Greece -- History -- To 146 B.C.; History, Ancient
29. Thus he said; and Xerxes was pleased by the things which he had
spoken, and replied: "Lydian host, ever since I went forth from the
Persian land I have encountered no man up to this time who was desirous
to entertain my army, or who came into my presence and made offer of his
own free will to contribute money to me for the war, except only thee:
and thou not only didst entertain my army magnificently, but also now
dost make offer of great sums of money. To thee therefore in return I
give these rewards,--I make thee my guest-friend, and I will complete
for thee the four hundred myriads of staters by giving from myself the
seven thousand, in order that thy four hundred myriads may not fall
short by seven thousand, but thou mayest have a full sum in thy
reckoning, completed thus by me. Keep possession of that which thou hast
got for thyself, and be sure to act always thus; for if thou doest so,
thou wilt have no cause to repent either at the time or afterwards."
30. Having thus said and having accomplished his promise, he continued
his march onwards; and passing by a city of the Phrygians called Anaua
and a lake whence salt is obtained, he came to Colossai, a great city
of Phrygia, where the river Lycos falls into an opening of the earth and
disappears from view, and then after an interval of about five furlongs
it comes up to view again, and this river also flows into the Maiander.
Setting forth from Colossai towards the boundaries of the Phrygians and
Lydians, the army arrived at the city of Kydrara, where a pillar 3001
is fixed, set up by Croesus, which declares by an inscription that the
boundaries are there.
31. From Phrygia then he entered Lydia; and here the road parts into
two, and that which goes to the left leads towards Caria, while that
which goes to the right leads to Sardis; and travelling by this latter
road one must needs cross the river Maiander and pass by the city
of Callatebos, where men live whose trade it is to make honey of the
tamarisk-tree and of wheat-flour. By this road went Xerxes and found a
plane-tree, to which for its beauty he gave an adornment of gold, and
appointed that some one should have charge of it always in undying
succession; 31 and on the next day he came to the city of the Lydians.
32. Having come to Sardis he proceeded first to send heralds to Hellas,
to ask for earth and water, and also to give notice beforehand to
prepare meals for the king; except that he sent neither to Athens nor
Lacedemon to ask for earth, but to all the other States: and the reason
why he sent the second time to ask for earth and water was this,--as
many as had not given at the former time to Dareios when he sent, these
he thought would certainly give now by reason of their fear: this matter
it was about which he desired to have certain knowledge, and he sent
accordingly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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