herodotus

Hellas who had taken the side of the Medes, and give that land to theIonians to dwell in; but the Athenians did not think it good that theinhabitants of Ionia should be removed at all, nor that thePeloponnesians should consult about Athenian colonies; and as thesevehemently resisted the proposal, the Peloponnesians gave way. So theend was that they joined as allies to their league the Samians,Chians, Lesbians, and the other islanders who chanced to be servingwith the Hellenes, binding them by assurance and by oaths to remainfaithful and not withdraw from the league: and having bound these byoaths they sailed to break up the bridges, for they supposed theywould find them still stretched over the straits.These then were sailing towards the Hellespont; 107, and meanwhilethose Barbarians who had escaped and had been driven to the heights ofMycale, being not many in number, were making their way to Sardis: andas they went by the way, Masistes the son of Dareios, who had beenpresent at the disaster which had befallen them, was saying many evilthings of the commander Artaÿntes, and among other things he said thatin respect of the generalship which he had shown he was worse than awoman, and that he deserved every kind of evil for having brought evilon the house of the king. Now with the Persians to be called worsethan a woman is the greatest possible reproach. So he, after he hadbeen much reviled, at length became angry and drew his sword uponMasistes, meaning to kill him; and as he was running upon him,Xeinagoras the son of Prexilaos, a man of Halicarnassos, perceived it,who was standing just behind Artaÿntes; and this man seized him by themiddle and lifting him up dashed him upon the ground; and meanwhilethe spearmen of Masistes came in front to protect him. Thus didXeinagoras, and thus he laid up thanks for himself both with Masistesand also with Xerxes for saving the life of his brother; and for thisdeed Xeinagoras became ruler of all Kilikia by the gift of the king.Nothing further happened than this as they went on their way, but theyarrived at Sardis.Now at Sardis, as it chanced, king Xerxes had been staying ever sincethat time when he came thither in flight from Athens, after sufferingdefeat in the sea-fight. 108. At that time, while he was in Sardis, hehad a passionate desire, as it seems, for the wife of Masistes, whowas also there: and as she could not be bent to his will by hismessages to her, and he did not wish to employ force because he hadregard for his brother Masistes and the same consideration withheldthe woman also, for she well knew that force would not be used towardsher), then Xerxes abstained from all else, and endeavoured to bringabout the marriage of his own son Dareios with the daughter of thiswoman and of Masistes, supposing that if he should do so he wouldobtain her more easily. Then having made the betrothal and done all