Herodotus Tweets - Book 6
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6.140 Years later, Miltiades sailed w/a north wind from the Chersonese--Attic land--and took Lemnos. Some Lemnians only left after a siege.
6.139 Told by Delphi to make it right, the P. agreed to give up Lemnos if the Athen. sailed there from their land in 1 day in a north wind.
6.138 The P in Lemnos kidnapped & had kids w/some Athenian women. These kids bullied their Pelasgian peers so the P. killed them & the moms.
6.137 The story is that the Athenians at one point drove the Pelasgians out of Attica. The P. then settled other places, including Lemnos.
6.136 M. was charged w/lying to the people. He was convicted & fined & soon died from his injury. His conquest of Lemnos was cited in court.
6.135 Miltiades sailed home, injured, his expedition a failure. Delphi later told the Parians he'd been aided by a phantom, not a priestess.
6.134 The Parians say Miltiades, at the suggestion of a priestess, went to Demeter's temple for some reason, panicked, and injured his leg.
6.133 Miltiades sailed off & besieged Paros--allegedly bc they'd helped the Persians--and demanded they hand over 100 talents. They refused.
6.132 After Marathon Miltiades, now more famous than ever, asked for & was given 70 ships for an expedition he promised would be lucrative.
6.131 Megacles and Agariste had a son, the Cleisthenes whose reforms democratized Athens. Their great-grandson was Pericles of Athens.
6.130 Cleisthenes made his announcement. He gave the runners-up a talent of silver each and betrothed his daughter Agariste to Megacles.
6.129 On decision day Cleisth. gave a feast, & Hippoclides upset him w/his lewd dancing. Told he'd lost the contest, H. said he didn't care.
6.128 Cleisthenes kept the men for a year, putting their manliness & character to the test. He liked Hippoclides most & after him Megacles.
6.127 Among those vying for the girl's hand were two men from Athens, Hippoclides, the son of Tisander, and Megacles, the son of Alcmaeon.
6.126 They soon became greater yet. Cleisthenes of Sicyon held a contest for his daughter's hand. Suitors came from throughout the Grk wrld.
6.125 The Alc. had become rich in Alcmaeon's day: Croesus of Lydia rewarded him with riches for his kindness to Lydians visiting Greece.
6.124 The Alc. were honored by the democracy, too, so wouldn't have wanted to hurt the state. *Someone* signaled the Persians, but not them.
6.123 The Alcmaeonidae were in fact responsible for getting rid of Hippias: they bribed the oracle to get the Spartans to drive him out.
6.122 Callias had helped free Athens from tyranny. He was also an Olympic victor, and he let his 3 daughters marry anyone they wanted.
6.121 I don't think the Alcmaeonidae signaled that the Persians should attack Athens: they hated tyranny as much as Callias.
6.120 After the full moon 2000 Spartans hurried to Athens, 2 late for battle but eager to see the Medes. They visited Marathon & went home.
6.119 Back in Asia, Datis & Artaphrenes took the enslaved Eretrians to Darius. He did them no further harm and settled them in Cissia.
6.118 A dream prompted Datis, on his way back to Asia, to drop a stolen image of Apollo off at Delos, asking that it be returned to Thebes.
6.117 Some 6400 barbarians died in the battle, and 192 Athenians. One Athenian, Epizelus, went blind in the fight, though he wasn't struck.
6.116 The Athenians rushed back to Athens and got there first. The Persians lay at anchor off Phalerum for a while, then returned to Asia.
6.115 The Athenians took 7 enemy ships. The rest sailed around Sunium toward Athens. Allegedly, the Alcmaeonidae signaled for them to do so.
6.114 Callimachus & the general Stesilaus died near the ships, also Cynegirus [Aeschylus' brother], whose hand was chopped off with an axe.
6.113 The fight was long. The Persians broke the Athenian center but were routed by the Greeks on the wings, who chased them to their ships.
6.112 The Athenians advanced against the Persians at a run. They were the first Greeks to charge at a run and the first to face the Medes.
6.111 They formed for battle: Callimachus held the right wing & the Plataeans the left. They were weak in the center & strong on the wings.
6.110 Callimachus was persuaded: the Athenians would fight. But they still waited to attack until it was Miltiades’ official turn 2 command.
6.109 Athens' generals disagreed over whether to fight or not. Miltiades talked w/the polemarch Callimachus, urging him to vote pro-fight.
6.108 The Plataeans came in full force to help the Athenians at Marathon, as the two states had been staunch allies for some time.
