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The history of Herodotus — Volume 2 by Herodotus
page 124 of 456 (27%)
fled away to Tenos; and when the armament was sailing in thither,
Datis sailed on before and did not allow the ships to anchor at the
island of Delos, but at Rhenaia on the other side of the channel; and
he himself, having found out by inquiry where the men of Delos were,
sent a herald and addressed them thus: "Holy men, why are ye fled away
and departed, having judged of me that which is not convenient? for
even I of myself have wisdom at least so far, and moreover it has been
thus commanded me by the king, not to harm at all that land in which
the two divinities were born, neither the land itself nor the
inhabitants of it. Now therefore return to your own possessions and
dwell in your island." Thus he proclaimed by a herald to the Delians;
and after this he piled up and burned upon the altar three hundred
talents' weight of frankincense. 98. Datis having done these things
sailed away with his army to fight against Eretria first, taking with
him both Ionians and Aiolians; and after he had put out to sea from
thence, Delos was moved, not having been shaken (as the Delians
reported to me) either before that time or since that down to my own
time; and this no doubt the god[86a] manifested as a portent to men of
the evils that were about to be; for in the time of Dareios the son of
Hystaspes and Xerxes the son of Dareios and Artoxerxes the son of
Xerxes, three generations following upon one another, there happened
more evils to Hellas than during the twenty other generations which
came before Dareios, some of the evils coming to it from the Persians,
and others from the leaders themselves of Hellas warring together for
supremacy. Thus it was not unreasonable that Delos should be moved,
which was before unmoved. [And in an oracle it was thus written about
it:

"Delos too will I move, unmoved though it hath been aforetime."][87]

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