On this account, as well as to see the world, Solon set out upon his

travels, in the course of which he went to Egypt to the court of Amasis,

and also came on a visit to Croesus at Sardis. Croesus received him

as his guest, and lodged him in the royal palace. On the third or

fourth day after, he bade his servants conduct Solon. over his treasuries,

and show him all their greatness and magnificence. When he had seen

them all, and, so far as time allowed, inspected them, Croesus addressed

this question to him. "Stranger of Athens, we have heard much of thy

wisdom and of thy travels through many lands, from love of knowledge

and a wish to see the world. I am curious therefore to inquire of

thee, whom, of all the men that thou hast seen, thou deemest the most

happy?" This he asked because he thought himself the happiest of mortals:

but Solon answered him without flattery, according to his true sentiments,

"Tellus of Athens, sire." Full of astonishment at what he heard, Croesus

demanded sharply, "And wherefore dost thou deem Tellus happiest?"

To which the other replied, "First, because his country was flourishing

in his days, and he himself had sons both beautiful and good, and

he lived to see children born to each of them, and these children

all grew up; and further because, after a life spent in what our people

look upon as comfort, his end was surpassingly glorious. In a battle

between the Athenians and their neighbours near Eleusis, he came to

the assistance of his countrymen, routed the foe, and died upon the

field most gallantly. The Athenians gave him a public funeral on the

spot where he fell, and paid him the highest honours."

Thus did Solon admonish Croesus by the example of Tellus, enumerating

the manifold particulars of his happiness. When he had ended, Croesus

inquired a second time, who after Tellus seemed to him the happiest,

expecting that at any rate, he would be given the second place. "Cleobis

and Bito," Solon answered; "they were of Argive race; their fortune

was enough for their wants, and they were besides endowed with so

much bodily strength that they had both gained prizes at the Games.

Also this tale is told of them:- There was a great festival in honour

of the goddess Juno at Argos, to which their mother must needs be

taken in a car. Now the oxen did not come home from the field in time:

so the youths, fearful of being too late, put the yoke on their own

necks, and themselves drew the car in which their mother rode. Five

and forty furlongs did they draw her, and stopped before the temple.

This deed of theirs was witnessed by the whole assembly of worshippers,

and then their life closed in the best possible way. Herein, too,

God showed forth most evidently, how much better a thing for man death

is than life. For the Argive men, who stood around the car, extolled

the vast strength of the youths; and the Argive women extolled the

mother who was blessed with such a pair of sons; and the mother herself,

overjoyed at the deed and at the praises it had won, standing straight

before the image, besought the goddess to bestow on Cleobis and Bito,

the sons who had so mightily honoured her, the highest blessing to

which mortals can attain. Her prayer ended, they offered sacrifice

and partook of the holy banquet, after which the two youths fell asleep

in the temple. They never woke more, but so passed from the earth.

The Argives, looking on them as among the best of men, caused statues

of them to be made, which they gave to the shrine at Delphi."

When Solon had thus assigned these youths the second place, Croesus

broke in angrily, "What, stranger of Athens, is my happiness, then,

so utterly set at nought by thee, that thou dost not even put me on

a level with private men?"

"Oh! Croesus," replied the other, "thou askedst a question concerning

the condition of man, of one who knows that the power above us is

full of jealousy, and fond of troubling our lot. A long life gives

one to witness much, and experience much oneself, that one would not

choose. Seventy years I regard as the limit of the life of man. In

these seventy years are contained, without reckoning intercalary months,

twenty-five thousand and two hundred days. Add an intercalary month

to every other year, that the seasons may come round at the right

time, and there will be, besides the seventy years, thirty-five such

months, making an addition of one thousand and fifty days. The whole

number of the days contained in the seventy years will thus be twenty-six

thousand two hundred and fifty, whereof not one but will produce events

unlike the rest. Hence man is wholly accident. For thyself, oh! Croesus,

I see that thou art wonderfully rich, and art the lord of many nations;

but with respect to that whereon thou questionest me, I have no answer

to give, until I hear that thou hast closed thy life happily. For

assuredly he who possesses great store of riches is no nearer happiness

than he who has what suffices for his daily needs, unless it so hap

that luck attend upon him, and so he continue in the enjoyment of

all his good things to the end of life. For many of the wealthiest

men have been unfavoured of fortune, and many whose means were moderate

have had excellent luck. Men of the former class excel those of the

latter but in two respects; these last excel the former in many. The

wealthy man is better able to content his desires, and to bear up

against a sudden buffet of calamity. The other has less ability to

withstand these evils (from which, however, his good luck keeps him

clear), but he enjoys all these following blessings: he is whole of

limb, a stranger to disease, free from misfortune, happy in his children,

and comely to look upon. If, in addition to all this, he end his life

well, he is of a truth the man of whom thou art in search, the man

who may rightly be termed happy. Call him, however, until he die,

not happy but fortunate. Scarcely, indeed, can any man unite all these

advantages: as there is no country which contains within it all that

it needs, but each, while it possesses some things, lacks others,

and the best country is that which contains the most; so no single

human being is complete in every respect- something is always lacking.

He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and retaining them

to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire,

is, in my judgment, entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every

matter it behoves us to mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives

men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them into ruin."

Such was the speech which Solon addressed to Croesus, a speech which

brought him neither largess nor honour. The king saw him depart with

much indifference, since he thought that a man must be an arrant fool

who made no account of present good, but bade men always wait and

mark the end.

