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The Hermotimus of whom I spoke above was, as I said, a Pedasian;
and he, of all men whom we know, took the most cruel vengeance on the
person who had done him an injury. He had been made a prisoner of
war, and when his captors sold him, he was bought by a certain
Panionius, a native of Chios, who made his living by a most
nefarious traffic. Whenever he could get any boys of unusual beauty,
he made them eunuchs, and, carrying them to Sardis or Ephesus, sold
them for large sums of money. For the barbarians value eunuchs more
than others, since they regard them as more trustworthy. Many were
the slaves that Panionius, who made his living by the practice, had
thus treated; and among them was this Hermotimus of whom I have here
made mention. However, he was not without his share of good fortune;
for after a while he was sent from Sardis, together with other gifts,
as a present to the king. Nor was it long before he came to be
esteemed by Xerxes more highly than all his eunuchs.
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