HERODOTUS - BOOKS 7
21
All these expeditions and whatever others have happened in addition could not together be compared with this single one. For what nation did Xerxes not lead from Asia against Hellas? What water did not fail when being drunk up, except only the greatest rivers? 2 RHETORICAL QUESTIONS Some people supplied him with ships, some were enrolled in his infantry, some were assigned the provision of horsemen, others of horse-bearing transports to follow the army, and others again of warships for the bridges, or of food and ships.
24
As far as I can judge by conjecture, Xerxes gave the command for this digging out of pride, wishing to display his power and leave a memorial; with no trouble they could have drawn their ships across the isthmus, yet he ordered them to dig a canal from sea to sea, wide enough to float two triremes rowed abreast. The same men who were assigned the digging were also assigned to join the banks of the river Strymon by a bridge.
'the Ionians'
means all the greeks Ἴωνας. For the use of Ionians for all Greeks, dramatically appropriate in the mouth of an Oriental (Arist. Ach. 104) cf. i. 142 n. To an oriental all Greeks alike were "Ionians,"
16 KEYWORDS
ARTABANUS AT FIRST DOES NOT THINK IT RIGHT THEN HE IS PERSUADED
7.10 A
10A. "O king, if opposite opinions are not uttered, it is impossible for someone to choose the better; the one which has been spoken must be followed. If they are spoken, the better can be found; just as the purity of gold cannot be determined by itself, but when gold is compared with gold by rubbing,1 we then determine the better. [2] Now I advised Darius, your father and my brother, not to lead his army against the Scythians, who have no cities anywhere to dwell in. But he hoped to subdue the nomadic Scythians and would not obey me; he went on the expedition and returned after losing many gallant men from his army. [3] You, O king, are proposing to lead your armies against far better men than the Scythians—men who are said to be excellent warriors by sea and land. It is right that I should show you what danger there is in this.
7.10B
10B. You say that you will bridge the Hellespont and march your army through Europe to Hellas. Now suppose you happen to be defeated either by land or by sea, or even both; the men are said to be valiant, and we may well guess that it is so, since the Athenians alone destroyed the great army that followed Datis and Artaphrenes to Attica. [2] Suppose they do not succeed in both ways; but if they attack with their ships and prevail in a sea-fight, and then sail to the Hellespont and destroy your bridge, that, O king, is the hour of peril.
7.10c
10C. It is from no wisdom of my own that I thus conjecture; it is because I know what disaster once almost overtook us, when your father, making a highway over the Thracian Bosporus and bridging the river Ister, crossed over to attack the Scythians. At that time the Scythians used every means of entreating the Ionians, who had been charged to guard the bridges of the Ister, to destroy the way of passage.1 [2] If Histiaeus the tyrant of Miletus had consented to the opinion of the other tyrants instead of opposing it, the power of Persia would have perished. Yet it is dreadful even in the telling, that one man should hold in his hand all the king's fortunes. bridges of the Ister, to destroy the way of passage. = BOOK 4.136
10D
10D. So do not plan to run the risk of any such danger when there is no need for it. Listen to me instead: for now dismiss this assembly; consider the matter by yourself and, whenever you so please, declare what seems best to you. A well-laid plan is always to my mind most profitable; even if it is thwarted later, the plan was no less good, and it is only chance that has baffled the design; but if fortune favor one who has planned poorly, then he has gotten only a prize of chance, and his plan was no less bad.
10E
10E. You see how the god smites with his thunderbolt creatures of greatness and does not suffer them to display their pride, while little ones do not move him to anger; and you see how it is always on the tallest buildings and trees that his bolts fall; for the god loves to bring low all things of surpassing greatness. Thus a large army is destroyed by a smaller, when the jealous god sends panic or the thunderbolt among them, and they perish unworthily; for the god suffers pride in none but himself. --- κνίζειν: of jealousy, as of other painful emotions, e.g. repentance (ch. 12. 1) and desire (vi. 62. 1). κολούειν. This phrase (cf. Hes. Εργ. 6; Archil. fr. 56; Arist. Lys. 772) expresses the common Greek view (here ascribed to the Persian, Artabanus, cf. ch. 46, and in iii. 40 to the Egyptian Amasis) of the envy of the gods; cf. i. 32. 1 n., Introd. § 36.
10F
10F. Now haste is always the parent of failure, and great damages are likely to arise; but in waiting there is good, and in time this becomes clear, even though it does not seem so in the present.
10G KEYWORDS
ARTABANUS' ADVICE IS THAT MARDONIUS SHOULD STOP SLANGDERING THE GREEKS AS HE IS INCITING THE KING IN THIS WAY. SLANDER IS A TERRIBLE BUSINESS.
10G
10G. This, O king, is my advice to you. But you, Mardonius son of Gobryas, cease your foolish words about the Greeks, for they do not deserve to be maligned. By slandering the Greeks you incite the king to send this expedition; that is the end to which you press with all eagerness. Let it not be so. Slander is a terrible business; there are two in it who do wrong and one who suffers wrong. The slanderer wrongs another by accusing an absent man, and the other does wrong in that he is persuaded before he has learned the whole truth; the absent man does not hear what is said of him and suffers wrong in the matter, being maligned by the one and condemned by the other. ---- Lying was a grave offence in Persia (i. 138 n.; Vendid. iv. 54-5; Behist. Inscr. i. 10, iv. 5, 6, 13, 14).
10H
10H. If an army must by all means be sent against these Greeks, hear me now: let the king himself remain in the Persian land, and let us two stake our children's lives upon it; you lead out the army, choosing whatever men you wish and taking as great an army as you desire. [2] If the king's fortunes fare as you say, let my sons be slain, and myself with them; but if it turns out as I foretell, let your sons be so treated, and you likewise, if you return. [3] But if you are unwilling to submit to this and will at all hazards lead your army overseas to Hellas, then I think that those left behind in this place will hear that Mardonius has done great harm to Persia, and has been torn apart by dogs and birds in the land of Athens or of Lacedaemon, if not even before that on the way there; and that you have learned what kind of men you persuade the king to attack." -------- The Greeks would leave the fallen foe unburied (ix. 83) to the fate threatened in Homer (Il. ii. 391; xv. 348). H. makes Artabanus speak like a Greek (cf. 10. ε, 46), and quite forgets that the fate, here treated as a great misfortune, was the form of burial prescribed for the Magi (i. 140 n.), and apparently for all true believers in the Avesta (Vendid. vi. 44 f.).
16A
16A. "O king, I judge it of equal worth whether a man is wise or is willing to obey good advice; to both of these you have attained, but the company of bad men trips you up; just as they say that sea, of all things the most serviceable to men, is hindered from following its nature by the blasts of winds that fall upon it. [2] It was not that I heard harsh words from you that stung me so much as that, when two opinions were laid before the Persians, one tending to the increase of pride, the other to its abatement, showing how evil a thing it is to teach the heart continual desire of more than it has, of these two opinions you preferred that one which was more fraught with danger to yourself and to the Persians.
16B
16B. Now when you have turned to the better opinion, you say that, while intending to abandon the expedition against the Greeks, you are haunted by a dream sent by some god, which forbids you to disband the expedition. [2] But this is none of heaven's working, my son. The roving dreams that visit men are of such nature as I shall teach you, since I am many years older than you. Those visions that rove about us in dreams are for the most part the thoughts of the day; and in these recent days we have been very busy with this expedition.
