Seventh logos: the Persian conquest of Egypt (3.1-60)
In the first logos of the third book, Herodotus returns to the beginning
of Book Two: Cambyses' expedition to Egypt. After initial successes and
the execution of the last pharaoh, Cambyses goes crazy. First he tries
to attack Ethiopia (giving Herodotus a chance to show his knowledge of
the customs of this country on the edges of the Greek world). After Cambyses'
failure, he orders several executions. His first victim is the sacred Apis
bull, who is mortally wounded by Cambyses in the thigh. Soon the king has
his brother Smerdis killed by a secret agent named Prexaspes, because he
suspects the prince of an attempt to seize the throne for himself. Nobody
knows about this murder. His next victim is the son of Prexaspes, then
a group of twelve noblemen. Finally, he ridicules the cult in an Egyptian
temple, an incident that causes Herodotus to comment explicitly that this
is the best proof that Cambyses was crazy, because only a madman would
ridicule foreign customs (click
here for the text).
Cambyses' expedition can be dated in 525. The statement that Cambyses
ordered the execution of his brother Smerdis (whose real name was Bardiya)
is corroborated by the Persian Behistun-inscription,
in which Cambyses' successor Darius states the same (section
10). Of course, this does not prove that the secret murder is a historical
fact, but we can be sure that Herodotus had access to the official Persian
version of the accident. The Apis bull did in fact die during Cambyses'
stay, but the epitaph on his tomb states that it was of natural causes
and that Cambyses dedicated the shrine. At this point, Herodotus reproduces
an extremely anti-Persian tradition which he can easily have picked up
if he visited Egypt during the revolt of Inarus and Amyrtaeus, Egyptian
rebels who received Greek support (464-449 BCE). In fact, there are reports
that indicate that Cambyses behaved himself as a pious ruler who did his
best to make his rule acceptable to his new subjects; an example is the
story of Uzahor-Resenet.
Eighth logos: the coups of the Magians and Darius (3.61-119, 3.126-141
and 3.150-160)
In the next logos, Herodotus tells his most romantic story: the
coup d' état of the Magians in March 522. (The Magians were a Median
tribe, considered specialists in religious rituals.) One of the Magians
looks very much like the murdered prince Smerdis; his name also happens
to be Smerdis. Pseudo-Smerdis proclaims himself king; his brother Patizeithes
is the mastermind behind this plan. The two gain support from Persia's
subjects by acquitting them of their taxes. When Cambyses hears from it,
he rushes back to Persia, but when he springs into the saddle, the cap
falls of the sheath of his sword, exposes the blade, which pierces his
thigh - just in the spot where Cambyses had wounded the Apis. Soon, Cambyses
dies.
 The
Persian elite cannot appreciate pseudo-Smerdis' policy towards the subject
peoples, and seven conspirators assemble. Herodotus gives their names as
Otanes (the son of the secret agent Prexaspes), Gobryes, Intaphrenes, Hydarnes,
Megabyzus, Darius and Aspathines. Before they can strike, Cambyses' secret
agent Prexaspes has committed suicide, after announcing to the people the
truth about Smerdis. The population of the city is restless. This is the
moment the seven have been waiting for, and they kill the two Magians.
Next, there is a debate about the future constitution of the Persian empire.
The seven decide that Persia has to stay a monarchy, and choose Darius
as their king.
The new shah divides the
country in twenty satrapies (districts); Herodotus knows all their
names and what kind of tribute they have to pay to the great king. (The
Indian satrapy gives Herodotus an opportunity to describe this country,
including the gold-digging ants he believes to
live there.) He also informs us about the Persian recapture of the rebellious
city of Babylon. One Zopyrus, son of the conspirator Megabyzus, cuts off
his ears and nose, and defects to the beleaguered city, saying that he
was punished by Darius and that he wants to help the Babylonians. These
entrust their army to him, but he opens the gates and lets the Persians
in.
The narrative about this double coup does not sound very convincing,
but we can corroborate Herodotus' story, because the same story is told
in Darius' Behistun
inscription. The main difference is that in Darius' story there is
only one Magian named Gaumata who seized power and had himself called Bardiya
(sections
10-15). Herodotus' duplication must be due to a misunderstanding of
this man's title: Patizeithes is the Greek form of Patikhshayathya or "governor".
Probably, he heard about the patikhshayathya who called himself Bardiya,
and erroneously thought that there were two men involved.
From the inscription, we know that they seized power
on March 11, that Cambyses died in July 522 in Syria, hurrying home to
suppress the rebellion, that there was a conspiracy of seven noblemen,
who killed the false king on September 29. A point of some interest is
the resemblance of the names of the conspirators: section
68 of the Behistun-inscription calls them Utana,
Gaubaruva,
Vindafarna,
Vidarna,
Bagabuxsha,
Darayavaush
and Ardumanish.
This means that Herodotus has only one name wrong: instead of Ardumanish
he mentions Aspathines.
We may assume that the mistake was made by Herodotus' Persian spokesman:
Aspaçana was a very important courtier.
The list of satrapies closely resembles comparable
lists from ancient Persia (e.g., the Behistun
inscription, the one on Darius' grave and one by Xerxes
- click here
for a comparison). There are some inconsistencies, however, which cannot
be explained.
The story about Zopyrus ending the revolt of Babylon
is unlikely to be true in its present form, although comparison with section
32 of the Behistun-inscription makes it clear that this type of mutilation
was not uncommon. The inscription also informs us about two rebellions
in Babylon, one under Nidintu-Bêl,
who assumed the throne name Nebuchadnezzar, and one under the Armenian
Arakha
, who assumed the same name. The first of these two rebels revolted on
October 3, 522 and was captured by Darius on December 18; the second
rebel ruled from August 25, 521 until November 27 and was defeated by Hydarnes,
one of the seven conspirators. In the same period, there were two rebellions
in Elam, one in Sagartia, one in Margiana, one in Persia, and one
in Media (mentioned by Herodotus, who does not mention that Darius' father
Hystaspes was the Persian commander in this theater of operations).
Ninth logos: affairs on Samos (3.39-60 and 3.120-125 and 3.142-149)
Between the two preceding logoi, Herodotus has told the story of
the rise and fall of Polycrates of Samos, the tyrant (= sole ruler). Herodotus
first tells about his exceptional happiness: even when he throws a precious
ring into the sea, a fisherman will catch the fish that has swallowed the
ring. The pharaoh Amasis, who is allied with Polycrates, thinks that a
man who is so lucky will one day be punished by the gods, who are envious
of human happiness: reason to end the alliance. Nonetheless, Polycrates
is able to hold his position against a joint attack by the Spartans and
the Corinthians. After the illness of Cambyses and the two coups, the Persian
satrap of Lydia decides to terminate the rule of Polycrates: he is too
powerful a neighbor. Promising money, he lures the tyrant of Samos to the
continent, where the man is crucified. After this, the Persians occupy
Samos.
The story of the ring of Polycrates
is of course a fairy tale, but the other elements of this story are very
probable and we may assume that Herodotus is a reliable source. For example,
we know that Polycrates' power was based upon his navy, which was paid
for by the pharaoh. After loosing this ally, the tyrant of Samos had to
look for another source of money - exactly as Herodotus describes. The
combination of ships plus silver was to be of vital importance in the next
century, as we shall see below.
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7 Book 8 Book
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