The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus · Herodotus
HISTORY OF LYDIA.
At the same time Crœsus sent many other offerings without an inscription: amongst them some round silver covers; and a statue of a woman in gold three cubits high, which the Delphians say is the image of Crœsus's baking woman; and to all these things he added the necklaces and girdles of his wife. These were the offerings he sent to Delphi; and to Amphiaraus, having ascertained his virtue and sufferings, he dedicated a shield all of gold, and a lance of solid gold, the shaft as well as the points being of gold. These are now at Thebes in the temple of Ismenian Apollo. To the Lydians appointed to convey these presents to the temples, Crœsus gave it in charge to inquire of the oracles, whether he should make war on the Persians, and if he should invite any other nation as an ally. Accordingly, when the Lydians arrived at the places to which they were sent, and had dedicated the offerings, they consulted the oracles, saying: "Crœsus, king of the Lydians and of other Nations, esteeming these to be the only oracles among men, sends these presents in acknowledgment of your discoveries; and now asks whether he should lead an army against the Persians, and whether he should join any auxiliary forces with his own?" Such were their questions; and the opinions of both oracles concurred, foretelling: "That if Crœsus should make war on the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire;" and they advised him to engage the most powerful of the Greeks in his alliance. When Crœsus heard the answers that were brought back, he was beyond measure delighted with the oracles; and fully expecting that he should destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he again sent to Delphi, and having ascertained the number of the inhabitants, presented each of them with two staters of gold.
In return for this, the Delphians gave Crœsus and the Lydians the right to consult the oracle before any others, and exemption from tribute, and the first seats in the temple, and the privilege of being made citizens of Delphi, to as many as should desire it in all future time. Crœsus, having made these presents to the Delphians, sent a third time to consult the oracle. For after he had ascertained the veracity of the oracle, he had frequent recourse to it. His demand now was whether he should long enjoy the kingdom? to which the Pythian gave this answer: "When a mule shall become king of the Medes, then, tender-footed Lydian, flee over pebbly Hermus, nor tarry, nor blush to be a coward." With this answer, when reported to him, Crœsus was more than ever delighted, thinking that a mule should never be king of the Medes instead of a man, and consequently that neither he nor his posterity should ever be deprived of the kingdom. In the next place he began to enquire carefully who were the most powerful of the Greeks whom he might gain over as allies; and on inquiry found that the Lacedæmonians and Athenians excelled the rest, the former being of Dorian, the latter of Ionic descent: for these were in ancient time the most distinguished, the latter being a Pelasgian, the other an Hellenic nation.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.