16C
16C. But if this is not as I determine and it has something divine to it, then you have spoken the conclusion of the matter; let it appear to me just as it has to you, and utter its command. If it really wishes to appear, it should do so to me no more by virtue of my wearing your dress instead of mine, and my sleeping in your bed rather than in my own. [2] Whatever it is that appears to you in your sleep, surely it has not come to such folly as to infer from your dress that I am you when it sees me. We now must learn if it will take no account of me and not deign to appear and haunt me, whether I am wearing your robes or my own, but will come to you; if it comes continually, I myself would say that it is something divine. [3] If you are determined that this must be done and there is no averting it, and I must lie down to sleep in your bed, so be it; this duty I will fulfill, and let the vision appear also to me. But until then I will keep my present opinion."
WHEN WAS THE BATTLE OF MARATHON
490 BC DURING THE FIRST PERSIAN INVASION OF GREEK BETWEEN CITIZENS OF ATHENS (+ THE AID OF A SMALL FORCE OF PLATAEA) + A PERSIAN FORCE
Ionian Revolt
499-493, Ionian cities revolted against Persian Rule, helped by Athens. At first it was a success, then crushed by Persians event which begun the Persian wars The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras. The cities of Ionia had been conquered by Persia around 540 BC, and thereafter were ruled by native tyrants, nominated by the Persian satrap in Sardis. In 499 BC, the tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position. The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great. In 498 BC, supported by troops from Athens and Eretria, the Ionians marched on, captured, and burnt Sardis. However, on their return journey to Ionia, they were followed by Persian troops, and decisively beaten at the Battle of Ephesus. This campaign was the only offensive action by the Ionians, who subsequently went on the defensive. The Persians responded in 497 BC with a three pronged attack aimed at recapturing the outlying areas of the rebellion, but the spread of the revolt to Caria meant that the largest army, under Daurises, relocated there. While initially campaigning successfully in Caria, this army was annihilated in an ambush at the Battle of Pedasus. This resulted in a stalemate for the rest of 496 BC and 495 BC. Naxos campaign (499 BC) Start of the Ionian Revolt (499 BC) Ionian offensive (498 BC) Sardis Battle of Ephesus Spread of the revolt Persian counter-offensive (497-495 BC) Cyprus Hellespont and Propontis Caria (496 BC) Battle of the Marsyas Battle of Labraunda Battle of Pedasus Ionia End of the revolt (494-493 BC) Battle of Lade Fall of Miletus Histiaeus's campaign (493 BC) Chios Battle of Malene Final operations (493 BC)
7.8A
8A. "Men of Persia, I am not bringing in and establishing a new custom, but following one that I have inherited. As I learn from our elders, we have never yet remained at peace ever since Cyrus deposed Astyages and we won this sovereignty from the Medes. It is the will of heaven; and we ourselves win advantage by our many enterprises. No one needs to tell you, who already know them well, which nations Cyrus and Cambyses and Darius my father subdued and added to our realm. Ever since I came to this throne, I have considered how I might not fall short of my predecessors in this honor, and not add less power to the Persians; and my considerations persuade me that we may win not only renown, but a land neither less nor worse, and more fertile, than that which we now possess; and we would also gain vengeance and requital. For this cause I have now summoned you together, that I may impart to you what I intend to do. ---------- An ambitious longing to rival his father's exploits is described by Atossa (Aesch. Pers. 753 f.) as one of the motives which misled Xerxes.
16A KEYWORDS
ARTABANUS EXPLAINS WHY HE HGAVE HIM THAT ADVICE THE FIRST OPINION TENDED TO THE INCREASE OF PRIDE, HIS TO ITS ABATEM ENT HE WANTED TO SHOW HIM THAT IT IS EVIL TO TEACH THE HEART CONTINUAL DESIRE OF MORE
7.8B
8B. It is my intent to bridge the Hellespont and lead my army through Europe to Hellas, so I may punish the Athenians for what they have done to the Persians and to my father. [2] You saw that Darius my father was set on making an expedition against these men. But he is dead, and it was not granted him to punish them. On his behalf and that of all the Persians, I will never rest until I have taken Athens and burnt it, for the unprovoked wrong that its people did to my father and me. [3] First they came to Sardis with our slave Aristagoras the Milesian and burnt the groves and the temples; next, how they dealt with us when we landed on their shores, when Datis and Artaphrenes were our generals, I suppose you all know ------ HELLESPONT (MODERN-DAY DARDANELLES) = strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey ἅμα Ἀρισταγόρῃ. Aristagoras had not himself accompanied the expedition (v. 99. 2) but was its author. ARISTAGORAS = WAS THE TYRANT OF MILETUS. THE AUTHOR OF THE IONIAN REVOLT Sardis = part of the Ionian offensive (498 BC) - they burnt Sardis THE BURNING OF SARDIS In the spring of 498 BC, an Athenian force of twenty triremes, accompanied by five from Eretria, set sail for Ionia.[33] They joined up with the main Ionian force near Ephesus.[41] Declining to personally lead the force, Aristagoras appointed his brother Charopinus and another Milesian, Hermophantus, as generals.[37] This force was then guided by the Ephesians through the mountains to Sardis, Artaphernes's satrapal capital.[33] The Greeks caught the Persians unaware, and were able to capture the lower city. However, Artaphernes still held the citadel with a significant force of men.[41] The lower city then caught on fire, Herodotus suggests accidentally, which quickly spread. The Persians in the citadel, being surrounded by a burning city, emerged into the market-place of Sardis, where they fought with the Greeks, forcing them back. The Greeks, demoralised, then retreated from the city, and began to make their way back to Ephesus.[42] Herodotus reports that when Darius heard of the burning of Sardis, he swore vengeance upon the Athenians (after asking who they indeed were), and tasked a servant with reminding him three times each day of his vow: "Master, remember the Athenians".[43]
7.8C
8C. For these reasons I am resolved to send an army against them; and I reckon that we will find the following benefits among them: if we subdue those men, and their neighbors who dwell in the land of Pelops the Phrygian, we will make the borders of Persian territory and of the firmament of heaven be the same. [2] No land that the sun beholds will border ours, but I will make all into one country, when I have passed over the whole of Europe. [3] I learn that this is the situation: no city of men or any human nation which is able to meet us in battle will be left, if those of whom I speak are taken out of our way. Thus the guilty and the innocent will alike bear the yoke of slavery. ----- Pelops the Phyrgian = Pelops, legendary founder of the Pelopid dynasty at Mycenae in the Greek Peloponnese,
7.8D
8D. This is how you would best please me: when I declare the time for your coming, every one of you must eagerly appear; and whoever comes with his army best equipped will receive from me such gifts as are reckoned most precious among us. [2] Thus it must be done; but so that I not seem to you to have my own way, I lay the matter before you all, and bid whoever wishes to declare his opinion." So spoke Xerxes and ceased. -
7.9a
9A. What have we to fear from them? Have they a massive population or abundance of wealth? Their manner of fighting we know, and we know how weak their power is; we have conquered and hold their sons, those who dwell in our land and are called Ionians and Aeolians and Dorians. [2] I myself have made trial of these men, when by your father's command I marched against them. I marched as far as Macedonia and almost to Athens itself, yet none came out to meet me in battle. ----------------- MASSES OF MEN AND ABUNDANCE OF GOLD Reliance on mere masses of men and abundance of gold is characteristically Persian. Cf. ch. 48, 103; Aesch. Pers. 235, 237 ὧδέ τις πάρεστιν αὐτοῖς ἀνδροπλήθεια στρατοῦ; | . . . | καὶ τί πρὸς τούτοισιν ἄλλο; πλοῦτος ἐξαρκὴς δόμοις; Mardonius' campaign in 492BC Mardonius = Darius' son-in law The first campaign of the First Persian invasion of Greece in 492 BC, led by Mardonius, re-subjugated Thrace and forced Macedon to become a fully subordinate client kingdom part of Persia,
7.9B
9B. Yet the Greeks are accustomed to wage wars, as I learn, and they do it most senselessly in their wrongheadedness and folly. When they have declared war against each other, they come down to the fairest and most level ground that they can find and fight there, so that the victors come off with great harm; of the vanquished I say not so much as a word, for they are utterly destroyed. [2] Since they speak the same language, they should end their disputes by means of heralds or messengers, or by any way rather than fighting; if they must make war upon each other, they should each discover where they are in the strongest position and make the attempt there. The Greek custom, then, is not good; and when I marched as far as the land of Macedonia, it had not come into their minds to fight. --- H. seems to be putting his own ideas into the mouth of Mardonius (cf. ch. 10. ε, 46, &c.). Polybius (xiii. 3) says that the ancients fought on the principles here described from a desire for honourable and decisive battle. Grundy (Thucydides, ch. ix) finds the explanation in the geographical character of Greece, and in the necessity of fighting in the plain to defend its corn-crop.
