From Tyranny to Democracy, 546-483 prescribed sources

5.78

And so, the Athenians grew more powerful still, and proved the benefits of equality [isegoria] in every respect. This is demonstrated by how, even when still under tyrannical rule, the Athenians were no better in war than any of their neighbours. Without their tyrants, however, they were undoubtedly superior to all. This proves that under a tyrant they were cowardly, like a man working for a master; when they were free, every man was eager to achieve for himself.

Herodotus 5.90–5.103

5.90

... When the Spartans learned about the Almaeonids’ plot with the Pythia, and her plot against them and the Peisistratids, they were furious for two reasons: firstly, because they had driven out their own guest-friends from the country they lived in, and secondly, because the Athenians had given them no thanks at all for doing so. They were also encouraged by the oracles, which foretold that the Athenians would commit many wrongdoings against them. They had not known anything of these oracles before, but Cleomenes had brought them to Sparta, where the Spartans had familiarised themselves with them. Cleomenes took the oracles from the Athenian acropolis, which had previously been in the possession of the Peisistratids. They left them in the temple upon their exile, from where Cleomenes took them.

5.91

Now, having retrieved the oracles, the Spartans saw the Athenians’ power growing, and were in no way inclined to obey them. They realised that the Athenians would have equal power to them if they remained free, but if they were oppressed by a tyranny, they would be a weak and ready subject. All this considered, they sent for Peisistratus’ son Hippias to come from Sigeum on the Hellespont, where the Peisistratids were taking refuge. When he arrived, the Spartans sent for envoys from all of their other allies and told them this: “Gentlemen, our allies, we acknowledge that we have done wrong. We were deceived by false prophecies, drove men who were our friends from their native lands, and promised to make Athens subject to us. Then we handed that city over to a thankless people, and no sooner than it had raised its head in the freedom we gave it, it had audaciously expelled us and our king. Now it has developed such a proud spirit and growing power that its neighbours in Boeotia and Chalcis have learnt to their costs, and soon others will also realise their error. Since what we did was a mistake, now we will try to make amends with your help. This is the only reason that we have sent for Hippias here, and why we have brought you from your cities: by uniting our power and expertise, we might bring him to Athens and restore what we took away.”

5.92

This is what the Spartans said, but it did not go down well with most of their allies. As the rest stayed silent, Sosicles the Corinthian said:

5.92A

“In truth, now that you the Spartans are destroying the rule of equals and reinstate tyranny in the cities, the world will go upside-down. Heaven will be beneath the earth, and the earth high in the sky about heaven; men will live in the sea and fishes where we lived before; now you are reinstating tyranny, which is more unrighteous and bloody than anything else on earth. If you actually think it a good idea for the cities to be ruled by tyrants, then establish one for yourselves first before you try to establish it elsewhere. As it happens, you, who have never even tried tyranny and in fact take the greatest precautions to prevent it from being established in Sparta, you are abusing your allies. If you ever had the experience we have, then you would be more sensible advisers on the topic than you are now.

5.92B

I will describe here the order of the Corinthian state: it had an oligarchy, and a group of men called the Bacchiads held the most power in the city, and intermarried amongst themselves. Amphion, one of these men, had a disabled daughter named Labda. Since none of the Bacchiads would marry her, she was married to Eetion, son of Echecrates, from a town called Petra. He was a Lapith by blood, and one of the descendants of Caeneus. When no sons were born to him by this wife or any other, he went to Delphi to ask about acquiring offspring. As soon as he entered, the Pythia said this to him:

“Eetion, honourable man, no man honours you.
Labda is pregnant, and her child will be like a millstone
which will fall upon the ruling class and bring justice to Corinth.”

This oracle was made known to the Bacchiads somehow. They had not understood the earlier oracle which had been sent to them at Corinth, despite the fact that it meant the same as Eetion’s. That oracle went like this:

“An eagle has conceived in the rocks, and will produce
A strong, fierce lion. It will loose many knees.
Think on this, Corinthians,
Who live beside lovely Pirene and the overhanging heights of Corinth.”

