The Good Book

by A. C. Grayling

  14. The Persians expected no danger, since they supposed that all was peacefully settled by treaty.

  15. At the first onslaught therefore all the Persians of most note, men who were in the habit of using litters, were slain by the mercenaries.

  16. The rest of the army quickly came to the rescue, defeated the mercenaries and drove them back into the citadel.

  17. Then Otanes, the general, when he saw the calamity which had befallen the Persians, made up his mind to forget Darius’ orders,

  18. Which had been ‘not to kill or enslave a single Samian, but to deliver up the island unharmed to Syloson’,

  19. And gave the word to his army that they should slay the Samians, both men and boys, wherever they could find them.

  20. Upon this some of his troops laid siege to the citadel, while others began the massacre, killing all they met, some outside, some inside the buildings.

  21. So the Persians reduced Samos, and delivered it up to Syloson, emptied of its men.

  22. Maeandrius fled from Samos to Lacedaemon, and took there all the riches he had brought away, after which he acted as follows.

  23. Having placed upon his board all the gold and silver vessels that he had, and bade his servants to employ themselves in cleaning them,

  24. He himself went and entered into conversation with Cleomenes, son of Anaxandridas, king of Sparta, and as they talked, brought him along to his house.

  25. There Cleomenes, seeing the plate, was filled with wonder and astonishment;

  26. Whereon the other begged that he would carry home with him any of the vessels that he liked.

  27. Maeandrius said this two or three times; but Cleomenes here displayed surpassing honesty.

  28. He refused the gift, and thinking that if Maeandrius made the same offers to others he would get the aid he sought, the Spartan king went straight to the ephors and told them,

  29. ‘It would be best for Sparta that the Samian stranger should be sent away from the Peloponnese;

  30. ‘For otherwise he might persuade himself or some other Spartan to be base.’

  31. The ephors took his advice, and let Maeandrius know by a herald that he must leave the city.

  Chapter 38

  1. Not long after the defeat of the Samian rebellion Otanes decided to repeople the city. He did this as follows.

  2. At the time that the army under Otanes sailed for Samos, the Babylonians revolted, having made every preparation for defence.

  3. During the time that Smerdis the Magian was king, and while the seven were conspiring, the Babylonians had profited by the troubles,

  4. And had made themselves ready for a siege, no one noticing what they were doing.

  5. At last when the time came for rebelling openly, they first set apart their mothers, and then each man chose besides out of his whole household one woman, whichever he pleased;

  6. These alone were allowed to live, while all the rest were brought to one place and strangled.

  7. The women chosen were kept to make bread for the men; while the others were strangled so that they would not consume the stores.

  8. When news reached Darius of what had happened, he drew together all his power, and marched straight upon Babylon, laying siege to it.

  9. The Babylonians did not care about his siege, being so well prepared. Mounting upon their battlements they jeered at Darius and his mighty host.

  10. One even shouted to them and said, ‘Why do you sit there, Persians? Why do you not go home? Till mules foal you will not take our city.’

  11. This was by a Babylonian who thought that a mule would never foal.

  12. Now when a year and seven months had passed, Darius and his army were quite wearied, unable to find any way to take the city.

  13. All stratagems and arts had been used, even the means by which Cyrus conquered the place.

  14. At last, in the twentieth month, Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus who was among the seven men that overthrew the Magus,

  15. Hit upon a radical and ingenious plan to overthrow Babylon, having reviewed all other ways of capturing the city.

  16. His plan was to maim himself and go over to the enemy, pretending to have been savagely punished by Darius for a misdemeanour, and to be rebelling against him therefore.

  17. So he cut off his own nose and ears, and then, clipping his hair close and flogging himself with a scourge, he came in this plight before Darius.

  18. The king was stirred to wrath at the sight of a man of Zopyrus’ lofty rank in such a condition;

  19. Leaping down from his throne, he exclaimed aloud, and asked Zopyrus who it was that had disfigured him, and what he had done to be so treated.

