The Persians, according to my own knowledge, observe the following customs:—It is not their practice to erect statues, or temples, or altars, but they charge those with folly who do so; because, as I conjecture, they do not think the gods have human forms, as the Greeks do. They are accustomed to ascend the highest parts of the mountains, and offer sacrifice to Jupiter, and they call the whole circle of the heavens by the name of Jupiter. They sacrifice to the sun and moon, to the earth, fire, water, and the winds. To these alone they sacrificed in the earliest times: but they have since learnt from the Arabians and Assyrians to sacrifice to Venus Urania, whom the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta, the Arabians, Alitta, and the Persians Mitra. They do not erect altars nor kindle fires when about to sacrifice; they do not use libations, or flutes, or fillets, or cakes; but, when any one wishes to offer sacrifice to any one of these deities, he leads the victim to a clean spot, and invokes the god, usually having his tiara decked with myrtle. He that sacrifices is not permitted to pray for blessings for himself alone; but he is obliged to offer prayers for the prosperity of all the Persians, and the king, for he is himself included in the Persians. When he has cut the victim into small pieces, and boiled the flesh, he strews under it a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil, and then lays all the flesh upon it; when he has put every thing in order, one of the Magi standing by sings an ode concerning the original of the gods, which they say is the incantation; and without one of the Magi it is not lawful for them to sacrifice. After having waited a short time, he that has sacrificed carries away the flesh and disposes of it as he thinks fit. It is their custom to honor their birthday above all other days; and on this day they furnish their table in a more plentiful manner than at other times. The rich then produce an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass, roasted whole in an oven; but the poor produce smaller cattle. They are moderate at their meals, but eat of many after-dishes, and those not served up together. On this account the Persians say, "that the Greeks rise hungry from the table, because nothing worth mentioning is brought in after dinner, and that if anything were brought in, they would not leave off eating." The Persians are much addicted to wine. They are accustomed to debate the most important affairs when intoxicated; but whatever they have determined on in such deliberation, is on the following day, when they are sober, proposed to them by the master of the house where they have met to consult; and if they approve of it when sober also, then they adopt it; if not, they reject it. And whatever they have first resolved on when sober, they reconsider when intoxicated. When they meet one another in the streets, one may discover by the following custom, whether those who meet are equals. For instead of accosting one another, they kiss on the mouth; if one be a little inferior to the other, they kiss the cheek; but if he be of a much lower rank, he prostrates himself before the other.
The Persians are of all nations the most ready to adopt foreign customs; for they wear the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than their own; and in war they use the Egyptian cuirass. From the age of five years to twenty, they instruct their sons in three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth. Before he is five years of age, a son is not admitted to the presence of his father, but lives entirely with the women: the reason of this custom is, that if he should die in childhood, he may occasion no grief to his father.
Now I much approve of the above custom, as also of the following, that not even the king is allowed to put any one to death for a single crime, nor any private Persian exercise extreme severity against any of his domestics for one fault, but if on examination he should find that his misdeeds are more numerous and greater than his services, he may in that case give vent to his anger. They say that no one ever yet killed his own father or mother. To tell a lie is considered by them the greatest disgrace; next to that, to be in debt; for the reason that one who is in debt must of necessity tell lies. Whosoever of the citizens has the leprosy or scrofula, is not permitted to stay within a town, nor to have communication with other Persians; and they say that a man is afflicted with these diseases from having committed some offence against the sun. Every stranger that is seized with these distempers they drive out of the country; and they do the same to white pigeons, making the same charge against them. They neither spit, nor wash their hands in a river, but pay extreme veneration to all rivers. Another circumstance is also peculiar to them which has escaped the notice of the Persians themselves, but not of us. Their names, which correspond with their personal forms and their rank, all terminate in the same letter (s) which the Dorians call San, and the Ionians Sigma. If you inquire into this you will find, that all Persian names, without exception, end in the same letter. These things I can with certainty affirm to be true, since I myself know them. But what follows, relating to the dead, is only secretly mentioned, viz.: that the dead body of a Persian is never buried until it has been torn by some bird or dog; but I know for a certainty that the Magi do this, for they do it openly. The Persians then, having covered the body with wax, conceal it in the ground. The Magi differ very much from all other men, and particularly from the Egyptian priests, for the latter hold it matter of religion not to kill any thing that has life, except such things as they offer in sacrifice; whereas the Magi kill every thing with their own hands, except a dog or a man; and they think they do a meritorious thing, when they kill ants, serpents, and other reptiles and birds.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ASIATIC GREEKS AND THE LYDIAN REVOLT.