7.9C
9C. But against you, O king, who shall make war? You will bring the multitudes of Asia, and all your ships. I think there is not so much boldness in Hellas as that; but if time should show me wrong in my judgment, and those men prove foolhardy enough to do battle with us, they would be taught that we are the greatest warriors on earth. Let us leave nothing untried; for nothing happens by itself, and all men's gains are the fruit of adventure."
Darius and Xerxes' role in all this
A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish Athens and Eretria for their aid in the Ionian Revolt and subjugate Greece. Although ultimately ending in failure at the Battle of Marathon, Darius succeeded in the re-subjugation of Thrace, expansion of the empire through the conquest of Macedon, the Cyclades and the island of Naxos and the sacking of the city of Eretria. In 490 BCE, at the Battle of Marathon, the Persian army was defeated by a heavily armed Athenian army, with 9,000 men who were supported by 600 Plataeans and 10,000 lightly armed soldiers led by Miltiades. The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Darius began preparations for a second force which he would command, instead of his generals; however, before the preparations were complete, Darius died, thus leaving the task to his son Xerxes.
7.5 KEYWORDS
AFTER DARIUS' DEATH POWER WENT TO XERXES XERXES WAS NOT AT FIRST KEEN TO MARCH AGAINST GREECE. FIRST HE MARCHED AGAINST EGYPT MARDONIUS, SON OF GOBRYAS (XERXES' COUSIN), ARGUED TO XERXES THAT THE ATHENIANS SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED FOR THEIR DEEDS. EUROPE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL <3
7.8 KEYWORDS
AFTER THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT, XERXES HOLDS AN ASSEMBLY OF THE NOBLEST AMONG THE PERSIANS
7.10C KEYWORDS
ARTABANUS AGAIN HE KNOWS THE DISASTER THAT ONCE BEFELL THEM WHEN DARIUS MADE A HIGHWAY OVER THE THRACIAN BOSPORUS AND BRIDGES THE RIVER ISTER TO ATTACK THE SCYTHIANS. THE SCYTHIANS DESTROYED THE WAY OF THE PASSAGE. HISTIAEUS, THE TYRANT OF MILETUS DID NOT WANT TO YIELD POWER.
7.5
After Darius' death, the royal power descended to his son Xerxes. Now Xerxes was at first by no means eager to march against Hellas; it was against Egypt that he mustered his army. But Mardonius son of Gobryas, Xerxes cousin and the son of Darius' sister, was with the king and had more influence with him than any Persian. He argued as follows: "Master, it is not fitting that the Athenians should go unpunished for their deeds, after all the evil they have done to the Persians. [2] For now you should do what you have in hand; then, when you have tamed the insolence of Egypt, lead your armies against Athens, so that you may have fair fame among men, and others may beware of invading your realm in the future." [3] This argument was for vengeance,1 but he kept adding that Europe was an extremely beautiful land, one that bore all kinds of orchard trees, a land of highest excellence, worthy of no mortal master but the king. ---- MASTER = δέσποτα strikes the note of oriental servility in Greek ears; cp. c. 9 etc. Artabanos, the king's uncle, prefers ὦ βασιλεῦ c. 10 etc.
7.7
After being persuaded to send an expedition against Hellas, Xerxes first marched against the rebels in the year after Darius death. He subdued them and laid Egypt under a much harder slavery than in the time of Darius, and he handed it over to Achaemenes, his own brother and Darius' son. While governing Egypt, this Achaemenes was at a later time1 slain by a Libyan, Inaros son of Psammetichus. ---- δουλοτέρην. Darius had treated the Egyptians very well, building and repairing temples, re-establishing the decayed college of scribes at Sais (inscription of Uzahor, cf. iii. 16 n., Meyer, iii, § 101), completing the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea (ii. 158 nn.), and in general paying respect to the priesthood (ii. 110) and customs of Egypt. Henceforward little or no regard was paid to Egyptian prejudices; in Egypt as in Babylon the Persian king ceases to figure as a national king (i. 183 n.). Achaemenes fell in 459BC
7.4
After declaring Xerxes king, Darius was intent on his expedition. But in the year after this and the revolt of Egypt, death came upon him in the midst of his preparations, after a reign of six and thirty years1 in all, and it was not granted to him to punish either the revolted Egyptians or the Athenians. ---- Darius died in the autumn of 486 B. C. and had reigned thirty-six years τῷ ὑστέρῳ ἔτει<*>, after the revolt of Egypt and the designation of Xerxes as successor. As these events are not synchronous the ἔτος may be the official or calendarial year, presumably by Persian reckoning; though ἐνιαυτός might, perhaps, be the more technical term therefor.
7.9
After him Mardonius said: "Master, you surpass not only all Persians that have been but also all that shall be; besides having dealt excellently and truly with all other matters, you will not suffer the Ionians1 who dwell in Europe to laugh at us, which they have no right to do. [2] It would be strange indeed if we who have subdued and made slaves of Sacae and Indians and Ethiopians and Assyrians and many other great nations, for no wrong done to the Persians but of mere desire to add to our power, will not take vengeance on the Greeks for unprovoked wrongs. ------ Ἴωνας τ. ἐν τῇ Εὐρ. κ. need not be restricted to the Athenians, but may be taken as equivalent to Ἕλληνας j
7.8
After the conquest of Egypt, intending now to take in hand the expedition against Athens, Xerxes held a special assembly of the noblest among the Persians, so he could learn their opinions and declare his will before them all. When they were assembled, Xerxes spoke to them as follows. --------- The scene on the famous Darius vase at Naples (found at Canosa 1851) is an ideal representation of such a council, leading to strife between Asia and Hellas. In the upper row are figures of gods, Asia misled by Apate, Hellas defended by Pallas and Zeus, Artemis and Apollo. Below, the subjects of the Persian bring tribute, or express their obedience by kneeling before the king's treasurer. In the middle row Darius sits on a throne; behind him stands a young Persian guard, before him an older man in travelling garb standing on a plinth of gold (Ael. V. H. xii. 62) earnestly warns the king. Five councillors sit or stand round, two in Persian, three in Greek attire. There is no reason to identify this scene with the council described by H.; the king has the name Darius inscribed by him, the warning councillor has nothing to identify him with Artabanus, and half the councillors are in Greek dress.
7.2
But while Darius was making preparations against Egypt and Athens, a great quarrel arose among his sons concerning the chief power in the land. They held that before his army marched he must declare an heir to the kingship according to Persian law. [2] Three sons had been born to Darius before he became king by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, and four more after he became king by Atossa daughter of Cyrus. Artobazanes was the oldest of the earlier sons, Xerxes of the later; [3] and as sons of different mothers they were rivals. Artobazanes pleaded that he was the oldest of all Darius' offspring and that it was everywhere customary that the eldest should rule; Xerxes argued that he was the son of Cyrus' daughter Atossa and that it was Cyrus who had won the Persians their freedom.
