Impalements in Antiquity (4B)

WARNING!: This post may be upsetting to some.

Part 14B of the series: "The Romans NEVER CRUCIFIED the Way We Think They Did!" (Cont'd)

Previous in this series:

Part 14A Impalements in Antiquity (4A).
Part 13B Impalements in Antiquity (3B).
Part 13A Impalements in Antiquity (3A).
Part 12 Impalements in Antiquity (2).
Part 11 Impalements in Antiquity (1).
Part 10 Humiliations.
Part 9 Utility Poles and Masts.
Part 8 Crown of Thorns.
Part 7 Crucifixion and Priapus.
Part 6 From Wax Image to Exposed Body.
Part 5 The First Crucifix.
Part 4 The Tropaeum and the Furca.
Part 3 Crux - Modern English Use and Ancient Quotidian Meanings.
Part 2 Crux.
Part 1.

Previous Series - Crucifixion – The Bodily Support:

Part 4 Physics of Crucifixion.
Part 3 Manuscript Evidence.
Part 2 Archaeological Evidence.
Part 1.


Part 14B - Impalements in Antiquity (4B) - Media and Persia.

A. Recap.

In the previous part we have seen that the instances recorded on the Behishtun inscription show that the verbiage denoting the penal bodily suspension and execution of a convict was interpreted as "crucify" around the turn of the 19th / 20th Century and later on as impale in the mid 20th Century. Indeed, the Old Babylonian Text describing the act reads, "I raised him aloft on the wood." I suspect this would be indicative of impalement on the ground and then raising aloft. We can verify this by looking at the Greek, Roman and Jewish sources.

B. Greek and Roman Sources.

We will look at a few examples to show how the ancient Greek historians described the penal bodily suspension-executions of convicted criminals sentenced thereto. The historians concerned are Herodotus, Thucydides and Plutarch. Josephus, because he was also Jewish, will be examined when I deal with Jewish sources.

B.1. Herodotus.

First off the bat is Herodotus' report of the impalement of of the magi who persuaded the Median king Astyages to release the Persian leader, Cyrus, in 687 BCE:

1. Thus the Median army was shamefully scattered. As soon as Astyages heard, he sent a threatening message to Cyrus: "Nevertheless, Cyrus shall not rejoice"; 2. and with that he took the magi who interpreted dreams, and who had persuaded him to let Cyrus go free, and impaled them; them he armed the Medes who were left in the city, the very young and very old men.

Herodotus Histories 1,128,1-2, D.A. Godley, tr. [1]

Herodotus writes ἀνεσκολόπισε, a conjugate of ἀνασταυρόω, for "he impaled". [2] Here it is probable that the ones suspended were impaled and set up on their pales while still alive -- Herodotus usually uses ἀνασκολοπίζω for the impalement and suspension of living persons, while he likewise uses ἀνασταυρόω for bodily impalement and/or impalement of heads, hands, etc., of persons who have just been killed. [3]

The next incident Herodotus describes deals with the Samian monarch Polycrates, who was killed cruelly and unusually, and shamefully, and was then suspended on a pole by a Persian satrap in 522 BCE. Herodotus describes his unfortunate end as follows:

3. Having killed him in some way not fit to be told, Oroetes then crucified impaled him; as for those who had accompanied him, let the Samians go, telling them to thank them that they were free, those who were not Samians, or were servants of Polycrates' followers he kept for slaves. 4. And Polycrates hanging in the air fulfilled his daughter's vision in every detail, for he was washed by Zeus when it rained, and he was anointed by Helios as he exuded sweat from his body.

Herodotus Histories 3,125,3-4, A.D. Godley, tr.[4]

The word that was translated as crucified but should have been translated impaled is ἀνεσταύρωσε, a conjugate of ἀνασταυρόω, which, according to the LSJ and Middle Liddell lexica, is identical with ἀνασκολοπίζω in the Classical Greek. [2] It is then only in the Koine Greek later on that ἀνασταυρόω becomes to mean also "crucify" and probably only when the Romans came up with their unique brand of  crucifixion.

Indeed, how Polycrates' execution is described, with the phrase "Having killed him in some way not fit to be telled (ἀποκτείνας δέ μιν οὐκ ἀξίως ἀπηγήσιος)", leads one to conclude that he was impaled to death while still on the ground and then suspended his body by the pole that was inside.


Also note that when one is suspended on an impale, he hangs. Once the condemned stops sliding down the pole, he is suspended in mid-air on it. And so it is in Polycrates' case: he is "hanging in the air"  In the Greek it is  ἀνακρεμάμενος [5], "hanging up on [an impaling stake]". 

