The Twitter Herodotus

3.91 #5 350 talents. #6 700 talents, $$$ from the sale of fish from Lake Moeris, & 120,000 bushels of grain. #7 170 talents. #8 300 talents.

3.92 #9 1000 talents and 500 boys who would be made eunuchs. #10 450 talents. #11 200 talents.

3.93 The 12th-16th provinces paid 360, 400, 600, 250, and 300 talents respectively.

3.94 The 17th-19th provinces paid 400, 200, and 300 talents. The Indians, the 20th province, paid the most: 360 talents of gold dust.

3.95 Add it all up and Darius got 14,560 talents in annual tribute, give or take.

3.96 The money came from Asia & Libya, and later the Aegean islands & parts of Europe. It was melted down and poured into earthen vessels.

3.97 The Persians alone don't pay taxes. Certain others pay instead in gifts, e.g., the Ethiopians give gold, ebony, boys, & elephant tusks.

3.98 The Indians pay in gold dust (more on that in a bit). There are many different Indian peoples, who live farthest east of all we know.

3.99 Among them, e.g., are the Padaei, nomads who eat their old people. Also their sick: if someone denies he's sick they eat him anyway.

3.100 Another group of Indians won't kill anything. When one of them gets sick he wanders off alone. No one cares if he's sick or dead.