for where it grows and what land produces it they are not able to tell,
except only that some say (and it is a probable account) that it grows
in those regions where Dionysos was brought up; and they say that large
birds carry those dried sticks which we have learnt from the Phenicians
to call cinnamon, carry them, I say, to nests which are made of clay and
stuck on to precipitous sides of mountains, which man can find no means
of scaling. With regard to this then the Arabians practise the following
contrivance:—they divide up the limbs of the oxen and asses that die and
of their other beasts of burden, into pieces as large as convenient, and
convey them to these places, and when they have laid them down not far
from the nests, they withdraw to a distance from them: and the birds fly
down and carry the limbs 100 of the beasts of burden off to their nests;
and these are not able to bear them, but break down and fall to the
earth; and the men come up to them and collect the cinnamon. Thus
cinnamon is collected and comes from this nation to the other countries
of the world.
112. Gum-mastich however, which the Arabians call ladanon, comes in a
still more extraordinary manner; for though it is the most sweet-scented
of all things, it comes in the most evil-scented thing, since it is
found in the beards of he-goats, produced there like resin from wood:
this is of use for the making of many perfumes, and the Arabians use it
more than anything else as incense.
113. Let what we have said suffice with regard to spices; and from the
land of Arabia there blows a scent of them most marvellously sweet. They
have also two kinds of sheep which are worthy of admiration and are not
found in any other land: the one kind has the tail long, not less than
three cubits in length; and if one should allow these to drag these
after them, they would have sores 101 from their tails being worn away
against the ground; but as it is, every one of the shepherds knows
enough of carpentering to make little cars, which they tie under the
tails, fastening the tail of each animal to a separate little car.
The other kind of sheep has the tail broad, even as much as a cubit in
breadth.
114. As one passes beyond the place of the midday, the Ethiopian land is
that which extends furthest of all inhabited lands towards the sunset.
This produces both gold in abundance and huge elephants and trees of all
kinds growing wild and ebony, and men who are of all men the tallest,
the most beautiful and the most long-lived.
115. These are the extremities in Asia and in Libya; but as to the
extremities of Europe towards the West, I am not able to speak with
certainty: for neither do I accept the tale that there is a river called
in Barbarian tongue Eridanos, flowing into the sea which lies towards
the North Wind, whence it is said that amber comes; nor do I know of the
real existence of "Tin Islands" 102 from which tin 103 comes to us: for
first the name Eridanos itself declares that it is Hellenic and that it
does not belong to a Barbarian speech, but was invented by some
poet; and secondly I am not able to hear from any one who has been an
eye-witness, though I took pains to discover this, that there is a
sea on the other side of Europe. However that may be, tin and amber
certainly come to us from the extremity of Europe.
116. Then again towards the North of Europe, there is evidently a
quantity of gold by far larger than in any other land: as to how it is
got, here again I am not able to say for certain, but it is said to be
carried off from the griffins by Arimaspians, a one-eyed race of men.
104 But I do not believe this tale either, that nature produces one-eyed
men which in all other respects are like other men. However, it would
seem that the extremities which bound the rest of the world on every
side and enclose it in the midst, possess the things which by us are
thought to be the most beautiful and the most rare.
117. Now there is a plain in Asia bounded by mountains on all sides, and
through the mountains there are five clefts. This plain belonged once
to the Chorasmians, and it lies on the borders of the Chorasmians
themselves, the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaians; but
from the time that the Persians began to bear rule it belongs to the
king. From this enclosing mountain of which I speak there flows a great
river, and its name is Akes. This formerly watered the lands of these
nations which have been mentioned, being divided into five streams and
conducted through a separate cleft in the mountains to each separate
nation; but from the time that they have come to be under the Persians
they have suffered as follows:—the king built up the clefts in the
mountains and set gates at each cleft; and so, since the water has been
shut off from its outlet, the plain within the mountains is made into a
sea, because the river runs into it and has no way out in any direction.
Those therefore who in former times had been wont to make use of the
water, not being able now to make use of it are in great trouble: for
during the winter they have rain from heaven, as also other men have,
but in the summer they desire to use the water when they sow millet and
sesame seed. So then, the water not being granted to them, they come to
the Persians both themselves and their wives, and standing at the gates
of the king's court they cry and howl; and the king orders that for
those who need it most, the gates which lead to their land shall be
opened; and when their land has become satiated with drinking in the
water, these gates are closed, and he orders the gates to be opened for
others, that is to say those most needing it of the rest who remain:
and, as I have heard, he exacts large sums of money for opening them,
besides the regular tribute.
