(Any writing in Bold Type, in Parenthesis, in Italics, & pictures are added by me, R. Brown, not the author!)
(gods
in blue)
Translation:
Yahdun-Lim, son of Yaggid Lim; king of Mari, Tuttul and the country of the Hana-nomads; the powerful king, who controls the “Banks of the Euphrates”:
Dagan (Enki)proclaimed my kingship and, handing me a powerful weapon for destroying kings hostile to me,
I defeated 7 kings Hana-nomad chiefs who successively challenged me, annexing their territory; I removed the invaders from the “Banks of the Euphrates,” giving peace to my land; I opened canals, thus eliminating well-water drawing throughout my land. I built Mari’s ramparts and dug its moat; I built Terqa’s ramparts and dug its moat. .
II:9] And in the burnt field—an arid spot— where not one king since days of yore founded a town, indeed I, having wished it, founded a town, dug its moat and called it “Dur-Yahdullim”; I then opened a canal for it and called it “Išim-Yahdullim.” I, therefore, enlarged my country and strengthened the structure of Mari and of my land, establishing my reputation for eternity. .
III:3] Whoever discards my commemorations, replacing them with his own, such a person, be he king or governor, may Anum (Anu) and Enlil curse him darkly;
may Šamaš (Shamash / Utu) snap his weapons and those of his troops; may Ašnan and Sumuqan starve his land; may hostilities hold (shut) the gate of his country; may combat persist in his country; may trouble hound his kingship, daily, throughout his life; may Anum and Enlil be evil counsel to him, for evermore.
Comments:
“Banks of the Euphrates” may be the name of
the Mari kingdom.
According
to the inscription known as A1Pb,
construction of the Hall of Hundred Columns at Persepolis
was started by the Achaemenid
king Xerxes;
the building was finished by his son and successor Artaxerxes
I Makrocheir (465-424).
This throne hall was Persepolis’ second
largest building, measuring 70 x 70 meters.
At an unknown moment, its
function was changed and it became a store room, probably because the
Treasuryhad
become too small to contain all treasures that were hoarded in
Persepolis. A new function may have been envisioned, however, because
Artaxerxes
III Ochus was building a new
road and a new gate
to the palace, suggesting that the Hall of Hundred Columns might have
been used for audience.
The entrance was to the
north, where a portico was decorated by two large bulls. The
entrances themselves – two on each of the four sides of the square
building – were decorated with the usual motifs:. audience scenes,
throne scenes, and “royal warriors” fighting against wild
animals.
In this section,
Herodotus relates the invasion of the Greek mainland by the Persian
king Xerxes in 480 B.C. According to
this account, what are the differences between the Greeks and the
Persians?
After Egypt was subdued,
Xerxes, being about to take
in hand the expedition against Athens,
called together an assembly of the noblest Persians to
learn their opinions,
and to lay before them his own designs.
So, when the men were met, the king spake thus to them:-
“Persians, I shall not be the first to bring in
among you a new custom-
I shall but follow one which has come down to us from
our forefathers.
Never yet, as our old men assure me, has our race
reposed itself,
since the time when Cyrus
overcame Astyages,
and so we Persians wrested the scepter from the Medes.
Now in all this God guides us; and we, obeying his
guidance, prosper greatly.
What need have I to tell you of the deeds of Cyrus
and Cambyses,
and my own father Darius,
how many nations they conquered,
and added to our dominions?
Ye know right well what great things they achieved.
But for myself, I will say that, from the day on which I
mounted the throne,
I have not ceased to consider by what means
I may rival those who have preceded me in this post of
honor,
and increase the power of Persia as much as any of them.
And truly I have pondered upon this,
until at last I have found out a way whereby we may at
once win glory,
and likewise get possession of a land which is as large
and as rich as our own nay,
which is even more varied in the fruits it bears-
while at the same time we obtain satisfaction and
revenge.
For this cause I have now called you together,
that I may make known to you what I design to do.
My intent is to throw a bridge over the Hellespont
and march an army through Europe against Greece,
that thereby I may obtain vengeance from the Athenians
for the wrongs committed by them against the Persians
and against my father.
Your own eyes saw the preparations of Darius
against these men;
but death came upon him, and balked his hopes of
revenge.
In his behalf, therefore, and in behalf of all the
Persians,
I undertake the war, and pledge myself not to rest
till I have taken and burnt Athens, which has dared,
unprovoked, to injure me and my father.
Long since they came to Asia with Aristagoras of
Miletus,
who was one of our slaves, and, entering Sardis,
burnt its temples and its sacred groves; again, more
lately,
when we made a landing upon their coast under Datis and
Artaphernes,
how roughly they handled us ye do not need to be told.
For these reasons, therefore, I am bent upon this war;
and I see likewise therewith united no few advantages.
Once let us subdue this people,
and those neighbors of theirs who hold the land of
Pelops the Phrygian,
and we shall extend the Persian territory as far as
God’s heaven reaches.
The sun will then shine on no land beyond our borders;
for I will pass through Europe from one end to the
other,
and with your aid make of all the lands which it
contains one country.
For thus, if what I hear be true, affairs stand:
the nations whereof I have spoken, once swept away,
there is no city, no country left in all the world,
which will venture so much as to withstand us in arms.
By this course then we shall bring all mankind under our
yoke,
alike those who are guilty and those who are innocent of
doing us wrong.
For yourselves, if you wish to please me, do as follows:
when I announce the time for the army to meet together,
hasten to the muster with a good will, every one of you;
and know that to the man who brings with him the most
gallant array
I will give the gifts which our people consider the most
honorable.
This then is what ye have to do.
But to show that I am not self-willed in this matter,
I lay the business before you,
and give you full leave to speak your minds upon it
openly.”
Xerxes, having so spoken, held his peace.
