Women in ancient Greece For the section on Spartan women, see mainly Plut Lyc 14–15 and Xen Lac 1 3–10.
forbidden makeup Clem Alex Paed 2 11.
“and they did not carry on” Plut Lyc 15 5.
“would fill her with noble sperm” Ibid., 15 7.
“I, Cynisca, victorious” Gr Anth 13 16.
“man-taming,” Plut Ages 1 2.
“like frogs around a pond” Plato Phaed 109b.
“we captured Messene” Tyrt Frag 5 = 4D.
“The Lord of the Silver Bow” Diod 7 12 6.
“Just like donkeys” Tyrt Frag 6.
“ballast for the ship of state” Plut Lyc 5 7.
“In the daytime they scattered” Ibid., 28 2–3.
helots were invited to volunteer names Thuc 4 80, Plut Lyc 28 3.
3. THE PERSIAN MULE
For the description of Delphi, see Pausanias and Scott. The story of Croesus is told by Herodotus. He is one of the main sources for this chapter together with various Persian inscriptions (itemized below) and Curtis and Tallis.
“The highroad to Delphi” Paus 1 55 5.
“know yourself” Ibid., 10 24 1; Plato Prot 343b and Charm 164d–165a.
“The parapets of the first circle” Her 1 98 5–6.
“King Ishtumegu” Nabonidus Chronicle, in Pritchard, p. 305.
Croesus wanted to be sure that Delphi The stories about Croesus, oracles, and the end of his reign are best taken with a pinch of salt. But they do illustrate the importance of Delphi and how the oracle pervaded Hellenic life.
“hard-shelled tortoise” Her 1 47 2 3.
“Croesus king of the Lydians” Ibid., 1 53 2.
“Wait till a mule” Ibid., 1 55 2.
never heard of a mule ruling a kingdom In much the same way, Macbeth had never heard of a wood marching about.
“Cyrus, king of Persia” Nabonidus Chronicle, in Pritchard, p. 305.
Thales of Miletus Bertrand Russell claimed that “Western philosophy begins with Thales.” See Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1945).
argued that the Ionians should unite Her 1 170 3.
“for the Spartans will not tolerate it.” Her 1 152 2.
“without fighting or battle” and “Their faces shone” Cyrus Cylinder 17 and 18, https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId-327188&partId-1.aspx.
“perpetual seed of kingship” For this phrase and the following quotation, Cyrus Cylinder 20–22.
His enraged mother The story is told in Her 1 214 4. There is another version of Cyrus’s death that has him survive for three days after having been wounded.
“O man, I am Cyrus” Strabo 15 3 7.
“Nothing prevents these couriers” Her 8 98.
“the distance from Sardis” Her 5 54 2.
“1:5 [?] quarts of flour supplied” Persepolis Fortifications Tablets 1285, in Hallock, p. 365.
network of provincial governors This paragraph supposes that Xenophon’s account is correct in the Cyropaedia, a romanticized biography of the young Cyrus—see Cyr 2 1.
“not to meddle with anything else” Xen Oec 4 9.
a government inspector This paragraph is based on Xen Cyr 8 6 4.
“I have enabled all the lands” Cyrus Cylinder 36.
“It is no more than fair” Xen Cyr 8 6.
Babylonian deity, Marduk Cyrus Cylinder 23.
According to Isaiah Isaiah 45 1, 41 4.
As in Zoroastrianism Scholars still sharply disagree about whether the Achaemenids were followers of Zoroaster.
“the man who has respect for that law” Daiva 46–56.
scabbard of Cambyses’ sword Her 3 64 3.
“died his own death” Behistun 1 11.
“When Cambyses slew Bardiya” Ibid., 1 10.
impersonated Bardiya It is possible, some scholars argue, that a substitution ritual was held. According to this, in times of bad omens, a substitute king was temporarily installed, to protect the real king, who went into hiding and reemerged when the omens improved. However, if that is what happened, the fate of the real Bardiya is unexplained. See Waters, p. 75.
“The people feared him” Behistun, 1 13.
“Phraortes, seized, was led to me” Ibid., 2.13.
“man is by nature” Arist Pol 1253a2.
“outlaw, without a tribe or a hearth” Ibid. Iliad 9 63.
A city should not be not too small For this paragraph, see ibid., 1326b2 and 1326b11, and Plato Laws 5 737e, 738a.
“…a little polis living in good order” Dio Chrys Disc 36 13.
“It is a disgrace” Her 5 49 2.
“These ships turned out” Ibid., 5 97 3.
“I understand” and “You have levied” GHI no. 12 = 35F.
4. THE SHAKING-OFF
For the Cylon episode, see Thucydides 1 126 3–12. The main sources are Plutarch’s life of Solon and Aristotle’s Constitution of Athens, 5–12.
“Man’s life is a day!” Pind Pythian 8 95–98. I use Maurice Bowra’s version of Pindar’s Odes, Penguin Classics, 1982.
“confidence of the people” Arist Pol 1305a 22–24.
“greatest festival of Zeus” Thuc 1 126 5.
the old temple of Athena This shrine was destroyed by the Persians in 480. Its successor is the Parthenon, but it was not completed until 438.
“In no way can [he] pray to Zeus” Hom Il 6 267f.
the Hellenic population The study of population in the ancient world is a form of higher guesswork. One guiding factor is the number of graves discovered from different periods, but population size is only one explanation of rises and falls. However, there is a scholarly consensus that the population grew at this time even if we cannot say by how much.
“Wealth has mixed up the race” Theog 1 183–90.
“This city is still a city” Ibid., 1 53–58.
“The poor were enslaved to the rich” Arist Con 2 2.
“The tyrant is set up” Arist Pol 5 1310b.
Apparently, the death penalty Plut Sol 17 1.
“wrote his laws in blood” Ibid., 17 3. Scholarly opinion is divided on Dracon. Some have asked whether he existed at all. According to Ath Pol 4, he produced a constitution based on the franchise of hoplites, but this is doubted. Most agree that he produced a legal code.
“someone unjustly plundering him” Ins Graec 13104.
claimed descent from Codrus For the story of Codrus, Tzet 4–5, 170–99.
financial difficulties This paragraph follows Plut Sol 2 1.
“I am not prepared” Sol Frag 13.