7.8a keywords
CYRUS' SPEECH TO THE MEN IN THE ASSEMBLY HE IS FOLLOWING HIS PREDECESSORS - FOR CYRUS AND DARIUS SUBDUED NATIONS AND ADDED THEM TO THEIR REALM THEY OUGHT TO GAIN VENGEANCE AND REQUITAL
Kings of Achaemenid dynasty
Cyrus the Great = founder (Cyrus II) Cambyses II Bardiya/ Smerdis Darius the Great = Darius I Xerxes I = Xerxes the Great
7.1 keywords
DARIUS HEARS ABOUT THE PERSIAN DEFEAT AT MARATHON - HE IS ALREADY VERY ANGRY SINCE THE ATHENIANS ATTACKED SARDIS, NOW HE IS VERY ANGRU HE SENDS MESSENGERS TO ALL THE CITIES COMMANDS THEM TO EQUIP AN ARMY ASIA WAS IN COMMOTION WITH THESE MESSAGES FOR 3 YEARS IN THE FOURTH YEAR, THE EGYPTIANS REVOLTED FROM THE PERSIANS DARIUS WANTED TO SEND EXPEDITIONS AGAINST BOTH
7.4 KEYWORDS
DARIUS, HAVING DECLARED XERXES KING, WAS INTENT ON HIS EXPEDITION IN THE YEAR AFTER DECLARING XERXES KING AND AFTER THE REVOLT OF EGYPT HE DIED IN THE MIDST OF PREPARATIONS - REIGNED FOR 36 YEARS
7.2 KEYWORDS
DEBATE ON SUCCESSION DARIUS HAD THREE SONS BY HIS FIRST WIFE, THE DAUGHTER OF GOBYRAS BEFORE HE BECAME KING HE HAD FOUR SONS BY ATOSSA, AFTER HE BECAME KING ARTOBAZANES WAS THE ELDEST OF THE EARLIER SONS XERXES WAS THE ELDEST OF THE LATER SONS ARTOBAZANES = HE IS THE OLDEST XERXES - HE IS THE SON OF CYRUS' DAUGHTER ATOSSA. CYRUS HAD WON THE PERSIANS THEIR FREEDOM.
7.3 KEYWORDS
DEMARATUS, SON OF ARISTON CAME TO SUSA IN VOLUNTARILY EXILE FROM SPARTA AFTER HE LOST THE KINGSHIP. HE TOLD DARIUS THAT THE SUCCESSION SHOULD GO TO XEREXS, SINCE HE WAS BORN WHEN DARIUS WAS ALREADY A KING. THIS IS HOW THEY DO IT IN SPARTA DARIUS FOLLOWS HIS ADVICE HDT THINKS THAT XERXES WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE KING ANYWAY, FOR ATOSSA HELD SWAY
20
For full four years1 after the conquest of Egypt he was equipping his force and preparing all that was needed for it; before the fifth year was completed, he set forth on his march with the might of a great multitude. This was by far the greatest of all expeditions that we know of. The one that Darius led against the Scythians is nothing compared to it; neither is the Scythian expedition when they burst into Media2 in pursuit of the Cimmerians and subdued and ruled almost all the upper lands of Asia (it was for this that Darius afterwards attempted to punish them). According to the reports, the expedition led by the sons of Atreus against Troy is also nothing by comparison; neither is the one of the Mysians and Teucrians which before the Trojan war crossed the Bosporus into Europe,3 subdued all the Thracians, and came down to the Ionian sea, marching southward as far as the river Peneus. ---- FOR FOUR YEARS = 484-481 The chronology here implied for the ten years (cf. Thuc. i. 18） between Marathon and Salamis would seem to be the following: 490 B. C. (autumn). Marathon. 490 B. C. (winter)—487 B. C. (spring). Orders given for another expedition, followed by three years (ἐπὶ τρία ἔτεα, vii. 1. 2), but apparently not full years (cf. inf.), of preparations. 487 B. C. (τετάρτῳ ἔτεϊ, vii. 1. 3). Revolt of Egypt. 486 B. C. (autumn τῷ ὑστέρῳ ἔτεϊ). Death of Darius; cf. vii. 4 n. 485 B. C. Xerxes reduces Egypt (δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον τὸν Δαρείου, vii. 7). 484 (spring)—480 (spring). Four full years of preparation (τέσσερα ἔτεα πλήρεα, vii. 20. 1). 480 (spring). In the spring of the fifth year the expedition proper begins with the march from Sardis (vii. 37. 1 ἅμα τῷ ἔαρι παρεσκευασμένος ὁ στρατὸς ἐκ τῶν Σαρδίων ὁρμᾶτο). The march of the king from Susa by Critalla belongs to the preparations for the expedition.
15
Greatly frightened by the vision, Xerxes leapt up from his bed, and sent a messenger to summon Artabanus. When he came, Xerxes said, "Artabanus, for a moment I was of unsound mind, and I answered your good advice with foolish words; but after no long time I repented, and saw that it was right for me to follow your advice. [2] Yet, though I desire to, I cannot do it; ever since I turned back and repented, a vision keeps coming to haunt my sight, and it will not allow me to do as you advise; just now it has threatened me and gone. [3] Now if a god is sending the vision, and it is his full pleasure that there this expedition against Hellas take place, that same dream will hover about you and give you the same command it gives me. I believe that this is most likely to happen, if you take all my apparel and sit wearing it upon my throne, and then lie down to sleep in my bed." ----- The king wore a special upright tiara and saffron-coloured shoes. His mantle and trousers were purple, his robe too was purple, and on it were embroidered in white hawks or falcons, the sacred birds of Ormuzd. The robe was girt in by a golden girdle (cf. viii. 120), from which hung his sword, adorned with precious stones.
10F KEYWORDS
HASTE IS THE PARENT OF FAILURE HE OUGHT TO WAIT, SINCE THIS WILL PROVIDE HIM WITH CLARITY
17 KEYWORDS
HE PUT ON XERXES' CLOTHES AND SAT ON HIS THRONE THE DREAM CAME - YOU ARE THE ONE DISSUADING XERXES FROM MARCHING AGAINST HELLAS. YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE WITH IMPUNITY FOR STRIVING TO TURN ASIDE WHAT MUST BE. THE FAYE WHICH WILL BEFALL XERXES IF HE DISOBEYS
7.6 KEYWORDS
HE SAID THIS AS HE WANTED ADVENTURES HE PERSUADED XERXES TO DO THIS OTHER THINGS HELPED HIM PERSUADE XERXES - MESSENGERS FROM THESSALY FROM THE ALEUEDAE CAME AND INVITED THE KING INTO GREECE -the Pisistratidae who had come up to Susa used the same pleas as the Aleuadae, offering Xerxes even more than they did.
