herodotus

Miltiades up before the people claiming the penalty of death andprosecuted him for his deception of the Athenians: and Miltiades didnot himself make his own defence, although he was present, for he wasunable to do so because his thigh was mortifying; but he lay in publicview upon a bed, while his friends made a defence for him, makingmention much both of the battle which had been fought at Marathon andof the conquest of Lemnos, namely how he had conquered Lemnos andtaken vengeance on the Pelasgians, and had delivered it over to theAthenians: and the people came over to his part as regards theacquittal from the penalty of death, but they imposed a fine of fiftytalents for the wrong committed: and after this Miltiades died, histhigh having gangrened and mortified, and the fifty talents were paidby his son Kimon.137. Now Miltiades son of Kimon had thus taken possession of theLemnos:--After the Pelasgians had been cast out of Attica by theAthenians, whether justly or unjustly,--for about this I cannot tellexcept the things reported, which are these:--Hecataois on the onehand, the son of Hegesander, said in his history that it was doneunjustly; for he said that when the Athenians saw the land whichextends below Hymettos, which they had themselves given them[121] todwell in, as payment for the wall built round the Acropolis in formertimes, when the Athenians, I say, saw that this land was made good bycultivation, which before was bad and worthless, they were seized withjealousy and with longing to possess the land, and so drove them out,not alleging any other pretext: but according to the report of theAthenians themselves they drove them out justly; for the Pelasgiansbeing settled under Hymettos made this a starting-point and committedwrong against them as follows:--the daughters and sons of theAthenians were wont ever to go for water to the spring of Enneacrunos;for at that time neither they nor the other Hellenes as yet hadhousehold servants; and when these girls came, the Pelasgians inwantonness and contempt of the Athenians would offer them violence;and it was not enough for them even to do this, but at last they werefound in the act of plotting an attack upon the city: and thenarrators say that they herein proved themselves better men than thePelasgians, inasmuch as when they might have slain the Pelasgians, whohad been caught plotting against them, they did not choose to do so,but ordered them merely to depart out of the land: and thus havingdeparted out of the land, the Pelasgians took possession of severalolder places and especially of Lemnos. The former story is that whichwas reported by Hecataios, while the latter is that which is told bythe Athenians. 138. These Pelasgians then, dwelling after that inLemnos, desired to take vengeance on the Athenians; and having fullknowledge also of the festivals of the Athenians, they got[122] fiftyoaredgalleys and laid wait for the women of the Athenians when they