After Solon had gone away a dreadful vengeance, sent of God, came

upon Croesus, to punish him, it is likely, for deeming himself the

happiest of men. First he had a dream in the night, which foreshowed

him truly the evils that were about to befall him in the person of

his son. For Croesus had two sons, one blasted by a natural defect,

being deaf and dumb; the other, distinguished far above all his co-mates

in every pursuit. The name of the last was Atys. It was this son concerning

whom he dreamt a dream that he would die by the blow of an iron weapon.

When he woke, he considered earnestly with himself, and, greatly alarmed

at the dream, instantly made his son take a wife, and whereas in former

years the youth had been wont to command the Lydian forces in the

field, he now would not suffer him to accompany them. All the spears

and javelins, and weapons used in the wars, he removed out of the

male apartments, and laid them in heaps in the chambers of the women,

fearing lest perhaps one of the weapons that hung against the wall

might fall and strike him.

Now it chanced that while he was making arrangements for the wedding,

there came to Sardis a man under a misfortune, who had upon him the

stain of blood. He was by race a Phrygian, and belonged to the family

of the king. Presenting himself at the palace of Croesus, he prayed

to be admitted to purification according to the customs of the country.

Now the Lydian method of purifying is very nearly the same as the

Greek. Croesus granted the request, and went through all the customary

rites, after which he asked the suppliant of his birth and country,

addressing him as follows:- "Who art thou, stranger, and from what

part of Phrygia fleddest thou to take refuge at my hearth? And whom,

moreover, what man or what woman, hast thou slain?" "Oh! king," replied

the Phrygian, "I am the son of Gordias, son of Midas. I am named Adrastus.

The man I unintentionally slew was my own brother. For this my father

drove me from the land, and I lost all. Then fled I here to thee."

"Thou art the offspring," Croesus rejoined, "of a house friendly to

mine, and thou art come to friends. Thou shalt want for nothing so

long as thou abidest in my dominions. Bear thy misfortune as easily

as thou mayest, so will it go best with thee." Thenceforth Adrastus

lived in the palace of the king.

It chanced that at this very same time there was in the Mysian Olympus

a huge monster of a boar, which went forth often from this mountain

country, and wasted the corn-fields of the Mysians. Many a time had

the Mysians collected to hunt the beast, but instead of doing him

any hurt, they came off always with some loss to themselves. At length

they sent ambassadors to Croesus, who delivered their message to him

in these words: "Oh! king, a mighty monster of a boar has appeared

in our parts, and destroys the labour of our hands. We do our best

to take him, but in vain. Now therefore we beseech thee to let thy

son accompany us back, with some chosen youths and hounds, that we

may rid our country of the animal." Such was the tenor of their prayer.

But Croesus bethought him of his dream, and answered, "Say no more

of my son going with you; that may not be in any wise. He is but just

joined in wedlock, and is busy enough with that. I will grant you

a picked band of Lydians, and all my huntsmen and hounds; and I will

charge those whom I send to use all zeal in aiding you to rid your

country of the brute."

With this reply the Mysians were content; but the king's son, hearing

what the prayer of the Mysians was, came suddenly in, and on the refusal

of Croesus to let him go with them, thus addressed his father: "Formerly,

my father, it was deemed the noblest and most suitable thing for me

to frequent the wars and hunting-parties, and win myself glory in

them; but now thou keepest me away from both, although thou hast never

beheld in me either cowardice or lack of spirit. What face meanwhile

must I wear as I walk to the forum or return from it? What must the

citizens, what must my young bride think of me? What sort of man will

she suppose her husband to be? Either, therefore, let me go to the

chase of this boar, or give me a reason why it is best for me to do

according to thy wishes."

Then Croesus answered, "My son, it is not because I have seen in thee

either cowardice or aught else which has displeased me that I keep

thee back; but because a vision which came before me in a dream as

I slept, warned me that thou wert doomed to die young, pierced by

an iron weapon. It was this which first led me to hasten on thy wedding,

and now it hinders me from sending thee upon this enterprise. Fain

would I keep watch over thee, if by any means I may cheat fate of

thee during my own lifetime. For thou art the one and only son that

I possess; the other, whose hearing is destroyed, I regard as if he

were not."

"Ah! father," returned the youth, "I blame thee not for keeping watch

over me after a dream so terrible; but if thou mistakest, if thou

dost not apprehend the dream aright, 'tis no blame for me to show

thee wherein thou errest. Now the dream, thou saidst thyself, foretold

that I should die stricken by an iron weapon. But what hands has a

boar to strike with? What iron weapon does he wield? Yet this is what

thou fearest for me. Had the dream said that I should die pierced

by a tusk, then thou hadst done well to keep me away; but it said

a weapon. Now here we do not combat men, but a wild animal. I pray

thee, therefore, let me go with them."

"There thou hast me, my son," said Croesus, "thy interpretation is

better than mine. I yield to it, and change my mind, and consent to

let thee go."

Then the king sent for Adrastus, the Phrygian, and said to him, "Adrastus,

when thou wert smitten with the rod of affliction- no reproach, my

friend- I purified thee, and have taken thee to live with me in my

palace, and have been at every charge. Now, therefore, it behoves

thee to requite the good offices which thou hast received at my hands

by consenting to go with my son on this hunting party, and to watch

over him, if perchance you should be attacked upon the road by some

band of daring robbers. Even apart from this, it were right for thee

to go where thou mayest make thyself famous by noble deeds. They are

the heritage of thy family, and thou too art so stalwart and strong."

