THE FORTUNE OF CRGSUS. 83

presents befitting the wealthiest of kings—ingots,
statues, bowls, jugs, etc., of gold and silver, of great
weight. These Herodotus himself saw with aston-
ishment a century afterwards at Delphi. The en-
voys who bore these gifts asked the oracle whether
Croesus should undertake an expedition against the
Persians, and should solicit allies.

He was bidden, in reply, to seek alliance with the
most powerful nations of Greece. He was also told
that if he fought with the Persians he would over-
turn a “mighty empire.” Crcesus accepted this as
a promise of success, not thinking to ask whose em-
pire was to be overturned. He sent again to the
oracle, which now replied, “ When a mule shall be-
come king of the Medes, then thou must run away,
—be not ashamed.” Here was another enigma of
the oracle. Cyrus—son of a royal Median mother
and a Persian father of different race and lower
position—was the mule indicated, though Croesus
did not know this. In truth, the oracles of Greece
seem usually to have borne a double meaning, so
that whatever happened the priestess could claim
that her word was true, the fault was in the inter-
pretation.

Croesus, accepting the oracles as favorable, made
an alliance with Sparta, and marched his army into
Media, where he inflicted much damage. Cyrus
met him with a larger army, and a battle ensued.
Neither party could claim a victory, but Croesus re-
turned to Sardis, to collect more men and obtain
aid from his allies. He might have been successful
had Cyrus waited till his preparations were com-