Herodotus III 39-60

While Cambyses was carrying on this war in Egypt, the Lacedaemonians likewise sent a force to Samos against
Polycrates, the son of Aeaces, who had by insurrection made himself master of that island. At the outset he divided the
state into three parts, and shared the kingdom with his brothers, Pantagnotus and Syloson; but later, having killed the
former and banished the latter, who was the younger of the two, he held the whole island. Hereupon he made a
contract of friendship with Amasis the Egyptian king, sending him gifts, and receiving from him others in return. In a
little while his power so greatly increased, that the fame of it went abroad throughout Ionia and the rest of Greece.
Wherever he turned his arms, success waited on him. He had a fleet of a hundred penteconters, and bowmen to the
number of a thousand. Herewith he plundered all, without distinction of friend or foe; for he argued that a friend was
better pleased if you gave him back what you had taken from him, than if you spared him at the first. He captured
many of the islands, and several towns upon the mainland. Among his other doings he overcame the Lesbians in a
sea-fight, when they came with all their forces to the help of Miletus, and made a number of them prisoners. These
persons, laden with fetters, dug the moat which surrounds the castle at Samos.

The exceeding good fortune of Polycrates did not escape the notice of Amasis, who was much disturbed thereat. When
therefore his successes continued increasing, Amasis wrote him the following letter, and sent it to Samos. "Amasis to
Polycrates thus sayeth: It is a pleasure to hear of a friend and ally prospering, but thy exceeding prosperity does not
cause me joy, forasmuch as I know that the gods are envious. My wish for myself and for those whom I love is to be
now successful, and now to meet with a check; thus passing through life amid alternate good and ill, rather than with
perpetual good fortune. For never yet did I hear tell of any one succeeding in all his undertakings, who did not meet
with calamity at last, and come to utter ruin. Now, therefore, give ear to my words, and meet thy good luck in this way:
bethink thee which of all thy treasures thou valuest most and canst least bear to part with; take it, whatsoever it be, and
throw it away, so that it may be sure never to come any more into the sight of man. Then, if thy good fortune be not
thenceforth chequered with ill, save thyself from harm by again doing as I have counselled."

When Polycrates read this letter, and perceived that the advice of Amasis was good, he considered carefully with
himself which of the treasures that he had in store it would grieve him most to lose. After much thought he made up his
mind that it was a signet-ring which he was wont to wear, an emerald set in gold, the workmanship of Theodore, son of
Telecles, a Samian. So he determined to throw this away; and, manning a penteconter, he went on board, and bade the
sailors put out into the open sea. When he was now a long way from the island, he took the ring from his finger, and, in
the sight of all those who were on board, flung it into the deep. This done, he returned home, and gave vent to his
sorrow.

Now it happened five or six days afterwards that a fisherman caught a fish so large and beautiful that he thought it well
deserved to be made a present of to the king. So he took it with him to the gate of the palace, and said that he wanted
to see Polycrates. Then Polycrates allowed him to come in, and the fisherman gave him the fish with these words
following- "Sir king, when I took this prize, I thought I would not carry it to market, though I am a poor man who live
by my trade. I said to myself, it is worthy of Polycrates and his greatness; and so I brought it here to give it to you."
The speech pleased the king, who thus spoke in reply:- "Thou didst right well, friend, and I am doubly indebted, both
for the gift, and for the speech. Come now, and sup with me." So the fisherman went home, esteeming it a high honour
that he had been asked to sup with the king. Meanwhile the servants, on cutting open the fish, found the signet of their
master in its belly. No sooner did they see it than they seized upon it, and hastening to Polycrates with great joy,
restored it to him, and told him in what way it had been found. The king, who saw something providential in the matter,
forthwith wrote a letter to Amasis, telling him all that had happened, what he had himself done, and what had been the
upshot- and despatched the letter to Egypt.

When Amasis had read the letter of Polycrates, he perceived that it does not belong to man to save his fellow-man from
the fate which is in store for him; likewise he felt certain that Polycrates would end ill, as he prospered in everything,
even finding what he had thrown away. So he sent a herald to Samos, and dissolved the contract of friendship. This he
did, that when the great and heavy misfortune came, he might escape the grief which he would have felt if the sufferer
had been his bond-friend.

It was with this Polycrates, so fortunate in every undertaking, that the Lacedaemonians now went to war. Certain
Samians, the same who afterwards founded the city of Cydonia in Crete, had earnestly intreated their help. For
Polycrates, at the time when Cambyses, son of Cyrus, was gathering together an armament against Egypt, had sent to
beg him not to omit to ask aid from Samos; whereupon Cambyses with much readiness despatched a messenger to the
island, and made request that Polycrates would give some ships to the naval force which he was collecting against
Egypt. Polycrates straightway picked out from among the citizens such as he thought most likely to stir revolt against
him, and manned with them forty triremes, which he sent to Cambyses, bidding him keep the men safe, and never
allow them to return home.

