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equal dimensions, this must necessarily happen. But the Phoenicians show their skill in other works, and especially did so in this; for having received the portion that fell to their share, they dug it, making the upper opening of the trench twice as large as it was necessary for the trench itself to be; and as the work proceeded they contracted it gradually, so that when they came to the bottom the work was equal in width to the rest: near adjoining is a meadow, where they had a market and bazaar, and great abundance of meal was brought to them from Asia. 24. According to my deliberate opinion, Xerxes ordered this excavation to be made from motives of ostentation, wishing to display his power, and to leave a memorial of himself. For though it was possible, without any great labour, to have drawn the ships over the isthmus, he commanded them to dig a channel for the sea of such a width that two triremes might pass through rowed abreast. And the same persons, to whom the excavation was committed, were ordered also to throw a bridge over the river Strymon. 25. These things, then, he thus contrived: he also caused cables of papyrus and of white flax to be prepared for the bridges, having ordered the Phoenicians and Egyptians also to lay up provisions for the army, that neither the men nor the beasts of burden might suffer from famine on their march towards Greece; and having informed himself of the situations of the places, he ordered them to lay up the provisions where it was most convenient, conveying them to various quarters in merchant-ships and transports from all parts of Asia. Of these provisions the largest quantity they conveyed to a place called Leuce-Acte, in Thrace; some were ordered to Tyrodiza of the Perinthians, others to Doriscus, others to Eion on the Strymon, and others to Macedonia.

26. While these men were employed in their appointed task, the whole land forces, having been assembled, marched with Xerxes to Sardis, having set out from Critalla in Cappadocia, for it was ordered that all the troops throughout the continent, that were to march with Xerxes himself, should be assembled at that place. Now which of the generals, bringing the best appointed troops, received the gifts promised by the king, I am unable to mention; for I am not at all aware

6 Literally, "as I conjecturing discover."

He

that they came to any decision on this point. They then, when having crossed the river Halys they entered Phrygia, marching through that country, arrived at Celænæ, where rise the springs of the Mæander, and of another river not less than the Mæander, which is called the Catarractes, which, springing up in the very forum of the Celænians, discharges itself into the Mæander; in this city also the skin of Silenus Marsyas is suspended, which, as the Phrygians report, was stripped off and suspended by Apollo. 27. In this city Pythius, son of Atys, a Lydian, being in waiting, entertained the whole army of the king and Xerxes himself, with most sumptuous feasts; and he offered money, wishing to contribute towards the expense of the war. When Pythius offered money, Xerxes asked the Persians near him who this Pythius was, and what riches he possessed, that he made such an offer? They answered, "O king, this is the person who presented your father Darius with the golden plane-tree and the vine; and he is now the richest man we know of in the world, next to yourself." 28. Xerxes, surprised with these last words, next asked Pythius what might be the amount of his wealth. said, "O king, I will not conceal it from you, nor will I pretend to be ignorant of my own substance, but as I know it perfectly I will tell you the exact truth. As soon as I heard you were coming down to the Grecian sea, wishing to present you with money for the war, I made inquiry, and found by computation that I had two thousand talents of silver, and of gold four millions of Daric staters, all but seven thousand. These I freely give you; for myself I have sufficient subsistence from my slaves and lands." 29. Thus he spoke; but Xerxes, delighted with his offer, replied: "My Lydian friend, since I left the Persian country I have met with no man to the present moment who was willing to entertain my army, or who, having come into my presence, has voluntarily offered to contribute money towards the war. But you have entertained my army magnificently, and have offered me vast sums; therefore, in return for this, I confer on you the following rewards: I make you my friend, and will make up the sum of four millions of staters from my own treasures, by adding the seven thousand; so that the four millions may not be short of seven thousand, but the full sum may be completed by me. Do you retain what you have acquired, and be careful always to con

tinue such as you are; for if you do this, you shall never repent, either now, or hereafter."

30. Having said this, and performed his promise, he continued his march: and passing by a city of the Phrygians, called Anaua, and a lake from which salt is obtained, he arrived at Colossæ, a considerable city of Phrygia, in which the river Lycus, falling into a chasm of the earth, disappears; then reappearing after a distance of about five stades, it also discharges itself into the Mæander. From Colossæ the army, advancing towards the boundaries of the Phrygians and Lydians, arrived at the city of Cydrara, where a pillar, planted in the ground, and erected by Croesus, indicates the boundaries by an inscription. 31. When from Phrygia he entered Lydia, the way dividing into two, that on the left leading to Caria, the other on the right to Sardis, by which latter a traveller is compelled to cross the river Mæander, and to pass by the city of Callatebus, in which confectioners make honey with tamarisk and wheat; Xerxes, going by this way, met with a plane-tree, which, on account of its beauty, he presented with golden ornaments, and having committed it to the care of one of the immortals, on the next day he arrived at Sardis, the capital of the Lydians. 32. On his arrival at Sardis, he first of all sent heralds to Greece to demand earth and water, and to require them to provide entertainment for the king; except that he did not send either to Athens or Lacedæmon, but he did to every other place. And he sent the second time for earth and water, for the following reason: such as had not given them before when Darius sent, he thought would then certainly do so through fear; wishing therefore to know this for certain, he And after this he prepared to march to Abydos.

sent.

