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It was in the reign of Cleomenes that Aristagoras the tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus came to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. When he had an audience with the king, as the Lacedaemonians report, he brought with him a bronze tablet on which the map of all the earth was engraved, and all the sea and all the rivers.
It was in the reign of Cleomenes that Aristagoras the tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus came to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. When he had an audience with the king, as the Lacedaemonians report, he brought with him a bronze tablet on which the map of all the earth was engraved, and all the sea and all the rivers.
[2] Having been admitted to converse with
Cleomenes,
Aristagoras spoke thus to him: “Do not wonder,
Cleomenes, that I have been so eager to come here, for our present situation is such that the sons of the
Ionians are slaves and not free men, which is shameful and grievous particularly to ourselves but also, of all others, to you, inasmuch as you are the leaders of
Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.
[3] Now, therefore, we entreat you by the gods of
Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to save your
Ionian kinsmen from slavery. This is a thing which you can easily achieve, for the strangers are not valiant men while your valor in war is preeminent. As for their manner of fighting, they carry bows and short spears, and they go to battle with trousers on their legs and turbans on their heads.
[4] Accordingly, they are easy to overcome. Furthermore, the inhabitants of that continent have more good things than all other men together, gold first but also silver, bronze, colored cloth, beasts of burden, and slaves. All this you can have to your heart's desire.
[5] The lands in which they dwell lie next to each other, as I shall show: next to the
Ionians are the
Lydians, who inhabit a good land and have great store of silver.” (This he said pointing to the map of the earth which he had brought engraved on the tablet.) “Next to the
Lydians,” said
Aristagoras, “you see the
Phrygians to the east, men that of all known to me are the richest in flocks and in the fruits of the earth.
[6] Close by them are the
Cappadocians, whom we call
Syrians, and their neighbors are the
Cilicians, whose land reaches to the sea over there, in which you see the island of
Cyprus [33,35] (island), AsiaCyprus lying. The yearly tribute which they pay to the king is five hundred talents. Next to the
Cilicians, are the
Armenians, another people rich in flocks, and after the
Armenians, the
Matieni, whose country I show you.
[7] Adjoining these you see the
Cissian land, in which, on the
Choaspes, lies that
Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa where the great king lives and where the storehouses of his wealth are located. Take that city, and you need not fear to challenge
Zeus for riches.
[8] You should suspend your war, then, for strips of land of no great worth—for that fight with with
Messenians, who are matched in strength with you, and
Arcadians and
Argives, men who have nothing in the way of gold or silver (for which things many are spurred by zeal to fight and die). Yet when you can readily be masters of all
Asia (continent)Asia, will you refuse to attempt it?”
[9] Thus spoke
Aristagoras, and
Cleomenes replied: “
Milesian, my guest, wait till the third day for my answer.”
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
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