Herodotus The Histories Books 6 8 OPMSANG Bombing

Herodotus, The Histories Books 6 -8

OPM-SANG Bombing, 13 Nov 95 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

After leaving Ionia, the Persian fleets took the towns of what region? • They took the towns of Chersonese and Thrace (6. 33) • What was the significance of King Croesus’ command to the people of Lampsacus that they should release Miltiades or he would ‘cut them down like a pine tree? ’ • The pine was the only kind of tree which sent up no new shoots after being felled – cut down a pine and it will die off completely. (6. 37)

Events after Ionia is re-re-enslaved • After Miltiades, son Cypselus, and Stesagoras, son of Cimon, both died childless and left no heirs to rule the Chersonese, whom did Pisistratus send from Athens to rule them? • He sent Miltiades (the younger), son of Cimon, brother of Stesagoras. (6. 39) • Why did this new ruler flee from the Chersonese back to Athens (the second time)? • He fled when he learned the Phoenicians were coming. (6. 41) • What reforms did Artapherenes, satrap of Sardis, direct for the Ionian states? • He forced them to bind themselves by oath to settle their differences by arbitration, instead of raiding. He also had their territories surveyed and settled the tax which each state was to pay. (6. 42)

Darius prepares to invade Greece • Who did Darius now put in charge of his forces in Ionia? • He put general Mardonius in command of both land naval forces. (6. 43) • What did this new commander do in Ionia? Why did he do it? • Mardonius suppressed the tyrants in all the Ionian poleis and set up democratic institutions in their place. He did this to pacify and secure his rear area. (6. 43, fn 20) • When the Persians invade Europe, what were their professed objectives? What were their actual intentions? • The Persians main objectives were Eretria and Athens. In fact they intended to subjugate as many Greek cities as they could. (6. 44)

Mardonius’ 1 st invasion attempt fails • What disaster overtook the fleet when they attempted to sail around Athos? • The fleet was destroyed (300 ships and 20, 000 men) by a violent northern gale. (6. 44) • What did Mardonius do after defeating the Brygi? Why? • He retreated to Asia in disgrace due to the casualties his army had suffered against the Brygi and in the disaster at Athos. (6. 45)

Darius tests the Greeks • How did Darius test the Greeks to find out if they were likely to resist or surrender? • He sent heralds demanding a tribute of earth and water, and warships and transports from the tributary Asiatic coastal towns. (6. 48) • What was Athens’ response to Aegina’s submission to Darius? • The Athenians took the opportunity to join with Sparta in resisting Darius and accused those living in Aegina of becoming traitors to Greece. (6. 49)

Sparta’s kings squabble • Why did Sparta have two kings? • Sparta had two kings because Aristodemus’ wife gave birth to twin sons, but would not reveal which was the elder, as she wanted both to be king. The people appealed to the oracle who said they should both be king, but the elder must have priority of place, thus they observed the mother to see which she favored and determined which one must be the elder and thus given priority. (6. 52) • Why did Demaritus, king of Sparta, spread malicious stories about Cleomenes while the latter was away in Aegina working for the common good? • Demaratus was spreading rumors out of envy and spite. (6. 61) • How did Cleomenes try to slander Demaratus? • He encouraged Leotychides, one of Demaratus’ enemies, to declare that Demaratus was not the son of Ariston. Leotychides did this. Then Cleomenes had one of his friends bribe the oracle to say the same. (6. 65 -6. 66)

Demaratus • Demaratus then leaves Sparta. What is his parting comment at the Spartans, when he is asked how he likes being a magistrate, after being a king? • “This question will be the beginning of great things for Sparta – either for good or for evil. ” (6. 68)

Cleomenes • How did Cleomenes end his days? • His plot against Demaratus came to light and he, being frightened, escaped to Thessaly where he gathered troops to attack Sparta. Upon hearing this, the Spartans brought him home and restored him to his position, but it was obvious by that point he had gone mad. His relatives put him in the stocks and he killed himself by cutting his body into strips. (6. 74 -6. 75) • Why did the people of Greece believe he killed himself in this way? • Most believed it was punishment for corrupting the Priestess at Delphi. The Athenians said it was or desecrating the sacred land of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis. The Argives maintained it was a punishment because he committed a sacrilege by fetching Argive fugitives from a sacred grove by trickery, cutting them into pieces and burning the sacred grove. (6. 75) • Why do the Spartans say he went mad? • He went mad from drinking his wine in the Scythian fashion, without water. (6. 84)

The Persian Lineage • According to Herodotus, to what two things did this prophecy of the oracle refer: “Delos too I will shake, though it has never been shaken. ” • This prophecy referred to an earthquake that struck Delos, but it also signified the shock which Delos suffered under the reigns of Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes. (6. 98) • What are the meanings of the names of Darius, Xerxes and Ataxerxes? • Darius means “Worker, ” Xerxes, “Warrior, ” and Artaxerxes, “Great Warrior. ” (6. 99)

The Spartans • Who was Pheidippides, what was his mission, and what was the result? • Pheidippides was the long distance runner who ran from Athens to Sparta, 140 miles, in two days, to seek their assistance at Marathon. Sparta declined due to observing the festival of Carneia. (105 -6. 106, fns 45, 46) • When Hippias lost his tooth while guiding his troops to marathon, what did he believe it to mean? • Hippias believed it was an omen, meaning he would take no part of that land. (6. 107) • Why did the Spartans tell the Plataeans to surrender to the Athenians rather than to Sparta? What was the real reason? • The Spartans told the Plataeans they should surrender to Athens because they were too far from Sparta and Athens was their neighbor; however, the real reason was that the Spartans wanted to cause the Athenians trouble with the Boeotians. (6. 108)

Miltiades • Why did Miltiades encourage the Athenians to go to battle despite the fact that the Persian army was much larger than the Athenian forces? • He encouraged the Athenians to go to war with the Persians and take a chance of winning rather than submit to Persia and suffer enslavement. He said that if they submitted, Hippias would be restored to power over them and Athens would be worse off, but if they win, they will be pre-eminent among all the Greeks. (6. 109) • After hearing Miltiades’ speech, what did Callimachus, the War Archon, vote to do? • He cast the decisive vote for Athens to go to war against Persia. (6. 110)

The Battle of Marathon • The Athenians ran into battle (probably the last 50 m after a brisk advance). Up until that point, men ran in fear of the Persians, but on that day the Athenians charged forward in what appeared to be a suicide attempt to the Persians. • The Persian forces were much larger, so the Athenians had to stretch their forces to match the Persians; this left the Athenian center sparse. • The Persians broke through the center of the line, but then the Athenians and Plataeans on the wings turned in on the middle and routed the Persians, winning the battle. • Miltiades led the Greeks, and Datis (a Mede) and Artaphernes (satrap) led the Persians. • The Battle took place in [Sep. ] 490 BC. • According to Herodotus, the Athenians lost 192 men against the Persians’ 6400. (6. 11 -6. 117)

Epilogue • The Spartans made the march to Marathon in three days, an average of 47 miles per day, but arrived a day late. (6. 120) • The humorous tale of Cleisthenes the tyrant’s family affairs that Herodotus relates – the Trial of the Suiters. “Hippocleides doesn’t care. ” (horsing around) (6. 126 -6. 130)