Whereupon Mardonius took the word, and said:
“Of a truth, my lord, thou dost surpass,
not only all living Persians, but likewise those yet
unborn.
Most true and right is each word that thou hast now
uttered;
but best of all thy resolve not to let the Ionians who
live in Europe-
a worthless crew- mock us any more.
It were indeed a monstrous thing if, after conquering
and enslaving the Sacae,
the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Assyrians,
and many other mighty nations, not for any wrong that
they had done us,
but only to increase our empire, we should then allow
the Greeks,
who have done us such wanton injury, to escape our
vengeance.
What is it that we fear in them?- not surely their
numbers?-
not the greatness of their wealth?
We know the manner of their battle- we know how weak
their power is;
already have we subdued their children who dwell in our
country,
the Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians.
I myself have had experience of these men
when I marched against them by the orders of thy father;
and though I went as far as Macedonia,
and came but a little short of reaching Athens itself,
yet not a soul ventured to come out against me to
battle.
And yet, I am told, these very Greeks are wont to wage
wars
against one another in the most foolish way,
through sheer perversity and doltishness.
For no sooner is war proclaimed
than they search out the smoothest and fairest plain
that is to be found in all the land, and there they
assemble and fight;
whence it comes to pass that even the conquerors depart
with great loss:
I say nothing of the conquered, for they are destroyed
altogether.
Now surely, as they are all of one speech,
they ought to interchange heralds and messengers,
and make up their differences by any means rather than
battle;
or, at the worst, if they must needs fight one against
another,
they ought to post themselves as strongly as possible,
and so try their quarrels.
But, notwithstanding that they have so foolish a manner
of warfare,
yet these Greeks, when I led my army against them
to the very borders of Macedonia, did not so much as
think of offering me battle.
Who then will dare, O king! to meet thee in arms,
when thou comest with all Asia’s warriors at thy back,
and with all her ships?
For my part I do not believe the Greek people will be so
foolhardy.
Grant, however, that I am mistaken herein,
and that they are foolish enough to meet us in open
fight;
in that case they will learn
that there are no such soldiers in the whole world as
we.
Nevertheless let us spare no pains; for nothing comes
without trouble;
but all that men acquire is got by painstaking.”
When Mardonius had in this way softened the harsh speech
of Xerxes,
he too held his peace.
The other Persians were silent;
all feared to raise their voice against the plan
proposed to them.
But Artabanus, the son of
Hystaspes, and uncle of Xerxes,
trusting to his relationship, was bold to speak:-
“O king!” he said, “it is impossible,
if no more than one opinion is uttered, to make choice
of the best:
a man is forced then to follow whatever advice may have
been given him;
but if opposite speeches are delivered, then choice can
be exercised.
In like manner pure gold is not recognized by itself;
but when we test it along with baser ore, we perceive
which is the better.
I counseled thy father, Darius,
who was my own brother,
not to attack the Scyths, a race of people who had no
town in their whole land.
He thought however to subdue those wandering tribes,
and would not listen to me, but marched an army against
them,
and ere he returned home lost many of his bravest
warriors.
Thou art about, O king! to attack a people far superior
to the Scyths,
a people distinguished above others both by land and
sea.
‘Tis fit therefore that I should tell thee what danger
thou incurrest hereby.
Thou sayest that thou wilt bridge the Hellespont,
and lead thy troops through Europe against Greece.
Now suppose some disaster befall thee by land or sea, or
by both.
It may be even so; for the men are reputed valiant.
Indeed one may measure their prowess from what they have
already done;
for when Datis and Artaphernes led their huge army
against Attica,
the Athenians singly defeated them.
But grant they are not successful on both elements.
Still, if they man their ships, and, defeating us by
sea,
sail to the Hellespont, and there destroy our bridge-
that, sire, were a fearful hazard.
And here ’tis not by my own mother wit alone that I
conjecture what will happen;
but I remember how narrowly we escaped disaster once,
when thy father, after throwing bridges over the
Thracian Bosphorus
and the Ister, marched against the Scythians,
and they tried every sort of prayer to induce the
Ionians,
who had charge of the bridge over the Ister, to break
the passage.
On that day, if Histiaeus, the king of Miletus, had
sided with the other princes,
and not set himself to oppose their views,
the empire of the Persians would have come to nought.
Surely a dreadful thing is this even to hear said,
that the king’s fortunes depended wholly on one man.
“Think then no more of incurring so great a danger
when no need presses,
but follow the advice I tender.
Break up this meeting, and when thou hast well
considered the matter with thyself,
and settled what thou wilt do, declare to us thy
resolve.
I know not of aught in the world that so profits a man
as taking good counsel with himself;
for even if things fall out against one’s hopes, still
one has counseled well,
though fortune has made the counsel of none effect:
whereas if a man counsels ill and luck follows,
he has gotten a windfall, but his counsel is none the
less silly.
Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the
bigger animals,
and will not suffer them to wax insolent,
while those of a lesser bulk chafe him not?
How likewise his bolts fall ever on the highest houses
and the tallest trees?
So plainly does He love to bring down everything that
exalts itself.
Thus ofttimes a mighty host is discomfited by a few men,
when God in his jealousy sends fear or storm from
heaven,
and they perish in a way unworthy of them.
For God allows no one to have high thoughts but Himself.
Again, hurry always brings about disasters,
from which huge sufferings are wont to arise;
but in delay lie many advantages, not apparent (it may
be) at first sight,
but such as in course of time are seen of all.
Such then is my counsel to thee, O king!
Artabanus loses the argument, and Xerxes
prepares to invade Greece.
Here his first care was to send off heralds into Greece,
who were to prefer a demand for earth and water,
and to require that preparations should be made
everywhere to feast the king.
To Athens indeed and to Sparta he sent no such demand;
but these cities excepted, his messengers went
everywhere.