Now some accounts say that these Samians did not reach Egypt; for that when they were off Carpathus, they took
counsel together and resolved to sail no further. But others maintain that they did go to Egypt, and, finding themselves
watched, deserted, and sailed back to Samos. There Polycrates went out against them with his fleet, and a battle was
fought and gained by the exiles; after which they disembarked upon the island and engaged the land forces of
Polycrates, but were defeated, and so sailed off to Lacedaemon. Some relate that the Samians from Egypt overcame
Polycrates, but it seems to me untruly; for had the Samians been strong enough to conquer Polycrates by themselves,
they would not have needed to call in the aid of the Lacedaemonians. And moreover, it is not likely that a king who had
in his pay so large a body of foreign mercenaries, and maintained likewise such a force of native bowmen, would have
been worsted by an army so small as that of the returned Samians. As for his own subjects, to hinder them from
betraying him and joining the exiles, Polycrates shut up their wives and children in the sheds built to shelter his ships,
and was ready to burn sheds and all in case of need.

When the banished Samians reached Sparta, they had audience of the magistrates, before whom they made a long
speech, as was natural with persons greatly in want of aid. Accordingly at this first sitting the Spartans answered them
that they had forgotten the first half of their speech, and could make nothing of the remainder. Afterwards the Samians
had another audience, whereat they simply said, showing a bag which they had brought with them, "The bag wants
flour." The Spartans answered that they did not need to have said "the bag"; however, they resolved to give them aid.

Then the Lacedaemonians made ready and set forth to the attack of Samos, from a motive of gratitude, if we may
believe the Samians, because the Samians had once sent ships to their aid against the Messenians; but as the Spartans
themselves say, not so much from any wish to assist the Samians who begged their help, as from a desire to punish the
people who had seized the bowl which they sent to Croesus, and the corselet which Amasis, king of Egypt, sent as a
present to them. The Samians made prize of this corselet the year before they took the bowl- it was of linen, and had a
vast number of figures of animals inwoven into its fabric, and was likewise embroidered with gold and tree-wool. What
is most worthy of admiration in it is that each of the twists, although of fine texture, contains within it three hundred
and sixty threads, all of them clearly visible. The corselet which Amasis gave to the temple of Minerva in Lindus is just
such another.

The Corinthians likewise right willingly lent a helping hand towards the expedition against Samos; for a generation
earlier, about the time of the seizure of the wine-bowl, they too had suffered insult at the hands of the Samians. It
happened that Periander, son of Cypselus, had taken three hundred boys, children of the chief nobles among the
Corcyraeans, and sent them to Alyattes for eunuchs; the men who had them in charge touched at Samos on their way
to Sardis; whereupon the Samians, having found out what was to become of the boys when they reached that city, first
prompted them to take sanctuary at the temple of Diana; and after this, when the Corinthians, as they were forbidden
to tear the suppliants from the holy place, sought to cut off from them all supplies of food, invented a festival in their
behalf, which they celebrate to this day with the selfsame rites. Each evening, as night closed in, during the whole time
that the boys continued there, choirs of youths and virgins were placed about the temple, carrying in their hands cakes
made of sesame and honey, in order that the Corcyraean boys might snatch the cakes, and so get enough to live upon.

And this went on for so long, that at last the Corinthians who had charge of the boys gave them up, and took their
departure, upon which the Samians conveyed them back to Corcyra. If now, after the death of Periander, the
Corinthians and Corcyraeans had been good friends, it is not to be imagined that the former would ever have taken part
in the expedition against Samos for such a reason as this; but as, in fact, the two people have always, ever since the first
settlement of the island, been enemies to one another, this outrage was remembered, and the Corinthians bore the
Samians a grudge for it. Periander had chosen the youths from among the first families in Corcyra, and sent them a
present to Alyattes, to avenge a wrong which he had received. For it was the Corcyraeans who began the quarrel and
injured Periander by an outrage of a horrid nature.

After Periander had put to death his wife Melissa, it chanced that on this first affliction a second followed of a different
kind. His wife had borne him two sons, and one of them had now reached the age of seventeen, the other of eighteen
years, when their mother's father, Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, asked them to his court. They went, and Procles
treated them with much kindness, as was natural, considering they were his own daughter's children. At length, when
the time for parting came, Procles, as he was sending them on their way, said, "Know you now, my children, who it
was that caused your mother's death?" The elder son took no account of this speech, but the younger, whose name was
Lycophron, was sorely troubled at it- so much so, that when he got back to Corinth, looking upon his father as his
mother's murderer, he would neither speak to him, nor answer when spoken to, nor utter a word in reply to all his
questionings. So Periander at last, growing furious at such behaviour, banished him from his house.