16B KEYWORDS
HE SAYS THAT JUST BECAUSE IT IS A DREAM, IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SENT BY A GOD. SOMETIMES WE DREAM OF THOUGHTS OF THE DAY. IN THE RECENT DAYS, HE HAS BEEN VERY PREOCCUPIED WITH THIS EXPEDITION
15 KEYWORDS
HE TELLS ARTABANUS ABOUT THIS VISION HE KEEPS SEEING WHICH IS THREATENING HIM HE SAYS IF A GOD IS SENDING IT - THEN THE GOD WANTS THE EXPEDITION AGAINST HELLAS TO TAKE PLACE HE GIVES ARTABANUS HIS APPAREL (TIARA, SHOES, ETC) SO THAT IF HE SITS ON THE THRONE AND SLEEPS IN HIS BED, THE DREAM MAY COME TO HIM TOO
7.8B KEYWORDS
HE WANTS TO BRIDGE THE HELLESPONT HE WANTS TO PUNISH THE ATHENIANS FOR WHAT THEY DID TO THE PERSIANS AND HIS FATHER HE WILL NOT REST UNTIL HE TAKEN VENGEANCE ON THEM
7.6
He said this because he desired adventures and wanted to be governor of Hellas. Finally he worked on Xerxes and persuaded him to do this, and other things happened that helped him to persuade Xerxes. Messengers came from Thessaly from the Aleuadae (who were princes of Thessaly) and invited the king into Hellas with all earnestness; the Pisistratidae who had come up to Susa used the same pleas as the Aleuadae, offering Xerxes even more than they did. They had come up to Sardis with Onomacritus, an Athenian diviner1 who had set in order the oracles of Musaeus. They had reconciled their previous hostility with him; Onomacritus had been banished from Athens by Pisistratus' son Hipparchus, when he was caught by Lasus2 of Hermione in the act of interpolating into the writings of Musaeus an oracle showing that the islands off Lemnos would disappear into the sea. Because of this Hipparchus banished him, though they had previously been close friends. Now he had arrived at Susa with the Pisistratidae, and whenever he came into the king's presence they used lofty words concerning him and he recited from his oracles; all that portended disaster to the Persian he left unspoken, choosing and reciting such prophecies as were most favorable, telling how the Hellespont must be bridged by a man of Persia and describing the expedition. [5] So he brought his oracles to bear, while the Pisistratidae and Aleuadae gave their opinions.
10H KEYWORDS
IF AN ARMY MUST BE SENT AGAINST THE GREEKS, LET THE KING STAY IN PERSIA TELLS MARDONIUS TO COMMAND THE ARMY IF THE FORTUNES OF THE KING ARE AS HE SAYS, THEN LET ARABANUS' SONS BE BURIED IF MARDONIUS GOES, HE WILL DO GREAT HARM TO PERSIA SINCE HE WILL BE TORN UP BY THE BIRDS
7.10A KEYWORDS
IF OPPOSITE OPINIONS ARE NOT SAID, ONE CANNOT CHOOSE THE BETTER SIMILE - purity of gold cannot be determined by itself, but when gold is compared with gold by rubbing against the touchstone, which would be stained by pure gold. HE TOLD DARIUS NOT TO LEADS HIS ARMY AGAINST THE SCYTHIANS. DARIUS DID NOT LISTEN AND LOST MANY MEN THE GREEKS ARE FAR BETTER WARRIORS THAN THE SCHYTHINAS HE WARNS HIM OF THE DANGER
16C KEYWORDS
IF THIS IS NOT THE CASE AND THERE IS SOMETHING DIVINE TO IT AND HE HAS SPOJEN THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER, THEN LET IT APPEAR TO HIM TOO HE SAYS HE WILL SLEEP IN HIS BED AND DRESS UNTIL THEN HE WILL NOT CHANGE HIS OPINION
18 KEYWORDS
IT SEEMED TO ARTABANUS WITH THIS THREAT, THAT THE VISION WAS ABOUT TO BURN HIS EYES WITH HOT IRON HE LEAPT UP HE SAYS TO XERXES THAT THERE IS SOME DIVINE MOTIVATION. HE CORRECTS AND CHANGES HIS JUDGEMENT HE SAYS THAT XERXES MUST DECLARE THE GODS' MESSAGE TO THE PERSIANS AND BID THEM TO OBEY HIS FIRST COMMAND FOR ALL DUE PREPARATION. XERXES TOLD ALL THE PERSIANS ARTABANUS NOW ENCOURAGED THE COURSE HE HAD DISCOURAGED
27
In this city Pythius son of Atys, a Lydian, sat awaiting them; he entertained Xerxes himself and all the king's army with the greatest hospitality, and declared himself willing to provide money for the war. When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians present who this Pythius was and how much wealth he possessed in making the offer. They said, "O king, this is the one who gave your father Darius the gift of a golden plane-tree and vine; he is now the richest man we know of after you." ----- Πύθιος: probably a son of the unfortunate son of Croesus (i. 34), who had inherited the colossal wealth of the Mermnad kings, since in the days of Cyrus it was not customary to confiscate the goods of conquered monarchs, and the Mermnadae had apparently taken no part in any revolt against Darius. The name Pythius might be due to Croesus' relation with Delphi (cf. v. 94 n., and the sons of Cimon Lacedaemonius, Eleius, and Thessalus). Plutarch (Mor. 263 B), in his moralizing tale, makes him governor of a city and an owner of gold mines.
7.9 KEYWORDS
MARDONIUS - PRAISES XERXES. SAYS XERXES WILL NOT ALLOW THE IONIANS IN EUROPE TO LAUGH AT THEM SINCE THEY HAVE SUBDUED SACAE, THE INDIANS, ETHIOPHIANS AND ASSYRIANS ETC. (WHO HAD NOT EVEN WRONGED THEM), THEY WILL CERTAINLY BE ABLE TO SUBDUE THE GREEKS WHO HAVE WRONGED THEM
7.9C KEYWORDS
MARDONIUS AGAIN WHO WILL MAKE WAR AGAINST YOU, XERXES HELLAS IS NOT BOLD ENOUGH IF HE IS WRONG, THEY WILL SHOW WHAT GREAT WARRIORS THEY ARE
7.9a KEYWORDS
MARDONIUS ASKS WHAT HAVE THEY TO FEAR FROM THEM. THEY DO NOT HAVE MANY MEN OR AN ABUNDANCE OF WEALTH. THEY ARE WEAK HE HIMSELF HAS FOUGHT WITH THEM - MARDONIUS' EXPEDITION IN 492BC IN WHICH HE RE-SUBJUGATED THRACE AND MADE MACEDON FULLY SUBORDINATE
7.9B KEYWORDS
MARDONIUS' SPEECH CONTINUES THE GREEKS ARE ACCUSTOMED TO WAGE WARS - THEY DO IT IN FOLLY THEY WAGE WAR AGAINST EACH OTHER - BUT SINCE THEY SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE THEY SHOULD END THEIR DISPUTES BY HERALDS OR MESSENGERS THEY DO NOT MAKE WAR UPON EACH OTHER TACTICALLY THE GREEK CUSTOM IN NOT GOOD = EVEN WHEN MARDONIUS MARCHED AS FAR AS MACEDONIA - THEY DID NOT THINK TO FIGHT
26 KEYWORDS
MEANWHILE THE LANDFORCE WERE MARCHING TO SARDIS WITH XERXES HERODOTUS SAYS HE DOES NOT KNOW WHICH OF HIS GOVERNORS RECEIVED THE PROMISED GIFTS FOR BRINGING THE BEST-EQUIPPED ARMY
21 KEYWORDS
NO EXPEDITION COULD BE COMPARED TO THIS WHAT NATION DID XERXES NOT LEAD FROM ASIA AGAINST GREECE WHAT WATER DID NOT FAIL WHEN BEING DRUNK UP MANY GAVE HIS DIFF THINGS
27 KEYWORDS
PYTHIUS SAT WAITING FOR THEM IN THIS CITY HE ENTERTAINED XERXES AND HIS ARMY AND SAID THAT HE WAS WILLING TO PROVIDE MONEY FOR THEM FOR THE WAR XERXES ASKED THE PERSIANS PRESENT WHO THIS PYTHIUS WAS AND HOW MUCH MONEY HE POSSESSED THE PERSIANS SAID HE WAS THE RICHEST MAN ALIVE. HE GAVE DARIUS THE GIFT OF THE GOLDEN PLANE-TREE
22
Since those who had earlier attempted to sail around Athos had suffered shipwreck, for about three years preparations had been underway there. Triremes were anchored off Elaeus in the Chersonese; with these for their headquarters, all sorts of men in the army were compelled by whippings to dig a canal, coming by turns to the work; the inhabitants about Athos also dug. Bubares son of Megabazus and Artachaees son of Artaeus, both Persians, were the overseers of the workmen. Athos is a great and famous mountain, running out into the sea and inhabited by men. At the mountain's landward end it is in the form of a peninsula, and there is an isthmus about twelve stadia wide; here is a place of level ground or little hills, from the sea by Acanthus to the sea opposite Torone. On this isthmus which is at the end of Athos, there stands a Greek town, Sane; there are others situated seaward of Sane and landward of Athos, and the Persian now intended to make them into island and not mainland towns; they are Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoum, Thyssus, and Cleonae.
