Diodorus Siculus, Library 8-40

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§ 11.55.2 Each citizen wrote on a piece of pottery (ostracon) the name of the man who in his opinion had the greatest power to destroy the democracy; and the man who got the largest number of ostraca was obliged by the law to go into exile from his native land for a period of five years.
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§ 11.55.3 The Athenians, it appears, passed such a law, not for the purpose of punishing wrongdoing, but in order to lower through exile the presumption of men who had risen too high. Now Themistocles, having been ostracized in the manner we have described, fled as an exile from his native city to Argos.
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§ 11.55.4 But the Lacedemonians, learning of this and considering that Fortune had given them a favourable moment to attack Themistocles, again dispatched ambassadors to Athens. These accused Themistocles of complicity in the treason of Pausanias, and asserted that his trial, since his crimes affected all Greece, should not be held privately among the Athenians alone but rather before the General Congress of the Greeks which, according to custom, was to meet at that time.
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§ 11.55.5 And Themistocles, seeing that the Lacedemonians were bent upon defaming and humbling the Athenian state, and that the Athenians were anxious to clear themselves of the charge against them, assumed that he would be turned over to the General Congress.
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§ 11.55.6 This body, he knew, made its decisions, not on the basis of justice, but out of favour to the Lacedemonians, inferring this not only from its other actions but also from what it had done in making the awards for valour. For in that instance those who controlled the voting showed such jealousy of the Athenians that, although these had contributed more triremes than all the others who took part in the battle, they made them out to be no whit better than the rest of the Greeks.
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§ 11.55.7 These, then, were the reasons why Themistocles distrusted the members of the Congress. Furthermore, it was from the speech in his own defence which Themistocles had made in Athens on the former occasion that the Lacedemonians had got the basis for the accusation they afterwards made.
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§ 11.55.8 For in that defence Themistocles had acknowledged that Pausanias had sent letters to him, urging him to share in the act of treason, and using this as the strongest piece of evidence in his behalf, he had established that Pausanias would not have urged him, unless he had opposed his first request.
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§ 11.56.1 It was for these reasons, as we have stated above, that Themistocles fled from Argos to Admetus, the king of the Molossians; and taking refuge at Admetus' hearth he became his suppliant. The king at first received him kindly, urged him to be of good courage, and, in general, assured him that he would provide for his safety;
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§ 11.56.2 but when the Lacedemonians dispatched some of the most distinguished Spartans as ambassadors to Admetus and demanded the person of Themistocles for punishment, stigmatizing him as the betrayer and destroyer of the whole Greek world, and when they went further and declared that, if Admetus would not turn him over to them, they together with all the Greeks would make war on him, then indeed the king, fearing on the one hand the threats and yet pitying the suppliant and seeking to avoid the disgrace of handing him over, persuaded Themistocles to make his escape with all speed without the knowledge of the Lacedemonians and gave him a large sum of gold to meet his expenses on the flight.
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§ 11.56.3 And Themistocles, being persecuted as he was on every side, accepted the gold and fled by night out of the territory of the Molossians, the king furthering his flight in every way; and finding two young men, Lyncestians by birth, who were traders and therefore familiar with the roads, he made his escape in their company.
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§ 11.56.4 By travelling only at night he eluded the Lacedemonians, and by virtue of the goodwill of the young men and the hardship they endured for him he made his way to Asia. Here Themistocles had a personal friend, Lysitheides by name, who was highly regarded for his fame and wealth, and to him he fled for refuge.
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§ 11.56.5 Now it so happened that Lysitheides was a friend of Xerxes the king and on the occasion of his passage through Asia Minor had entertained the entire Persian host. Consequently, since he enjoyed an intimate acquaintance with the king and yet wished out of mercy to save Themistocles, he promised to co operate with him in every way.
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§ 11.56.6 But when Themistocles asked that he lead him to Xerxes, at first he demurred, explaining that Themistocles would be punished because of his past activities against the Persians; later, however, when he realized that it was for the best, he acceded, and unexpectedly and without harm he got him through safe to Persia.
