and persuade the
Ionians, or that they should be reported to the Barbarians and make
them distrustful of the Hellenes.[108]
99. After Leotychides had thus suggested, then next the Hellenes
proceeded to bring their ships up to land, and they disembarked upon
the shore. These then were ranging themselves for fight; and the
Persians, when they saw the Hellenes preparing for battle and also
that they had given exhortation to the Ionians, in the first place
deprived the Samians of their arms, suspecting that they were inclined
to the side of the Hellenes;
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for when the Athenian prisoners, the men whom the army of Xerxes had
found left behind in Attica, had come in the ships of the
Barbarians, the Samians had ransomed these and sent
them back to Athens, supplying them with means for their journey; and
for this reason especially they were suspected, since they had
ransomed five hundred persons of the enemies of Xerxes. Then secondly
the Persians appointed the Milesians to guard the passes which lead to
the summits of Mycale, on the pretext that they knew the country best,
but their true reason for doing this was that they might be out of the
camp. Against these of the Ionians, who, as they suspected, would make
some hostile move[109] if they found the occasion, the Persians sought
to secure themselves in the manner mentioned; and they themselves then
brought together their wicker-work shields to serve them as a fence.
100. Then when the Hellenes had made all their preparations, they
proceeded to the attack of the Barbarians; and as they went, a rumour
came suddenly[110] to their whole army, and at the same time a
herald's staff was found lying upon the beach; and the rumour went
through their army to this effect, namely that the Hellenes were
fighting in Botia and conquering the army of Mardonios. Now by many
signs is the divine power seen in earthly things, and by this among
others, namely that now, when the day of the defeat at Plataia and of
that which was about to take place at Mycale happened to be the same,
a rumour came to the Hellenes here, so that the army was encouraged
much more and was more eagerly desirous to face the danger.
101.
Moreover this other thing by coincidence happened besides, namely that
there was a sacred enclosure of the Eleusinian Demeter close by the
side of both the battle-fields; for not only in the Plataian land did
the fight take place close by the side of the temple of Demeter, as I
have before said, but also in Mycale it was to be so likewise. And
whereas the rumour which came to them said that a victory had been
already gained by the Hellenes with Pausanias, this proved to be a
true report; for that which was done at Plataia came about while it
was yet early morning, but the fighting at Mycale took place in the
afternoon; and that it happened on the same day of the same month as
the other became evident to them not long afterwards, when they
inquired into the matter. Now they had been afraid before the rumour
arrived, not for themselves so much as for the Hellenes generally,
lest Hellas should stumble and fall over Mardonios; but when this
report had come suddenly to them, they advanced on the enemy much more
vigorously and swiftly than before. The Hellenes then and the
Barbarians were going with eagerness into the battle, since both the
islands and the Hellespont were placed before them as prizes of the
contest.
102. Now for the Athenians and those who were ranged next to them, to
the number perhaps of half the whole army, the road lay along the sea-
beach and over level ground, while the Lacedemonians and those ranged
in order by these were compelled to go by a ravine and along the
mountain side: so while the Lacedemonians were yet going round, those
upon the other wing were already beginning the fight; and as long as
the wicker-work shields of the Persians still remained upright, they
continued to defend themselves and had rather the advantage in the
fight; but when the troops of the Athenians and of those ranged next
to them, desiring that the achievement should belong to them and not
to the Lacedemonians, with exhortations to one another set themselves
more vigorously to the work, then from that time forth the fortune of
the fight was changed; for these pushed aside the wicker-work shields
and fell upon the Persians with a rush all in one body, and the
Persians sustained their first attack and continued to defend
themselves for a long time, but at last they fled to the wall; and the
Athenians, Corinthians, Sikyonians and Troizenians, for that was the
order in which they were ranged, followed close after them and rushed
in together with them to the space within the wall: and when the wall
too had been captured, then the Barbarians no longer betook themselves
to resistance, but began at once to take flight, excepting only the
Persians, who formed into small groups and continued to fight with the
Hellenes as they rushed in within the wall. Of the commanders of the
Persians two made their escape and two were slain; Arta˙ntes and
Ithamitres commanders of the fleet escaped, while Mardontes and the
commander of the land-army, Tigranes, were slain.
