The Good Book

by A. C. Grayling

  8. ‘Truly, master,’ Oebares answered, ‘if it depends on this whether you will be king or no, set your heart at ease, and fear nothing: I have a device which is sure not to fail.’

  9. Oebares did as follows: when night came, he took one of the mares, the chief favourite of the horse which Darius rode,

  10. And tethering it in the suburb, brought his master’s horse to the place;

  11. Then, after leading him round and round the mare several times, nearer and nearer at each circuit, he ended by letting them come together.

  12. When morning broke, the six Persians, according to agreement, met together on horseback, and rode out to the suburb.

  13. As they went along they neared the spot where the mare was tethered, whereupon the horse of Darius sprang forward and neighed.

  14. The five other nobles leaped with one accord from their steeds, and bowed down before him, owning him for their king.

  15. Thus was Darius, son of Hystaspes, appointed king; and, except the Arabians, all Asia was subject to him.

  16. The Arabians were never subject to the Persians, but had a league of friendship with them from the time when Cambyses invaded Egypt;

  17. For had they been unfriendly the Persians could never have made their invasion.

  18. And now Darius contracted marriages of the first rank, according to the notions of the Persians:

  19. To wit, with two daughters of Cyrus, Atossa and Artystone; of whom Atossa had been twice married before, once to Cambyses, her brother, and once to the Magus, while the other, Artystone, was a virgin.

  20. He married also Parmys, daughter of Smerdis, son of Cyrus; and he likewise took to wife the daughter of Otanes, who had made the discovery about the Magus.

  21. And now when Darius’ power was established firmly throughout all the kingdoms, the first thing he did was to set up a carving in stone,

  22. Which showed a man mounted on a horse, with an inscription in these words following:

  23. ‘Darius, son of Hystaspes, by aid of his good horse and of his good groom Oebares, got himself the kingdom of the Persians.’

  24. Darius arranged his empire into twenty satrapies, reaching from Egypt to Armenia,

  25. From the subjected eastern Greeks to India, this last the wealthiest of all the satrapies; and great treasures flowed into his keeping from them.

  26. And from the nations that were not in his empire but on its borders he received gifts:

  27. From the Ethiopians two choenices of virgin gold, two hundred logs of ebony, five boys and twenty elephant tusks.

  28. From the Colchians and their neighbours as far north as the Caucasus he received every five years a hundred boys and a hundred maidens.

  29. The Arabs gave him a thousand talents of frankincense every year.

  30. All this shows the greatness and wealth of the Persian empire.

  Chapter 34

  1. And so we come to the period at which Persia’s greatness was at its height, having conquered and subjected Asia and Egypt, and spread its dominion across the East;

  2. At which time Darius turned his eyes west, towards the happy lands of the Greeks, and proposed to himself to conquer them and all that lay beyond them,

  3. And thus to rule all the world according to the Persian way.

  4. The immediate prompt for launching this adventure in which the future of the world hung in the balance, was as so often in history, an accident.

  5. Leaping to his horse one day, Darius missed his step and fell, injuring his ankle severely, for the bone came out of the socket.

  6. The Egyptian doctors about the court attempted to set the injury, but by the violence of their methods made it worse, leaving the king in agony and unable to sleep for five days.

  7. Darius asked in his suffering whether there was no one who could help him, whereupon a member of the court said that among those kept prisoner in the palace was a Greek believed to be a notable physician.

  8. This was Democedes, who, brought before the king in his rags and fetters, at first tried to deny his skill for fear that if he failed to cure the king he would never again see his beloved Greece.

  9. But Darius, suspecting deceit, called for the instruments of torture to test whether Democedes spoke truly;

  10. And at this the Greek confessed that he had some skill, and would try to help Darius.

  11. This he successfully did, first by giving the king a concoction that helped him to sleep,

  12. And then, in the following weeks, by the gentle Greek arts of manipulating and setting the bones, he soothed the inflamed swelling of the joint and healed its dislocation.

