Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/234

 212 HISTORY OF GREECE. he was only a private man, that he strangled her in her chamber. Following up his nefarious scheme, he also assassinated her son, a beautiful youth of seventeen. He succeeded in getting possession of the three strongest places in the district, Kebren, Skepsis, and Gergis, together with the accumulated treasure of Mania ; but the commanders in the other towns refused obedience to his summons, until they should receive orders from Pharnabazus. To that sa- trap Meidias instantly sent envoys, bearing ample presents, with a petition that the satrap would grant to him the district which had been enjoyed by Mania. Pharnabazus, repudiating the presents, sent an indignant reply to Meidias, " Keep them until I come to seize them, and seize you, too, along with them. I would not consent to live, if I were not to avenge the death of Mania." 1 At that critical moment, prior to the coming of the satrap, Der- kyllidas presented himself with his army, and found jEolis almost defenceless. The three recent conquests of Mania, Larissa, Hamaxitus, and Kolonae, surrendered to him as soon as he ap- peared ; while the garrisons of Ilium and some other places, who had taken special service under Mania, and found themselves worse off now that they had lost her, accepted his invitation to renounce Persian dependence, declare themselves allies of Sparta, and hold their cities for him. He thus became master of most part of the district, with the exception of Kebren, Skepsis, and Gergis, which he was anxious to secure before the arrival of Phar- nabazus. On arriving before Kebren, however, in spite of this necessity for haste, he remained inactive for four days, 2 because the sacrifices were unpropitious ; while a rash, subordinate officer, hazarding an unwarranted attaok during this interval, was repulsed and wounded. The sacrifices at length became favorable, and Derkyllidas was rewarded for his patience. The garrison, affected by the example of those at Hium and the other towns, disobeyed 1 Xen. Hellen. iii, 1, 13. The reader will remark here how Xenophon shapes the narrative in such a manner as to inculcate the pious duty in a general of obeying the warn- ings furnished by the sacrifice, either for action or for inaction. I have already noticed (in my preceding chapters) how often he does this in tha Anabasis. Such an inference is never (I believe) to be found suggested in Thu?ydi
 * Xen. Hellen. iii, 1, 18; Diodor. xiv, 38.