118. Thus it is with these matters: but of the seven men who had risen
against the Magian, it happened to one, namely Intaphrenes, to be put to
death immediately after their insurrection for an outrage which I shall
relate. He desired to enter into the king's palace and confer with the
king; for the law was in fact so, that those who had risen up against
the Magian were permitted to go in to the king's presence without any
one to announce them, unless the king happened to be lying with his
wife. Accordingly Intaphrenes did not think it fit that any one should
announce his coming; but as he was one of the seven, he desired to
enter. The gatekeeper however and the bearer of messages endeavoured
to prevent him, saying that the king was lying with his wife: but
Intaphrenes believing that they were not speaking the truth, drew his
sword 105 and cut off their ears and their noses, and stringing these
upon his horse's bridle he tied them round their necks and so let them
go.
119. Upon this they showed themselves to the king and told the cause for
which they had suffered this; and Dareios, fearing that the six might
have done this by common design, sent for each one separately and made
trial of his inclinations, as to whether he approved of that which had
been done: and when he was fully assured that Intaphrenes had not done
this in combination with them, he took both Intaphrenes himself and his
sons and all his kinsmen, being much disposed to believe that he was
plotting insurrection against him with the help of his relations; and
having seized them he put them in bonds as for execution. Then the wife
of Intaphrenes, coming constantly to the doors of the king's court,
wept and bewailed herself; and by doing this continually after the same
manner she moved Dareios to pity her. Accordingly he sent a messenger
and said to her: "Woman, king Dareios grants to thee to save from death
one of thy kinsmen who are lying in bonds, whomsoever thou desirest of
them all." She then, having considered with herself, answered thus: "If
in truth the king grants me the life of one, I choose of them all my
brother." Dareios being informed of this, and marvelling at her speech,
sent and addressed her thus: "Woman, the king asks thee what was in thy
mind, that thou didst leave thy husband and thy children to die, and
didst choose thy brother to survive, seeing that he is surely less
near to thee in blood than thy children, and less dear to thee than
thy husband." She made answer: "O king, I might, if heaven willed, have
another husband and other children, if I should lose these; but another
brother I could by no means have, seeing that my father and my mother
are no longer alive. This was in my mind when I said those words." To
Dareios then it seemed that the woman had spoken well, and he let go
not only him for whose life she asked, but also the eldest of her
sons because he was pleased with her: but all the others he slew. One
therefore of the seven had perished immediately in the manner which has
been related.
120. Now about the time of the sickness of Cambyses it had come to pass
as follows:—There was one Oroites, a Persian, who had been appointed by
Cyrus to be governor of the province of Sardis. 106 This man had set his
desire upon an unholy thing; for though from Polycrates the Samian he
had never suffered anything nor heard any offensive word nor even seen
him before that time, he desired to take him and put him to death for
a reason of this kind, as most who report the matter say:—while Oroites
and another Persian whose name was Mitrobates, ruler of the province of
Daskyleion, 107 were sitting at the door of the king's court, they came
from words to strife with one another; and as they debated their several
claims to excellence, Mitrobates taunting Oroites said: "Dost thou 108
count thyself a man, who didst never yet win for the king the island of
Samos, which lies close to thy province, when it is so exceedingly easy
of conquest that one of the natives of it rose up against the government
with fifteen men-at-arms and got possession of the island, and is now
despot of it?" Some say that because he heard this and was stung by the
reproach, he formed the desire, not so much to take vengeance on him who
said this, as to bring Polycrates to destruction at all costs, since by
reason of him he was ill spoken of:
121, the lesser number however of those who tell the tale say that
Oroites sent a herald to Samos to ask for something or other, but what
it was is not mentioned; and Polycrates happened to be lying down in the
men's chamber 109 of his palace, and Anacreon also of Teos was present
with him: and somehow, whether it was by intention and because he made
no account of the business of Oroites, or whether some chance occurred
to bring it about, it happened that the envoy of Oroites came into his
presence and spoke with him, and Polycrates, who chanced to be turned
away 110 towards the wall, neither turned round at all nor made any
answer.
122. The cause then of the death of Polycrates is reported in these two
different ways, and we may believe whichever of them we please. Oroites
however, having his residence at that Magnesia which is situated upon
the river Maiander, sent Myrsos the son of Gyges, a Lydian, to Samos
bearing a message, since he had perceived the designs of Polycrates. For
Polycrates was the first of the Hellenes of whom we have any knowledge,
who set his mind upon having command of the sea, excepting Minos the
Cnossian and any other who may have had command of the sea before his
time. Of that which we call mortal race Polycrates was the first; and
he had great expectation of becoming ruler of Ionia and of the islands.
Oroites accordingly, having perceived that he had this design, sent a
message to him and said thus: "Oroites to Polycrates saith as follows:
I hear that thou art making plans to get great power, and that thou hast
not wealth according to thy high thoughts. Now therefore if thou shalt
do as I shall say, thou wilt do well for thyself on the one hand, and
also save me from destruction: for king Cambyses is planning death for
me, and this is reported to me so that I cannot doubt it. Do thou then
carry away out of danger both myself and with me my wealth; and of
this keep a part for thyself and a part let me keep, and then so far
as wealth may bring it about, thou shalt be ruler of all Hellas. And if
thou dost not believe that which I say about the money, send some one,
whosoever happens to be most trusted by thee, and to him I will show
it."
