The history of Herodotus Volume II Part 3

109. This being the case, the despots of Cyprus called together the commanders of the Ionians and said: "Ionians, we of Cyprus give you a choice which enemy ye will rather fight with, the Persians or the Phenicians: for if ye will rather array yourselves on land and make trial of the Persians in fight, it is time now for you to disembark from your s.h.i.+ps and array yourselves on the land, and for us to embark in your s.h.i.+ps to contend against the Phenicians; but if on the other hand ye will rather make trial of the Phenicians,--whichever of these two ye shall choose, ye must endeavour that, so far as it rests with you, both Ionia and Cyprus shall be free." To this the Ionians replied: "We were sent out by the common authority of the Ionians to guard the sea, and not to deliver our s.h.i.+ps to the Cyprians and ourselves fight with the Persians on land. We therefore will endeavour to do good service in that place to which we were appointed; and ye must call to mind all the evils which ye suffered from the Medes, when ye were in slavery to them, and prove yourselves good men."

110. The Ionians made answer in these words; and afterwards, when the Persians had come to the plain of Salamis, the kings of the Cyprians set in order their array, choosing the best part of the troops of Salamis and of Soloi to be arrayed against the Persians and setting the other Cyprians against the rest of the enemy's troops; and against Artybios, the commander of the Persians, Onesilos took up his place in the array by his own free choice.

111. Now Artybios was riding a horse which had been trained to rear up against a hoplite. Onesilos accordingly being informed of this, and having a s.h.i.+eld-bearer, by race of Caria, who was of very good repute as a soldier and full of courage besides, 89 said to this man: "I am informed that the horse of Artybios rears upright and works both with his feet and his mouth against any whom he is brought to attack. Do thou therefore consider the matter, and tell me forthwith which of the two thou wilt rather watch for and strike, the horse or Artybios himself."

To this his attendant replied: "O king, I am ready to do both or either of these two things, and in every case to do that which thou shalt appoint for me; but I will declare to thee the way in which I think it will be most suitable 90 for thy condition. I say that it is right for one who is king and commander to fight with a king and commander; for if thou shalt slay the commander of the enemy, it turns to great glory for thee; and again, if he shall slay thee, which heaven forbid, even death when it is at the hands of a worthy foe is but half to be lamented: but for us who are under thy command it is suitable to fight with the others who are under his command and with his horse: and of the tricks of the horse have thou no fear at all, for I engage to thee that after this at least he shall never stand against any man more." Thus he spoke; and shortly afterwards the opposed forces joined battle both on land and with their s.h.i.+ps.

112. On that day the Ionians for their part greatly distinguished themselves and overcame the Phenicians, and of them the Samians were best: and meanwhile on land, when the armies met, they came to close quarters and fought; and as regards the two commanders, what happened was this:--when Artybios came to fight with Onesilos sitting upon his horse, Onesilos, as he had concerted with his s.h.i.+eld-bearer, struck at Artybios himself, when he came to fight with him; and when the horse put its hoofs against the s.h.i.+eld of Onesilos, then the Carian struck with a falchion 91 and smote off the horse's feet.

113. So Artybios the commander of the Persians fell there on the spot together with his horse: and while the others also were fighting, Stesenor the despot of Curion deserted them, having with him a large force of men,--now these Curians are said to be settlers from Argos,--and when the Curians had deserted, forthwith also the war-chariots of the men of Salamis proceeded to do the same as the Curians. When these things took place, the Persians had the advantage over the Cyprians; and after their army had been put to rout, many others fell and among them Onesilos the son of Chersis, he who brought about the revolt of the Cyprians, and also the king of the Solians, Aristokypros the son of Philokypros,--that Philokypros whom Solon the Athenian, when he came to Cyprus, commended in verse above all other despots.

114. So the men of Amathus cut off the head of Onesilos, because he had besieged them; and having brought it to Amathus they hung it over the gate of the city: and as the head hung there, when it had now become a hollow, a swarm of bees entered into it and filled it with honeycomb.

This having so come to pa.s.s, the Amathusians consulted an Oracle about the head, and they received an answer bidding them take it down and bury it and sacrifice to Onesilos every year as a hero; and if they did this, it would go better with them.