5.92C

This earlier prophecy had been a complete mystery to the Bacchiads, but as soon as they heard Eetion’s, they understood it at once as they recognised the similarities between the two. Now, understanding both of the oracles, they kept quiet, but decided to kill off the offspring of Eetion. As soon as his wife gave birth, they sent ten men from the group to Eetion’s town to kill the child. They came to Petra, into Eetion’s courtyard, and asked for the child. Labda knew nothing about why they had come, and thought they wanted to see the baby because they were fond of his father, so she brought out the child and handed it to them. They had planned on the way that the first one to hold the child should dash it to the ground, but when it was handed over, it happened to smile at that first man who took it. He saw, and was prevented from killing it by compassion. He handed it to the second man, full of pity, and the second man handed it to the third. In fact, it passed between the hands of all ten men, as none of them would make the move. Then they gave the baby back to its mother, left, and stood in front of the door having a go at each other, and especially the first man to hold the baby as he had broken the agreement. They eventually decided to go back in and all have a hand in the killing.

5.92D

It was fated, however, that Eetion’s offspring would live and be a source of misfortune for Corinth. Labda had also heard everything, as she was stood close to the door. Afraid that they would change their minds and actually kill her baby, she took it away and hid it in what she thought was the best hiding place, in a chest; for she knew that if they returned and started searching (which they did) then they would not look everywhere. So, when they came back, searched, and did not find the baby, they decided to leave again and tell the ones who had sent them that they had completed the task. So they went away and said this.

5.92E

Eetion’s son, however, grew up, and was named Cypselus after the chest, because of his narrow escape. When he had become a man and was seeing an oracle, one was given to him at Delphi with two meanings. He believed it, made an attempt on Corinth, and captured it. This was the oracle:

“The man who steps into my house is lucky:
Cypselus son of Eetion, the king of noble Corinth,
He and his children, but not his grandchildren.”

Cypselus, however, when he had won the tyranny, behaved like this: he exiled many Corinthians, bankrupted many Corinthians, and more than anything else killed many Corinthians.

5.92F

After a reign of 30 years, he died at the very height of his wealth and power, and was succeeded by his son Periander. Periander was a gentler ruler than his father to begin with, but after he had corresponded with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, he became even more bloodthirsty than Cypselus. He sent a herald to Thrasybulus and asked how he could govern his city best and most safely. Thrasybulus led Periander’s herald outside the town, and reached a sown field. As he walked through the corn, he asked continually why the herald had come from Corinth, whilst cutting off all the tallest ears of wheat in sight and throwing them away, until he had destroyed the best part of the crop. Then, having made this journey and offering no counsel, he dismissed the herald. When he returned to Corinth, Periander was keen to hear what counsel his messenger had brought back, but he had to admit that Thrasybulus had offered him none. The herald added that he had been sent to a very odd man who was a wanton destroyer of his own possessions, and explained to Periander what he had seen Thrasybulus do.

5.92G

Periander, however, understood completely, and understood that Thrasybulus had advised him to kill those from his people who were notable in influence and ability. And so, he began to rule his citizens harshly. Whatever act of slaughter or exile which Cypselus had left undone, Periander did. One day he stripped every Corinthian woman naked, because of his own wife, Melissa. Periander had sent messengers to the Oracle of the Dead on the River Acheron in Thesprotia, to enquire about a deposit left by a friend, but Melissa came to him as a ghost and said that she would tell him nothing, nor reveal the location of the deposit, because she was cold and naked. She said that the garments with which Periander had cremated her had never been burnt, so were useless to her. Then, to prove that she was speaking the truth, she added that Periander had “put his loaves into a cold oven”. As soon as this message was relayed to Periander (he knew it was true, because he had had sex with Melissa’s dead body), he proclaimed that all the women of Corinth should come to the temple of Hera. The women came out as if going to a festival, in their best clothes, and Periander set his guards about stripping them all: ladies and servants, and piled up all their clothes in a pit while he prayed to Melissa as he burnt them. When he had done this and sent a second message, Melissa’s ghost told him where his friend had laid his deposit.