123. Polycrates having heard this rejoiced, and was disposed to agree;
and as he had a great desire, it seems, for wealth, he first sent
Maiandrios the son of Maiandrios, a native of Samos who was his
secretary, to see it: this man was the same who not long after these
events dedicated all the ornaments of the men's chamber in the palace of
Polycrates, ornaments well worth seeing, as an offering to the temple of
Hera. Oroites accordingly, having heard that the person sent to examine
might be expected soon to come, did as follows, that is to say, he
filled eight chests with stones except a small depth at the very top of
each, and laid gold above upon the stones; then he tied up the chests
and kept them in readiness. So Maiandrios came and looked at them and
brought back word to Polycrates:
124, and he upon that prepared to set out thither, although the diviners
and also his friends strongly dissuaded him from it, and in spite
moreover of a vision which his daughter had seen in sleep of this
kind,—it seemed to her that her father was raised up on high and was
bathed by Zeus and anointed by the Sun. Having seen this vision, she
used every kind of endeavour to dissuade Polycrates from leaving
his land to go to Oroites, and besides that, as he was going to his
fifty-oared galley she accompanied his departure with prophetic words:
and he threatened her that if he should return safe, she should remain
unmarried for long; but she prayed that this might come to pass, for she
desired rather, she said, to be unmarried for long than to be an orphan,
having lost her father.
125. Polycrates however neglected every counsel and set sail to go to
Oroites, taking with him, besides many others of his friends, Demokedes
also the son of Calliphon, a man of Croton, who was a physician and
practised his art better than any other man of his time. Then when he
arrived at Magnesia, Polycrates was miserably put to death in a manner
unworthy both of himself and of his high ambition: for excepting those
who become despots of the Syracusans, not one besides of the Hellenic
despots is worthy to be compared with Polycrates in magnificence. And
when he had killed him in a manner not fit to be told, Oroites impaled
his body: and of those who accompanied him, as many as were Samians he
released, bidding them be grateful to him that they were free men; but
all those of his company who were either allies or servants, he held in
the estimation of slaves and kept them. Polycrates then being hung up
accomplished wholly the vision of his daughter, for he was bathed by
Zeus whenever it rained, 11001 and anointed by the Sun, giving forth
moisture himself from his body.
126. To this end came the great prosperity of Polycrates, as Amasis
the king of Egypt had foretold to him: 111 but not long afterwards
retribution overtook Oroites in his turn for the murder of Polycrates.
For after the death of Cambyses and the reign of the Magians Oroites
remained at Sardis and did no service to the Persians, when they had
been deprived of their empire by the Medes; moreover during this time
of disturbance he slew Mitrobates the governor in Daskyleion, who had
brought up against him the matter of Polycrates as a reproach; and he
slew also Cranaspes the son of Mitrobates, both men of repute among
the Persians: and besides other various deeds of insolence, once when a
bearer of messages had come to him from Dareios, not being pleased with
the message which he brought he slew him as he was returning, having set
men to lie in wait for him by the way; and having slain him he made away
with the bodies both of the man and of his horse.
127. Dareios accordingly, when he had come to the throne, was desirous
of taking vengeance upon Oroites for all his wrongdoings and especially
for the murder of Mitrobates and his son. However he did not think
it good to act openly and to send an army against him, since his own
affairs were still in a disturbed state 112 and he had only lately come
to the throne, while he heard that the strength of Oroites was great,
seeing that he had a bodyguard of a thousand Persian spearmen and was
in possession of the divisions 113 of Phrygia and Lydia and Ionia.
Therefore Dareios contrived as follows:—having called together those of
the Persians who were of most repute, he said to them: "Persians, which
of you all will undertake to perform this matter for me with wisdom,
and not by force or with tumult? for where wisdom is wanted, there is no
need of force. Which of you, I say, will either bring Oroites alive to
me or slay him? for he never yet did any service to the Persians, and on
the other hand he has done to them great evil. First he destroyed two of
us, Mitrobates and his son; then he slays the men who go to summon him,
sent by me, displaying insolence not to be endured. Before therefore he
shall accomplish any other evil against the Persians, we must check his
course by death."
