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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of Antiquity, by Max Duncker
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The History of Antiquity
+       Vol. VI. (vol. VI. of VI.)
+
+Author: Max Duncker
+
+Translator: Evelyn Abbott
+
+Release Date: December 13, 2011 [EBook #38297]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+  HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.
+
+  FROM THE GERMAN
+  OF
+  PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER,
+
+
+  BY
+  EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., LL.D.,
+  _FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD._
+
+
+  VOL. VI.
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+  Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.
+  1882.
+
+
+
+  Bungay:
+  CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+BOOK VIII. (_CONTINUED._)
+
+_THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS._
+
+  CHAPTER VI.                                                     PAGE
+  THE FALL OF THE LYDIAN EMPIRE                                      3
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+  THE SUBJUGATION OF ASIA MINOR                                     47
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+  THE FALL OF BABYLON                                               66
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+  THE KINGDOM OF CYRUS                                             100
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+  THE FALL OF EGYPT                                                131
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+  THE MARCH TO MEROE                                               152
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+  THE DEATH OF CAMBYSES                                            168
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+  THE RISE OF DARIUS                                               201
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+  THE REBELLIONS IN THE PROVINCES                                  228
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+  THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DARIUS ON THE INDUS AND THE DANUBE           258
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+  THE CONQUESTS IN AFRICA AND EUROPE                               299
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+  THE STATE OF DARIUS                                              315
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+  THE FINANCE AND ARMY OF DARIUS                                   344
+
+  CHAPTER XIX.
+  THE COURT OF DARIUS                                              368
+
+  CHAPTER XX.
+  RETROSPECT                                                       398
+
+
+
+
+BOOK VIII. (_CONTINUED._)
+
+THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS.
+
+
+
+
+EASTERN IRAN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE FALL OF THE LYDIAN EMPIRE.
+
+
+After the fall of Nineveh, Media, Babylonia, and Lydia had continued to
+exist side by side in peace and friendship. The successful rebellion of
+Cyrus altered at one blow the state of Asia. He had not been contented
+with winning independence for the Persians; he had subjected Media to
+his power. In the place of a friendly and allied house, the kings of
+Lydia and Babylonia saw Astyages deprived of his throne, and Media in
+the hands of a bold and ambitious warrior. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia
+would hardly have allowed the sovereignty of the table-land of Iran to
+pass out of the power of a near kinsman into that of Cyrus without
+offering some resistance; but he was no longer alive to prevent or
+revenge the overthrow of his brother-in-law. His son Evil-merodach had
+also come by his death before Astyages succumbed to the arms of Cyrus,
+and after a short reign Neriglissar left the kingdom to a boy (III.
+392). On the other hand, the Lydian empire was in its fullest vigour.
+We are acquainted with the successes which fell to the lot of Alyattes
+after his alliance with Media; we saw with what rapidity his son
+Croesus brought to a happy conclusion the long struggle against the
+Greek cities of the coast. His kingdom now embraced the whole of Asia
+Minor, as far as the Halys; the Lycians alone remained independent in
+their small mountain canton. Loved and honoured by his people, as
+Herodotus indicates, Croesus saw his complete and compact empire in
+the greatest prosperity; his treasury was full to overflowing; his
+metropolis was the richest city in Asia after Babylon. The Lydian
+infantry were excellent and trustworthy; the cavalry were dreaded;
+in past days they had measured themselves with success against the
+Medes.[1] Thus in the third or fourth year of his reign, in the pride
+of his position, surrounded by inexhaustible treasures and the most
+splendid magnificence, on his lofty citadel at Sardis, Croesus could
+declare himself, against the opinion of the Athenian Solon, the man most
+favoured by fortune (III. 458). Two years afterwards Astyages, whose
+wife Aryanis was Croesus' sister, was overthrown. Croesus had reason
+enough to take the field for his brother-in-law, and anticipate the
+danger which might arise for Lydia out of sthis change in the East. He
+might hope that his example would set the Babylonians in motion against
+the usurper of the Median throne, and cause the Medes themselves to
+revolt against their new master. But he appears to have been afraid of
+embarking in an uncertain and dangerous war at a great distance from his
+own borders. It was not clear that victory at the first onset would
+imply lasting success, and Lydia had no attack to fear so long as Cyrus
+was occupied in establishing his new dominion in Media, and engaged in
+conflicts in the East and North. In Sardis it might be assumed that the
+usurper would find great difficulties in his way. Herodotus represents
+Sandanis, a distinguished Lydian, as asking Croesus whether he would
+take the field against men who clad themselves in leather, and did
+not eat what they liked, but what they had, and lived in a rugged
+country--who drank water and not wine, and had not even figs or any
+other thing that was pleasant? What could the king, if victorious, take
+from them, when they had nothing? On the other hand, if conquered, he
+had much to lose, and if the Persians once tasted any of the good things
+of Lydia, they would never be driven out of the land again.[2] Croesus
+hesitated. It was of the greatest importance for Cyrus that Lydia and
+Babylonia should not interfere in favour of Astyages and the Medes, that
+they remained inactive during the revolution, and allowed him to
+establish his dominion in Media without disturbance, to direct his aim
+unimpeded against the neighbours of Media, and to subjugate without
+opposition the Parthians, Hyrcanians, and Cadusians.