Adrastus answered, "Except for thy request, Oh! king, I would rather

have kept away from this hunt; for methinks it ill beseems a man under

a misfortune such as mine to consort with his happier compeers; and

besides, I have no heart to it. On many grounds I had stayed behind;

but, as thou urgest it, and I am bound to pleasure thee (for truly

it does behove me to requite thy good offices), I am content to do

as thou wishest. For thy son, whom thou givest into my charge, be

sure thou shalt receive him back safe and sound, so far as depends

upon a guardian's carefulness."

Thus assured, Croesus let them depart, accompanied by a band of picked

youths, and well provided with dogs of chase. When they reached Olympus,

they scattered in quest of the animal; he was soon found, and the

hunters, drawing round him in a circle, hurled their weapons at him.

Then the stranger, the man who had been purified of blood, whose name

was Adrastus, he also hurled his spear at the boar, but missed his

aim, and struck Atys. Thus was the son of Croesus slain by the point

of an iron weapon, and the warning of the vision was fulfilled. Then

one ran to Sardis to bear the tidings to the king, and he came and

informed him of the combat and of the fate that had befallen his son.

If it was a heavy blow to the father to learn that his child was dead,

it yet more strongly affected him to think that the very man whom

he himself once purified had done the deed. In the violence of his

grief he called aloud on Jupiter Catharsius to be a witness of what

he had suffered at the stranger's hands. Afterwards he invoked the

same god as Jupiter Ephistius and Hetaereus- using the one term because

he had unwittingly harboured in his house the man who had now slain

his son; and the other, because the stranger, who had been sent as

his child's guardian, had turned out his most cruel enemy.

Presently the Lydians arrived, bearing the body of the youth, and

behind them followed the homicide. He took his stand in front of the

corse, and, stretching forth his hands to Croesus, delivered himself

into his power with earnest entreaties that he would sacrifice him

upon the body of his son- "his former misfortune was burthen enough;

now that he had added to it a second, and had brought ruin on the

man who purified him, he could not bear to live." Then Croesus, when

he heard these words, was moved with pity towards Adrastus, notwithstanding

the bitterness of his own calamity; and so he answered, "Enough, my

friend; I have all the revenge that I require, since thou givest sentence

of death against thyself. But in sooth it is not thou who hast injured

me, except so far as thou hast unwittingly dealt the blow. Some god

is the author of my misfortune, and I was forewarned of it a long

time ago." Croesus after this buried the body of his son, with such

honours as befitted the occasion. Adrastus, son of Gordias, son of

Midas, the destroyer of his brother in time past, the destroyer now

of his purifier, regarding himself as the most unfortunate wretch

whom he had ever known, so soon as all was quiet about the place,

slew himself upon the tomb. Croesus, bereft of his son, gave himself

up to mourning for two full years.

At the end of this time the grief of Croesus was interrupted by intelligence

from abroad. He learnt that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, had destroyed

the empire of Astyages, the son of Cyaxares; and that the Persians

were becoming daily more powerful. This led him to consider with himself

whether it were possible to check the growing power of that people

before it came to a head. With this design he resolved to make instant

trial of the several oracles in Greece, and of the one in Libya. So

he sent his messengers in different directions, some to Delphi, some

to Abae in Phocis, and some to Dodona; others to the oracle of Amphiaraus;

others to that of Trophonius; others, again, to Branchidae in Milesia.

These were the Greek oracles which he consulted. To Libya he sent

another embassy, to consult the oracle of Ammon. These messengers

were sent to test the knowledge of the oracles, that, if they were

found really to return true answers, he might send a second time,

and inquire if he ought to attack the Persians.

The messengers who were despatched to make trial of the oracles were

given the following instructions: they were to keep count of the days

from the time of their leaving Sardis, and, reckoning from that date,

on the hundredth day they were to consult the oracles, and to inquire

of them what Croesus the son of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was doing

at that moment. The answers given them were to be taken down in writing,

and brought back to him. None of the replies remain on record except

that of the oracle at Delphi. There, the moment that the Lydians entered

the sanctuary, and before they put their questions, the Pythoness

thus answered them in hexameter verse:-

I can count the sands, and I can measure the ocean;

I have ears for the silent, and know what the dumb man meaneth;

Lo! on my sense there striketh the smell of a shell-covered

tortoise,

Boiling now on a fire, with the flesh of a lamb, in a cauldron-

Brass is the vessel below, and brass the cover above it.

These words the Lydians wrote down at the mouth of the Pythoness as

she prophesied, and then set off on their return to Sardis. When all

the messengers had come back with the answers which they had received,

Croesus undid the rolls, and read what was written in each. Only one

approved itself to him, that of the Delphic oracle. This he had no

sooner heard than he instantly made an act of adoration, and accepted

it as true, declaring that the Delphic was the only really oracular

shrine, the only one that had discovered in what way he was in fact

employed. For on the departure of his messengers he had set himself

to think what was most impossible for any one to conceive of his doing,

and then, waiting till the day agreed on came, he acted as he had

determined. He took a tortoise and a lamb, and cutting them in pieces

with his own hands, boiled them both together in a brazen cauldron,

covered over with a lid which was also of brass.

