quired whether the god alluded to his empire, or to the empire of Cyrus; but that not understanding the reply which had been made, nor condescending to make a second enquiry, he had been himself the cause of his own misfortune: that he had not at all comprehended the last answer of the oracle, which related to the mule; for that this mule was Cyrus, who was born of two parents of two different nations, of whom the mother was as noble as the father was mean; his mother was a Mede, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes; his father was a Persian, and tributary to the Medes, who, although a man of the very meanest rank, had married a princess, who was his mistress."-This answer of the Pythian, the Lydians, on their return, communicated to Croesus. Crosus having heard it, exculpated the deity, and acknowledged himself to be reprehensible.. Such, however, was the termination of the empire of Croesus, and this the recital of the first conquest of Ionia.

XCII. Besides the sacred offerings of Croesus which I have before enumerated, many others are extant in Greece. In the Baotian Thebes, there is a golden tripod 130, consecrated by him to the Ismenian

130 Tripod.]-We must not confound the tripods of the ancients with the utensils known by us under a similar name (in French trepieds, corresponding with the kitchen utensil

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called

Ismenian Apollo": there are also at Ephesus "32 some golden heifers, and a number of columns. He gave also to the Pronean Minerva' a large golden shield, which is still to be seen at Delphi. All the above remained within my remembrance; many others have been lost. He presented also, as it appears, to the Milesian Branchidæ, gifts equal in weight and value to what he sent to Delphi. The presents which he made to Delphi, as well as those which he sent to Amphiaraus, were given for sacred purposes, being the first

fruits

called in English footman.) The tripod was a vessel standing upon three feet, of which there were two kinds: the one was appropriated to festivals, and contained wine mixed with water; the others, in which water was to be made warm, were placed upon the fire.-Larcher.

131 Ismenian Apollo.]-Ismenus was a river in Boeotia, not far from Aulis. Ismenius was synonymous with Thebanus, and therefore the Ismenian Apollo is the same with the Theban Apollo.-T.

132 Ephesus.]-Pococke says, that the place now called Aiesalouk is ancient Ephesus. Chandler says otherwise.

The two cities of Ephesus and Smyrna have been termed the eyes of Asia Minor: they were distant from each other three hundred and twenty stadia, or forty miles, in a straight line.-T.

133 Pronean Minerva.]-This means the Minerva whose shrine or temple was opposite to that of Apollo at Delphi: but Herodotus, in his eighth book, makes mention of the shrine of Minerva Pronoia, or of Minerva the goddess of providence. So that, at Delphi, there were two different shrines or temples consecrated to Minerva, the Pronean, and the Pronoian.-T.

fruits of his own private possessions. His other donations were formerly the property of an adversary, who had shewn himself hostile to Croesus before he succeeded to the throne, attaching himself to Pantaleon 134, and favouring his views on the imperial dignity. Pantaleon was also the son of Alyattes, and brother of Crœsus, but not by the same mother: Alyattes had Croesus by a Carian and Pantaleon by an Ionian wife. But when, agreeably to the will of his father, Croesus took possession of the throne, he destroyed this man, who had opposed him with a fuller's instrument*:

his

134 Pantaleon.]-When Croesus mounted the Lydian throne, he divided the kingdom with his brother. A Lydian remarked to him, that the sun obtains for mankind all the comforts which the earth produces, and that, deprived of its influence, it would cease to be fruitful. But if there were two suns, it were to be feared that every thing would be scorched, and perish. For this reason the Lydians have but one king; him they regard as their protector, but they will not allow of two.-Stobæus.

* A fuller's instrument.]-The expression in the editions of Herodotus, which precede Wesseling, has been hastily copied. The true reading is not επι κναφηΐε ελκων, but επι κναφε ελκων, torturing him so as to tear away his flesh piecemeal upon a fuller's vas, that is, an instrument set round with sharp points. This reading is supported by the glossary to Herodotus, by Timæus, whose platonic lexicon is frequently interpolated from Herodotus, and by Suidas. Plutarch, in the treatise which professes to shew the malignity of Herodotus, quotes this passage, and reads in the common editions, Ta08; but in Aldus, vape, which only wants a letter of the genuine reading. It is curious to observe M. Larcher's mistake

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his wealth he distributed in the manner we have before related, in compliance with a vow which he had formerly made. Such is the history of the offerings of Croesus.

XCIII. If we except the gold dust which descends from mount Tmolus '35, Lydia can exhibit no curiosity which may vie with those of other countries. It boasts, however, of one monument of art, second to none but those of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It is the sepulchre of Alyattes 136, father of Croesus. The foundation is composed of immense stones; the rest of the structure is a huge mound of earth. The edifice was raised by merchants, labourers, and young

women,

:

mistake upon this place he says, that Aldus's edition reads Eva; interpreting of Herodotus what Wesseling says of Plutarch, for Aldus's edition, which is now before me, plainly reads επι κναφηΐε ελκων.-Τ.

133 Mount Tmolus.]-The country about mount Tmolus, which comprehended the plain watered by the Hermius, was always remarkable for its fertility and beauty; and whoever will be at the pains to consult Chandler's Travels, will find that it has lost but little of its ancient claims to admiration.-T.

136 Sepulchre of Alyattes.]-The remains of this barrow are still conspicuous within five miles of Sardes,, now called Sart. The industrious Dr. Chandler informs us, that the mold which has been washed down, conceals the basement; but that, and a considerable treasure might perhaps be discovered, if the barrow were opened.-See Chandler's Travels.

women, who prostituted themselves for hire. On the summit of this monument there remained, within my remembrance, five termini, upon which were inscriptions to ascertain the performance of each, and to intimate that the women accomplished the greater part of the work. All the young women of Lydia prostitute themselves, by which they procure their marriage-portion; this, with their persons, they afterwards dispose of as they think proper. The circumference of the tomb is six furlongs and two plethra, the breadth thirteen plethra; it is terminated by a large piece of water, which the Lydians affirm to be inexhaustible, and is called the Gygean lake137*.

37 Gygean lake.]-This still remains.-T.

XCIV. The

* The learned Mr. King considers this description of the sepulchre of Alyattes as exactly corresponding with a large British or Irish barrow. It seems an act of justice to give his account of it in his own words:

On the same rising ground, near the middle, and towards Sardes, is most remarkably conspicuous, the vast monument or barrow of Halyattes, the father of Croesus, where the mold which has been washed down by time now conceals (as Chandler very fairly supposes) the basement of stone mentioned by Herodotus.

That great historian's very remarkable description of the mode of constructing it, well deserves our notice, and espe cially as one part of his account will admit of two different kinds of explanation, and as that which has never yet been adopted may probably be the true one.

Herodotus says, "Lydia exhibits one work, by far the greatest of any, except the works of the Egyptians and Babylonians; for there is there the sepulchre of Halyattes, the

father