Herodotus, The Histories (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Hdt.].
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6.35.1 At that time in Athens, Pisistratus held all power, but Miltiades son of Cypselus also had great influence. His household was rich enough to maintain a four-horse chariot, and he traced his earliest descent to Aeacus and Aegina, though his later ancestry was Athenian. Philaeus son of Ajax was the first of that house to be an Athenian. 6.35.2 Miltiades was sitting on his porch when he saw the Dolonci go by with their foreign clothing and spears, so he called out to them, and when they came over, he invited them in for lodging and hospitality. They accepted, and after he entertained them, they revealed the whole story of the oracle to him and asked him to obey the god. 6.35.3 He was persuaded as soon as he heard their speech, for he was tired of Pisistratus' rule and wanted to be away from it. He immediately set out for Delphi to ask the oracle if he should do what the Dolonci asked of him.

ch. 36 6.36.1 The Pythia also bade him do so. Then Miltiades son of Cypselus, previously an Olympic victor in the four-horse chariot, recruited any Athenian who wanted to take part in the expedition, sailed off with the Dolonci, and took possession of their land. Those who brought him appointed him tyrant. 6.36.2 His first act was to wall off the isthmus of the Chersonese from the city of Cardia across to Pactye, note so that the Apsinthians would not be able to harm them by invading their land. The isthmus is thirty-six stadia across, and to the south of the isthmus the Chersonese is four hundred and twenty stadia in length.

ch. 37 6.37.1 After Miltiades had pushed away the Apsinthians by walling off the neck of the Chersonese, he made war first on the people of Lampsacus, but the Lampsacenes laid an ambush and took him prisoner. However, Miltiades stood high in the opinion of Croesus the Lydian, and when Croesus heard what had happened, he sent to the Lampsacenes and commanded them to release Miltiades. If they did not do so, he threatened to cut them down like a pine tree. 6.37.2 The Lampsacenes went astray in their counsels as to what the utterance meant which Croesus had threatened them with, saying he would devastate them like a pine tree, until at last one of the elders understood and said what it was: the pine is the only tree that once cut down never sends out any shoots; it is utterly destroyed. So out of fear of Croesus the Lampsacenes released Miltiades and let him go.

ch. 38 6.38.1 So he escaped by the intervention of Croesus, but he later died childless and left his rule and possessions to Stesagoras, the son of his half-brother Cimon. Since his death, the people of the Chersonese offer sacrifices to him as their founder in the customary manner, instituting a contest of horse races and gymnastics. No one from Lampsacus is allowed to compete. 6.38.2 But in the war against the Lampsacenes Stesagoras too met his end and died childless; he was struck on the head with an axe in the town-hall by a man who pretended to be a deserter but in truth was an enemy and a man of violence.

ch. 39 6.39.1 Stesagoras met his end in this way. The sons of Pisistratus sent Miltiades, son of Cimon and brother of the dead Stesagoras, in a trireme to the Chersonese to take control of the country; they had already treated him well at Athens, feigning that they had not been accessory to the death of Cimon his father, which I will relate in another place.



Herodotus, The Histories (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Hdt.].
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