When Cambyses arrived at Memphis, Apis, whom the Greeks call Epaphus, appeared to the Egyptians; and when this manifestation took place, the Egyptians immediately put on their richest apparel, and kept festive holiday. Cambyses, seeing them thus occupied, and concluding that they made these rejoicings on account of his ill success, summoned the magistrates of Memphis; and when they came into his presence, he asked "why the Egyptians had done nothing of the kind when he was at Memphis before, but did so now, when he had returned with the loss of a great part of his army." They answered, that their god appeared to them, who was accustomed to manifest himself at intervals, and that when he did appear, then all the Egyptians were accustomed to rejoice and keep a feast. Cambyses, having heard this, said they were liars, and put them to death. Then he summoned the priests into his presence, and when the priests gave the same account, he said, that he would find out whether a god so tractable had come among the Egyptians; and commanded the priests to bring Apis to him. This Apis, or Epaphus, the Egyptians say, is the calf of a cow upon which the lightning has descended from heaven. It is black, and has a square spot of white on the forehead; on the back the figure of an eagle; and in the tail double hairs; and on the tongue a beetle. When the priests brought Apis, Cambyses, like one almost out of his senses, drew his dagger, meaning to strike the belly of Apis, but hit the thigh; then falling into a fit of laughter, he said to the priests: "Ye blockheads, are there such gods as these, consisting of blood and flesh, and sensible of steel? This, truly, is a god worthy of the Egyptians. But you shall not mock me with impunity." Then he gave orders to scourge the priests, and kill all the Egyptians who should be found feasting. Apis, wounded in the thigh, lay and languished in the temple; and at length, when he had died of the wound, the priests buried him without the knowledge of Cambyses.

But Cambyses, as the Egyptians say, immediately became mad in consequence of this atrocity, though he really was not of sound mind before. His first crime he committed against his brother Smerdis, who was born of the same father and mother; him he sent back from Egypt to Persia through envy, because he alone of all the Persians had drawn the bow, which the Ichthyophagi brought from the Ethiopian, within two fingers' breadth; of the other Persians no one was able to do this. After the departure of Smerdis for Persia, Cambyses saw the following vision in his sleep: he imagined that a messenger arrived from Persia and informed him that Smerdis was seated on the royal throne, and touched the heavens with his head. Upon this, fearing for himself, lest his brother should kill him, and reign, he sent Prexaspes, the most faithful to him of the Persians, to Persia, with orders to kill Smerdis. Having gone up to Susa, he killed Smerdis; some say, when he had taken him out to hunt; but others, that he led him to the Red Sea and drowned him. This they say was the first of the crimes of Cambyses; the second was that of marrying his own sister, who had accompanied him into Egypt.

The Greeks say, that one day Cambyses made the whelp of a lion fight with a young dog; and this wife was also looking on; the dog being over-matched, another puppy of the same litter broke his chain, and came to his assistance, and thus the two dogs united got the better of the whelp. Cambyses was delighted at the sight, but she, sitting by him, shed tears. Cambyses, observing this, asked her why she wept. She answered, that she wept seeing the puppy come to the assistance of his brother, remembering Smerdis, and knowing that there was no one to avenge him. The Greeks say, that for this speech she was put to death by Cambyses. But the Egyptians say, that as they were sitting at table, his wife took a lettuce, stripped off its leaves, and then asked her husband "whether the lettuce stripped of its leaves, or thick with foliage, was the handsomer." He said: "When thick with foliage." Whereupon she remarked: "Then you have imitated this lettuce, in dismembering the house of Cyrus." Whereupon he, in rage, kicked her and inflicted such injuries that she died.

