d, used also
formerly to be twelve in number. And these Aiolians had the fortune to
settle in a land which is more fertile than that of the Ionians but in
respect of climate less favoured. 154

150. Now the Aiolians lost Smyrna in the following manner:--certain men
of Colophon, who had been worsted in party strife and had been driven
from their native city, were received there for refuge: and after this
the Colophonian exiles watched for a time when the men of Smyrna were
celebrating a festival to Dionysos outside the walls, and then they
closed the gates against them and got possession of the city. After
this, when the whole body of Aiolians came to the rescue, they made an
agreement that the Ionians should give up the movable goods, and that
on this condition the Aiolians should abandon Smyrna. When the men of
Smyrna had done this, the remaining eleven cities divided them amongst
themselves and made them their own citizens.

151. These then are the Aiolian cities upon the mainland, with the
exception of those situated on Mount Ida, for these are separate from
the rest. And of those which are in the islands, there are five in
Lesbos, for the sixth which was situated in Lesbos, namely Arisba, was
enslaved by the men of Methymna, though its citizens were of the same
race as they; and in Tenedos there is one city, and another in what are
called the "Hundred Isles." Now the Lesbians and the men of Tenedos,
like those Ionians who dwelt in the islands, had no cause for fear; but
the remaining cities came to a common agreement to follow the Ionians
whithersoever they should lead.

152. Now when the messengers from the Ionians and Aiolians came to
Sparta (for this business was carried out with speed), they chose before
all others to speak for them the Phocaian, whose name was Pythermos. He
then put upon him a purple cloak, in order that as many as possible
of the Spartans might hear of it and come together, and having been
introduced before the assembly 155 he spoke at length, asking the
Spartans to help them. The Lacedemonians however would not listen to
him, but resolved on the contrary not to help the Ionians. So they
departed, and the Lacedemonians, having dismissed the messengers of the
Ionians, sent men notwithstanding in a ship of fifty oars, to find out,
as I imagine, about the affairs of Cyrus and about Ionia. These when
they came to Phocaia sent to Sardis the man of most repute among
them, whose name was Lacrines,