Next is the incident where a Greek physician by the name of Democedes saves the backsides of some Egyptian physicians and an Elean [6] seer. Herodotus reports:

1 So now because he had healed Darius at Susa, Democedes had a very good house and ate at the king's table; he had everything, except permission to return to the Greeks. 2. When the Egyptian physicians who until now had attended the king were about to be impaled for being less skillful than a Greek, Democedes interceded with the king for them and saved them; and he saved an Elean seer, too, who had been a retainer of Polycrates' and was forgotten among the slaves. Democedes was a man of considerable influence with the king.

Herodotus, Histories, 3.132,1-2, D.A. Godley, tr. [7]

The Greek verb for "about to be impaled" is ἀνασκολοπιεῖσθαι, a conjugate of ἀνασκολοπίζω. [2] 

Then we have his description of the execution of 3,000 in Babylon (date unknown) which was already noted on the Behistun Inscription. Herodotus writes:

Thus Babylon was taken a second time, and when Darius was the master of the babylonians, he destroyed their walls and tore away all their gates, neither of which Cyrus had done at the first taking of Babylon; moreover he impaled about three thousand men that were prominent among them; as for the rest, he gave them back their city to live in.

Herodotus Histories 3,159,1, A.D. Godley, tr.[8]

Here the Greek verb for "he impaled" is ἀνεσκολόπισε, a conjugate of ἀνασκολοπίζω. [2]

Then we have an execution where a certain Sastapes was caught committing adultery, and Xerxes orders him to be impaled. His own mother manages to get the king to waive the penalty on a certain condition (which he fails to meet):

1 Thus was the first knowledge of Libya gained. The next story is that of the Carthaginians: for as Sastapes son of Teaspes, an Achaemenid, he did not sail around Libya, although he was sent for that purpose; but he feared the length and loneliness of the voyage and so returned without accomplishing the task laid upon him by his mother. 2. For he had raped the virgin daughter of Zopyrus son of Megabyzus; and when on this charge he was to be impaled by the king Xerxes, Sastapes' mother, who was Darius' sister, interceded for his life, saying that she should impose a heavier punishment on him than Xerxes.

6 As to his not sailing completely around Libya, the reason (he said) was that the ship could move no further, but was stopped. But Xerxes did not believe that Sastapes spoke the truth, and as the task appointed was unfulfilled, he impaled him, punishing him the charge first brought against him.

Herodotus Histories 4.43.1-2,6, D.A. Godley, tr. [9]

For "he was to be impaled" and "he impaled him", herodotus uses the conjugates of ἀνασκολοπίζω, ἀνασκολοπιεῖσθαι and ἀνεσκολόπισε, respectively. [2]

Next, Herodotus describes the impalement of men and women of the city of Barca ca. 510 BCE by a Persian-aligned military leader, a woman of war by the name of Pheretine:

When they were delivered to her by the Persians, Pheretine took the most guilty of the Barcaeans and set them impaled around the top of the wall; the breasts of their women she cut off and planted around the wall in like manner.

Herodotus Histories 4,202,1, A.D. Godley, tr. [10]

Again, the Greek verb for "[she] set them impaled" is ἀνεσκολόπισε.

Next is the execution of Histaeus in 494 BCE by the Persian general Harpagus.

1. Now, if he had been taken prisoner and brought to king Darius, he would have suffered no harm (to my thinking) and the king would have forgiven his guilt; but as it was, when Histaeus was brought to Sardis, both because of what he had done, and for fear that he might escape and again win power at the court, Artaphrenus, governor of Sardis, and Harpagus, who had captured him, impaled his body on the spot and sent his head embalmed to king Darius at Susa. 2. When Darius learned of this, he blamed those who had done it because they had not brought Histaeus before him alive, and he commanded that the head should be washed and buried with due ceremony, as of a man who had done great good to Darius himself and to Persia.

Herodotus, Histories 6,30,1-2, D.A. Godley, tr. [11]

Here the Greek verb for "[they] impaled" is ἀνεσταύρωσαν, a conjugate of ἀνασταυρόω. [2] Here, the translation is consistent with the lexica, unlike in Histories 3,125.

After this we have the near-execution of Sandoces, a royal judge. This passage is usually quoted by scholars, usually those who subscribe to Christianity, to say that the Persians crucified, i.e., bound or nailed people to crosses. Not necessarily so!