Thus madly did Cambyses behave toward his own family; whether on account of Apis, or from some other cause, from which, in many ways, misfortunes are wont to befall mankind. For Cambyses is said, even from infancy, to have been afflicted with a certain severe malady, which some called the sacred disease.[17] In that case, it was not at all surprising that, when his body was so diseased, his mind should not be sound. And toward the other Persians he behaved madly in the following instances: for it is reported that he said to Prexaspes, whom he highly honored, and whose office it was to bring messages to him, whose son was cupbearer to Cambyses, no trifling honor by any means, he is reported to have said: "Prexaspes, what sort of a man do the Persians think me? and what remarks do they make about me?" He answered: "Sir, you are highly extolled in every other respect, but they say you are too much addicted to wine." The king enraged cried out: "Do the Persians indeed say that, by being addicted to wine, I am beside myself, and am not in my senses? then their former words were not true." For, on a former occasion, when the Persians and Crœsus were sitting with him, Cambyses asked, what sort of a man he appeared to be in comparison with his father Cyrus; they answered, that he was superior to his father, because he held all that Cyrus possessed, and had acquired besides Egypt and the empire of the sea. Crœsus, who was not pleased with this decision, spoke thus to Cambyses: "To me, O son of Cyrus, you do not appear comparable to your father, for you have not yet such a son as he left behind him." Cambyses was delighted at hearing this, and commended the judgment of Crœsus. So, remembering this, he said in anger to Prexaspes: "Observe now yourself, whether the Persians have spoken the truth, or whether they who say such things are not out of their senses: for if I shoot that son of yours who stands under the portico, and hit him in the heart, the Persians will appear to have said nothing to the purpose; but if I miss, then say that the Persians have spoken the truth, and that I am not of sound mind." Having said this, and bent his bow, he hit the boy; and when the boy had fallen, he ordered them to open him and examine the wound; and when the arrow was found in the heart, he said to the boy's father, laughing: "Prexaspes, it has been clearly shown to you that I am not mad, but that the Persians are out of their senses. Now tell me, did you ever see a man take so true an aim?" But Prexaspes, perceiving him to be out of his mind, and being in fear for his own life, said: "Sir, I believe that a god himself could not have shot so well." At another time, having, without any just cause, seized twelve Persians of the first rank, he had them buried alive up to the head.

While he was acting in this manner, Crœsus the Lydian thought fit to admonish him in the following terms: "O king, do not yield entirely to your youthful impulses and anger, but possess and restrain yourself. It is a good thing to be provident, and wise to have forethought. You put men to death who are your own subjects, having seized them without any just cause; and you slay their children. If you persist in such a course, beware lest the Persians revolt from you. Your father Cyrus strictly charged me to admonish you, and suggest whatever I might discover for your good." He thus manifested his good-will, in giving this advice; but Cambyses answered: "Do you presume to give me advice, you, who so wisely managed your own country; and so well advised my father, when you persuaded him to pass the river Araxes, and advance against the Massagetæ, when they were willing to cross over into our territory? You have first ruined yourself by badly governing your own country, and then ruined Cyrus, who was persuaded by your advice. But you shall have no reason to rejoice; for I have long wanted to find a pretext against you." So saying, he took up his bow for the purpose of shooting him; but Crœsus jumped up and ran out. Cambyses, unable to shoot him, commanded his attendants to seize him, and put him to death. But the attendants, knowing his temper, concealed Crœsus for the following reason, that if Cambyses should repent, and inquire for Crœsus, they, by producing him, might receive rewards for preserving him alive; or if he should not repent, or sorrow for him, then they would put him to death. Not long afterward Cambyses did regret the loss of Crœsus, whereupon the attendants acquainted him that he was still living; on which Cambyses said: "I am rejoiced that Crœsus is still alive; they, however, who disobeyed my orders and saved him, shall not escape with impunity, but I will have them put to death." And he made good his word.

He committed many such mad actions, both against the Persians and his allies, while he stayed at Memphis opening ancient sepulchres, and examining the dead bodies; he also entered the temple of Vulcan, and derided the image, for the image of Vulcan is very much like the Phœnician Pataici, which the Phœnicians place at the prows of their triremes, and is a representation of a pigmy. He likewise entered the temple of the Cabeiri, (into which it is unlawful for any one except the priest to enter) and these images he burnt, after he had ridiculed them in various ways: these also are like that of Vulcan; and they say that they are the sons of this latter. It is in every way clear to me that Cambyses was outrageously mad; otherwise he would not have attempted to deride sacred things and established customs. For if any one should propose to all men, to select the best institutions of all that exist, each, after considering them all, would choose his own; so certain is it that each thinks his own institutions by far the best. It is not therefore probable, that any but a madman would make such things the subject of ridicule. That all men are of this mind respecting their own institutions may be inferred from many proofs, but is well illustrated by the following incident: Darius once summoned some Greeks under his sway, and asked them "for what sum they would feed upon the dead bodies of their parents." They answered, that they would not do it for any sum. Then Darius called to him some of the Indians called Callatians, who are accustomed to eat their parents, and asked them, in the presence of the Greeks, "for what sum they would consent to burn their fathers when they die." But they made loud exclamations and begged he would speak words of good omen. Such then is the effect of custom: and Pindar appears to me to have said rightly "that custom is the king of all men."