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§ 11.56.7 For it was a custom among the Persians that when one conducted a concubine to the king one brought her in a closed wagon, and no man who met it interfered or came face to face with the passenger; and it came about that Lysitheides availed himself of this means of carrying out his undertaking.
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§ 11.56.8 After preparing the wagon and embellishing it with costly hangings he put Themistocles in it; and when he had got him through in entire safety, he came into the presence of the king, and after he had conversed with him cautiously he received pledges from the king that he would do Themistocles no wrong. Then Lysitheides introduced him to the presence of the king, who, when he had allowed Themistocles to speak and learned that he had done the king no wrong, absolved him from punishment.
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§ 11.57.1 But when it seemed that the life of Themistocles had unexpectedly been saved by an enemy, he fell again into even greater dangers for the following reasons. Mandane was the daughter of the Darius who had slain the Magi and the full sister of Xerxes, and she enjoyed high esteem among the Persians.
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§ 11.57.2 She had lost her sons at the time Themistocles had defeated the Persian fleet in the sea-battle at Salamis and sorely grieved over the death of her children, and because of her great affliction she was the object of the pity of the people.
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§ 11.57.3 When she learned of the presence of Themistocles, she went to the palace clad in raiment of mourning and with tears entreated her brother to wreak vengeance upon Themistocles. And when the king paid no heed to her, she visited in turn the noblest Persians with her request and, speaking generally, spurred on the people to wreak vengeance upon Themistocles.
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§ 11.57.4 When the mob rushed to the palace and with loud shouts demanded the person of Themistocles for punishment, the king replied that he would form a jury of the noblest Persians and that its verdict would be carried out.
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§ 11.57.5 This decision was approved by all, and since a considerable time was given to make the preparations for the trial, Themistocles meanwhile learned the Persian language, and using it in his defence he was acquitted of the charges.
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§ 11.57.6 And the king was overjoyed that Themistocles had been saved and honoured him with great gifts; so, for example, he gave him in marriage a Persian woman, who was of outstanding birth and beauty and, besides, praised for her virtue, and [she brought as her dower] not only a multitude of household slaves for their service but also of drinking-cups of every kind and such other furnishings as comport with a life of pleasure and luxury.
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§ 11.57.7 Furthermore, the king made him a present also of three cities which were well suited for his support and enjoyment, Magnesia upon the Maeander River, which had more grain than any city of Asia, for bread, Myus for meat, since the sea there abounded in fish, and Lampsacus, whose territory contained extensive vineyards, for wine.
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§ 11.58.1 Themistocles, being now relieved of the fear which he had felt when among the Greeks, the man who had unexpectedly, on the one hand, been driven into exile by those who had profited most by the benefits he had bestowed and, on the other, had received benefits from those who had suffered the most grievously at his hands, spent his life in the cities we have mentioned, being well supplied with all the good things that conduce to pleasure, and at his death he was given a notable funeral in Magnesia and a monument that stands even to this day.
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§ 11.58.2 Some historians say that Xerxes, desiring to lead a second expedition to Greece, invited Themistocles to take command of the war, and that he agreed to do so and received from the king guaranties under oath that he would not march against the Greeks without Themistocles.
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§ 11.58.3 And when a bull had been sacrificed and the oaths taken, Themistocles, filling a cup with its blood, drank it down and immediately died. They add that Xerxes thereupon relinquished that plan of his, and that Themistocles by his voluntary death left the best possible defence that he had played the part of a good citizen in all matters affecting the interests of Greece.
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§ 11.58.4 We have come to the death of one of the greatest of the Greeks, about whom many dispute whether it was because he had wronged his native city and the other Greeks that he fled to the Persians, or whether, on the contrary, his city and all the Greeks, after enjoying great benefits at his hands, forgot to be grateful for them but unjustly plunged him, their benefactor, into the uttermost perils.