  13. Darius had quite lost hope of ever using his foot again, and, being restored, was filled with gratitude.

  14. He gave Democedes two sets of golden fetters, which made the Greek ask whether his reward for helping him was to have the sufferings of captivity doubled?

  15. Darius was pleased with this speech, and told the eunuchs to take Democedes to see his wives, each of whom plied the Greek with further gifts of gold.

  16. Thereafter Democedes dwelt at Susa, dining every day at the king’s table, and having everything he wished except the one thing he desired most:

  17. Namely, his liberty, so that he could return to his native Greece, which he yearned for.

  18. Now one day Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, once wife to both Cambyses and the usurper Magus, and now wife to Darius, had a boil form on her breast.

  19. At first she kept quiet about the sore, but when it burst and spread she sent for Democedes. He said he would make her well if she would grant him whatever he asked,

  20. Assuring her that what he asked she would not blush to hear.

  21. On these terms he applied his art and soon cured the abcess; and then told Atossa his wish, which was that she should contrive some means for him to return to Greece.

  22. She sought to fulfil her promise by addressing Darius as follows, when next she had been summoned to his bed for the night:

  23. ‘My Lord, it seems strange that with the mighty power that is yours as the foremost ruler of men in the world,

  24. ‘You sit idle and neither make new conquests nor advance the power of the Persians.

  25. ‘Surely one so young and rich, with great armies, should undertake some noble achievement to show that Persia is governed by a man.

  26. ‘Moreover it is good that you should protect your position from enemies within, because idleness in the state breeds revolt.

  27. ‘Now while you are young you must accomplish some great exploit; for as the body grows in strength the mind too ripens; and as the body ages the mind’s powers decay, till at last both body and mind are too dull for anything.’

  28. Darius replied, ‘Dear lady, you have given voice to the very thoughts in my mind.

  29. ‘I propose to build a bridge which shall join our continent to the other, Asia to Europe, and carry war into Scythia. Very soon what you suggest I shall do.’

  30. But Atossa said, ‘Leave Scythia for a while; you might conquer the Scythians any time.

  31. ‘Take war first into Greece, whose states are famed for their climate and good life.

  32. ‘I long to be served by some of those Lacedaemonian maids of whom I have heard so much. I want also Argive, and Athenian, and Corinthian women.

  33. ‘You have here in the court Democedes, who can tell you better than anyone whatever you need to know about Greece, and can serve you as a guide.’

  34. ‘Since it is your wish that we first try the valour of the Greeks,’ said Darius, ‘we shall do so.

  35. ‘I will straight away send some Persians to spy out the land, in company with Democedes;

  36. ‘And when they have learned all, they can give us a more perfect knowledge of the people and the territories.

  37. ‘Then I will begin the war.’

  Chapter 35

  1. Having spoken, Darius wasted no time between words and deed, but when dawn broke he summoned fiftee
n Persians of note, and told them to take Democedes as their guide and explore the sea coasts of Greece.

  2. And he instructed them to bring Democedes back with them, on no account allowing him to escape.

  3. Then he called Democedes, and told him what was afoot; and offered him treasures for himself,

  4. And a ship full of gold and precious things to take as gifts to his father and brothers in Greece,

  5. Both bounties on condition that he would promise to return to Persia when the work of surveying was done.

  6. Democedes considered that Darius was trying his loyalty by this offer, and replied that he would leave behind in Susa the treasures offered to himself, to be enjoyed on his return;

  7. But that he would accept the gracious gifts for his family.

  8. Thereupon Darius sent him and the chosen Persians away to the coast, to Sidon in Phoenicia,

  9. Where they fitted out two triremes and a trading vessel loaded with valuable merchandise, and set sail for Greece.

  10. The small fleet sailed along the shores of Greece, the crews making careful notes of all they saw, and in this way explored the greater part of the country until at last they reached Tarentum in Italy.

