Thalia   

the war upon the Phoenicians, because they had yielded themselves to
the Persians, and because upon the Phoenicians all his sea-service
depended. The Cyprians had also joined the Persians of their own
accord, and took part with them in the expedition against Egypt.
As soon as the Icthyophagi arrived from Elephantine, Cambyses,
having told them what they were to say, forthwith despatched them into
Ethiopia with these following gifts: to wit, a purple robe, a gold
chain for the neck, armlets, an alabaster box of myrrh, and a cask
of palm wine. The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent are said to
be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs
they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in
the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is
the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his
height, and appoint him to rule over them.
The Icthyophagi on reaching this people, delivered the gifts to
the king of the country, and spoke as follows:- "Cambyses, king of the
Persians, anxious to become thy ally and sworn friend, has sent us
to hold converse with thee, and to bear thee the gifts thou seest,
which are the things wherein he himself delights the most." Hereon the
Ethiopian, who knew they came as spies, made answer:- "The king of the
Persians sent you not with these gifts because he much desired to
become my sworn friend- nor is the account which ye give of yourselves
true, for ye are come to search out my kingdom. Also your king is
not a just man- for were he so, he had not coveted a land which is not
his own, nor brought slavery on a people who never did him any
wrong. Bear him this bow, and say- 'The king of the Ethiops thus
advises the king of the Persians when the Persians can pull a bow of
this strength thus easily, then let him come with an army of
superior strength against the long-lived Ethiopians- till then, let
him thank the gods that they have not put it into the heart of the
sons of the Ethiops to covet countries which do not belong to them.'
So speaking, he unstrung the bow, and gave it into the hands of
the messengers. Then, taking the purple robe, he asked them what it
was, and how it had been made. They answered truly, telling him
concerning the purple, and the art of the dyer- whereat he observed
"that the men were deceitful, and their garments also." Next he took
the neck-chain and the armlets, and asked about them. So the
Icthyophagi explained their use as ornaments. Then the king laughed,
and fancying they were fetters, said, "the Ethiopians had much
stronger ones." Thirdly, he inquired about the myrrh, and when they
told him how it was made and rubbed upon the limbs, he said the same
as he had said about the robe. Last of all he came to the wine, and
having learnt their way of making it, he drank a draught, which
greatly delighted him; whereupon he asked what the Persian king was
wont to eat, and to what age the longest-lived of the Persians had
been known to attain. They told him that the king ate bread, and
described the nature of wheat- adding that eighty years was the
longest term of man's life among the Persians. Hereat he remarked, "It
did not surprise him, if they fed on dirt, that they died so soon;
indeed he was sure they never would have lived so long as eighty
years, except for the refreshment they got from that drink (meaning
the wine), wherein he confessed the Persians surpassed the
Ethiopians."
The Icthyophagi then in their turn questioned the king
concerning the term of life, and diet of his people, and were told
that most of them lived to be a hundred and twenty years old, while
some even went beyond that age- they ate boiled flesh, and had for
their drink nothing but milk. When the Icthyophagi showed wonder at
the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when
they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if
they had bathed in oil- and a scent came from the spring like that
of violets. The water was so weak, they said, that nothing would float
in it, neither wood, nor any lighter substance, but all went to the
bottom. If the account of this fountain be true, it would be their