103. Now while the
Persians were still fighting, the Lacedemonians and those with them
arrived, and joined in carrying through the rest of the work; and of
the Hellenes themselves many fell there and especially many of the
Sikyonians, together with their commander Perilaos. And those of the
Samians who were serving in the army, being in the camp of the Medes
and having been deprived of their arms, when they saw that from the
very first the battle began to be doubtful,[111] did as much as they
could, endeavouring to give assistance to the Hellenes; and the other
Ionians seeing that the Samians had set the example, themselves also
upon that made revolt from the Persians and attacked the Barbarians.
104. The Milesians too had been appointed to watch the passes of the
Persians[112] in order to secure their safety, so that if that should
after all come upon them which actually came, they might have guides
and so get safe away to the summits of Mycale,--the Milesians, I say,
had been appointed to do this, not only for that end but also for fear
that, if they were present in the camp, they might make some hostile
move:[113] but they did in fact the opposite of that which they were
appointed to do; for they not only directed them in the flight by
other than the right paths, by paths indeed which led towards the
enemy, but also at last they themselves became their worst foes and
began to slay them. Thus then for the second time Ionia revolted from
the Persians.
105. In this battle, of the Hellenes the Athenians were the best men,
and of the Athenians Hermolycos the son of Euthoinos, a man who had
trained for the /pancration/. This Hermolycos after these events, when
there was war between the Athenians and the Carystians, was killed in
battle at Kyrnos in the Carystian land near Geraistos, and there was
buried. After the Athenians the Corinthians, Troizenians and
Sikyonians were the best.
106. When the Hellenes had slain the greater number of the Barbarians,
some in the battle and others in their flight, they set fire to the
ships and to the whole of the wall, having first brought out the spoil
to the sea-shore; and among the rest they found some stores of money.
So having set fire to the wall and to the ships they sailed away; and
when they came to Samos, the Hellenes deliberated about removing the
inhabitants of Ionia, and considered where they ought to settle them
in those parts of Hellas of which they had command, leaving Ionia to
the Barbarians: for it was evident to them that it was impossible on
the one hand for them to be always stationed as guards to protect the
Ionians, and on the other hand, if they were not stationed to protect
them, they had no hope that the Ionians would escape with impunity
from the Persians. Therefore it seemed good to those of the
Peloponnesians that were in authority that they should remove the
inhabitants of the trading ports which belonged to those peoples of
Hellas who had taken the side of the Medes, and give that land to the
Ionians to dwell in; but the Athenians did not think it good that the
inhabitants of Ionia should be removed at all, nor that the
Peloponnesians should consult about Athenian colonies; and as these
vehemently resisted the proposal, the Peloponnesians gave way. So the
end was that they joined as allies to their league the Samians,
Chians, Lesbians, and the other islanders who chanced to be serving
with the Hellenes, binding them by assurance and by oaths to remain
faithful and not withdraw from the league: and having bound these by
oaths they sailed to break up the bridges, for they supposed they
would find them still stretched over the straits.
These then were sailing towards the Hellespont; 107, and meanwhile
those Barbarians who had escaped and had been driven to the heights of
Mycale, being not many in number, were making their way to Sardis: and
as they went by the way, Masistes the son of Dareios, who had been
present at the disaster which had befallen them, was saying many evil
things of the commander Arta˙ntes, and among other things he said that
in respect of the generalship which he had shown he was worse than a
woman, and that he deserved every kind of evil for having brought evil
on the house of the king. Now with the Persians to be called worse
than a woman is the greatest possible reproach. So he, after he had
been much reviled, at length became angry and drew his sword upon
Masistes, meaning to kill him; and as he was running upon him,
Xeinagoras the son of Prexilaos, a man of Halicarnassos, perceived it,
who was standing just behind Arta˙ntes; and this man seized him by the
middle and lifting him up dashed him upon the ground; and meanwhile
the spearmen of Masistes came in front to protect him. Thus did
Xeinagoras, and thus he laid up thanks for himself both with Masistes
and also with Xerxes for saving the life of his brother; and for this
deed Xeinagoras became ruler of all Kilikia by the gift of the king.