The younger son gone, he turned to the elder and asked him, "what it was that their grandfather had said to them?"
Then he related in how kind and friendly a fashion he had received them; but, not having taken any notice of the
speech which Procles had uttered at parting, he quite forgot to mention it. Periander insisted that it was not possible this
should be all- their grandfather must have given them some hint or other- and he went on pressing him, till at last the
lad remembered the parting speech and told it. Periander, after he had turned the whole matter over in his thoughts, and
felt unwilling to give way at all, sent a messenger to the persons who had opened their houses to his outcast son, and
forbade them to harbour him. Then the boy, when he was chased from one friend, sought refuge with another, but was
driven from shelter to shelter by the threats of his father, who menaced all those that took him in, and commanded
them to shut their doors against him. Still, as fast as he was forced to leave one house he went to another, and was
received by the inmates; for his acquaintance, although in no small alarm, yet gave him shelter, as he was Periander's
son.

At last Periander made proclamation that whoever harboured his son or even spoke to him, should forfeit a certain sum
of money to Apollo. On hearing this no one any longer liked to take him in, or even to hold converse with him, and he
himself did not think it right to seek to do what was forbidden; so, abiding by his resolve, he made his lodging in the
public porticos. When four days had passed in this way, Periander, secing how wretched his son was, that he neither
washed nor took any food, felt moved with compassion towards him; wherefore, foregoing his anger, he approached
him, and said, "Which is better, oh! my son, to fare as now thou farest, or to receive my crown and all the good things
that I possess, on the one condition of submitting thyself to thy father? See, now, though my own child, and lord of this
wealthy Corinth, thou hast brought thyself to a beggar's life, because thou must resist and treat with anger him whom it
least behoves thee to oppose. If there has been a calamity, and thou bearest me ill will on that account, bethink thee
that I too feel it, and am the greatest sufferer, in as much as it was by me that the deed was done. For thyself, now that
thou knowest how much better a thing it is to be envied than pitied, and how dangerous it is to indulge anger against
parents and superiors, come back with me to thy home." With such words as these did Periander chide his son; but the
son made no reply, except to remind his father that he was indebted to the god in the penalty for coming and holding
converse with him. Then Periander knew that there was no cure for the youth's malady, nor means of overcoming it;
so he prepared a ship and sent him away out of his sight to Corcyra, which island at that time belonged to him. As for
Procles, Periander, regarding him as the true author of all his present troubles, went to war with him as soon as his son
was gone, and not only made himself master of his kingdom Epidaurus, but also took Procles himself, and carried him
into captivity.

As time went on, and Periander came to be old, he found himself no longer equal to the oversight and management of
affairs. Seeing, therefore, in his eldest son no manner of ability, but knowing him to be dull and blockish, he sent to
Corcyra and recalled Lycophron to take the kingdom. Lycophron, however, did not even deign to ask the bearer of this
message a question. But Periander's heart was set upon the youth, so he sent again to him, this time by his own
daughter, the sister of Lycophron, who would, he thought, have more power to persuade him than any other person.
Then she, when she reached Corcyra, spoke thus with her brother:- "Dost thou wish the kingdom, brother, to pass into
strange hands, and our father's wealth to be made a prey, rather than thyself return to enjoy it? Come back home with
me, and cease to punish thyself. It is scant gain, this obstinacy. Why seek to cure evil by evil? Mercy, remember, is by
many set above justice. Many, also, while pushing their mother's claims have forfeited their father's fortune. Power is a
slippery thing- it has many suitors; and he is old and stricken in years- let not thy own inheritance go to another." Thus
did the sister, who had been tutored by Periander what to say, urge all the arguments most likely to have weight with
her brother. He however made answer, "That so long as he knew his father to be still alive, he would never go back to
Corinth." When the sister brought Periander this reply, he sent his son a third time by a herald, and said he would come
himself to Corcyra, and let his son take his place at Corinth as heir to his kingdom. To these terms Lycophron agreed;
and Periander was making ready to pass into Corcyra and his son to return to Corinth, when the Corcyraeans, being
informed of what was taking place, to keep Periander away, put the young man to death. For this reason it was that
Periander took vengeance on the Corcyraeans.

