The Histories by Herodotus — Book V, The revolt spreads

This, then is how they fared in their fighting. Presently, however, the Athenians wholly separated themselves from the Ionians and refused to aid them, although Aristagoras sent messages of earnest entreaty. Despite the fact that they had been deprived of their Athenian allies, the Ionians fervently continued their war against the king (for they remained committed by what they had done to Darius). ^103.2They sailed to the Hellespont and made Byzantium and all the other cities of that region subject to themselves. Then sailing out from the Hellespont they gained to their cause the greater part of Caria, for even Caunus, which till then had not wanted to be their ally, now joined itself to them after the burning of Sardis.

^104.1The Cyprians did likewise of their own free will, all save the people of Amathus, for these too revolted from the Medes in such manner as I will show. There was a certain Onesilus, a younger brother of Gorgus king of the Salaminians, son of Chersis, whose father was Siromus, and grandson of Euelthon. ^104.2This man had often before advised Gorgus to revolt from Darius, and now when he heard that the Ionians too had revolted, he was insistent in striving to move him. When, however, he could not persuade Gorgus, he and his faction waited till his brother had gone out of the city of Salamis, and shut him out of the gates. ^104.3Gorgus, after having lost his city, took refuge with the Medes, and Onesilus, now king of Salamis, persuaded all Cyprus to revolt with him, all save the Amathusians, who would not consent. He accordingly stationed his forces in front of their city and besieged it.

^105.1Onesilus, then, besieged Amathus. When it was reported to Darius that Sardis had been taken and burnt by the Athenians and Ionians and that Aristagoras the Milesian had been leader of the conspiracy for the making of this plan, he at first, it is said, took no account of the Ionians since he was sure that they would not go unpunished for their rebellion. Darius did, however, ask who the Athenians were, and after receiving the answer, he called for his bow. This he took and, placing an arrow on it, and shot it into the sky, praying as he sent it aloft, ^105.2“O Zeus, grant me vengeance on the Athenians.” Then he ordered one of his servants to say to him three times whenever dinner was set before him, “Master, remember the Athenians.”

^106.1After giving this order, he called before him Histiaeus the Milesian, whom Darius had kept with him for a long time now, and said, “I hear, Histiaeus, that the viceregent whom you put in charge of Miletus has done me wrong. He has brought men from the mainland overseas, and persuaded certain Ionians—who shall yet pay me the penalty for their deeds—to follow them and has robbed me of Sardis. ^106.2Now then, I ask you, do you think that this state of affairs is good? How did such things come to pass without any advice from your side? See to it that you do not have cause to blame yourself hereafter.” ^106.3To this Histiaeus answered: “My lord, what is this you say—that I and none other should devise a plan as a result of which any harm, great or small, was likely to come to you? What desire or feeling of deprivation would prompt me to do such a thing? All that you have is mine, and I am regarded worthy of hearing all your deliberations. ^106.4If my vicegerent is indeed doing what you say, be assured that he has acted of his own accord. For myself, I cannot even go so far as to believe the report that the Milesians and my vicegerent are doing you some dreadful wrong. If, however,it is true that they are engaged in such activities and what you, O king, have heard has a basis in fact, then you can see how unwisely you acted when you forced me to leave the coast. ^106.5It would seem, then, that as soon as I was out of sight, the Ionians did exactly what their hearts had long been set on. If I had been in Ionia no city would have stirred. Now send me off to Ionia right away, so that I may restore that country to peace and deliver into your hands that vicegerent of Miletus who has devised all this. ^106.6Then, when I have done this to your satisfaction, I swear by the gods of your royal house that I will not take off the tunic I am wearing on my arrival in Ionia until I have made Sardo, the largest of the islands, tributary to you.”

¹⁰⁷With these words Histiaeus successfully deceived Darius who gave his consent and let him go, charging Histiaeus to appear before him at Susa when he had achieved what he promised.

^108.1Now while the message concerning Sardis was making its way to the king, and Darius, having done as I said with his bow, held converse with Histiaeus and permitted him to go to the sea, the following events took place. When Onesilus of Salamis was besieging the Amathusians, news was brought him that Artybius, a Persian, was thought to be coming to Cyprus with a great Persian host. ^108.2Upon hearing this, Onesilus sent heralds all through Ionia to summon the people, and the Ionians, after no long deliberation, came with a great force. So the Ionians were in Cyprus when the Persians, crossing from Cilicia, marched to Salamis by land, and the Phoenicians were sailing around the headland which is called the keys of Cyprus.