  11. There Democedes told his story to its king, Aristophilides, and what the Persian ships were doing;

  12. So the king ordered the rudders to be removed from the Persian ships and arrested their crews as spies, and allowed Democedes to hasten to Crotona, his native city.

  13. When Democedes had left, Aristophilides released the Persians and gave them their rudders.

  14. Immediately the Persians sailed to Crotona in pursuit of Democedes, and found him in the marketplace, and laid hands on him to drag him to the ships.

  15. Some of the Crotoniats, who greatly feared the power of the Persians, were willing to give him up;

  16. But others resisted, held Democedes fast, and even struck the Persians with their walking sticks.

  17. They, on their part, kept crying out, ‘Men of Crotona, beware what you do. It is the king’s runaway slave that you are rescuing.

  18. ‘Do you think Darius will tamely submit to such insults? Do you think that if you carry off the man from us, it will go well with you hereafter?

  19. ‘Will you not rather be the first persons we will attack? Your city will be the first we burn, and you inhabitants will be led into slavery.’

  20. The Crotoniats did not listen to these warnings. Instead they rescued Democedes and seized the trading ship which the Persians had brought from Phoenicia.

  21. Thus robbed, and having lost their guide, the Persians abandoned hope of exploring the rest of Greece, and set sail for Asia.

  22. They were delayed by shipwreck on their way, along the coast of Iapygia, but eventually reached Susa and told Darius what had happened.

  23. These were the first Persians ever to come to Greece from Asia, sent to spy out the land, and to prepare the way for the invasion of Greece by Persia.

  Chapter 36

  1. Darius was not slow to respond to the defection of Democedes and the insults of the Crotoniats. First he besieged Samos, and his reason for attacking it first was this.

  2. At the time when Cambyses, son of Cyrus, marched against Egypt, vast numbers of Greeks flocked to follow his conquests;

  3. Some, as might have been expected, to push their trade; others, to serve in his army; others again, merely to see the land.

  4. Among these last was Syloson, son of Aeaces, and brother of Polycrates, at that time an exile from Samos but later its ruler.

  5. This Syloson, during his stay in Egypt, met with a singular piece of good fortune.

  6. He happened one day to put on a scarlet cloak, and thus attired went into the marketplace at Memphis,

  7. When no less a person than Darius, who was then one of Cambyses’ bodyguards, and therefore not at that time a man of great account,

  8. Saw him, and taking a strong liking to the cloak, went up and offered to purchase it.

  9. Syloson perceived how anxious he was, and by a lucky inspiration answered: ‘There is no price at which I would sell my cloak;

  10. ‘But I will give it to you for nothing, seeing that you like it so much.’ Darius thanked him warmly, and accepted the garment.

  11. Poor Syloson felt at the time that he had fooled away his cloak in a very simple manner; but afterwards, when Darius became king,

  12. Syloson learnt that the person to whom the crown had come was the very man who had coveted his cloak in Egypt, and to whom he had freely given it.

  13. So he made his way to Susa, and seating himself at the portal of the royal palace, gave out that he was a benefactor of the king.

  14. Then the doorkeeper went and told Darius. Amazed at what he heard, the king said to himself, ‘What Greek can have been my benefactor, or to which of them do I owe anything, so lately as I have got the kingdom?

  15. ‘Scarcely more than one or two have been here since I came to the throne. Nor do I remember that I am in the debt of any Greek.

  16. ‘However, bring him in, and let me hear what he means by his boast.’

  17. So the doorkeeper ushered Syloson into the presence, and the interpreters asked him who he was, and what he had done that he should call himself a benefactor of the king.

  18. Then Syloson told the story of the cloak, and said that it was he who had made Darius the present.

  19. Hereupon Darius exclaimed, ‘O! you most generous of men, are you indeed he who, when I had no power at all, gave me something, albeit little?

  20. ‘Truly the favour is as great as a very grand present would be nowadays.

  21. ‘I will therefore give you in return gold and silver without stint, that you may never repent of having rendered a service to Darius, son of Hystaspes.’

