§15.3.20Ἐν οἴνῳ τὰ μέγιστα βουλεύονται, καὶ βεβαιότερα τῶν ἐν νήψει τίθενται.
They deliberate on the most important matters while under the influence of wine, and they regard decisions made then as firmer than those made when sober.
τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς συναντώντων τοὺς μὲν γνωρίμους καὶ ἰσοτίμους φιλοῦσι προσιόντες, τοῖς δὲ ταπεινοτέροις παραβάλλουσι τὴν γνάθον καὶ δέχονται ταύτῃ τὸ φίλημα· οἱ δʼ ἔτι ταπεινότεροι προσκυνοῦσι μόνον.
When they meet people on the streets, they approach and kiss those who are acquaintances and equals, but to those of lower rank they offer their cheek and receive the kiss in this way; and those who are still more lowly only prostrate themselves.
θάπτουσι δὲ κηρῷ περιπλάσαντες τὰ σώματα, τοὺς δὲ Μάγους οὐ θάπτουσιν, ἀλλʼ οἰωνοβρώτους ἐῶσι· τούτοις δὲ καὶ μητράσι συνέρχεσθαι πάτριον νενόμισται.
They bury the dead after plastering the bodies with wax, but they do not bury the Magi, but leave them to be eaten by birds; and for these it is a traditional custom to have intercourse even with their mothers.
τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ ἔθη.
Such, then, are their customs.
§15.3.21ἔστι δʼ ἴσως καὶ ταῦτα τῶν ἐθίμων, ἅ φησι Πολύκλειτος.
Perhaps these too are among their customs, which Polyclitus relates.
ἐν γὰρ Σούσοις ἑκάστῳ τῶν βασιλέων ἐπὶ τῆς ἄκρας ἰδίᾳ πεποιῆσθαι οἴκησιν καὶ θησαυροὺς καὶ παραθέσεις ὧν ἐπράττοντο φόρων, ὑπομνήματα τῆς οἰκονομίας· πράττεσθαι δʼ ἐκ μὲν τῆς παραλίας ἀργύριον, ἐκ δὲ τῆς μεσογαίας ἃ φέρει ἑκάστη χώρα, ὥστε καὶ χρώματα καὶ φάρμακα καὶ τρίχα ἐρέαν ἤ τι τοιοῦθʼ ἕτερον καὶ θρέμματα ὁμοίως.
For he says that in Susa, for each of the kings, there was built on the acropolis a separate dwelling, treasuries, and storehouses for the tribute they exacted, which were records of their administration; and that tribute was exacted from the coast in silver, but from the interior in what each land produces, so that dyes, medicines, wool, or other things of this kind, and likewise livestock were collected.
τὸν δὲ διατάξαντα τοὺς φόρους Δαρεῖον εἶναι.
And he says that the one who organized the tributes was Darius.
τὸν δὲ πλεῖστον χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον ἐν κατασκευαῖς εἶναι, νομίσματι δὲ οὐ πολλῷ· πρός τε τὰς δωρεὰς ἐκεῖνα κεχαρισμένα νομίζειν μᾶλλον καὶ πρὸς κειμηλίων ἀπόθεσιν· τὸ δὲ νόμισμα τὸ πρὸς τὰς χρείας ἀρκοῦν ἱκανὸν εἶναι, κόπτειν δὲ πάλιν τὸ τοῖς ἀναλώμασι σύμμετρον.
Most of the gold and silver was in the form of vessels and ornaments, and not much in coinage; they considered those things more acceptable for gifts and for the storing of treasures; and they felt that coinage sufficient for daily needs was enough, and they coined again what was proportionate to their expenditures.
§15.3.22τὰ μὲν οὖν ἔθη σωφρονικὰ τὰ πλείω, διὰ δὲ τὸν πλοῦτον εἰς τρυφὴν ἐξέπεσον οἱ βασιλεῖς, ὥστε πυρὸν μὲν ἐξ Ἄσσου τῆς Αἰολίδος μετῄεσαν, οἶνον δʼ ἐκ Συρίας τὸν Χαλυβώνιον, ὕδωρ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Εὐλαίου πάντων ἐλαφρότατον ὥστʼ ἐν Ἀττικῇ κοτύλῃ δραχμῇ ἀφολκότερον εἶναι.
Now, most of their customs are temperate, but because of their wealth the kings fell into luxury, so that they sent for wheat from Assus of Aeolis, wine from Syria of the Chalybonian kind, and water from the Eulaeus, which is the lightest of all, so that it is lighter by one drachma's weight when measured in an Attic kotyle.
§15.3.23συνέβη δὲ τοῖς Πέρσαις ἐνδοξοτάτοις γενέσθαι τῶν βαρβάρων παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἄλλων οὐδένες τῶν τῆς Ἀσίας ἀρξάντων Ἑλλήνων ἦρξαν, οὐδʼ ᾔδεισαν οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνοι τούτους οὔθʼ οἱ Ἕλληνες τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μικρὸν μόνον ἐκ τῆς πόρρωθεν ἀκοῆς.