^109.1In this turn of affairs, the tyrants of Cyprus called together the generals of the Ionians, and said to them: “Ionians, we Cyprians offer you the choice of engaging either the Persians or the Phoenicians. ^109.2If you want to draw up your army on land and try your strength against the Persians, then it is time for you to disembark and array yourselves on land and for us to embark in your ships to contend with the Phoenicians. If, however, you desire rather to engage the Phoenicians, do so, but whichever you choose, see to it that Ionia and Cyprus become free.” ^109.3To this the Ionians answered, “We were sent by the common voice of Ionia to guard the seas, not to deliver our ships to men of Cyprus and encounter the Persians on land. We will attempt then to bear ourselves bravely in the task which was given us. It is for you to prove yourselves valiant men, remembering what you suffered when you were enslaved by the Medians.”

¹¹⁰This was the Ionians' response, and when the Persian army afterwards arrived on the plain of Salamis, the Cyprian kings ordered their battle line. They drew up the best of the Salaminians and Solians against the Persians, leaving the remaining Cyprians to face the rest of the enemy's army. Onesilus placed himself opposite Artybius, the Persian general.

^111.1Now the horse which Artybius rode was trained to fight with infantrymen by rearing up. Hearing this, Onesilus said to his attendant, a Carian of great renown in war and a valiant man, ^111.2“I learn that Artybius' horse rears up and kicks and bites to death whomever he encounters. In light of this decide and tell me straightway which you will watch and strike down, Artybius himself or his horse.” ^111.3To this his henchman answered, “My King, ready am I to do either or both, whatever you desire. Nevertheless, I will tell you what I think is in your best interest. ^111.4To my mind, a king and general should be met in battle by a king and general (For if you lay low a man who is a general, you have achieved a great feat. Failing that, if he lays you low, as I pray he may not, it is but half the misfortune to be slain by a noble enemy). For us servants it is fitting that we fight with servants like ourselves and with that horse. Do not fear his tricks, for I promise that he will never again do battle with any man.”

^112.1This, then, was his response, and immediately afterwards war broke out on land and sea. The Ionians in their ships, displaying surpassing excellence that day, overcame the Phoenicians, and it was the Samnians who were most brave. On land, when the armies met, they charged and fought. ^112.2As for the two generals, Artybius rode against Onesilus who as he had agreed with his attendant, dealt Artybius a blow as he bore down upon him. When the horse struck his hooves on Onesilus' shield, the Carian shore away the horse's legs with a stroke of his curved sword.

^113.1It was in this way that Artybius the Persian general, together with his horse, fell. While the rest were still fighting, Stesenor the ruler of Curium, allegedly an Argive settlement, played the traitor with great company of men under him. The war-chariots of the Salaminians immediately followed their lead, and the Persians accordingly gained the upper hand over the Cyprians. ^113.2So the army was routed, and many were slain, among them Onesilus, son of Chersis, who had contrived the Cyprian revolt, as well as the king of the Solians, Aristocyprus son of Philocyprus, that Philocyprus whom Solon of Athens, when he came to Cyprus, extolled in a poem above all other tyrants.

^114.1As for Onesilus, the Amathusians cut off his head and brought it to Amathus, where they hung it above their gates, because he had besieged their city. When this head became hollow, a swarm of bees entered it and filled it with their honeycomb. ^114.2In consequence of this the Amathusians, who had inquired concerning the matter, received an oracle which stated that they should take the head down and bury it, and offer yearly sacrifice to Onesilus as to a hero. If they did this, things would go better for them.

^115.1This the Amathusians did, and have done to this day. When, however, the Ionians engaged in the sea-battle off Cyprus learned that Onesilus' cause was lost and that the cities of Cyprus, with the exception of Salamis which the Salaminians had handed over to their former king Gorgus, were besieged, they sailed off to Ionia without delay. ^115.2Soli was the Cyprian city which withstood siege longest; the Persians took it in the fifth month by digging a mine under its walls.

¹¹⁶So the Cyprians, after winning freedom for a year, were enslaved once more. Daurises, Hymaees, and Otanes, all of them Persian generals and married to daughters of Darius, pursued those Ionians who had marched to Sardis, and drove them to their ships. After this victory they divided the cities among themselves and sacked them.

