that these are the only true Oracles among men, presents to you[57]
gifts such as your revelations deserve, and asks you again now whether
he shall march against the Persians, and if so, whether he shall join
with himself any army of men as allies." They inquired thus, and the
answers of both the Oracles agreed in one, declaring to Crœsus that if
he should march against the Persians he should destroy a great empire:
and they counselled him to find out the most powerful of the Hellenes
and join these with himself as friends. 54. So when the answers were
brought back and Crœsus heard them, he was delighted with the oracles,
and expecting that he would certainly destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he
sent again to Pytho,[58] and presented to the men of Delphi, having
ascertained the number of them, two staters of gold for each man: and
in return for this the Delphians gave to Crœsus and to the Lydians
precedence in consulting the Oracle and freedom from all payments, and
the right to front seats at the games, with this privilege also for
all time, that any one of them who wished should be allowed to become
a citizen of Delphi. 55. And having made presents to the men of
Delphi, Crœsus consulted the Oracle the third time; for from the time
when he learnt the truth of the Oracle, he made abundant use of
it.[59] And consulting the Oracle he inquired whether his monarchy
would endure for a long time. And the Pythian prophetess answered him
thus:

"But when it cometh to pass that a mule of the Medes shall be monarch
Then by the pebbly Hermos, O Lydian delicate-footed,
Flee and stay not, and be not ashamed to be callèd a coward."

56. By these lines when they came to him Crœsus was pleased more than
by all the rest, for he supposed that a mule would never be ruler of
the Medes instead of a man, and accordingly that he himself and his