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33. In the mean while those who were appointed had joined the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. There is in the Chersonese on the Hellespont, between the city of Sestos and Madytus, a craggy shore extending into the sea, directly opposite Abydos: there, not long after these events, under Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, a general of the Athenians, having taken Artayctes, a Persian, governor of Sestos, they impaled him alive against a plank; for he, having brought women into the temple 7 One of the ten thousand chosen men called immortals, of whom we shall hear more hereafter. See chap. 83.

See chap. 133.

of Protesilaus at Elæus, committed atrocious crimes.9 34. To this shore, then, beginning at Abydos, they, on whom this task was imposed, constructed bridges, the Phoenicians one with white flax, and the Egyptians the other with papyrus. The distance from Abydos to the opposite shore is seven stades. When the strait was thus united, a violent storm arising, broke in pieces and scattered the whole work. 35. When Xerxes heard of this, being exceedingly indignant, he commanded that the Hellespont should be stricken with three hundred lashes with a scourge, and that a pair of fetters should be let down into the sea. I have moreover heard that with them he likewise sent branding instruments to brand the Hellespont. He certainly charged those who flogged the waters to utter these barbarous and impious words: "Thou bitter water! thy master inflicts this punishment upon thee, because thou hast injured him, although thou hadst not suffered any harm from him. And king Xerxes will cross over thee, whether thou wilt or not; it is with justice that no man sacrifices to thee, because thou art both a deceitful and briny river!" He accordingly commanded them to chastise the sea in this manner, and to cut off the heads of those who had to superintend the joining of the Hellespont. 36. They on whom this thankless office was imposed, carried it into execution; and other engineers constructed bridges; and they constructed them in the following manner. They connected together penteconters and triremes, under that towards the Euxine sea, three hundred and sixty; and under the other, three hundred and fourteen, obliquely in respect of the Pontus, but in the direction of the current in respect of the Hellespont, that it might keep up the tension of the cables. Having connected them together, they let down very long anchors, some on the one bridge towards the Pontus, on account of the winds that blew from it within; others on the other bridge towards the west and the Ægean, on account of the south and southeast winds. They left an opening as a passage through between the penteconters, and that in three places, that any one who wished might be able to sail into the Pontus in light vessels, and from the Pontus outwards. Having done this, they stretched the cables from the shore, twisting them with wooden capstans, not as before using the two kinds separately, but as9 See B. IX. chap. 116.

The

signing to each two of white flax and four of papyrus. thickness and quality was the same, but those of flax were stronger in proportion, every cubit weighing a full talent. When the passage was bridged over, having sawn up trunks of trees, and having made them equal to the width of the bridge, they laid them regularly upon the extended cables; and having laid them in regular order, they then fastened them together. And having done this, they put brush-wood on the top; and having laid the brush-wood in regular order they put earth over the whole; and having pressed down the earth, they drew a fence on each side, that the beasts of burden and horses might not be frightened by looking down. upon the sea.

37. When the works at the bridges were completed, and those at Mount Athos, as well as the mounds at the mouths of the canal, which had been made on account of the tide, in order that the mouths of the trench might not be choked up, and news was brought that the canal was entirely completed; thereupon the army, having wintered at Sardis, and being fully prepared, set out, at the beginning of the spring, from thence towards Abydos. But as it was on the point of setting out, the sun, quitting his seat in the heavens, disappeared, though there were no clouds, and the air was perfectly serene, and night ensued in the place of day. When Xerxes saw and perceived this, it occasioned him much uneasiness; he, therefore, inquired of the magi what the prodigy might portend. They answered, that "the deity foreshows to the Greeks the extinction of their cities;" adding, "that the sun is the portender of the future to the Greeks, and the moon to the Persians." Xerxes, having heard this, was much delighted, and set out upon his march. 38. As he was leading his army away, Pythius the Lydian, terrified by the prodigy in the heavens, and emboldened by the gifts, went to Xerxes the king, and spoke thus: "Sire, would you indulge me by granting a boon I should wish to obtain, which is easy for you to grant, and of great importance to me." Xerxes, expecting that he would wish for any thing rather than what he did ask, said that he would grant his request, and bade him declare what he wanted; whereupon he, when he heard this, spoke confidently as follows: Sire, I have five sons; and it happens that they are all attending you in the expedition against

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