  22. ‘Do not give me silver and gold, O king,’ replied Syloson, ‘but restore to me Samos, my native land, and let that be your gift to me.

  23. ‘It belongs now to a slave of my family, who, when Oroetes put my brother Polycrates to death, became its master.

  24. ‘Give me Samos, I beg; but give it unharmed, with no bloodshed, and no enslavement of its people.’

  25. When he heard this, Darius sent off an army under Otanes, one of the seven, with orders to accomplish all that Syloson had desired. Otanes went down to the coast and made ready to cross over.

  26. The government of Samos was at this time held by Maeandrius, son of Maeandrius, whom Polycrates had appointed as his deputy.

  27. This person conceived the wish to act like the justest of men, but it was not allowed him to do so. On receiving tidings of the death of Polycrates, he assembled all the citizens, and spoke to them as follows:

  28. ‘You know that the sceptre of Polycrates, and all his power, has passed into my hands, and if I choose I may rule over you.

  29. ‘But what I condemn in another I will, if I may, avoid myself. I never approved the ambition of Polycrates to lord it over men as good as himself, nor looked with favour on any of those who have done the like.

  30. ‘Therefore I lay down my office, and proclaim equal rights.

  31. ‘All that I claim in return is six talents from the treasury of Polycrates, and a quiet life for myself and my descendants for ever.’

  32. One of the leading Samians, by name Telesarchus, rose up and said, ‘As if you were fit to rule us, base-born and rascal as you are!

  33. ‘Think rather of accounting for the monies which you have spent since being given the power.’

  34. Maeandrius, therefore, feeling sure that if he laid down the sovereign power someone else would become tyrant in his place, gave up the thought of relinquishing it.

  35. Withdrawing to the citadel, he sent for the chief men one by one, under pretence of showing them his accounts, and as fast as they came arrested them and put them in irons.

  36. Soon afterwards Maeandrius fell sick: whereupon Lycaretus, one of his brothers, thinking that he was going to die, and wishing to secure the t
hrone for himself more easily, killed all the prisoners. It seemed that the Samians did not choose to be a free people.

  37. When the Persians whose business it was to restore Syloson reached Samos, not a man was found to lift up his hand against them.

  38. Maeandrius and his partisans expressed themselves willing to quit the island on certain terms, and these terms were agreed by Otanes.

  Chapter 37

  1. After the treaty was made, the most distinguished of the Persians had their thrones brought, and seated themselves opposite the citadel.

  2. Now Maeandrius had a hotheaded brother, Charilaus by name, whom he had emprisoned for some offence:

  3. This man heard what was going on, and peering through his bars, saw the Persians sitting peacefully on their seats,

  4. Whereupon he exclaimed aloud, and said he must speak with Maeandrius.

  5. When this was reported to him, Maeandrius gave orders that Charilaus should be released from prison and brought to him.

  6. No sooner did he arrive than Charilaus began reviling his brother, and strove to persuade him to attack the Persians.

  7. ‘You mean-minded man,’ he said, ‘you can keep your brother chained in a dungeon, but when the Persians drive you from power, you look meekly on, though they might so easily be subdued.

  8. ‘If you, however, are too afraid, lend me your soldiers, and I will make them pay dearly for their coming here. I engage too to send you first safe out of the island.’

  9. Maeandrius gave consent, not because he was so foolish as to imagine that his forces could overcome those of the Persians, but because he was jealous of Syloson, and did not wish him to get so quietly an unharmed city.

  10. He desired therefore to rouse the anger of the Persians against Samos, so that he might deliver it up to Syloson with its power at the lowest possible ebb;

  11. For he knew well that if the Persians met with a disaster they would be furious against the Samians,

  12. While he himself felt secure of a retreat at any time that he liked, since he had a secret passage underground leading from the citadel to the sea.

  13. Maeandrius accordingly took ship and sailed away from Samos; and Charilaus, having armed all the mercenaries, threw open the gates, and fell upon the Persians.