Now the reason why he sent for earth and water
to states which had already refused was this:
he thought that although they had refused when Darius
made the demand,
they would now be too frightened to venture to say him
nay.
So he sent his heralds, wishing to know for certain how
it would be.
Xerxes, after this, made
preparations to advance to Abydos,
where the bridge across the Hellespont from Asia to
Europe was lately finished.
Midway between Sestos and Madytus in the Hellespontine
Chersonese,
and right over against Abydos,
there is a rocky tongue of land which runs out for some
distance into the sea.
This is the place where no long time afterwards the
Greeks under Xanthippus,
the son of Ariphron, took Artayctes the Persian,
who was at that time governor of Sestos, and nailed him
living to a plank.
He was the Artayctes who brought women into the temple
of Protesilaus at Elaeus, and there was guilty of most
unholy deeds.
Towards this tongue of land then,
the men to whom the business was assigned
carried out a double bridge from Abydos;
and while the Phoenicians constructed one line with
cables of white flax,
the Egyptians in the other used ropes made of papyrus.
Now it is seven furlongs across from Abydos to the
opposite coast.
When, therefore, the channel had been bridged
successfully,
it happened that a great storm arising broke the whole
work to pieces,
and destroyed all that had been done.
So when Xerxes heard of it
he was full of wrath,
and straightway gave orders that the Hellespont
should receive three hundred lashes,
and that a pair of fetters should be cast into it.
Nay, I have even heard it said that he bade the branders
take their irons and therewith brand the Hellespont.
It is certain that he commanded those who scourged the
waters to utter,
as they lashed them, these barbarian and wicked words:
“Thou bitter water, thy lord lays on thee this
punishment
because thou hast wronged him without a cause,
having suffered no evil at his hands.
Verily King Xerxes will
cross thee, whether thou wilt or no.
Well dost thou deserve that no man should honor thee
with sacrifice;
for thou art of a truth a treacherous and unsavory
river.”
While the sea was thus punished by his orders,
he likewise commanded that the overseers of the work
should lose their heads.
Then they, whose business it was, executed the
unpleasing task laid upon them;
and other master-builders were set over the work. . .
And now when all was prepared- the bridges, and the
works at Athos,
the breakwaters about the mouths of the cutting,
which were made to hinder the surf from blocking up the
entrances,
and the cutting itself; and when the news came to Xerxes
that this last was completely finished- then at length
the host,
having first wintered at Sardis, began its march towards
Abydos,
fully equipped, on the first approach of spring.
At the moment of departure, the sun suddenly quitted his
seat in the heavens,
and disappeared, though there were no clouds in
sight,
but the sky was clear and serene.
Day was thus turned into night;
whereupon Xerxes, who saw
and remarked the prodigy,
was seized with alarm, and sending at once for the
Magians,
inquired of them the meaning of the portent.
They replied- “God is foreshowing to the Greeks the
destruction of their cities;
for the sun foretells for them, and the moon for us.”
So Xerxes, thus instructed,
proceeded on his way with great gladness of heart.
The army had begun its march, when Pythius the Lydian,
affrighted at the heavenly portent, and emboldened by
his gifts,
came to Xerxes and said-
“Grant me, O my lord! a favor
which is to thee a light matter, but to me of vast
account.”
Then Xerxes’ who looked for
nothing less than such a prayer
as Pythius in fact preferred, engaged to grant him
whatever he wished,
and commanded him to tell his wish freely.
So Pythius, full of boldness, went on to say:-
“O my lord! thy servant has five sons;
and it chances that all are called upon to join thee in
this march against Greece.
I beseech thee, have compassion upon my years;
and let one of my sons, the eldest, remain behind,
to be my prop and stay, and the guardian of my wealth.
Take with thee the other four;
and when thou hast done all that is in thy heart,
mayest thou come back in safety.”
But Xerxes was greatly
angered, and replied to him:
“Thou wretch! darest thou speak to me of thy son,
when I am myself on the march against Greece, with sons,
and brothers, and kinsfolk, and friends?
Thou, who art my bond-slave,
and art in duty bound to follow me with all thy
household, not excepting thy wife!
Know that man’s spirit dwelleth in his ears, and when it
hears good things,
straightway it fills all his body with delight;
but no sooner does it hear the contrary than it heaves
and swells with passion.
As when thou didst good deeds and madest good offers to
me,
thou wert not able to boast of having outdone the king
in bountifulness,
so now when thou art changed and grown impudent,
thou shalt not receive all thy deserts, but less.
For thyself and four of thy five sons,
the entertainment which I had of thee shall gain
protection;
but as for him to whom thou clingest above the rest,
the forfeit of his life shall be thy punishment.”
Having thus spoken, forthwith he commanded those to whom
such tasks
were assigned to seek out the eldest of the sons of
Pythius,
and having cut his body asunder, to place the two
halves.
one on the right, the other on the left, of the great
road,
so that the army might march out between them.
Then the king’s orders were obeyed;
and the army marched out between the two halves of the
carcase.
As Xerxes leads his troops
in Greece,
he asks a native Greek if the Greeks will put up a
fight.
Now after Xerxes had sailed
down the whole line and was gone ashore,
he sent for Demaratus the son of Ariston,
who had accompanied him in his march upon Greece, and
bespake him thus:-
“Demaratus, it is my pleasure at this time
to ask thee certain things which I wish to know.
Thou art a Greek, and, as I hear from the other Greeks
with whom I converse,
no less than from thine own lips,
thou art a native of a city which is not the meanest or
the weakest in their land.
Tell me, therefore, what thinkest thou?
Will the Greeks lift a hand against us?
Mine own judgment is, that even if all the Greeks
and all the barbarians of the West were gathered
together in one place,
they would not be able to abide my onset, not being
really of one mind.
But I would fain know what thou thinkest hereon.”