17
So spoke Artabanus and did as he was bid, hoping to prove Xerxes' words vain; he put on Xerxes' robes and sat on the king's throne. Then while he slept there came to him in his sleep the same dream that had haunted Xerxes; it stood over him and spoke thus: [2] "Are you the one who dissuades Xerxes from marching against Hellas, because you care for him? Neither in the future nor now will you escape with impunity for striving to turn aside what must be. To Xerxes himself it has been declared what will befall him if he disobeys."
13
So the vision spoke, and seemed to Xerxes to vanish away. When day dawned, the king took no account of this dream, and he assembled the Persians whom he had before gathered together and addressed them thus: [2] "Persians, forgive me for turning and twisting in my purpose; I am not yet come to the fullness of my wisdom, and I am never free from people who exhort me to do as I said. It is true that when I heard Artabanus' opinion my youthful spirit immediately boiled up, and I burst out with an unseemly and wrongful answer to one older than myself; but now I see my fault and will follow his judgment. [3] Be at peace, since I have changed my mind about marching against Hellas."
10E KEYWORDS
THE GODS HATE THINSG OF SURPASSING GREATNESS HE LOVES TO BRING SUCH THINGS LOW ENVY AND JEALOUSY OF THE GODS THE GODS ALLOW PRIDE IN NOONE OTHER THAN THEMSELVES
10D KEWYORDS
THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD PLAN! EVEN IF ONE ENDS UP BEING FAVOURED BY FORTUNE, A BAD PLAN IS STILL A BAD PLAN
23 KEYWORDS
THE PERSIANS ARE DIGGING A CANAL THE PHOENICIANS WERE MOST SKILLED AT THIS
14 KEYWORDS
THE PERSIANS ARE GLAD - THEY MADE OBEISANCE DURING THE NIGHT, THE SAME VISION CAME TO XERXES. WHY DID HE ACT AS THOUGH HE HAD NOT HEARD THESE WORDS. IF HE DOESN'T LEAD OUT HIS ARMY, HE WILL NO LONGER BE GREAT AND MIGHTY, BUT IN A SHORT MOMENT WILL BE BROUGHT LOW AGAIN.
7.10 KEYWORDS
THEN ARTABANUS SPEAKS
7.8C KEYWORDS
THESE WILL BE THE BENEFITS IF WE SUBDUE THEM WE WILL ALSO TAKE THEIR NEIGHBOURS - THE PELOPONNESE THEY WILL HAVE POSSESSION OF EUROPE - WORLD DOMINATION
22 KEYWORDS
THOSE WHO EARLIER ATTEMPTED TO SAIL AROUND ATHOS - MOUNTAIN - SUFFERED SHIPWRECK SO THERE WERE PREPARATIONS THERE FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS THERE WERE WORKMEN TRIREMES TO OVERSEE THE WORKMEN: Bubares son of Megabazus and Artachaees son of Artaeus On this isthmus which is at the end of Athos, there stands a Greek town, Sane and other ones - THE PERSIANS WANTED TO MAKE THEM INTO AN ISLAND
20 KEYWORDS
TOOK 4 YEARS TO PREPARE THE EXPEDITION IT BEGAN IN 480 IT WAS THE GREATEST EXPEDITION GREATER THAN DARIUS' AGAINST THE SCYTHIANS GREATER THAN THE SCYTHIANS WHEN THEY BURST INTO MEDIA GREATER THAN THE EXPEDITION OF THE SONS OF ATREUS AGAINST TROY
WHAT WAS THE PERSIAN DEFEAT AT MARATHON?
The Battle of Marathon (Ancient Greek: Μάχη τοῦ Μαραθῶνος, romanized: Machē tou Marathōnos) took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army decisively defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The first Persian invasion was a response to Athenian involvement in the Ionian Revolt, when Athens and Eretria had sent a force to support the cities of Ionia in their attempt to overthrow Persian rule. The Athenians and Eretrians had succeeded in capturing and burning Sardis, but they were then forced to retreat with heavy losses. In response to this raid, Darius swore to burn down Athens and Eretria. According to Herodotus, Darius had his bow brought to him and then shot an arrow "upwards towards heaven", saying as he did so: "Zeus, that it may be granted me to take vengeance upon the Athenians!" Herodotus further writes that Darius charged one of his servants to say "Master, remember the Athenians" three times before dinner each day.[5] At the time of the battle, Sparta and Athens were the two largest city-states in Greece. Once the Ionian revolt was finally crushed by the Persian victory at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, Darius began plans to subjugate Greece. In 490 BC, he sent a naval task force under Datis and Artaphernes across the Aegean, to subjugate the Cyclades, and then to make punitive attacks on Athens and Eretria. Reaching Euboea in mid-summer after a successful campaign in the Aegean, the Persians proceeded to besiege and capture Eretria. The Persian force then sailed for Attica, landing in the bay near the town of Marathon. The Athenians, joined by a small force from Plataea, marched to Marathon, and succeeded in blocking the two exits from the plain of Marathon. The Athenians also sent a message to the Spartans asking for support. When the messenger arrived in Sparta, the Spartans were involved in a religious festival and gave this as a reason for not coming to aid of the Athenians. The Athenians and their allies chose a location for the battle, with marshes and mountainous terrain, that prevented the Persian cavalry from joining the Persian infantry. Miltiades, the Athenian general, ordered a general attack against the Persian forces, composed primarily of missile troops. He reinforced his flanks, luring the Persians' best fighters into his centre. The inward wheeling flanks enveloped the Persians, routing them. The Persian army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered. The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia. Darius then began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. After Darius died, his son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for a second invasion of Greece, which finally began in 480 BC. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to have begun at Marathon. The battle also showed the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans, as they had heavily relied on Sparta previously. This victory was largely due to the Athenians, and Marathon raised Greek esteem of them. The following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society and so the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in Mediterranean and European history.
CHRONOLOGY - FROM MARATHON
The chronology here implied for the ten years (cf. Thuc. i. 18） between Marathon and Salamis would seem to be the following: 490 B. C. (autumn). Marathon. 490 B. C. (winter)—487 B. C. (spring). Orders given for another expedition, followed by three years (ἐπὶ τρία ἔτεα, vii. 1. 2), but apparently not full years (cf. inf.), of preparations. 487 B. C. (τετάρτῳ ἔτεϊ, vii. 1. 3). Revolt of Egypt. 486 B. C. (autumn τῷ ὑστέρῳ ἔτεϊ). Death of Darius; cf. vii. 4 n. 485 B. C. Xerxes reduces Egypt (δευτέρῳ ἔτεϊ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον τὸν Δαρείου, vii. 7). 484 (spring)—480 (spring). Four full years of preparation (τέσσερα ἔτεα πλήρεα, vii. 20. 1). 480 (spring). In the spring of the fifth year the expedition proper begins with the march from Sardis (vii. 37. 1 ἅμα τῷ ἔαρι παρεσκευασμένος ὁ στρατὸς ἐκ τῶν Σαρδίων ὁρμᾶτο). The march of the king from Susa by Critalla belongs to the preparations for the expedition.
