herodotus

while the Athenians and Xanthippos their commander determined to staybehind there and to make an attempt upon the Chersonese. Those thensailed away, and the Athenians passed over from Abydos to theChersonese and began to besiege Sestos. 115. To this town of Sestos,since it was the greatest stronghold of those in that region, men hadcome together from the cities which lay round it, when they heard thatthe Hellenes had arrived at the Hellespont, and especially there hadcome from the city of Cardia Oiobazos a Persian, who had brought toSestos the ropes of the bridges. The inhabitants of the city wereAiolians, natives of the country, but there were living with them agreat number of Persians and also of their allies. 116. And of theprovince Artaÿctes was despot, as governor under Xerxes, a Persian,but a man of desperate and reckless character, who also had practiseddeception upon the king on his march against Athens, in taking awayfrom Elaius the things belonging to Protesilaos the son of Iphiclos.For at Elaius in the Chersonese there is the tomb of Protesilaos witha sacred enclosure about it, where there were many treasures, withgold and silver cups and bronze and raiment and other offerings, whichthings Artaÿctes carried off as plunder, the king having granted themto him. And he deceived Xerxes by saying to him some such words asthese: "Master, there is here the house of a man, a Hellene, who madean expedition against thy land and met with his deserts and was slain:this man's house I ask thee to give to me, that every one may learnnot to make expeditions against thy land." By saying this it waslikely that he would easily enough persuade Xerxes to give him a man'shouse, not suspecting what was in his mind: and when he said thatProtesilaos had made expedition against the land of the king, it mustbe understood that the Persians consider all Asia to be theirs and tobelong to their reigning king. So when the things had been given him,he brought them from Elaius to Sestos, and he sowed the sacredenclosure for crops and occupied it as his own; and he himself,whenever he came to Elaius, had commerce with women in the inner cellof the temple.[116] And now he was being besieged by the Athenians,when he had not made any preparation for a siege nor had beenexpecting that the Hellenes would come; for they fell upon him, as onemay say, inevitably.[117] 117. When however autumn came and the siegestill went on, the Athenians began to be vexed at being absent fromtheir own land and at the same time not able to conquer the fortress,and they requested their commanders to lead them away home; but thesesaid that they would not do so, until either they had taken the townor the public authority of the Athenians sent for them home: and sothey endured their present state.[118] 118. Those however who werewithin the walls had now come to the greatest misery, so that theyboiled down the girths of their beds and used them for food; and whenthey no longer had even these, then the Persians and with themArtaÿctes and Oiobazos ran away and departed in the night, climbing