Sunday Reading: History (by Herodotus)
background: the greeks and the persians were enemies. while the greeks were friendly to the europeans (to the west), the persians were friendly to the asians (to the east). Thus were the civilizations of the world divided at the time. Herodotus traveled all around and met or learned of almost all the peoples in the known world, and of those beyond the fringes. His account of it, "History", is like a chronicle, atlas, and encyclopedia all at once. it is divided into nine books, each named after the nine Muses. It was written about 440 BC.
Here are some selections. I rewrote the first few to make them easier to read, until I got lazy.
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How The Greeks And The Persians Came To Hate Each Other
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The wise men among the Persians assert that the Phonecians started the quarrel; when they migrated from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and launched voyages from there, bringing trade from Egypt and Assyria to, among other places, Argos.
Now, Argos at that time was one of, but surpassed, all the other states considered to be Greece. On their arrival at Argos, the Phonecians exposed their merchandise for sale, and on the fifth or sixth day when they had sold almost all of their cargo, a great number of women came down to the sea shore. Among them was the king's daughter, whose name was Io, daughter of Inachus. While these women were standing near the stern of the vessel and were bargaining for such things as most pleased them, the Phonecians decided to attack them; most of the women escaped, but Io and some others were seized, whereupon the Phonecians set sail for Egypt. Thus the Persians say that Io was taken to Egypt against her will, and that was the beginning of wrongs. After this, some unnamed Greeks went to Tyre in Phonecia and carried off the king's daugher Europa, claiming retaliation. But then the Greeks sailed to Aea, another Phonecian city, and carried off that king's daughter Medea. The king sent a herald to Greece and demanded the princess back, but the Greeks replied that as they had not gotten any satisfaction for the rape of Io, neither would they give any to them.
A generation later, Alexander, son of Priam, was desirous of obtaining a wife from Greece by means of violence, and expected to give nothing in return, since the Greeks hadn't given any. When he therefore carried off Helen, the Greeks immediately demanded her return, but were met with an objection to the rape of Medea.
So far there had only been rapes from each other; but after this the Greeks were mostly to blame, having levied war against Asia beore the Asians did on Europe. Now, to carry off women by violence the Persians think is the act of wicke dmen, but to trouble one's self about avenging them when so carried off is the act of foolish men. they thought it clear that if they had not been willing, they could not have been carried off. So the Persians say they that the Asians (themselves included) made no account of the women that were carried off, but the Greeks on the other hand assembled a mighty fleet and came to overthrow the empire of Priam.
So it is that the persians had always considered the Greeks as their enemies, since the Persians claim Asia (Phonecians included) as their own, and consider Greece and the Europeans as totally distinct. The capture of Troy they consider the commencement of their enmity with the Greeks.
The Phonecians, on the other hand, say that they did not use violence to cary off Io to Egypt, but instead, at Argos she screwed the captain of the boat, and when she found herself pregnant, being afraid of her parents, she voluntarily sailed away with the Phonecians.
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The Babylonians
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I can tell many stories about the great power of the Babylonians, but this I will tell. The whole territory of Babylon feeds the king and his army for four months, the rest of Asia for the remaining eight. The teritory of Assyria therefore amounts to a third of all power in Asia; the government of this region yields a full artabe of silver every day. The king has a private stud of eight hundred horses and sixteen thousand mares, for each stud served twenty mares. he also kept such a number of Indian dogs that four large towns were exempt from taxes but appointed to find food for the dogs.
The land of Assyria gets very little rain. What little rain it gets is used to grow corn, not by irrigation as in Egypt, but by hand and engines. They do have canals, the largest of which stretches from the Euphrates to the Tigris, on which the city of Nineveh stood. This is the best soil I am aware of to grow corn; but there are no trees, figs, vines or olives; yet it produces two hundredfold to three hundredfold as much corn as anywhere else. They have palm trees growing all over the plain; most of these bear fruit, from which they make bread, wine and honey.
The most wonderful thing of all here, next to the city itself, is this: their vesels that sail down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of leather; they cut the ribs out of willows that grow in Armenia above Babylon, they cover the bottom of them with hides, and make neither prow nor stern but a circular raft; then having lined this vessel with reeds, they load it with freight, mostly casks of palm wine, and float it down the river. The vessel is steered with two spars, by two men standing upright, one of whom draws his spar in and the other thrusts his out. These vessels are made different sizes, but the largest of them carries a cargo of five thousand talents. Every vessel has a live ass on board, and the larger ones more. After they have arrived at Babylon and disposed of their freight, they sell the ribs of the boat and all the reeds by public auction; then they pile the skins on the asses and return by land to Armenia, because they could not possibly sail up the river against the current. For this reason they make their vessels of skins and not wood, and at their return to Armenia they construct other vessels again.
For their dress, they wear a linen tunic that reaches to their feet; over this they put another garment of wool, and over all a short white cloak; they wear sandals peculiar to the country. They wear long hair, binding their heads with turbans, and anoint the whole body with perfumes. Every man has his own seal and a staff. On every staff is carved either an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something of the kind; for it is not allowable to have a staff without some such carved in it.
They have the wisest of customs, which I hear the Venetians also practice. Once in every year, in every village, whatever maidens are of marriageable age they herd into one place; around them stand a crowd of men. Then a crier, having made them stand one by one, offers them up for sale, beginning with the most beautiful. When she has been sold for a large sum, he puts up another who was next in beauty. They were sold on the condition that they should be married. The richest men among the Babylonians and desirous of marriage would bid against each other; but men of the lower classes who were desirous of marriage did not require a beautiful form, but were willing to take the plainer damsels with a sum of money; for when the crier had finished selling the best of the maidens, he made the ugliest stand up and put her up to auction, for the person who would marry her with the least sum, until she was adjudged to the man who offered to take the smallest sum. This money was obtained from the sale of the beautiful maidens; and thus the beautiful ones portioned out the ugly ones. A father was not allowed to give his daughter inmarriage to whom he pleased. A purchaser was not allowed to carry off a maiden without security that he would certainly marry her. If they did not agree, the money was repaid. It was also lawful for any one who pleased to come from another village and purchase. Such was their best institution; it was not, however, destined to continue. They have lately adopted regulations to prevent carrying them away to another city, since they had been harshly treated, or, from want of a livelihood, prostitution of their daughters.
They have also this custom, second to the former in wisdom: They bring out their sick to the marketplace, since there are no doctors. Those who pass by the sick are asked if they have had the same disease, to advise them on how to treat the disease, or as they have known others to be cured. Nobody is allowed to pass by a sick person in silence, without asking why he is sick.
They embalm the dead in honey, and their funeral rituals are like the Egyptians. Whenever a Babylonian has intercourse with his wife, he sits over burning incense, and his wife does the same in another room. At the break of day they will wash, for they will not touch any vessel until they have washed. The same practice os observed by the Arabians.
The most disgraceful of the Babylonian customs is the following: every native woman id obliged, once in her life, to sit in the temple of Venus, and have intercourse with some stranger. The wealthier women, not wanting to mix with the rest, take up their station at the temple with numerous servants attending them. But by far most of them sit down in the temple with a crown of corn on their heads. there are continually women coming in and going out. Passages marked in a straight line lead in every direction through the women, along which strangers pass and make their choice. When a woman has seated herself, she must not return home until some stranger has thrown a peice of silver into her lap, and lain with her outside the temple. He who throws the silver must say thus: "I beseech the goddess Venus to favor thee". However small the silver is, it is unlawful for her to reject it, for such silver is considered sacred. The woman follows the first man that throws, and refuses no one. After she has had intercourse and absolved herself from her obligation to the goddess, she returns home; after that time, however great a sum you may give her, you will not gain posession of her. Those that are endowed with beauty are soon set free; but the deformed are detained a long time, from inability to satisfy the law, sometimes up to three or four years. In some parts of Cyprus there is a very similar custom.
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The Traps Of The King's Teasure
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... This king, they say, had so much money that no king since could nearly come close. He wanted to ensure the safety of his wealth, so he built a chamber of stone, one of the walls of which adjoined the outside of the palace. But the builder fitted one of the stones so that it might be taken ot by two men, or even one. When the chamber was finished, the king laid up his treasures in it. But as the builder grew old and was about to die, he called his two sons before him and told them how he had contrived when building the king's treasury, so that they might have abundant wealth. Having clearly explained to them everything relating to the removal of the stone, he told them that they could then take what they wished from the king's treasury. He died, and it was not long before his sons go to work. They came to the palace at night, and having found the stopne easily removed, they carried off a great quantity of treasure.
When the king happened to open the chamber, he was astonished at seeing less than what he thought he had; but he could not accuse anyone, since the seals were unbroken and the chamber was intact. When visiting the chamber two or three times, the treasures were always evidently diminishing (for the thieves did not stop plundering) he ordered traps to be made and placed them around the vessels that held the treasure. When the theives came as before and one of them had entered, as soon as he went near a vessel he was straightaway caught up in a trap; perceiving, therefore, in what predicament he was in, he called to his brother and told him what had happened, and asked him to enter as quick as possible and cut off his head, lest, if he was seen and recognized, his brother would be found out also. His brother thought he spoke well and did as he was advised, then having put the stone back, he returned home, taking his brother's head.
