They came down to the city of Sidon in Phoenicia , and there chartered two triremes, as well as a great galley laden with all good things; and when everything was ready they set sail for Hellas , where they surveyed and mapped the coasts to which they came; until having viewed the greater and most famous parts they reached Tarentum in Italy . There Aristophilides, king of the Tarentines, out of sympathy for Democedes, took the steering gear off the Median ships and put the Persians under a guard, calling them spies. While they were in this plight, Democedes made his way to Croton ; and Aristophilides did not set the Persians free and give them back what he had taken from their ships until the physician was in his own country.