menu_book Chapter 21

the history of the world's history i by herodotus of halicarnassus translated by a d godly book three part three paragraphs thirty nine to sixty while cambyses was attacking egypt the lacedaemonians too were making war upon samos and upon eiasis son polycrates who had revolted and won samos and first dividing the city into three parts he gave a share in the government to his brothers pantacnotus and celosan but presently he put one of them to death banished the younger celosan and so made himself lord of all samos then he made a treaty with amasis king of egypt sending to him and receiving from him gifts very soon after this polycrates grew to such power that he was famous in ionia and all other greek lands for all his military affairs succeeded he had a hundred fifty oared ships and a thousand archers and he pillaged every place indiscriminately for he said that he would get more thanks if he gave a friend back what he had taken than if he never took it at all he had taken many of the islands and many of the mainland cities

among others he conquered the lesbians they had brought all their force to aid the milesians and polycrates defeated them in a sea-fight it was they who being his captives dug all the trench around the acropolis of samos now amasis was somehow aware of polycrates great good fortune and as this continued to increase greatly he wrote this letter and sent it to samos amasis addresses polycrates as follows it is pleasant to learn that a friend and ally is doing well but i do not like these great successes of yours for i know the gods how jealous they are and i desire somehow that both i and those for whom i care succeed in some affairs fail in others and thus pass life faring differently by turns rather than succeed at everything for from all i have heard i know of no man whom continual good fortune did not bring in the end to evil and utter destruction therefore if you will be ruled by me do this regarding your successes consider what you hold most precious and what you will be sorriest to lose and cast it away so that it shall never again be seen among men

then if after this the successes that come to you are not mixed with mischances strive to mend the matter as i have counseled you reading this and perceiving that amasis advice was good polycrates considered which of his treasures it would most grieve his soul to lose and came to this conclusion he wore a seal set in gold an emerald crafted by theodorus son of telecles of samos being resolved to cast this away he embarked in a fifty oared ship with its crew and told them to put out to sea and when he was far from the island he took off the seal ring in sight of all that were on the ship and cast it into the sea this done he sailed back and went to his house where he grieved for the loss but on the fifth or sixth day from this it happened that a fisherman who had taken a fine and great fish and desired to make a gift of it to polycrates brought it to the door and said that he wished to see this being granted he gave the fish saying o king when i caught this fish i thought best not to take it to market although i am a man who lives by his hands but it seemed to me worthy of you and your greatness and so i bring it and offer it to you

polycrates was pleased with what the fisherman said you have done very well he answered and i give you double thanks for your words and for the gift and-i invite you to dine with me proud of this honor the fisherman went home but the servants cutting up the fish found in its belly polycrates seal ring as soon as they saw and seized it they brought it with joy to polycrates and giving the ring to him told him how it had been found polycrates saw the hand of heaven in this matter he wrote a letter and sent it to egypt telling all that he had done and what had happened to him when amasis had read polycrates letter he perceived that no man could save another from his destiny and that polycrates being so continually fortunate that he even found what he cast away must come to an evil end so he sent a herald to samos to renounce his friendship determined that when some great and terrible mischance overtook polycrates he himself might not have to sadden his heart for a friend

it was against this ever victorious polycrates that the lacedaemonians now made war invited by the samians who afterwards founded sidonia in crete polycrates had without the knowledge of his subjects sent a herald to cambyses son of cyrus then raising an army against egypt inviting cambyses to send to samos two and request men from him at this message cambyses very readily sent to samos asking polycrates to send a fleet to aid him against egypt Polycrates chose those men whom he most suspected of planning a rebellion against him and sent them in 40 triremes, directing Cambyses not to send the men back. Some say that these Samians who were sent never came to Egypt, but that when they had sailed as far as Carpathus, discussed the matter among themselves and decided to sail no further. Others say that they did come to Egypt and there escaped from the guard that was set over them.

But as they sailed back to Samos, Polycrates' ships met and engaged them, and the returning Samians were victorious and landed on the island, but were there beaten in a land battle, and so sailed to Lacedaemon. There are those who say that the Samians from Egypt defeated Polycrates, but to my thinking this is untrue, for they need not have invited the Lacedaemonians if, in fact, they had been able to master Polycrates by themselves. Besides, it is not

even reasonable to suppose that he, who had a great army of hired soldiers and bowmen of his own, was beaten by a few men like the returning Samians. Polycrates took the children and wives of the townsmen who were subject to him and shut them up in the boathouses with intent to burn them and the boathouses too, if their men should desert to the returned Samians. When the Samians who were expelled by Polycrates came to Sparta, they came before the ruling men and made a long speech to

show the greatness of their need. But the Spartans, at their first sitting, answered that they had forgotten the beginning of the speech and could not understand its end. After this, the Samians came a second time with a sack, and said nothing but this, the sack wants flour. To this the Spartans replied that they were overwordy with the sack, but they did resolve to help them. The Lacedaemonians then equipped and sent an army to Samos, returning a favor, as the

Samians say, because they first sent a fleet to help the Lacedaemonians against Messenia. But the Lacedaemonians say that they sent this army less to aid the Samians in their need than to avenge the robbery of the bowl which they had been carrying to Croesus and the breastplate which Amasis king of Egypt had sent them as a gift. This breastplate had been stolen by the Samians in the year before they took the bowl.