Whilst Cambyses was invading Egypt, the Lacedæmonians made an expedition against Polycrates, who had made an insurrection and seized on Samos. At first, having divided the state into three parts, he had shared it with his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson; but afterward, having put one of them to death, and expelled Syloson, the younger, he held the whole of Samos, and made a treaty of friendship with Amasis, King of Egypt, sending presents, and receiving others from him in return. In a very short time the power of Polycrates increased, and was noised abroad throughout Ionia and the rest of Greece; for wherever he turned his arms, everything turned out prosperously. He had a hundred fifty-oared galleys, and a thousand archers. And he plundered all without distinction; for he said that he gratified a friend more by restoring what he had seized, than by taking nothing at all. He accordingly took many of the islands, and many cities on the continent; he moreover overcame in a sea-fight, and took prisoners, the Lesbians, who came to assist the Milesians with all their forces; these, being put in chains, dug the whole trench that surrounds the walls of Samos.

The Lacedæmonians, arriving with a great armament, besieged Samos, attacked the fortifications, and passed beyond the tower that faced the sea near the suburbs; but afterward, when Polycrates himself advanced with a large force, they were driven back, and after forty days had been spent in besieging Samos, finding their affairs were not at all advanced, they returned to Peloponnesus; though a groundless report got abroad, that Polycrates coined a large quantity of the money of the country in lead, had it gilt, and gave it to them; whereupon they took their departure. This was the first expedition that the Lacedæmonian Dorians undertook against Asia.

Those of the Samians who had fomented the war against Polycrates set sail for Siphnus when the Lacedæmonians were about to abandon them, for they were in want of money. The Siphnians were at that time the richest of all the islanders, having such gold and silver mines, that from the tenth of the money accruing from them, a treasure was laid up at Delphi equal to the richest; and they used every year to divide the product of the mines. When they established this treasure, they asked the oracle, whether their present prosperity would continue with them for a long time; but the Pythian answered as follows: "When the Prytaneum in Siphnus shall be white, and the market white-fronted, then shall there be need of a prudent man to guard against a wooden ambush and a crimson herald." The market and Prytaneum of the Siphnians were then adorned with Parian marble. As soon as the Samians reached Siphnus, they sent ambassadors to the city in a ship which, like all ships at that time, was painted red. And this was what the Pythian meant by a wooden ambush and a crimson herald. These ambassadors requested the Siphnians to lend them ten talents; the Siphnians refused the loan, and the Samians proceeded to ravage their territory. The Siphnians were beaten, and compelled to give a hundred talents.

I have dwelt longer on the affairs of the Samians, because they have the three greatest works that have been accomplished by all the Greeks. The first is a mountain, one hundred and fifty orgyæ in height, in which is dug a tunnel, beginning from the base, with an opening at each side. The length of the excavation is seven stades, and the height and breadth eight feet each; through the whole length of it is dug another excavation twenty cubits deep, and three feet broad, through which the water conveyed by pipes reaches the city, drawn from a copious fountain. The architect of this excavation was a Megarian, Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus. The second work is a mound in the sea round the harbor, in depth about one hundred orgyæ; and in length more than two stades. The third is a temple, the largest of all we have ever seen; of this, the architect was Rhœcus, son of Phileus, a native.

CHAPTER II.
USURPATION OF SMERDIS THE MAGUS AND ACCESSION OF DARIUS.

