Whilst Asia Minor was being conquered for Persia, under the reign of Cyrus, by Harpagus, the _Carians_ made no great display of valour; with the exception of the citizens of Pedasus. These gave Harpagus considerable trouble; but, in time, were vanquished. Not so the Lycians.--“The Lycians, as Harpagus marched his army towards the Xanthian plain, retreated before him by degrees, and fighting few against many, showed noble deeds: but being worsted and driven back upon the town, they collected within the citadel their wives, and children, and goods, and servants. They then set light to the citadel to burn it down. This being done, they took a solemn oath, and making a sally died to a man, sword in hand. But of those Lycians who now called themselves Xanthians, the majority are, except eighty hearths, strangers (ἐπήλυδες). These eighty hearths (families) were then away from the country. And so they escaped. Thus it was that Harpagus took Xanthus. In like manner he took Caunus. _For the Caunians resemble the Lycians in most things._”
And now we have a _second_ fact, the following, viz.--_that what the Lycians were the Caunians were also_.
1. _The Caunians._--According to the special evidence of Herodotus, the Caunians had two peculiar customs--one, to make no distinction between age and sex at feasts, but to drink and junket promiscuously--the other, to show their contempt of all strange foreign gods by marching in armour to the Calyndian mountains, and beating the air with spears, in order to expel them from the boundaries of the Caunian land. Still the _Caunians were Lycian_.
Were any other nations thus Lycian? Caunian? Lyco-Caunian? or Cauno-Lycian? since the particular designation is unimportant.
_The Carians._--The language of the Carians and the Caunians was the same; since Herodotus writes--_The Caunian nation has either adapted itself to the Carian tongue, or the Carian to Caunian._
2. On the other hand, the worship of the national Eponymus was different. _The Lydians and Mysians share in the worship of the Carian Jove. These do so. As many, however, of different nations (ἔθνος) as have become identical in language with the Carians do not do so._
And here comes a difficulty--one part of the facts connects, the other disconnects the Carians from the Lycians. The language goes one way, the customs another.