It was of linen, decked with gold and cotton embroidery, and embroidered with many figures. But what makes it worthy of wonder is that each thread of the breastplate, fine as each is, is made up of 360 strands, each plainly seen. It is the exact counterpart of the one which Amasis dedicated to Athena in Lindus. The Corinthians also enthusiastically helped to further the expedition against Samos. For an outrage had been done them by the Samians a generation before this

expedition, about the time of the robbery of the bull. Periander, son of Cypsilus, sent to Alyates at Sardis three hundred boys, sons of notable men in Corsara, to be made eunuchs. The Corinthians who brought the boys put in at Samos, and when the Samians heard why the boys were brought, first they instructed them to take sanctuary in the temple of Artemis, then they would not allow the suppliants to be dragged from the temple, and when the Corinthians tried to starve

the boys out, the Samians held a festival which they still celebrate in the same fashion. Throughout the time that the boys were seeking asylum, they held nightly dances of young men and women, to which it was made a custom to bring cakes of sesame and honey, so that the Corcerian boys might snatch these and have food. This continued to be done until the Corinthian guards left their charge and departed. Then the Samians took the boys back to Corsara.

If, after the death of Periander, the Corinthians had been friendly toward the Corcerians, they would not have taken part in the expedition against Samos for this reason. But as it was, ever since the island was colonized, they have been at odds with each other despite their kinship. For these reasons then the Corinthians bore a grudge against the Samians. Periander chose the sons of the notable Corcyreans and sent them to Sardis to be made

eunuchs as an act of vengeance, for the Corcyreans had first begun the quarrel by committing a terrible crime against him. For after killing his own wife Melissa, Periander suffered yet another calamity on top of what he had already suffered. He had two sons by Melissa, one seventeen and one eighteen years old. Their mother's father, Procles, the sovereign of Epidorus, sent for the boys and treated them affectionately, as was natural, seeing that they were his own

daughter's sons. When they left him, he said as he sent them forth, Do you know, boys, who killed your mother? The elder of them paid no attention to these words, but the younger, whose name was Lycophron, was struck with such horror when he heard them, that when he came to Corinth, he would not speak to his father, his mother's murderer, nor would he answer him when addressed, nor reply to his questions. At last Periander was so angry that he drove the boy from his house.

Having driven this one away, he asked the elder son what their grandfather had said to them. The boy told him that Procles had treated them kindly, but did not mention what he had said at parting, for he had paid no attention. Periander said that by no means could Procles not have dropped some hint and interrogated him persistently, until the boy remembered and told him. And Periander, comprehending, and wishing to show no weakness, sent a message to those with

whom his banished son was living, and forbade them to keep him. So when the boy, driven out, would go to another house, he would be driven from this also, since Periander threatened all who received him and ordered them to shut him out. So when driven forth, he would go to some other house of his friends, and they, although he was the son of Periander, and although they were afraid, nonetheless took him in. In the end, Periander made a proclamation that whoever

sheltered the boy in his house or spoke to him would owe a fine to Apollo, and he set the amount. In view of this proclamation, no one wished to address or receive the boy into his house, and besides the boy himself did not think it right to attempt what was forbidden but accepting it slept in the open on the fourth day when periander saw him starved and unwashed he took pity on him and his anger being softened he came near and said my son which is preferable to follow your

present way of life or by being well disposed toward your father to inherit my power and the goods which i now possess though my son and a prince of prosperous corinth you prefer the life of a vagrant by opposing and being angry with me with whom you least ought to be for if something has happened as a result of which you have a suspicion about me it has happened to my disadvantage and i bear the brunt of it inasmuch as i am the cause but bearing in mind how much better it is to be envied than to be pitied and at the same time what sort of thing it is to be angry with your parents and with those that are stronger than you come back to the house with these words periander tried to move his son but he said nothing else to his father only told him that because he had conversed with him he owed the fine to apollo when periander saw that his son's stubbornness could not be got around or overcome he sent him away out of his sight in a ship to corsara for corsara too was subject to him