When the day came, the king, having entered the chamber, was astonished at seeing the body of the theif in the trap without the head, but the chamber secure, without any means of entrance or exit. In this perplexity he contrived the following plan: he hung up the body of the theif from the wall, and having placed sentinels there, ordered them to seize and bring to him whoever they would see grieving in front of the body. The mother was very sad at the body being hung from the wall, and commanded her surviving son to take down the corpse of his brother by any means he could. If he didn't, she would go to the king and tell him that he had all the treasures.
He filled some skins with wine, put them on some asses, and drove them along past the guards near the corpse, and having already drawn out two or three necks of the skins that hung down, loosened them, and when wine ran out, he beat his head and cried out aloud, as if he didn't know which one of the asses were leaking. The guards saw the leaking wine and ran out into the road with their own vessels and caught it up, thinking it was their own gain. The theif acted as if he were mad, the guards soothed him and he feigned releif. When more conversation passed, he gave them another skin full of wine, and just as they were, they all lay down and started drinking. He stayed with them, and as they treated him kindly, he offered them another skin full of wine. They became exceedingly drunk and fell asleep. By this time night had far advanced. he took down the body of his brother, and as an insult, shaved the right cheeks of all the guards. He then laid the corpse on the asses and drove them home.
The king, when he was informed that the body of the theif had been stolen, was exceedingly angry and, resolving to find out who did it, contrived the following plan, which to me seems incredible: he placed his own daughter in a brothel, and ordered her to admit all to her embraces, but before they had intercourse with her, to compel each one to tell her what he had done during his life most clever and most wicked, and whoever would tell her the facts relating to the theif, she should seize and not let him escape. When, therefore, the daughter did what her father commanded, the theif, having ascertained for what purpose this contrivance was for, and wanting to outdo the king in craftiness, did as follows: having cut off the arm of a fresh corpse at the shoulder, he took it with him under his cloak; and having gone in to the king's daughter and being asked the same questions as all the rest were, he related that he had done the most wicked thing when he cut off his brother's head who was caught in a trap in the king's treasury; and the most clever thing when, having made the guards drunk, he took away the corpse of his brother that was hung up; she, when she heard this, tried to seize him, but the theif, in the dark, held out to her the dead man's arm, and she held it fast, imagining that she had got ahold of the man's own arm; the theif, having let it go, escaped through the door.
When this was also reported to the king, he was astonished at the shrewdness and daring of the thief. He sent throughout all the cities a proclamation offering a free pardon and a great reward to the theif if he would discover himself. The theif, relying on this promise, went to the king's palace. The king greatly admired him and gave him his daughter in marriage, saying that he was the wisest among all men, even wiser than the Egyptians.
After this, (the priests who told the above story) say that the king descended alive into that place the Greeks call Hades, and there played dice with Ceres, and sometimes won, other times lost; and that he came up again bringing a present from her, a napkin of gold. Because of the descent and return of this king, (the priests) said that the Egyptians celebrate a festival; this I know they observed even in my own time; but whether they held this feast for some other reason or for that mentined above, I am unable to say. However, on that same day, the priests bind the eyes of one of their number with a scarf, put his own cloak over him and lead him to the way that leads to the temple of Ceres; they return, upon which they say the priest with his eyes bound is led by two wolves to the temple of Ceres, twenty stades distant from the city, and afterward the wolves lead him back to the same place. Any person to whom such things appear credible may adopt the account given by the Egyptians; it is my object, however, throughout the whole history, to write what I hear from each people.
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The Death Of The Magi
(verbatim, to preserve the speeches)
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Now the seven of the Persians, when they had resolved forthwith to lay hands upon the Magians and not to delay, made prayer to the gods and went, knowing nothing of that which had been done with regard to Prexaspes: and as they were going and were in the middle of their course, they heard that which had happened about Prexaspes. Upon that they retired out of the way and again considered with themselves, Otanes and his supporters strongly urging that they should delay and not set to the work when things were thus disturbed, while Dareios and those of his party urged that they should go forthwith and do that which had been resolved, and not delay. Then while they were contending, there appeared seven pairs of hawks pursuing two pairs of vultures, plucking out their feathers and tearing them. Seeing this the seven all approved the opinion of Dareios and thereupon they went to the king's palace, encouraged by the sight of the birds.
When they appeared at the gates, it happened nearly as Dareios supposed, for the guards, having respect for men who were chief among the Persians, and not suspecting that anything would be done by them of the kind proposed, allowed them to pass in under the guiding of heaven, and none asked them any question. Then when they had passed into the court, they met the eunuchs who bore in the messages to the king; and these inquired of them for what purpose they had come, and at the same time they threatened with punishment the keepers of the gates for having let them pass in, and tried to stop the seven when they attempted to go forward. Then they gave the word to one another and drawing their daggers stabbed these men there upon the spot, who tried to stop them, and themselves went running on towards the chamber of the men.
Now the Magians happened both of them to be there within, consulting about that which had been done by Prexaspes. So when they saw that the eunuchs had been attacked and were crying aloud, they ran back both of them, and perceiving that which was being done they turned to self-defence: and one of them got down his bow and arrows before he was attacked, while the other had recourse to his spear. Then they engaged in combat with one another; and that one of them who had taken up his bow and arrows found them of no use, since his enemies were close at hand and pressed hard upon him, but the other defended himself with his spear, and first he struck Aspathines in the thigh, and then Intaphrenes in the eye; and Intaphrenes lost his eye by reason of the wound, but his life he did not lose. These then were wounded by one of the Magians, but the other, when his bow and arrows proved useless to him, fled into a bedchamber which opened into the chamber of the men, intending to close the door; and with him there rushed in two of the seven, Dareios and Gobryas. And when Gobryas was locked together in combat with the Magian, Dareios stood by and was at a loss what to do, because it was dark, and he was afraid lest he should strike Gobryas. Then seeing him standing by idle, Gobryas asked why he did not use his hands, and he said: "Because I am afraid lest I may strike thee": and Gobryas answered: "Thrust with thy sword even though it stab through us both." So Dareios was persuaded, and he thrust with his danger and happened to hit the Magian.
So when they had slain the Magians and cut off their heads, they left behind those of their number who were wounded, both because they were unable to go, and also in order that they might take charge of the fortress, and the five others taking with them the heads of the Magians ran with shouting and clashing of arms and called upon the other Persians to join them, telling them of that which had been done and showing the heads, and at the same time they proceeded to slay every one of the Magians who crossed their path. So the Persians when they heard of that which had been brought to pass by the seven and of the deceit of the Magians, thought good themselves also to do the same, and drawing their daggers they killed the Magians wherever they found one; so that if night had not come on and stopped them, they would not have left a single Magian alive. This day the Persians celebrate in common more than all other days, and upon it they keep a great festival which is called by the Persians the festival of the slaughter of the Magians, on which no Magian is permitted to appear abroad, but the Magians keep themselves within their houses throughout that day.
When the tumult had subsided and more than five days had elapsed, those who had risen against the Magians began to take counsel about the general state, and there were spoken speeches which some of the Hellenes do not believe were really uttered, but spoken they were nevertheless. On the one hand Otanes urged that they should resign the government into the hands of the whole body of the Persians, and his words were as follows: "To me it seems best that no single one of us should henceforth be ruler, for that is neither pleasant nor profitable. Ye saw the insolent temper of Cambyses, to what lengths it went, and ye have had experience also of the insolence of the Magian: and how should the rule of one alone be a well-ordered thing, seeing that the monarch may do what he desires without rendering any account of his acts? Even the best of all men, if he were placed in this disposition, would be caused by it to change from his wonted disposition: for insolence is engendered in him by the good things which he possesses, and envy is implanted in man from the beginning; and having these two things, he has all vice: for he does many deeds of reckless wrong, partly moved by insolence proceeding from satiety, and partly by envy. And yet a despot at least ought to have been free from envy, seeing that he has all manner of good things. He is however naturally in just the opposite temper towards his subjects; for he grudges to the nobles that they should survive and live, but delights in the basest of citizens, and he is more ready than any other man to receive calumnies. Then of all things he is the most inconsistent; for if you express admiration of him moderately, he is offended that no very great court is paid to him, whereas if you pay court to him extravagantly, he is offended with you for being a flatterer. And the most important matter of all is that which I am about to say:--he disturbs the customs handed down from our fathers, he is a ravisher of women, and he puts men to death without trial. On the other hand the rule of many has first a name attaching to it which is the fairest of all names, that is to say 'Equality'; next, the multitude does none of those things which the monarch does: offices of state are exercised by lot, and the magistrates are compelled to render account of their action: and finally all matters of deliberation are referred to the public assembly. I therefore give as my opinion that we let monarchy go and increase the power of the multitude; for in the many is contained everything."
This was the opinion expressed by Otanes; but Megabyzos urged that they should entrust matters to the rule of a few, saying these words: "That which Otanes said in opposition to a tyranny, let it be counted as said for me also, but in that which he said urging that we should make over the power to the multitude, he has missed the best counsel: for nothing is more senseless or insolent than a worthless crowd; and for men flying from the insolence of a despot to fall into that of unrestrained popular power, is by no means to be endured: for he, if he does anything, does it knowing what he does, but the people cannot even know; for how can that know which has neither been taught anything noble by others nor perceived anything of itself, but pushes on matters with violent impulse and without understanding, like a torrent stream? Rule of the people then let them adopt who are foes to the Persians; but let us choose a company of the best men, and to them attach the chief power; for in the number of these we shall ourselves also be, and it is likely that the resolutions taken by the best men will be the best."