+
+The manner in which war eventually broke out between Lydia and Persia,
+the course of the war, and the fortune which overtook Croesus, are
+narrated by Herodotus in the following manner: "Solon had scarcely left
+Croesus (III. 454, note 3) when the latter saw in a dream the vision
+which portended the fate of his son. He had two sons: one was deaf and
+dumb, but the other, Attys, was greatly distinguished above all his
+companions. The dream told him that he would lose this son by an iron
+spear-head. In alarm Croesus found a wife for his son, would not allow
+him to go out with the army as before, and removed into the armoury all
+the armour which was in the chambers, that nothing might fall upon him.
+At the time when Croesus was occupied with the marriage of Attys, a
+Phrygian came to Sardis, Adrastus by name, the son of Gordius, the
+grandson of Midas, who had unintentionally killed his brother, and had
+been banished by his father, and Croesus received him. At the same time
+a great boar appeared on the Mysian Olympus, which ravaged the lands of
+the Mysians, and as they could not master it, they sent messengers to
+Croesus praying him to allow Attys and some chosen youths to come with
+dogs to set them free from the monster. Croesus would not let his son
+go, for he had just been married. But the son complained to his
+father: Previously he had won great glory in war, and in the chase,
+now he was kept back from both; how would men look upon him in the
+market-place?--in what light would he appear to the citizens and his
+young wife? Croesus told him the dream, but Attys replied that the boar
+had no hands, and no iron point: Croesus therefore allowed him to go,
+and bade Adrastus accompany his son and watch over him. Adrastus
+promised to bring back his son uninjured, so far as lay in his power,
+in return for the kindness which Croesus had shown him. The boar was
+surrounded on Olympus, and javelins thrown at it from every side; the
+spear of Adrastus missed the boar and hit Attys. Thus was the dream
+of Croesus fulfilled. Adrastus went with the corpse to Croesus, and
+besought him to slay him as a sacrifice to the dead. But Croesus replied
+that Adrastus had made recompense enough in condemning himself to death.
+He had his son buried with proper honours; but Adrastus slew himself on
+the grave."
+
+"Two years were spent by Croesus in mourning for his son. Then the
+destruction of the empire of Astyages by Cyrus, and the growing power of
+the Persians, put an end to the mourning, and caused him to consider
+whether he could check the rise of the Persians before they became
+great. With this thought in his mind, he determined to test the oracles,
+both those of the Greeks and that in Libya, and ascertain whether they
+could tell the truth; to the oracle which he found truthful, he would
+propose the question, whether he should undertake a campaign against the
+Persians. So he sent to the oracles of the Greeks, to Miletus, Delphi,
+Abae, and Trophonius, to the sanctuary of Amphiaraus at Thebes, and to
+Dodona, to the temple of Ammon in Libya, bidding his messengers inquire
+on the hundredth day after their departure from Sardis, what Croesus,
+the son of Alyattes, the king of Lydia, was doing on that day. The
+answers were to be written down, and brought back to him. What the other
+oracles said no one has narrated, but when the Lydians came into the
+temple at Delphi and propounded their question, the priestess answered:
+'I know the number of the sand, and the measure of the sea; I understand
+the dumb, and hear him who speaks not. The scent of the hard-shelled
+tortoise comes into my nostrils which is being cooked in brass with
+lamb's flesh; brass is below, and brass is above.' The Lydians wrote
+this down, and returned to Sardis; and when the other messengers came
+back, Croesus opened their letters. He paid no attention to the rest,
+but when he came to the answer from Delphi he recognised the power of
+the god, and saw that the Delphic oracle alone had been aware of what
+he was doing. For on the day appointed he had cooked the flesh of a
+tortoise and lamb in a brazen vessel, covered with a brazen lid,
+thinking that it would be impossible to discover or invent such a thing.