Thus Xerxes questioned; and
the other replied in his turn,-
“O king! is it thy will that I give thee a true
answer,
or dost thou wish for a pleasant one?”
Then the king bade him speak the plain truth,
and promised that he would not on that account
hold him in less favor than heretofore.
So Demaratus, when he heard the promise, spake as
follows:-
“O king! since thou biddest me at all risks speak
the truth,
and not say what will one day prove me to have lied to
thee, thus I answer.
Want has at all times been a fellow-dweller with us in
our land,
while Valour is an ally whom we have gained by dint of
wisdom and strict laws.
Her aid enables us to drive out want and escape
thraldom.
Brave are all the Greeks who dwell in any Dorian land;
but what I am about to say does not concern all, but
only the Lacedaemonians.
First then, come what may, they will never accept thy
terms,
which would reduce Greece to slavery; and further,
they are sure to join battle with thee,
though all the rest of the Greeks should submit to thy
will.
As for their numbers, do not ask how many they are,
that their resistance should be a possible thing;
for if a thousand of them should take the field,
they will meet thee in battle, and so will any number,
be it less than this, or be it more.”
When Xerxes heard this
answer of Demaratus, he laughed and answered:-
“What wild words, Demaratus!
A thousand men join battle with such an army as this!
Come then, wilt thou- who wert once, as thou sayest,
their king-
engage to fight this very day with ten men? I trow not.
And yet, if all thy fellow-citizens be indeed such as
thou sayest they are,
thou oughtest, as their king, by thine own country’s
usages,
to be ready to fight with twice the number.
If then each one of them be a match for ten of my
soldiers,
I may well call upon thee to be a match for twenty.
So wouldest thou assure the truth of what thou hast now
said.
If, however, you Greeks, who vaunt yourselves so much,
are of a truth men like those whom I have seen about my
court, as thyself,
Demaratus, and the others with whom I am wont to
converse-
if, I say, you are really men of this sort and size,
how is the speech that thou hast uttered more than a
mere empty boast?
For, to go to the very verge of likelihood-
how could a thousand men, or ten thousand, or even fifty
thousand,
particularly if they were all alike free, and not under
one lord-
how could such a force, I say, stand against an army
like mine?
Let them be five thousand, and we shall have more
than a thousand men to each one of theirs.
If, indeed, like our troops, they had a single master,
their fear of him might make them courageous beyond
their natural bent;
or they might be urged by lashes against an enemy which
far outnumbered them.
But left to their own free choice, assuredly they will
act differently.
For mine own part, I believe, that if the Greeks
had to contend with the Persians only, and the numbers
were equal on both sides,
the Greeks would find it hard to stand their ground.
We too have among us such men as those of whom thou
spakest-
not many indeed, but still we possess a few.
For instance, some of my bodyguard would be willing
to engage singly with three Greeks.
But this thou didst not know; and therefore it was thou
talkedst so foolishly.”
Demaratus answered him- “I knew, O king! at the
outset,
that if I told thee the truth, my speech would displease
thine ears.
But as thou didst require me to answer thee with all
possible truthfulness,
I informed thee what the Spartans will do.
And in this I spake not from any love that I bear them-
for none knows better than thou what my love towards
them
is likely to be at the present time, when they have
robbed me of my rank
and my ancestral honors, and made me a homeless exile,
whom thy father did receive, bestowing on me both
shelter and sustenance.
What likelihood is there that a man of understanding
should be unthankful for kindness shown him, and not
cherish it in his heart?
For mine own self, I pretend not to cope with ten men,
nor with two- nay,
had I the choice, I would rather not fight even with
one.
But, if need appeared, or if there were any great cause
urging me on,
I would contend with right good will against one of
those persons
who boast themselves a match for any three Greeks.
So likewise the Lacedaemonians, when they fight singly,
are as good men as any in the world,
and when they fight in a body, are the bravest of all.
For though they be free-men, they are not in all
respects free;
Law is the master whom they own;
and this master they fear more than thy subjects fear
thee.
Whatever he commands they do; and his commandment is
always the same:
it forbids them to flee in battle, whatever the number
of their foes,
and requires them to stand firm, and either to conquer
or die.
If in these words, O king! I seem to thee to speak
foolishly,
I am content from this time forward evermore to hold my
peace.
I had not now spoken unless compelled by thee.
Certes, I pray that all may turn out according to thy
wishes.”
Such was the answer of Demaratus; and Xerxes
was not angry with him at all,
but only laughed, and sent him away with words of
kindness.
Of course, Demaratus was correct, and the Greeks did put
up a fight.
In one of the famous battles of ancient history,
the Persian force met a much smaller Greek army
at a narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae.
King Xerxes pitched his
camp in the region of Malis called Trachinia,
while on their side the Greeks occupied the straits.
These straits the Greeks in general call Thermopylae
(the Hot Gates);
but the natives, and those who dwell in the
neighborhood,
call them Pylae (the Gates).
Here then the two armies took their stand;
the one master of all the region lying north of Trachis,
the other of the country extending southward of that
place
to the verge of the continent.
The Greeks who at this spot awaited the coming of Xerxes
were the following:-
From Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms;
from Arcadia, a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five
hundred of each people;
a hundred and twenty Orchomenians, from the Arcadian
Orchomenus;
and a thousand from other cities: from Corinth, four
hundred men;
from Phlius, two hundred; and from Mycenae eighty.
Such was the number from the Peloponnese.
There were also present, from Boeotia,
seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.
Besides these troops, the Locrians of Opus and the
Phocians
had obeyed the call of their countrymen, and sent,
the former all the force they had, the latter a thousand
men.
For envoys had gone from the Greeks at Thermopylae
among the Locrians and Phocians, to call on them for
assistance, and to say-
“They were themselves but the vanguard of the host,
sent to precede the main body, which might every day be
expected to follow them.
