Of the seven men who had revolted against the Magus, one of them, Intaphrenes met his death soon after the revolt, when he committed the following treasonous act: he had entered the palace wishing an audience with the king; indeed it was the rule that those who had rebelled against the Magus had free access to the king without being formally presented - unless the king happened to be having sex with a woman at that time. And so Intaphrenes, being one of the seven, thought it was acceptable for him to go to the king without being announced. But the Gatekeeper and the Messenger did not allow him to pass, telling him that the king was, at the time, preoccupied with a woman. Intaphrenes suspected them of lying, and so drawing his dagger he sliced off their noses and cut off their ears and attached them to his horse’s bridle, which he then tied around their necks before releasing them.
In this state they presented themselves to the king and told him the cause of their mutilation. Fearing that the other six had conspired in this act, Darius sent for each one and questioned them individually about their thoughts on Intaphrenes’ actions and asked them if they condoned what he had done. When he had ascertained that Intaphrenes had acted without their knowledge, he had Intaphrenes arrested together with his children and all his male relatives (he believed that Intaphrenes had conspired with his family in the plot). After Darius had had them imprisoned and condemned to death, and while they awaited execution, the wife of Intaphrenes began to wait at the gate of the king[’s palace], weeping and lamenting. Her persistence persuaded Darius to take pity on her and he sent a messenger to her to say, ‘Woman, Darius the king grants that you may save one of your relatives from imprisonment; whichever one you decide to select’. She thought for a moment and replied, ‘If the king is truly granting me one life from all those who are imprisoned, I choose my brother’. Darius was surprised by this and sent his messenger back to her: ‘Woman, the king wants to know: what was your reasoning in passing over your own husband and children to pick your brother to be the one who survives, since he is for sure more of a stranger to you than your children, and less beloved to you than your husband?’ And she answered the king’s question, ‘Majesty, I may, god willing, have another husband and bear more children if I lose those I have now. But with my mother and father already dead, I will never have another brother. That is the reason for my answer’. Darius thought the woman had answered wisely, and was so delighted that he released not only the man she pleaded for, but her eldest son as well. He executed all the others; that is how one of the seven quickly met his end.
World History
