But these too, the Spartans I mean, had themselves at this very time
(for so it had fallen out) a quarrel in hand with the Argives about
the district called Thyrea. For this Thyrea, being part of the Argive
possessions, the Lacedemonians had cut off and taken for themselves. Now
the whole region towards the west extending as far down as Malea 96 was
then possessed by the Argives, both the parts situated on the mainland
and also the island of Kythera with the other islands. And when the
Argives had come to the rescue to save their territory from being cut
off from them, then the two sides came to a parley together and agreed
that three hundred should fight of each side, and whichever side had the
better in the fight that nation should possess the disputed land: they
agreed moreover that the main body of each army should withdraw to their
own country, and not stand by while the contest was fought, for fear
lest, if the armies were present, one side seeing their countrymen
suffering defeat should come up to their support. Having made this
agreement they withdrew; and chosen men of both sides were left behind
and engaged in fight with one another. So they fought and proved
themselves to be equally matched; and there were left at last of six
hundred men three, on the side of the Argives Alkenor and Chromios, and
on the side of the Lacedemonians Othryades: these were left alive when
night came on. So then the two men of the Argives, supposing that
they were the victors, set off to run to Argos, but the Lacedemonian
Othryades, after having stripped the corpses of the Argives and carried
their arms to his own camp, remained in his place. On the next day both
the two sides came thither to inquire about the result; and for some
time both claimed the victory for themselves, the one side saying that
of them more had remained alive, and the others declaring that these had
fled away, whereas their own man had stood his ground and had stripped
the corpses of the other party: and at length by reason of this dispute
they fell upon one another and began to fight; and after many had fallen
on both sides, the Lacedemonians were the victors. The Argives then cut
their hair short, whereas formerly they were compelled by law to wear
it long, and they made a law with a curse attached to it, that from that
time forth no man of the Argives should grow the hair long nor their
women wear ornaments of gold, until they should have won back Thyrea.
The Lacedemonians however laid down for themselves the opposite law to
this, namely that they should wear long hair from that time forward,
whereas before that time they had not their hair long. And they say that
the one man who was left alive of the three hundred, namely Othryades,
being ashamed to to Sparta when all his comrades had been slain, slew
himself there in Thyrea.
83. Such was the condition of things at Sparta when the herald from
Sardis arrived asking them to come to the assistance of Croesus, who was
being besieged. And they notwithstanding their own difficulties, as
soon as they heard the news from the herald, were eager to go to his
assistance; but when they had completed their preparations and their
ships were ready, there came another message reporting that the fortress
of the Lydians had been taken and that Croesus had been made prisoner.
Then (and not before) they ceased from their efforts, being grieved at
the event as at a great calamity.
84. Now the taking of Sardis came about as follows:—When the fourteenth
day came after Croesus began to be besieged, Cyrus made proclamation
to his army, sending horsemen round to the several parts of it, that he
would give gifts to the man who should first scale the wall. After this
the army made an attempt; and when it failed, then after all the rest
had ceased from the attack, a certain Mardian whose name was Hyroiades
made an attempt to approach on that side of the citadel where no guard
had been set; for they had no fear that it would ever be taken from that
side, seeing that here the citadel is precipitous and unassailable. To
this part of the wall alone Meles also, who formerly was king of Sardis,
did not carry round the lion which his concubine bore to him, the
Telmessians having given decision that if the lion should be carried
round the wall, Sardis should be safe from capture: and Meles having
carried it round the rest of the wall, that is to say those parts of the
citadel where the fortress was open to attack, passed over this part as
being unassailable and precipitous: now this is a part of the city which
is turned towards Tmolos. So then this 97 Mardian Hyroiades, having seen
on the day before how one of the Lydians had descended on that side of
the citadel to recover his helmet which had rolled down from above,
and had picked it up, took thought and cast the matter about in his own
mind. Then he himself 98 ascended first, and after him came up others
of the Persians, and many having thus made approach, Sardis was finally
taken and the whole city was given up to plunder.
