Lydians

He ordered his men to take their camels and position them in front of the Persian army.

Why? Because Cyrus knew something the Lydians didn't.

Horses are absolutely terrified of camels.

As Cyrus's army marched toward the city walls, the Lydian horses spotted the long-necked hump beasts charging towards them.

The horses fled in terror.

For the next few hours, spears clashed as the soldiers battled each other outside the city.

Soon, the Lydians began to fear the worst.

Were they losing? They ran back behind the city walls for protection, closing the gate behind them.

pluto not at all but i would not have you up in arms

Nonetheless, bassist of Lydians, Phrygians, and Assyrians, be well assured of this, that I will never leave off, for wherever you may go, I will follow, annoying you and singing to the tune of your wailing and ridiculing you.

Is

this not insolence?

For Libya is said by most Greeks to be named after a native woman of that name, and Asia after the wife of Prometheus.

Yet the Lydians claim a share in the latter name, saying that Asia was not named after Prometheus' wife Asia, but after Asias, the son of Cotys, who was the son of Manes, and that from him the Asiad clan at Sardis also takes its name.

But as for Europe, no men have any knowledge whether it is bounded by seas or not or where it got its name, nor is it clear who gave the name, unless we say that the land took its name from the Tyrian Europa, having been, it would seem, before then nameless like the rest.

But it is plain that this woman was of Asiatic birth and never came to this land which the Greeks now call Europe, but only from Phoenicia to Crete and from Crete to Lycia.

When Darius had crossed into Asia, they came to Sardis, bringing with them their sister, a tall and beautiful woman.

There, waiting till Darius should be sitting in state in the suburb of the Lydian city, they put on their sister the best adornment they had, and sent her to draw water, bearing a vessel on her head, leading a horse by the bridle and spinning flax at the same time.

Darius took note of the woman as she passed by him, for what she did was not in the manner of the Persians or Lydians or any of the peoples of Asia.

Having taken note of this, he sent some of his guards, bidding them watch what the woman would do with the horse.

The more modern Scythians, however, had a horror of conjugal infidelity, and their laws rigorously punished that crime by death.

Among the Lydians, the gains of prostitution furnished a marriage portion for their women.

So at Carthage, female prostitution was recommended as an act of piety, and the profits of it served as the woman's fortune.

The children of the Lycians took their names and conditions not from their fathers, but from their mothers, so that if a free woman married a slave, her children were free like herself.

So he was this guy who had a mastery of all the languages.

Only the Lydians, that is Gyges, Gugu as he is called, the Gog of the Bible probably, um he speaks a language no one understands and then comes an anecdote about how eventually they figured it out where it's one of these passages where the text is broken so we don't really know exactly what happens which is a pity but but that was difficult but otherwise they're happy to have different people and it's like collecting exotic animals and plants which they do as well this diversity in the same for for these certain people's every sign of of strength and and they they like that And religious as well, there's never an attempt made by the Assyrians to convince people somewhere in some remote province to worship the god Ashur and especially to build a temple for Ashur.

On the contrary, if anyone had ever done that, the Assyrians would have interfered immediately and said, that's not right, that's our god, he's worshipped only in the city of Ashur and that's where he belongs, you are not doing that.

So, there was the idea that you had to acknowledge Ashura's greatness in some way, but that was primarily a political thing.

One side of the bear is raised up because the Persian Empire was stronger.

These three bones in the bear's mouth probably indicate the three key victories that the Medo-Persians had in defeating the Babylonians, the Lydians, and the Egyptians.

Next, we have a flying leopard.

It has four wings and great speed and four heads.

and Asia after the wife of Prometheus.

Yet the Lydians claim a share in the latter name, saying that Asia was not named after Prometheus' wife, Asia, but after Asias, the son of Cottus, who was the son of Manes, and that from him the Asiad clan at Sardis also takes its name.

But as for Europe, no men have any knowledge whether it is bounded by seas or not, or where it got its name.

Nor is it clear who gave the name, unless we say that the land took its name from the Tyrian Europa, having been, it would seem, before then nameless like the rest.

When Darius had crossed into Asia, they came to Sardis, bringing with them their sister, a tall and beautiful woman.

There, waiting till Darius should be sitting in state in the suburb of the Lydian city, they put on their sister the best adornment they had and sent her to draw water, bearing a vessel on her head, leading a horse by the bridle and spinning flax at the same time.

Darius took note of the woman as she passed by him, for what she did was not in the manner of the Persians or Lydians or any of the peoples of Asia.

Having taken note of this, he sent some of his guards, bidding them watch what the woman would do with the horse.