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§ 11.58.5 But if any man, putting envy aside, will estimate closely not only the man's natural gifts but also his achievements, he will find that on both counts Themistocles holds first place among all of whom we have record. Therefore one may well be amazed that the Athenians were willing to rid themselves of a man of such genius.
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§ 11.59.1 What other man, while Sparta still had the superior strength and the Spartan Eurybiades held the supreme command of the fleet, could by his singlehanded efforts have deprived Sparta of that glory? Of what other man have we learned from history that by a single act he caused himself to surpass all the commanders, his city all other Greek states, and the Greeks the barbarians? In whose term as general have the resources been more inferior and the dangers they faced greater?
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§ 11.59.2 Who, facing the united might of all Asia, has found himself at the side of his city when its inhabitants had been driven from their homes, and still won the victory? Who in time of peace has made his fatherland powerful by deeds comparable to his? Who, when a gigantic war enveloped his state, brought it safely through and by the one single ruse of the bridge reduced land armament of the enemy by half, so that it could be easily vanquished by the Greeks?
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§ 11.59.3 Consequently, when we survey the magnitude of his deeds and, examining them one by one, find that such a man suffered disgrace at the hands of his city, whereas it was by his deeds that the city rose to greatness, we have good reason to conclude that the city which is reputed to rank highest among all cities in wisdom and fair-dealing acted towards him with great cruelty.
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§ 11.59.4 Now on the subject of the high merits of Themistocles, even if we have dwelt over-long on the subject in this digression, we believed it not seemly that we should leave his great ability unrecorded. While these events were taking place, in Italy Micythus, who was ruler of Rhegium and Zancle, founded the city of Pyxus.
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§ 11.60.1 When Demotion was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Publius Valerius Publicola and Gaius Nautius Rufus. In this year the Athenians, electing as general Cimon the son of Miltiades and giving him a strong force, sent him to the coast of Asia to give aid to the cities which were allied with them and to liberate those which were still held by Persian garrisons.
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§ 11.60.2 And Cimon, taking along the fleet which was at Byzantium and putting in at the city which is called Eion, took it from the Persians who were holding it and captured by siege Scyros, which was inhabited by Pelasgians and Dolopes; and setting up an Athenian as the founder of a colony he portioned out the land in allotments.
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§ 11.60.3 After this, with a mind to begin greater enterprises, he put in at the Peiraeus, and after adding more triremes to his fleet and arranging for general supplies on a notable scale, he at that time put to sea with two hundred triremes; but later, when he had called for additional ships from the Ionians and everyone else, he had in all three hundred.
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§ 11.60.4 So sailing with the entire fleet to Caria he at once succeeded in persuading the cities on the coast which had been settled from Greece to revolt from the Persians, but as for the cities whose inhabitants spoke two languages and still had Persian garrisons, he had recourse to force and laid siege to them; then, after he had brought to his side the cities of Caria, he likewise won over by persuasion those of Lycia.
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§ 11.60.5 Also, by taking additional ships from the allies, who were continually being added, he still further increased the size of the fleet. Now the Persians had composed their land forces from their own peoples, but their navy they had gathered from both Phoenicia and Cyprus and Cilicia, and the commander of the Persian armaments was Tithraustes, who was an illegitimate son of Xerxes.
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§ 11.60.6 And when Cimon learned that the Persian fleet was lying off Cyprus, sailing against the barbarians he engaged them in battle, pitting two hundred and fifty ships against three hundred and forty. A sharp struggle took place and both fleets fought brilliantly, but in the end the Athenians were victorious, having destroyed many of the enemy ships and captured more than one hundred together with their crews.
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§ 11.60.7 The rest of the ships escaped to Cyprus, where their crews left them and took to the land, and the ships, being bare of defenders, fell into the hands of the enemy.