85. Meanwhile to Croesus himself it happened thus:—He had a son, of whom
I made mention before, who was of good disposition enough but deprived
of speech. Now in his former time of prosperity Croesus had done
everything that was possible for him, and besides other things which he
devised he had also sent messengers to Delphi to inquire concerning him.
And the Pythian prophetess spoke to him thus:
"Lydian, master of many, much blind to destiny, Croesus,
Do not desire to hear in thy halls that voice which is prayed for,
Voice of thy son; much better if this from thee were removèd,
Since he shall first utter speech in an evil day of misfortune."
Now when the fortress was being taken, one of the Persians was about to
slay Croesus taking him for another; and Croesus for his part, seeing
him coming on, cared nothing for it because of the misfortune which was
upon him, and to him it was indifferent that he should be slain by the
stroke; but this voiceless son, when he saw the Persian coming on, by
reason of terror and affliction burst the bonds of his utterance and
said: "Man, slay not Croesus." This son, I say, uttered voice then first
of all, but after this he continued to use speech for the whole time of
his life.
86. The Persians then had obtained possession of Sardis and had taken
Croesus himself prisoner, after he had reigned fourteen years and had
been besieged fourteen days, having fulfilled the oracle in that he had
brought to an end his own great empire. So the Persians having taken him
brought him into the presence of Cyrus: and he piled up a great pyre
and caused Croesus to go up upon it bound in fetters, and along with him
twice seven sons of Lydians, whether it was that he meant to dedicate
this offering as first-fruits of his victory to some god, or whether
he desired to fulfil a vow, or else had heard that Croesus was a
god-fearing man and so caused him to go up on the pyre because he wished
to know if any one of the divine powers would save him, so that he
should not be burnt alive. He, they say, did this; but to Croesus as
he stood upon the pyre there came, although he was in such evil case, a
memory of the saying of Solon, how he had said with divine inspiration
that no one of the living might be called happy. And when this thought
came into his mind, they say that he sighed deeply 99 and groaned aloud,
having been for long silent, and three times he uttered the name of
Solon. Hearing this, Cyrus bade the interpreters ask Croesus who was
this person on whom he called; and they came near and asked. And
Croesus for a time, it is said, kept silence when he was asked this,
but afterwards being pressed he said: "One whom more than much wealth I
should have desired to have speech with all monarchs." Then, since his
words were of doubtful import, they asked again of that which he said;
and as they were urgent with him and gave him no peace, he told how once
Solon an Athenian had come, and having inspected all his wealth had made
light of it, with such and such words; and how all had turned out for
him according as Solon had said, not speaking at all especially with
a view to Croesus himself, but with a view to the whole human race
and especially those who seem to themselves to be happy men. And while
Croesus related these things, already the pyre was lighted and the edges
of it round about were burning. Then they say that Cyrus, hearing
from the interpreters what Croesus had said, changed his purpose
and considered that he himself also was but a man, and that he was
delivering another man, who had been not inferior to himself in
felicity, alive to the fire; and moreover he feared the requital, and
reflected that there was nothing of that which men possessed which was
secure; therefore, they say, he ordered them to extinguish as quickly as
possible the fire that was burning, and to bring down Croesus and those
who were with him from the pyre; and they using endeavours were not able
now to get the mastery of the flames.
87. Then it is related by the Lydians that Croesus, having learned how
Cyrus had changed his mind, and seeing that every one was trying to put
out the fire but that they were no longer able to check it, cried aloud
entreating Apollo that if any gift had ever been given by him which had
been acceptable to the god, he would come to his aid and rescue him from
the evil which was now upon him. So he with tears entreated the god, and
suddenly, they say, after clear sky and calm weather clouds gathered and
a storm burst, and it rained with a very violent shower, and the pyre
was extinguished. Then Cyrus, having perceived that Croesus was a lover
of the gods and a good man, caused him to be brought down from the pyre
and asked him as follows: "Croesus, tell me who of all men was it who
persuaded thee to march upon my land and so to become an enemy to me
instead of a friend?" and he said: "O king, I did this to thy felicity
and to my own misfortune, and the causer of this was the god of the
Hellenes, who incited me to march with my army. For no one is so
senseless as to choose of his own will war rather peace, since in peace
the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons.
