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explain the existence of such a tradition
in that brotherhood? The obvious explanation
is that Pythagoras really had been taken
prisoner by the Persians and carried
into captivity. We see that it could not have
been by Cambyses. On what occasion could
it have been? There is only one way in
which it could have happened. Namely
when Cyrus in 546 B.C. conquered Lydia.
At no other time in the life of Pythoagoras did the Persians come near
the Greek world. But is it reasonable to
suppose that Pythagoras could have been in
Lydia at that time? Why, all the witnesses
say the Pythagoras was the son and heir of a
wealthy merchant of Samos. The only reasonable