While Cambyses, son of Cyrus, tarried in Egypt, and was acting madly, two magi, who were brothers, revolted. One of these, Cambyses had left steward of his palace, the other was a person very much like Smerdis, son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses, his own brother, had put to death. The magus Patizithes, having persuaded this man that he would manage every thing for him, set him on the throne; and sent heralds in various directions, particularly to Egypt, to proclaim to the army, that they must in future obey Smerdis, son of Cyrus, and not Cambyses. The herald who was appointed to Egypt, finding Cambyses and his army at Ecbatana in Syria, stood in the midst and proclaimed what had been ordered by the magus. Cambyses, believing that he spoke the truth, and that he had himself been betrayed by Prexaspes, and that he, when sent to kill Smerdis, had not done so, looked toward Prexaspes, and said: "Prexaspes, hast thou thus performed the business I enjoined upon thee?" But he answered: "Sire, it is not true that your brother Smerdis has revolted against you, nor that you can have any quarrel, great or small, with him. For I myself put your order into execution, and buried him with my own hands. I think I understand the whole matter, O king: the magi are the persons who have revolted against you,—Patizithes, whom you left steward of the palace, and his brother Smerdis." When Cambyses heard the name of Smerdis, the truth of this account and of the dream struck him: for he fancied in his sleep that some one announced to him that Smerdis, seated on the royal throne, touched the heavens with his head. Perceiving, therefore, that he had destroyed his brother without a cause, he wept bitterly for him, deplored the whole calamity, and leapt upon his horse, resolving with all speed to march to Susa against the magus. But as he was leaping on his horse, the chape of his sword's scabbard fell off, and the blade, being laid bare, struck the thigh; wounding him in that part where he himself had formerly smitten the Egyptian god Apis. Mortally wounded, he asked what was the name of the city. They said it was Ecbatana. And it had been before prophesied to him from the city of Buto, that he should end his life in Ecbatana. He had imagined that he should die an old man in Ecbatana of Media, where all his treasures were; but the oracle in truth meant in Ecbatana of Syria. When he had thus been informed of the name of the city, though smitten by misfortune, he returned to his right mind; and comprehending the oracle, said: "Here it is fated that Cambyses, son of Cyrus, should die."

Twenty days later he summoned the principal men of the Persians who were with him, told them his vision and his great mistake, shed bitter tears, and charged them never to permit the government to return into the hands of the Medes. When the Persians saw their king weep, all rent the garments they had on, and gave themselves up to lamentation. Soon the bone became infected, the thigh mortified, and Cambyses, son of Cyrus, died, after he had reigned in all seven years and five months, having never had any children. Great incredulity stole over the Persians who were present, as to the story that the magi had possession of the government, and agreed that it must be Smerdis, son of Cyrus, who had risen up and seized the kingdom. Prexaspes, moreover, vehemently denied that he had killed Smerdis; for it was not safe for him, now that Cambyses was dead, to own that he had killed the son of Cyrus with his own hand.

The magus, after the death of Cambyses, relying on his having the same name as Smerdis the son of Cyrus, reigned securely during the seven months that remained to complete the eighth year of Cambyses; in which time he treated all his subjects with such beneficence, that at his death, all the people of Asia, except the Persians, regretted his loss. For the magus, on assuming the sovereignty, despatched messengers to every nation he ruled over, and proclaimed a general exemption from military service and tribute for the space of three years. But in the eighth month he was discovered in the following manner. Otanes, son of Pharnaspes, was by birth and fortune equal to the first of the Persians. This Otanes first suspected the magus not to be Smerdis the son of Cyrus, from the fact, that he never went out of the citadel, and that he never summoned any of the principal men of Persia to his presence. Having conceived suspicion of him, he contrived the following artifice. Cambyses had married his daughter, whose name was Phædyma; the magus of course had her as his wife, as well as all the rest of the wives of Cambyses. Otanes therefore, sending to his daughter, inquired whether her husband was Smerdis, son of Cyrus, or some other person; she sent back word to him, saying that she did not know. Otanes sent a second time, saying: "If you do not yourself know Smerdis, son of Cyrus, then inquire of Atossa, for she must of necessity know her own brother." To this his daughter replied: "I can neither have any conversation with Atossa, nor see any of the women who used to live with me; for as soon as this man, whoever he is, succeeded to the throne, he dispersed us all, assigning us separate apartments." When Otanes heard this, the matter appeared much more plain; and he sent a third message to her in these words: "Daughter, it becomes you, being of noble birth, to undertake any peril that your father may require you to incur. For if this Smerdis is not the son of Cyrus, but the person whom I suspect, it is not fit that he should escape with impunity, but suffer the punishment due to his offences. Now follow my directions: watch your opportunity, and whenever you discover him to be sound asleep, touch his ears; and if you find he has ears, be assured that he is Smerdis, son of Cyrus; but if he has none, then he is Smerdis the magus." To this message Phædyma answered, saying "that she should incur very great danger by doing so; for he kept the sides of his head concealed, and if he had no ears, and she should be discovered touching him, she well knew that he would put her to death; nevertheless she would make the attempt." Cyrus, during his reign, had cut off the ears of this Smerdis the magus, for some grave offence. Phædyma, therefore, determining to execute all that she had promised her father, catching the magus sound asleep on his couch one day felt for his ears, and perceiving without any difficulty that the man had no ears, as soon as it was day, she sent and made known to her father what the case was.