Such then was the answer returned to Croesus from Delphi. What the

answer was which the Lydians who went to the shrine of Amphiarans

and performed the customary rites obtained of the oracle there, I

have it not in my power to mention, for there is no record of it.

All that is known is that Croesus believed himself to have found there

also an oracle which spoke the truth.

After this Croesus, having resolved to propitiate the Delphic god

with a magnificent sacrifice, offered up three thousand of every kind

of sacrificial beast, and besides made a huge pile, and placed upon

it couches coated with silver and with gold, and golden goblets, and

robes and vests of purple; all which he burnt in the hope of thereby

making himself more secure of the favour of the god. Further he issued

his orders to all the people of the land to offer a sacrifice according

to their means. When the sacrifice was ended, the king melted down

a vast quantity of gold, and ran it into ingots, making them six palms

long, three palms broad, and one palm in thickness. The number of

ingots was a hundred and seventeen, four being of refined gold, in

weight two talents and a half; the others of pale gold, and in weight

two talents. He also caused a statue of a lion to be made in refined

gold, the weight of which was ten talents. At the time when the temple

of Delphi was burnt to the ground, this lion fell from the ingots

on which it was placed; it now stands in the Corinthian treasury,

and weighs only six talents and a half, having lost three talents

and a half by the fire.

On the completion of these works Croesus sent them away to Delphi,

and with them two bowls of an enormous size, one of gold, the other

of silver, which used to stand, the latter upon the right, the former

upon the left, as one entered the temple. They too were moved at the

time of the fire; and now the golden one is in the Clazomenian treasury,

and weighs eight talents and forty-two minae; the silver one stands

in the corner of the ante-chapel, and holds six hundred amphorae.

This is known because the Delphians fill it at the time of the Theophania.

It is said by the Delphians to be a work of Theodore the Samian, and

I think that they say true, for assuredly it is the work of no common

artist. Croesus sent also four silver casks, which are in the Corinthian

treasury, and two lustral vases, a golden and a silver one. On the

former is inscribed the name of the Lacedaemonians, and they claim

it as a gift of theirs, but wrongly, since it was really given by

Croesus. The inscription upon it was cut by a Delphian, who wished

to pleasure the Lacedaemonians. His name is known to me, but I forbear

to mention it. The boy, through whose hand the water runs, is (I confess)

a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did not give either of the lustral

vases. Besides these various offerings, Croesus sent to Delphi many

others of less account, among the rest a number of round silver basins.

Also he dedicated a female figure in gold, three cubits high, which

is said by the Delphians to be the statue of his baking-woman; and

further, he presented the necklace and the girdles of his wife.

These were the offerings sent by Croesus to Delphi. To the shrine

of Amphiaraus, with whose valour and misfortune he was acquainted,

he sent a shield entirely of gold, and a spear, also of solid gold,

both head and shaft. They were still existing in my day at Thebes,

laid up in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.

The messengers who had the charge of conveying these treasures to

the shrines, received instructions to ask the oracles whether Croesus

should go to war with the Persians and if so, whether he should strengthen

himself by the forces of an ally. Accordingly, when they had reached

their destinations and presented the gifts, they proceeded to consult

the oracles in the following terms:- "Croesus, of Lydia and other

countries, believing that these are the only real oracles in all the

world, has sent you such presents as your discoveries deserved, and

now inquires of you whether he shall go to war with the Persians,

and if so, whether he shall strengthen himself by the forces of a

confederate." Both the oracles agreed in the tenor of their reply,

which was in each case a prophecy that if Croesus attacked the Persians,

he would destroy a mighty empire, and a recommendation to him to look

and see who were the most powerful of the Greeks, and to make alliance

with them.

At the receipt of these oracular replies Croesus was overjoyed, and

feeling sure now that he would destroy the empire of the Persians,

he sent once more to Pytho, and presented to the Delphians, the number

of whom he had ascertained, two gold staters apiece. In return for

this the Delphians granted to Croesus and the Lydians the privilege

of precedency in consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges,

the most honourable seat at the festivals, and the perpetual right

of becoming at pleasure citizens of their town.

After sending these presents to the Delphians, Croesus a third time

consulted the oracle, for having once proved its truthfulness, he

wished to make constant use of it. The question whereto he now desired

an answer was- "Whether his kingdom would be of long duration?" The

following was the reply of the Pythoness:-

Wait till the time shall come when a mule is monarch of Media;

Then, thou delicate Lydian, away to the pebbles of Hermus;

Haste, oh! haste thee away, nor blush to behave like a coward.

Of all the answers that had reached him, this pleased him far the

best, for it seemed incredible that a mule should ever come to be

king of the Medes, and so he concluded that the sovereignty would

never depart from himself or his seed after him. Afterwards he turned

his thoughts to the alliance which he had been recommended to contract,

and sought to ascertain by inquiry which was the most powerful of

the Grecian states. His inquiries pointed out to him two states as

pre-eminent above the rest. These were the Lacedaemonians and the

Athenians, the former of Doric, the latter of Ionic blood. And indeed

these two nations had held from very, early times the most distinguished

place in Greece, the being a Pelasgic, the other a Hellenic people,

and the one having never quitted its original seats, while the other

had been excessively migratory; for during the reign of Deucalion,

Phthiotis was the country in which the Hellenes dwelt, but under Dorus,

the son of Hellen, they moved to the tract at the base of Ossa and

Olympus, which is called Histiaeotis; forced to retire from that region

by the Cadmeians, they settled, under the name of Macedni, in the

chain of Pindus. Hence they once more removed and came to Dryopis;

and from Dryopis having entered the Peloponnese in this way, they

became known as Dorians.