12
The discussion went that far; then night came, and Xerxes was pricked by the advice of Artabanus. Thinking it over at night, he saw clearly that to send an army against Hellas was not his affair. He made this second resolve and fell asleep; then (so the Persians say) in the night he saw this vision: It seemed to Xerxes that a tall and handsome man stood over him and said, [2] "Are you then changing your mind, Persian, and will not lead the expedition against Hellas, although you have proclaimed the mustering of the army? It is not good for you to change your mind, and there will be no one here to pardon you for it; let your course be along the path you resolved upon yesterday." ----- The dream is modelled on that sent to Agamemnon (Il. ii. 66). In imposing human form (cf. v. 56. 1) the sprite, by the will of God (cf. 15. 3), misleads and deceives the dreamer. So on the vase described (ch. 8 n.), Ἀπάτη, with lighted torches in her hands, incites Asia to make war on Hellas.
7.10B KEYWORDS
WHAT IF THEY ARE DEFEATED BY LAND OR SEA THE GREEKS ARE BRAVE MEN THE ATHENIANS DESTROYED THE GREAT ARMY WITH DATIS AND ARTAPHRENES WHAT IF THEY DESTROY THE BRIGE OF THE HELLESPONT - 490 BC: Datis and Artaphernes' campaign - battle of Marathon. the two leaders of the Persian forces
7.8D KEYWORDS
WHEN HE TELLS THEM TO COME, THEY MUST ALL COME BEST-EQUIPPED ARMY WILL RECEIVE GIFTS FROM HIM
23
These are the towns situated on Athos. The foreigners dug as follows,1 dividing up the ground by nation: they made a straight line near the town of Sane; when the channel had been dug to some depth, some men stood at the bottom of it and dug, others took the dirt as it was dug out and delivered it to yet others that stood higher on stages, and they again to others as they received it, until they came to those that were highest; these carried it out and threw it away. [2] For all except the Phoenicians, the steep sides of the canal caved in, doubling their labor; since they made the span the same breadth at its mouth and at the bottom, this was bound to happen. [3] But the Phoenicians showed the same skill in this as in all else they do; taking in hand the portion that fell to them, they dug by making the topmost span of the canal as wide again as the canal was to be, and narrowed it as they worked lower, until at the bottom their work was of the same span as that of the others. [4] There is a meadow there, where they made a place for buying and marketing; much ground grain frequently came to them from Asia. ------- 1 In spite of the incredulity of antiquity the canal was no doubt actually made and used. Traces of it are said to exist.
BOOK 7 GREEK BIT 7.1-53
Third Persian expedition against Greece; Xerxes bridges the Hellespont and crosses it with a huge army. context: Greco-Persian wars
7.10
Thus Mardonius smoothed Xerxes' resolution and stopped. The rest of the Persians held their peace, not daring to utter any opinion contrary to what had been put forward; then Artabanus son of Hystaspes, the king's uncle, spoke. Relying on his position, he said,
25
Thus Xerxes did this. He assigned the Phoenicians and Egyptians to make ropes of papyrus and white flax for the bridges,1 and to store provisions for his army, so that neither the army nor the beasts of burden would starve on the march to Hellas. [2] After making inquiry, he ordered them to store it in the most fitting places, carrying it to the various places from all parts of Asia in cargo ships and transports. They brought most of it to the White Headland (as it is called) in Thrace; some were dispatched to Tyrodiza in the Perinthian country or to Doriscus, others to Eion on the Strymon or to Macedonia.
11
Thus spoke Artabanus. Xerxes answered angrily, "Artabanus, you are my father's brother; that will save you from receiving the fitting reward of foolish words. But for your cowardly lack of spirit I lay upon you this disgrace, that you will not go with me and my army against Hellas, but will stay here with the women; I myself will accomplish all that I have said, with no help from you. May I not be the son of Darius son of Hystaspes son of Arsames son of Ariaramnes son of Teispes son of Cyrus son of Cambyses son of Teispes son of Achaemenes,1 if I do not have vengeance on the Athenians; I well know that if we remain at peace they will not; they will assuredly invade our country, if we may infer from what they have done already, for they burnt Sardis and marched into Asia. [3] It is not possible for either of us to turn back: to do or to suffer is our task, so that what is ours be under the Greeks, or what is theirs under the Persians; there is no middle way in our quarrel. Honor then demands that we avenge ourselves for what has been done to us; thus will I learn what is this evil that will befall me when I march against these Greeks—men that even Pelops the Phrygian, the slave of my forefathers, did so utterly subdue that to this day they and their country are called by the name of their conqueror." --------------- θυμωθείς. Xerxes is represented by Hdt. as a man of violent passions, easily stirred; cp. Introduction, § 11. 1 The first seven names represent two parallel lines of descent from Teispes son of Achaemenes (except that the first "Teispes" is a fiction), which Herodotus has apparently fused into one direct line. Xerxes could claim descent from both, in virtue of his mother Atossa, Cyrus' daughter; hence perhaps the confusion. The genealogy which follows is remarkable. Since the discovery of the Behistun inscription (cp. Records of the Past, i. 107 ff.) it has been obvious that the list here corresponds with the genealogy of Dareios as there given (Achaimenes, Teispes, Ariaramnes, Arsames, Hystaspes, cp. 1. 209), but is con<*>aminated with two or three names (Kyros, Kambyses, Teispes), two of which could not belong to direct progenitors of Xerxes, exeept in so far as he was the son of Atossa, the daughter of Kyros the Great, here apparently described as 'Kyros son of Kambyses,' CYRUS, CAMBYSES, TEISPES - NOT DIRECT PROGENITORS OF XERXES FOREFATHERS: πατέρων. The Persians regarded all Asia as their own (i. 4. 4; ix. 116. 3), but the claim here made may be founded on a mythical descent (ch. 61. 2, 3) from Perseus and Andromeda (ch. 150. 2), daughter of Cepheus, brother of Ninus, who extended the sway of Assyria over Phrygia and Lydia (i. 7). The Persian king might claim to be the legitimate successor of the Assyrian.
13 KEYWORDS
VISION VANISHES AWAY AT DAY, HE ASSEMBLES THE PERSIANS, FORGETS THE DREAM AND TELLS THEM THAT HE BOILED UP AGAINST ARTABANUS BECAUSE OF HIS YOUTH. HE HAS DECIDED THAT HE WILL LISTEN TO ARTABANUS AND HAS CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT MARCHING AGAINST HELLAS VERY MODEST TONE
14
When the Persians heard that, they rejoiced and made obeisance to him. But when night came on, the same vision stood again over Xerxes as he slept, and said, "Son of Darius, have you then plainly renounced your army's march among the Persians, and made my words of no account, as though you had not heard them? Know for certain that, if you do not lead out your army immediately, this will be the outcome of it: as you became great and mighty in a short time, so in a moment will you be brought low again."
7.1
When the message concerning the fight at Marathon came to Darius son of Hystaspes, already greatly angry against the Athenians for their attack upon Sardis, he was now much more angry and eager to send an expedition against Hellas. [2] Immediately he sent messengers to all the cities and commanded them to equip an army, instructing each to provide many more ships and horses and provisions and transport vessels than they had before. Asia was in commotion with these messages for three years,1 as the best men were enrolled for service against Hellas and made preparations. [3] In the fourth year the Egyptians, whom Cambyses had enslaved, revolted from the Persians; thereupon Darius was even more eager to send expeditions against both. ------ δεινότερα ἐποίεε. = There was really little left him to do, at least symbolically, to manifest his wiath, if the story of the Bow-shot, the Prayer, and the Mentor, connected in tradition with the news of the sack of Sardes in 498 B.C. (Hdt. 5. 105), is to be believed. That story could not well have been connected with the news of Marathon for two reasons: (1) it treated the Athenians as an unknown quantity to Dareios; (2) Marathon was not, except in the eyes of the Athenians, so very great or significant an achievement (cp. Appendix X. to my edition of Bks. IV.-VI.: 1895). Still, the omission of any specific action to set forth the wrath of Dareios upon this occasion leaves the Herodotean phrase vague and unsatisfactory. This defect, however, does not justify the substitution of ἐποιέετο for the active form of the verb. It appears, however, plainly in the sequel that Dareios (according to Hdt.) intended to conduct the reinvasion of Hellas in person (cp. Hdt. 4. 1).