Nothing further happened than this as they went on their way, but they
arrived at Sardis.
Now at Sardis, as it chanced, king Xerxes had been staying ever since
that time when he came thither in flight from Athens, after suffering
defeat in the sea-fight.
108. At that time, while he was in Sardis, he
had a passionate desire, as it seems, for the wife of Masistes, who
was also there: and as she could not be bent to his will by his
messages to her, and he did not wish to employ force because he had
regard for his brother Masistes and the same consideration withheld
the woman also, for she well knew that force would not be used towards
her), then Xerxes abstained from all else, and endeavoured to bring
about the marriage of his own son Dareios with the daughter of this
woman and of Masistes, supposing that if he should do so he would
obtain her more easily. Then having made the betrothal and done all
the customary rites, he went away to Susa; and when he had arrived
there and had brought the woman into his own house for Dareios, then
he ceased from attempting the wife of Masistes and changing his
inclination he conceived a desire for the wife of Dareios, who was
daughter of Masistes, and obtained her: now the name of this woman was
Arta˙nte.
109. However as time went on, this became known in the
following manner:--Amestris the wife of Xerxes had woven a mantle,
large and of various work and a sight worthy to be seen, and this she
gave to Xerxes. He then being greatly pleased put it on and went to
Arta˙nte; and being greatly pleased with her too, he bade her ask what
she would to be given to her in return for the favours which she had
granted to him, for she should obtain, he said, whatsoever she asked:
and she, since it was destined that she should perish miserably with
her whole house, said to Xerxes upon this: "Wilt thou give me
whatsoever I ask thee for?" and he, supposing that she would ask
anything rather than that which she did, promised this and swore to
it. Then when he had sworn, she boldly asked for the mantle; and
Xerxes tried every means of persuasion, not being willing to give it
to her, and that for no other reason but only because he feared
Amestris, lest by her, who even before this had some inkling of the
truth, he should thus be discovered in the act; and he offered her
cities and gold in any quantity, and an army which no one else should
command except herself. Now this of an army is a thoroughly Persian
gift. Since however he did not persuade her, he gave her the mantle;
and she being overjoyed by the gift wore it and prided herself upon
it.
110. And Amestris was informed that she had it; and having learnt
that which was being done, she was not angry with the woman, but
supposing that her mother was the cause and that she was bringing this
about, she planned destruction for the wife of Masistes. She waited
then until her husband Xerxes had a royal feast set before him:--this
feast is served up once in the year on the day on which the king was
born, and the name of this feast is in Persian /tycta/, which in the
tongue of the Hellenes means "complete"; also on this occasion alone
the king washes his head,[114] and he makes gifts then to the
Persians:--Amestris, I say, waited for this day and then asked of
Xerxes that the wife of Masistes might be given to her. And he
considered it a strange and untoward thing to deliver over to her his
brother's wife, especially since she was innocent of this matter; for
he understood why she was making the request.
111. At last however as
she continued to entreat urgently and he was compelled by the rule,
namely that it is impossible among them that he who makes request when
a royal feast is laid before the king should fail to obtain it, at
last very much against his will consented; and in delivering her up he
bade Amestris do as she desired, and meanwhile he sent for his brother
and said these words: "Masistes, thou art the son of Dareios and my
brother, and moreover in addition to this thou art a man of worth. I
say to thee, live no longer with this wife with whom thou now livest,
but I give thee instead of her my daughter; with her live as thy wife,
but the wife whom thou now hast, do not keep; for it does not seem
good to me that thou shouldest keep her." Masistes then, marvelling at
that which was spoken, said these words: "Master, how unprofitable a
speech is this which thou utterest to me, in that thou biddest me send
away a wife by whom I have sons who are grown up to be young men, and
daughters one of whom even thou thyself didst take as a wife for thy
son, and who is herself, as it chances, very much to my mind,--that
thou biddest me, I say, send away her and take to wife thy daughter!