What the language of the Pelasgi was I cannot say with any certainty.

If, however, we may form a conjecture from the tongue spoken by the

Pelasgi of the present day- those, for instance, who live at Creston

above the Tyrrhenians, who formerly dwelt in the district named Thessaliotis,

and were neighbours of the people now called the Dorians- or those

again who founded Placia and Scylace upon the Hellespont, who had

previously dwelt for some time with the Athenians- or those, in short,

of any other of the cities which have dropped the name but are in

fact Pelasgian; if, I say, we are to form a conjecture from any of

these, we must pronounce that the Pelasgi spoke a barbarous language.

If this were really so, and the entire Pelasgic race spoke the same

tongue, the Athenians, who were certainly Pelasgi, must have changed

their language at the same time that they passed into the Hellenic

body; for it is a certain fact that the people of Creston speak a

language unlike any of their neighbours, and the same is true of the

Placianians, while the language spoken by these two people is the

same; which shows that they both retain the idiom which they brought

with them into the countries where they are now settled.

The Hellenic race has never, since its first origin, changed its speech.

This at least seems evident to me. It was a branch of the Pelasgic,

which separated from the main body, and at first was scanty in numbers

and of little power; but it gradually spread and increased to a multitude

of nations, chiefly by the voluntary entrance into its ranks of numerous

tribes of barbarians. The Pelasgi, on the other hand, were, as I think,

a barbarian race which never greatly multiplied.

On inquiring into the condition of these two nations, Croesus found

that one, the Athenian, was in a state of grievous oppression and

distraction under Pisistratus, the son of Hippocrates, who was at

that time tyrant of Athens. Hippocrates, when he was a private citizen,

is said to have gone once upon a time to Olympia to see the Games,

when a wonderful prodigy happened to him. As he was employed in sacrificing,

the cauldrons which stood near, full of water and of the flesh of

the victims, began to boil without the help of fire, so that the water

overflowed the pots. Chilon the Lacedaemonian, who happened to be

there and to witness the prodigy, advised Hippocrates, if he were

unmarried, never to take into his house a wife who could bear him

a child; if he already had one, to send her back to her friends; if

he had a son, to disown him. Chilon's advice did not at all please

Hippocrates, who disregarded it, and some time after became the father

of Pisistratus. This Pisistratus, at a time when there was civil contention

in Attica between the party of the Sea-coast headed by Megacles the

son of Alcmaeon, and that of the Plain headed by Lycurgus, one of

the Aristolaids, formed the project of making himself tyrant, and

with this view created a third party. Gathering together a band of

partisans, and giving himself out for the protector of the Highlanders,

he contrived the following stratagem. He wounded himself and his mules,

and then drove his chariot into the market-place, professing to have

just escaped an attack of his enemies, who had attempted his life

as he was on his way into the country. He besought the people to assign

him a guard to protect his person, reminding them of the glory which

he had gained when he led the attack upon the Megarians, and took

the town of Nisaea, at the same time performing many other exploits.

The Athenians, deceived by his story, appointed him a band of citizens

to serve as a guard, who were to carry clubs instead of spears, and

to accompany him wherever he went. Thus strengthened, Pisistratus

broke into revolt and seized the citadel. In this way he acquired

the sovereignty of Athens, which he continued to hold without disturbing

the previously existing offices or altering any of the laws. He administered

the state according to the established usages, and his arrangements

were wise and salutary.

However, after a little time, the partisans of Megacles and those

of Lycurgus agreed to forget their differences, and united to drive

him out. So Pisistratus, having by the means described first made

himself master of Athens, lost his power again before it had time

to take root. No sooner, however, was he departed than the factions

which had driven him out quarrelled anew, and at last Megacles, wearied

with the struggle, sent a herald to Pisistratus, with an offer to

re-establish him on the throne if he would marry his daughter. Pisistratus

consented, and on these terms an agreement was concluded between the

two, after which they proceeded to devise the mode of his restoration.

And here the device on which they hit was the silliest that I find

on record, more especially considering that the Greeks have been from

very ancient times distinguished from the barbarians by superior sagacity

and freedom from foolish simpleness, and remembering that the persons

on whom this trick was played were not only Greeks but Athenians,

who have the credit of surpassing all other Greeks in cleverness.

There was in the Paeanian district a woman named Phya, whose height

only fell short of four cubits by three fingers' breadth, and who

was altogether comely to look upon. This woman they clothed in complete

armour, and, instructing her as to the carriage which she was to maintain

in order to beseem her part, they placed her in a chariot and drove

to the city. Heralds had been sent forward to precede her, and to

make proclamation to this effect: "Citizens of Athens, receive again

Pisistratus with friendly minds. Minerva, who of all men honours him

the most, herself conducts him back to her own citadel." This they

proclaimed in all directions, and immediately the rumour spread throughout

the country districts that Minerva was bringing back her favourite.

They of the city also, fully persuaded that the woman was the veritable

goddess, prostrated themselves before her, and received Pisistratus

back.