But it was pleasing, I suppose, to the divine powers that these things
should come to pass thus."
88. So he spoke, and Cyrus loosed his bonds and caused him to sit near
himself and paid to him much regard, and he marvelled both himself and
all who were about him at the sight of Croesus. And Croesus wrapt in
thought was silent; but after a time, turning round and seeing the
Persians plundering the city of the Lydians, he said: "O king, must I
say to thee that which I chance to have in my thought, or must I keep
silent in this my present fortune?" Then Cyrus bade him say boldly
whatsoever he desired; and he asked him saying: "What is the business
that this great multitude of men is doing with so much eagerness?" and
he said: "They are plundering thy city and carrying away thy wealth."
And Croesus answered: "Neither is it my city that they are plundering
nor my wealth which they are carrying away; for I have no longer any
property in these things: but it is thy wealth that they are carrying
and driving away."
89. And Cyrus was concerned by that which Croesus had said, and he
caused all the rest to withdraw and asked Croesus what he discerned for
his advantage as regards that which was being done; and he said: "Since
the gods gave me to thee as a slave, I think it right if I discern
anything more than others to signify it to thee. The Persians, who are
by nature unruly, 100 are without wealth: if therefore thou shalt suffer
them to carry off in plunder great wealth and to take possession of it,
then it is to be looked for that thou wilt experience this result, thou
must expect namely that whosoever gets possession of the largest share
will make insurrection against thee. Now therefore, if that which I say
is pleasing to thee, do this:—set spearmen of thy guard to watch at all
the gates, and let these take away the things, and say to the men who
were bearing them out of the city that they must first be tithed for
Zeus: and thus thou on the one hand wilt not be hated by them for taking
away the things by force, and they on the other will willingly let the
things go, 101 acknowledging within themselves that thou art doing that
which is just."
90. Hearing this, Cyrus was above measure pleased, because he thought
that Croesus advised well; and he commended him much and enjoined the
spearmen of his guard to perform that which Croesus had advised: and
after that he spoke to Croesus thus: "Croesus, since thou art prepared,
like a king as thou art, to do good deeds and speak good words,
therefore ask me for a gift, whatsoever thou desirest to be given thee
forthwith." And he said: "Master, thou wilt most do me a pleasure if
thou wilt permit me to send to the god of the Hellenes, whom I honoured
most of all gods, these fetters, and to ask him whether it is accounted
by him right to deceive those who do well to him." Then Cyrus asked him
what accusation he made against the god, that he thus requested; and
Croesus repeated to him all that had been in his mind, and the answers
of the Oracles, and especially the votive offerings, and how he had been
incited by the prophecy to march upon the Persians: and thus speaking he
came back again to the request that it might be permitted to him to make
this reproach 102 against the god. And Cyrus laughed and said: "Not this
only shalt thou obtain from me, Croesus, but also whatsoever thou mayst
desire of me at any time." Hearing this Croesus sent certain of the
Lydians to Delphi, enjoining them to lay the fetters upon the threshold
of the temple and to ask the god whether he felt no shame that he had
incited Croesus by his prophecies to march upon the Persians, persuading
him that he should bring to an end the empire of Cyrus, seeing that
these were the first-fruits of spoil which he had won from it,—at the
same time displaying the fetters. This they were to ask, and moreover
also whether it was thought right by the gods of the Hellenes to
practice ingratitude.