1. Fifteen of those ships had put to sea a long time after all the rest, and it chanced that they sighted the Greek ships off Artemisium. Supposing these to be of their own fleet, the barbarians proceeded in the midst of their enemies. Their captain was the viceroy from Cyme in Aeolia, Sandoces son of Thamasius. This man, who was one of the royal judges, had once been taken and crucified by Darius because he had given unjust judgement for a bribe. 2. When Sandoces had been hung on the cross, Darius found a reconsideration that his good services to the royal House outweighed his offences. The king perceived he had acted with more haste than wisdom and set him free.

Herodotus, Histories, 7,194,1-2, D.A. Godley, tr. [12]

What Herodotus has for "had been crucified" is ἀνεσταύρωσε, (lit.: "he [Darius] impaled him), a conjugate of ἀνασταυρόω "impale". [2] Now usually Herodotus employs this verb to describe the impalement of dead people, yet he is describing the impalement of a living person -- who, miraculously, survives the ordeal! For as Sandoces was already hanged up on something (ἀνακρεμασθέντος) [5] Darius has a change of heart and the unfortunate person is let down. Now this could be a initial, temporary suspension by a lifting beam, or Sandoces could already have been parked on top of the stake, but had not yet sunk onto it and been smitten by it. The initial suspension by a lifting beam, of course, would be necessary if a condemned criminal were to be impaled an an already planted impaling stake of an insane height, which I will show you could have happened, in the case of the Persian second in command Haman in the Book of Esther, from the Tanakh. And as shown in the previous installment, the Persians were certainly capable of lifting men and materials to insane heights.

This jasper magical amulet from the 2nd or 3rd Century CE shows something similar in an illustration of The Crucifixion: [13]

The subject, identified as Iησοῦ Xριστέ (Jesus Christ of all people) is portrayed with his arms suspended from a transverse beam with his arms in a relaxed state, and his legs splayed painfully wide as though on an impale. The instrumant of execution shown is usually interpreted as a T cross with a sedile or cornu, but could just as easily be an impaling stake and a separate suspension beam. Nota bene, the transverse has no support poles shown on either side, but the upright is not shown planted in the earth, either.

Next we have the wartime execution of Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, which Herodotus considered a defilement of Leonidas' body and an affront to his person and memory:

1. Having spoken in this way, Xerxes passed over the place where the dead lay and hearing that Leonidas had been king and general of the Lacedaemonians [Spartans], he gave orders to cut off his head and impale it. 2. It is plain to me by this piece of evidence among many others, that while Leonidas lived, king Xerxes was more incensed against him than all the others; otherwise he would never have dealt so outrageously with his body, for the Persians are beyond all men known in the habit of honouring valiant warriors. They, then, who received these orders did as I have said.

Herodotus, Histories 7,238,1-2, D.A. Godley, tr. [14]

Here we have in Greek for the phrase, "he gave orders to cut off his head and impale it" ἐκέλευσε ἀποταμόντας τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνασταυρῶσαι. It transliterates into: "he gave orders having cut off the head, to impale". It is not clear here whether the head was to be impaled or the body. We have a clue in line 2. There, Herodotus reports that "otherwise he would have never dealt so outrageously with his body (οὐ γὰρ ἄν κοτε ἐς τὸν νεκρὸν ταῦτα παρενόμησε)" The Greek transliterates as "for if otherwise not at any time onto the body these would he have outrageously committed", which gives a hint the impalement may have been of the body. But if it was otherwise, we then have the first extant historic instance where ἀνασταυρόω refers to impaled heads.

We have another clue when later on when Lampon son of Pytheas, a leading military man of the Aeginaetans urges Pausanias son of Cleombrotus to impale a captured Persian military leader, one Mardonius, alive:

When Leonidas was killed at Thermopylae, Mardonius and Xerxes cut off his head and set it on a pole; make them a like return, and you will win praies from all Spartans and the rest of hellas besides. For if you impale Mardonius, you will be avenged for your father's brother Loenidas.

Herodotus, Histories, 9,78,3 [9]

Here the verb for the action that will get revenge for Leonidas, ἀνασκολοπίσας, is a conjugate of ἀνασκολοπίζω, "impale" [2]. And here the victim was to be impaled while still alive. [4] And does the Greek actually state that it was Leonidas' head that was impaled? The Greek, "Λεωνίδεω γὰρ ἀποθανόντος ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι Μαρδόνιός τε καὶ Ξέρξης ἀποταμόντες τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνεσταύρωσαν (When Leonidas was killed in Thermopylae both Mardonius and Xerxes having cut off the head, impaled)" It appears here that, based on the identical unclear language in the two passages whether the head or body of Leonidas was impaled, and the first passage stated that Leonidas' body suffered outrages plural, and that a live bodily Mardonius was considered a fitting action to get revenge for Leonidas, it appears that yes, Leonidas' body was impaled, and not (just) his severed head.

