Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/281

 DARIUS INVADES SCYTHIA. 263 should be left at home, an answer which the unsuspecting fa- ther heard with delight. They were indeed all left at home, for they were all put to death. 1 A proceeding similar to this is ascribed afterwards to Xerxes ; 2 whether true or not as matters of fact, both tales illustrate the wrathful displeasure with which the Persian kings were known to receive such petitions for ex- emption. The naval force of Darius seems to have consisted entirely of subject Greeks, Asiatic and insular ; for the Phenician fleet was not brought into the JEgean until the subsequent Ionic revolt. At this time all or most of the Asiatic Greek cities were under despots, who leaned on the Persian government for support, and who appeared with their respective contingents to take part in the Scythian expedition. 3 Of Ionic Greeks were seen, Strattis, despot of Chios ; JEakes son of Syloson, despot of Samos ; Laodamas, of Phokaea ; and Histiceus, of Miletus. From the JEolic towns, Aristagoras of Kyme ; from the Hellespontine Greeks, Daphnis of Abydus, Hippoklus of Lampsakus, Hero- phantus of Parium, Metrodorus of Prokonnesus, Aristagoras of Kyzikus, and Miltiades of the Thracian Chersonese. All these are mentioned, and there were probably more. This large fleet, assembled at the Bosphorus, was sent forward into the Euxine to the mouth of the Danube, with orders to sail up the river two days' journey, above the point where its channel begins to divide, and to throw a bridge of boats over it ; while Darius, having lib- erally recompensed the architect Mandrokles, crossed the bridge over the Bosphorus, and began his march through Thrace, re- ceiving the submission of various Thracian tribes in his way, and subduing others, especially the Getae north of Mount Hsemus, who were compelled to increase still farther the num- bers of his vast army. 4 On arriving at the Danube, he found the bridge finished and prepared for his passage by the lonians : we may remark here, as on so many other occasions, that all operations requiring intelligence are performed for the Persians either by Greeks or by Phenicians, more usually by the for- 1 Hcrodot. iv, 84. 2 Ilerodot. vii, 39.
 * Herodot. iv, 97, 137, 138. Herodot. iv, 89-93.