had regarded this condition of happiness as a very easy one; a man might have some difficulty in learning to know others, but himself he could know quite easily. "But I did not know myself," Croesus continues in Xenophon, "when I fancied that I was equal to you in war; you are descended from the gods, from a series of kings, and from your youth have been exercised in brave deeds. My ancestor was a slave who became king. Now I know myself." Cyrus allowed him to retain his wife and daughters, gave him servants and entertainment, and took him with him wherever he went, either because he held the advice of Croesus to be useful, or because this seemed to him the safest thing to do.[8] Only fragments have come down to us of Diodorus' narrative of the fall of Croesus; in some respects these agree with the account of Herodotus; more frequently they differ from it. He may have borrowed from Ephorus.[9] Diodorus began with the death of Attys by the javelin of the Phrygian Adrastus. Croesus at first threatens to have Adrastus burnt alive, but forgives his offence when he offers his own life for it. But he voluntarily slays himself at the tomb of Attys. Diodorus then gives an account of the oracles--the first, which Croesus received at Delphi before the war on behalf of his dumb son,--Croesus was foolish in wishing to hear the much-desired voice of his child; he would speak in a day of disaster--the second, about the consequences of crossing the Halys; the third, about the mule. Croesus sent Eurybatus of Ephesus with gold, apparently to Delphi, but in reality to the Peloponnesus, in order to receive as many Hellenes as possible into his pay; but Eurybatus passed over to Cyrus, and revealed everything to him. This act of treachery was held in such detestation by the Greeks, that to his day a villain was called Eurybatus. When Cyrus had reached the passes of Cappadocia with his united forces he sent heralds to Croesus, to discover his forces, and to tell him that Cyrus would pardon his former offences and nominate him satrap of Lydia, if he would appear at his gates and there proclaim himself a servant like the rest. Croesus replied that Cyrus and the Persians would sooner endure to be his slaves, as in former times they had been the servants of the Medes; as regarded himself, he had never obeyed the order of another person. When Croesus had been taken captive, and the flames of the pyre quenched, Diodorus represents Croesus putting to Cyrus the question which we find in Herodotus (p. 14), about the sacking of the city; Cyrus puts an end to the plundering, and orders the possessions of the inhabitants to be brought into the palace. We are further told, that as the rain had suddenly come down and quenched the flames, Cyrus regarded Croesus as a pious man. Moreover, he kept Solon's saying in mind; he held Croesus in honour, and made him his adviser, regarding one who had associated with so many wise men as being himself prudent and able.[10]