pertor, et naturæ rerum certissimus explorator, et astrorum peritissimus contemplator, maximas res parvis lineis reperit: temporum ambitus, ventorum flatus, stellarum meatus, tonitruum sonora miracula, siderum obliqua curricula, solis annua reverticula: idem lunæ vel nascentis incrementa, vel senescentis dispendia, vel delinquentis obstacula. Idem sane jam proclivi senectute divinam rationem de sole commentus est. Quam equidem non didici modo, verum etiam experiundo comprobavi: quotiens sol magnitudine suâ circulum, quem permeat, metiatur. Id a se recens inventum Thales memoratur edocuisse Mandraytum Prienensem. Qui novâ et inopinatâ cognitione impendio delectatus, optare jussit quantam vellet mercedem sibi pro tanto documento rependi. Satis, inquit Thales sapiens, mihi fuerit mercedis, si id, quod a me didicisti, cum proferre ad quospiam cœperis, tibi non adsciveris; sed ejus inventi me potius quam alium repertorem prædicaveris.' It should seem from this anecdote, that the philosopher, unlike those who now assume that title, was more alive to honor than to interest. Whatever may have been asserted by ancient authors, and amongst others by St. Augustine," it does not appear that Thales wrote any thing. Let us hear Themistius: "Although Thales made numerous discoveries, he did not commit them to writing, nor did any other philosopher of that period. Anaximander, the son of Praxiades, did not imitate him in every respect. He adopted a different method, and one quite opposed to ordinary usage, inasmuch as he was the first amongst the Greeks of whom we have any intelligence, who dared to publish a work on Nature. It had previously been accounted shameful among the Greeks to give works to the public; it was not a practice consecrated by general use." Thales of Miletus was the first who said, that "water is the principle of all things; and God is that intelligence by whom all things are formed of water." Thales enim Milesius, qui primus de talibus rebus quæsivit, aquam dixit esse initium rerum: Deum autem, eam mentem quæ ex aquâ cuncta fingeret.' Lactantius expresses himself in like manner, whether he may have copied from Cicero or from some other author. Thales Milesius, qui unus e septem Sapientum numero fuit, quique primus omnium quæsisse de causis naturalibus traditur, aquam esse dixit ex quâ nata sint omnia: Deum autem esse mentem, quæ ex aquâ cuncta formaverit.' Saint Augustine says likewise, that Thales considered water as the universal principle; S. August. de Civitate Dei, lib. viii. cap. ii. p. 191. B. C Themistii Orat. xxvi. p. 317. B, C. d Lactant. Divinar. Institut. lib.i. cap. v. p. 17. S. August. de Civitate Dei, lib. vaii, cap. ii. p. 191. B. 6 but he does not add, that he acknowledged God as the intelligence We must take care not to confound this philosopher with the poet and musician of the same name, who was contemporary with Lycurgus. This latter, who was a Cretan," cured the Lacedæmonians of the plague by the power of music. With regard to the manner in which Croesus passed the Halys, that which according to our historian was merely a report current amongst the Greeks, has been adopted as an undoubted fact by the authors who have succeeded him. See the Scholiast of Aristophanes on the 18th verse of the Nubes; Lucian. Hippias, § 11. Vol. 111. p. 68; and Diogenes Laertius, Book 1. segm. XXXVIII. p. 23. péeɩ] Ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ, τὸν ποταμὸν — ἐκ δεξιῆς ῥέειν] Diverted to the right of the army the channel of the river, &c. We must call to mind that Croesus wished to enter that part of Cappadocia called Pteria. Cræsus reThis small country was near the mouth of the Halys. paired towards it in a direct line; but as the river was not fordable at that spot, he was obliged to ascend towards its source to find a passage. The river then was on the left of his camp. To understand this passage of our author, we must have a clear notion of the line of march of Croesus. The subjoined figure will perhaps explain it. The troops of Croesus, on arriving at B, and finding no ford, ascended to A, having the river on their left. at C; this canal, after flowing along the right They deflect a canal of the army, passed a Pausan. lib. i. cap. xiv. p. 35. Plutarch. de Musicâ, p. 1146. C. behind them at B, and re-entered the Halys at D. Thus the river, which had previously flowed on the left of their camp only, also passed it on the right. 