Pisistratus, having thus recovered the sovereignty, married, according

to agreement, the daughter of Megacles. As, however, he had already

a family of grown up sons, and the Alcmaeonidae were supposed to be

under a curse, he determined that there should be no issue of the

marriage. His wife at first kept this matter to herself, but after

a time, either her mother questioned her, or it may be that she told

it of her own accord. At any rate, she informed her mother, and so

it reached her father's ears. Megacles, indignant at receiving an

affront from such a quarter, in his anger instantly made up his differences

with the opposite faction, on which Pisistratus, aware of what was

planning against him, took himself out of the country. Arrived at

Eretria, he held a council with his children to decide what was to

be done. The opinion of Hippias prevailed, and it was agreed to aim

at regaining the sovereignty. The first step was to obtain advances

of money from such states as were under obligations to them. By these

means they collected large sums from several countries, especially

from the Thebans, who gave them far more than any of the rest. To

be brief, time passed, and all was at length got ready for their return.

A band of Argive mercenaries arrived from the Peloponnese, and a certain

Naxian named Lygdamis, who volunteered his services, was particularly

zealous in the cause, supplying both men and money.

In the eleventh year of their exile the family of Pisistratus set

sail from Eretria on their return home. They made the coast of Attica,

near Marathon, where they encamped, and were joined by their partisans

from the capital and by numbers from the country districts, who loved

tyranny better than freedom. At Athens, while Pisistratus was obtaining

funds, and even after he landed at Marathon, no one paid any attention

to his proceedings. When, however, it became known that he had left

Marathon, and was marching upon the city, preparations were made for

resistance, the whole force of the state was levied, and led against

the returning exiles. Meantime the army of Pisistratus, which had

broken up from Marathon, meeting their adversaries near the temple

of the Pallenian Minerva, pitched their camp opposite them. Here a

certain soothsayer, Amphilytus by name, an Acarnanian, moved by a

divine impulse, came into the presence of Pisistratus, and approaching

him uttered this prophecy in the hexameter measure:-

Now has the cast been made, the net is out-spread in the water,

Through the moonshiny night the tunnies will enter the meshes.

Such was the prophecy uttered under a divine inspiration. Pisistratus,

apprehending its meaning, declared that he accepted the oracle, and

instantly led on his army. The Athenians from the city had just finished

their midday meal, after which they had betaken themselves, some to

dice, others to sleep, when Pisistratus with his troops fell upon

them and put them to the rout. As soon as the flight began, Pisistratus

bethought himself of a most wise contrivance, whereby the might be

induced to disperse and not unite in a body any more. He mounted his

sons on horseback and sent them on in front to overtake the fugitives,

and exhort them to be of good cheer, and return each man to his home.

The Athenians took the advice, and Pisistratus became for the third

time master of Athens.

Upon this he set himself to root his power more firmly, by the aid

of a numerous body of mercenaries, and by keeping up a full exchequer,

partly supplied from native sources, partly from the countries about

the river Strymon. He also demanded hostages from many of the Athenians

who had remained at home, and not left Athens at his approach; and

these he sent to Naxos, which he had conquered by force of arms, and

given over into the charge of Lygdamis. Farther, he purified the island

of Delos, according to the injunctions of an oracle, after the following

fashion. All the dead bodies which had been interred within sight

of the temple he dug up, and removed to another part of the isle.

Thus was the tyranny of Pisistratus established at Athens, many of

the Athenians having fallen in the battle, and many others having

fled the country together with the son of Alcmaeon.

Such was the condition of the Athenians when Croesus made inquiry

concerning them. Proceeding to seek information concerning the Lacedaemonians,

he learnt that, after passing through a period of great depression,

they had lately been victorious in a war with the people of Tegea;

for, during the joint reign of Leo and Agasicles, kings of Sparta,

the Lacedaemonians, successful in all their other wars, suffered continual

defeat at the hands of the Tegeans. At a still earlier period they

had been the very worst governed people in Greece, as well in matters

of internal management as in their relations towards foreigners, from

whom they kept entirely aloof. The circumstances which led to their

being well governed were the following:- Lycurgus, a man of distinction

among the Spartans, had gone to Delphi, to visit the oracle. Scarcely

had he entered into the inner fane, when the Pythoness exclaimed aloud,

Oh! thou great Lycurgus, that com'st to my beautiful dwelling,

Dear to love, and to all who sit in the halls of Olympus,

Whether to hail thee a god I know not, or only a mortal,

But my hope is strong that a god thou wilt prove, Lycurgus. Some report

besides, that the Pythoness delivered to him the entire system of

laws which are still observed by the Spartans. The Lacedaemonians,

however. themselves assert that Lycurgus, when he was guardian of

his nephew, Labotas, king of Sparta, and regent in his room, introduced

them from Crete; for as soon as he became regent, he altered the whole

of the existing customs, substituting new ones, which he took care

should be observed by all. After this he arranged whatever appertained

to war, establishing the Enomotiae, Triacades, and Syssitia, besides

which he instituted the senate,' and the ephoralty. Such was the way

in which the Lacedaemonians became a well-governed people.

