Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/286

 jj;>4 HISTORY OF GREECE. caused to be left behind as not worth carrying ofi". By suet active kindness, rare, indeed, in a Grecian general, towards the conquered, he earned the gratitude of the captives, and the sym- pathies of every one around. 1 This interesting anecdote, imparting a glimpse of the ancient world in reference to details which Grecian historians rarely con- descend to unveil, demonstrates the compassionate disposition of Agesilaus. We find in conjunction with it another anecdote, illus- trating the Spartan side of his character. The prisoners who had been captured during the expedition were brought to Ephesus, and 1 Xen. Agesil. i, 21. Kal no^.Aa.Kif fiisv rrpOTj^opeve ro?f or roiif ahiaKOftEVOvf fj.}j wf udiicovf T ifiup el f uv- tfpwTrovf ovra$  vhaffaeiv. IIoAAa/af <5e, STTOTE fieracfrpaToirsdevot- TO, el aladoiTO /caraAcAet/iyuevo iraidapta puipa E[nropuv, (a 7ro>lAoi ^TTWAODV, 6ia rd vofii^Eiv fj.Tj 6vvav&ai uv speiv aiiTu Kal Tpsiv) eVf/^Aero Kal TOVTUV, oTrwf GvynoiuZflnb irof rotf <5' av <Jta "yfjpaf KaraAeAe^/zevoif at'^aAwro/f Trpouerarrev iTriftefelfTdai avruv, lif HTJTE vird KVVUV, [tij&' iiirb TivKuv, dia^dpoivro. 'Qare ov fiovov ol TTVV- ftavoiievoi ravra, aAAti Kal avrol ol ahiaKOfievoi, evfievslg avrC) kyiyvovro. Herodotus affirms that the Thracians also sold their children for expor- tation, TrwAeCfft ra TEKVU lir' kZayuy-g (Herod, v, 6) : compare Philostra- tus, Vit. Apollon. viii, 7-12, p. 346 ; and Ch. xvi, Vol. Ill, p. 216 of this History. Herodotus mentions the Chian merchant Panionius (like the " Mitylenceu mango " in Martial, " Sed Mitylenaei roseus mangonis ephebus " Martial, vii, 79) as having conducted on a large scale the trade of purchasing boys, looking out for such as were handsome, to supply the great demand in the East for eunuchs, who were supposed to make better and more at- tached servants. Herodot. viii, 105. o/cuf yap xr^aairo (Panionius) Tratdaf fldsof eTro^uf vovf, EKTafivuv, uyivsuv ETTUAEE if Sapdif re Kal *E0e<rov XP*l~ IU.TUV usyuhuv Trapa yap Total fiapfiupoiai riuiuTspoi Eiffi ol ebvovxot., iria- "iof eivEKa TTJS TTuffjjf, rfJv evvovxw. Boys were necessary, as the operation iras performed in childhood or youth, naldef sKrofiiai ( Herodot. vi, 6-32 : compare iii, 48). The Babylonians, in addition to their large pecuniary tribute, had to furnish to the Persian court annually five hundred iraida<; eKTo/ztaf (Herodot. iii, 92). For some farther remarks on the preference of the Persians both for the persons and the services of ebvovxoi, see Dio Chrysostom, Orat. xxi, p. 270 ; Xenoph. Cyropsed. vii, 5, 61-65. Hellani- kus (Fr. 169, ed. Didot) affirmed that the Persians had derived both the persons so employed, and the habit of employing them, from the Baby- lonians. "When Mr. Hamvay was travelling near the Caspian, among the Kal mucks, little children of two or three years of age, were often tendered to uim for sale, at two rubles per head (Hanway's Travels, ch. xvi, pp. 65, 66).