reparing to march against men who wear
breeches of leather, and the rest of their clothing is of leather also;
and they eat food not such as they desire but such as they can obtain,
dwelling in a land which is rugged; and moreover they make no use of
wine but drink water; and no figs have they for dessert, nor any other
good thing. On the one hand, if thou shalt overcome them, what wilt thou
take away from them, seeing they have nothing? and on the other hand,
if thou shalt be overcome, consider how many good things thou wilt lose;
for once having tasted our good things, they will cling to them fast
and it will not be possible to drive them away. I for my own part feel
gratitude to the gods that they do not put it into the minds of the
Persians to march against the Lydians." Thus he spoke not persuading
Croesus: for it is true indeed that the Persians before they subdued the
Lydians had no luxury nor any good thing.

72. Now the Cappadokians are called by the Hellenes Syrians; 85 and
these Syrians, before the Persians had rule, were subjects of the Medes,
but at this time they were subjects of Cyrus. For the boundary between
the Median empire and the Lydian was the river Halys; and this flows
from the mountain-land of Armenia through the Kilikians, and afterwards,
as it flows, it has the Matienians on the right hand and the Phrygians
on the other side; then passing by these and flowing up towards the
North Wind, it bounds on the one side the Cappadokian Syrians and on the
left hand the Paphlagonians. Thus the river Halys cuts off from the rest
almost all the lower parts of Asia by a line extending from the sea
that is opposite Cyprus to the Euxine. And this tract is the neck of the
whole peninsula, the distance of the journey being such that five days
are spent on the way by a man without encumbrance. 86

73. Now for the following reasons Croesus was marching into
Cappadokia:--first because he desired to acquire the land in addition to
his own possessions, and then especially because he had confidence in
the oracle and wished to take vengeance on Cyrus for Astyages. For
Cyrus the son of Cambyses had conquered Astyages and was keeping him in
captivity, who was brother by marriage to Croesus and king of the Medes:
and he had become the brother by marriage of Croesus in this manner:--A
horde of the nomad Scythians at feud with the rest withdrew and sought
refuge in the land of the Medes: and at this time the ruler of the M