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Now, had he been taken straightway before King Darius, I verily
believe that he would have received no hurt, but the king would have
freely forgiven him. Artaphernes, however, satrap of Sardis, and
his captor Harpagus, on this very account - because they were afraid
that, if he escaped, he would be again received into high favour by
the king - put him to death as soon as he arrived at Sardis. His
body they impaled at that place, while they embalmed his head and sent
it up to Susa to the king. Darius, when he learnt what had taken
place, found great fault with the men engaged in this business for not
bringing Histiaeus alive into his presence, and commanded his servants
to wash and dress the head with all care, and then bury it, as the
head of a man who had been a great benefactor to himself and the
Persians. Such was the sequel of the history of Histiaeus.
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