6.107 Hippias had dreamt he would die in Attica. But when he lost a tooth after disembarking he knew only it was fated to lie in Attic soil.
6.106 Phidippides arrived the next day & asked the Spartans to send help. They agreed to, but said they couldn't until after the full moon.
6.105 While still in Athens, the generals sent a runner, Phidippides, to Sparta. (He later said he ran into the god Pan on Mt. Parthenium.)
6.104 Since he'd returned from the Chersonese, Miltiades was tried in connection w/his tyranny there, but was acquitted and elected general.
6.103 The Athenians marched to Marathon under the command of 10 generals, one of whom was Miltiades, the son of Cimon.
6.102 After a few days the Persians sailed to Attica. Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, instructed them to land at Marathon.
6.101 They stayed to defend their walls. The Persians attacked and took the city on day 7. They burned its temples and enslaved its people.
6.100 The Eretrians knew the Persians were coming for them. Some wanted to betray their city. Others wanted to flee to the hills of Euboea.
6.99 The Persians sailed around the islands and went to Carystus on Euboea, collecting hostages and forcing the Greeks to join them.
6.98 After Datis left Delos the island experienced an earthquake, having never had one before--a portent of troubles to come in Greece.
6.97 The Delians fled as the Persians neared, but Datis told them Delos wouldn't be harmed, as it was the birthplace of two gods.
6.96 They landed first at Naxos, enslaved whomever they caught, and burned the Naxians' temples and city.
6.95 Their forces gathered in Cilicia, a vast army and 600 ships. They sailed west from Samos thru the Aegean (fearing Athos, I think).
6.94 Meanwhile, Darius was keen to deal w/Greece. He made Datis & Artaphrenes generals and sent them to enslave the Athenians & Eretrians.
6.93 The Aeginetans defeated the Athenians and captured four of their ships.
6.92 The Athenians attacked w/70 ships. Argos wouldn't help Aegina, but 1000 Argive volunteers came. The Athenians killed most of them.
6.91 That was later. The rich Aeginetans killed 700 of the popular party. One guy sought refuge at a temple. They chopped his hands off.
6.90 When the Athenians didn't show, Nicodromus and others fled Aegina. The Athenians settled them at Sunium.
6.89 Nicodromus did his part, but the Athenians arrived a day late because they'd had to get ships for the operation from the Corinthians.
6.88 The Athenians retaliated by plotting with an Aeginetan named Nicodromus to take over the island.
6.87 Leotychides went home, but the Aeginetans, to punish the Athenians, captured their state ship and put the men aboard in chains.
6.86 The Athenians, however, refused to surrender the hostages, even after Leotychides told them a moralizing story meant to sway them.
6.85 The Aeginetans later complained in Sparta re. their hostages. It was decided Leotychidas wd go w/them to Athens to get their men back.
6.84 That's why C. went mad, the Argives say. The Spartans say it's because he began drinking heavily. I think it was the Demaratus affair.
6.83 Argos, meanwhile, was so depleted of men that the slaves took over. They were finally driven out, but hostilities lasted for some time.
6.82 In Sparta Cleomenes was accused of being bribed not to take Argos. His defense succeeded: the god only wanted him to take the grove.
6.81 Next he went to a shrine, but the priest said he couldn't sacrifice there. He had the guy flogged, did the sacrifice, and went home.
6.80 Then C. burned the grove down. He was sad to learn it was sacred to Argus: a prophecy had said he'd take Argos; he'd wanted the city.
6.79 Cleomenes tricked them, calling men out by name and saying that they’d be ransomed. He killed about fifty men this way.
6.78 Cleomenes figured this out and told his men to attack when he gave the order for breakfast. When they did, many Argives hid in a grove.
6.77 The Argives came & camped opposite them. Whenever the Spartan herald gave the Spartans an order, the Argives also did what was ordered.
6.76 You see, Delphi had told Cleomenes he would take Argos. The omens didn't let him cross a river into Argos, so he went down to the sea.
6.75 The Spartans took him back, but he went mad & killed himself. The Argives say this was because he'd killed their men in a sacred grove.
6.74 Later the truth re. what Cleomenes did to Demaratus came out. C. fled to Arcadia, where he tried to unite the Arcadians against Sparta.
6.73 But that was later. Now, Leotychides and Cleomenes went to Aegina and took hostages, which they handed over to the Athenians.
6.72 Leotychides was not destined to die in Sparta. He was caught taking a bribe and was banished. He fled to Tegea, where he died.
