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On the side of the barbarians the number of vessels was six hundred.
These assembled off the coast of Milesia, while the land army
collected upon the shore; but the leaders, learning the strength of
the Ionian fleet, began to fear lest they might fail to defeat them,
in which case, not having the mastery at sea, they would be unable to
reduce Miletus, and might in consequence receive rough treatment at
the hands of Darius. So when they thought of all these things, they
resolved on the following course: Calling together the Ionian
tyrants, who had fled to the Medes for refuge when Aristagoras
deposed them from their governments, and who were now in camp, having
joined in the expedition against Miletus, the Persians addressed them
thus: "Men of Ionia, now is the fit time to show your zeal for the
house of the king. Use your best efforts, every one of you, to
detach your fellow-countrymen from the general body. Hold forth to
them the promise that, if they submit, no harm shall happen to them on
account of their rebellion; their temples shall not be burnt, nor any
of their private buildings; neither shall they be treated with greater
harshness than before the outbreak. But if they refuse to yield, and
determine to try the chance of a battle, threaten them with the fate
which shall assuredly overtake them in that case. Tell them, when
they are vanquished in fight, they shall be enslaved; their boys shall
be made eunuchs, and their maidens transported to Bactra; while their
country shall be delivered into the hands of foreigners."
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