S 50 G R E 
tratlion, finally acknowledged the power of Crcefus, 
and fiibmitted to his commands. 
1 aving met with fuch extraordinary fiiccefs by land, 
the Lydian prince determined to render his power 
equally coiifpiciioiis by fea. For this purpole he 
thought feriocifly of equipping a fleet, with which he 
purpofed to contjuer tlie Grecian iflands direttly tront- 
ing his dominions. But this deflgn, wliich, coni'idering 
tlie flow progrefs iit maritime power among the nations 
11 oft diligent to attain it, would probably have tailed 
ot fuccefs, was prevented by th.e advice ot a philolo- 
phical traveller, conveyed in fuch a lively turn ot wit, 
as eafily changed the refolution of the king. Bias of 
Pi iene, in Ionia, fome fay Pittacus ot Mitylene, in the 
ifle of Letbos, while he travelled, atterthe Grecian cuf- 
toni, from curiolity and a love of knowledge, was pre- 
fented to Crcefus at the Lydian court; and being alked 
by that prince what news from Greece t he antwered 
with republican freedom, that tlie illanders had col- 
leifed powerful fquadrons of cavalry, with an intention 
of invading Lydia. “May the gods grant,” faid Crce- 
fiis, “ that the Greeks, wiio are unacquainted with 
liorfemanfliip, lliould attack the dilciplincd valour ot 
the Lydian cavalry ; there would foon be an end to the 
conteft.” In the fame manner,” replied Bias, “ as it 
tlie Lydians, who are totally unexperienced in naval af- 
f.iirs, fliould invade the Grecians by fea.” Struck by 
the acutenefs of this reply, Crcefus defifted from his in¬ 
tended expedition ; and, inllead of employing new means 
for extending his coiiquetls, determined peaceably to 
enjoy the laurels whicli he had won, and to difplay tlie 
grandeur which lie had attained. 
JHis court was tlie gayefl; and niotl fplendid of any in 
that age; and the Afiatic Greeks, whatever dithonour 
tiiey incurred, fuflained not, perhaps, any real lofs by 
their eafy fubniiliion to a vtiin anti weak man, but a 
magnificent and liberal prince, who was extremely par¬ 
tial to their country. T. hey acknowledged the conque¬ 
ror, indeed, by a very moderate tribute, but they en. 
joyed their ancient laws, and adminiliere-d w'ithout con- 
troul their domeftic concerns and government. Croe- 
fus fpoke their language, encouraged their arts, ad¬ 
mired and protected their poets and philofophers. 
Ionia, perhaps, was never more happy than under the 
eye of this indulgent: mafter, whofe prote6lion nouriflied 
the tender flioot of philofophy, which had begun to 
fpring up fliortiy before his reign. Tli.iles of Miletus, 
Pittacus of Mitylene, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of 
Lindus, and the other wile men, as they are emphatically 
flyled, who lived in that age, not only gave advice and 
alliftaiice to their countrymen in particular emergencies, 
but reftrained their vices by wholefome laws, improved 
their manners by lelTons of morality, and extended their 
knowledge by many important difcoveries. 
For feveral years Crcefus remained not only tlie maf¬ 
ter but the friend 6f the Greeks, when the growing 
gieatiiefs of Perfia threatened the fafety of his domi- 
iiioivs, and roufed him again to arms. That country 
was anciently confined to a fmall part of the inimenle 
region at prelent known by the Perlian name. Its in¬ 
habitants had rapidly become formidable, and in the 
■ courfe of a few years, under the elder Cyrus, they ex¬ 
tended tlieir name and conquelts over Upper Alia, over¬ 
turned the power of Croelus, enflaved the Greeks of 
AfiaMinor, and for the firlt time, threatened Europe with 
the terrorsof Afiatic defpotifm. See thearticle Persia. 