¹¹⁷Daurises made for the cities of the Hellespont and took Dardanus, Abydus, Percote, Lampsacus, and Paesus, each in a single day. Then as he marched from Paesus against Parius, news came to him that the Carians had made common cause with the Ionians and revolted from the Persians. For this reason he turned aside from the Hellespont and marched his army to Caria.

^118.1It so happened that news of this was brought to the Carians before Daurises' coming, and when the Carians heard, they mustered at the place called the White Pillars by the river Marsyas which flows from the region of Idria and issues into the Maeander. ^118.2When they had gathered together, many plans were laid before them, the best of which, in my judgment, was that of Pixodarus of Cindya, the son of Mausolus and husband of the daughter of Syennesis, king of Cilicia. He proposed that the Carians should cross the Maeander and fight with the river at their back, so that being unable to flee and compelled to stand their ground they might prove themselves even braver than nature made them. ^118.3This opinion, however, did not prevail, and it was decided instead that the Persians and not the Cilicians should have the Maeander at their back, the intent being that if the Persians were overcome in the battle and put to flight, they would not escape but be hurled into the river.

^119.1Presently, when the Persians had come and had crossed the Maeander, they and the Carians joined battle by the river Marsyas. The Carians fought obstinately and for a long time, but at the last they were overcome by the odds. Of the Persians, as many as two thousand men fell, and of the Carians ten thousand. ^119.2Those of them who escaped were driven into the precinct of Zeus of Armies at Labraunda, a large and a holy grove of plane-trees. (The Carians are the only people whom we know who offer sacrifices to Zeus by this name.) When they had been driven there, they deliberated how best to save themselves, whether it would be better for them to surrender to the Persians or to depart from Asia.

¹²⁰While they took counsel, the Milesians and their allies came to their aid, whereupon the Carians put aside their former plans, and prepared to wage a new war over again. They met the Persian attack and suffered a heavier defeat in the battle than the first; many of their whole army fell, but the Milesians were hardest stricken.

¹²¹The Carians, however, rallied and fought again after this disaster, for learning that the Persians had set forth to march against their cities, they beset the road with an ambush at Pedasus. The Persians fell into this by night and perished, they and their generals, Daurises and Amorges and Sisimaces. With these fell also Myrsus, son of Gyges. The leader of this ambush was Heraclides of Mylasas, son of Ibanollis.

^122.1This, then, is how these Persians perished. Hymaees, who had been one of those who went in pursuit of the Ionians who marched on Sardis, now turned towards the Propontis, and there took Cius in Mysia. ^122.2When he had taken this place and heard that Daurises had left the Hellespont and was marching towards Caria, he left the Propontis and led his army to the Hellespont, making himself master of all the Aeolians who dwell in the territory of Ilium, and of the Gergithae, a remnant of the ancient Trojans. While he was conquering these nations, however, Hymaees himself died of a sickness in the Troad.

¹²³This is how he met his end, and Artaphrenes, viceroy of Sardis, and Otanes, the third general, were appointed to lead the army against Ionia and the Aeolian territory on its borders. They took Clazomenae in Ionia, and Cyme in Aeolia.

^124.1Aristagoras the Milesian, as he clearly demonstrated, was a man of little courage, for after he had disturbed Ionia and thrown all into utter confusion, he, perceiving what he had done, began to deliberate flight. Moreover, it seemed to him to be impossible to overcome Darius. ^124.2While the cities were being taken, he accordingly called his fellow-rebels together and took counsel with them, saying that it was best for them to have some place of refuge in case they should be thrown out of Miletus. He also asked them whether he should lead them from there to a settlement in Sardo, or Myrcinus in Edonia, which Histiaeus had received as a gift from Darius and fortified.

¹²⁵Hecataeus the historian, son of Hegesander, was of the opinion that they should set forth to neither of these places, but that Aristagoras should build a fortress in the island of Leros and reside there, if he were driven from Miletus. Afterwards, with this as a base, he could return to Miletus.

^126.1Such was the advice of Hecataeus, but Aristagoras himself thought it best to depart for Myrcinus. He accordingly entrusted Miletus to Pythagoras, a citizen of repute, and himself sailed to Thrace with any that would follow him and then took possession of the place to which he had come. ^126.2After this he was put to the sword by the Thracians, he and his army, as he was besieging a town, even though the Thracians were ready to depart from it under treaty.