Histories

According to the Thracians, all the land beyond the Ister is full of bees, and that by reason of these none can travel there. This, to my mind, is not a credible tale, for those creatures are ill able to bear cold. It appears to me rather that it is by reason of the cold that the northern lands are not inhabited. Such, then, are the stories about this region. Whatever the truth may be, Megabazus made its coastal area subject to the Persians.

As soon as Darius had crossed the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and come to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis,[*](Cp. Hdt. 4.143.) he remembered the good service done him by Histiaeus of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus and the counsel of Coes the Mytilenaean, and after sending for them to come to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, he offered them a choice of whatever they wanted.

Histiaeus, seeing that he was tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, desired no further sovereignty than that, but asked for Myrcinus[*](A district rich in timber and precious metals; cp. Hdt. 5.23.) in the Edonian land so that he might build a city there. This, then, was Histiaeus' choice, but Coes, inasmuch as he was no tyrant but a plain citizen, asked that he might be made tyrant of Mytilene [26.55,39.1] (Perseus) Mytilene.