who do so; because, as I conjecture, they do not think the gods have human forms, as the Greeks do. They are accustomed to ascend the highest parts of the mountains, and offer sacrifice to Jupiter, and they call the whole circle of the heavens by the name of Jupiter. They sacrifice to the sun and moon, to the earth, fire, water, and the winds. To these alone they have sacrificed from the earliest times; but they have since learned from the Arabians and Assyrians to sacrifice to Venus Urania, whom the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta, the Arabians, Alitta, and the Persians, Mitra. 132. The following is the established mode of sacrifice to the abovementioned deities: they do not erect altars nor kindle fires when about to sacrifice; they do not use libations, or flutes, or fillets, or cakes; but when any one wishes to offer sacrifice to any one of these deities, he leads the victim to a clean spot, and invokes the god, usually having his tiara decked with myrtle. He that sacrifices is not permitted to pray for blessings for himself alone; but he is obliged to offer prayers for the prosperity of all the Persians, and the king, for he is himself included in the Persians. When he has cut the victim into small pieces, and boiled the flesh, he strews under it a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil, and then lays all the flesh upon it: when he has put every thing in order, one of the Magi standing by sings an ode concerning the original of the gods, which they say is the incantation; and without one of the Magi it is not lawful for them to sacrifice. After having waited a short time, he that has sacrificed carries away the flesh and disposes of it as he thinks fit. 133. It is their custom to honor their birth-day above all other days; and on this day they furnish their table in a more plentiful manner than at other times. The rich then produce an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass, roasted whole in an oven, but the poor produce smaller cattle. They are moderate at their meals, but eat of many after dishes, and those not served up together. On this account the Persians say "that the Greeks rise hungry from table, because nothing worth mentioning is brought in after dinner, and that if any thing were brought in, they would not leave off eating." The Persians are much addicted to wine; they are not allowed to vomit or make water in presence of another. These customs are observed to this day. They are used to debate the most

important affairs when intoxicated; but whatever they have determined on in such deliberations is, on the following day, when they are sober, proposed to them by the master of the house where they have met to consult; and if they approve of it when sober also, then they adopt it; if not, they reject it; and whatever they have first resolved on when sober, they reconsider when intoxicated. 134. When they

meet one another in the streets, one may discover by the following custom whether those who meet are equals; for, instead of accosting one another, they kiss on the mouth; if one be a little inferior to the other, they kiss the cheek; but if he be of a much lower rank, he prostrates himself before the other. They honor, above all, those who live nearest to themselves; in the second degree, those that are second in nearness; and after that, as they go farther off, they honor in proportion; and least of all they honor those who live at the greatest distance; esteeming themselves to be by far the most excellent of men in every respect, and that others make approaches to excellence according to the foregoing gradations, but that they are the worst who live farthest from them. During the empire of the Medes, each nation ruled over its next neighbor, the Medes over all, and especially over those who were nearest to them; these, again, over the bordering people, and the last, in like manner, over their next neighbors; and in the same gradations the Persians honor; for that nation went on extending its government and guardianship. 135. The Persians are of all nations most ready to adopt foreign customs; for they wear the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than their own; and in war they use the Egyptian cuirass; and they practice all kinds of indulgences with which they become acquainted; among others, they have learned from the Greeks a passion for boys: they marry, each of them, many wives, and keep a still greater number of concubines. 136. Next to bravery in battle, this is considered the greatest proof of manliness, to be able to exhibit many children; and to such as can exhibit the greatest number, the king sends presents every year; for numbers are considered strength. Beginning from the age of five years twenty, they instruct their sons in three things only-to ride, to use the bow, and to speak truth. Before he is five years

to

of age, a son is not admitted to the presence of his father, but lives entirely with the women: the reason of this custom is, that if he should die in childhood, he may occasion no grief to his father.

137. Now I much approve of the above custom, as also of the following, that not even the king is allowed to put any one to death for a single crime, nor any private Persian exercise extreme severity against any of his domestics for one fault, but if, on examination, he should find that his misdeeds are more numerous and greater than his services, he may, in that case, give vent to his anger. They say that no one ever yet killed his own father or mother, but whenever such things have happened they affirm that, if the matter were thoroughly searched into, they would be found to have been committed by supposititious children, or those born in adultery, for they hold it utterly impossible that a true father should be murdered by his own son. 138. They are not allowed even to mention the things which it is not lawful for them to do. To tell a lie is considered by them the greatest disgrace; next to that, to be in debt, and this for many other reasons, but especially because they think that one who is in debt must of necessity tell lies. Whosoever of the citizens has the leprosy or scrofula, is not permitted to stay within a town, nor to have communication with other Persians; and they say that from having committed some offense against the sun a man is afflicted with these diseases. Every stranger that is seized with these distempers many of them even drive out of the country; and they do the same to white pigeons, making the same charge against them. They neither make water, nor spit, nor wash their hands in a river, nor defile the stream with urine, nor do they allow any one else to do so, but they pay extreme veneration to all rivers. 139. Another circumstance is also peculiar to them, which has escaped the notice of the Persians themselves, but not of us. Their names, which correspond with their personal forms and their rank, all terminate in the same letter which the Dorians call San, and the Ionians Sigma; and if you inquire into this, you will find that all Persian names, without exception, end in the same letter. 140. These things I can with certainty affirm to be true, since I myself know them. But what follows, relating to the dead, is only secretly mentioned, and not openly; viz., that the dead body of a Persian is