This was the opinion expressed by Megabyzos; and thirdly Dareios proceeded to declare his opinion, saying: "To me it seems that in those things which Megabyzos said with regard to the multitude he spoke rightly, but in those which he said with regard to the rule of a few, not rightly: for whereas there are three things set before us, and each is supposed to be the best in its own kind, that is to say a good popular government, and the rule of a few, and thirdly the rule of one, I say that this last is by far superior to the others; for nothing better can be found than the rule of an individual man of the best kind; seeing that using the best judgment he would be guardian of the multitude without reproach; and resolutions directed against enemies would so best be kept secret. In an oligarchy however it happens often that many, while practising virtue with regard to the commonwealth, have strong private enmities arising among themselves; for as each man desires to be himself the leader and to prevail in counsels, they come to great enmities with one another, whence arise factions among them, and out of the factions comes murder, and from murder results the rule of one man; and thus it is shown in this instance by how much that is the best. Again, when the people rules, it is impossible that corruption should not arise, and when corruption arises in the commonwealth, there arise among the corrupt men not enmities but strong ties of friendship: for they who are acting corruptly to the injury of the commonwealth put their heads together secretly to do so. And this continues so until at last some one takes the leadership of the people and stops the course of such men. By reason of this the man of whom I speak is admired by the people, and being so admired he suddenly appears as monarch. Thus he too furnishes herein an example to prove that the rule of one is the best thing. Finally, to sum up all in a single word, whence arose the liberty which we possess, and who gave it to us? Was it a gift of the people or of an oligarchy or of a monarch? I therefore am of opinion that we, having been set free by one man, should preserve that form of rule, and in other respects also that we should not annul the customs of our fathers which are ordered well; for that is not the better way."
These three opinions then had been proposed, and the other four men of the seven gave their assent to the last. So when Otanes, who was desirous to give equality to the Persians, found his opinion defeated, he spoke to those assembled thus: "Partisans, it is clear that some one of us must become king, selected either by casting lots, or by entrusting the decision to the multitude of the Persians and taking him whom it shall choose, or by some other means. I therefore shall not be a competitor with you, for I do not desire either to rule or to be ruled; and on this condition I withdraw from my claim to rule, namely that I shall not be ruled by any of you, either I myself or my descendants in future time." When he had said this, the six made agreement with him on those terms, and he was no longer a competitor with them, but withdrew from the assembly; and at the present time this house remains free alone of all the Persian houses, and submits to rule only so far as it wills to do so itself, not transgressing the laws of the Persians.
The rest however of the seven continued to deliberate how they should establish a king in the most just manner; and it was resolved by them that to Otanes and his descendants in succession, if the kingdom should come to any other of the seven, there should be given as special gifts a Median dress every year and all those presents which are esteemed among the Persians to be the most valuable: and the reason why they determined that these things should be given to him, was because he first suggested to them the matter and combined them together. These were special gifts for Otanes; and this they also determined for all in common, namely that any one of the seven who wished might pass in to the royal palaces without any to bear in a message, unless the king happened to be sleeping with his wife; and that it should not be lawful for the king to marry from any other family, but only from those of the men who had made insurrection with him: and about the kingdom they determined this, namely that the man whose horse should first neigh at sunrise in the suburb of the city when they were mounted upon their horses, he should have the kingdom.
Now Dareios had a clever horse-keeper, whose name was Oibares. To this man, when they had left their assembly, Dareios spoke these words: "Oibares, we have resolved to do about the kingdom thus, namely that the man whose horse first neighs at sunrise, when we are mounted upon our horses he shall be king. Now therefore, if thou hast any cleverness, contrive that we may obtain this prize, and not any other man." Oibares replied thus: "If, my master, it depends in truth upon this whether thou be king or no, have confidence so far as concerns this and keep a good heart, for none other shall be king before thee; such charms have I at my command." Then Dareios said: "If then thou hast any such trick, it is time to devise it and not to put things off, for our trial is to-morrow." Oibares therefore hearing this did as follows:--when night was coming on he took one of the mares, namely that one which the horse of Dareios preferred, and this he led into the suburb of the city and tied her up: then he brought to her the horse of Dareios, and having for some time led him round her, making him go so close by so as to touch the mare, at last he let the horse mount.
Now at dawn of day the six came to the place as they had agreed, riding upon their horses; and as they rode through by the suburb of the city, when they came near the place where the mare had been tied up on the former night, the horse of Dareios ran up to the place and neighed; and just when the horse had done this, there came lightning and thunder from a clear sky: and the happening of these things to Dareios consummated his claim, for they seemed to have come to pass by some design, and the others leapt down from their horses and did obeisance to Dareios.
Some say that the contrivance of Oibares was this, but others say as follows (for the story is told by the Persians in both ways), namely that he touched with his hands the parts of this mare and kept his hand hidden in his trousers; and when at sunrise they were about to let the horses go, this Oibares pulled out his hand and applied it to the nostrils of the horse of Dareios; and the horse, perceiving the smell, snorted and neighed.
So Dareios the son of Hystaspes had been declared king; and in Asia all except the Arabians were his subjects, having been subdued by Cyrus and again afterwards by Cambyses. The Arabians however were never obedient to the Persians under conditions of subjection, but had become guest-friends when they let Cambyses pass by to Egypt: for against the will of the Arabians the Persians would not be able to invade Egypt. Moreover Dareios made the most noble marriages possible in the estimation of the Persians; for he married two daughters of Cyrus, Atossa and Artystone, of whom the one, Arossa, had before been the wife of Cambyses her brother and then afterwards of the Magian, while Artystone was a virgin; and besides them he married the daughter of Smerdis the son of Cyrus, whose name was Parmys; and he also took to wife the daughter of Otanes, her who had discovered the Magian; and all things became filled with his power. And first he caused to be a carving in stone, and set it up; and in it there was the figure of a man on horseback, and he wrote upon it writing to this effect: "Dareios son of Hystaspes by the excellence of his horse," mentioning the name of it, "and of his horse-keeper Oibares obtained the kingdom of the Persians."
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Arabian Spices
(verbatim, cuz I'm too lazy)
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Then again Arabia is the furthest of inhabited lands in the direction of the midday, and in it alone of all lands grow frankincense and myrrh and cassia and cinnamon and gum-mastich. All these except myrrh are got with difficulty by the Arabians. Frankincense they collect by burning the storax, which is brought thence to the Hellenes by the Phenicians, by burning this, I say, so as to produce smoke they take it; for these trees which produce frankincense are guarded by winged serpents, small in size and of various colours, which watch in great numbers about each tree, of the same kind as those which attempt to invade Egypt: and they cannot be driven away from the trees by any other thing but only the smoke of storax.
The Arabians say also that all the world would have been by this time filled with these serpents, if that did not happen with regard to them which I knew happened with regard to vipers: and it seems that the Divine Providence, as indeed was to be expected, seeing that it is wise, has made all those animals prolific which are of cowardly spirit and good for food, in order that they may not be all eaten up and their race fail, whereas it has made those which are bold and noxious to have small progeny. For example, because the hare is hunted by every beast and bird as well as by man, therefore it is so very prolific as it is: and this is the only one of all beasts which becomes pregnant again before the former young are born, and has in its womb some of its young covered with fur and others bare; and while one is just being shaped in the matrix, another is being conceived. Thus it is in this case; whereas the lioness, which is the strongest and most courageous of creatures, produces one cub once only in her life; for when she produces young she casts out her womb together with her young; and the cause of it is this:--when the cub being within the mother begins to move about, then having claws by far sharper than those of any other beast he tears the womb, and as he grows larger he proceeds much further in his scratching: at last the time of birth approaches and there is now nothing at all left of it in a sound condition.
Just so also, if vipers and the winged serpents of the Arabians were produced in the ordinary course of their nature, man would not be able to live upon the earth; but as it is, when they couple with one another and the male is in the act of generation, as he lets go from him the seed, the female seizes hold of his neck, and fastening on to it does not relax her hold till she has eaten it through. The male then dies in the manner which I have said, but the female pays the penalty of retribution for the male in this manner:--the young while they are still in the womb take vengeance for their father by eating through their mother, and having eaten through her belly they thus make their way out for themselves. Other serpents however, which are not hurtful to man, produce eggs and hatch from them a very large number of offspring. Now vipers are distributed over all the earth; but the others, which are winged, are found in great numbers together in Arabia and in no other land: therefore it is that they appear to be numerous.
This frankincense then is obtained thus by the Arabians; and cassia is obtained as follows:-- they bind up in cows'-hide and other kinds of skins all their body and their face except only the eyes, and then go to get the cassia. This grows in a pool not very deep, and round the pool and in it lodge, it seems, winged beasts nearly resembling bats, and they squeak horribly and are courageous in fight. These they must keep off from their eyes, and so cut the cassia.
