CHAPTER XXXIV

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DEMOKEDES. — DARIUS INVADES SCYTHIA.

Conquering dispositions of Darius. — Influence of his wife, Atossa. — Dêmokêdês, the Krotoniate surgeon — his adventures — he is carried a slave to Susa. — He cures Darius, who rewards him munificently. — He procures permission by artifice, and through the influence of Atossa, to return to Greece. — Atossa suggests to Darius an expedition against Greece. — Dêmokêdês, with some Persians, is sent to procure information for him. — Voyage of Dêmokêdês along the coast of Greece — he stays at Kroton — fate of his Persian companions. — Consequences which might have been expected to happen if Darius had then undertaken his expedition against Greece. — Darius marches against Scythia. — His naval force formed of Asiatic and insular Greeks. — He directs the Greeks to throw a bridge over the Danube and crosses the river. — He marches into Scythia — narrative of his march impossible and unintelligible, considered as history. — The description of his march is rather to be looked upon as a fancy-picture, illustrative of Scythian warfare. — Poetical grouping of the Scythians and their neighbors by Herodotus. — Strong impression produced upon the imagination of Herodotus by the Scythians. — Orders given by Darius to the Ionians at the bridge over the Danube. — The Ionians are left in guard of the bridge; their conduct when Darius’s return is delayed. — The Ionian despots preserve the bridge and enable Darius to recross the river, as a means of support to their own dominion at home. — Opportunity lost of emancipation from the Persians — Conquest of Thrace by the Persians as far as the river Strymon — Myrkinus near that river given to Histiæus. — Macedonians and Pæonians are conquered by Megabazus. — Insolence of the Persian envoys in Macedonia — they are murdered. — Histiæus founds a prosperous colony at Myrkinus — Darius sends for him into Asia. — Otanês Persian general on the Hellespont — he conquers the Pelasgian population of Lemnos, Imbros, etc. — Lemnos and Imbros captured by the Athenians and Miltiadês. 252-280

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