I, O king, think it a very great matter that I am judged worthy of thy
daughter, but nevertheless I will do neither of these things: and do
not thou urge me by force to do such a thing as this: but for thy
daughter another husband will be found not in any wise inferior to me,
and let me, I pray thee, live still with my own wife." He returned
answer in some such words as these; and Xerxes being stirred with
anger said as follows: "This then, Masistes, is thy case,--I will not
give thee my daughter for thy wife, nor yet shalt thou live any longer
with that one, in order that thou mayest learn to accept that which is
offered thee." He then when he heard this went out, having first said
these words: "Master, thou hast not surely brought ruin upon me?"[115]
112. During this interval of time, while Xerxes was conversing with
his brother, Amestris had sent the spearmen of Xerxes to bring the
wife of Masistes, and she was doing to her shameful outrage; for she
cut away her breasts and threw them to dogs, and she cut off her nose
and ears and lips and tongue, and sent her back home thus outraged.
113. Then Masistes, not yet having heard any of these things, but
supposing that some evil had fallen upon him, came running to his
house; and seeing his wife thus mutilated, forthwith upon this he took
counsel with his sons and set forth to go to Bactria together with his
sons and doubtless some others also, meaning to make the province of
Bactria revolt and to do the greatest possible injury to the king: and
this in fact would have come to pass, as I imagine, if he had got up
to the land of the Bactrians and Sacans before he was overtaken, for
they were much attached to him, and also he was the governor of the
Bactrians: but Xerxes being informed that he was doing this, sent
after him an army as he was on his way, and slew both him and his sons
and his army. So far of that which happened about the passion of
Xerxes and the death of Masistes.
114. Now the Hellenes who had set forth from Mycale to the Hellespont
first moored their ships about Lecton, being stopped from their voyage
by winds; and thence they came to Abydos and found that the bridges
had been broken up, which they thought to find still stretched across,
and on account of which especially they had come to the Hellespont. So
the Peloponnesians which Leotychides resolved to sail back to Hellas,
while the Athenians and Xanthippos their commander determined to stay
behind there and to make an attempt upon the Chersonese. Those then
sailed away, and the Athenians passed over from Abydos to the
Chersonese and began to besiege Sestos.
115. To this town of Sestos,
since it was the greatest stronghold of those in that region, men had
come together from the cities which lay round it, when they heard that
the Hellenes had arrived at the Hellespont, and especially there had
come from the city of Cardia Oiobazos a Persian, who had brought to
Sestos the ropes of the bridges. The inhabitants of the city were
Aiolians, natives of the country, but there were living with them a
great number of Persians and also of their allies.
116. And of the
province Arta˙ctes was despot, as governor under Xerxes, a Persian,
but a man of desperate and reckless character, who also had practised
deception upon the king on his march against Athens, in taking away
from Elaius the things belonging to Protesilaos the son of Iphiclos.
For at Elaius in the Chersonese there is the tomb of Protesilaos with
a sacred enclosure about it, where there were many treasures, with
gold and silver cups and bronze and raiment and other offerings, which
things Arta˙ctes carried off as plunder, the king having granted them
to him. And he deceived Xerxes by saying to him some such words as
these: "Master, there is here the house of a man, a Hellene, who made
an expedition against thy land and met with his deserts and was slain:
this man's house I ask thee to give to me, that every one may learn
not to make expeditions against thy land." By saying this it was
likely that he would easily enough persuade Xerxes to give him a man's
house, not suspecting what was in his mind: and when he said that
Protesilaos had made expedition against the land of the king, it must
be understood that the Persians consider all Asia to be theirs and to
belong to their reigning king. So when the things had been given him,
he brought them from Elaius to Sestos, and he sowed the sacred
enclosure for crops and occupied it as his own; and he himself,
whenever he came to Elaius, had commerce with women in the inner cell
of the temple.[116] And now he was being besieged by the Athenians,
when he had not made any preparation for a siege nor had been
expecting that the Hellenes would come; for they fell upon him, as one
may say, inevitably.[117]
117. When however autumn came and the siege
still went on, the Athenians began to be vexed at being absent from
their own land and at the same time not able to conquer the fortress,
and they requested their commanders to lead them away home; but these
said that they would not do so, until either they had taken the town
or the public authority of the Athenians sent for them home: and so
they endured their present state.[118]
118. Those however who were
within the walls had now come to the greatest misery, so that they
boiled down the girths of their beds and used them for food; and when
they no longer had even these, then the Persians and with them Arta˙ctes and Oiobazos ran away and departed in the night, climbing
down by the back part of the wall, where the place was left most
unguarded by the enemy; and when day came, the men of the Chersonese
signified to the Athenians from the towers concerning that which had
happened, and opened the gates to them. So the greater number of them
went in pursuit, and the rest occupied the city.
