BOOK VI

ERATO

RISTAGORAS, having induced the Ionians to revolt, thus died; and Histiæus, tyrant of Miletus, having been dismissed by Darius, repaired to Sardis. When he arrived from Susa, Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, asked him for what reason he supposed the Ionians had revolted. Histiæus said he did not know, and seemed surprised at what had happened, as if he in truth knew nothing of the present state of affairs. But Artaphernes, perceiving that he was dissembling, and being aware of the exact truth as to the revolt, said: Histiæus, the state of the case is this: you made the shoe and Aristagoras has put it on." Artaphernes spoke thus concerning the revolt: but Histiæus, fearing Artaphernes, as being privy to the truth, as soon as night came on fled to the coast, having deceived King Darius; for having promised to reduce the great island of Sardinia, he insinuated himself into the command of the Ionians in the war against Darius. Having crossed over to Chios, he was put in chains by the Chians, being suspected by them of planning some new design against them in favour of Darius. However, the Chians, having learned the whole truth, and that he was an enemy to the king, released him. At that time Histiæus being questioned by the Ionians why he had so earnestly pressed Aristagoras to revolt from the king, and had wrought so much mischief to the Ionians, he by no means made known to them the true reason; but told them that King Darius had resolved to remove the Phoenicians and settle them in Ionia, and the Ionians in Phoenicia; and for this reason he had pressed him. Although the king had formed no resolution of the kind, he terrified the Ionians. After this, Histiæus, corresponding by means of a messenger, Hermippus, an Atarnian, sent letters to certain Persians in Sardis, as if they had before conferred with him on the subject of a revolt. But Hermippus did not deliver the letters to the persons to whom he had been sent, but put them into the

hands of Artaphernes; he, having discovered all that was going on, commanded Hermippus to deliver the letters of Histiæus to the persons for whom he brought them, and to deliver to him the answers that should be sent back to Histiæus from the Persians. Thus they being discovered, Artaphernes thereupon put many of the Persians to death; and in consequence there was a great commotion in Sardis. Histiæus being disappointed of these hopes, the Chians conveyed him to Miletus at his own request; but the Milesians, delighted at being rid of Aristagoras, were by no means desirous to receive another tyrant into their country, as they had tasted of freedom. Thereupon Histiæus, going down to Miletus by night, endeavoured to enter it by force, but was wounded in the thigh by one of the Milesians. When he was repulsed from his own country, he went back to Chios, and from thence, since he could not persuade the Chians to furnish him with ships, he crossed over to Mitylene, and prevailed with the Lesbians to furnish him with ships; and they, having manned eight triremes, sailed with Histiæus to Byzantium. There taking up their station, they took all the ships that sailed out of the Pontus, except such of them as said they were ready to submit to Histiæus.

Histiæus, then, and the Mitylenians acted as above described. But a large naval and land force was expected against Miletus itself. For the Persian generals, having united their forces and formed one camp, marched against Miletus, deeming the other cities of less consequence. Of the maritime forces, the Phoenicians were the most zealous, and the Cyprians, who had been lately subdued, served with them, and the Cilicians, and Egyptians. They then advanced against Miletus and the rest of Ionia; but the Ionians, having heard of this, sent their respective deputies to the Panionium, and when they arrived at that place and consulted together, it was determined not to assemble any land forces to oppose the Persians; but that the Milesians themselves should defend the walls; and that they should man their navy, without leaving a single ship behind; and after they had manned them, to assemble as soon as possible at Lade, to fight in defence of Miletus. Lade is a small island lying off the city of the Milesians. After this the Ionians came up with their ships manned, and with them the Eolians who inhabit Lesbos; and they formed their line in the following order: The Milesians themselves, who furnished eighty ships, occupied the east wing; and next to these the Prienians with twelve ships, and the Myusians with three; the Teians were next to the Myusians,

with seventeen ships; the Chians were next the Teians, with a hundred ships; next to these, the Erythræans and the Phocæans were drawn up, the Erythræans furnishing eight ships, and the Phocæans three; next the Phocæans were the Lesbians with seventy ships; last of all the Samians were drawn up, occupying the western wing with sixty ships. Of all these, the whole number amounted to three hundred and fifty-three triremes. Such was the fleet of the Ionians. On the side of the barbarians the number of ships amounted to six hundred: but when they arrived on the Milesian coast, and all their land forces were come up, the Persian generals, hearing the number of the Ionian fleet, began to fear they should not be strong enough to overcome it, and so should be also unable to take Miletus, since they were not masters at sea, and then might be in danger of receiving punishment at the hands of Darius. Taking these things into consideration, they summoned the tyrants of the Ionians, who, having been deprived of their governments by Aristagoras, had fled to the Medes, and happened at that time to be serving in the army against Miletus; having called together such of these men as were at hand, they addressed them as follows: "Men of Ionia, let each of you now show his zeal for the king's house. For let each of you endeavour to detach his own countrymen from the rest of the confederacy, and hold out to them and proclaim this, that they shall suffer no hurt on account of their rebellion, nor shall their buildings, whether sacred or profane, be burned, nor shall they be treated with more severity than they were before. But if they will not do this, and will at all events come to the hazard of a battle, threaten them with this which will surely befall them; that when conquered in battle they shall be enslaved; that we will make eunuchs of their sons, and transport their virgins to Bactra, and then give their country to others." Thus they spoke; but the tyrants of the Ionians sent each by night to his own countrymen, to make known the warning. But the Ionians to whom these messages came continued firm to their purpose, and would not listen to treachery; for each thought that the Persians had sent this message to themselves only. This, then, took place immediately after the arrival of the Persians before Miletus.