  20. Zopyrus answered, ‘There is not a man in the world but you, O king, that could reduce me to such a plight;

  21. ‘No stranger’s hands have wrought this work on me, but my own only. I maimed myself in order to help us defeat the Assyrians.’

  22. Replied Darius, ‘Surely you have gone out of your mind! How will your disfigurement induce the enemy to yield one day the sooner?’

  23. Zopyrus answered, ‘If I had told you what I planned on doing, you would not have allowed me; as it is, I kept my own counsel.

  24. ‘Now, therefore, we shall take Babylon. I will desert to the enemy as I am, and when I get into their city I will tell them that it is by you I have been thus treated.

  25. ‘I think they will believe my words, and entrust me with a command of troops.

  26. ‘You, for your part, must wait till the tenth day after I have entered the town,

  27. ‘And then place near to the gates of Semiramis a detachment of the army, troops for whose loss you will care little, a thousand men.

  28. ‘Wait, after that, seven days, and post another detachment, two thousand strong, at the Nineveh gates;

  29. ‘Then let twenty days pass, and at the end of that time station near the Chaldaean gates a body of four thousand.

  30. ‘Let neither these nor the former troops be armed with any weapons but their swords.

  31. ‘After the twenty days are over, bid the whole army attack the city on every side,

  32. ‘And put two bodies of Persians, one at the Belian, the other at the Cissian gates;

  33. ‘For I expect, that, on account of my successes, the Babylonians will entrust everything, even the keys of their gates, to me.

  34. ‘Then it will be for me and our Persians to do the rest.’

  Chapter 39

  1. When this plan was agreed Zopyrus fled towards the gates of the town, often looking back, to give himself the air of a deserter.

  2. The lookouts on the towers, observing him, hastened down, and setting one of the gates slightly ajar,

  3. Questioned him who he was, and on what errand he had come. He replied that he was Zopyrus, and had deserted to them from the Persians.

  4. When the doorkeepers heard this they took him at once to the magistrates. Introduced into the assembly, he began to bewail his misfortunes,

  5. Telling them that Darius had maltreated him in the way they could see, only because he had given advice that the siege should be raised, since there seemed no hope of taking the city.

  6. ‘And now,’ he said, ‘my coming to you, Babylonians, will prove the greatest gain that you could possibly receive, while to Darius and the Persians it will be the severest loss.

  7. ‘Truly, he by whom I have been so mutilated shall not escape unpunished. And all the paths of his counsels are known to me.’

  8. The Babylonians, seeing a Persian of such exalted rank in so grievous a plight, his nose and ears cut off, his body red with marks of scourging and with blood,

  9. Had no suspicion but that he spoke the truth, and was really come to help them. They were ready, therefore, to grant him anything he asked;

  10. And on his requesting a command, entrusted to him a body of troops, with whose help he proceeded to do as he had arranged with Darius.

  11. On the tenth day after his flight h
e led out his detachment, and surrounding the thousand men, whom Darius according to agreement had sent, he slew them all.

  12. Then the Babylonians, seeing that his deeds were as brave as his words, were beyond measure pleased, and set no bounds to their trust.

  13. He waited, however, and when the next period agreed on had elapsed, again with a band of picked men he went out and defeated the two thousand.

  14. After this second exploit, his praise was in all mouths. Once more, however, he waited till the interval appointed had gone by,

  15. And then leading the troops to the place where the four thousand were, he put them also to the sword.

  16. This last victory gave the finishing stroke to his power; the rejoicing Babylonians committed to him the command of their whole army, and put the keys of their city into his hands.

  17. Darius now, still keeping to the plan agreed upon, attacked the walls on every side, whereupon Zopyrus played out the remainder of his stratagem.

  18. While the Babylonians, crowding to the walls, did their best to resist the Persian assault, he threw open the Cissian and the Belian gates, and admitted the Persian troops.