never buried until it has been torn by some bird or dog; but I know for a certainty that the Magi do this, for they do it openly. The Persians then, having covered the body with wax, conceal it in the ground. The Magi differ very much from all other men, and particularly from the Egyptian priests; for the latter hold it matter of religion not to kill any thing that has life, except such things as they offer in sacrifice; whereas the Magi kill every thing with their own hands, except a dog or a man; and they think they do a meritorious thing when they kill ants, serpents, and other reptiles, and birds. And with regard to this custom, let it remain as it existed from the first. I will now return to my former subject.

141. The Ionians and Æolians, as soon as the Lydians were subdued by the Persians, sent embassadors to Cyrus at Sardis, wishing to become subject to him on the same terms as they had been to Croesus. But he, when he heard their proposal, told them this story: "A piper, seeing some fishes in the sea, began to pipe, expecting that they would come to shore; but finding his hopes disappointed, he took a castingnet, and inclosed a great number of fishes, and drew them out. When he saw them leaping about, he said to the fishes, 'Cease your dancing, since when I piped you would not come out and dance." Cyrus told this story to the Ionians and Æolians, because the Ionians, when Cyrus pressed them, by his embassador, to revolt from Croesus, refused to consent; and now, when the business was done, were ready to listen to him. He, therefore, under the influence of anger, gave them this answer. But the Ionians, when they heard this message brought back to their cities, severally fortified themselves with walls, and met together at the Panionium, with the exception of the Milesians; for Cyrus made an alliance with them only, on the same terms as the Lydians had done. The rest of the Ionians resolved unanimously to send embassadors to Sparta, to implore them to succor the Ionians. 142. The Ionians, to whom the Panionium belongs, have built their cities under the finest sky and climate of the world that we know of; for neither the regions that are above it, nor those that are below, nor the parts to the east or west, are at all equal to Ionia; for some of them are oppressed by cold and rain, others by heat and drought. These Ionians do not all use the same language, but have four varieties of dialect. Miletus, the first of

them, lies toward the south; next are Myus and Priene: these are situate in Caria, and use the same dialect. The following are in Lydia: Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomenæ, Phocæa. These cities do not at all agree with those before mentioned in their language, but they speak a dialect common to themselves. There are three remaining of the Ionian cities, of which two inhabit islands, Samos and Chios; and one, Erythræ, is situated on the continent. Now the Chians and Erythræans use the same dialect, but the Samians have one peculiar to themselves. And these are the four different forms of language.

143. Of these Ionians, the Milesians were sheltered from danger, as they had made an alliance. The islanders also had nothing to fear; for the Phoenicians were not yet subject to the Persians, nor were the Persians themselves at all acquainted with maritime affairs. Now the Milesians had seceded from the rest of the Ionians only for this reason, that, weak as the Grecian race then was, the Ionian was weakest of all, and of least account; for, except Athens, there was no other city of note. The other Ionians, therefore, and the Athenians, shunned the name, and would not be called Ionians; and even now many of them appear to me to be ashamed of the name. But these twelve cities gloried in the name, and built a temple for their own use, to which they gave the name of Panionium; and they resolved not to communicate privileges to any other of the Ionians; nor, indeed, have any others, except the Smyrnæans, desired to participate in them. 144. In the same manner, the Dorians of the present Pentapolis, which was before called Hexapolis, take care not to admit any of the neighboring Dorians into the temple at Triopium, but excluded from participation such of their own community as have violated the sacred laws; for in the games in honor of Triopian Apollo, they formerly gave brazen tripods to the victors; and it was usual for those who gained them, not to carry them out of the temple, but to dedicate them there to the god: however, a man of Halicarnassus, whose name was Agasicles, having won the prize, disregarded their custom, and, carrying away the tripod, hung it up in his own house. For this offense, the five cities, Lindus, Ialyssus, Cameirus, Cos, and Cnidus, excluded the sixth city, Halicarnassus, from participation; on them, therefore, they imposed