The sea was in good keeping, watched by the Athenians,
the Eginetans, and the rest of the fleet.
There was no cause why they should fear;
for after all the invader was not a god but a man;
and there never had been, and never would be,
a man who was not liable to misfortunes from the very
day of his birth,
and those misfortunes greater in proportion to his own
greatness.
The assailant therefore, being only a mortal, must needs
fall from his glory.”
Thus urged, the Locrians and the Phocians had come with
their troops to Trachis.
The various nations had each captains of their own under
whom they served;
but the one to whom all especially looked up,
and who had the command of the entire force, was the
Lacedaemonian, Leonidas.
Now Leonidas was the son of Anaxandridas, who was the
son of Leo,
who was the son of Eurycratidas, who was the son of
Anaxander,
who was the son of Eurycrates, who was the son of
Polydorus,
who was the son of Alcamenes, who was the son of
Telecles,
who was the son of Archelaus, who was the son of
Agesilaus,
who was the son of Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas,
who was the son of Echestratus, who was the son of Agis,
who was the son of Eurysthenes, who was the son of
Aristodemus,
who was the son of Aristomachus, who was the son of
Cleodaeus,
who was the son of Hyllus, who was the son of
Hercules.
Leonidas had come to be king of Sparta quite
unexpectedly.
Having two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus,
he had no thought of ever mounting the throne.
However, when Cleomenes died without male offspring,
as Dorieus was likewise deceased, having perished in
Sicily,
the crown fell to Leonidas, who was older than
Cleombrotus,
the youngest of the sons of Anaxandridas, and, moreover,
was married to the daughter of Cleomenes.
He had now come to Thermopylae, accompanied by the three
hundred men
which the law assigned him,
whom he had himself chosen from among the citizens,
and who were all of them fathers with sons living.
On his way he had taken the troops from Thebes,
whose number I have already mentioned,
and who were under the command of Leontiades the son of
Eurymachus.
The reason why he made a point of taking troops from
Thebes, and Thebes only,
was that the Thebans were strongly suspected of being
well inclined to the Medes.
Leonidas therefore called on them to come with him to
the war,
wishing to see whether they would comply with his
demand, or openly refuse,
and disclaim the Greek alliance.
They, however, though their wishes leant the other way,
nevertheless sent the men.
The force with Leonidas was sent forward
by the Spartans in advance of their main body,
that the sight of them might encourage the allies to
fight,
and hinder them from going over to the Medes,
as it was likely they might have done had they seen that
Sparta was backward.
They intended presently, when they had celebrated the
Carneian festival,
which was what now kept them at home, to leave a
garrison in Sparta,
and hasten in full force to join the army.
The rest of the allies also intended to act similarly;
for it happened that the Olympic festival fell exactly
at this same period.
None of them looked to see the contest at Thermopylae
decided so speedily;
wherefore they were content to send forward a mere
advanced guard.
Such accordingly were the intentions of the allies.
The Greek forces at Thermopylae,
when the Persian army drew near to the entrance of the
pass,
were seized with fear; and a council was held to
consider about a retreat.
It was the wish of the Peloponnesians generally that the
army
should fall back upon the Peloponnese, and there guard
the Isthmus.
But Leonidas, who saw with what indignation
the Phocians and Locrians heard of this plan,
gave his voice for remaining where they were,
while they sent envoys to the several cities to ask for
help,
since they were too few to make a stand against an army
like that of the Medes.
While this debate was going on,
Xerxes sent a mounted spy
to observe the Greeks,
and note how many they were, and see what they were
doing.
He had heard, before he came out of Thessaly,
that a few men were assembled at this place,
and that at their head were certain Lacedaemonians,
under Leonidas, a descendant of Hercules.
The horseman rode up to the camp, and looked about him,
but did not see the whole army;
for such as were on the further side of the wall
(which had been rebuilt and was now carefully guarded)
it was not possible for him to behold; but he observed
those on the outside,
who were encamped in front of the rampart.
It chanced that at this time the Lacedaemonians held the
outer guard,
and were seen by the spy,
some of them engaged in gymnastic exercises, others
combing their long hair.
At this the spy greatly marveled, but he counted their
number,
and when he had taken accurate note of everything, he
rode back quietly;
for no one pursued after him, nor paid any heed to his
visit.
So he returned, and told Xerxes
all that he had seen.
Upon this, Xerxes, who had
no means of surmising the truth- namely,
that the Spartans were preparing to do or die manfully-
but thought it laughable that they should be engaged in
such employments,
sent and called to his presence Demaratus the son of
Ariston,
who still remained with the army.
When he appeared, Xerxes
told him all that he had heard,
and questioned him concerning the news,
since he was anxious to understand the meaning
of such behavior on the part of the Spartans. Then
Demaratus said-
“I spake to thee, O king! concerning these men long
since,
when we had but just begun our march upon Greece;
thou, however, didst only laugh at my words, when I told
thee of all this,
which I saw would come to pass.
Earnestly do I struggle at all times to speak truth to
thee, sire;
and now listen to it once more.
These men have come to dispute the pass with us;
and it is for this that they are now making ready.
‘Tis their custom, when they are about to hazard their
lives,
to adorn their heads with care.
Be assured, however, that if thou canst subdue the men
who are here
and the Lacedaemonians who remain in Sparta,
there is no other nation in all the world which will
venture
to lift a hand in their defense.
Thou hast now to deal with the first kingdom and town in
Greece,
and with the bravest men.”
Then Xerxes, to whom what
Demaratus said seemed altogether to surpass belief,
asked further “how it was possible for so small an
army to contend with his?”
“O king!” Demaratus answered, “let me be
treated as a liar,
if matters fall not out as I say.”
But Xerxes was not
persuaded any the more.
Four whole days he suffered to go by, expecting that the
Greeks would run away.