91. When the Lydians came and repeated that which they were enjoined to
say, it is related that the Pythian prophetess spoke as follows: "The
fated destiny it is impossible even for a god to escape. And Croesus
paid the debt due for the sin of his fifth ancestor, who being one of
the spearmen of the Heracleidai followed the treacherous device of a
woman, and having slain his master took possession of his royal dignity,
which belonged not to him of right. And although Loxias eagerly desired
that the calamity of Sardis might come upon the sons of Croesus and not
upon Croesus himself, it was not possible for him to draw the Destinies
aside from their course; but so much as these granted he brought to
pass, and gave it as a gift to Croesus: for he put off the taking of
Sardis by three years; and let Croesus be assured that he was taken
prisoner later by these years than the fated time: moreover secondly, he
assisted him when he was about to be burnt. And as to the oracle which
was given, Croesus finds fault with good ground: for Loxias told him
beforehand that if he should march upon the Persians he should destroy
a great empire: and he upon hearing this, if he wished to take counsel
well, ought to have sent and asked further whether the god meant his
own empire or that of Cyrus: but as he did not comprehend that which was
uttered and did not ask again, let him pronounce himself to be the cause
of that which followed. To him also 103 when he consulted the Oracle for
the last time Loxias said that which he said concerning a mule; but this
also he failed to comprehend: for Cyrus was in fact this mule, seeing
that he was born of parents who were of two different races, his mother
being of nobler descent and his father of less noble: for she was a
Median woman, daughter of Astyages and king of the Medes, but he was a
Persian, one of a race subject to the Medes, and being inferior in all
respects he was the husband of one who was his royal mistress." Thus the
Pythian prophetess replied to the Lydians, and they brought the answer
back to Sardis and repeated it to Croesus; and he, when he heard it,
acknowledged that the fault was his own and not that of the god. With
regard then to the empire of Croesus and the first conquest of Ionia, it
happened thus.
92. Now there are in Hellas many other votive offerings made by Croesus
and not only those which have been mentioned: for first at Thebes of the
Boeotians there is a tripod of gold, which he dedicated to the Ismenian
Apollo; then at Ephesos there are the golden cows and the greater number
of the pillars of the temple; and in the temple of Athene Pronaia at
Delphi a large golden shield. These were still remaining down to my own
time, but others of his votive offerings have perished: and the votive
offerings of Croesus at Branchidai of the Milesians were, as I am told,
equal in weight and similar to those at Delphi. Now those which he sent
to Delphi and to the temple of Amphiaraos he dedicated of his own goods
and as first-fruits of the wealth inherited from his father; but the
other offerings were made of the substance of a man who was his foe, who
before Croesus became king had been factious against him and had joined
in endeavouring to make Pantaleon ruler of the Lydians. Now Pantaleon
was a son of Alyattes and a brother of Croesus, but not by the same
mother, for Croesus was born to Alyattes of a Carian woman, but
Pantaleon of an Ionian. And when Croesus had gained possession of the
kingdom by the gift of his father, he put to death the man who opposed
him, drawing him upon the carding-comb; and his property, which even
before that time he had vowed to dedicate, he then offered in the manner
mentioned to those shrines which have been named. About his votive
offerings let it suffice to have said so much.
93. Of marvels to be recorded the land of Lydia has no great store as
compared with other lands, 104 excepting the gold-dust which is carried
down from Tmolos; but one work it has to show which is larger far than
any other except only those in Egypt and Babylon: for there is there the
sepulchral monument of Alyattes the father of Croesus, of which the base
is made of larger stones and the rest of the monument is of earth piled
up. And this was built by contributions of those who practised trade and
of the artisans and the girls who plied their traffic there; and still
there existed to my own time boundary-stones five in number erected upon
the monument above, on which were carved inscriptions telling how much
of the work was done by each class; and upon measurement it was found
that the work of the girls was the greatest in amount. For the daughters
of the common people in Lydia practice prostitution one and all, to
gather for themselves dowries, continuing this until the time when they
marry; and the girls give themselves away in marriage. Now the circuit
of the monument is six furlongs and two hundred feet, 105 and the
breadth is thirteen hundred feet. 106 And adjoining the monument is a
great lake, which the Lydians say has a never-failing supply of water,
and it is called the lake of Gyges. 107 Such is the nature of this
monument.