The Lacedaemonians arrived before Samos with a mighty armament, and forthwith laid siege to the place. In one of the
assaults upon the walls, they forced their way to the top of the tower which stands by the sea on the side where the
suburb is, but Polycrates came in person to the rescue with a strong force, and beat them back. Meanwhile at the upper
tower, which stood on the ridge of the hill, the besieged, both mercenaries and Samians, made a sally; but after they
had withstood the Lacedaemonians a short time, they fled backwards, and the Lacedaemonians, pressing upon them,
slew numbers.

If now all who were present had behaved that day like Archias and Lycopas, two of the Lacedaemonians, Samos might
have been taken. For these two heroes, following hard upon the flying Samians, entered the city along with them, and,
being all alone, and their retreat cut off, were slain within the walls of the place. I myself once fell in with the grandson
of this Archias, a man named Archias like his grandsire, and the son of Samius, whom I met at Pitana, to which canton
he belonged. He respected the Samians beyond all other foreigners, and he told me that his father was called Samius,
because his grandfather Archias died in Samos so gloriously, and that the reason why he respected the Samians so
greatly was that his grandsire was buried with public honours by the Samian people.

The Lacedaemonians besieged Samos during forty days, but not making any progress before the place, they raised the
siege at the end of that time, and returned home to the Peloponnese. There is a silly tale told that Polycrates struck a
quantity of the coin of his country in lead, and, coating it with gold, gave it to the Lacedaemonians, who on receiving it
took their departure.

This was the first expedition into Asia of the Lacedaemonian Dorians.

The Samians who had fought against Polycrates, when they knew that the Lacedaemonians were about to forsake
them, left Samos themselves, and sailed to Siphnos. They happened to be in want of money; and the Siphnians at that
time were at the height of their greatness, no islanders having so much wealth as they. There were mines of gold and
silver in their country, and of so rich a yield, that from a tithe of the ores the Siphnians furnished out a treasury at
Delphi which was on a par with the grandest there. What the mines yielded was divided year by year among the
citizens. At the time when they formed the treasury, the Siphnians consulted the oracle, and asked whether their good
things would remain to them many years. The Pythoness made answer as follows:-

When the Prytanies'seat shines white in the island of Siphnos,
White-browed all the forum-need then of a true seer's wisdom-
Danger will threat from a wooden host, and a herald in scarlet. Now about this time the forum of the Siphnians and
their townhall or prytaneum had been adorned with Parian marble.

The Siphnians, however, were unable to understand the oracle, either at the time when it was given, or afterwards on
the arrival of the Samians. For these last no sooner came to anchor off the island than they sent one of their vessels,
with an ambassage on board, to the city. All ships in these early times were painted with vermilion; and this was what
the Pythoness had meant when she told them to beware of danger "from a wooden host, and a herald in scarlet." So the
ambassadors came ashore and besought the Siphnians to lend them ten talents; but the Siphnians refused, whereupon
the Samians began to plunder their lands. Tidings of this reached the Siphnians, who straightway sallied forth to save
their crops; then a battle was fought, in which the Siphnians suffered defeat, and many of their number were cut off
from the city by the Samians, after which these latter forced the Siphnians to give them a hundred talents.

With this money they bought of the Hermionians the island of Hydrea, off the coast of the Peloponnese, and this they
gave in trust to the Troezenians, to keep for them, while they themselves went on to Crete, and founded the city of
Cydonia. They had not meant, when they set sail, to settle there, but only to drive out the Zacynthians from the island.
However they rested at Cydonia, where they flourished greatly for five years. It was they who built the various temples
that may still be seen at that place, and among them the fane of Dictyna. But in the sixth year they were attacked by the
Eginetans, who beat them in a sea-fight, and, with the help of the Cretans, reduced them all to slavery. The beaks of
their ships, which carried the figure of a wild boar, they sawed off, and laid them up in the temple of Minerva in Egina.
The Eginetans took part against the Samians on account of an ancient grudge, since the Samians had first, when
Amphicrates was king of Samos, made war on them and done great harm to their island, suffering, however, much
damage also themselves. Such was the reason which moved the Eginetans to make this attack.

I have dwelt the longer on the affairs of the Samians, because three of the greatest works in all Greece were made by
them. One is a tunnel, under a hill one hundred and fifty fathoms high, carried entirely through the base of the hill, with
a mouth at either end. The length of the cutting is seven furlongs- the height and width are each eight feet. Along the
whole course there is a second cutting, twenty cubits deep and three feet broad, whereby water is brought, through
pipes, from an abundant source into the city. The architect of this tunnel was Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus, a
Megarian. Such is the first of their great works; the second is a mole in the sea, which goes all round the harbour, near
twenty fathoms deep, and in length above two furlongs. The third is a temple; the largest of all the temples known to
us, whereof Rhoecus, son of Phileus, a Samian, was first architect. Because of these works I have dwelt the longer on
the affairs of Samos.