When, however, he found on the fifth that they were not
gone,
thinking that their firm stand was mere impudence and
recklessness,
he grew wroth, and sent against them the Medes and
Cissians,
with orders to take them alive and bring them into his
presence.
Then the Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks,
but fell in vast numbers: others however took the places
of the slain,
and would not be beaten off, though they suffered
terrible losses.
In this way it became clear to all, and especially to
the king,
that though he had plenty of combatants, he had but very
few warriors.
The struggle, however, continued during the whole day.
Then the Medes, having met so rough a reception,
withdrew from the fight;
and their place was taken by the band of Persians under
Hydarnes,
whom the king called his “Immortals”:
they, it was thought, would soon finish the business.
But when they joined battle with the Greeks,
’twas with no better success than the Median detachment-
things went much as before-
the two armies fighting in a narrow space,
and the barbarians using shorter spears than the Greeks,
and having no advantage from their numbers.
The Lacedaemonians fought in a way worthy of note,
and showed themselves far more skilful in fight than
their adversaries,
often turning their backs, and making as though they
were all flying away,
on which the barbarians would rush after them with much
noise and shouting,
when the Spartans at their approach would wheel round
and face their pursuers,
in this way destroying vast numbers of the enemy.
Some Spartans likewise fell in these encounters, but
only a very few.
At last the Persians, finding that all their efforts to
gain the pass availed nothing,
and that, whether they attacked by divisions or in any
other way,
it was to no purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.
During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes,
who was watching the battle,
thrice leaped from the throne on which he sate, in
terror for his army.
Next day the combat was renewed,
but with no better success on the part of the
barbarians.
The Greeks were so few that the barbarians hoped to find
them disabled,
by reason of their wounds, from offering any further
resistance;
and so they once more attacked them.
But the Greeks were drawn up in detachments according to
their cities,
and bore the brunt of the battle in turns- all except
the Phocians,
who had been stationed on the mountain to guard the
pathway.
So, when the Persians found no difference between that
day and the preceding,
they again retired to their quarters.
Now, as the king was in great strait,
and knew not how he should deal with the emergency,
Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis,
came to him and was admitted to a conference.
Stirred by the hope of receiving a rich reward at the
king’s hands,
he had come to tell him of the pathway
which led across the mountain to Thermopylae;
by which disclosure he brought destruction on the band
of Greeks
who had there withstood the barbarians. . .
The Greeks at Thermopylae received the first warning of
the destruction
which the dawn would bring on them from the seer
Megistias,
who read their fate in the victims as he was
sacrificing.
After this deserters came in,
and brought the news that the Persians were marching
round by the hills:
it was still night when these men arrived.
Last of all, the scouts came running down from the
heights,
and brought in the same accounts, when the day was just
beginning to break.
Then the Greeks held a council to consider what they
should do,
and here opinions were divided: some were strong against
quitting their post,
while others contended to the contrary.
So when the council had broken up,
part of the troops departed and went their ways homeward
to their several states;
part however resolved to remain, and to stand by
Leonidas to the last.
It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops
who departed,
because he tendered their safety,
but thought it unseemly that either he or his Spartans
should quit the post
which they had been especially sent to guard.
For my own part, I incline to think that Leonidas gave
the order,
because he perceived the allies to be out of heart
and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own
mind was made up.
He therefore commanded them to retreat,
but said that he himself could not draw back with honor;
knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited him,
and that Sparta in that case would not lose her
prosperity.
For when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the war,
sent to consult the oracle concerning it,
the answer which they received from the Pythoness was
“that either Sparta must be overthrown by the
barbarians,
or one of her kings must perish.”
The remembrance of this answer, I think,
and the wish to secure the whole glory for the Spartans,
caused Leonidas to send the allies away.
This is more likely than that they quarreled with him,
and took their departure in such unruly fashion.
To me it seems no small argument in favor of this view,
that the seer also who accompanied the army, Megistias,
the Acarnanian- said to have been of the blood of
Melampus,
and the same who was led by the appearance of the
victims
to warn the Greeks of the danger which threatened them-
received orders to retire (as it is certain he did) from
Leonidas,
that he might escape the coming destruction.
Megistias, however, though bidden to depart, refused,
and stayed with the army;
but he had an only son present with the expedition, whom
he now sent away.
So the allies, when Leonidas ordered them to retire,
obeyed him and forthwith departed.
Only the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the
Spartans;
and of these the Thebans were kept back by Leonidas as
hostages,
very much against their will.
The Thespians, on the contrary, stayed entirely of their
own accord,
refusing to retreat, and declaring that they
would not forsake Leonidas and his followers.
So they abode with the Spartans, and died with them.
Their leader was Demophilus, the son of Diadromes.
At sunrise Xerxes made
libations,
after which he waited until the time when the forum is
wont to fill,
and then began his advance.
Ephialtes had instructed him thus,
as the descent of the mountain is much quicker,
and the distance much shorter, than the way round the
hills, and the ascent.
So the barbarians under Xerxes
began to draw nigh;
and the Greeks under Leonidas, as they now went forth
determined to die,
advanced much further than on previous days,
until they reached the more open portion of the pass.
Hitherto they had held their station within the wall,
and from this had gone forth to fight
at the point where the pass was the narrowest.
Now they joined battle beyond the defile,
and carried slaughter among the barbarians, who fell in
heaps.
Behind them the captains of the squadrons, armed with
whips,
urged their men forward with continual blows.
Many were thrust into the sea, and there perished;
a still greater number were trampled to death by their
own soldiers;
no one heeded the dying.
For the Greeks, reckless of their own safety and
desperate,
since they knew that, as the mountain had been crossed,
their destruction was nigh at hand,
exerted themselves with the most furious valor against
the barbarians.