Thereupon Otanes, having taken with him Aspathines and Gobryas, who were the noblest of the Persians, and persons on whom he could best rely, related to them the whole affair; and they agreed that each should associate with himself a Persian in whom he could place most reliance. Otanes accordingly introduced Intaphernes; Gobryas, Megabyzus; and Aspathines, Hydarnes. Just at this time Darius, son of Hystaspes, arrived at Susa from Persia, where his father was governor, and the six Persians determined to admit Darius to the confederacy. These seven met, exchanged pledges with each other, and conferred together. When it came to the turn of Darius to declare his opinion, he addressed them as follows: "I thought that I was the only person who knew that it was the magus who reigns, and that Smerdis, son of Cyrus, is dead; and for this very reason I hastened hither in order to contrive the death of the magus. But since it proves that you also are acquainted with the fact, it appears to me that we should act immediately." Otanes said to this: "Son of Hystaspes, you are born of a noble father, and show yourself not at all inferior to him; do not, however, so inconsiderately hasten this enterprise, but set about it with more caution; for we must increase our numbers, and then attempt it." Darius replied to this: "Be assured, ye men who are here present, if you adopt the plan proposed by Otanes, you will all miserably perish; for some one will discover it to the magus, consulting his own private advantage; indeed, you ought to have carried out your project immediately, without communicating it to any one else; but since you have thought fit to refer it to others, and have disclosed it to me, let us carry it out this very day, or be assured, that if this day passes over, no one shall be beforehand with me and become my accuser, but I myself will denounce you to the magus." Otanes, seeing Darius so eager, replied: "Since you compel us to precipitate our enterprise, and will not permit us to defer it, tell us in what way we are to enter the palace and attack him; for you yourself know that guards are stationed at intervals; and how shall we pass them?" "There are many things," said Darius, "that can not be made clear by words, but may by action; and there are other things that seem practicable in description, but no signal effect proceeds from them. Be assured that the guards stationed there will not be at all difficult to pass by: for in the first place, seeing our rank, there is no one who will not allow us to pass, partly from respect, and partly from fear; and in the next place, I have a most specious pretext by which we shall gain admission, for I will say that I have just arrived from Persia, and wish to report a message to the king from my father. For when a lie must be told, let it be told. Whoever of the doorkeepers shall willingly let us pass, shall be rewarded in due time; but whoever offers to oppose us must instantly be treated as an enemy." After this Gobryas said: "Friends, shall we ever have a better opportunity to recover the sovereign power, or if we shall be unable to do so, to die? seeing we who are Persians, are governed by an earless Medic magus. Those among you who were present with Cambyses when he lay sick, well remember the imprecations he uttered at the point of death against the Persians, if they should not attempt to repossess themselves of the sovereign power: we did not then believe this story, but thought that Cambyses spoke from ill-will. I give my voice that we yield to Darius, and that on breaking up this conference we go direct to the magus." And all assented to his proposal.

Meantime the magi, on consultation, determined to make Prexaspes their friend: both because he had suffered grievous wrong from Cambyses, who shot his son dead with an arrow; and because he alone of all the Persians knew of the death of Smerdis, son of Cyrus, as he had despatched him with his own hand; and moreover, Prexaspes was in high repute with the Persians. Therefore, having sent for Prexaspes, they endeavored to win his friendship, binding him by pledges and oaths, that he would never divulge to any man the cheat they had put upon the Persians, assuring him that in return they would give him every thing his heart could desire. When Prexaspes had promised that he would do as the magi wished, they made a second proposal, saying, that they would assemble all the Persians under the walls of the palace, and desired that he would ascend a tower, and assure them that they were governed by Smerdis, son of Cyrus. Prexaspes assented, and the magi, having convoked the Persians, placed him on the top of a turret, and commanded him to harangue the people. But he purposely forgot what they desired him to say, and, beginning from Achæmenes, described the genealogy of Cyrus' family; told them what great benefits Cyrus had done the Persians; and finally declared the whole truth, saying that he had before concealed it, as it was not safe for him to tell what had happened; but that in the present emergency necessity constrained him to make it known. He accordingly told them that he, being compelled by Cambyses, had put Smerdis, son of Cyrus, to death, and that it was the magi who then reigned. After he had uttered many imprecations against the Persians, if they should not recover back the sovereign power, and punish the magi, he threw himself headlong from the tower. Thus died Prexaspes, a man highly esteemed during the course of his whole life.