as follows: "Lacedemonians, why is it that ye
flee from becoming friends to the king? for ye may see that the king
knows how to honour good men, when ye look at me and at my fortunes. So
also ye, Lacedemonians, if ye gave yourselves to the king, since ye have
the reputation with him already of being good men, would have rule each
one of you over Hellenic land by the gift of the king." To this they
made answer thus: "Hydarnes, thy counsel with regard to us is not
equally balanced, 117 for thou givest counsel having made trial indeed
of the one thing, but being without experience of the other: thou
knowest well what it is to be a slave, but thou hast never yet made
trial of freedom, whether it is pleasant to the taste or no; for if thou
shouldest make trial of it, thou wouldest then counsel us to fight for
it not with spears only but also with axes."

136. Thus they answered Hydarnes; and then, after they had gone up to
Susa and had come into the presence of the king, first when the spearmen
of the guard commanded them and endeavoured to compel them by force to
do obeisance to the king by falling down before him, they said that they
would not do any such deed, though they should be pushed down by them
head foremost; for it was not their custom to do obeisance to a man,
and it was not for this that they had come. Then when they had resisted
this, next they spoke these words or words to this effect: "O king of
the Medes, the Lacedemonians sent us in place of the heralds who were
slain in Sparta, to pay the penalty for their lives." When they said
this, Xerxes moved by a spirit of magnanimity replied that he would
not be like the Lacedemonians; for they had violated the rules which
prevailed among all men by slaying heralds, but he would not do that
himself which he blamed them for having done, nor would he free the
Lacedemonians from their guilt by slaying these in return.

137. Thus the wrath of Talthybios ceased for the time being, even though
the Spartans had done no more than this and although Sperthias and Bulis
returned back to Sparta; but a long time after this it was roused
again during the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, as the
Lacedemonians report. This I perceive to have been most evidently
the act of the Deity: for in that the wrath of Talthybios fell upon
messengers and did not cease until it had been fully satisfied, so much
was but in accordance with justice; but that it happened to come upon