This, then, Spartans, is what tyranny is like, and what it does. We Corinthians were amazed when we saw that you were sending Hippias, and now we are even more astounded at what you have said. We sincerely beg you in the name of all the gods of Greece not to bring tyranny back to our cities. If you do not stop this attempt, and your unrighteous efforts to reinstate Hippias, please know that you are doing so without Corinth’s blessing.”

5.93

These were the words of Sosicles, the Corinthian envoy. Hippias responded, invoking the same gods as Sosicles had done, and said that the Corinthians would be the first to want the Peisistratids back when the time came for them to be vexed by the Athenians. He said this, since he knew more about the precise nature of the oracles than anyone. However, the rest of the allies, who had been silent until now, piped up when they heard Sosicles speaking out. They sided with Corinth, and begged the Spartans not to harm any Greek city.

5.94

So Sparta’s plan crumbled, and Hippias was forced to leave. Amyntas, king of Macedon, offered Hippias Anthemus, and the Thessalians offered him Iolcus, but he would have neither. He retreated to Sigeum, which Peisistratus had taken at spearpoint from the Mytilenaeans, and where he had made Hegesistratus tyrant, his bastard son by an Argive mother.

Hegesistratus, however, could not keep what Peisistratus had given him without fighting. There was a constant, long-lived war between the Athenians at Sigeum and the Mytilenaeans at Achilleum. The Mytilenaeans were demanding the land be returned, and the Athenians, with proof to show that the Aeolians had no more of a claim to the land of Troy than they themselves, and all the other Greeks who had aided Menelaus in avenging the seizure of Helen, would not consent.

5.95

Amongst the many incidents during this war, one is particularly worth mentioning: during a battle which had an Athenian advantage, Alcaeus the poet fled and escaped, but his armour was taken by the Athenians and hung in the temple of Athena at Sigeum. Alcaeus wrote a poem about this and sent it to Mytilene, in which he expresses his misfortune to his friend Melanippus. Peace was made between the Mytilenaeans and the Athenians by Periander, son of Cypselus, who mediated the matter, and set terms of peace which decreed that each side would keep what they had.

5.96

So, this was how Sigeum entered Athenian rule but Hippias, having come from Sparta to Asia, left no stone unturned. He criticised the Athenians to Atraphrenes, and did all in his power to bring Athens under the rule of Darius and himself. Whilst Hippias was doing all these things, the Athenians got wind of it and sent messengers to Sardis, warning the Persians not to believe Athenian exiles. Artaphernes, however, called upon them to take Hippias back if they wanted to be safe. When the Athenians received his message, they did not consent to it, and so it was decided that they should accept open hostility to Persia.

5.97

When the Athenians had made this decision, and were already on bad terms with Persia, that Aristagoras of Miletus, who had been exiled from Sparta by Cleomenes, came to Athens, since it was the most powerful city of all. He came before the people and spoke similar words to the Spartans’, about the positive aspects of Asia, and how the Persians did not fight with a shield or a spear, so could be overcome easily. He added that the Milesians were Athenian settlers, and it was only right to save them, since they themselves [the Athenians] were a very powerful people. His plea was so earnest and left no promise unpromised, until he won out over them at last. It would seem that it is easier to deceive many than it is to deceive one; he could not deceive Cleomenes alone, but he could fool 30,000 Athenians. The Athenians, duly persuaded, voted to send 20 ships in aid of the Ionians, and made Melanthius, a citizen with a flawless reputation, their general. Those ships were the beginning of both Greek and Persian troubles.