Cinnamon they collect in a yet more marvellous manner than this: for where it grows and what land produces it they are not able to tell, except only that some say (and it is a probable account) that it grows in those regions where Dionysos was brought up; and they say that large birds carry those dried sticks which we have learnt from the Phenicians to call cinnamon, carry them, I say, to nests which are made of clay and stuck on to precipitous sides of mountains, which man can find no means of scaling. With regard to this then the Arabians practise the following contrivance:-- they divide up the limbs of the oxen and asses that die and of their other beasts of burden, into pieces as large as convenient, and convey them to these places, and when they have laid them down not far from the nests, they withdraw to a distance from them: and the birds fly down and carry the limbs of the beasts of burden off to their nests; and these are not able to bear them, but break down and fall to the earth; and the men come up to them and collect the cinnamon. Thus cinnamon is collected and comes from this nation to the other countries of the world.
Gum-mastich however, which the Arabians call ladanon, comes in a still more extraordinary manner; for though it is the most sweet-scented of all things, it comes in the most evil- scented thing, since it is found in the beards of he-goats, produced there like resin from wood: this is of use for the making of many perfumes, and the Arabians use it more than anything else as incense.
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Hercules And The Scythians
(verbatim, cuz I'm still too lazy)
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Now the Scythians say that their nation is the youngest of all nations, and that this came to pass as follows:--The first man who ever existed in this region, which then was desert, was one named Targitaos: and of this Targitaos they say, though I do not believe it for my part, however they say the parents were Zeus and the daughter of the river Borysthenes. Targitaos, they report, was produced from some such origin as this, and of him were begotten three sons, Lipoxa?s and Arpoxa?s and the youngest Colaxa?s. In the reign of these there came down from heaven certain things wrought of gold, a plough, a yoke, a battle-axe, and a cup, and fell in the Scythian land: and first the eldest saw and came near them, desiring to take them, but the gold blazed with fire when he approached it: then when he had gone away from it, the second approached, and again it did the same thing. These then the gold repelled by blazing with fire; but when the third and youngest came up to it, the flame was quenched, and he carried them to his own house. The elder brothers then, acknowledging the significance of this thing, delivered the whole of the kingly power to the youngest.
...
Thus say the Scythians about themselves and about the region above them; but the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus say as follows:-- Heracles driving the cattle of Geryones came to this land, then desert, which the Scythians now inhabit; and Geryones, says the tale, dwelt away from the region of the Pontus, living in the island called by the Hellenes Erytheia, near Gadeira which is outside the Pillars of Heracles by the Ocean.--As to the Ocean, they say indeed that it flows round the whole earth beginning from the place of the sunrising, but they do not prove this by facts.--From thence Heracles came to the land now called Scythia; and as a storm came upon him together with icy cold, he drew over him his lion's skin and went to sleep. Meanwhile the mares harnessed in his chariot disappeared by a miraculous chance, as they were feeding.
Then when Heracles woke he sought for them; and having gone over the whole land, at last he came to the region which is called Hylaia; and there he found in a cave a kind of twofold creature formed by the union of a maiden and a serpent, whose upper parts from the buttocks upwards were those of a woman, but her lower parts were those of a snake. Having seen her and marvelled at her, he asked her then whether she had seen any mares straying anywhere; and she said that she had them herself and would not give them up until he lay with her; and Heracles lay with her on condition of receiving them. She then tried to put off the giving back of the mares, desiring to have Heracles with her as long as possible, while he on the other hand desired to get the mares and depart; and at last she gave them back and said: "These mares when they came hither I saved for thee, and thou didst give me reward for saving them; for I have by thee three sons. Tell me then, what must I do with these when they shall be grown to manhood, whether I shall settle them here, for over this land I have power alone, or send them away to thee?" She thus asked of him, and he, they say, replied: "When thou seest that the boys are grown to men, do this and thou shalt not fail of doing right:--whichsoever of them thou seest able to stretch this bow as I do now, and to be girded with this girdle, him cause to be the settler of this land; but whosoever of them fails in the deeds which I enjoin, send him forth out of the land: and if thou shalt do thus, thou wilt both have delight thyself and perform that which has been enjoined to thee."
Upon this he drew one of his bows (for up to that time Heracles, they say, was wont to carry two) and showed her the girdle, and then he delivered to her both the bow and the girdle, which had at the end of its clasp a golden cup; and having given them he departed. She then, when her sons had been born and had grown to be men, gave them names first, calling one of them Agathyrsos and the next Gelonos and the youngest Skythes; then bearing in mind the charge given to her, she did that which was enjoined. And two of her sons, Agathyrsos and Gelonos, not having proved themselves able to attain to the task set before them, departed from the land, being cast out by her who bore them; but Skythes the youngest of them performed the task and remained in the land: and from Skythes the son of Heracles were descended, they say, the succeeding kings of the Scythians (Skythians): and they say moreover that it is by reason of the cup that the Scythians still even to this day wear cups attached to their girdles: and this alone his mother contrived for Skythes. Such is the story told by the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus.
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The Amazons
(verbatim, cuz I'm still too too lazy)
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About the Sauromatai the following tale is told:--When the Hellenes had fought with the Amazons,--now the Amazons are called by the Scythians Oiorpata, which name means in the Hellenic tongue "slayers of men," for "man" they call oior, and pata means "to slay,"--then, as the story goes, the Hellenes, having conquered them in the battle at the Thermodon, were sailing away and conveying with them in three ships as many Amazons as they were able to take prisoners. These in the open sea set upon the men and cast them out of the ships; but they knew nothing about ships, nor how to use rudders or sails or oars, and after they had cast out the men they were driven about by wave and wind and came to that part of the Maiotian lake where Cremnoi stands; now Cremnoi is in the land of the free Scythians. There the Amazons disembarked from their ships and made their way into the country, and having met first with a troop of horses feeding they seized them, and mounted upon these they plundered the property of the Scythians.
The Scythians meanwhile were not able to understand the matter, for they did not know either their speech or their dress or the race to which they belonged, but were in wonder as to whence they had come and thought that they were men, of an age corresponding to their appearance: and finally they fought a battle against them, and after the battle the Scythians got possession of the bodies of the dead, and thus they discovered that they were women. They took counsel therefore and resolved by no means to go on trying to kill them, but to send against them the youngest men from among themselves, making conjecture of the number so as to send just as many men as there were women. These were told to encamp near them, and do whatsoever they should do; if however the women should come after them, they were not to fight but to retire before them, and when the women stopped, they were to approach near and encamp. This plan was adopted by the Scythians because they desired to have children born from them.
The young men accordingly were sent out and did that which had been commanded them: and when the Amazons perceived that they had not come to do them any harm, they let them alone; and the two camps approached nearer to one another every day: and the young men, like the Amazons, had nothing except their arms and their horses, and got their living, as the Amazons did, by hunting and by taking booty.
Now the Amazons at midday used to scatter abroad either one by one or by two together, dispersing to a distance from one another to ease themselves; and the Scythians also having perceived this did the same thing: and one of the Scythians came near to one of those Amazons who were apart by themselves, and she did not repulse him but allowed him to lie with her: and she could not speak to him, for they did not understand one another's speech, but she made signs to him with her hand to come on the following day to the same place and to bring another with him, signifying to him that there should be two of them, and that she would bring another with her. The young man therefore, when he returned, reported this to the others; and on the next day he came himself to the place and also brought another, and he found the Amazon awaiting him with another in her company. Then hearing this the rest of the young men also in their turn tamed for themselves the remainder of the Amazons;
and after this they joined their camps and lived together, each man having for his wife her with whom he had had dealings at first; and the men were not able to learn the speech of the women, but the women came to comprehend that of the men. So when they understood one another, the men spoke to the Amazons as follows: "We have parents and we have possessions; now therefore let us no longer lead a life of this kind, but let us go away to the main body of our people and dwell with them; and we will have you for wives and no others." They however spoke thus in reply: "We should not be able to live with your women, for we and they have not the same customs. We shoot with bows and hurl javelins and ride horses, but the works of women we never learnt; whereas your women do none of these things which we said, but stay in the waggons and work at the works of women, neither going out to the chase nor anywhither else. We therefore should not be able to live in agreement with them: but if ye desire to keep us for your wives and to be thought honest men, go to your parents and obtain from them your share of the goods, and then let us go and dwell by ourselves."
The young men agreed and did this; and when they had obtained the share of the goods which belonged to them and had returned back to the Amazons, the women spoke to them as follows: "We are possessed by fear and trembling to think that we must dwell in this place, having not only separated you from your fathers, but also done great damage to your land. Since then ye think it right to have us as your wives, do this together with us,--come and let us remove from this land and pass over the river Tana?s and there dwell."
The young men agreed to this also, and they crossed over the Tana?s and made their way towards the rising sun for three days' journey from Tana?s, and also towards the North Wind for three days' journey from the Maiotian lake: and having arrived at the place where they are now settled, they took up their abode there: and from thenceforward the women of the Sauromatai practise their ancient way of living, going out regularly on horseback to the chase both in company with the men and apart from them, and going regularly to war, and wearing the same dress as the men.