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§ 11.61.1 Thereupon Cimon, not satisfied with a victory of such magnitude, set sail at once with his entire fleet against the Persian land army, which was then encamped on the bank of the Eurymedon River. And wishing to overcome the barbarians by a stratagem, he manned the captured Persian ships with his own best men, giving them tiaras for their heads and clothing them in the Persian fashion generally.
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§ 11.61.2 The barbarians, so soon as the fleet approached them, were deceived by the Persian ships and garb and supposed the triremes to be their own. Consequently they received the Athenians as if they were friends. And Cimon, night having fallen, disembarked his soldiers, and being received by the Persians as a friend, he fell upon their encampment.
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§ 11.61.3 A great tumult arose among the Persians, and the soldiers of Cimon cut down all who came in their way, and seizing in his tent Pheredates, one of the two generals of the barbarians and a nephew of the king, they slew him; and as for the rest of the Persians, some they cut down and others they wounded, and all of them, because of the unexpectedness of the attack, they forced to take flight. In a word, such consternation as well as bewilderment prevailed among the Persians that most of them did not even know who it was that was attacking them.
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§ 11.61.4 For they had no idea that the Greeks had come against them in force, being persuaded that they had no land army at all; and they assumed that it was the Pisidians, who dwelt in neighbouring territory and were hostile to them, who had come to attack them. Consequently, thinking that the attack of the enemy was coming from the mainland, they fled to their ships in the belief they were in friendly hands.
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§ 11.61.5 And since it was a dark night without a moon, their bewilderment was increased all the more and not a man was able to discern the true state of affairs.
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§ 11.61.6 Consequently, after a great slaughter had occurred on account of the disorder among the barbarians, Cimon, who had previously given orders to the soldiers to come running to the torch which would be raised, had the signal raised beside the ships, being anxious lest, if the soldiers should scatter and turn to plundering, some miscarriage of his plans might occur.
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§ 11.61.7 And when the soldiers had all been gathered at the torch and had stopped plundering, for the time being they set up a trophy and then sailed back to Cyprus, having won two glorious victories, the one on land and the other on the sea; for not to this day has history recorded the occurrence of so unusual and so important actions on the same day by a host that fought both afloat and on land.
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§ 11.62.1 After Cimon had won these great successes by means of his own skill as general and his valour, his fame was noised abroad not only among his fellow citizens but among all other Greeks as well. For he had captured three hundred and forty ships, more than twenty thousand men, and a considerable sum of money.
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§ 11.62.2 But the Persians, having met with so great reverses, built other triremes in greater number, since they feared the growing might of the Athenians. For from this time the Athenian state kept receiving significant enhancement of its power, supplied as it was with an abundance of funds and having attained to great renown for courage and for able leadership in war.
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§ 11.62.3 And the Athenian people, taking a tenth part of the booty, dedicated it to the god, and the inscription which they wrote upon the dedication they made ran as follows: E'en from the day when the sea divided Europe from Asia, And the impetuous god, Ares, the cities of men Took for his own, no deed such as this among earth-dwelling mortals Ever was wrought at one time both upon land and at sea. These men indeed upon Cyprus sent many a Mede to destruction, Capturing out on the sea warships a hundred in sum Filled with Phoenician men; and deeply all Asia grieved o'er them, Smitten thus with both hands, vanquished by war's mighty power.
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§ 11.63.1 Such, then, were the events of this year. When Phaeon was archon in Athens, in Rome the consulship was taken over by Lucius Furius Mediolanus and Marcus Manilius Vaso. During this year a great and incredible catastrophe befell the Lacedemonians; for great earthquakes occurred in Sparta, and as a result the houses collapsed from their foundations and more than twenty thousand Lacedemonians perished.
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§ 11.63.2 And since the tumbling down of the city and the falling in of the houses continued uninterruptedly over a long period, many persons were caught and crushed in the collapse of the walls and no little household property was ruined by the quake.
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§ 11.63.3 And although they suffered this disaster because some god, as it were, was wreaking his anger upon them, it so happened that other dangers befell them at the hands of men for the following reasons.