and when he had sent him away he sent an army against procles his father-in-law since he was most to blame for his present troubles and he took epidorus captured procles and imprisoned him as time went on periander now grown past his prime and aware that he could no longer oversee and direct all his affairs sent to corsara inviting lycophron to be sovereign for he saw no hope in his eldest son who seemed to him to be slow-witted lycophron did not dignify the invitation with a reply then periander pressing the young man sent to him as the next best way his daughter the boy's sister thinking that he would listen to her she came and said child would you want the power to fall to others and our father's house destroyed rather than to return and have it yourself come home and stop punishing yourself pride is an unhappy possession do not cure evil by evil many place the more becoming thing before the just and many pursuing their mother's business have lost their father's power is a slippery thing many want it and our father is now old and past his prime do not lose what is yours to others so she spoke communicating their father's inducements

but he answered that he would never come to corinth as long as he knew his father was alive when she brought this answer back periander sent a third messenger through whom he proposed that he should go to corsara and that the boy should return to corinth and be the heir of his power the sun consented to this periander got ready to go to corsara and lycophron to go to corinth but when the corcyrians learned of all these matters they put the young man to death so that periander would not come to their country it was for this that periander desired vengeance on the corcyreans the lacedaemonians then came with a great army and besieged samos they advanced to the wall and entered the tower that stands by the seaside in the outer part of the city but then polycrates himself attacked them with a great force and drove them out the mercenaries and many of the psamians themselves sallied out near the upper tower on the ridge of the hill and withstood the lacedaemonian advance for a little while then they fled back with the lacedaemonians pursuing and destroying them had all the lacedaemonians there that day been like arceus and licopus samos would have been taken these two alone entered the fortress along with the fleeing crowd of samos and were cut off and killed in the city of samos

i myself have met in his native town of pitana another arceus son of sammius and grandson of the arceus mentioned above who honored the sammians more than any other of his guest friends and told me that his father had borne the name sammius because he was the son of that arceus who was killed fighting bravely at samos the reason that he honored the psamians he said was that they had given his grandfather a public funeral so when the lacedaemonians had besieged psamos for forty days with no success they went away to the peloponnesus there is a foolish tale abroad that polycrates bribed them to depart by making and giving them a great number of gilded lead coins as a native currency this was the first expedition to asia made by dorians of lacedaemon when the lacedaemonians were about to abandon them the samians who had brought an army against pelicrates sailed away too and went to siphnis for they were in need of money and the siphnians were at this time very prosperous and the richest of the islanders because of the gold and silver mines on the island they were so wealthy that the treasure dedicated by them at delphi which is as rich as any there was made from a tenth of their income and they divided among themselves each year's income now when they were putting together the treasure they inquired of the oracle if their present prosperity was likely to last long

whereupon the priestess gave them this answer when the prytaneum on sifnas becomes white and white-browed the market then indeed a shrewd man is wanted beware a wooden force and a red herald at this time the market-place and town hall of siphnis were adorned with parian marble they could not understand this oracle either when it was spoken or at the time of the psamians coming as soon as the psamians put in at siphnis they sent ambassadors to the town in one of their ships now in ancient times all ships were painted with vermilion and this was what was meant by the warning given by the priestess to the siphnians to beware a wooden force and a red herald the messengers then demanded from the siphnians a loan of ten talents when the siphnians refused them the psamians set about ravaging their lands hearing this the siphnians came out at once to drive them off but they were defeated in battle and many of them were cut off from their town by the psamians who presently exacted from them a hundred talents then the psalmians took from the men of hermione instead of money the island hydria which is near to the peloponnesus and gave it to the men of treason for safe-keeping

they themselves settled at sidonia in crete though their voyage had been made with no such intent but rather to drive zacynthians out of the island here they stayed and prospered for five years indeed the temples now at sidonia and the shrine of dictina are the psalmians work but in the sixth year agenotans and cretans came and defeated them in a sea-fight and made slaves of them moreover they cut off the ship's prows that were shaped like boar's heads and dedicated them in the temple of athena in agena the agenotans did this out of a grudge against the psamians for previously the samians in the day when amphicrates was king of samos sailing in force against agena had hurt the agenotans and been hurt by them this was the cause i have written at such length of the samians because the three greatest works of all the greeks were engineered by them the first of these is the tunnel with a mouth at either end driven through the base of a hill nine hundred feet high the whole tunnel is forty-two hundred feet long eight feet high and eight feet wide and throughout the whole of its length there runs a channel thirty feet deep and three feet wide through which the water coming from an abundant spring is carried by pipes to the city of samos the designer of this work was eupolinus son of nostrophus a megarian

this is one of the three works the second is a breakwater in the sea enclosing the harbor sunk one hundred and twenty feet and more than twelve hundred feet in length the third psalmian work is the temple which is the greatest of all the temples of which we know its first builder was ricus son of philes a psalmian it is for this cause that i have expounded at more than ordinary length of psalmos book three part three