38 SEIZURE OF ARTAPHERNES [iV his way from the King to Sparta, He was brought to Seizure of a Pefsian Athens, and the Athenians had the envoy bearing dc- despatches which he was carrying and spatehes from the King, y^^^^)^ ^ygre Written in the Assyrian VI ivhich he com plains . 11111 0/ the Spartans. The character translated, and read them ; Athenians send hint there Were many matters contained back ivilh an envoy of j^ jj^^^^^ ^^^ j^^. ^^hj^f j^j ^^^^g ^ tharoivn, but, arriving 1 . .1 t atthcthneojArta.ver.ves' remonstrance addressed to the Lace- death, the embassy re- daemonians by the King, who said that '"'"•^* he could not understand what they wanted : for, although many envoys had come to him, no two of them agreed. If they meant to make themselves intelligible, he desired them to send to him another embassy with the Persian envoy. Shortly aftenvards the Athenians sent Artaphernes in a trireme to Ephesus, and with him an embassy of their own, but they found that Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes had recently died ; for the embassy arrived just at that time. Whereupon they returned home. 51 During the same winter the Chians dismantled their new TheChians,suspected ^alls by Order of the Athenians, who of rebellion, arc required suspcctcd that they meant to rebel, not to dismantle their walls, howcvcr without obtaining from the Athenians such pledges and assurances as the}' could, that no violent change should be made in their condition. So the winter came to an end ; and with it the seventh year in the Peloponncsian War of which Thucydides wrote the history. 52 Early in the ensuing summer there was a partial eclipse and an earthquake and within the first tcn days of the occur. same month an earthquake. The main body of the refugees who had escaped from „, , , . , Mitylene and the rest of Lesbos had The Lesbian refugees, -^ who had settled on the established themselves on the con- continent, take Rhoe- tincnt. They hired mercenaries from teum and Antandrus. Y> eoY>onntsis ov Collected them on the spot, and took Rhoeteum, but on receiving a payment of
