16 ACCUMULATIONS OF CHAP. I. 



we may form some estimate of it, by the mu- 

 nificent presents he made to the temple of 

 Delphi, as related by Herodotus 1 and Dio- 

 dorus 2 , amounting to four thousand talents of 

 silver and two hundred and seventy talents of 

 gold, or near three millions in value of our 

 money. 



We find in Herodotus a story illustrative both 

 of the wealth of this king and of the manners of 

 his time. When Croesus sent his Lydians from 

 Sardis to consult the oracle at Delphi, they 

 were received with hospitality by the family of 

 the Alcmaeonidae at Athens, and, on their re- 

 turn, acquainted their master with the kindness 

 they had experienced. A member of that family 

 received an invitation to visit Croesus, and on 

 his arrival was presented with as much gold as 

 he was able to carry 3 . " To improve the value 

 of the gift, Alcmaeon made use of the following 

 artifice. Providing himself with a large tunic, 

 in which were many folds, and with the most 

 capacious buskins he could procure, he followed 

 his guide to the royal treasury; there, rolling 

 himself among the golden ingots, he first stuffed 

 his buskins as full of gold as he possibly could ; 

 he then filled all the folds of his robes, his hair, 

 and even his mouth with gold dust. This done, 



1 Herodotus, b. i. c. 50. Diodorus, b. xvi. c. 56. 



3 Herodotus, b. vi. c. 105. 



