Herodotus' HISTORY BOOK 1 (CLIO) Complete

Translated by G. Macaulay.

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107 pages - You are on Page 49

93. Of marvels to be recorded the land of Lydia has no great store as compared with other lands, [104] excepting the gold-dust which is carried down from Tmolos; but one work it has to show which is larger far than any other except only those in Egypt and Babylon: for there is there the sepulchral monument of Alyattes the father of Croesus, of which the base is made of larger stones and the rest of the monument is of earth piled up. And this was built by contributions of those who practised trade and of the artisans and the girls who plied their traffic there; and still there existed to my own time boundary-stones five in number erected upon the monument above, on which were carved inscriptions telling how much of the work was done by each class; and upon measurement it was found that the work of the girls was the greatest in amount. For the daughters of the common people in Lydia practice prostitution one and all, to gather for themselves dowries, continuing this until the time when they marry; and the girls give themselves away in marriage. Now the circuit of the monument is six furlongs and two hundred feet, [105] and the breadth is thirteen hundred feet. [106] And adjoining the monument is a great lake, which the Lydians say has a never-failing supply of water, and it is called the lake of Gyges. [107] Such is the nature of this monument.

[104] {oia te kai alle khore}, "such as other lands have."

[105] {stadioi ex kai duo plethra}.

[106] {plethra tria kai deka}.

[107] {Gugaie}.

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