Thus Was Rhodopis Set Free, And She Remained In Egypt And
By Her Beauty Won So Much Liking That She Made Great Gain Of Money For
One Like Rhodopis, Though Not Enough To Suffice For The Cost Of Such A
Pyramid As This.
In truth there is no need to ascribe to her very
great riches, considering that the tithe of her wealth may still be
seen even to this time by any one who desires it:
For Rhodopis wished
to leave behind her a memorial of herself in Hellas, namely to cause a
thing to be made such as happens not to have been thought of or
dedicated in a temple by any besides, and to dedicate this at Delphi
as a memorial of herself. Accordingly with the tithe of her wealth she
caused to be made spits of iron of size large enough to pierce a whole
ox, and many in number, going as far therein as her tithe allowed her,
and she sent them to Delphi: these are even at the present time lying
there, heaped all together behind the altar which the Chians
dedicated, and just opposite to the cell of the temple. Now at
Naucratis, as it happens, the courtesans are rather apt to win credit;
for this woman first, about whom the story to which I refer is told,
became so famous that all the Hellenes without exception came to know
the name of Rhodopis, and then after her one whose name was Archidiche
became a subject of song all over Hellas, though she was less talked
of than the other. As for Charaxos, when after redeeming Rhodopis he
returned back to Mytilene, Sappho in an ode violently abused him. Of
Rhodopis then I shall say no more.
After Mykerinos the priests said Asychis became king of Egypt, and he
made for Hephaistos the temple gateway which is towards the sunrising,
by far the most beautiful and the largest of the gateways; for while
they all have figures carved upon them and innumerable ornaments of
building besides, this has them very much more than the rest. In this
king's reign they told me that, as the circulation of money was very
slow, a law was made for the Egyptians that a man might have that
money lent to him which he needed, by offering as security the dead
body of his father; and there was added moreover to this law another,
namely that he who lent the money should have a claim also to the
whole of the sepulchral chamber belonging to him who received it, and
that the man who offered that security should be subject to this
penalty, if he refused to pay back the debt, namely that neither the
man himself should be allowed to have burial, when he died, either in
that family burial-place or in any other, nor should he be allowed to
bury any of his kinsmen whom he lost by death. This king desiring to
surpass the kings of Egypt who had arisen before him left as a
memorial of himself a pyramid which he made of bricks and on it there
is an inscription carved in stone and saying thus: "Despise not me in
comparison with the pyramids of stone, seeing that I excel them as
much as Zeus excels the other gods; for with a pole they struck into
the lake, and whatever of the mud attached itself to the pole, this
they gathered up and made bricks, and in such manner they finished
me."
Such were the deeds which this king performed: and after him reigned a
blind man of the city of Anysis, whose name was Anysis. In his reign
the Ethiopians and Sabacos the king of the Ethiopians marched upon
Egypt with a great host of men; so this blind man departed, flying to
the fen-country, and the Ethiopian was king over Egypt for fifty
years, during which he performed deeds as follows: - whenever any man
of the Egyptians committed any transgression, he would never put him
to death, but he gave sentence upon each man according to the
greatness of the wrong-doing, appointing them to work at throwing up
an embankment before that city from whence each man came of those who
committed wrong. Thus the cities were made higher still than before;
for they were embanked first by those who dug the channels in the
reign of Sesostris, and then secondly in the reign of the Ethiopian,
and thus they were made very high: and while other cities in Egypt
also stood high, I think in the town at Bubastis especially the earth
was piled up. In this city there is a temple very well worthy of
mention, for though there are other temples which are larger and build
with more cost, none more than this is a pleasure to the eyes. Now
Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue is Artemis, and her temple is ordered
thus: - Except the entrance it is completely surrounded by water; for
channels come in from the Nile, not joining one another, but each
extending as far as the entrance of the temple, one flowing round on
the one side and the other on the other side, each a hundred feet
broad and shaded over with trees; and the gateway has a height of ten
fathoms, and it is adorned with figures six cubits high, very
noteworthy. This temple is in the middle of the city and is looked
down upon from all sides as one goes round, for since the city has
been banked up to a height, while the temple has not been moved from
the place where it was at the first built, it is possible to look down
into it: and round it runs a stone wall with figures carved upon it,
while within it there is a grove of very large trees planted round a
large temple-house, within which is the image of the goddess: and the
breadth and length of the temple is a furlong every way.
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