4.197.2
I have this much further to say of this country: four nations and no more, as far as we know, inhabit it, two of which are aboriginal and two not; the Libyans in the north and the Ethiopians in the south of Libya are aboriginal; the Phoenicians and Greeks are later settlers.
ch. 198
4.198.1
In my opinion, there is in no part of Libya any great excellence for which it should be compared to Asia or Europe, except in the region which is called by the same name as its river, Cinyps.
4.198.2
But this region is a match for the most fertile farmland in the world, nor is it at all like to the rest of Libya. For the soil is black and well-watered by springs, and has no fear of drought, nor is it harmed by drinking excessive showers (there is rain in this part of Libya). Its yield of grain is of the same measure as in the land of Babylon.
4.198.3
The land inhabited by the Euhesperitae is also good; it yields at the most a hundredfold; but the land of the Cinyps region yields three hundredfold.
ch. 199
4.199.1
The country of Cyrene, which is the highest part of the Libya that the nomads inhabit, has the marvellous advantage of three harvest seasons. The fruits of the earth are ripe for reaping and picking on the coast first; when these have been gathered, the middle region above the coast, which they call the Hills, is ripe for gathering;
4.199.2
and no sooner has this yield of the middle country been gathered than the highest-lying crops are mellow and ripe, so that the latest fruits of the earth are coming in when the earliest are already spent by way of food and drink. Thus the Cyrenaeans have a harvest lasting eight months. Enough of these matters, then.
ch. 200
4.200.1
Now when the Persians that Aryandes sent from Egypt to avenge Pheretime came to Barce, note they laid siege to the city, demanding the surrender of those who were guilty of the murder of Arcesilaus: but the Barcaeans, whose whole people were accessory to the deed, would not yield.
4.200.2
The Persians besieged Barce for nine months, digging underground passages leading to the walls, and making violent assaults. As for the tunnels, a blacksmith discovered them by the means of a bronze shield, and this is how he found them: carrying the shield around the inner side of the walls, he struck it against the ground of the city;
4.200.3
all the other places which he struck returned a dull sound; but where there were tunnels, the bronze of the shield rang clear. Here the Barcaeans made a counter-tunnel and killed those Persians who were digging underground. Thus the tunnels were discovered, and the assaults were repelled by the townsfolk.
ch. 201
4.201.1
When much time had been spent and many on both sides (not less of the Persians than of their enemies) slain, Amasis the general of the foot soldiers devised a plot, knowing that Barce could not be taken by force but might be taken by guile: he dug by night a wide trench and laid frail planks across it, which he then covered over with a layer of earth level with the ground about it.
4.201.2
Then when day came, he invited the Barcaeans to confer with him, and they readily consented; at last all agreed to conditions of peace. This was done thus: standing on the hidden trench, they gave and accepted a sworn assurance that their treaty would hold good while the ground where they stood was unchanged; the Barcaeans promised to pay a due sum to the king, and the Persians to do the Barcaeans no harm.
4.201.3
When the sworn agreement was made, the townsfolk, trusting in it and opening all their gates, themselves came out of the city, and let all their enemies who so desired enter within the walls. But the Persians broke down the hidden bridge and ran into the city. They broke down the bridge that they had made, so that they might keep the oath which they had sworn to the Barcaeans: namely, that this treaty would hold good for as long as the ground remained as it was; but if they broke the bridge the treaty held good no longer.