The Ionians and Æolians, as soon as the Lydians were subdued by the Persians, sent ambassadors to Cyrus at Sardis, wishing to become subject to him, on the same terms as they had been to Crœsus. But, when he heard their proposal, he told them this story: "A piper seeing some fishes in the sea, began to pipe, expecting that they would come to shore; but finding his hopes disappointed, he took a casting-net, with which he caught a great number of fishes, and drew them out. When he saw them leaping about, he said to the fishes: 'Cease your dancing, since when I piped you would not come out and dance.'" Cyrus told this story to the Ionians and Æolians, because the Ionians, when Cyrus pressed them by his ambassador to revolt from Crœsus, refused to consent, and now, when the business was done, were ready to listen to him. When the Ionians heard this message, they severally fortified themselves with walls, and met together at the Panionium, with the exception of the Milesians; for Cyrus made an alliance with them on the same terms as the Lydians had done. The rest of the Ionians resolved unanimously to send ambassadors to Sparta, to implore them to succor the Ionians. These Ionians, to whom the Panionium belongs, have built their cities under the finest sky and climate of the world that we know of; for neither the regions that are above it, nor those that are below, nor the parts to the east or west, are at all equal to Ionia; for some of them are oppressed by cold and rain, others by heat and drought. These Ionians do not all use the same language, but have four varieties of dialect. Miletus, the first of them, lies toward the south.
The Milesians were sheltered from danger, as they had made an alliance. The islanders also had nothing to fear; for the Phœnicians were not yet subject to the Persians, nor were the Persians themselves at all acquainted with maritime affairs. Now the Milesians had seceded from the rest of the Ionians only for this reason, that weak as the Grecian race then was, the Ionian was weakest of all, and of least account; for except Athens, there was no other city of note. The other Ionians, therefore, and the Athenians shunned the name, and would not be called Ionians; and even now many of them appear to me to be ashamed of the name. But these twelve cities gloried in the name, and built a temple for their own use, to which they gave the name of Panionium.
When the ambassadors of the Ionians and Æolians arrived at Sparta, they made choice of a Phocæan, whose name was Pythermus, to speak in behalf of all. Putting on a purple robe, in order that as many as possible of the Spartans might hear of it and assemble, he addressed them at length, imploring their assistance. But the Lacedæmonians would not listen to him, and determined not to assist the Ionians: they therefore returned home. Yet the Lacedæmonians, though they had rejected the Ionian ambassadors, despatched men in a penteconter, to keep an eye upon the affairs of Cyrus and Ionia. These men arriving in Phocæa, sent the most eminent person among them, whose name was Lacrines, to Sardis, to warn Cyrus in the name of the Lacedæmonians, "not to injure any city on the Grecian territory, for in that case they would not pass it by unnoticed." When the herald gave this message, it is related that Cyrus inquired of the Greeks who were present, who the Lacedæmonians were, and how many in number, that they sent him such a warning. And when informed, he said to the Spartan herald, "I was never yet afraid of those, who in the midst of their city have a place set apart, in which they collect and cheat one another by false oaths; and if I continue in health, not the calamities of the Ionians shall be talked about, but their own." This taunt of Cyrus was levelled at the Greeks in general, who have markets for the purposes of buying and selling; for the Persians have no such a thing as a market. After this, Cyrus intrusted Tabalus a Persian with the government of Sardis, and appointed Pactyas a Lydian to bring away the gold, both that belonging to Crœsus and to the other Lydians, and departed with Cyrus for Ecbatana, for from the first he took no account of the Ionians. But Babylon was an obstacle to him, as were also the Bactrians, the Sacæ, and the Egyptians; against whom he resolved to lead an army in person, and to send some other general against the Ionians. But as soon as Cyrus had marched from Sardis, Pactyas prevailed on the Lydians to revolt from Tabalus and Cyrus; and going down to the sea-coast, with all the gold taken from Sardis in his possession, he hired mercenaries and persuaded the inhabitants of the coast to join him; and then having marched against Sardis, he besieged Tabalus, who was shut up in the citadel.