94. Now the Lydians have very nearly the same customs as the Hellenes,
with the exception that they prostitute their female children; and they
were the first of men, so far as we know, who struck and used coin of
gold or silver; and also they were the first retail-traders. And the
Lydians themselves say that the games which are now in use among them
and among the Hellenes were also their invention. These they say were
invented among them at the same time as they colonised Tyrsenia, 108 and
this is the account they give of them:—In the reign of Atys the son of
Manes their king there came to be a grievous dearth over the whole
of Lydia; and the Lydians for a time continued to endure it, but
afterwards, as it did not cease, they sought for remedies; and one
devised one thing and another of them devised another thing. And then
were discovered, they say, the ways of playing with the dice and the
knucklebones and the ball, and all the other games excepting draughts
(for the discovery of this last is not claimed by the Lydians). These
games they invented as a resource against the famine, and thus they used
to do:—on one of the days they would play games all the time in order
that they might not feel the want of food, and on the next they ceased
from their games and had food: and thus they went on for eighteen years.
As however the evil did not slacken but pressed upon them ever more
and more, therefore their king divided the whole Lydian people into two
parts, and he appointed by lot one part to remain and the other to go
forth from the land; and the king appointed himself to be over that one
of the parts which had the lot to stay in the land, and his son to be
over that which was departing; and the name of his son was Tyrsenos.
So the one party of them, having obtained the lot to go forth from the
land, went down to the sea at Smyrna and built ships for themselves,
wherein they placed all the movable goods which they had and sailed away
to seek for means of living and a land to dwell in; until after passing
by many nations they came at last to the land of the Ombricans, 109 and
there they founded cities and dwell up to the present time: and changing
their name they were called after the king's son who led them out from
home, not Lydians but Tyrsenians, taking the name from him.
The Lydians then had been made subject to the Persians as I say:
95, and after this our history proceeds to inquire about Cyrus, who he
was that destroyed the empire of Croesus, and about the Persians, in
what manner they obtained the lead of Asia. Following then the report
of some of the Persians,—those I mean who do not desire to glorify the
history of Cyrus but to speak that which is in fact true,—according to
their report, I say, I shall write; but I could set forth also the other
forms of the story in three several ways.
The Assyrians ruled Upper Asia 110 for five hundred and twenty years,
and from them the Medes were the first who made revolt. These having
fought for their freedom with the Assyrians proved themselves good men,
and thus they pushed off the yoke of slavery from themselves and were
set free; and after them the other nations also did the same as the
Medes: and when all on the continent were thus independent, they ed
again to despotic rule as follows:—
96. There appeared among the Medes a man of great ability whose name
was Deïokes, and this man was the son of Phraortes. This Deïokes, having
formed a desire for despotic power, did thus:—whereas the Medes dwelt
in separate villages, he, being even before that time of great repute in
his own village, set himself to practise just dealing much more and
with greater zeal than before; and this he did although there was much
lawlessness throughout the whole of Media, and although he knew that
injustice is ever at feud with justice. And the Medes of the same
village, seeing his manners, chose him for their judge. So he, since
he was aiming at power, was upright and just, and doing thus he had no
little praise from his fellow-citizens, insomuch that those of the other
villages learning that Deïokes was a man who more than all others gave
decision rightly, whereas before this they had been wont to suffer from
unjust judgments, themselves also when they heard it came gladly to
Deïokes to have their causes determined, and at last they trusted the
business to no one else.
97. Then, as more and more continually kept coming to him, because men
learnt that his decisions proved to be according to the truth, Deïokes
perceiving that everything was referred to himself would no longer
sit in the place where he used formerly to sit in public to determine
causes, and said that he would determine causes no more, for it was not
profitable for him to neglect his own affairs and to determine causes
for his neighbours all through the day. So then, since robbery and
lawlessness prevailed even much more in the villages than they did
before, the Medes having assembled together in one place considered with
one another and spoke about the state in which they were: and I suppose
the friends of Deïokes spoke much to this effect: "Seeing that we are
not able to dwell in the land under the present order of things, let
us set up a king from among ourselves, and thus the land will be well
governed and we ourselves shall turn to labour, and shall not be ruined
by lawlessness." By some such words as these they persuaded themselves
to have a king.