The Good Book_ A Secular Bible - A. C. Grayling [146]
Chapter 49
1. When Darius heard of the burning of Sardis by the Athenians and Ionians,
2. And at the same time learnt that the author of the league was Aristagoras the Milesian, he no sooner understood what had happened,
3. Than, laying aside all thought of the Ionians, who would, he was sure, pay dear for their rebellion, he asked, ‘Who are these Athenians?’
4. And, being informed, called for his bow, and placing an arrow on the string, shot upward into the sky, saying, as he let fly the shaft,
5. ‘This is my promise: to be revenged on the Athenians!’
6. Thenceforth he ordered one of his servants, when his dinner was spread before him every day, to repeat these words to him three times: ‘Master, remember the Athenians.’
7. Then Darius summoned Histiaeus of Miletus, whom he had kept at his court, and said, ‘Your lieutenant, to whom you gave Miletus in charge, has raised a rebellion.
8. ‘He has brought men from Europe to contend with me, and, prevailing on the Ionians, whose conduct I shall know how to avenge, to join with this force, he has robbed me of Sardis.
9. ‘Can this have been done without your knowledge and advice? Beware lest it be found out that you are to blame for this.’
10. Histiaeus answered, ‘If my lieutenant has done as you say, be sure he has done it out of his own ambition.
11. ‘But I cannot believe that he and the Milesians have done this! Yet if they really have rebelled, see how ill advised it was to remove me from the sea coast.
12. ‘The Ionians, it seems, have waited till I was no longer there, and then tried what they long desired to try;
13. ‘Whereas, if I had been there, not a single city would have stirred.
14. ‘Allow me therefore to go to Ionia, to restore matters to their former footing, and arrest Aristagoras, who has caused all the trouble.
15. ‘Having done that, I promise I will not put off the clothes in which I reach Ionia till I have made Sardinia, the biggest island in the world, your tributary.’
16. So Histiaeus spoke, wishing to deceive the king; and Darius, persuaded by his words, let him go.
17. As these events were unfolding, matters were afoot in Cyprus.
18. Artybius, a Persian general, planned to invade Cyprus with a great army of infantry, while at the same time the Phoenicians were to attack Cyprus with their fleet.
19. Onesilus, chief among the princes of Cyprus, urgently sent heralds to all parts of Ionia asking for help.
20. At the same time the Persians crossed in their ships from Cilicia, and proceeded by land to attack Salamis;
21. While the Phoenicians, with the fleet, sailed round the promontory called ‘the Keys of Cyprus’.
22. Onesilus called together the captains of the Ionians who had come to help, and said,
23. ‘Men of Ionia, we Cyprians leave it to you to choose whether you will fight with the Persians or with the Phoenicians.
24. ‘If you wish to try your strength on land against the Persians, come on shore and ready yourselves for battle; we will take your ships and engage the Phoenicians.
25. ‘If, on the other hand, you prefer to encounter the Phoenicians, let that be your task:
26. ‘Only be sure, whichever you choose, acquit yourselves so that Ionia and Cyprus may preserve their freedom.’
27. The Ionians answered, ‘The commonwealth of Ionia sent us here to guard the sea, not to make over our ships to you.
28. ‘We will keep the post assigned to us. For your part, remember what you suffered when you were the slaves of the Medes, and behave like warriors.’
29. The Persians advanced into the plain before Salamis, and the Cyprians ranged themselves in order of battle against them,
30. Placing them so that the choicest troops were set to oppose the Persians, and Onesilus, of his own accord, took post opposite Artybius the general.
31. Now Artybius rode a horse which had been trained to rear up against foot soldiers, attacking with its forelegs and teeth.
32. Onesilus, informed of this, called to him his shield-bearer, who was a Carian, courageous and skilled in war; and asked him what was to