5.98

Aristagoras sailed in front of this fleet, and when he reached Miletus, he made a plan which would be of no benefit to the Ionians (that was not the point at all: what was, was to anger Darius). He sent a messenger into Phrygia, to the Paeonians. These men had been taken as captives from the Strymon by Megabazus, and now dwelt in Phrygian territory in a village by themselves. When the messenger reached the Paeonians, this is what he said: “Paeonians, I have been sent by Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, to show you how you might be saved, if you do what I say. All of Ionia is now revolting against the king, and it is possible for you to win your way back home safely; we will take care of you afterwards.” The Paeonians were relieved to hear this, and although some of them stayed there for fear of danger, the rest took their families and fled to the sea. When they arrived, the Paeonians crossed to Chios. They were in Chios when they were pursued by a huge Persian cavalry, who, unable to overtake them, sent to Chios ordering the Paeonians to return to Phrygia. They refused, but were taken to Lesbos by the Chians, then to Doriscus by the Lesbians, and only from there did they make their way by land back to Paeonia.

5.99

The Athenians brought their 20 ships, alongside five Eretrian triremes which had come not to please the Athenians, but they had a debt to repay to the Milesians. The Milesians had once allied with Eretria against Chalcis, when the Samians joined forces with the Chalcidians against them. So when these and the rest of the allies had arrived, Aristagoras planned a march against Sardis. He did not go with the army himself, but stayed at Miletus, and delegated general duties to others: his own brother Charopinus, and another man called Hermophantus.

5.100

When the Ionians had reached Ephesus with this force, they moored at Coressus and marched inland with a huge army, taking the Ephesians as guides. They followed the River Cayster, and after crossing the ridge of Tmolus they came to Sardis and captured it with ease. They took it all except the citadel, which Artaphernes himself held with his own great force.

5.101

They were prevented from plundering the city because most of the houses in Sardis were made of reeds, and even the brick houses had reed roofs. So, when one of these was set on fire by a soldier, the fire spread across the entire city. Whilst it burned, the Lydians and the Persians in the citadel were closed in on every side, with the fire consuming all the outer areas and offering no escape route from the city. So they thronged into the marketplace to the River Pactolus, which flows through the market square, bringing gold dust from Tmolus, and into the River Hermus, which flows to the sea. They gathered in the marketplace by this river, and had to defend themselves there. When the Ionians saw some of their enemies defending themselves, and many others on the way, they took fright and fled to the mountain named Tmolus. From there, they boarded their ships and left under the cover of darkness.

5.102

In the fire at Sardis, a temple of the native goddess Cybebe was burnt, and the Persians later took this as reason for burning the Greeks’ temples. At this time, the Persians from provinces this side of the Halys gathered together when they heard about this, and came to the Lydians’ aid. It so happened that they did not find the Ionians at Sardis, but intercepted them at Ephesus. The Ionians were drawn up in rank and file to meet them there, but were completely routed in battle. The Persians slew many famous men, including Eualcides, the Eretrian general, who had won crowns as a victor at the games, and earned the praise of Simonides of Ceos. The Ionians who managed to escape fled to their respective home cities.

5.103

This is how they fared in battle. Soon afterwards, however, the Athenians cut all ties with the Ionians and refused to help them, although Aristagoras sent frequent, pleading messages. Although they had lost their Athenian allies, the Ionians passionately continued the war against the king, as what they had done to Darius had left them committed to the cause. They sailed to the Hellespont and made Byzantium and all the other nearby cities their subjects. As they sailed from the Hellespont, they gained most of Caria as supporters of their cause, for even Caunus, which had not wanted to be their ally before, made an alliance with them after the burning of Sardis.

Herodotus 6.25

After the sea battle for Miletus, the Phoenicians, as ordered by the Persians, returned Aeaces son of Syloson back to Samos, because his achievements were great, and his service of great worth to them. Due to deserting their ships during the battle, the Samians were the only rebels whose city and temples remained unburnt. When Miletus had been captured, the Persians immediately took Caria. Some towns willingly submitted to their rule, whilst others only did so when forced.