And the Sauromatai make use of the Scythian tongue, speaking it barbarously however from the first, since the Amazons did not learn it thoroughly well. As regards marriages their rule is this, that no maiden is married until she has slain a man of their enemies; and some of them even grow old and die before they are married, because they are not able to fulfil the requirement of the law.
Here are some selections. I rewrote the first few to make them easier to read, until I got lazy.
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How The Greeks And The Persians Came To Hate Each Other
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The wise men among the Persians assert that the Phonecians started the quarrel; when they migrated from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and launched voyages from there, bringing trade from Egypt and Assyria to, among other places, Argos.
Now, Argos at that time was one of, but surpassed, all the other states considered to be Greece. On their arrival at Argos, the Phonecians exposed their merchandise for sale, and on the fifth or sixth day when they had sold almost all of their cargo, a great number of women came down to the sea shore. Among them was the king's daughter, whose name was Io, daughter of Inachus. While these women were standing near the stern of the vessel and were bargaining for such things as most pleased them, the Phonecians decided to attack them; most of the women escaped, but Io and some others were seized, whereupon the Phonecians set sail for Egypt. Thus the Persians say that Io was taken to Egypt against her will, and that was the beginning of wrongs. After this, some unnamed Greeks went to Tyre in Phonecia and carried off the king's daugher Europa, claiming retaliation. But then the Greeks sailed to Aea, another Phonecian city, and carried off that king's daughter Medea. The king sent a herald to Greece and demanded the princess back, but the Greeks replied that as they had not gotten any satisfaction for the rape of Io, neither would they give any to them.
A generation later, Alexander, son of Priam, was desirous of obtaining a wife from Greece by means of violence, and expected to give nothing in return, since the Greeks hadn't given any. When he therefore carried off Helen, the Greeks immediately demanded her return, but were met with an objection to the rape of Medea.
So far there had only been rapes from each other; but after this the Greeks were mostly to blame, having levied war against Asia beore the Asians did on Europe. Now, to carry off women by violence the Persians think is the act of wicke dmen, but to trouble one's self about avenging them when so carried off is the act of foolish men. they thought it clear that if they had not been willing, they could not have been carried off. So the Persians say they that the Asians (themselves included) made no account of the women that were carried off, but the Greeks on the other hand assembled a mighty fleet and came to overthrow the empire of Priam.
So it is that the persians had always considered the Greeks as their enemies, since the Persians claim Asia (Phonecians included) as their own, and consider Greece and the Europeans as totally distinct. The capture of Troy they consider the commencement of their enmity with the Greeks.
The Phonecians, on the other hand, say that they did not use violence to cary off Io to Egypt, but instead, at Argos she screwed the captain of the boat, and when she found herself pregnant, being afraid of her parents, she voluntarily sailed away with the Phonecians.
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The Babylonians
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I can tell many stories about the great power of the Babylonians, but this I will tell. The whole territory of Babylon feeds the king and his army for four months, the rest of Asia for the remaining eight. The teritory of Assyria therefore amounts to a third of all power in Asia; the government of this region yields a full artabe of silver every day. The king has a private stud of eight hundred horses and sixteen thousand mares, for each stud served twenty mares. he also kept such a number of Indian dogs that four large towns were exempt from taxes but appointed to find food for the dogs.
The land of Assyria gets very little rain. What little rain it gets is used to grow corn, not by irrigation as in Egypt, but by hand and engines. They do have canals, the largest of which stretches from the Euphrates to the Tigris, on which the city of Nineveh stood. This is the best soil I am aware of to grow corn; but there are no trees, figs, vines or olives; yet it produces two hundredfold to three hundredfold as much corn as anywhere else. They have palm trees growing all over the plain; most of these bear fruit, from which they make bread, wine and honey.
The most wonderful thing of all here, next to the city itself, is this: their vesels that sail down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of leather; they cut the ribs out of willows that grow in Armenia above Babylon, they cover the bottom of them with hides, and make neither prow nor stern but a circular raft; then having lined this vessel with reeds, they load it with freight, mostly casks of palm wine, and float it down the river. The vessel is steered with two spars, by two men standing upright, one of whom draws his spar in and the other thrusts his out. These vessels are made different sizes, but the largest of them carries a cargo of five thousand talents. Every vessel has a live ass on board, and the larger ones more. After they have arrived at Babylon and disposed of their freight, they sell the ribs of the boat and all the reeds by public auction; then they pile the skins on the asses and return by land to Armenia, because they could not possibly sail up the river against the current. For this reason they make their vessels of skins and not wood, and at their return to Armenia they construct other vessels again.
For their dress, they wear a linen tunic that reaches to their feet; over this they put another garment of wool, and over all a short white cloak; they wear sandals peculiar to the country. They wear long hair, binding their heads with turbans, and anoint the whole body with perfumes. Every man has his own seal and a staff. On every staff is carved either an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something of the kind; for it is not allowable to have a staff without some such carved in it.
They have the wisest of customs, which I hear the Venetians also practice. Once in every year, in every village, whatever maidens are of marriageable age they herd into one place; around them stand a crowd of men. Then a crier, having made them stand one by one, offers them up for sale, beginning with the most beautiful. When she has been sold for a large sum, he puts up another who was next in beauty. They were sold on the condition that they should be married. The richest men among the Babylonians and desirous of marriage would bid against each other; but men of the lower classes who were desirous of marriage did not require a beautiful form, but were willing to take the plainer damsels with a sum of money; for when the crier had finished selling the best of the maidens, he made the ugliest stand up and put her up to auction, for the person who would marry her with the least sum, until she was adjudged to the man who offered to take the smallest sum. This money was obtained from the sale of the beautiful maidens; and thus the beautiful ones portioned out the ugly ones. A father was not allowed to give his daughter inmarriage to whom he pleased. A purchaser was not allowed to carry off a maiden without security that he would certainly marry her. If they did not agree, the money was repaid. It was also lawful for any one who pleased to come from another village and purchase. Such was their best institution; it was not, however, destined to continue. They have lately adopted regulations to prevent carrying them away to another city, since they had been harshly treated, or, from want of a livelihood, prostitution of their daughters.
They have also this custom, second to the former in wisdom: They bring out their sick to the marketplace, since there are no doctors. Those who pass by the sick are asked if they have had the same disease, to advise them on how to treat the disease, or as they have known others to be cured. Nobody is allowed to pass by a sick person in silence, without asking why he is sick.
They embalm the dead in honey, and their funeral rituals are like the Egyptians. Whenever a Babylonian has intercourse with his wife, he sits over burning incense, and his wife does the same in another room. At the break of day they will wash, for they will not touch any vessel until they have washed. The same practice os observed by the Arabians.
The most disgraceful of the Babylonian customs is the following: every native woman id obliged, once in her life, to sit in the temple of Venus, and have intercourse with some stranger. The wealthier women, not wanting to mix with the rest, take up their station at the temple with numerous servants attending them. But by far most of them sit down in the temple with a crown of corn on their heads. there are continually women coming in and going out. Passages marked in a straight line lead in every direction through the women, along which strangers pass and make their choice. When a woman has seated herself, she must not return home until some stranger has thrown a peice of silver into her lap, and lain with her outside the temple. He who throws the silver must say thus: "I beseech the goddess Venus to favor thee". However small the silver is, it is unlawful for her to reject it, for such silver is considered sacred. The woman follows the first man that throws, and refuses no one. After she has had intercourse and absolved herself from her obligation to the goddess, she returns home; after that time, however great a sum you may give her, you will not gain posession of her. Those that are endowed with beauty are soon set free; but the deformed are detained a long time, from inability to satisfy the law, sometimes up to three or four years. In some parts of Cyprus there is a very similar custom.
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The Traps Of The King's Teasure
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... This king, they say, had so much money that no king since could nearly come close. He wanted to ensure the safety of his wealth, so he built a chamber of stone, one of the walls of which adjoined the outside of the palace. But the builder fitted one of the stones so that it might be taken ot by two men, or even one. When the chamber was finished, the king laid up his treasures in it. But as the builder grew old and was about to die, he called his two sons before him and told them how he had contrived when building the king's treasury, so that they might have abundant wealth. Having clearly explained to them everything relating to the removal of the stone, he told them that they could then take what they wished from the king's treasury. He died, and it was not long before his sons go to work. They came to the palace at night, and having found the stopne easily removed, they carried off a great quantity of treasure.
When the king happened to open the chamber, he was astonished at seeing less than what he thought he had; but he could not accuse anyone, since the seals were unbroken and the chamber was intact. When visiting the chamber two or three times, the treasures were always evidently diminishing (for the thieves did not stop plundering) he ordered traps to be made and placed them around the vessels that held the treasure. When the theives came as before and one of them had entered, as soon as he went near a vessel he was straightaway caught up in a trap; perceiving, therefore, in what predicament he was in, he called to his brother and told him what had happened, and asked him to enter as quick as possible and cut off his head, lest, if he was seen and recognized, his brother would be found out also. His brother thought he spoke well and did as he was advised, then having put the stone back, he returned home, taking his brother's head.