Conclusions on Herodotus.

In the above writings, it is noticed that the impalement of live persons was almost always denoted by conjugates of ἀνασκολοπίζω, whereas the post-execution impalements were expressed by conjugates of ἀνασταυρόω. The one exception is that of Sandoces, but that may be cleared up when I discuss the case of Haman in a future installment.

Next installment, Part 14C, I will discuss the writings of other Greeks and of Romans, and if there is room, look at an individual case reported by multiple writers.

Footnotes.

[1] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 1.128. The Greek text for lines 1 and 2 reads as follows:

1. διαλυθέντος δὲ τοῦ Μηδικοῦ. στρατεύματος αἰσχρῶς, ὡς ἐπύθετο τάχιστα ὁ Ἀστυάγης, ἔφη ἀπειλέων τῷ Κύρῳ ‘ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὣς Κῦρός γε χαιρήσει.’ [2]τοσαῦτα εἶπας πρῶτον μὲν τῶν Μάγων τοὺς ὀνειροπόλους, οἵ μιν ἀνέγνωσαν μετεῖναι τὸν Κῦρον, τούτους ἀνεσκολόπισε, μετὰ δὲ ὥπλισετοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας ἐν τῷ ἄστεϊ τῶν Μήδων, νέους τε καὶ πρεσβύτας ἄνδρας. 

[2] Perseus Word Study Tool, ἀνασταυρόω "affix to a cross, crucify," and ἀνασκολοπίζω "fix on a pole," according to the Perseus quick definition. But looking into the LSJ (Liddell, Scott and Jones) and Middle Liddell lexica (accessible via the menu tags) shows that in the Classical Greek ἀνασταυρόω was identical with ἀνασκολοπίζω, which is more completely defined as "fix on a pole or stake, impale". Indeed, ἀνασκολοπίζω still means "impale" in the modern Greek.

[3] Martin Hengel, Crucifixion, John Bowden, tr., Philadelhia, Fortress Press 1977, p. 24.

[4] Perseus Digital Library,Herodotus Histories 3,125. The Greek text of lines 3 and 4 reads as follows:

3. ἀποκτείνας δέ μιν οὐκ ἀξίως ἀπηγήσιος Ὀροίτης ἀνεσταύρωσε: τῶν δέ οἱ ἑπομένων ὅσοι μὲν ἦσαν Σάμιοι, ἀπῆκε, κελεύων σφέας ἑωυτῷ χάριν εἰδέναι ἐόντας ἐλευθέρους, ὅσοι δὲ ἦσαν ξεῖνοί τε καὶ δοῦλοι τῶν ἑπομένων, ἐν ἀνδραπόδων λόγῳ ποιεύμενος εἶχε. 4. Πολυκράτης δὲ ἀνακρεμάμενος ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τὴν ὄψιν τῆς θυγατρός: ἐλοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς ὅκως ὕοι, ἐχρίετο δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου, ἀνιεὶς αὐτὸς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἰκμάδα. ’

[5] Perseus Word Study Tool, ἀνακρεμάμενος, verb-participle, singular, present, middle-passive, masculine nominative of ἀνακρεμάννυμι, "hang up on [a thing]". The middle-passive voice indicates an action done to the subject, but could also indicate a action the subject is doing by itself, or to itself. (Also himself / herself). The conjugate ἀνακρεμασθέντος is the verb-participle, singular, aorist, passive, masculine genitive.

[6] Elean: of Elis, a region and city of southwest ancient Greece, in northwestern Peloponnesus, west of Arcadia. 

