THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS



BOOK V

THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED TERPSICHORE

1. In the meantime those of the Persians who had been left behind in
Europe by Dareios, of whom Megabazos was the commander, had subdued
the people of Perinthos first of the Hellespontians, since they
refused to be subject to Dareios. These had in former times also been
hardly dealt with by the Paionians: for the Paionians from the Strymon
had been commanded by an oracle of their god to march against the
Perinthians; and if the Perinthians, when encamped opposite to them,
should shout aloud and call to them by their name, they were to attack
them; but if they should not shout to them, they were not to attack
them: and thus the Paionians proceeded to do. Now when the Perinthians
were encamped opposite to them in the suburb of their city, a
challenge was made and a single combat took place in three different
forms; for they matched a man against a man, and a horse against a
horse, and a dog against a dog. Then, as the Perinthians were getting
the better in two of the three, in their exultation they raised a
shout of /paion/,[1] and the Paionians conjectured that this was the
very thing which was spoken of in the oracle, and said doubtless to
one another, "Now surely the oracle is being accomplished for us, now
it is time for us to act." So the Paionians attacked the Perinthians
when they had raised the shout of paion, and they had much the better
in the fight, and left but few of them alive. 2. Thus it happened with
respect to those things which had been done to them in former times by