6.71 Leotychides succeeded to the throne and left behind a son, Archidemus, and a daughter, Lampito.
6.70 Having gotten his answer, Demaratus fled to Persia. The Spartans pursued him, wanting to arrest him, but they only caught his servants.
6.69 Mom said he was the son of either Ariston or the Ariston-shaped ghost of a dead hero: she'd slept w/both the night she was impregnated.
6.68 He begged her to tell him whether he was Ariston's son, or her former husband's, or--as rumor had it--her muleteer's.
6.67 Demaratus lost his kingship. He later fled to Persia after being insulted at the Festival of Naked Boys. But 1st he saw his mother.
6.66 The Spartans asked Delphi about Demaratus’ legitimacy, but Cleomenes had bribed key ppl: the prophetess said D. was NOT Ariston’s son.
6.65 Cleomenes plotted w/Leotychides (whose fiancée Demaratus had stolen): in return for the throne, L. charged D w/not being Ariston’s son.
6.64 When Ariston died, Demaratus succeeded to the throne, but he was destined to be deprived of his kingship.
6.63 When Ariston's 3rd wife gave birth less than 10 [lunar] months later, he said the kid couldn't be his, but he later changed his mind.
6.62 Ariston tricked his friend into agreeing to give him the woman. The friend was unhappy, but he’d sworn an oath, so he handed her over.
6.61 So, Cleomenes wanted to get rid of Demaratus. Now, D's dad Ariston had no kids by his 1st 2 wives. But his friend had a beautiful wife.
6.60 The Spartans are like the Egyptians in that heralds, flute-players, and cooks inherit their trades from their fathers.
6.59 After a king dies, the incoming king forgives Spartiates any debts they owe to the king or state. In this they are like the Persians.
6.58 When a Spartan king dies the news is carried around Laconia. Various people have to go to the funeral, where they beat their foreheads.
6.57 During peace time they get extra food and front row seats at athletic events, and they sit as members of the Spartan Gerousia [senate].
6.56 Sparta's kings have various perks, incl. being able to wage war against anyone they want. Plus they get a bodyguard when on campaign.
6.55 Enough of that. Others have told how these men became masters of the Dorians. I'll write about things no one else has mentioned.
6.54 The Persians say that Perseus was an Assyrian who became Greek.
6.53 Other Greeks list the Dorian kings going back to Perseus, son of Danaë, showing that they were Greeks. But Danaë was actually Egyptian.
6.52 The Spartans say that the dual kingship started with the twin sons of their king Aristodemus, both of whom ruled after his death.
6.51 Demaratus was back in Sparta attacking Cleomenes. The two kings are related, but Demaratus' house is of slightly inferior ancestry.
6.50 Cleomenes, the Spartan king, crossed to Aegina to arrest people, but they opposed him, per the advice of Demaratus, Spartan king #2.
6.49 Of the Greeks, some on the mainland submitted, and all the islands, including Aegina. The Athenians complained to Sparta about Aegina.
6.48 Darius sent heralds throughout Greece to demand earth & water. He sent others to his coastal cities bidding them to construct warships.
6.47 I've seen their gold mines. The most impressive are the ones on the east coast, which the Phoenicians discovered.
6.46 The next year Darius bid the Thasians pull down their walls and bring their ships to Abdera. The Thasians earned $$$ from gold mines.
6.45 His army was attacked by the Thracian Brygi. Many were killed. Mardonius was wounded. He conquered the Brygi and returned to Asia.
6.44 His forces conquered Thasos and Macedon, but his fleet was destroyed when trying to round Athos.
6.43 In the spring Darius' son-in-law Mardonius established democracies in Ionia, then crossed the Hellespont, headed for Eretria & Athens.
6.42 For the rest of that year [493] the Persians refrained from further conquest. They organized Ionia into districts for tax purposes.
6.41 When Miltiades heard the Persians were near, he left for Athens w/5 ships. 4 made it, but the 5th, commanded by M's son, was captured.
6.40 This Miltiades, the son of Cimon, was driven out of the Chersonese at one point by the Scythians, but he later returned.
6.39 Stesagoras' bro Miltiades #2 inherited the tyranny. He imprisoned the bigwigs of the area & married the daughter of the Thracian king.
6.38 Miltiades #1 died childless & left his tyranny to his half-brother's son Stesagoras. He also died childless, hit in the head w/an axe.
6.37 Miltiades #1 was taken captive by the Lampsacenes in a war, but Croesus of Lydia threatened them and made them release him.
6.36 Delphi told him to go for it, so Miltiades #1 took some Athenians & settled in the Chersonese, walling off its neck to stop invaders.