On the death of Lycurgus they built him a temple, and ever since they

have worshipped him with the utmost reverence. Their soil being good

and the population numerous, they sprang up rapidly to power, and

became a flourishing people. In consequence they soon ceased to be

satisfied to stay quiet; and, regarding the Arcadians as very much

their inferiors, they sent to consult the oracle about conquering

the whole of Arcadia. The Pythoness thus answered them:

Cravest thou Arcady? Bold is thy craving. I shall not content it.

Many the men that in Arcady dwell, whose food is the acorn-

They will never allow thee. It is not I that am niggard.

I will give thee to dance in Tegea, with noisy foot-fall,

And with the measuring line mete out the glorious champaign. When

the Lacedaemonians received this reply, leaving the rest of Arcadia

untouched, they marched against the Tegeans, carrying with them fetters,

so confident had this oracle (which was, in truth, but of base metal)

made them that they would enslave the Tegeans. The battle, however,

went against them, and many fell into the enemy's hands. Then these

persons, wearing the fetters which they had themselves brought, and

fastened together in a string, measured the Tegean plain as they executed

their labours. The fetters in which they worked were still, in my

day, preserved at Tegea where they hung round the walls of the temple

of Minerva Alea.

Throughout the whole of this early contest with the Tegeans, the Lacedaemonians

met with nothing but defeats; but in the time of Croesus, under the

kings Anaxandrides and Aristo, fortune had turned in their favour,

in the manner which I will now relate. Having been worsted in every

engagement by their enemy, they sent to Delphi, and inquired of the

oracle what god they must propitiate to prevail in the war against

the Tegeans. The answer of the Pythoness was that before they could

prevail, they must remove to Sparta the bones of Orestes, the son

of Agamemnon. Unable to discover his burial-place, they sent a second

time, and asked the god where the body of the hero had been laid.

The following was the answer they received:-

Level and smooth is the plain where Arcadian Tegea standeth;

There two winds are ever, by strong necessity, blowing,

Counter-stroke answers stroke, and evil lies upon evil.

There all-teeming Earth doth harbour the son of Atrides;

Bring thou him to thy city, and then be Tegea's master. After this

reply, the Lacedaemonians were no nearer discovering the burial-place

than before, though they continued to search for it diligently; until

at last a man named Lichas, one of the Spartans called Agathoergi,

found it. The Agathoergi are citizens who have just served their time

among the knights. The five eldest of the knights go out every year,

and are bound during the year after their discharge to go wherever

the State sends them, and actively employ themselves in its service.

Lichas was one of this body when, partly by good luck, partly by his

own wisdom, he discovered the burial-place. Intercourse between the

two States existing just at this time, he went to Tegea, and, happening

to enter into the workshop of a smith, he saw him forging some iron.

As he stood marvelling at what he beheld, he was observed by the smith

who, leaving off his work, went up to him and said,

"Certainly, then, you Spartan stranger, you would have been wonderfully

surprised if you had seen what I have, since you make a marvel even

of the working in iron. I wanted to make myself a well in this room,

and began to dig it, when what think you? I came upon a coffin seven

cubits long. I had never believed that men were taller in the olden

times than they are now, so I opened the coffin. The body inside was

of the same length: I measured it, and filled up the hole again."

Such was the man's account of what he had seen. The other, on turning

the matter over in his mind, conjectured that this was the body of

Orestes, of which the oracle had spoken. He guessed so, because he

observed that the smithy had two bellows, which he understood to be

the two winds, and the hammer and anvil would do for the stroke and

the counterstroke, and the iron that was being wrought for the evil

lying upon evil. This he imagined might be so because iron had been

discovered to the hurt of man. Full of these conjectures, he sped

back to Sparta and laid the whole matter before his countrymen. Soon

after, by a concerted plan, they brought a charge against him, and

began a prosecution. Lichas betook himself to Tegea, and on his arrival

acquainted the smith with his misfortune, and proposed to rent his

room of him. The smith refused for some time; but at last Lichas persuaded

him, and took up his abode in it. Then he opened the grave, and collecting

the bones, returned with them to Sparta. From henceforth, whenever

the Spartans and the Tegeans made trial of each other's skill in arms,

the Spartans always had greatly the advantage; and by the time to

which we are now come they were masters of most of the Peloponnese.

Croesus, informed of all these circumstances, sent messengers to Sparta,

with gifts in their hands, who were to ask the Spartans to enter into

alliance with him. They received strict injunctions as to what they

should say, and on their arrival at Sparta spake as follows:-

"Croesus, king of the Lydians and of other nations, has sent us to

speak thus to you: 'Oh Lacedaemonians, the god has bidden me to make

the Greek my friend; I therefore apply to you, in conformity with

the oracle, knowing that you hold the first rank in Greece, and desire

to become your friend and ally in all true faith and honesty.'"

Such was the message which Croesus sent by his heralds. The Lacedaemonians,

who were aware beforehand of the reply given him by the oracle, were

full of joy at the coming of the messengers, and at once took the

oaths of friendship and alliance: this they did the more readily as

they had previously contracted certain obligations towards him. They

had sent to Sardis on one occasion to purchase some gold, intending

to use it on a statue of Apollo- the statue, namely, which remains

to this day at Thornax in Laconia, when Croesus, hearing of the matter,

gave them as a gift the gold which they wanted.