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§ 11.63.4 The Helots and Messenians, although enemies of the Lacedemonians, had remained quiet up to this time, since they stood in fear of the eminent position and power of Sparta; but when they observed that the larger part of them had perished because of the earthquake, they held in contempt the survivors, who were few. Consequently they came to an agreement with each other and joined together in the war against the Lacedemonians.
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§ 11.63.5 The king of the Lacedemonians, Archidamus, by his personal foresight not only was the saviour of his fellow citizens even during the earthquake, but in the course of the war also he bravely fought the aggressors.
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§ 11.63.6 For instance, when the terrible earthquake struck Sparta, he was the first Spartan to seize his armour and hasten from the city into the country, calling upon the other citizens to follow his example.
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§ 11.63.7 The Spartans obeyed him and thus those who survived the shock were saved and these men King Archidamus organized into an army and prepared to make war upon the revolters.
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§ 11.64.1 The Messenians together with the Helots at first advanced against the city of Sparta, assuming that they would take it because there would be no one to defend it; but when they heard that the survivors were drawn up in a body with Archidamus the king and were ready for the struggle on behalf of their native land, they gave up this plan, and seizing a stronghold in Messenia they made it their base of operations and from there continued to overrun Laconia.
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§ 11.64.2 And the Spartans, turning for help to the Athenians, received from them an army; and they gathered troops as well from the rest of their allies and thus became able to meet their enemy on equal terms. At the outset they were much superior to the enemy, but at a later time, when a suspicion arose that the Athenians were about to go over to the Messenians, they broke the alliance with them, stating as their reason that in the other allies they had sufficient men to meet the impending battle.
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§ 11.64.3 The Athenians, although they believed that they had suffered an affront, at the time did no more than withdraw; later, however, their relations to the Lacedemonians being unfriendly, they were more and more inclined to fan the flames of hatred. Consequently the Athenians took this incident as the first cause of the estrangement of the two states, and later on they quarrelled and, embarking upon great wars, filled all Greece with vast calamities. But we shall give an account of these matters severally in connection with the appropriate periods of time.
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§ 11.64.4 At the time in question the Lacedemonians together with their allies marched forth against Ithome and laid siege to it. And the Helots, revolting in a body from the Lacedemonians, joined as allies with the Messenians, and at one time they were winning and at another losing. And since for ten years no decision could be reached in the war, for that length of time they never ceased injuring each other.
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§ 11.65.1 The following year Theageneides was archon in Athens, and in Rome the consuls elected were Lucius Aemilius Mamercus and Lucius Julius Iulus, and the Seventy-eighth Olympiad was celebrated, that in which Parmenides of Posidonia won the “stadion.” In this year a war broke out between the Argives and Mycenaeans for the following reasons.
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§ 11.65.2 The Mycenaeans, because of the ancient prestige of their country, would not be subservient to the Argives as the other cities of Argolis were, but they maintained an independent position and would take no orders from the Argives; and they kept disputing with them also over the shrine of Hera and claiming that they had the right to administer the Nemean games by themselves. Furthermore, when the Argives voted not to join with the Lacedemonians in the battle at Thermopylae unless they were given a share in the supreme command, the Mycenaeans were the only people of Argolis who fought at the side of the Lacedemonians.
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§ 11.65.3 In a word, the Argives were suspicious of the Mycenaeans, fearing lest, if they got any stronger, they might, on the strength of the ancient prestige of Mycenae, dispute the right of Argos to the leadership. Such, then, were the reasons for the bad blood between them; and from of old the Argives had ever been eager to exalt their city, and now they thought they had a favourable opportunity, seeing that the Lacedemonians had been weakened and were unable to come to the aid of the Mycenaeans. Therefore the Argives, gathering a strong army from both Argos and the cities of their allies, marched against the Mycenaeans, and after defeating them in battle and shutting them within their walls, they laid siege to the city.