By this time the spears of the greater number were all
shivered,
and with their swords they hewed down the ranks of the
Persians;
and here, as they strove, Leonidas fell fighting
bravely,
together with many other famous Spartans,
whose names I have taken care to learn on account of
their great worthiness,
as indeed I have those of all the three hundred.
There fell too at the same time very many famous
Persians:
among them, two sons of Darius,
Abrocomes and Hyperanthes,
his children by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes.
Artanes was brother of King
Darius,
being a son of Hystaspes,
the son of Arsames;
and when he gave his daughter to the king,
he made him heir likewise of all his substance; for she
was his only child.
Thus two brothers of Xerxes
here fought and fell.
And now there arose a fierce struggle between the
Persians
and the Lacedaemonians over the body of Leonidas,
in which the Greeks four times drove back the enemy,
and at last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing
off the body.
This combat was scarcely ended when the Persians with
Ephialtes approached;
and the Greeks, informed that they drew nigh,
made a change in the manner of their fighting.
Drawing back into the narrowest part of the pass,
and retreating even behind the cross wall,
they posted themselves upon a hillock,
where they stood all drawn up together in one close
body, except only the Thebans.
The hillock whereof I speak is at the entrance of the
straits,
where the stone lion stands which was set up in honor of
Leonidas.
Here they defended themselves to the last,
such as still had swords using them,
and the others resisting with their hands and teeth;
till the barbarians,
who in part had pulled down the wall and attacked them
in front,
in part had gone round and now encircled them upon every
side,
overwhelmed and buried the remnant
which was left beneath showers of missile weapons.
Thus nobly did the whole body of Lacedaemonians and
Thespians behave;
but nevertheless one man is said to have distinguished
himself above all the rest,
to wit, Dieneces the Spartan.
A speech which he made before the Greeks engaged the
Medes,
remains on record. One of the Trachinians told him,
“Such was the number of the barbarians,
that when they shot forth their arrows
the sun would be darkened by their multitude.”
Dieneces, not at all frightened at these words,
but making light of the Median numbers, answered
“Our Trachinian friend brings us excellent tidings.
If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our fight in
the shade.”
Other sayings too of a like nature
are reported to have been left on record by this same
person.
Next to him two brothers, Lacedaemonians,
are reputed to have made themselves conspicuous:
they were named Alpheus and Maro, and were the sons of
Orsiphantus.
There was also a Thespian who gained greater glory than
any of his countrymen:
he was a man called Dithyrambus, the son of Harmatidas.
The slain were buried where they fell;
and in their honor, nor less in honor of those who died
before Leonidas sent the allies away, an inscription was
set up, which said:-
Prepared to be destroyed
The palace of Xerxes
at Persepolis,
called Hadiš
in Persian, “dwelling place”, was twice as large as the
Palace
of Darius. A terrace connected the two royal mansions, which are
not very far apart. Yet, compared to the palace of Darius, the house
of Xerxes is badly damaged. A likely explanation is that it received
a special treatment when the Macedonian
king Alexander
the Great destroyed Persepolis in 330. His men were especially
interested in the palace of the man who had once sacked Athens.
This
relief of the great king leaving the palace, shown on the second
photo, is an example of the destruction. The damages from the right
are partly due to natural causes, but the face has been destroyed
with a hammer, and someone must have made a great effort to create a
hole near the king’s ear. It was probably meant for a piece of cork
that would have been wetted with vinegar. When heated, the cork would
start to dilate and would ultimately blow the stone to pieces – a
common practice in ancient stone quarries. For one reason or another,
the cork and vinegar were never used. The main room had 36
columns and was surrounded by six smaller rooms: three to the east,
and three to the west. To the north was a portico, facing the
Apadana.
(Later, king Artaxerxes
III Ochus constructed a palace between the two buildings.) The
decoration of this portico was more or less identical to the palace
of Darius: for example, there are reliefs of the king leaving his
mansion, attended by people carrying a parasol and a fan. An
inscription, known as XPe,
written in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian,
says:
Xerxes, the great king,
the king of kings, the son of king Darius,
an Achaemenid.
There are almost similar
inscriptions which mention Xerxes’ father Darius (DPb).
According to the inscription known as A1Pa,
the palace was completed by Artaxerxes
I
The stairs from the palace
of Darius to the interconnecting terrace belong to the best-preserved
part of the complex. The central part of these stairs show Ahuramazda
(not Faravahar, as is often claimed), flanked by two sphinxes, an
inscription and several soldiers, which are sometimes called “apple
bearers” or Immortals.
Shibtu, the place of this
transaction, was a suburb of Babylon. This shows how women,
especially of the lower rank, carried on business for themselves. The
father of Aqubatum, as his name, Aradya [ “my slave”]
shows, had been a slave.
One talent one qa of dates from the woman
Nukaibu daughter of Tabnisha,
and the woman Khamaza, daughter of _______,
to the woman Aqubatum, daughter of Aradya.
In the month Siman they will deliver one talent one qa
of dates.
Scribe, Shamash-zir-epish, son of Shamash-malku.
Shibtu, Adar the sixth, thirty-second year of Darius,
King of Babylon and countries…
Contract for the Sale of Wheat, Thirty-fifth year of Darius, 487 B.C.
This tablet is a good
illustration of the simple transactions in food-stuffs, of which we
have many, and of which one or two additional examples are given
below. The farmers usually contracted as in this document the sale of
their produce far in advance of the harvest. In this instance the
sale was made six months before the grain would be ripe and could be
delivered.
Six talents of wheat from Shamash-malku,
son of Nabu-napshat-su-ziz, to Shamash-iddin, son of
Rimut.
In the month Siman, wheat, six talents in full,
he will deliver in Shibtu, at the house of
Shamash-iddin.
Witnesses: Shamash-iddin, son of Nabu-usur-napishti;
Abu-nu-emuq, son of Sin-akhi-iddin; Sharru-Bel, son of
Sin-iddin;
Aban-nimiqu-rukus, son of Malula.
