herodotus

view to that very thing that they had been doing this. 14. ThenDareios wrote a letter to Megabazos, whom he had left to command hisarmy in Thrace, bidding him remove the Paionians from their place ofhabitation and bring them to the king, both themselves and theirchildren and their wives. Then forthwith a horseman set forth to ridein haste bearing the message to the Hellespont, and having passed overto the other side he gave the paper to Megabazos. So he having read itand having obtained guides from Thrace, set forth to march uponPaionia: 15, and the Paionians, being informed that the Persians werecoming against them, gathered all their powers together and marchedout in the direction of the sea, supposing that the Persians when theyinvaded them would make their attack on that side. The Paionians thenwere prepared, as I say, to drive off the army of Megabazos when itcame against them; but the Persians hearing that the Paionians hadgathered their powers and were guarding the entrance which lay towardsthe sea, directed their course with guides along the upper road; andpassing unperceived by the Paionians they fell upon their cities,which were left without men, and finding them without defenders theyeasily took possession of them. The Paionians when they heard thattheir cities were in the hands of the enemy, at once dispersed, eachtribe to its own place of abode, and proceeded to deliver themselvesup to the Persians. Thus then it happened that these tribes of thePaionians, namely the Siropaionians,[6] the Paioplians and all up tothe lake Prasias, were removed from their place of habitation andbrought to Asia; 16, but those who dwell about mount Pangaion, andabout the Doberians and Agrianians and Odomantians,[7] and about thelake Prasias itself, were not conquered at all by Megabazos. He triedhowever to remove even those who lived in the lake and who had theirdwellings in the following manner:--a platform fastened together andresting upon lofty piles stood in the middle of the water of the lake,with a narrow approach to it from the mainland by a single bridge. Thepiles which supported the platform were no doubt originally set thereby all the members of the community working together, but since thattime they continue to set them by observance of this rule, that is tosay, every man who marries brings from the mountain called Orbelosthree piles for each wife and sets them as supports; and each mantakes to himself many wives. And they have their dwelling thus, thatis each man has possession of a hut upon the platform in which helives and of a trap-door[8] leading through the platform down to thelake: and their infant children they tie with a rope by the foot, forfear that they should roll into the water. To their horses and beastsof burden they give fish for fodder; and of fish there is so greatquantity that if a man open the trap-door and let down an empty basketby a cord into the lake, after waiting quite a short time he draws itup again full of fish. Of the fish there are two kinds, and they callthem /paprax/ and /tilon/.