And The
Egyptians Call All Men Barbarians Who Do Not Agree With Them In
Speech.
Thus having ceased from the work of the channel, Necos betook
himself to raging wars, and triremes were built by him, some for the
Northern Sea and others in the Arabian gulf for the Erythraian Sea;
and of these the sheds are still to be seen.
These ships he used when
he needed them; and also on land Necos engaged battle at Magdolos with
the Syrians, and conquered them; and after this he took Cadytis, which
is a great city of Syria: and the dress which he wore when he made
these conquests he dedicated to Apollo, sending it to Branchidai of
the Milesians. After this, having reigned in all sixteen years, he
brought his life to an end, and handed on the kingdom to Psammis his
son.
While this Psammis was king of Egypt, there came to him men sent by
the Eleians, who boasted that they ordered the contest at Olympia in
the most just and honourable manner possible and thought that not even
the Egyptians, the wisest of men, could find out anything besides, to
be added to their rules. Now when the Eleians came to Egypt and said
that for which they had come, then this king called together those of
the Egyptians who were reputed the wisest, and when the Egyptians had
come together they heard the Eleians tell of all that which it was
their part to do in regard to the contest; and when they had related
everything, they said that they had come to learn in addition anything
which the Egyptians might be able to find out besides, which was
juster than this. They then having consulted together asked the
Eleians whether their own citizens took part in the contest; and they
said that it was permitted to any one who desired it, to take part in
the contest: upon which the Egyptians said that in so ordering the
games they had wholly missed the mark of justice; for it could not be
but that they would take part with the man of their own State, if he
was contending, and so act unfairly to the stranger: but if they
really desired, as they said, to order the games justly, and if this
was the cause for which they had come to Egypt, they advised them to
order the contest so as to be for strangers alone to contend in, and
that no Eleian should be permitted to contend. Such was the suggestion
made by the Egyptians to the Eleians.
When Psammis had been king of Egypt for only six years and had made an
expedition to Ethiopia and immediately afterwards had ended his life,
Apries the son of Psammis received the kingdom in succession. This man
came to be the most prosperous of all the kings up to that time except
only his forefather Psammetichos; and he reigned five-and-twenty
years, during which he led an army against Sidon and fought a sea-
fight with the king of Tyre.
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