Afterward, when the Ionians had assembled at Lade, councils were held, and on occasion others addressed them, and among the rest the Phocæan general Dionysius, who spoke as follows: Our affairs are in a critical1 state, O Ionians, whether we shall be freemen or slaves, and that too as runLiterally, “on a razor's edge."

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away slaves: now, then, if you are willing to undergo hardships, for the present you will have toil, but will be enabled, by overcoming your enemies, to be free; on the other hand, if you abandon yourselves to ease and disorder, I have no hope of you that you will escape punishment at the hands of the king for your revolt. But be persuaded by me, and intrust yourselves to my guidance, and I promise you, if the gods are impartial, either that our enemies will not fight us at all, or if they do fight with us, they shall be completely beaten." The Ionians having heard this, intrusted themselves to the guidance of Dionysius; and he, daily leading out the ships into a line, when he had exercised the rowers, by practising the manœuvre of cutting through one another's line, and had put the marines under arms, kept the ships at anchor for the rest of the day: thus he subjected the Ionians to toil throughout the day. Accordingly, for seven days they continued to obey, and did what was ordered; but on the following day the Ionians, unaccustomed to such toil, and worn down by hardships and the heat of the sun, spoke one to another as follows: "What deity having offended, do we fill up this measure of affliction? we who being beside ourselves, and having lost our senses, have intrusted ourselves to the guidance of a presumptuous Phocæan, who has contributed three ships; but he, having got us under his control, afflicts us with intolerable hardships. Many of us have already fallen into distempers, and many must expect to meet with the same fate. Instead of these evils, it were better for us to suffer anything else, and to endure the impending servitude, be it what it may, than be oppressed by the present. Come, then, let us no longer obey him." Thus they spoke, and from that moment no one would obey; but having pitched tents on the island, they continued under the shade, and would not go on board the ships or perform their exercise. The generals of the Samians observing what was passing among the Ionians, and at the same time seeing great disorder among them, thereupon accepted the proposal of Eaces, son of Syloson, which he had before sent them at the desire of the Persians, exhorting them to abandon the confederacy of the Ionians; and, moreover, it was clearly impossible for them to overcome the power of the king, because they were convinced that if they should overcome Darius with his present fleet another five times as large would come against them. Therefore laying hold of this pretext, as soon as they saw the Ionians refusing to behave well they deemed it for their advantage to preserve their own buildings, sacred and profane. This aces,

from whom the Samians received the proposal, was son of Syloson, son of Eaces; and being tyrant of Samos, had been deprived of his government by Aristagoras the Milesian, as the other tyrants of Ionia.

When, therefore, the Phoenicians sailed against them, the Ionians also drew out their ships in line to oppose them; but when they came near and engaged each other, after that I am unable to affirm with certainty who of the Ionians proved themselves cowards or brave men in this sea-fight; for they mutually accuse each other. The Samians, however, are said. at that moment to have hoisted sail, in pursuance of their agreement with Eaces, and steered out of the line to Samos, with the exception of eleven ships; the captains of these stayed and fought, refusing to obey their commanders; and for this action the commonwealth of the Samians conferred upon them the honour of having their names and ancestry engraved on a column, as having proved themselves valiant men; and this column now stands in the forum. The Lesbians also, seeing those stationed next them flee, did the same as the Samians; and in like manner most of the Ionians followed their example. Of those that persisted in the battle, the Chians were most roughly handled, as they displayed signal proofs of valour, and would not act as cowards. They contributed, as has been before mentioned, one hundred ships, and on board each of them forty chosen citizens serving as marines; and though they saw most of the confederates abandoning the common cause, they disdained to follow the example of their treachery; but choosing rather to remain with the few allies, they continued the fight, cutting through the enemies' line, until, after they had taken many of the enemies' ships, they lost most of their own. The Chians then fled to their own country with the remainder of their fleet. Those Chians whose ships were disabled in the fight, when they were pursued, took refuge in Mycale; and having run their ships aground, left them there, and marched overland through the continent; but when the Chians on their return entered the territory of Ephesus, and arrived near the city by night, at a time when the women there were celebrating the Thesmophoria; the Ephesians thereupon, not having before heard how it had fared with the Chians, and seeing an army enter their territory, thinking they were certainly robbers, and were come to seize their women, rushed out in a body and slew the Chians. Such was the fate they met with. Dionysius the Phocæan, when he perceived that the affairs of the Ionians were utterly ruined, having taken three of the enemies' ships,