life to an end leaving no son to succeed him, but passing over his rule
and his possessions to Stesagoras, who was the son of Kimon, his brother
on the mother's side: 24 and the people of the Chersonese still offer
sacrifices to him after his death as it is usual to do to a founder, and
hold in his honour a contest of horse-races and athletic exercises, in
which none of the men of Lampsacos are allowed to contend. After this
there was war with those of Lampsacos; and it happened to Stesagoras
also that he died without leaving a son, having been struck on the head
with an axe in the City Hall by a man who pretended to be a deserter,
but who proved himself to be in fact an enemy and a rather hot one
moreover..
39. Then after Stesagoras also had ended his life in this manner,
Miltiades son of Kimon and brother of that Stesagoras who was dead, was
sent in a trireme to the Chersonese to take possession of the government
by the sons of Peisistratos, who had dealt well with him at Athens also,
pretending that they had had no share in the death of his father Kimon,
of which in another part of the history I will set forth how it came
to pass. 25 Now Miltiades, when he came to the Chersonese, kept himself
within his house, paying honours in all appearance 26 to the memory
of his brother Stesagoras; and the chief men of the inhabitants of the
Chersonese in every place, being informed of this, gathered themselves
together from all the cities and came in a body to condole with him, and
when they had come they were laid in bonds by him. Miltiades then was
in possession of the Chersonese, supporting a body of five hundred
mercenary troops; and he married the daughter of Oloros the king of the
Thracians, who was named Hegesipyle.
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.
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, 3001, 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. 4201.
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:
59. 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..