IDuring the reign of Crcefus, and his four immediate 
predeceilbrs, the Afiatic Greeks fometimes enjoyed 
their favourite form of republican government, lome- 
times fubmitted to domeltic tyrants, alternately reco¬ 
vered and lolt their national independence; but the 
I'uccefs of the ambitious Cyrus was not likely to im¬ 
prove their condition. When his holtile intentions were 
liiil made known in Ionia, the inhabitants of that de- 
Jightfiii country au'embled in the Panioaian grove, their 
E C E. 
ordinary rendezvous in important deliberations. This 
place, w'hich, together with the adjoining promontory 
of Mycale, was foleinnly confecrated to Neptune, form¬ 
ed the centre of the Ionic coafl:. 'I'owards the north 
extended the fpacious bay of Ephefus,- beyond which 
the beautiful peninfula of Clazomer.e firctched an hun¬ 
dred miles into the aEgean. On the foutlr, the terri¬ 
tory of Miletus occupied fixty-two miles of the winding 
fliore. But the Milefians lent not their deputies to the 
prefent convention ; for having been the confederates, 
not the fubjefts, of Croefus, they were admitted into the 
Perlian alliance on terms of equality and independence. 
The Grecian intereft in Afia, thus utigeneroufly aban¬ 
doned by the principal member of the confederacy, was 
fupported with unufual fpirit by all the inferior com, 
munities. Reprefentatives immediately appeared from 
Myus and Priene, which were fituate, like Miletus, on 
the coafl: of Caria ; from Ephefus, Colophon, Lebedus, 
Teos, Clazomene, Erythras, Phoctea, and Smyrna, 
which formed the maritime part of Lydia ; and from 
the illes ot Chjos and Samos, which completed the 
whole number of the Ionic fettlements. But to t-hefe 
were added the alliance of the Eolians, who were 
alarmed and threatened by the fame danger. 
1 he Afiatic Greeks, however, examining the flate of 
their afiairs, flill felt their own weaknels, compared 
with the flrength of the enemy. They therefore re- 
fblved to fend an embaffy into Greece, in order to ex¬ 
plain the danger to which they were expoied, and to 
Ihew the necefiity of powerful and timely aid. It mioht 
have been expedted that Attica, the native country of 
the lonians, fliould have received the firfl vilit ot the 
ambafladors ; but Athens was then governed by the 
tyrant Pififlratus, who, it was luppofed, would be averfe 
to take arms againft a tyrant like himfelf. Sparta, 
though a republic of greater power and renown, was lit¬ 
tle connected, either by commerce or affinity, with the 
Greeks of Alia. The propofals of the Afiatic ambafla¬ 
dors, therefore, were very coolly received by the Spar¬ 
tan fenate ; and the Lacedaemonians, mindful of the an¬ 
cient enmity between the Ionic and the Doric race, de, 
dined fending any forces into Afia, to refifl the arms of 
Cyrus. But though their generolity furnilhed no pub- 
lie afiiflance, their caution privately difpatched feveral 
Spartan citizens to obferve the operations of the war. 
When thefe men arrived in Ionia, they were eafily per- 
fuaded to exceed the bounds of their commiflion. They 
appointed Lacrines, the molt confiderable of their num¬ 
ber, to travel to the Lydian capital, in order to ac¬ 
quaint Cyrus, that if he committed hoflilities againfl 
any of the Grecian cities, the Lacediemonian republic 
would know how to punilh his injuflice. Cyrus, aflo- 
niflied at fuch an infolent melfage from a people altoge¬ 
ther unknown to him, alked the Greeks who the Lace¬ 
daemonians were ? and what number of men they could 
bring into the field ? When informed of thefe particu¬ 
lars, he replied to the Spartan ambafl'ador, “That he 
never fliould fear men who had a fquare in the midfl of 
their city, in which they met together to praCtife mu- 
tLial fallehood and deception ; and that if he continued 
to enjoy the blellings of health, he fliould afford the 
Spartans more domeltic reafons of complaint, than his 
military preparations againfl the Greeks of Alia.” Af¬ 
ter this interview with Lacrines, looking on the Grecian 
power with contempt, he thought proper to attempt in 
perfon enterprifes of greater renown, while he commit¬ 
ted the Grecian war to the Ikill of his lieutenant Har- 
pagus. , 
1 he war with Cyrus commenced in the year before 
Chrifl:539; and in the courfe of a few months Harpa- 
gus maae himfelf mafter of all the countries of Lower 
Alia, poflelfed by either Greeks or barbarians. Havino- 
the command of men and labour, he caufed mounds tT 
earth to be thrown up adjacent to the Grecian walls. 
In tliis fcrvice, imnienfe numbers mufl have perilhed 
by 