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§ 11.65.4 The Mycenaeans for a time resisted the besiegers with vigour, but afterwards, since they were being worsted in the fighting and the Lacedemonians could bring them no aid because of their own wars and the disaster that had overtaken them in the earthquakes, and since there were no other allies, they were taken by storm through lack of support from outside.
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§ 11.65.5 The Argives sold the Mycenaeans into slavery, dedicated a tenth part of them to the god, and razed Mycenae. So this city, which in ancient times had enjoyed such felicity, possessing great men and having to its credit memorable achievements, met with such an end, and has remained uninhabited down to our own times. These, then, were the events of this year.
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§ 11.66.1 When Lysistratus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Lucius Pinarius Mamertinus and Publius Furius Fifron. In this year Hieron, the king of the Syracusans, summoning to Syracuse the sons of Anaxilas, the former tyrant of Zancle, and giving them great gifts, reminded them of the benefactions Gelon had rendered their father, and advised them, now that they had come of age, to require an accounting of Micythus, their guardian, and themselves to take over the government of Zancle.
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§ 11.66.2 And when they had returned to Rhegium and required of their guardian an accounting of his administration, Micythus, who was an upright man, gathered together the old family friends of the children and rendered so honest an accounting that all present were filled with admiration of both his justice and good faith; and the children, regretting the steps they had taken, begged Micythus to take back the administration and to conduct the affairs of the state with a father's power and position.
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§ 11.66.3 Micythus, however, did not accede to the request, but after turning everything over to them punctiliously and putting his own goods aboard a boat he set sail from Rhegium, accompanied by the goodwill of the populace; and reaching Greece he spent the rest of his life in Tegea in Arcadia, enjoying the approval of men.
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§ 11.66.4 And Hieron, the king of the Syracusans, died in Catana and received the honours which are accorded to heroes, as having been the founder of the city. He had ruled eleven years, and he left the kingdom to his brother Thrasybulus, who ruled over the Syracusans for one year.
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§ 11.67.1 When Lysanias was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Appius Claudius and Titus Quinctius Capitolinus. During this year Thrasybulus, the king of the Syracusans, was driven from his throne, and since we are writing a detailed account of this event, we must go back a few years and set forth clearly the whole story from the beginning.
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§ 11.67.2 Gelon, the son of Deinomenes, who far excelled all other men in valour and strategy and out-generalled the Carthaginians, defeated these barbarians in a great battle, as has been told; and since he treated the peoples whom he had subdued with fairness and, in general, conducted himself humanely toward all his immediate neighbours, he enjoyed high favour among the Sicilian Greeks.
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§ 11.67.3 Thus Gelon, being beloved by all because of his mild rule, lived in uninterrupted peace until his death. But Hieron, the next oldest among the brothers, who succeeded to the throne, did not rule over his subjects in the same manner;
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§ 11.67.4 for he was avaricious and violent and, speaking generally, an utter stranger to sincerity and nobility of character. Consequently there were a good many who wished to revolt, but they restrained their inclinations because of Gelon's reputation and the goodwill he had shown towards all the Sicilian Greeks.
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§ 11.67.5 After the death of Hieron, however, his brother Thrasybulus, who succeeded to the throne, surpassed in wickedness his predecessor in the kingship. For being a violent man and murderous by nature, he put to death many citizens unjustly and drove not a few into exile on false charges, confiscating their possessions into the royal treasury; and since, speaking generally, he hated those he had wronged and was hated by them, he enlisted a large body of mercenaries, preparing in this way a legion with which to oppose the citizen soldiery.
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§ 11.67.6 And since he kept incurring more and most the hatred of the citizens by outraging many and executing others, he compelled the victims to revolt. Consequently the Syracusans, choosing men who would take the lead, set about as one man to destroy the tyranny, and once they had been organized by their leaders they clung stubbornly to their freedom.
