they made their attack, and besieged them for four months. Then when
the money which the Persians had brought with them had all been
consumed by them, and not only that, but Aristagoras himself had spent
much in addition, and the siege demanded ever more and more, they
built walls for the Naxian exiles and departed to the mainland again
with ill success. 35. And so Aristagoras was not able to fulfil his
promise to Artaphrenes; and at the same time he was hard pressed by
the demand made to him for the expenses of the expedition, and had
fears because of the ill success of the armament and because he had
become an enemy of Megabates; and he supposed that he would be
deprived of his rule over Miletos. Having all these various fears he
began to make plans of revolt: for it happened also that just at this
time the man who had been marked upon the head had come from Hisiaios
who was at Susa, signifying that Aristagoras should revolt from the
king. For Histiaios, desiring to signify to Aristagoras that he should
revolt, was not able to do it safely in any other way, because the
roads were guarded, but shaved off the hair of the most faithful of
his slaves, and having marked his head by pricking it, waited till the
hair had grown again; and as soon as it was grown, he sent him away to
Miletos, giving him no other charge but this, namely that when he
should have arrived at Miletos he should bid Aristagoras shave his
hair and look at his head: and the marks, as I have said before,
signified revolt. This thing Histiaios was doing, because he was
greatly vexed by being detained at Susa. He had great hopes then that
if a revolt occurred he would be let go to the sea-coast; but if no
change was made at Miletos[20a] he had no expectation of ever
returning thither again.

36. Accordingly Hisiaios with this intention was sending the
messenger; and it chanced that all these things happened to