'Opvooeiv] He caused to be dug. A man of strong intellect and excellent information, to whom I communicated this passage, asked me, what was the need of so large a work for the passage of an army over a river. Could not a bridge have been constructed with a thousandth part of the labor, or did the country contain no materials for such a work? What appeared a difficulty to so intelligent a man, may very well seem so to others. But this is my answer: In those times, when a bridge was to be constructed, the first thing thought of was to dig a canal to turn the waters away from their original bed; and when thus they had procured a dry spot, or nearly so, they proceeded to construct the bridge, as may be seen further on, § CLXXXVI. It would therefore cost Croesus much less labor to turn aside the channel of the river, and by that means ford it, than to superadd the building of the bridge, and thus double the labor. с At all events, the new channel was finished in a single night, if we may credit Lucian, who gathered this circumstance from Sosicrates, or perhaps from some other authors. But this seems to me to partake too strongly of the marvellous, and was not suspected at the time of Herodotus, or assuredly he would not have passed it over in silence. Επεί τε καὶ ἐσχίσθη τάχιστα]: It was no sooner. In all the editions the comma is after eoxioon; in my translation I have followed the punctuation of the Ms. A. in the Royal Library, which puts it only after ὁ ποταμός. d LXXVI. 'Ayeípas ròv èwürov oтparòv] Assembled his army. Cyrus, intimidated by the menaces of Croesus, wished to retire to India. His wife Bardana rallied him, and persuaded him to consult Daniel, who had more than once uttered prophecies both to her and to Darius the Mede. Cyrus having consulted the prophet, learned from him that he would be victorious, and, inspirited by this answer, made his preparations accordingly. This appears to me to be one of those fables which the Jews and the early Christians assumed without scruple to be incontestable facts. The city of Babylon not having been yet taken, Cyrus could know nothing of Daniel. Οὐδέτεροι νικήσαντες] Victory not having declared itself on one side The late M. de la Grange, known in the literary world by an excellent translation of Lucretius and of Seneca. Lucian. in Hippiâ, § ii. Vol. iii. p. 68. Diogen. Laert. lib. i. § xxxviii. p. 23. d Suidas, voc. Kpoivos. beaten by Cyrus, near intended to say Pteria: positively, that night or the other. M. Peyssonel asserts that Croesus was in the first instance Ptelia,' a city of Cappadocia. He certainly but whence has he the fact? Herodotus says separated the two armies, without victory having declared on either side; and further, Herodotus does not say that the action took place near, but in Pteria. Our historian relates, it is true, that Croesus took the city of the Pterians; but he does not name it, or mention at what distance from the city the battle took place. If Stephanus of Byzantium calls it Pteria, it is evident. that it can be only a conjecture on his part, founded on this passage of Herodotus. No other author mentions it; nor do I think that such a place as Pteria will be found named in any other writing. с LXXVII. Aaßúvnros] Labynetus. This Labynetus was the second of that name. The Canon of Ptolemy calls him Nabonadius, Berosus and Megasthenes, Nabonid, or Nabannidochus. These two names of Labynetus and Nabonid are not in fact so different as at first sight they may appear. The ancient Latins used vallum' for vannum;' and Pierius Valerianus says, in his remarks on verse 166 of the first Book