  19. Such of the Babylonians as witnessed the treachery, took refuge in the citadel; the rest, who did not see it, kept at their posts, till at last they too learnt that they were betrayed.

  20. Thus was Babylon taken for the second time. Darius tore down the wall and all the gates; for Cyrus had done neither when he took Babylon.

  21. He then chose three thousand of the leading citizens, and caused them to be crucified, while he allowed the remainder still to inhabit the city.

  22. Further, wishing to prevent the race of the Babylonians from becoming extinct, he provided wives for them in the room of those whom they had strangled to save their stores.

  23. These he levied from the nations bordering Babylonia, who were each required to send a number to Babylon, that in all there were collected no fewer than fifty thousand women.

  24. It is from these women that the Babylonians of later times are sprung.

  25. As for Zopyrus, he was considered by Darius to have surpassed, in the greatness of his achievements, all other Persians, whether of former or later times,

  26. Except only Cyrus, with whom no Persian ever yet dared to compare. Darius, as the story goes, would often say that he had rather Zopyrus were unmaimed, than be master of twenty more Babylons.

  27. And he honoured Zopyrus greatly; every year he presented him with all the gifts held in most esteem among Persians;

  28. He gave him likewise the government of Babylon for life, free from tribute, and many other favours.

  Chapter 40

  1. Now Darius turned his attention to war against the Scythians, which was his first step in carrying his ambition of conquest towards Europe.

  2. He dispatched messengers across his empire summoning troops, ships and supplies, and ordering the building of a bridge across the Bosphorus, to connect Asia to Europe.

  3. While he was doing so his brother Artabanus came to entreat him not to undertake this expedition, because of the great difficulty of attacking Scythia.

  4. But Darius was determined to proceed, and when preparations were complete he marched with his army from Susa.

  5. A certain Persian named Oeobazus, the father of three sons, all of whom were to accompany the army,

  6. Came and begged the king that he would allow one of his sons to remain with him.

  7. Darius answered, as if he regarded him in the light of a friend who had urged a moderate request, that he would allow them all to remain.

  8. Oeobazus was overjoyed, expecting that all his children would be excused from service; the king, however, ordered his attendants to take all three sons of Oeobazus and put them to death.

  9. Thus they were all left behind, as the king had promised.

  10. When Darius reached the territory of Chalcedon on the shores of the Bosphorus, where the bridge had been made, he took ship and sailed to the Cyanean islands.

  11. He took his seat on a high point and surveyed the Pontus, which is indeed well worthy of consideration.

  12. There is no other sea so wonderful: it extends in length eleven thousand one hundred furlongs, and its breadth, at the widest part, is three thousand three hundred furlongs.

  13. The mouth is only four furlongs wide; and this strait, called the Bosphorus, and across which the bridge of Darius had been thrown, is a hundred and twenty furlongs in length, reaching from the Euxine to the Propontis.

  14. The Propontis is five hundred furlongs across, and fourteen hundred long. Its waters flow into the Hellespont, the length of which is four hundred furlongs, and the width no more than seven.

  15. The Hellespont opens into the wide sea called the Aegean.

  16. The way these distances have been measured is the following. In a long day a vessel generally accomplishes about seventy thousand fathoms, in the night sixty thousand.

  17. Now from the mouth of the Pontus to the River Phasis, which is the extreme length of this sea, is a voyage of nine days and eight nights, which makes the distance eleven thousand one hundred furlongs.

  18. Again, from Sindica to Themiscyra on the River Thermodon, where the Pontus is wider than at any other place, is a sail of three days and two nights;

  19. Which makes three thousand three hundred furlongs. Such is the plan on which thoughtful men have measured the Pontus, the Bosphorus and the Hellespont.

  20. After he had finished his survey Darius sailed back to the bridge, which had been constructed for him by Mandrocles, a Samian.

