 According to Herodotus, on their way to Sardis, where the king stayed, Masistes accused Artayntes of cowardice and blamed him of being "worse than a woman".In response, Artayntes unsheathed his sword and tried to kill Masistes, but was stopped by a Carian named Xenagoras of Halicarnassus.Masistes' family stayed near the battle, in Sardis, Lydia, which was a common practice of the nobility of the Persian Empire.