When the day came, the king, having entered the chamber, was astonished at seeing the body of the theif in the trap without the head, but the chamber secure, without any means of entrance or exit. In this perplexity he contrived the following plan: he hung up the body of the theif from the wall, and having placed sentinels there, ordered them to seize and bring to him whoever they would see grieving in front of the body. The mother was very sad at the body being hung from the wall, and commanded her surviving son to take down the corpse of his brother by any means he could. If he didn't, she would go to the king and tell him that he had all the treasures.
He filled some skins with wine, put them on some asses, and drove them along past the guards near the corpse, and having already drawn out two or three necks of the skins that hung down, loosened them, and when wine ran out, he beat his head and cried out aloud, as if he didn't know which one of the asses were leaking. The guards saw the leaking wine and ran out into the road with their own vessels and caught it up, thinking it was their own gain. The theif acted as if he were mad, the guards soothed him and he feigned releif. When more conversation passed, he gave them another skin full of wine, and just as they were, they all lay down and started drinking. He stayed with them, and as they treated him kindly, he offered them another skin full of wine. They became exceedingly drunk and fell asleep. By this time night had far advanced. he took down the body of his brother, and as an insult, shaved the right cheeks of all the guards. He then laid the corpse on the asses and drove them home.
The king, when he was informed that the body of the theif had been stolen, was exceedingly angry and, resolving to find out who did it, contrived the following plan, which to me seems incredible: he placed his own daughter in a brothel, and ordered her to admit all to her embraces, but before they had intercourse with her, to compel each one to tell her what he had done during his life most clever and most wicked, and whoever would tell her the facts relating to the theif, she should seize and not let him escape. When, therefore, the daughter did what her father commanded, the theif, having ascertained for what purpose this contrivance was for, and wanting to outdo the king in craftiness, did as follows: having cut off the arm of a fresh corpse at the shoulder, he took it with him under his cloak; and having gone in to the king's daughter and being asked the same questions as all the rest were, he related that he had done the most wicked thing when he cut off his brother's head who was caught in a trap in the king's treasury; and the most clever thing when, having made the guards drunk, he took away the corpse of his brother that was hung up; she, when she heard this, tried to seize him, but the theif, in the dark, held out to her the dead man's arm, and she held it fast, imagining that she had got ahold of the man's own arm; the theif, having let it go, escaped through the door.
When this was also reported to the king, he was astonished at the shrewdness and daring of the thief. He sent throughout all the cities a proclamation offering a free pardon and a great reward to the theif if he would discover himself. The theif, relying on this promise, went to the king's palace. The king greatly admired him and gave him his daughter in marriage, saying that he was the wisest among all men, even wiser than the Egyptians.
After this, (the priests who told the above story) say that the king descended alive into that place the Greeks call Hades, and there played dice with Ceres, and sometimes won, other times lost; and that he came up again bringing a present from her, a napkin of gold. Because of the descent and return of this king, (the priests) said that the Egyptians celebrate a festival; this I know they observed even in my own time; but whether they held this feast for some other reason or for that mentined above, I am unable to say. However, on that same day, the priests bind the eyes of one of their number with a scarf, put his own cloak over him and lead him to the way that leads to the temple of Ceres; they return, upon which they say the priest with his eyes bound is led by two wolves to the temple of Ceres, twenty stades distant from the city, and afterward the wolves lead him back to the same place. Any person to whom such things appear credible may adopt the account given by the Egyptians; it is my object, however, throughout the whole history, to write what I hear from each people.
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The Death Of The Magi
(verbatim, to preserve the speeches)
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Now the seven of the Persians, when they had resolved forthwith to lay hands upon the Magians and not to delay, made prayer to the gods and went, knowing nothing of that which had been done with regard to Prexaspes: and as they were going and were in the middle of their course, they heard that which had happened about Prexaspes. Upon that they retired out of the way and again considered with themselves, Otanes and his supporters strongly urging that they should delay and not set to the work when things were thus disturbed, while Dareios and those of his party urged that they should go forthwith and do that which had been resolved, and not delay. Then while they were contending, there appeared seven pairs of hawks pursuing two pairs of vultures, plucking out their feathers and tearing them. Seeing this the seven all approved the opinion of Dareios and thereupon they went to the king's palace, encouraged by the sight of the birds.
When they appeared at the gates, it happened nearly as Dareios supposed, for the guards, having respect for men who were chief among the Persians, and not suspecting that anything would be done by them of the kind proposed, allowed them to pass in under the guiding of heaven, and none asked them any question. Then when they had passed into the court, they met the eunuchs who bore in the messages to the king; and these inquired of them for what purpose they had come, and at the same time they threatened with punishment the keepers of the gates for having let them pass in, and tried to stop the seven when they attempted to go forward. Then they gave the word to one another and drawing their daggers stabbed these men there upon the spot, who tried to stop them, and themselves went running on towards the chamber of the men.
Now the Magians happened both of them to be there within, consulting about that which had been done by Prexaspes. So when they saw that the eunuchs had been attacked and were crying aloud, they ran back both of them, and perceiving that which was being done they turned to self-defence: and one of them got down his bow and arrows before he was attacked, while the other had recourse to his spear. Then they engaged in combat with one another; and that one of them who had taken up his bow and arrows found them of no use, since his enemies were close at hand and pressed hard upon him, but the other defended himself with his spear, and first he struck Aspathines in the thigh, and then Intaphrenes in the eye; and Intaphrenes lost his eye by reason of the wound, but his life he did not lose. These then were wounded by one of the Magians, but the other, when his bow and arrows proved useless to him, fled into a bedchamber which opened into the chamber of the men, intending to close the door; and with him there rushed in two of the seven, Dareios and Gobryas. And when Gobryas was locked together in combat with the Magian, Dareios stood by and was at a loss what to do, because it was dark, and he was afraid lest he should strike Gobryas. Then seeing him standing by idle, Gobryas asked why he did not use his hands, and he said: "Because I am afraid lest I may strike thee": and Gobryas answered: "Thrust with thy sword even though it stab through us both." So Dareios was persuaded, and he thrust with his danger and happened to hit the Magian.
So when they had slain the Magians and cut off their heads, they left behind those of their number who were wounded, both because they were unable to go, and also in order that they might take charge of the fortress, and the five others taking with them the heads of the Magians ran with shouting and clashing of arms and called upon the other Persians to join them, telling them of that which had been done and showing the heads, and at the same time they proceeded to slay every one of the Magians who crossed their path. So the Persians when they heard of that which had been brought to pass by the seven and of the deceit of the Magians, thought good themselves also to do the same, and drawing their daggers they killed the Magians wherever they found one; so that if night had not come on and stopped them, they would not have left a single Magian alive. This day the Persians celebrate in common more than all other days, and upon it they keep a great festival which is called by the Persians the festival of the slaughter of the Magians, on which no Magian is permitted to appear abroad, but the Magians keep themselves within their houses throughout that day.
When the tumult had subsided and more than five days had elapsed, those who had risen against the Magians began to take counsel about the general state, and there were spoken speeches which some of the Hellenes do not believe were really uttered, but spoken they were nevertheless. On the one hand Otanes urged that they should resign the government into the hands of the whole body of the Persians, and his words were as follows: "To me it seems best that no single one of us should henceforth be ruler, for that is neither pleasant nor profitable. Ye saw the insolent temper of Cambyses, to what lengths it went, and ye have had experience also of the insolence of the Magian: and how should the rule of one alone be a well-ordered thing, seeing that the monarch may do what he desires without rendering any account of his acts? Even the best of all men, if he were placed in this disposition, would be caused by it to change from his wonted disposition: for insolence is engendered in him by the good things which he possesses, and envy is implanted in man from the beginning; and having these two things, he has all vice: for he does many deeds of reckless wrong, partly moved by insolence proceeding from satiety, and partly by envy. And yet a despot at least ought to have been free from envy, seeing that he has all manner of good things. He is however naturally in just the opposite temper towards his subjects; for he grudges to the nobles that they should survive and live, but delights in the basest of citizens, and he is more ready than any other man to receive calumnies. Then of all things he is the most inconsistent; for if you express admiration of him moderately, he is offended that no very great court is paid to him, whereas if you pay court to him extravagantly, he is offended with you for being a flatterer. And the most important matter of all is that which I am about to say:--he disturbs the customs handed down from our fathers, he is a ravisher of women, and he puts men to death without trial. On the other hand the rule of many has first a name attaching to it which is the fairest of all names, that is to say 'Equality'; next, the multitude does none of those things which the monarch does: offices of state are exercised by lot, and the magistrates are compelled to render account of their action: and finally all matters of deliberation are referred to the public assembly. I therefore give as my opinion that we let monarchy go and increase the power of the multitude; for in the many is contained everything."
This was the opinion expressed by Otanes; but Megabyzos urged that they should entrust matters to the rule of a few, saying these words: "That which Otanes said in opposition to a tyranny, let it be counted as said for me also, but in that which he said urging that we should make over the power to the multitude, he has missed the best counsel: for nothing is more senseless or insolent than a worthless crowd; and for men flying from the insolence of a despot to fall into that of unrestrained popular power, is by no means to be endured: for he, if he does anything, does it knowing what he does, but the people cannot even know; for how can that know which has neither been taught anything noble by others nor perceived anything of itself, but pushes on matters with violent impulse and without understanding, like a torrent stream? Rule of the people then let them adopt who are foes to the Persians; but let us choose a company of the best men, and to them attach the chief power; for in the number of these we shall ourselves also be, and it is likely that the resolutions taken by the best men will be the best."
