Then the Persian generals were not false to the threats they had made against the Ionians when they were encamped opposite them. When they had gained mastery over the cities, they chose out the most handsome boys and castrated them, making them eunuchs instead of men, and they carried the fairest maidens away to the king; they did all this, and they burnt the cities with their temples. Thus three times had the Ionians been enslaved, first by the Lydians and now twice in a row by the Persians.