+What answer was brought back from Amphiaraus I cannot say, for it is
+nowhere recorded, but Croesus is said to have considered this oracle as
+truthful. Then Croesus won the favour of the god of Delphi by great
+sacrifices. He offered 3000 victims of every kind, and erected a great
+pile of wood on which he burned couches covered with gold and silver,
+golden goblets, purple robes and garments, in the hope that he would
+thereby gain the favour of the god yet more, and bade the Lydians
+sacrifice to their deity whatever each possessed. And as the sacrifice
+left behind an enormous mass of molten gold, Croesus caused bricks to be
+made, six palms in length, three in breadth, and one in depth; in all
+there were 117 bricks. Of these, four were of the purest gold, each two
+and a half talents in weight; and the rest of white gold (_i.e._ of
+mingled gold and silver), each two talents in weight. In addition, there
+was a golden lion which weighed ten talents. When these were finished,
+Croesus sent them to Delphi, and added two very large mixing-bowls, one
+of gold, weighing eight talents and a half and twelve minae, and one of
+silver, the work of Theodorus of Samos, as the Delphians say, and I
+believe it, for it is the work of no ordinary artificer; four silver
+jars, and two vessels for holy water, one of gold and the other of
+silver, circular casts of silver, a golden statue of a woman, three
+cubits high, and the necklace and girdles of his queen. All these things
+he sent to Delphi, and to Amphiaraus a golden shield and a spear, of
+which both the stem and the point were of gold."
+
+"Croesus bade the envoys who carried these gifts ask the oracles,
+whether he should march against the Persians, or collect allies. The
+answer of both oracles was to the same effect: they told him, that if he
+went against Cyrus he would destroy a great empire, and at the same time
+advised him to find out who were the most powerful among the Greeks, and
+take them as allies. Croesus was greatly delighted when he received this
+answer; in the certainty that he would overthrow the empire of Cyrus, he
+sent again to Delphi and presented each Delphian with two staters. The
+Delphians in return bestowed on the Lydians for all future time the
+right to consult the priestess first, the best seats, freedom from
+contributions, and the citizenship of Delphi to any Lydian who should
+wish to become a Delphian. Croesus inquired of the oracle for the third
+time: whether his reign would be of long continuance, and the priestess
+replied: 'When a mule becomes king of the Medes, then, O soft-footed
+Lydian, fly from the pebbly Hermus; stay not, and take no shame to be a
+coward.' Then Croesus was yet more delighted, for he thought that a mule
+would never rule over the Medes instead of a man, and therefore neither
+he nor his descendants would lose their power. Then he inquired who were
+the most mighty among the Hellenes, and when he found that the greatest
+part of the Peloponnesus was subject to the Lacedaemonians, he sent
+messengers with presents to Sparta to conclude an alliance. The
+Lacedaemonians were filled with joy; they knew the oracle which had been
+given to Croesus, and made him a friend and ally, as they had previously
+received many kindnesses at his hands."
+
+"Croesus now marched to Cappadocia in the hope of crushing Cyrus and the
+Persians; he also intended to add Cappadocia to his kingdom, but above
+all he wished to take vengeance on Cyrus, who had defeated his
+brother-in-law Astyages, and had got him in his power. When he came to
+the Halys, which was the boundary between the Lydian and the Persian
+kingdoms, he crossed the river by the bridges, and came into the part of
+Cappadocia, which is called Pteria (this region, the strongest in the
+whole country, lies towards Sinope and the Pontus Euxinus). There he
+pitched his camp, desolated the land, took the city of the Pterians, and
+enslaved the inhabitants, conquered the neighbouring cities, and drove
+out the Syrians, who had done him no harm whatever. But Cyrus collected
+his army, adding to it all the nations in his march, and took up a
+position against Croesus. Previous to setting out, he had sent heralds
+to the Ionians, and requested them to revolt from Croesus. To this
+request the Ionians did not listen. Then Cyrus encamped opposite
+Croesus, and the two armies tried their strength in the land of Pteria.