6.35 The Thracians met Miltiades #1 (son of Cypselus) in Athens (in Pisistratus' time) and offered him the rule. He asked Delphi's advice.
6.34 Miltiades #2 had been ruling the Chersonese. Miltiades #1 had set things up. Some Thracian kings sought a new founder of their country.
6.33 The Phoenician fleet captured cities in the Chersonese and on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, plus Byzantium.
6.32 They had the best looking boys in the captured cities castrated. They sent the pretty girls to Darius & burned the cities and temples.
6.31 Thus the end of Histiaeus. The next year the Persians captured Chios, Lesbos, & Tenedos. They hunted down all the islands' inhabitants.
6.30 Darius might have, but Artaphrenes impaled Histiaeus & sent his head to Darius. Darius wasn't happy. He buried H's head with ceremony.
6.29 Histiaeus was taken alive bc when he was about to be killed he spoke Persian & identified himself. He figured Darius would forgive him.
6.28 Histiaeus next laid siege to Thasos, then went to the mainland opposite Lesbos, where the Persians under Harpagus captured him.
6.27 There had been signs presaging calamity, e.g., sickness. Now, weakened by the sea fight, the Chians were easily conquered by Histiaeus.
6.26 Histiaeus, in Byzantium, heard the news about Miletus. He sailed for Chios with a bunch of Lesbians and attacked the place.
6.25 After capturing Miletus, the Persians gave Samos to Aeaces. The Samians' temples weren't burnt, their reward for deserting the Ionians.
6.24 Scythes, the former king of Zancle, wound up at the court of King Darius in Persia. He died there later, very old and very wealthy.
6.23 Rather than founding a new colony, the Samians took the city of Zancle while its men were off besieging another place.
6.22 Some of the Samians who were anti-Persian, together with some Milesian fugitives, sailed to found a colony in Sicily.
6.21 When Phrynichus produced his play The Capture of Miletus the Athenians, upset over events, fined him and forbade its future production.
6.20 The Milesian POWs were brought to Susa, and Darius settled them near the Red Sea. He gave Miletus itself to the Carians.
6.19 The oracle had said that the women of Miletus wd wind up washing the feet of long-haired warriors: the Persians wore their hair long.
6.18 After their victory the Persians laid siege to Miletus and captured it. An oracle the Milesians had received thus came to pass.
6.17 Dionysius of Phocaea, seeing the Ionians were finished, captured three enemy ships and sailed off to become a pirate in Sicily.
6.16 But afterwards some of them made for home overland, arriving at Ephesus at night. The Ephesians, thinking them thieves, killed them.
6.15 Of those who stood firm, the Chians fared the worst. They captured many enemy ships and lost many of their own.
6.14 During the battle that followed, all but 11 Samian ships deserted the Greeks mid-fight. Their withdrawal prompted others to leave too.
6.13 The Samians, seeing the Ionians' lack of discipline, decided to accept their tyrant's offer and quit the Ionian alliance.
6.12 Dionysius put them through training exercises, but after seven days they'd had enough of hard work and they refused to continue.
6.11 The Ionians gathered at Lade and Dionysius, the Phocaean general, addressed them: if they worked hard, they could beat the Persians.
6.10 The tyrants duly sent messengers to their old cities, but none turned traitor. Each thought they were the only ones to get the offer.
6.9 The barbarians (w/600 ships) told the exiled Ionian tyrants with them to offer rewards to their people to convince them to change sides.
6.8 The Ionians all together had 353 ships at Lade. Those w/the most were the Milesians (80), Chians (100), Lesbians (70) & Samians (60).
6.7 The Ionians decided the Milesians should defend their walls while the other Ionians manned every ship & collected at the island of Lade.
6.6 Meanwhile, the Persians had gathered all their forces and were descending on Miletus.
6.5 The Chians tried to reinstall Histiaeus in Miletus, but they didn't want him back. He got ships from Lesbos & went to Byzantium instead.
6.4 Histiaeus sent letters to Persian collaborators in Sardis, but his messenger gave them to Artaphrenes, who killed the collaborators.
6.3 The Ionians asked Histiaeus why he'd prompted Aristagoras to revolt. He lied, saying Darius planned to move the Ionians to Phoenicia.
6.2 Frightened by A.'s suspicions, Histiaeus fled to Chios. The Chians tied him up until he convinced them he was really an enemy of Darius.
6.1 En route to Miletus, Histiaeus met Artaphrenes. Suspecting H. was behind the revolt, A. said H. had stitched the shoe Aristagoras wore.