Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.; History, Ancient
3, and the following story is also told, which for my part I do not
believe, namely that one of the Persian women came in to the wives of
Cyrus, and when she saw standing by the side of Cassandane children
comely of form and tall, she was loud in her praises of them, expressing
great admiration; and Cassandane, who was the wife of Cyrus, spoke
as follows: "Nevertheless, though I am the mother of such children of
these, Cyrus treats me with dishonour and holds in honour her whom he
has brought in from Egypt." Thus she spoke, they say, being vexed by
Nitetis, and upon that Cambyses the elder of her sons said: "For this
cause, mother, when I am grown to be a man, I will make that which is
above in Egypt to be below, and that which is below above." This he is
reported to have said when he was perhaps about ten years old, and the
women were astonished by it: and he, they say, kept it ever in mind, and
so at last when he had become a man and had obtained the royal power, he
made the expedition against Egypt.
4. Another thing also contributed to this expedition, which was as
follows:—There was among the foreign mercenaries 3 of Amasis a man who
was by race of Halicarnassos, and his name was Phanes, one who was both
capable in judgment and valiant in that which pertained to war. This
Phanes, having (as we may suppose) some quarrel with Amasis, fled away
from Egypt in a ship, desiring to come to speech with Cambyses: and as
he was of no small repute among the mercenaries and was very closely
acquainted with all the affairs of Egypt, Amasis pursued him and
considered it a matter of some moment to capture him: and he pursued by
sending after him the most trusted of his eunuchs with a trireme, who
captured him in Lykia; but having captured him he did not bring him back
to Egypt, since Phanes got the better of him by cunning; for he made
his guards drunk and escaped to Persia. So when Cambyses had made his
resolve to march upon Egypt, and was in difficulty about the march, as
to how he should get safely through the waterless region, this man
came to him and besides informing of the other matters of Amasis, he
instructed him also as to the march, advising him to send to the king
of the Arabians and ask that he would give him safety of passage through
this region.
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