128. Thus Dareios asked, and thirty men undertook the matter, each
one separately desiring to do it himself; and Dareios stopped their
contention and bade them cast lots: so when they cast lots, Bagaios
the son of Artontes obtained the lot from among them all. Bagaios
accordingly, having obtained the lot, did thus:—he wrote many papers
dealing with various matters and on them set the seal of Dareios, and
with them he went to Sardis. When he arrived there and came into the
presence of Oroites, he took the covers off the papers one after another
and gave them to the Royal Secretary to read; for all the governors of
provinces have Royal Secretaries. Now Bagaios thus gave the papers in
order to make trial of the spearmen of the guard, whether they would
accept the motion to revolt from Oroites; and seeing that they paid
great reverence to the papers and still more to the words which were
recited from them, he gave another paper in which were contained
these words: "Persians, king Dareios forbids you to serve as guards
to Oroites": and they hearing this lowered to him the points of their
spears. Then Bagaios, seeing that in this they were obedient to the
paper, took courage upon that and gave the last of the papers to the
secretary; and in it was written: "King Dareios commands the Persians
who are in Sardis to slay Oroites." So the spearmen of the guard, when
they heard this, drew their swords and slew him forthwith. Thus did
retribution for the murder of Polycrates the Samian overtake Oroites.
129. When the wealth of Oroites had come or had been carried 114 up to
Susa, it happened not long after, that king Dareios while engaged in
hunting wild beasts twisted his foot in leaping off his horse, and
it was twisted, as it seems, rather violently, for the ball of his
ankle-joint was put out of the socket. Now he had been accustomed to
keep about him those of the Egyptians who were accounted the first in
the art of medicine, and he made use of their assistance then: but these
by wrenching and forcing the foot made the evil continually greater. For
seven days then and seven nights Dareios was sleepless owing to the
pain which he suffered; and at last on the eighth day, when he was in a
wretched state, some one who had heard talk before while yet at Sardis
of the skill of Demokedes of Croton, reported this to Dareios; and he
bade them bring him forthwith into his presence. So having found him
somewhere unnoticed among the slaves of Oroites, they brought him forth
into the midst dragging fetters after him and clothed in rags.
130. When he had been placed in the midst of them, Dareios asked him
whether he understood the art; but he would not admit it, fearing lest,
if he declared himself to be what he was, he might lose for ever
the hope of returning to Hellas: and it was clear to Dareios that he
understood that art but was practising another, 115 and he commanded
those who had brought him thither to produce scourges and pricks.
Accordingly upon that he spoke out, saying that he did not understand
it precisely, but that he had kept company with a physician and had some
poor knowledge of the art. Then after this, when Dareios had committed
the case to him, by using Hellenic drugs and applying mild remedies
after the former violent means, he caused him to get sleep, and in a
short time made him perfectly well, though he had never hoped to be
sound of foot again. Upon this Dareios presented him with two pairs of
golden fetters; and he asked him whether it was by design that he had
given to him a double share of his suffering, because he had made him
well. Being pleased by this saying, Dareios sent him to visit his wives,
and the eunuchs in bringing him in said to the women that this was he
who had restored to the king his life. Then each one of them plunged a
cup into the gold-chest 116 and presented Demokedes with so abundant a
gift that his servant, whose name was Skiton, following and gathering
up the coins 117 which fell from the cups, collected for himself a very
large sum of gold.
131. This Demokedes came from Croton, and became the associate of
Polycrates in the following manner:—at Croton he lived in strife with
his father, who was of a harsh temper, and when he could no longer
endure him, he departed and came to Egina. Being established there he
surpassed in the first year all the other physicians, although he was
without appliances and had none of the instruments which are used in the
art. In the next year the Eginetan State engaged him for a payment of
one talent, in the third year he was engaged by the Athenians for a
hundred pounds weight of silver, 118 and in the fourth by Polycrates for
two talents. Thus he arrived in Samos; and it was by reason of this
man more than anything else that the physicians of Croton got their
reputation: for this event happened at the time when the physicians of
Croton began to be spoken of as the first in Hellas, while the Kyrenians
were reputed to have the second place. About this same time also the
Argives had the reputation of being the first musicians in Hellas. 119
132. Then Demokedes having healed king Dareios had a very great house
in Susa, and had been made a table-companion of the king; and except the
one thing of returning to the land of the Hellenes, he had everything.
And first as regards the Egyptian physicians who tried to heal the king
before him, when they were about to be impaled because they had proved
inferior to a physician who was a Hellene, he asked their lives of the
king and rescued them from death: then secondly, he rescued an Eleian
prophet, who had accompanied Polycrates and had remained unnoticed among
the slaves. In short Demokedes was very great in the favour of the king.
133. Not long time after this another thing came to pass which was
this:—Atossa the daughter of Cyrus and wife of Dareios had a tumour upon
her breast, which afterwards burst and then was spreading further:
and so long as it was not large, she concealed it and said nothing to
anybody, because she was ashamed; but afterwards when she was in evil
case, she sent for Demokedes and showed it to him: and he said that he
would make her well, and caused her to swear that she would surely do
for him in return that which he should ask of her; and he would ask, he
said, none of such things as are shameful.