And it happened that the Persians became the most famous of the barbarians among the Greeks because none of the others who ruled Asia ruled over the Greeks, nor did they know them, nor did the Greeks know those barbarians except to a small degree from distant hearsay.
Ὅμηρος γοῦν οὔτε τὴν τῶν Σύρων οὔτε τὴν τῶν Μήδων ἀρχὴν οἶδεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν Θήβας Αἰγυπτίας ὀνομάζων καὶ τὸν ἐκεῖ καὶ τὸν ἐν Φοινίκῃ πλοῦτον, τὸν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι καὶ Νίνῳ καὶ Ἐκβατάνοις παρεσιώπησε.
Homer, at any rate, knew neither the rule of the Syrians nor that of the Medes; for otherwise, while naming Egyptian Thebes and the wealth there and in Phoenicia, he would not have kept silent about that in Babylon, Ninus, and Ecbatana.
πρῶτοι δὲ Πέρσαι Ἑλλήνων ἐπῆρξαν, Λυδοὶ δὲ ἐπῆρξαν μέν, ἀλλʼ οὔτε τῆς Ἀσίας ὅλης ἀλλὰ μέρους τινὸς μικροῦ τοῦ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος μόνον, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐπʼ ὀλίγον χρόνον τὸν κατὰ Κροῖσον καὶ Ἀλυάττην.
The Persians were the first to rule over Greeks; the Lydians did indeed rule, but not over the whole of Asia, only over a small part within the Halys, and that for a short time during the reigns of Croesus and Alyattes.
κρατηθέντες δʼ ὑπὸ Περσῶν, εἰ καί τι τῆς δόξης ἦν αὐτοῖς, ἀφῃρέθησαν τοῦθʼ ὑπʼ ἐκείνων.
When they were conquered by the Persians, if they had any glory, they were deprived of it by them.
Πέρσαι δʼ ἀφʼ οὗ κατέλυσαν τὰ Μήδων εὐθὺς καὶ Λυδῶν ἐκράτησαν καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἕλληνας ὑπηκόους ἔσχον· ὕστερον δὲ καὶ διέβησαν εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, καὶ ἡττηθέντες πολλοῖς καὶ * πολλάκις ἀγῶσιν ὅμως διετέλεσαν τὴν Ἀσίαν μέχρι τῶν ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ τόπων κατέχοντες ἕως ὑπὸ Μακεδόνων κατεπολεμήθησαν.
The Persians, as soon as they overthrew the rule of the Medes, immediately conquered the Lydians and held the Greeks in Asia as subjects; and later they even crossed over into Greece, and although defeated in many and frequent contests, they nevertheless continued to hold Asia as far as the places on the sea, until they were utterly subdued by the Macedonians.
§15.3.24̔ο μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν ἡγεμονίαν καταστήσας αὐτοὺς Κῦρος ἦν· διαδεξάμενος δὲ τοῦτον Καμβύσης υἱὸς ὑπὸ τῶν Μάγων κατελύθη· τούτους δʼ ἀνελόντες οἱ ἑπτὰ Πέρσαι Δαρείῳ τῷ Ὑστάσπεω παρέδοσαν τὴν ἀρχήν· εἶθʼ οἱ ἀπὸ τούτου διαδεχόμενοι κατέληξαν εἰς Ἄρσην, ὃν ἀποκτείνας Βαγῶος ὁ εὐνοῦχος κατέστησε Δαρεῖον οὐκ ὄντα τοῦ γένους τῶν βασιλέων.
The one, then, who established them in the hegemony was Cyrus; and Cambyses his son, having succeeded him, was overthrown by the Magi; and the seven Persians, having slain them, handed over the rule to Darius, the son of Hystaspes; then those who succeeded from him ended in Arses, whom Bagoas the eunuch killed and established Darius, who was not of the royal race.
τοῦτον δὲ καταλύσας Ἀλέξανδρος αὐτὸς ἦρξε * δέκα ἢ ἕνδεκα ἔτη· εἶτʼ εἰς πλείους τοὺς διαδεξαμένους καὶ τοὺς ἐπιγόνους τούτων μερισθεῖσα ἡ ἡγεμονία τῆς Ἀσίας διελύθη· συνέμεινε δʼ ὅσον πεντήκοντα ἐπὶ τοῖς διακοσίοις ἔτη.
Alexander, having overthrown him, himself ruled for ten or eleven years; then the hegemony of Asia, being divided among several successors and their descendants, was dissolved; it had lasted about two hundred and fifty years.
νῦν δʼ ἤδη καθʼ αὑτοὺς συνεστῶτες οἱ Πέρσαι βασιλέας ἔχουσιν ὑπηκόους ἑτέροις βασιλεῦσι, πρότερον μὲν Μακεδόσι νῦν δὲ Παρθυαίοις.
And now, indeed, the Persians, organized under their own administration, have kings who are subject to other kings, formerly to the Macedonians, but now to the Parthians.