Thalia   

"In my judgment, O son of Cyrus, thou art not equal to thy father, for
thou hast not yet left behind thee such a son as he." Cambyses was
delighted when he heard this reply, and praised the judgment of
Croesus.
Recollecting these answers, Cambyses spoke fiercely to
Prexaspes, saying, "Judge now thyself, Prexaspes, whether the Persians
tell the truth, or whether it is not they who are mad for speaking
as they do. Look there now at thy son standing in the vestibule- if
I shoot and hit him right in the middle of the heart, it will be plain
the Persians have no grounds for what they say: if I miss him, then
I allow that the Persians are right, and that I am out of my mind." So
speaking he drew his bow to the full, and struck the boy, who
straightway fell down dead. Then Cambyses ordered the body to be
opened, and the wound examined; and when the arrow was found to have
entered the heart, the king was quite overjoyed, and said to the
father with a laugh, "Now thou seest plainly, Prexaspes, that it is
not I who am mad, but the Persians who have lost their senses. I
pray thee tell me, sawest thou ever mortal man send an arrow with a
better aim?" Prexaspes, seeing that the king was not in his right
mind, and fearing for himself, replied, "Oh! my lord, I do not think
that God himself could shoot so dexterously." Such was the outrage
which Cambyses committed at this time: at another, he took twelve of
the noblest Persians, and, without bringing any charge worthy of death
against them, buried them all up to the neck.
Hereupon Croesus the Lydian thought it right to admonish Cambyses,
which he did in these words following:- "Oh! king, allow not thyself
to give way entirely to thy youth, and the heat of thy temper, but
check and control thyself. It is well to look to consequences, and
in forethought is true wisdom. Thou layest hold of men, who are thy
fellow-citizens, and, without cause of complaint, slayest them- thou
even puttest children to death- bethink thee now, if thou shalt
often do things like these, will not the Persians rise in revolt
against thee? It is by thy father's wish that I offer thee advice;
he charged me strictly to give thee such counsel as I might see to
be most for thy good." In thus advising Cambyses, Croesus meant
nothing but what was friendly. But Cambyses answered him, "Dost thou
presume to offer me advice? Right well thou ruledst thy own country
when thou wert a king, and right sage advice thou gavest my father
Cyrus, bidding him cross the Araxes and fight the Massagetae in
their own land, when they were willing to have passed over into
ours. By thy misdirection of thine own affairs thou broughtest ruin
upon thyself, and by thy bad counsel, which he followed, thou
broughtest ruin upon Cyrus, my father. But thou shalt not escape
punishment now, for I have long been seeking to find some occasion
against thee." As he thus spoke, Cambyses took up his bow to shoot
at Croesus; but Croesus ran hastily out, and escaped. So when Cambyses
found that he could not kill him with his bow, he bade his servants
seize him, and put him to death. The servants, however, who knew their
master's humour, thought it best to hide Croesus; that so, if Cambyses
relented, and asked for him, they might bring him out, and get a
reward for having saved his life- if, on the other hand, he did not
relent, or regret the loss, they might then despatch him. Not long
afterwards, Cambyses did in fact regret the loss of Croesus, and the
servants, perceiving it, let him know that he was still alive. "I am
glad," said he, "that Croesus lives, but as for you who saved him,
ye shall not escape my vengeance, but shall all of you be put to
death." And he did even as he had said.
Many other wild outrages of this sort did Cambyses commit, both
upon the Persians and the allies, while he still stayed at Memphis;
among the rest he opened the ancient sepulchres, and examined the
bodies that were buried in them. He likewise went into the temple of
Vulcan, and made great sport of the image. For the image of Vulcan
is very like the Pataeci of the Phoenicians, wherewith they ornament
the prows of their ships of war. If persons have not seen these, I