+A fierce battle was fought; many fell on both sides; neither was
+victorious, and when night came they desisted from the battle. Croesus
+found that his force was not strong enough; his army was inferior in
+numbers to that of the enemy, and when Cyrus did not venture to attack
+him on the next day, he returned to Sardis. His object was to summon the
+Egyptians, for he had made a treaty with Amasis the king of Egypt before
+entering into terms with the Lacedaemonians, to send to the
+Babylonians--for with them also and their king Labynetus he had made an
+alliance--and to call on the Lacedaemonians to join him at a fixed time.
+After uniting these, and collecting all his forces, he intended, as soon
+as the winter was over, to march out against the Persians. So when he
+arrived at Sardis he sent heralds to his allies, bidding them assemble
+in the fifth month at Sardis, and dismissed all the mercenaries in the
+army which had fought against Cyrus. He did not expect that Cyrus, who
+had contended in the battle without success, would march against Sardis.
+When Croesus retired immediately after the battle in Pteria, and it was
+discovered that the Lydian forces were to be disbanded, Cyrus saw that
+it would be much to his advantage to march upon Sardis with all speed,
+before the Lydian army could be collected a second time. He was so rapid
+in his movements, that he announced his own arrival to Croesus."
+
+"Though in great difficulties, inasmuch as things had turned out
+contrary to his expectations, Croesus led out the Lydians to battle. And
+at that time there was no braver and more warlike nation in Asia. They
+fought on horseback, armed with long lances, and were excellent riders.
+The armies met in the large open plain before Sardis. The cavalry of
+Croesus caused alarm to Cyrus, and on the advice of Harpagus the Mede,
+he collected all the camels which carried the food and baggage of the
+army, took off their burdens, and had them mounted by armed men. These
+he placed before the army, then followed the infantry, and after them
+the Persian horse. He bade them not to slay Croesus, even though he
+should seek to defend himself when taken captive. When the battle broke
+out, the Lydian horses were alarmed at the sight and smell of the
+camels, and turned, and so the hopes of Croesus were destroyed. Yet the
+Lydians did not lose their courage; they sprang from their horses and
+met the Persians on foot. At length, when many had fallen on both sides,
+the Lydians fled; they were driven into the walls, and besieged by the
+Persians. Croesus thought that the siege would occupy a long time, and
+sent fresh messengers to his confederates, and also to the
+Lacedaemonians, bidding them come as soon as possible. When they arrived
+at Sparta three hundred Spartans had been slain by the Argives, yet they
+determined to send assistance; their men were armed and ready to sail,
+when there came a second message that Sardis was captured, and Croesus a
+prisoner."
+
+"Sardis had been invested fourteen days when Cyrus announced to his
+army that the man who first climbed the walls should receive presents.
+Attempts were made, but as they failed, they were given up. Nevertheless
+Hyroeades, a Mardian, determined to climb the citadel at a place where
+no watch had been set. It was never supposed possible that the city
+could be taken on this side, for the mountain fell precipitously down
+towards Mt. Tmolus, and storming was impossible. On the previous day
+Hyroeades had seen a Lydian, whose helmet had fallen down, descend after
+it, and then climb back with it. He also ascended, others followed, and
+when sufficient Persians were on the top, Sardis was taken and the whole
+city plundered. After the citadel had been captured a Persian rushed at
+Croesus, whom he did not know, to cut him down. When the dumb son of
+Croesus saw this, through fear and horror he broke out into speech, and
+cried out: 'Man, do not slay Croesus.' And ever after he was able to
+speak."
