herodotus

didst bring thyself into a condition which cannot be cured. How, Othou senseless one, will the enemy surrender to us more quickly,because thou hast maltreated thyself? Surely thou didst wander out ofthy senses in thus destroying thyself." And he said, "If I hadcommunicated to thee that which I was about to do, thou wouldst nothave permitted me to do it; but as it was, I did it on my own account.Now therefore, unless something is wanting on thy part, we shallconquer Babylon: for I shall go straightway as a deserter to the wall;and I shall say to them that I suffered this treatment at thy hands:and I think that when I have convinced them that this is so, I shallobtain the command of a part of their forces. Do thou then on thetenth day from that on which I shall enter within the wall take ofthose troops about which thou wilt have no concern if they bedestroyed,--of these, I say, get a thousand by[133] the gate of thecity which is called the gate of Semiramis; and after this again onthe seventh day after the tenth set, I pray thee, two thousand by thegate which is called the gate of the Ninevites; and after this seventhday let twenty days elapse, and then lead other four thousand andplace them by the gate called the gate of the Chaldeans: and letneither the former men nor these have any weapons to defend themexcept daggers, but this weapon let them have. Then after thetwentieth day at once bid the rest of the army make an attack on thewall all round, and set the Persians, I pray thee, by those gateswhich are called the gate of Belos and the gate of Kissia: for, as Ithink, when I have displayed great deeds of prowess, the Babylonianswill entrust to me, besides their other things, also the keys whichdraw the bolts of the gates. Then after that it shall be the care ofmyself and the Persians to do that which ought to be done." 156.Having thus enjoined he proceeded to go to the gate of the city,turning to look behind him as he went, as if he were in truth adeserter; and those who were set in that part of the wall, seeing himfrom the towers ran down, and slightly opening one wing of the gateasked who he was, and for what purpose he had come. And he addressedthem and said that he was Zopyros, and that he came as a deserter tothem. The gate-keepers accordingly when they heard this led him to thepublic assembly of the Babylonians; and being introduced before it hebegan to lament his fortunes, saying that he had in fact suffered athis own hands, and that he had suffered this because he had counselledthe king to withdraw his army, since in truth there seemed to be nomeans of taking the town: "And now," he went on to say, "I am come forvery great good to you, O Babylonians, but for very great evil toDareios and his army, and to the Persians,[134] for he shall surelynot escape with impunity for having thus maltreated me; and I know allthe courses of his counsels." 157. Thus he spoke, and the Babylonians,when they saw the man of most reputation among the Persians deprivedof nose and ears and smeared over with blood from scourging, supposing