herodotus

free or slaves, and slaves too to be dealt with as runaways, nowtherefore if ye shall be willing to take upon yourselves hardships, yewill have labour for the time being, but ye will be able to overcomethe enemy and be free; whereas if ye continue to be self-indulgent andwithout discipline, I have no hope for you that ye will not pay thepenalty to the king for your revolt. Nay, but do as I say, and deliveryourselves over to me; and I engage, if the gods grant equalconditions, that either the enemy will not fight with us, or thatfighting he shall be greatly discomfited." 12. Hearing this theIonians delivered themselves to Dionysios; and he used to bring theships out every day in single file,[3] that he might practise therowers by making the ships break through one another's line,[4] andthat he might get the fighting-men in the ships under arms; an thenfor the rest of the day he would keep the ships at anchor; and thus hegave the Ionians work to do during the whole day. For seven days thenthey submitted and did that which he commanded; but on the day afterthese the Ionians, being unaccustomed to such toils and beingexhausted with hard work and hot sun, spoke to one another thus:"Against which of the deities have we offended, that we thus fill upthe measure of evil? for surely we have delivered ourselves to aPhocaian, an impostor, who furnishes but three ships: and he has takenus into his hands and maltreats us with evil dealing from which we cannever recover; and many of us in fact have fallen into sicknesses, andmany others, it may be expected, will suffer the same thing shortly;and for us it is better to endure anything else in the world ratherthan these ills, and to undergo the slavery which will come upon us,whatever that shall be, rather than to be oppressed by that which wehave now. Come, let us not obey him after this any more." So theysaid, and forthwith after this every one refused to obey him, and theypitched their tents in the island like an army, and kept in the shade,and would not go on board their ships or practise any exercises.13. Perceiving this which was being done by the Ionians, thecommanders of the Samians then at length accepted from Aiakes the sonof Syloson those proposals which Aiakes sent before at the bidding ofthe Persians, asking them to leave the alliance of the Ionians; theSamians, I say, accepted these proposals, perceiving that there wasgreat want of discipline on the part of the Ionians, while at the sametime it was clear to them that it was impossible to overcome the powerof the king; and they well knew also that even if they should overcomethe present naval force of Dareios,[5] another would be upon them fivetimes as large. Having found an occasion[6] then, so soon as they sawthat the Ionians refused to be serviceable, they counted it gain forthemselves to save their temples and their private property. NowAiakes, from whom the Samians accepted the proposals, was the son ofSyloson, the son of Aiakes, and being despot of Samos he had been