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 Artaÿctes 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 Artaÿctes 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 Artaÿctes 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.
NOTES TO BOOK IX
1 [ "the same who at the former time also were of one accord
together."]
2 [ {ta ekeinon iskhura bouleumata}: some good MSS. omit
{iskhura}, and so many Editors.]
3 [ {up agnomosunes}.]
4 [ {boulen}.]
5 [ {exeneikai es ton dumon}.]
6 [ {aleoren}.]
7 [ Cp. viii. 140 (a).]
8 [ {to men ap emeon outo akibdelon nemetai epi tous Ellenas},
"that which we owe to the Hellenes is thus paid in no counterfeit
coin."]
9 [ {ekeleusan}, i.e. "their bidding was" when they sent us.]
901 [ This clause, "with no less—each man of them," is omitted
in some MSS. and considered spurious by several Editors.]
10 [ Cp. ch. 55.]
11 [ {perioikon}.]
12 [ {ton emerodromon}, cp. vi. 105.]
13 [ {tugkhane eu bouleoumenos}: perhaps, "endeavour to take
measures well."]
14 [ {prodromon}, a conjectural emendation of {prodromos}.]
15 [ {boiotarkhai}, i.e. the heads of the Boeotian
confederacy.]
16 [ {os epi deka stadious malista ke}.]
17 [ {klinai}: several Editors have altered this, reading
{klithenai} or {klinenai}, "they were made to recline."]
18 [ {diapinonton}, cp. v. 18.]
19 [ {polla phroneonta medenos krateein}.]
20 [ {sphodra}: not quite satisfactory with {emedizon}, but it
can hardly go with {ouk ekontes}, as Krüger suggests.]
21 [ {pheme}, as in ch. 100.]
22 [ {proopto thanato}.]
23 [ {prosballontes}: most of the MSS. have {prosbalontes}, and
so also in ch. 21 and 22 they have {prosbalouses}.]
24 [ i.e. the retreat with which each charge ended and the turn
from retreat in preparation for a fresh charge. So much would be done
without word of command, before reining in their horses.]
25 [ {ephoiteon}.]
2501 [ Or, according to some MSS., "much contention in
argument."]
26 [ i.e. the left wing.]
27 [ The name apparently should be Kepheus, but there is no
authority for changing the text.]
28 [ This is the number of nations mentioned in vii. 61-80 as
composing the land-army of Xerxes.]
29 [ {oi epiphoiteontes}.]
30 [ {peri andra ekaston}.]
31 [ i.e. 38,700.]
32 [ i.e. 69,500.]
33 [ i.e. 110,000.]
34 [ {opla de oud outoi eikhon}: i.e. these too must be
reckoned with the light-armed.]
35 [ Cp. ii. 164.]
36 [ {makhairophoroi}: cp. vii. 89.]
37 [ i.e. 300,000: see viii. 113.]
38 [ {geneos tou Iamideon}: the MSS. have {Klutiaden} after
{Iamideon}, but the Clytiadai seem to have been a distinct family of
soothsayers.]
39 [ {pentaethlon}.]
40 [ {para en palaisma edrame nikan Olumpiada}. The meaning is
not clear, because the conditions of the {pentaethlon} are not known:
however the wrestling {pale} seems to have been the last of the five
contests, and the meaning may be that both Tisamenos and Hieronymos had
beaten all the other competitors and were equal so far, when Tisamenos
failed to win two out of three falls in the wrestling.]
41 [ {metientes}: some MSS. have {metiontes}, "they went to
fetch him."]
42 [ {aiteomenos}: this is the reading of the MSS., but the
conjecture {aiteomenous} (or {aiteomenon}) seems probable enough: "if
one may compare the man who asked for royal power with him who asked
only for citizenship."]
43 [ i.e. instead of half for himself, he asks for two-thirds
to be divided between himself and his brother.]
44 [ {o pros Ithome}: a conjectural emendation of {o pros
Isthmo}.]