[7] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories, 3,132. The Greek text of lines 1 and 2 reads as follows:

1. τότε δὴ ὁ Δημοκήδης ἐν τοῖσι Σούσοισι ἐξιησάμενος Δαρεῖον οἶκόν τε μέγιστον εἶχε καὶ ὁμοτράπεζος βασιλέι ἐγεγόνεε, πλήν τε ἑνὸς τοῦ ἐς Ἕλληνας ἀπιέναι πάντα τἆλλά οἱ παρῆν. [2]καὶ τοῦτο μὲν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἰητρούς, οἳ βασιλέα πρότερον ἰῶντο, μέλλοντας ἀνασκολοπιεῖσθαι ὅτι ὑπὸ Ἕλληνος ἰητροῦ ἑσσώθησαν, τούτους βασιλέα παραιτησάμενος ἐρρύσατο: τοῦτο δὲ μάντιν Ἠλεῖον Πολυκράτεϊ ἐπισπόμενον καὶ ἀπημελημένον ἐν τοῖσι ἀνδραπόδοισι ἐρρύσατο. ἦν δὲ μέγιστον πρῆγμα Δημοκήδης παρὰ βασιλέι.

[8] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 3,159. The Greek text of line 1 reads as follows:

1. Βαβυλὼν μέν νυν οὕτω τὸ δεύτερον αἱρέθη. Δαρεῖος δὲ ἐπείτε ἐκράτησε τῶν Βαβυλωνίων, τοῦτο μὲν σφέων τὸ τεῖχος περιεῖλε καὶ τὰς πύλας πάσας ἀπέσπασε: τὸ γὰρ πρότερον ἑλὼν Κῦρος τὴν Βαβυλῶνα ἐποίησε τούτων οὐδέτερον: τοῦτο δὲ ὁ Δαρεῖος τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοὺς κορυφαίους μάλιστα ἐς τρισχιλίους ἀνεσκολόπισε, τοῖσι δὲ λοιποῖσι Βαβυλωνίοισι ἀπέδωκε τὴν πόλιν οἰκέειν.

[9] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 4.43. The Greek text of lines 1, 2 and 6 read as follows:

1. οὕτω μὲν αὕτη ἐγνώσθη τὸ πρῶτον, μετὰ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι εἰσὶ οἱ λέγοντες: ἐπεὶ Σατάσπης γε ὁ Τεάσπιος ἀνὴρ Ἀχαιμενίδης οὐ περιέπλωσε Λιβύην, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πεμφθείς, ἀλλὰ δείσας τό τε μῆκος τοῦ πλόου καὶ τὴν ἐρημίην ἀπῆλθε ὀπίσω, οὐδ᾽ ἐπετέλεσε τὸν ἐπέταξε οἱ ἡ μήτηρ ἄεθλον. 2. θυγατέρα γὰρ Ζωπύρου τοῦ Μεγαβύζου ἐβιήσατο παρθένον: ἔπειτα μέλλοντος αὐτοῦ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίην ἀνασκολοπιεῖσθαι ὑπὸ Ξέρξεω βασιλέος, ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Σατάσπεος ἐοῦσα Δαρείου ἀδελφεὴ παραιτήσατο, φᾶσά οἱ αὐτὴ μέζω ζημίην ἐπιθήσειν ἤ περ ἐκεῖνον:

6. τοῦ δὲ μὴ περιπλῶσαι Λιβύην παντελέως αἴτιον τόδε ἔλεγε, τὸ πλοῖον τὸ πρόσω οὐ δυνατὸν ἔτι εἶναι προβαίνειν ἀλλ᾽ ἐνίσχεσθαι. Ξέρξης δὲ οὔ οἱ συγγινώσκων λέγειν ἀληθέα οὐκ ἐπιτελέσαντά τε τὸν προκείμενον ἄεθλον ἀνεσκολόπισε, τὴν ἀρχαίην δίκην ἐπιτιμῶν.

[10] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 4,202. The Greek text of line 1 reads as follows:

1. τοὺς μέν νυν αἰτιωτάτους τῶν Βαρκαίων ἡ Φερετίμη, ἐπείτε οἱ ἐκ τῶν Περσέων παρεδόθησαν, ἀνεσκολόπισε κύκλῳ τοῦ τείχεος, τῶν δέ σφι γυναικῶν τοὺς μαζοὺς ἀποταμοῦσα περιέστιξε καὶ τούτοισι τὸ τεῖχος:

[11] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 6,30. The Greek text reads as follows:

