The Good Book_ A Secular Bible - A. C. Grayling [144]
13. Then the other captains, who, till Histiaeus spoke, were about to vote with Miltiades, changed their minds, and declared in favour of Histiaeus.
14. Having resolved to stay, the Greek leaders further determined to appear to the Scythians to be doing something, when in fact they were doing nothing of consequence.
15. They resolved to break up the Scythian end of the bridge, to the distance of a bowshot from the bank;
16. And to assure the Scythians, while the demolition was proceeding, that there was nothing they would not do to please them.
17. Such were the additions made to the resolution of Histiaeus; who further addressed the Scythians, saying,
18. ‘While we demolish the bridge, why do you not go and seek out Darius, and take your revenge on him?’
19. The Scythians put faith in the promises of the Ionian chiefs, and retraced their steps, hoping to fall in with the Persians.
20. But they missed their enemy’s line of march entirely; their own former acts being to blame for it.
21. Had they not ravaged all the pasturages of that region, and filled in the wells, they would have easily found the Persians whenever they chose.
22. But, as it turned out, the measures which seemed to them so wisely planned were exactly what caused their failure.
23. They took a route where water was to be found and fodder could be got for their horses, and on this track sought their adversaries,
24. Expecting that they too would retreat through regions where these things were to be obtained.
25. The Persians, however, kept strictly to the line of their former march, never for a moment departing from it;
26. But even so they only gained the bridge with difficulty.
27. It was night when they arrived, and their terror, when they found the bridge broken up, was great; for they thought the Ionians had deserted them.
28. Now there was in the army of Darius an Egyptian who had a louder voice than any other man in the world.
29. This person was told by Darius to stand at the water’s edge, and call Histiaeus the Milesian.
30. Histiaeus, hearing him at the first summons, brought the fleet to make good the bridge once more and convey the army across.
31. By these means the Persians escaped from Scythia, while the Scythians sought for them in vain, again missing their track.
32. And hence the Scythians are accustomed to say of the Ionians, by way of reproach, that, if they be looked upon as freemen,
33. They are the basest and most dastardly of all mankind; but if they be considered as under servitude,
34. They are the most faithful of slaves, and the most fondly attached to their lords.
Chapter 48
1. But this failed venture of Darius into Europe was the cause of reflection among many,
2. Who saw it as a sign that the power of the great king was not unlimited, as all had feared;
3. And it gave rise to ambition and emulation in the hearts of some, while among Persians it made the desire to conquer Europe greater.
4. And now truly the main chapter began in the struggle between Persia and Greece, east and west, and the place it began was Miletus, subject to Darius and ruled by Histiaeus.
5. To him the king granted a favour for his service in Scythia, which was to give him the best architect of the time to come to Miletus and embellish it;
6. But when Darius saw that Histiaeus had begun to build walls round Miletus, he reflected,
7. And decided to summon Histiaeus to be his counsellor at Susa, thus preventing him from growing powerful and insubordinate in his own city.
8. Histiaeus gave the deputy governership of Miletus to his nephew Aristagoras,
9. An ambitious man who sought by several means to increase his own consequence, including a failed expedition against Naxos and the Cyclades, which were not under Persian sway.
10. When the Naxian expedition failed, Aristagoras, fearing the displeasure of Darius, decided to seek Greek help in a rebellion of Miletus against Persian rule.
11. He went first to Sparta