45 [ {ton tarson eoutou}.]
46 [ {Treis Kephalas}.]
47 [ {Druos Kephalas}.]
48 [ See ch. 2.]
49 [ {ton epikleton}: cp. vii. 8.]
50 [ {Mardonio te kai te stratie ta sphagia ou dunatai
katathumia genesthai}.]
51 [ He asks for their help to free his country also from the
Persian yoke.]
52 [ {emakhesametha}.]
53 [ {psukhre}, cp. vi. 108.]
54 [ {deka stadious}.]
55 [ {nesos de outo an eie en epeiro}.]
56 [ {periskhizetai}.]
57 [ {epheugon asmenoi}.]
58 [ {tou Pitaneteon lokhou}, called below {ton lokhon ton
Pitaneten}. Evidently {lokhos} here is a division of considerable size.]
59 [ {anainomenou}: some MSS. and many Editors read
{nenomenou}, "since he was thus minded."]
60 [ {os alla phroneonton kai alla legonton}.]
61 [ Cp. ch. 11.]
62 [ The structure of the sentence is rather confused, and
perhaps some emendation is required.]
63 [ {eti ti lexete}. The MSS. and most Editors read {ti},
"what will ye say after this?" The order of the words is against this.]
64 [ {anarpasomenoi}: cp. viii. 28.]
65 [ {phraxantes ta gerra}: cp. ch. 99.]
66 [ {anoploi}, by which evidently more is meant than the
absence of shields; cp. the end of ch. 63, where the equipment of the
Persians is compared to that of light-armed troops.]
67 [ See viii. 114.]
68 [ {es Leoniden}: this is ordinarily translated "as far as
Leonidas;" but to say "his ancestors above Anaxandrides have been given
as far as Leonidas" (the son of Anaxandrides), is hardly intelligible.
The reference is to vii. 204.]
69 [ Most of the MSS. call him Aeimnestos (with some variation
of spelling), but Plutarch has Arimnestos.]
70 [ See ch. 15: There is no sharp distinction here between
camp and palisade, the latter being merely the fortified part of the
encampment.]
71 [ {anaktoron}, a usual name for the temple of Demeter and
Persephone at Eleusis.]
72 [ i.e. 40,000.]
73 [ {ege katertemenos}: the better MSS. have {eie} for {ege},
which is retained by some Editors ({toutous} being then taken with {inai
pantas}): for {katertemenos} we find as variations {katertemenos} and
{katertismenos}. Many Editors read {katertismenos} ("well prepared"),
following the Aldine tradition.]
74 [ {ephelokakeonton}.]
75 [ {en oudeni logo apolonto}.]
76 [ Stein proposes to substitute "Athenians" for
"Lacedemonians" here, making the comparative {erremenestere} anticipate
the account given in the next few clauses.]
77 [ {erromenestere}.]
78 [ Cp. i. 66.]
79 [ {aluktazon}, a word of doubtful meaning which is not found
elsewhere.]
80 [ i.e. 300,000.]
81 [ {o Spartietes}: it has been proposed to read {Spartietai},
for it can hardly be supposed that the other two were not Spartans
also.]
82 [ One MS. at least calls him Aeimenstos, cp. ch. 64:
Thucydides (iii. [Footnote 52) mentions Aeimnestos as the name of a
Plataian citizen, the father of Lacon. Stein observes that in any case
this cannot be that Arimnestos who is mentioned by Plutarch as commander
of the Plataian contingent.]
83 [ {eoutou axion prophumeumenou apodexasthai}.]
84 [ {atelein te kai proedrin}.]
85 [ vi. 92.]
86 [ {andra pentaethlon}.]
87 [ {oute daimonon oute theon}: heroes and in general
divinities of the second order are included under the term {daimonon}.]