  21. He likewise surveyed the Bosphorus, and erected on its shores two pillars of white marble, inscribed with the names of all the nations which formed his army, on one pillar Greek, on the other Assyrian characters.

  22. This army was drawn from all the nations under Darius’ sway; the whole amount, without counting the naval forces, was seven hundred thousand men, including cavalry. The fleet consisted of six hundred ships.

  23. Darius was so pleased with Mandrocles’ bridge that he not only gave him all the customary presents, but ten of every kind.

  24. Mandrocles, in return, commissioned a picture to be painted showing the whole of the bridge, with King Darius sitting in a seat of honour, and his army crossing over.

  25. Darius then passed into Europe, while he ordered the Ionians to enter the Pontus and sail to the mouth of the Ister, in later times called Danube.

  26. There he bade them throw a bridge across that stream and to await his coming. The Ionians, Aeolians and Hellespontians were the nations which furnished the chief strength of his navy.

  27. So the fleet, threading the Cyanean Isles, proceeded straight to the Ister, and, mounting the river to the point where its channels separate, a distance of two days’ voyage from the sea, yoked the neck of the stream.

  28. Meantime Darius, who had crossed the Bosphorus by the bridge, marched through Thrace; and happening upon the sources of the River Tearus, pitched his camp and made a stay of three days.

  29. This river, famed for its health-giving properties, charmed him so, that he caused a pillar to be erected in this place also, with an inscription saying:

  30. ‘The fountains of the Tearus afford the best and most beautiful water of all rivers:

  31. ‘They were visited, on his march into Scythia, by the best and most beautiful of men, Darius, son of Hystaspes, king of the Persians, and of the whole continent of Asia.’

  32. Marching thence, he came to a second river, the Artiscus, which flows through the country of the Odrysians.

  33. Here he fixed upon a certain spot, where every one of his soldiers should throw a stone as he passed by.

  34. When his orders were obeyed, Darius continued his march, leaving behind him great hills formed by the stones cast by his troops; this was the means to guide their way back.

  35. Before arriving at the Ister, the first people he subdued were the Getae.

  36. The Thracians of
Salmydessus, and those who dwelt above the cities of Apollonia and Mesembria, those called Scyrmiadae and Nipsaeans, gave themselves up to Darius without a struggle;

  37. But the Getae obstinately defended themselves, and were forthwith enslaved, notwithstanding that they are the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes.

  Chapter 41

  1. When Darius’ land forces reached the Ister and crossed it, he ordered the Ionians to break the bridge, and to follow him with the whole naval force in his land march.

  2. They were about to obey his command when the general of the Mytilenaeans, Coes son of Erxander, respectfully addressed him as follows:

  3. ‘Sire, you are about to attack a country no part of which is cultivated, and in which there is not a single inhabited city.

  4. ‘Keep this bridge as it is, and leave those who built it to guard it. So if we succeed against the Scythians, we can return by this route;

  5. ‘But if we fail to find them, our retreat will still be secure.

  6. ‘For though I have no doubt that we will vanquish the Scythians in battle,

  7. ‘My dread is that we will be unable to find them, for they will withdraw and hide;

  8. ‘And then we will suffer much loss while we wander about their territory.’

  9. The advice of Coes pleased Darius highly, who replied, ‘When I am safe home again in my palace, be sure to come to me, and with good deeds I will recompense you for this good advice.’

  10. Having so said, the king took a leather thong, and tying sixty knots in it, called together the Ionian leaders and said,

  11. ‘My former commands to you concerning the bridge are now withdrawn.

  12. ‘Look at this thong: from the time that I leave you to march into Scythia, untie one of the knots each day.

  13. ‘If I do not return before the last knot is untied, sail home. Meanwhile, understand that you are to guard the bridge with all care.’

  Chapter 42

  1. The Scythians, apprehending the approach of such a mighty army under the command of the famous Darius, knew they were not strong enough by themselves to fight him.