of Virgil's Georgics, that he found in a Ms. at Rome 'mustica vallus,' instead of mystica vannus.' The Athenians also said λίτρον for νίτρον, πλεύμων for πνεύμων, whence the Latins have made pulmo.' It is not astonishing therefore that Herodotus should have changed Nabonid, or Nabonidus, to Labynetus. This prince was the last king of Babylon. He united with Croesus to repress the excessive power of Cyrus. The same reason had induced Amasis to join the alliance. See my Essay on Chronology, chap. v. the Canon Chronologicus which follows it, year 572, and the Canon Chronologicus at the end of the Essay, years 4142 and 4176. LXXVIII. Texμooéwr] Telmessus. See the Geographical Table at the end of this work; and upon these interpretations of dreams and prodigies, consult the learned note of Ruhnken on the word 'Enynrai, in the Lexicon of Timæus. Telmisus, or Telmisseus, was the son of Apollo, and of one of the daughters of Antenor. The god had intercourse with her under the form of a little dog, and as a recompense he endowed her with the gift of interpreting dreams. Her son Telmisus enjoyed the same gift. He was interred under the altar of Apollo, in the city bearing his a Peyssonel, Voyage à Magnésie, p. 301. Eusebii Præparat. Evangel. lib. ix. § xl. p. 455. dId. ibid. lib. ix. § xli. p. 457. • Varro de Linguâ Latina, p. 34. lin. 7, He is thus named by St. Clement of Alexandria, Cohortat. ad Gentes, p. 40. lin. 3. Suidas, voc. Teλpureis. Clem. Alexandr. Stromat. lib. i. p. 400. lin. 6. name, and of which he was probably the founder. St. Clement of Alexandria supposes him to have exercised the gift of divination in Caria. But see the Geographical Table, under the word Telmessus. Πρὶν γὰρ ἢ ὀπίσω σφέας ἀναπλῶσαι] Before their return. There is in the Greek, πρὶν ἢ ὀπίσω σφέα ἀναπλῶσαι ἐς τὰς Σάρδις, 'priusquam retrò Sardes renavigarent.' As I am aware of no river which flows from Sardis to Telmessus, I conjecture that these deputies travelled by sea, and that they embarked at the port nearest to Sardis. They must, it is true, have traversed a long line of coast; but perhaps at that time there was no road by land from Sardis to Telmessus; or perhaps, if there was any such, it was occupied by the enemy. LXXX. Yor] Exposed (découverte'). Yòs, nudus, indicates that this plain had neither trees nor shrubs. Συῤῥηγοῦσι ἐς τὸν Ερμον] Which throw themselves into the Hermus. I read cupónyvūσ in the plural, with the Ms. A. in the Royal Library. The Hermus, which flows into the sea near Phocæa, and not near Pergamus, as M. Peyssonel asserts," runs from a mountain sacred to Cybele, ὃς ἐξ οὔρεος ἱροῦ Μητρὸς Δινδυμήνης ῥέων. M. Peyssonel, who has not understood this passage, takes occasion from it to name this mountain Hirus. 'Ipou is an Ionism for iepou the genitive of iepòs, sacer.' He repeats this mistake a little further on. If M. Peyssonel could have read Herodotus in the original, he would not have fallen into this error. It is plain that he was familiar only with Duryer's translation, which is taken from the Latin of Laurentius Valla. Henry Stephens, one of those men who have done the highest honor to France, has corrected this error of Valla. Ovpeos ipov] Of a mountain consecrated, &c. Herodotus omits to name this mountain; but it could not be Mount Dindymus, which was near Cyzicus. LXXXII. Xupov кaλeoμévov Ovpéns] Of the place named Thyrea. Thyrea and Anthene were in Cynuria. The first of these places was of the highest importance to the Argians; it served as a means of communication with other places which they possessed on the same coast; the Argians demanded the restoration of this place in the Peloponnesian war. " d e "Eoxor] Had appropriated it to themselves. Thyrea formed part of Cynuria. The Cynurians were originally Argians; a colony which had been brought from Argos by Cynurus, son of Perseus. After the Peyssonel, Voyage à Magnésic, p. 298. a Ibid. c Ibid. p. 302. Thucydid. lib. v. § xli. p. 342. Pausan. Laconic. sive lib. iii. cap. ii. p. 207; cap. vii. p. 219. |