Herodotus 6.43–6.44

6.43

When spring came, however, the king removed the other generals from office. Mardonius son of Gobryas, a young man, recently married to Darius’ daughter Artozostre, arrived on the coast leading a huge army and fleet. When Mardonius had led this army to Cilicia, he boarded a ship and sailed with the fleet, whilst other generals led the army to the Hellespont. Mardonius did something on arrival in Ionia, during his voyage along the Asian coast, which I have recounted here for the benefit of those Greeks who will not believe that Otanes would have declared amongst the seven conspirators that democracy was the best system for Persia. Mardonius deposed all the Ionian tyrants, and established democracies in their place, before rushing to the Hellespont. When a huge fleet and huge army were assembled, the Persians crossed the Hellespont by boat, and marched through Europe in quest of the capture of Athens and Eretria.

6.44

This was the official objectives of their expedition, but they intended to capture as many Greek cities as possible. Their fleet defeated the Thasians, who barely even lifted their hands against it; their army added the Macedonians to their ranks of slaves (already large, because all the states between them and Macedonia had already become Persian subjects). They crossed from Thasos and followed the coast as far as Acathus, then tried to circle the peninsula at Athos. But a great, violent north wind set upon them on their journey and treated them harshly, dashing much of the fleet upon Athos’ shoreline. They say some 300 ships were lost, and more than 20,000 sailors. Since the coast of Athos is populated by wild beasts, many men died when they were carried off by these creatures, whilst others, particularly those who could not swim were smashed against the rocks, or killed by the cold.

Herodotus 6.102–6.107

6.102

Once they [the Persians] had overcome Eretria, they spent a few days there and then sailed towards Attica in good spirits, expecting to have the same success against the Athenians. Hippias the son of Peisistratus led them towards Marathon, which was the part of Attica closest to Eretria and most suitable for cavalry.

6.103

When the Athenians learned about this, they came to meet them at Marathon. The Athenian forces were led by ten generals, of whom the tenth was Miltiades. As it happened, his father Cimon, son of Stesagoras, had been banished by Peisistratus, son of Hippocrates. While he was in exile he was lucky enough to win the chariot race at Olympia; by this victory he achieved the same honour as his half-brother Miltiades. At the next Olympic festival, he won again with the very same horses, but allowed Peisistratus to be announced as the winner; because of this he returned to his own land with the agreement of Peisistratus. With the same horses he won again at another games, but he was killed by the sons of Peisistratus once Peisistratus himself had died. His sons sent some men to kill him at night by the Council House. Cimon is buried outside the city, on the other side of what is called the ‘hollow road’; opposite him are buried his horses, with which he won three Olympic victories. One and only one other team of horses belonging to Euagoras the Spartan had already achieved this distinction. The older of Cimon’s children was then living with his uncle Miltiades in the Chersonese, while the younger (who was named after Miltiades who set up the settlement in the Chersonese) was living with Cimon in Athens.

6.104

This then was the Miltiades who had returned from the Chersonese, having escaped death twice, and now was one of the Athenian generals. The Phoenicians had pursued him as far as the island of Imbros, very keen to capture him and bring him to the Persian king. After escaping from them he arrived home safely as it seemed; but his enemies were waiting for him and took him to court, prosecuting him for his tyranny in the Chersonese. After he had been acquitted, he was chosen as an Athenian general by the people.

6.105

While they were still in the city the generals sent to Sparta a herald called Pheidippides, an Athenian and an experienced long-distance runner. As Pheidippides himself reported to the Athenians, the god Pan met him on Mount Parthenion above Tegea, and called out his name. The god Pan told Pheidippides to ask the Athenians why they did not show respect to him, when he was well-disposed towards them and had often been useful to them in earlier times, and would be again in the future. The Athenians, once their situation was again secure, as they believed this story was true, dedicated a shrine to Pan beneath the Acropolis and worshipped him from that time onwards every year with sacrifices and a torch-race.