When Cyrus heard this news on his march, he said to Crœsus;
"Crœsus, what will be the end of these things? the Lydians, it seems, will never cease to give trouble to me, and to themselves. I am in doubt whether it will not be better to reduce them to slavery; for I appear to have acted like one who, having killed the father, has spared the children; so I am carrying away you, who have been something more than a father to the Lydians, and have intrusted their city to the Lydians themselves: and then I wonder at their rebellion!" Crœsus, fearing lest he should utterly destroy Sardis, answered: "Sir, you have but too much reason for what you say; yet do not give full vent to your anger, nor utterly destroy an ancient city, which is innocent as well of the former as of the present offence: for of the former I myself was guilty, and now bear the punishment on my own head; but in the present instance Pactyas, to whom you intrusted Sardis, is the culprit; let him therefore pay the penalty. But pardon the Lydians, and enjoin them to observe the following regulations, to the end that they may never more revolt, nor be troublesome to you: send to them and order them to keep no weapons of war in their possession; and enjoin them to wear tunics under their cloaks, and buskins on their feet; and require them to teach their sons to play on the cithara, to strike the guitar, and to sell by retail; and then you will soon see them becoming women instead of men, so that they will never give you any apprehensions about their revolting." Crœsus suggested this plan, thinking it would be more desirable for the Lydians, than that they should be sold for slaves; and being persuaded, that unless he could suggest some feasible proposal, he should not prevail with him to alter his resolution: and he dreaded also, that the Lydians, if they should escape the present danger, might hereafter revolt from the Persians, and bring utter ruin on themselves. Cyrus, pleased with the expedient, laid aside his anger, and said that he would follow his advice: then having sent for Mazares, a Mede, he commanded him to order the Lydians to conform themselves to the regulations proposed by Crœsus, and moreover to enslave all the rest who had joined the Lydians in the attack on Sardis; but by all means to bring Pactyas to him alive. Cyrus having given these orders on his way, proceeded to the settlements of the Persians. But Pactyas heard that the army which was coming against him was close at hand, and fled in great consternation to Cyme. Mazares marched against Sardis with an inconsiderable division of Cyrus's army, but found that Pactyas and his party were no longer there. He, however, compelled the Lydians to conform to the injunctions of Cyrus; who, by his order, completely changed their mode of life: after this Mazares despatched messengers to Cyme, requiring them to deliver up Pactyas. But the Cymæans, in order to come to a decision, resolved to refer the matter to the deity at Branchidæ, for an oracular shrine was there erected in former times, which all the Ionians and Æolians were in the practice of consulting. The Cymæans asked the oracle "what course they should pursue respecting Pactyas, that would be most pleasing to the gods:" the answer to their question was, that they should deliver up Pactyas to the Persians. When this answer was reported, they determined to give him up; but, Aristodicus the son of Heraclides, a man of high repute among the citizens, distrusting the oracle, and suspecting the sincerity of the consulters, prevented them from doing so; till at last other messengers, among whom was Aristodicus, went to inquire a second time concerning Pactyas. When they arrived at Branchidæ, Aristodicus consulted the oracle in the name of all, inquiring in these words: "O king, Pactyas, a Lydian, has come to us as a suppliant, to avoid a violent death at the hands of the Persians. They now demand him, and require the Cymæans to give him up. We, however, though we dread the Persian power, have not yet dared to surrender the suppliant, till it be plainly declared by thee what we ought to do." The oracle gave the same answer as before. Upon this Aristodicus deliberately acted as follows; walking round the temple, he took away all the sparrows and all other kinds of birds that had built nests in the temple; whereupon a voice issued from the sanctuary; addressing Aristodicus, it spoke as follows: "O most impious of men, how darest thou do this? Dost thou tear my suppliants from my temple?" Aristodicus without hesitation answered, "O king, art thou then so careful to succor thy suppliants, but biddest the Cymæans to deliver up theirs?" The oracle again rejoined: "Yes, I bid you do so; that having acted impiously, ye may the sooner perish, and never more come and consult the oracle about the delivering up of suppliants." When the Cymæans heard this latter answer, not wishing to bring destruction on themselves by surrendering Pactyas, or to subject themselves to a siege by protecting him, they sent him away to Mitylene. But the Mitylenæans, when Mazares sent a message to them requiring them to deliver up Pactyas, were preparing to do so for some remuneration; what, I am unable to say precisely, for the proposal was never completed. For the Cymæans, being informed of what was being done by the Mitylenæans, despatched a vessel to Lesbos, and transported Pactyas to Chios, whence he was torn by violence from the temple of Minerva Poliuchus by the Chians, and delivered up. The Chians delivered him up in exchange for Atarneus, a place situate in Mysia, opposite Lesbos. In this manner Pactyas fell into the hands of the Persians; who kept him under guard in order that they might deliver him to Cyrus. For a long time after this, none of the Chians would offer barley-meal from Atarneus to any of the gods, or make any cakes of the fruit that came from them; but all the productions of that country were excluded from the temples. Mazares, after this, marched against those who had assisted in besieging Tabalus; and in the first place reduced the Prienians to slavery, and in the next overran the whole plain of the Mæander, and gave it to his army to pillage; and he treated Magnesia in the same manner: but shortly afterward fell sick and died.