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§ 11.67.7 When Thrasybulus saw that the whole city was in arms against him, he at first attempted to stop the revolt by persuasion; but after he observed that the movement of the Syracusans could not be halted, he gathered together both the colonists whom Hieron had settled in Catana and his other allies, as well as a multitude of mercenaries, so that his army numbered all told almost fifteen thousand men.
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§ 11.67.8 Then, seizing Achradine, as it is called, and the Island, which was fortified, and using them as bases, he began a war upon the revolting citizens.
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§ 11.68.1 The Syracusans at the outset seized a part of the city which is called Tyche, and operating from there they dispatched ambassadors to Gela, Acragas, and Selinus, and also to Himera and the cities of the Siceli in the interior of the island, asking them to come together with all speed and join with them in liberating Syracuse.
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§ 11.68.2 And since all these cities acceded to this request eagerly and hurriedly dispatched aid, some of them infantry and cavalry and others warships fully equipped for action, in a brief time there was collected a considerable armament with which to aid the Syracusans. Consequently the Syracusans, having made ready their ships and drawn up their army for battle, demonstrated that they were ready to fight to a finish both on land and on sea.
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§ 11.68.3 Now Thrasybulus, abandoned as he was by his allies and basing his hopes only upon the mercenaries, was master only of Achradine and the Island, whereas the rest of the city was in the hands of the Syracusans. And after this Thrasybulus sailed forth with his ships against the enemy, and after suffering defeat in the battle with the loss of numerous triremes, he withdrew with the remaining ships to the Island.
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§ 11.68.4 Similarly he led forth his army also from Achradine and drew them up for battle in the suburbs, but he suffered defeat and was forced to retire with heavy losses back to Achradine. In the end, giving up hope of maintaining the tyranny, he opened negotiations with the Syracusans, came to an understanding with them, and retired under a truce to Locris.
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§ 11.68.5 The Syracusans, having liberated their native city in this manner, gave permission to the mercenaries to withdraw from Syracuse, and they liberated the other cities, which were either in the hands of tyrants or had garrisons, and re established democracies in them.
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§ 11.68.6 From this time the city enjoyed peace and increased greatly in prosperity, and it maintained its democracy for almost sixty years, until the tyranny which was established by Dionysius.
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§ 11.68.7 But Thrasybulus, who had taken over a kingship which had been established on so fair a foundation, disgracefully lost his kingdom through his own wickedness, and fleeing to Locri he spent the rest of his life there in private station.
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§ 11.68.8 While these events were taking place, in Rome this year for the first time four tribunes were elected to office, Gaius Sicinius, Lucius Numitorius, Marcus Duillius, and Spurius Acilius.
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§ 11.69.1 With the passing of this year, in Athens Lysitheus was archon, and in Rome the consuls elected were Lucius Valerius Publicola and Titus Aemilius Mamercus. During this year, in Asia Artabanus, an Hyrcanian by birth, who enjoyed the greatest influence at the court of King Xerxes and was captain of the royal body-guard, decided to slay Xerxes and transfer the kingship to himself. He communicated the plot to Mithridates the eunuch, who was the king's chamberlain and enjoyed his supreme confidence, and he, since he was also a relative of Artabanus as well as his friend, agreed to the plot.
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§ 11.69.2 And Artabanus, being led at night by Mithridates into the king's bed-chamber, slew Xerxes and then set out after the king's sons. These were three in number, Darius the eldest and Artaxerxes, who were both living in the palace, and the third, Hystaspes, who happened to be away from home at the time, since he was administering the satrapy of Bactria.
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§ 11.69.3 Now Artabanus, coming while it was yet night to Artaxerxes, told him that his brother Darius had murdered his father and was shifting the kingship to himself.
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§ 11.69.4 He counselled him, therefore, before Darius should seize the throne, to see to it that he should not become a slave through sheer indifference but that he should ascend the throne after punishing the murderer of his father; and he promised to get the body-guard of the king to support him in the undertaking.