Scribe, Aradya, son of Epish-zir.
Shibtu, eleventh of Kislimu, thirty-fifth year of Darius
king of countries.
Contract for Rent & Repair of a House, One Year Term, Thirty-fifth year of Darius, 487 B.C.
This
contract is most interesting. Iskhuya, apparently a tenant of
Shamash-iddin, undertakes to repair the house in which he is living.
In addition to the rent for the year he is to receive fifteen shekels
in money, in two payments, at the beginning and the completion of the
work. The last payment is to be made on the day of Bel, which seems
to be identical with the first of Tebet, a week later than the
contract was made. In case the repairs were not then completed,
Iskhuya was to forfeit four shekels. Such business methods are not,
therefore, altogether modern.
In addition to the rent of the house of Shamash-iddin,
son of Rimut, for this year,
fifteen shekels of money in cash (shall go) to Iskhuya,
son of Shaqa-Bel, son of the priest of Agish.
Because of the payment he shall repair the weakness (of
the house),
he shall close up the crack of the wall.
He shall pay a part of the money at the beginning,
a part of the money at the completion.
He shall pay it on the day of Bel
(Marduk),
the day of wailing and weeping,
In case the house is unfinished by Iskhuya after the
first day of Tebet,
Shamash-iddin shall receive four shekels of money in
cash
into his possession at tne hands of Iskhuya.
(The names of three witnesses and a scribe then follow.)
Dated at Shibtu, the twenty-first of Kislimu, the
thirty-fifth year of Darius.
Contract
for Production of a Coat of Mail, Thirty-Fourth year of Darius,
488 B.C.
This
tablet is dated in the thirty-fourth year Darius I (488 B. C.), and
was regarded as an imporant transaction, since it is signed by four
witnesses and a scribe.
One coat of mail, insignum of power which will protect,
is to be made by the woman Mupagalgagitum,
daughter of Qarikhiya, for Shamash-iddin, son of Rimut.
She will deliver in the month Shebat one coat of mail,
After the unsuccessful
insurrection of Nidintu-Bêl
against the new Persian king Darius
I the Great
(October-December 522 BCE), Arakha claimed to be the son of the last
king of independent Babylonia,
Nabonidus,
and renamed himself Nebuchadnezzar IV. His rebellion, which started
on 25 August 521, was suppressed by Darius’ bow carrier Intaphrenes
on 27 November. In his Behistun
inscription, Darius writes:
King Darius says:
“Then did I send an army unto
Babylon.
A Persian named Intaphrenes, my
servant,
I appointed as their leader, and
thus I spoke unto them:
‘Go, smite that Babylonian host
which does not acknowledge me.’
Then
Intaphrenes marched with the army unto Babylon.
A good example of a will has
already been given above. It appears there that wills like that of
Nadinu would stand in spite of the wishes of some of the heirs. We
may here illustrate the division of estates among the heirs. This
instrument was executed at Borsippa in the third year of Cyrus.
TABLET concerning the division
into gin of an estate the dowry of Banat-Esaggil, their
mother,
which Marduk-iddin-akhi, son of Nabu-bel-shinati, son of
Nur-Papsukal,
divided and of which he gave to Tukultum-Marduk,
son of Nabu-bel-shinati, son of Nur-Papsukal, his
brother, his portion.
Thirty-three and two-thirds cubits, the upper long side
on the north,
twenty cubits bordering on the street of _____,
the side of the house of Ina-qibi-Bel, son of Balatu,
son of the Rab-Uru,
and the side of the house of Nabu-uballit, son of
Kabtiya, son of Nabu-shimi;
thirty-three cubits and eight hands, the lower long side
on the south,
by the side of the house of Marduk-iddin-akhi, son of
Nabu-bel-shinati,
son of Nur-Papsukal; thirteen cubits eight-hands, the
upper short side on the west,
bordering on the street Katnu-agu, thirteen cubits eight
hands,
the lower short side on the east, eight cubits eight
hands (being on) an alley
which is eight fingers wide, on the side of the streets;
Katnu-la-acu; the sum is eight and two thirds gin,
the measurement of the estate, the portion of
Tukultum-Marduk,
together with two gin, the difference _____ which the
chief justice,
the shukkaltum and the judges have written upon the
tablet
and have granted to Tukultum-Marduk, son of
Nabu-bel-shanati,
son of Nur-Papsukal, from Marduk-iddin-akhi,
son of Nabu-bel-shanati, his brother.
Marduk-iddin-akhi has thus given it to Tukultum-Marduk.
An exit, an inalienable privilege
which belongs to the share of Tukultum-Marduk,
Marduk-iddin-akhi, son of Nabu-bel-shanati, son of
Nur-Papsukal,
will not remove from Tukultum-Marduk, his brother.
Their suit with one another concerning their estate is
ended.
They will not move against one another on the basis of
the suit about the estate.
In order that neither may undertake it they have issued
duplicate (tablets).
Contract
for the Sale of a Standing Crop, Seventh year of Cyrus, 532 B.C.
This contract belongs to a
class intermediate between rental and the sale of land. Instead of
either, the standing crop is sold.
From a cultivated field which is situated on the alley
of Li’u-Bel,
Itti-Marduk-balatu, the son of Nabu-akhi-iddin, the son
of Egibi,
has made a purchase from Tashmitum-damqat, daughter of
Shuzubu,
son of Shigua, and Nadin-aplu, the son of Rimut, son of
Epish-Ilu.
Itti-Marduk-balatu has counted the money,
the price of the crop of that field for the seventh year
of Cyrus, King of Babylon,
king of countries, into the hands of Tashmitum-damqat
and Nadin-aplu.
(The names of two witnesess and a scribe then follow)
Babylon, Ululu thirteenth, the seventh year of Cyrus.