115. The Amathusians accordingly continued to do so even to my time. But the Ionians who had fought the sea-fight in Cyprus, when they perceived that the fortunes of Onesilos were ruined and that the cities of the Cyprians were besieged, except Salamis, and that this city had been delivered over by the Salaminians to Gorgos the former king,--as soon as they perceived this, the Ionians sailed away back to Ionia. Now of the cities in Cyprus Soloi held out for the longest time under the siege; and the Persians took it in the fifth month by undermining the wall round.

116. The Cyprians then, after they had made themselves free for one year, had again been reduced to slavery afresh: and meanwhile Daurises, who was married to a daughter of Dareios, and Hymaies and Otanes, who were also Persian commanders and were married also to daughters of Dareios, after they had pursued those Ionians who had made the expedition to Sardis and defeating them in battle had driven them by force to their s.h.i.+ps,--after this distributed the cities amongst themselves and proceeded to sack them.

117. Daurises directed his march to the cities on the h.e.l.lespont, and he took Dardanos and Abydos and Percote and Lampsacos and Paisos, of these he took on each day one; and as he was marching from Paisos against the city of Parion, the report came that the Carians had made common cause with the Ionians and were in revolt from the Persians. He turned back therefore from the h.e.l.lespont and marched his army upon Caria. 118.

And, as it chanced, a report of this was brought to the Carians before Daurises arrived; and the Carians being informed of it gathered together at the place which is called the "White Pillars" and at the river Marsyas, which flows from the region of Idrias and runs out into the Maiander. When the Carians had been gathered together there, among many other counsels which were given, the best, as it seems to me, was that of Pixodaros the son of Mausolos, a man of Kindye, who was married to the daughter of the king of the Kilikians, Syennesis. The opinion of this man was to the effect that the Carians should cross over the Maiander and engage battle with the Persians having the river at their backs, in order that the Carians, not being able to fly backwards and being compelled to remain where they were, might prove themselves even better men in fight than they naturally would. This opinion did not prevail; but they resolved that the Persians rather than themselves should have the Maiander at their backs, evidently 92 in order that if there should be a flight of the Persians and they should be worsted in the battle, they might never return home, but might fall into the river.

119. After this, when the Persians had come and had crossed the Maiander, the Carians engaged with the Persians on the river Marsyas and fought a battle which was obstinately contested and lasted long; but at length they were worsted by superior numbers: and of the Persians there fell as many as two thousand, but of the Carians ten thousand. Then those of them who escaped were shut up in Labraunda 93 within the sanctuary of Zeus Stratios, which is a large sacred grove of plane-trees; now the Carians are the only men we know who offer sacrifices to Zeus Stratios. These men then, being shut up there, were taking counsel together about their safety, whether they would fare better if they delivered themselves over to the Persians or if they left Asia altogether.

120. And while they were thus taking counsel, there came to their aid the Milesians and their allies. Then the Carians dismissed the plans which they were before considering and prepared to renew the war again from the beginning: and when the Persians came to attack them, they engaged with them and fought a battle, and they were worsted yet more completely than before; and while many were slain of all parties, 94 the Milesians suffered most.

121. Then afterwards the Carians repaired this loss and retrieved their defeat; for being informed that the Persians had set forth to march upon their cities, they laid an ambush on the road which is by Pedasos, 95 and the Persians falling into it by night were destroyed both they and their commanders, namely Daurises and Amorges and Sisimakes; and with them died also Myrsos the son of Gyges. Of this ambush the leader was Heracleides the son of Ibanollis, a man of Mylasa.

122. These then of the Persians were thus destroyed; and meanwhile Hymaies, who was another of those who pursued after the Ionians that had made the expedition to Sardis, directed his march to the Propontis and took Kios in Mysia; and having conquered this city, when he was informed that Daurises had left the h.e.l.lespont and was marching towards Caria, he left the Propontis and led his army to the h.e.l.lespont: and he conquered all the Aiolians who occupy the district of Ilion, and also the Gergithes, who were left behind as a remnant of the ancient Teucrians.

While conquering these tribes Hymaies himself ended his life by sickness in the land of Troas.

123. He thus brought his life to an end; and Artaphrenes the governor of the province of Sardis was appointed with Otanes the third of the commanders to make the expedition against Ionia and that part of Aiolia which bordered upon it. Of Ionia these took the city of Clazomenai, and of the Aiolians Kyme.