119. Now Oiobazos, as
he was escaping[119] into Thrace, was caught by the Apsinthian
Thracians and sacrificed to their native god Pleistoros with their
rites, and the rest who were with him they slaughtered in another
manner: but Arta˙ctes with his companions, who started on their flight
later and were overtaken at a little distance above Aigospotamoi,
defended themselves for a considerable time and were some of them
killed and others taken alive: and the Hellenes had bound these and
were bringing them to Sestos, and among them Arta˙ctes also in bonds
together with his son.
120. Then, it is said by the men of the
Chersonese, as one of those who guarded them was frying dried fish, a
portent occurred as follows,--the dried fish when laid upon the fire
began to leap and struggle just as if they were fish newly caught: and
the others gathered round and were marvelling at the portent, but
Arta˙ctes seeing it called to the man who was frying the fish and
said: "Stranger of Athens, be not at all afraid of this portent,
seeing that it has not appeared for thee but for me. Protesilaos who
dwells at Elaius signifies thereby that though he is dead and his body
is dried like those fish,[120] yet he has power given him by the gods
to exact vengeance from the man who does him wrong. Now therefore I
desire to impose this penalty for him,[121]--that in place of the
things which I took from the temple I should pay down a hundred
talents to the god, and moreover as ransom for myself and my son I
will pay two hundred talents to the Athenians, if my life be spared."
Thus he engaged to do, but he did not prevail upon the commander
Xanthippos; for the people of Elaius desiring to take vengeance for
Protesilaos asked that he might be put to death, and the inclination
of the commander himself tended to the same conclusion. They brought
him therefore to that headland to which Xerxes made the passage
across, or as some say to the hill which is over the town of Madytos,
and there they nailed him to boards[122] and hung him up; and they
stoned his son to death before the eyes of Arta˙ctes himself.
121.
Having so done, they sailed away to Hellas, taking with them, besides
other things, the ropes also of the bridges, in order to dedicate them
as offerings in the temples: and for that year nothing happened
further than this.
122. Now a forefather of this Arta˙ctes who was hung up, was that
Artembares who set forth to the Persians a proposal which they took up
and brought before Cyrus, being to this effect: "Seeing that Zeus
grants to the Persians leadership, and of all men to thee, O Cyrus, by
destroying Astyages, come, since the land we possess is small and also
rugged, let us change from it and inhabit another which is better: and
there are many near at hand, and many also at a greater distance, of
which if we take one, we shall have greater reverence and from more
men. It is reasonable too that men who are rulers should do such
things; for when will there ever be a fairer occasion than now, when
we are rulers of many nations and of the whole of Asia?" Cyrus,
hearing this and not being surprised at the proposal,[123] bade them
do so if they would; but he exhorted them and bade them prepare in
that case to be no longer rulers but subjects; "For," said he, "from
lands which are not rugged men who are not rugged are apt to come
forth, since it does not belong to the same land to bring forth fruits
of the earth which are admirable and also men who are good in war." So
the Persians acknowledged that he was right and departed from his
presence, having their opinion defeated by that of Cyrus; and they
chose rather to dwell on poor land and be rulers, than to sow crops in
a level plain and be slaves to others.
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END OF BOOK IX
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