heir ships to Abdera. The Thasians in fact, as they had been besieged
by Histiaios the Milesian and at the same time had large revenues coming
in, were using their money in building ships of war and in surrounding
their city with a stronger wall. Now the revenues came to them from the
mainland and from the mines: from the gold-mines in Scapte Hyle 31 there
came in generally eighty talents a year, and from those in Thasos itself
a smaller amount than this but so much that in general the Thasians,
without taxes upon the produce of their soil, had a revenue from the
mainland and from the mines amounting yearly to two hundred talents, and
when the amount was highest, to three hundred..

47. I myself saw these mines, and by much the most marvellous of
them were those which the Phenicians discovered, who made the first
settlement in this island in company with Thasos; and the island had the
name which it now has from this Thasos the Phenician. These Phenician
mines are in that part of Thasos which is between the places called
Ainyra and Koinyra and opposite Samothrake, where there is a great
mountain which has been all turned up in the search for metal. Thus it
is with this matter: and the Thasians on the command of the king both
razed their walls and brought all their ships to Abdera.

48. After this Dareios began to make trial of the Hellenes, what they
meant to do, whether to make war with him or to deliver themselves up.
He sent abroad heralds therefore, and appointed them to go some to one
place and others to another throughout Hellas, bidding them demand earth
and water for the king. These, I say, he sent to Hellas; and meanwhile
he was sending abroad other heralds to his own tributary cities which
lay upon the sea-coast, and he bade them have ships of war built and
also vessels to carry horses..

49. They then were engaged in preparing these things; and meanwhile
when the heralds had come to Hellas, many of those who dwelt upon the
mainland gave that for which the Persian made demand, 32 and all those
who dwelt in the islands did so, to whomsoever they came to make their
demand. The islanders, I say, gave earth and water to Dareios, and among
them also those of Egina, and when these had done so, the Athenians went
forthwith urgent against them, supposing that the Eginetans had given
with hostile purpose against themselves, in order to make an expedition
against them in combination with the Persians; and also they were