This was one reason why the Lacedaemonians were so willing to make

the alliance: another was, because Croesus had chosen them for his

friends in preference to all the other Greeks. They therefore held

themselves in readiness to come at his summons, and not content with

so doing, they further had a huge vase made in bronze, covered with

figures of animals all round the outside of the rim, and large enough

to contain three hundred amphorae, which they sent to Croesus as a

return for his presents to them. The vase, however, never reached

Sardis. Its miscarriage is accounted for in two quite different ways.

The Lacedaemonian story is that when it reached Samos, on its way

towards Sardis, the Samians having knowledge of it, put to sea in

their ships of war and made it their prize. But the Samians declare

that the Lacedaemonians who had the vase in charge, happening to arrive

too late, and learning that Sardis had fallen and that Croesus was

a prisoner, sold it in their island, and the purchasers (who were,

they say, private persons) made an offering of it at the shrine of

Juno: the sellers were very likely on their return to Sparta to have

said that they had been robbed of it by the Samians. Such, then, was

the fate of the vase.

Meanwhile Croesus, taking the oracle in a wrong sense, led his forces

into Cappadocia, fully expecting to defeat Cyrus and destroy the empire

of the Persians. While he was still engaged in making preparations

for his attack, a Lydian named Sandanis, who had always been looked

upon as a wise man, but who after this obtained a very great name

indeed among his countrymen, came forward and counselled the king

in these words:

"Thou art about, oh! king, to make war against men who wear leathern

trousers, and have all their other garments of leather; who feed not

on what they like, but on what they can get from a soil that is sterile

and unkindly; who do not indulge in wine, but drink water; who possess

no figs nor anything else that is good to eat. If, then, thou conquerest

them, what canst thou get from them, seeing that they have nothing

at all? But if they conquer thee, consider how much that is precious

thou wilt lose: if they once get a taste of our pleasant things, they

will keep such hold of them that we shall never be able to make them

loose their grasp. For my part, I am thankful to the gods that they

have not put it into the hearts of the Persians to invade Lydia."

Croesus was not persuaded by this speech, though it was true enough;

for before the conquest of Lydia, the Persians possessed none of the

luxuries or delights of life.

The Cappadocians are known to the Greeks by the name of Syrians. Before

the rise of the Persian power, they had been subject to the Medes;

but at the present time they were within the empire of Cyrus, for

the boundary between the Median and the Lydian empires was the river

Halys. This stream, which rises in the mountain country of Armenia,

runs first through Cilicia; afterwards it flows for a while with the

Matieni on the right, and the Phrygians on the left: then, when they

are passed, it proceeds with a northern course, separating the Cappadocian

Syrians from the Paphlagonians, who occupy the left bank, thus forming

the boundary of almost the whole of Lower Asia, from the sea opposite

Cyprus to the Euxine. Just there is the neck of the peninsula, a journey

of five days across for an active walker.

There were two motives which led Croesus to attack Cappadocia: firstly,

he coveted the land, which he wished to add to his own dominions;

but the chief reason was that he wanted to revenge on Cyrus the wrongs

of Astyages, and was made confident by the oracle of being able so

to do: for Astyages, son of Cyaxares and king of the Medes, who had

been dethroned by Cyrus, son of Cambyses, was Croesus' brother by

marriage. This marriage had taken place under circumstances which

I will now relate. A band of Scythian nomads, who had left their own

land on occasion of some disturbance, had taken refuge in Media. Cyaxares,

son of Phraortes, and grandson of Deioces, was at that time king of

the country. Recognising them as suppliants, he began by treating

them with kindness, and coming presently to esteem them highly, he

intrusted to their care a number of boys, whom they were to teach

their language and to instruct in the use of the bow. Time passed,

and the Scythians employed themselves, day after day, in hunting,

and always brought home some game; but at last it chanced that one

day they took nothing. On their return to Cyaxares with empty hands,

that monarch, who was hot-tempered, as he showed upon the occasion,

received them very rudely and insultingly. In consequence of this

treatment, which they did not conceive themselves to have deserved,

the Scythians determined to take one of the boys whom they had in

charge, cut him in pieces, and then dressing the flesh as they were

wont to dress that of the wild animals, serve it up to Cyaxares as

game: after which they resolved to convey themselves with all speed

to Sardis, to the court of Alyattes, the son of Sadyattes. The plan

was carried out: Cyaxares and his guests ate of the flesh prepared

by the Scythians, and they themselves, having accomplished their purpose,

fled to Alyattes in the guise of suppliants.

Afterwards, on the refusal of Alyattes to give up his suppliants when

Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the Lydians

and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success.

In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians,

and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes. Among their

other battles there was one night engagement. As, however, the balance

had not inclined in favour of either nation, another combat took place

in the sixth year, in the course of which, just as the battle was

growing warm, day was on a sudden changed into night. This event had

been foretold by Thales, the Milesian, who forewarned the Ionians

of it, fixing for it the very year in which it actually took place.

The Medes and Lydians, when they observed the change, ceased fighting,

and were alike anxious to have terms of peace agreed on. Syennesis

of Cilicia, and Labynetus of Babylon, were the persons who mediated

between the parties, who hastened the taking of the oaths, and brought

about the exchange of espousals. It was they who advised that Alyattes

should give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages, the son

of Cyaxares, knowing, as they did, that without some sure bond of

strong necessity, there is wont to be but little security in men's

covenants. Oaths are taken by these people in the same way as by the

Greeks, except that they make a slight flesh wound in their arms,

from which each sucks a portion of the other's blood.

Project Name

BOOK I: Clio