HERODOTUS.

BOOK III.

THALIA.

CHAPTER I.

Against this Amasis, Cambyses, the son of Cyrus,
led an army, composed as well of his other subjects,
as of the Ionic and ^2olic Greeks. His inducements
were these: by an ambassador whom he despatched
for this purpose into Egypt, he demanded the daugh­
ter of Amasis, which he did at the suggestion of a cer­
tain Egyptian who had entertained an enmity against
his master. This man was a physician, and when
Cyrus had once requested of Amasis, the best medical
advice which Egypt could afford, for a disorder in his
eyes, the king had forced him, in preference to all
others, from his wife and family, and sent him into
Persia. In revenge for which treatment, this Egyp-.
tian instigated Cambyses to require the daughter of
Amasis, that he might either suffer affliction from the
loss of his child, or, by refusing to send her, provoke
the resentment of Cambyses. Amasis both dreaded
and detested the power of Persia, and was unwilling
to accept, though fearful of refusing, the overture. But
he well knew that his daughter was not meant to be
the wife but the concubine of Cambyses, and there­
fore lie determined on this mode of conduct: Apries,
the former king, had left an only daughter: her name
was Nitotis, and she was possessed of much elegance
and beauty. The king, having decorated her with
great splendour of dress, sent her into Persia as his
own child. Not long after, when Cambyses occasion­
ally addressed her as the daughter of Amasis, "Sir,"
said she, " you are greatly mistaken, and Amasis has