88 [ Most of the commentators (and following them the
historians) understand the imperfect {ediokon} to express the mere
purpose to attempt, and suppose that this purpose was actually hindered
by the Lacedemonians, but for a mere half-formed purpose the expression
{mekhri Thessalies} seems to definite, and Diodorus states that
Artabazos was pursued. I think therefore that Krüger is right in
understanding {eon} of an attempt to dissuade which was not successful.
The alternative version would be "they were for pursuing them as far
as Thessaly, but the Lacedemonians prevented them from pursuing
fugitives."]
89 [ {akinakas}.]
90 [ Whether three tithes were taken or only one is left
uncertain.]
91 [ "furniture furnished" is hardly tolerable; perhaps
Herodotus wrote {skenen} for {kataskeuen} here.]
92 [ The connexion here is not satisfactory, and the chapter is
in part a continuation of chapter 81: It is possible that ch. 82 may
be a later addition by the author, thrown in without much regard to the
context.]
93 [ "Whereas however the body of Mardonios had disappeared on
the day after the battle (taken by whom I am not able to say....), it is
reported with some show of reason that Dionysophanes, an Ephesian, was
he who buried it." The construction however is irregular and broken by
parentheses: possibly there is some corruption of text.]
94 [ {tous irenas}. Spartans between twenty and thirty years
old were so called. The MSS. have {ireas}.]
95 [ {proxeinon}.]
96 [ "fill up more calamities," cp. v. 4.]
97 [ {es antilogien}.]
98 [ {antilogies kuresein}.]
99 [ {ten mesogaian tamnon tes odou}, cp. vii. 124: The
expression seems almost equivalent to {tamnon ten mesen odon}, apart
from any question of inland or coast roads.]
100 [ {limo sustantas kai kamato}, "having struggled with
hunger and fatigue."]
101 [ {autos}: some MSS. read {outos}. If the text is right, it
means Artabazos as distinguished from his troops.]
102 [ i.e. "leader of the army."]
10201 [ {en to Ionio kolpo}.]
103 [ Stein reads {para Khona potamon}, "by the river Chon," a
conjecture derived from Theognostus.]
104 [ It is thought by some Editors that "the prophets" just
above, and these words, "and they told them," are interpolated.]
105 [ {emphuton mantiken}, as opposed to the {entekhnos
mantike} possessed for example by Melampus, cp. ii. 49.]
106 [ Or possibly "Calamoi."]
107 [ i.e. 60,000.]
10701 [ {ton Potneion}, i.e. either the Eumenides or Demeter
and Persephone.]
108 [ {apistous toisi Ellesi}. Perhaps the last two words
are to be rejected, and {apistous} to be taken in its usual sense,
"distrusted"; cp. viii. 22.]
109 [ {neokhmon an ti poieein}.]
110 [ {pheme eseptato}.]
111 [ {eteralkea}, cp. viii. 11.]
112 [ {ton Perseon}: perhaps we should read {ek ton Perseon},
"appointed by the Persians to guard the passes."]
113 [ {ti neokhmon poieoien}.]
114 [ {ten kephalen smatai}: the meaning is uncertain.]
115 [ {Pou de kou me apolesas}: some Editors read {ko} for
{kou} (by conjecture), and print the clause as a statement instead of a
question, "not yet hast thou caused by ruin."]
116 [ {en to aduto}.]
117 [ {aphuktos}: many Editors adopt the reading {aphulakto}
from inferior MSS., "they fell upon him when he was, as one may say, off
his guard."]
118 [ {estergon ta pareonta}.]
119 [ {ekpheugonta}: many Editors have {ekphugonta}, "after he
had escaped."]
120 [ {tarikhos eon}. The word {tarikhos} suggests the idea of
human bodies embalmed, as well as of dried or salted meat.]
121 [ {oi}: some Editors approve the conjecture {moi}, "impose
upon myself this penalty."]
122 [ {sanidas}: some read by conjecture {sanidi}, or {pros
sanida}: cp. vii. 33.]
123 [ Or, "when he had heard this, although he did not admire
the proposal, yet bade them do so if they would."]