7.3
While Darius delayed making his decision, it chanced that at this time Demaratus son of Ariston had come up to Susa, in voluntary exile from Lacedaemonia after he had lost the kingship of Sparta. [2] Learning of the contention between the sons of Darius, this man, as the story goes, came and advised Xerxes to add this to what he said: that he had been born when Darius was already king and ruler of Persia, but Artobazanes when Darius was yet a subject; [3] therefore it was neither reasonable nor just that anyone should have the royal privilege before him. At Sparta too (advised Demaratus) it was customary that if sons were born before their father became king, and another son born later when the father was king, the succession to the kingship belongs to the later-born. [4] Xerxes followed Demaratus advice, and Darius judged his plea to be just and declared him king. But to my thinking Xerxes would have been made king even without this advice, for Atossa held complete sway. ----- Nothing is known otherwise of this alleged Spartan custom. H. himself attaches no weight to this supposed intervention of Demaratus, whose importance he as a rule exaggerates. The true reason doubtless was the influence of Atossa (§ 4) as daughter of Cyrus and chief wife of Darius. She held the position filled by Amestris under Xerxes (ix. 109 f.), and by Parysatis under Darius Nothus. Cf. the influence of Bathsheba with David, 1 Kings i.
26
While these worked at their appointed task, all the land force had been mustered and was marching with Xerxes to Sardis, setting forth from Critalla in Cappadocia, which was the place appointed for gathering all the army that was to march with Xerxes himself by land. Now which of his governors received the promised gifts from the king for bringing the best-equipped army, I cannot say; I do not even know if the matter was ever determined. [3] When they had crossed the river Halys and entered Phrygia, they marched through that country to Celaenae,1 where rises the source of the river Maeander and of another river no smaller, which is called Cataractes; it rises right in the market-place of Celaenae and issues into the Maeander. The skin of Marsyas the Silenus also hangs there; the Phrygian story tells that it was flayed off him and hung up by Apollo. ------- 1 This implies a considerable divergence to the south from the "Royal road," for which see Hdt. 5.52. Xerxes here turns south to avoid the difficult route through the Hermes valley, probably; cp. How and Wells, ad loc. 2 The legend of the contest between Marsyas the flute-player and Apollo the lyre-player seems to indicate a change in the national music, the importance of which was more easily understood by a Greek than it is by us.
18
With this threat (so it seemed to Artabanus) the vision was about to burn his eyes with hot irons. He leapt up with a loud cry, then sat by Xerxes and told him the whole story of what he had seen in his dream, and next he said: [2] "O King, since I have seen, as much as a man may, how the greater has often been brought low by the lesser, I forbade you to always give rein to your youthful spirit, knowing how evil a thing it is to have many desires, and remembering the end of Cyrus' expedition against the Massagetae and of Cambyses' against the Ethiopians, and I myself marched with Darius against the Scythians. [3] Knowing this, I judged that you had only to remain in peace for all men to deem you fortunate. But since there is some divine motivation, and it seems that the gods mark Hellas for destruction, I myself change and correct my judgment. Now declare the gods' message to the Persians, and bid them obey your first command for all due preparation. Do this, so that nothing on your part be lacking to the fulfillment of the gods' commission." [4] After this was said, they were incited by the vision, and when daylight came Xerxes imparted all this to the Persians. Artabanus now openly encouraged that course which he alone had before openly discouraged.
25 KEYWORDS
XERXES ASSIGNED THE PHOENICIANS AND EGYPTIANS TO MAKE ROPES OF PAPYRUS AND WHITE FLAX FOR THE BRIDGES CARGO
12 KEYWORDS
XERXES AT NIGHT THINKS OVER AND OVER AGAIN ABOUT ARTABANUS' ADVICE THEN A VISION COMES TO HIM IN HIS SLEEP TELLING HIM THAT HE SHOULD NOT CHANGE HIS MIND ABOUT LEADING THE EXPEDITION AGAINST HELLAS.
24 KEYWORDS
XERXES GAVE THE COMMAND FOR THIS DIGGING OUT OF PRIDE HE WANTED TO LEAVE A MEMORIAL FOR HIS POWER THEY DID NOT REALLY NEED THE CANAL - THEY COULD HAVE DRAWN THEIR SHIPS ACROSS THE ISTHMUS
11 KEYWORDS
XERXES SAYS THAT ARTABANUS IS A COWARD HE WILL BE PUNISHED FOR HIS FOOLISH WORDS BY NOT COMING WITH THEM TO GREECE AND STAYING WITH THE WOMEN HE WILL NOT BE SON OF DARIUS... ETC IF HE DOES NOT TAKE VENGEANCE ON THEM PELOPS THE PHRYGIAN - THEIR SLAVE - MANAGED TO SUBDUE THEM
19 KEYWORDS
XERXES WAS INTENT ON THE EXPEDITION THEN HE SAW A THIRD VISION - THE MAGI INTERPRETED THIS TO SIGNIFY THAT ALL MEN SHOULD BE HIS SLAVES THE VISION WAS THAT HE WAS BEING CROWNED WITH AN OLIVE BOUGH ALL OF THE PERSIANS RODE TO THEIR PROVINCES AND USED ZEAL TO FULFIL THE KINGS COMMAND XERXES MUSTERED HIS ARMY
7.7 keywords
XERXES WAS PERSUADED TO SEND AN EXPEDITION AGAINST GREECE HE DID SO IN THE YEAR AFTER DARIUS' DEATH HE SUBDUED THE GREEKS HE LAID EGYPT UNDER SLAVERY (HARSHER THAN DARIUS') AND HANDED IT OVER TO ACHAEMENES - XERXES' BROTHER AND DARIUS' SON THIS MAN WAS KILLED BY A LIBYAN, INAROS (IN EGYPT)
16
Xerxes said this, but Artabanus would not obey the first command, thinking it was not right for him to sit on the royal throne; at last he was compelled and did as he was bid, saying first:
19
Xerxes was now intent on the expedition and then saw a third vision in his sleep, which the Magi interpreted to refer to the whole earth and to signify that all men should be his slaves. This was the vision: Xerxes thought that he was crowned with an olive bough, of which the shoots spread over the whole earth, and then the crown vanished from off his head where it was set. [3] The Magi interpreted it in this way, and immediately every single man of the Persians who had been assembled rode away to his own province and there used all zeal to fulfill the kings command, each desiring to receive the promised gifts. Thus it was that Xerxes mustered his army, searching out every part of the continent.
BRIDGE OVER THE HELLESPONT
Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges were constructed in 480 BC during the second Persian invasion of Greece upon the order of Xerxes I of Persia for the purpose of Xerxes' army to traverse the Hellespont (the present day Dardanelles) from Asia into Thrace, then also controlled by Persia (in the European part of modern Turkey).[1] The bridges were described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories, but little other evidence confirms Herodotus' story in this respect. Most modern historians accept the building of the bridges as such, but practically all details related by Herodotus are subject to doubt and discussion.
XERXES
son of Darius; became Persian king. He vowed revenge on the Athenians. He invaded Greece with 180,000 troops in 480 B.C. Xerxes I (ruled 486-465 BCE), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. ... He was the son of Darius the Great (550-486 BCE) fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia.