124. While the cities were thus being taken, Aristagoras the Milesian, being, as he proved in this instance, not of very distinguished courage, since after having disturbed Ionia and made preparation of great matters 96 he counselled running away when he saw these things, (moreover it had become clear to him that it was impossible to overcome king Dareios),--he, I say, having regard to these things, called together those of his own party and took counsel with them, saying that it was better that there should be a refuge prepared for them, in case that they should after all be driven out from Miletos, and proposing the question whether he should lead them from thence to Sardinia, to form a colony there, or to Myrkinos in the land of the Edonians, which Histiaios had been fortifying, having received it as a gift from Dareios. This was the question proposed by Aristagoras.

125. Now the opinion of Hecataios the son of Hegesander the historian 97 was that he should not take a colony to either of these places, but build a wall of defence for himself in the island of Leros and keep still, if he should be forced to leave Miletos; and afterwards with this for his starting point he would be able to return to Miletos.

126. This was the counsel of Hecataios; but Aristagoras was most inclined to go forth to Myrkinos. He therefore entrusted the government of Miletos to Pythagoras, a man of repute among the citizens, and he himself sailed away to Thrace, taking with him every one who desired to go; and he took possession of the region for which he had set out.

But starting from this to make war, he perished by the hands of the Thracians, that is both Aristagoras himself and his army, when he was encamped about a certain city and the Thracians desired to go out from it under a truce.

NOTES TO BOOK V

1 [ {ie paion} (or {paian}), as the burden of a song of triumph.]

2 [ {eggenetai}: many MSS. and some Editors read {en genetai}, "and the race can never become united."]

3 [ iv. 93.]

301 [ Or "from the time that he was born."]

4 [ {to astikton} is probably for {to me estikhthai}: but possibly the meaning may be, "those who are not so marked are of low birth."]

5 [ "the greatest prizes are a.s.signed for single combat in proportion"

(as it is more difficult).]

6 [ Or "Siriopaionians."]

7 [ The words "and about the Doberians and Agrianians and Odomantians"

are marked by Stein as an interpolation, on the ground that the two tribes first mentioned are themselves Paionian; but Doberians are distinguished from Paionians in vii. 113.]

8 [ {theres katarraktes}: the MSS. have {thures katapaktes} (which can hardly be right, since the Ionic form would be {katapektes}), meaning "fastened down." Stein suggests {thures katepaktes} (from {katepago}), which might mean "a door closed downwards," but the word is not found.

(The Medicean MS. has {e} written over the last {a} of {katapaktes}.)]

9 [ {diapinontes}: or perhaps, "drinking against one another."]

10 [ See viii. 137.]

11 [ i.e. "he was drawn to run in the first pair."]

12 [ The best MSS. give this form throughout, which is also used by aeschylus: cp. iii. 70, note 60.]

13 [ {ekakothesan}.]

14 [ {toutou}: it is doubtful whether this means his power or his death.

Perhaps something has dropped out after {teleuta}.]

15 [ {anesis}: a conjectural emendation of {aneos}. (Perhaps however, the word was rather {ananeosis}, "after a short time there was a renewal of evils"). Grote wishes to translate this clause, "after a short time there was an abatement of evils," being of opinion that the {anesis kakon} lasted about eight years. However the expression {ou pollon khronon} is so loose that it might well cover the required period of time.]

16 [ {praskhema}.]

17 [ i.e. Miletos and Naxos.]

18 [ {ton pakheon}.]

1801 [ {umin}: omitted in some MSS. and editions.]

19 [ Lit. "dividing him in such a manner."]

20 [ {kai to teikhos esaxanto}: {esaxanto} from {satto}, which generally means "load." Various conjectures have been made, e.g. {kai to teikhos ephraxanto}, or {kata takhos esaxanto}, the comma after {pota} being removed.]

2001 [ {me de neoteron ti poieuses tes Miletou}, "if Miletos made no change (i.e. rebellion)."]

21 [ {katairetheie}, "taken down" from their place (cp. {anetheke} below).]

22 [ {en to peoto ton logon}. The reference is to i. 92.]

23 [ {isonomien}: cp. iii. 80.]