This was the opinion expressed by Megabyzos; and thirdly Dareios proceeded to declare his opinion, saying: "To me it seems that in those things which Megabyzos said with regard to the multitude he spoke rightly, but in those which he said with regard to the rule of a few, not rightly: for whereas there are three things set before us, and each is supposed to be the best in its own kind, that is to say a good popular government, and the rule of a few, and thirdly the rule of one, I say that this last is by far superior to the others; for nothing better can be found than the rule of an individual man of the best kind; seeing that using the best judgment he would be guardian of the multitude without reproach; and resolutions directed against enemies would so best be kept secret. In an oligarchy however it happens often that many, while practising virtue with regard to the commonwealth, have strong private enmities arising among themselves; for as each man desires to be himself the leader and to prevail in counsels, they come to great enmities with one another, whence arise factions among them, and out of the factions comes murder, and from murder results the rule of one man; and thus it is shown in this instance by how much that is the best. Again, when the people rules, it is impossible that corruption should not arise, and when corruption arises in the commonwealth, there arise among the corrupt men not enmities but strong ties of friendship: for they who are acting corruptly to the injury of the commonwealth put their heads together secretly to do so. And this continues so until at last some one takes the leadership of the people and stops the course of such men. By reason of this the man of whom I speak is admired by the people, and being so admired he suddenly appears as monarch. Thus he too furnishes herein an example to prove that the rule of one is the best thing. Finally, to sum up all in a single word, whence arose the liberty which we possess, and who gave it to us? Was it a gift of the people or of an oligarchy or of a monarch? I therefore am of opinion that we, having been set free by one man, should preserve that form of rule, and in other respects also that we should not annul the customs of our fathers which are ordered well; for that is not the better way."
These three opinions then had been proposed, and the other four men of the seven gave their assent to the last. So when Otanes, who was desirous to give equality to the Persians, found his opinion defeated, he spoke to those assembled thus: "Partisans, it is clear that some one of us must become king, selected either by casting lots, or by entrusting the decision to the multitude of the Persians and taking him whom it shall choose, or by some other means. I therefore shall not be a competitor with you, for I do not desire either to rule or to be ruled; and on this condition I withdraw from my claim to rule, namely that I shall not be ruled by any of you, either I myself or my descendants in future time." When he had said this, the six made agreement with him on those terms, and he was no longer a competitor with them, but withdrew from the assembly; and at the present time this house remains free alone of all the Persian houses, and submits to rule only so far as it wills to do so itself, not transgressing the laws of the Persians.
The rest however of the seven continued to deliberate how they should establish a king in the most just manner; and it was resolved by them that to Otanes and his descendants in succession, if the kingdom should come to any other of the seven, there should be given as special gifts a Median dress every year and all those presents which are esteemed among the Persians to be the most valuable: and the reason why they determined that these things should be given to him, was because he first suggested to them the matter and combined them together. These were special gifts for Otanes; and this they also determined for all in common, namely that any one of the seven who wished might pass in to the royal palaces without any to bear in a message, unless the king happened to be sleeping with his wife; and that it should not be lawful for the king to marry from any other family, but only from those of the men who had made insurrection with him: and about the kingdom they determined this, namely that the man whose horse should first neigh at sunrise in the suburb of the city when they were mounted upon their horses, he should have the kingdom.
Now Dareios had a clever horse-keeper, whose name was Oibares. To this man, when they had left their assembly, Dareios spoke these words: "Oibares, we have resolved to do about the kingdom thus, namely that the man whose horse first neighs at sunrise, when we are mounted upon our horses he shall be king. Now therefore, if thou hast any cleverness, contrive that we may obtain this prize, and not any other man." Oibares replied thus: "If, my master, it depends in truth upon this whether thou be king or no, have confidence so far as concerns this and keep a good heart, for none other shall be king before thee; such charms have I at my command." Then Dareios said: "If then thou hast any such trick, it is time to devise it and not to put things off, for our trial is to-morrow." Oibares therefore hearing this did as follows:--when night was coming on he took one of the mares, namely that one which the horse of Dareios preferred, and this he led into the suburb of the city and tied her up: then he brought to her the horse of Dareios, and having for some time led him round her, making him go so close by so as to touch the mare, at last he let the horse mount.
Now at dawn of day the six came to the place as they had agreed, riding upon their horses; and as they rode through by the suburb of the city, when they came near the place where the mare had been tied up on the former night, the horse of Dareios ran up to the place and neighed; and just when the horse had done this, there came lightning and thunder from a clear sky: and the happening of these things to Dareios consummated his claim, for they seemed to have come to pass by some design, and the others leapt down from their horses and did obeisance to Dareios.
Some say that the contrivance of Oibares was this, but others say as follows (for the story is told by the Persians in both ways), namely that he touched with his hands the parts of this mare and kept his hand hidden in his trousers; and when at sunrise they were about to let the horses go, this Oibares pulled out his hand and applied it to the nostrils of the horse of Dareios; and the horse, perceiving the smell, snorted and neighed.
So Dareios the son of Hystaspes had been declared king; and in Asia all except the Arabians were his subjects, having been subdued by Cyrus and again afterwards by Cambyses. The Arabians however were never obedient to the Persians under conditions of subjection, but had become guest-friends when they let Cambyses pass by to Egypt: for against the will of the Arabians the Persians would not be able to invade Egypt. Moreover Dareios made the most noble marriages possible in the estimation of the Persians; for he married two daughters of Cyrus, Atossa and Artystone, of whom the one, Arossa, had before been the wife of Cambyses her brother and then afterwards of the Magian, while Artystone was a virgin; and besides them he married the daughter of Smerdis the son of Cyrus, whose name was Parmys; and he also took to wife the daughter of Otanes, her who had discovered the Magian; and all things became filled with his power. And first he caused to be a carving in stone, and set it up; and in it there was the figure of a man on horseback, and he wrote upon it writing to this effect: "Dareios son of Hystaspes by the excellence of his horse," mentioning the name of it, "and of his horse-keeper Oibares obtained the kingdom of the Persians."
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Arabian Spices
(verbatim, cuz I'm too lazy)
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Then again Arabia is the furthest of inhabited lands in the direction of the midday, and in it alone of all lands grow frankincense and myrrh and cassia and cinnamon and gum-mastich. All these except myrrh are got with difficulty by the Arabians. Frankincense they collect by burning the storax, which is brought thence to the Hellenes by the Phenicians, by burning this, I say, so as to produce smoke they take it; for these trees which produce frankincense are guarded by winged serpents, small in size and of various colours, which watch in great numbers about each tree, of the same kind as those which attempt to invade Egypt: and they cannot be driven away from the trees by any other thing but only the smoke of storax.
The Arabians say also that all the world would have been by this time filled with these serpents, if that did not happen with regard to them which I knew happened with regard to vipers: and it seems that the Divine Providence, as indeed was to be expected, seeing that it is wise, has made all those animals prolific which are of cowardly spirit and good for food, in order that they may not be all eaten up and their race fail, whereas it has made those which are bold and noxious to have small progeny. For example, because the hare is hunted by every beast and bird as well as by man, therefore it is so very prolific as it is: and this is the only one of all beasts which becomes pregnant again before the former young are born, and has in its womb some of its young covered with fur and others bare; and while one is just being shaped in the matrix, another is being conceived. Thus it is in this case; whereas the lioness, which is the strongest and most courageous of creatures, produces one cub once only in her life; for when she produces young she casts out her womb together with her young; and the cause of it is this:--when the cub being within the mother begins to move about, then having claws by far sharper than those of any other beast he tears the womb, and as he grows larger he proceeds much further in his scratching: at last the time of birth approaches and there is now nothing at all left of it in a sound condition.
Just so also, if vipers and the winged serpents of the Arabians were produced in the ordinary course of their nature, man would not be able to live upon the earth; but as it is, when they couple with one another and the male is in the act of generation, as he lets go from him the seed, the female seizes hold of his neck, and fastening on to it does not relax her hold till she has eaten it through. The male then dies in the manner which I have said, but the female pays the penalty of retribution for the male in this manner:--the young while they are still in the womb take vengeance for their father by eating through their mother, and having eaten through her belly they thus make their way out for themselves. Other serpents however, which are not hurtful to man, produce eggs and hatch from them a very large number of offspring. Now vipers are distributed over all the earth; but the others, which are winged, are found in great numbers together in Arabia and in no other land: therefore it is that they appear to be numerous.
This frankincense then is obtained thus by the Arabians; and cassia is obtained as follows:-- they bind up in cows'-hide and other kinds of skins all their body and their face except only the eyes, and then go to get the cassia. This grows in a pool not very deep, and round the pool and in it lodge, it seems, winged beasts nearly resembling bats, and they squeak horribly and are courageous in fight. These they must keep off from their eyes, and so cut the cassia.