1. εἰ μέν νυν, ὡς ἐζωγρήθη, ἄχθη ἀγόμενος παρὰ βασιλέα Δαρεῖον, ὁ δὲ οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἔπαθε κακὸν οὐδὲν δοκέειν ἐμοί, ἀπῆκέ τ᾽ ἂν αὐτῷ τὴν αἰτίην: νῦν δέ μιν αὐτῶν τε τούτων εἵνεκα καὶ ἵνα μὴ διαφυγὼν αὖτις μέγας παρὰ βασιλέι γένηται, Ἀρταφρένης τε ὁ Σαρδίων ὕπαρχος καὶ ὁ λαβὼν Ἅρπαγος, ὡς ἀπίκετο ἀγόμενος ἐς Σάρδις, τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ ἀνεσταύρωσαν, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν ταριχεύσαντες ἀνήνεικαν παρὰ βασιλέα Δαρεῖον ἐς Σοῦσα. 2. Δαρεῖος δὲ πυθόμενος ταῦτα καὶ ἐπαιτιησάμενος τοὺς ταῦτα ποιήσαντας ὅτι μιν οὐ ζώοντα ἀνήγαγον ἐς ὄψιν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ, τὴν κεφαλὴν τὴν Ἱστιαίου λούσαντάς τε καὶ περιστείλαντας εὖ ἐνετείλατο θάψαι ὡς ἀνδρὸς μεγάλως ἑωυτῷ τε καὶ Πέρσῃσι εὐεργέτεω.

[12] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 7.194. The Greek text of lines 1 and 2 reads as follows:

1. πεντεκαίδεκα δὲ τῶν νεῶν τουτέων ἔτυχόν τε ὕσταται πολλὸν ἐξαναχθεῖσαι καί κως κατεῖδον τὰς ἐπ᾽ Ἀρτεμισίῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων νέας. ἔδοξάν τε δὴ τὰς σφετέρας εἶναι οἱ βάρβαροι καὶ πλέοντες ἐσέπεσον ἐς τοὺς πολεμίους: τῶν ἐστρατήγεε ὁ ἀπὸ Κύμης τῆς Αἰολίδος ὕπαρχος Σανδώκης ὁ Θαμασίου τὸν δὴ πρότερον τούτων βασιλεὺς Δαρεῖος ἐπ᾽ αἰτίῃ τοιῇδε λαβὼν ἀνεσταύρωσε ἐόντα τῶν βασιληίων δικαστέων. ὁ Σανδώκης ἐπὶ χρήμασι ἄδικον δίκην ἐδίκασε. 2. ἀνακρεμασθέντος ὦν αὐτοῦ, λογιζόμενος ὁ Δαρεῖος εὗρέ οἱ πλέω ἀγαθὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων πεποιημένα ἐς οἶκον τὸν βασιλήιον: εὑρὼν δὲ τοῦτο ὁ Δαρεῖος, καὶ γνοὺς ὡς ταχύτερα αὐτὸς ἢ σοφώτερα ἐργασμένος εἴη, ἔλυσε.

[13] Magical gem / intaglio, The British Museum.

[14] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 7,238. The Greek text reads as follows:

1. ταῦτα εἴπας Ξέρξης διεξήιε διὰ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ Λεωνίδεω, ἀκηκοὼς ὅτι βασιλεύς τε ἦν καὶ στρατηγὸς Λακεδαιμονίων, ἐκέλευσε ἀποταμόντας τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνασταυρῶσαι. 2. δῆλά μοι πολλοῖσι μὲν καὶ ἄλλοισι τεκμηρίοισι, ἐν δὲ καὶ τῷδε οὐκ ἥκιστα γέγονε, ὅτι βασιλεὺς Ξέρξης πάντων δὴ μάλιστα ἀνδρῶν ἐθυμώθη ζῶντι Λεωνίδῃ: οὐ γὰρ ἄν κοτε ἐς τὸν νεκρὸν ταῦτα παρενόμησε, ἐπεὶ τιμᾶν μάλιστα νομίζουσι τῶν ἐγὼ οἶδα ἀνθρώπων Πέρσαι ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς τὰ πολέμια. οἳ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἐποίευν, τοῖσι ἐπετέτακτο ποιέειν.

[15] Perseus Digital Library, Herodotus Histories 9,78. The Greek text of line 3 reads as follows:

Λεωνίδεω γὰρ ἀποθανόντος ἐν Θερμοπύλῃσι Μαρδόνιός τε καὶ Ξέρξης ἀποταμόντες τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνεσταύρωσαν: τῷ σὺ τὴν ὁμοίην ἀποδιδοὺς ἔπαινον ἕξεις πρῶτα μὲν ὑπὸ πάντων Σπαρτιητέων, αὖτις δὲ καὶ πρὸς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων: Μαρδόνιον γὰρ ἀνασκολοπίσας τετιμωρήσεαι ἐς πάτρων τὸν σὸν Λεωνίδην.’