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§ 11.69.5 Artaxerxes fell in with the advice and at once, with the help of the body-guard, slew his brother Darius. And when Artabanus saw how his plan was prospering, he called his own sons to his side and crying out that now was his time to win the kingship he strikes Artaxerxes with his sword.
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§ 11.69.6 Artaxerxes, being wounded merely and not seriously hurt by the blow, held off Artabanus and dealing him a fatal blow killed him. Thus Artaxerxes, after being saved in this unexpected fashion and having taken vengeance upon the slayer of his father, took over the kingship of the Persians. So Xerxes died in the manner we have described, after having been king of the Persians for more than twenty years, and Artaxerxes succeeded to the kingship and ruled for forty years.
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§ 11.70.1 When Archedemides was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Aulus Verginius and Titus Minucius, and the Seventy-ninth Olympiad was celebrated, that in which Xenophon of Corinth won the “stadion.” In this year the Thasians revolted from the Athenians because of a quarrel over mines; but they were forced to capitulate by the Athenians and compelled to subject themselves again to their rule.
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§ 11.70.2 Similarly also, when the Aeginetans revolted, the Athenians, intending to reduce them to subjection, undertook the siege of Aegina; for this state, being often successful in its engagements at sea, was puffed up with pride and was also well provided with both money and triremes, and, in a word, was constantly at odds with the Athenians.
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§ 11.70.3 Consequently they sent an army against it and laid waste its territory, and then, laying siege to Aegina, they bent every effort on taking it by storm. For, speaking generally, the Athenians, now that they were making great advances in power, no longer treated their allies fairly, as they had formerly done, but were ruling them harshly and arrogantly.
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§ 11.70.4 Consequently most of the allies, unable longer to endure their severity, were discussing rebellion with each other, and some of them, scorning the authority of the General Congress, were acting as independent states.
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§ 11.70.5 While these events were taking place, the Athenians, who were now masters of the sea, dispatched ten thousand colonists to Amphipolis, recruiting a part of them from their own citizens and a part from the allies. They portioned out the territory in allotments, and for a time held the upper hand over the Thracians, but at a later time, as a result of their further advance into Thrace, all who entered the country of the Thracians were slain by a people known as the Edones.
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§ 11.71.1 When Tlepolemus was archon in Athens, the Romans elected as consuls Titus Quinctius and Quintus Servilius Structus. This year Artaxerxes, the king of the Persians, who had just recovered the throne, first of all punished those who had had a part in the murder of his father and then organized the affairs of the kingdom to suit his own personal advantage.
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§ 11.71.2 Thus with respect to the satraps then in office, those who were hostile to him he dismissed and from his friends he chose such as were competent and gave the satrapies to them. He also concerned himself with both the revenues and the preparation of armaments, and since in general his administration of the entire kingdom was mild, he enjoyed the favour of the Persians to a high degree.
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§ 11.71.3 But when the inhabitants of Egypt learned of the death of Xerxes and of the general attempt upon the throne and the disorder in the Persian kingdom, they decided to strike for their liberty. At once, then, mustering an army, they revolted from the Persians, and after expelling the Persians whose duty it was to collect the tribute from Egypt, they set up as king a man named Inaros.
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§ 11.71.4 He at first recruited soldiers from the native Egyptians, but afterwards he gathered also mercenaries from the other nations and amassed a considerable army. He dispatched ambassadors also to the Athenians to effect an alliance, promising them that, if they should liberate the Egyptians, he would give them a share in the kingdom and grant them favours many times greater than the good service they had rendered.
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§ 11.71.5 And the Athenians, having decided that it was to their advantage to humble the Persians as far as they could and to attach the Egyptians closely to themselves against the unpredictable shiftings of Fortune, voted to send three hundred triremes to the aid of the Egyptians.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by George Booth (1635-1719) and J.C. Ferdinand Hoefer (1811-1878). Composed ca. 49 BCE. Licence: public domain. Source.