Cinnamon they collect in a yet more marvellous manner than this: for where it grows and what land produces it they are not able to tell, except only that some say (and it is a probable account) that it grows in those regions where Dionysos was brought up; and they say that large birds carry those dried sticks which we have learnt from the Phenicians to call cinnamon, carry them, I say, to nests which are made of clay and stuck on to precipitous sides of mountains, which man can find no means of scaling. With regard to this then the Arabians practise the following contrivance:-- they divide up the limbs of the oxen and asses that die and of their other beasts of burden, into pieces as large as convenient, and convey them to these places, and when they have laid them down not far from the nests, they withdraw to a distance from them: and the birds fly down and carry the limbs of the beasts of burden off to their nests; and these are not able to bear them, but break down and fall to the earth; and the men come up to them and collect the cinnamon. Thus cinnamon is collected and comes from this nation to the other countries of the world.
Gum-mastich however, which the Arabians call ladanon, comes in a still more extraordinary manner; for though it is the most sweet-scented of all things, it comes in the most evil- scented thing, since it is found in the beards of he-goats, produced there like resin from wood: this is of use for the making of many perfumes, and the Arabians use it more than anything else as incense.
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Hercules And The Scythians
(verbatim, cuz I'm still too lazy)
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Now the Scythians say that their nation is the youngest of all nations, and that this came to pass as follows:--The first man who ever existed in this region, which then was desert, was one named Targitaos: and of this Targitaos they say, though I do not believe it for my part, however they say the parents were Zeus and the daughter of the river Borysthenes. Targitaos, they report, was produced from some such origin as this, and of him were begotten three sons, Lipoxa?s and Arpoxa?s and the youngest Colaxa?s. In the reign of these there came down from heaven certain things wrought of gold, a plough, a yoke, a battle-axe, and a cup, and fell in the Scythian land: and first the eldest saw and came near them, desiring to take them, but the gold blazed with fire when he approached it: then when he had gone away from it, the second approached, and again it did the same thing. These then the gold repelled by blazing with fire; but when the third and youngest came up to it, the flame was quenched, and he carried them to his own house. The elder brothers then, acknowledging the significance of this thing, delivered the whole of the kingly power to the youngest.
...
Thus say the Scythians about themselves and about the region above them; but the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus say as follows:-- Heracles driving the cattle of Geryones came to this land, then desert, which the Scythians now inhabit; and Geryones, says the tale, dwelt away from the region of the Pontus, living in the island called by the Hellenes Erytheia, near Gadeira which is outside the Pillars of Heracles by the Ocean.--As to the Ocean, they say indeed that it flows round the whole earth beginning from the place of the sunrising, but they do not prove this by facts.--From thence Heracles came to the land now called Scythia; and as a storm came upon him together with icy cold, he drew over him his lion's skin and went to sleep. Meanwhile the mares harnessed in his chariot disappeared by a miraculous chance, as they were feeding.
Then when Heracles woke he sought for them; and having gone over the whole land, at last he came to the region which is called Hylaia; and there he found in a cave a kind of twofold creature formed by the union of a maiden and a serpent, whose upper parts from the buttocks upwards were those of a woman, but her lower parts were those of a snake. Having seen her and marvelled at her, he asked her then whether she had seen any mares straying anywhere; and she said that she had them herself and would not give them up until he lay with her; and Heracles lay with her on condition of receiving them. She then tried to put off the giving back of the mares, desiring to have Heracles with her as long as possible, while he on the other hand desired to get the mares and depart; and at last she gave them back and said: "These mares when they came hither I saved for thee, and thou didst give me reward for saving them; for I have by thee three sons. Tell me then, what must I do with these when they shall be grown to manhood, whether I shall settle them here, for over this land I have power alone, or send them away to thee?" She thus asked of him, and he, they say, replied: "When thou seest that the boys are grown to men, do this and thou shalt not fail of doing right:--whichsoever of them thou seest able to stretch this bow as I do now, and to be girded with this girdle, him cause to be the settler of this land; but whosoever of them fails in the deeds which I enjoin, send him forth out of the land: and if thou shalt do thus, thou wilt both have delight thyself and perform that which has been enjoined to thee."
Upon this he drew one of his bows (for up to that time Heracles, they say, was wont to carry two) and showed her the girdle, and then he delivered to her both the bow and the girdle, which had at the end of its clasp a golden cup; and having given them he departed. She then, when her sons had been born and had grown to be men, gave them names first, calling one of them Agathyrsos and the next Gelonos and the youngest Skythes; then bearing in mind the charge given to her, she did that which was enjoined. And two of her sons, Agathyrsos and Gelonos, not having proved themselves able to attain to the task set before them, departed from the land, being cast out by her who bore them; but Skythes the youngest of them performed the task and remained in the land: and from Skythes the son of Heracles were descended, they say, the succeeding kings of the Scythians (Skythians): and they say moreover that it is by reason of the cup that the Scythians still even to this day wear cups attached to their girdles: and this alone his mother contrived for Skythes. Such is the story told by the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus.
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The Amazons
(verbatim, cuz I'm still too too lazy)
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About the Sauromatai the following tale is told:--When the Hellenes had fought with the Amazons,--now the Amazons are called by the Scythians Oiorpata, which name means in the Hellenic tongue "slayers of men," for "man" they call oior, and pata means "to slay,"--then, as the story goes, the Hellenes, having conquered them in the battle at the Thermodon, were sailing away and conveying with them in three ships as many Amazons as they were able to take prisoners. These in the open sea set upon the men and cast them out of the ships; but they knew nothing about ships, nor how to use rudders or sails or oars, and after they had cast out the men they were driven about by wave and wind and came to that part of the Maiotian lake where Cremnoi stands; now Cremnoi is in the land of the free Scythians. There the Amazons disembarked from their ships and made their way into the country, and having met first with a troop of horses feeding they seized them, and mounted upon these they plundered the property of the Scythians.
The Scythians meanwhile were not able to understand the matter, for they did not know either their speech or their dress or the race to which they belonged, but were in wonder as to whence they had come and thought that they were men, of an age corresponding to their appearance: and finally they fought a battle against them, and after the battle the Scythians got possession of the bodies of the dead, and thus they discovered that they were women. They took counsel therefore and resolved by no means to go on trying to kill them, but to send against them the youngest men from among themselves, making conjecture of the number so as to send just as many men as there were women. These were told to encamp near them, and do whatsoever they should do; if however the women should come after them, they were not to fight but to retire before them, and when the women stopped, they were to approach near and encamp. This plan was adopted by the Scythians because they desired to have children born from them.
The young men accordingly were sent out and did that which had been commanded them: and when the Amazons perceived that they had not come to do them any harm, they let them alone; and the two camps approached nearer to one another every day: and the young men, like the Amazons, had nothing except their arms and their horses, and got their living, as the Amazons did, by hunting and by taking booty.
Now the Amazons at midday used to scatter abroad either one by one or by two together, dispersing to a distance from one another to ease themselves; and the Scythians also having perceived this did the same thing: and one of the Scythians came near to one of those Amazons who were apart by themselves, and she did not repulse him but allowed him to lie with her: and she could not speak to him, for they did not understand one another's speech, but she made signs to him with her hand to come on the following day to the same place and to bring another with him, signifying to him that there should be two of them, and that she would bring another with her. The young man therefore, when he returned, reported this to the others; and on the next day he came himself to the place and also brought another, and he found the Amazon awaiting him with another in her company. Then hearing this the rest of the young men also in their turn tamed for themselves the remainder of the Amazons;
and after this they joined their camps and lived together, each man having for his wife her with whom he had had dealings at first; and the men were not able to learn the speech of the women, but the women came to comprehend that of the men. So when they understood one another, the men spoke to the Amazons as follows: "We have parents and we have possessions; now therefore let us no longer lead a life of this kind, but let us go away to the main body of our people and dwell with them; and we will have you for wives and no others." They however spoke thus in reply: "We should not be able to live with your women, for we and they have not the same customs. We shoot with bows and hurl javelins and ride horses, but the works of women we never learnt; whereas your women do none of these things which we said, but stay in the waggons and work at the works of women, neither going out to the chase nor anywhither else. We therefore should not be able to live in agreement with them: but if ye desire to keep us for your wives and to be thought honest men, go to your parents and obtain from them your share of the goods, and then let us go and dwell by ourselves."
The young men agreed and did this; and when they had obtained the share of the goods which belonged to them and had returned back to the Amazons, the women spoke to them as follows: "We are possessed by fear and trembling to think that we must dwell in this place, having not only separated you from your fathers, but also done great damage to your land. Since then ye think it right to have us as your wives, do this together with us,--come and let us remove from this land and pass over the river Tana?s and there dwell."
The young men agreed to this also, and they crossed over the Tana?s and made their way towards the rising sun for three days' journey from Tana?s, and also towards the North Wind for three days' journey from the Maiotian lake: and having arrived at the place where they are now settled, they took up their abode there: and from thenceforward the women of the Sauromatai practise their ancient way of living, going out regularly on horseback to the chase both in company with the men and apart from them, and going regularly to war, and wearing the same dress as the men.
And the Sauromatai make use of the Scythian tongue, speaking it barbarously however from the first, since the Amazons did not learn it thoroughly well. As regards marriages their rule is this, that no maiden is married until she has slain a man of their enemies; and some of them even grow old and die before they are married, because they are not able to fulfil the requirement of the law.
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nice read, thanks for the post! 0
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