+
+"The Persians led Croesus to Cyrus, who caused a great pyre to be built,
+and Croesus to be led to it in chains with twice seven Lydian boys;
+whether it was that he intended to offer the firstlings of the victory
+to some god, and discharge a vow, or whether he knew that Croesus was
+eminent for piety, and wished to see if a god would protect him from
+being burnt alive. When Croesus was on the pyre, the words of Solon
+came into his mind, in his distress, that no one among living men was to
+be accounted happy. When this occurred to him, he sighed deeply after
+a long silence, and called out thrice, Solon! On hearing this Cyrus
+commanded the interpreters to ask Croesus whom he was calling upon. At
+first he was silent; on being pressed, he said: 'On him, whose words I
+count it above great treasures that all rulers should hear.' As what he
+said was unintelligible, the question was put to him again, and when
+they insisted on hearing the whole, he told them, while the pyre was
+being kindled at the outer edge, what Solon the Athenian had said to
+him. When Cyrus heard this from the interpreters he reflected that he, a
+man, was condemning to the flames a man of no less power than himself;
+in fear of vengeance, and considering that there was nothing certain
+among men, he changed his mind, and gave orders to quench the fire, and
+bring down Croesus and those with him. When all attempted in vain to
+quench the flames, Croesus, according to the Lydian account, called on
+Apollo, entreating him to aid him now if he had ever offered pleasant
+gifts, and save him in his extremity. When Croesus was praying in tears
+to the god, the sky, which had been clear and still, was suddenly
+covered with clouds; a storm burst upon them, and the fire was quenched
+by torrents of rain. And Cyrus then saw that Croesus was a man beloved
+by the gods, and asked him why he had marched against his land, and made
+him his enemy instead of his friend? Croesus replied, that he had been
+induced to do this by his own bad fortune and the good fortune of Cyrus.
+The god of the Hellenes had urged him to take the field against Cyrus.
+Then Cyrus caused the fetters to be struck off him, and placed him near
+himself. When Croesus saw the Persians plundering the city, he inquired
+of Cyrus: 'What is all this multitude doing with so much eagerness?'
+Cyrus answered: 'They are plundering your city and treasures.' He
+replied: 'They are mine no longer; it is your property which they are
+plundering and sacking. The Persians, courageous by nature, are poor; if
+you allow them to plunder and carry off much booty, it may be that the
+man who gains the most will rebel against you. If it pleases you, do as
+I advise. Place your body-guard at the gates, and bid them take from the
+plunderers what they are carrying out, and tell them that a tenth must
+be offered to Zeus. You will escape their ill-will, and they will gladly
+obey you.' This advice pleased Cyrus. He followed it, and promised
+Croesus to grant him a favour in return."
+
+"The favour which Croesus asked was this: Cyrus must allow him to send
+the fetters, which he wore, to the Delphic god, and ask whether it was
+his manner to deceive those who showed him kindness. Cyrus granted the
+prayer with a smile, and promised that he would not refuse a further
+request. So Lydians went with the fetters to Delphi, and asked the god
+whether he was not ashamed to have urged Croesus to make war upon Cyrus,
+who had taken much spoil from him; and at the same time they showed the
+fetters. The priestess answered, as it is recorded, that even a god
+could not escape his destiny; Croesus was paying the penalty for his
+fifth ancestor, who had seized a throne which did not belong to him. The
+god had endeavoured to bring it to pass that the punishment should not
+fall on Croesus but on his children, but he had only been able to defer
+the capture of Sardis for three years; let Croesus know that he had
+been taken captive three years later than was ordained. Moreover, the
+god had sent him help when on the pyre. It was announced that he would
+destroy a great empire if he went against Cyrus, but what empire was not
+said. Nor had Croesus understood the response about the mule. Cyrus was
+the mule, the son of a Persian father and Median mother, a subject and
+his mistress. When Croesus heard this, he saw that he and not the god
+was in fault."
+
+Only a meagre excerpt remains of the account given by Ctesias of the
+conflict of Cyrus and Croesus. The king of the Sacae, Amorges, marched
+with Cyrus against Croesus and Sardis. When the Lydians were shut up in
+the city, Croesus, deceived by the portents of the gods, gave his son as
+a hostage to Cyrus, and when he subsequently sought to deceive him in
+the negotiations, Cyrus caused the son to be slain before the father's
+eyes. The mother, when she saw the execution of her son, threw herself
+down from the turrets of the walls. Then Cyrus, on the advice of
+Oebares, caused wooden figures of Persians to be placed on long poles
+and laid against the turrets, that the Lydians might be filled with
+terror at the sight of them. In this way the citadel, and the city
+itself, was taken. Croesus fled for refuge into the temple of Apollo,
+where Cyrus caused him to be placed in chains, but though seals were set
+on them, and Oebares was commissioned to keep watch, the fetters were
+three times removed from Croesus in a miraculous manner. Then those who
+had been put in chains with him were beheaded, as though they had
+conspired to liberate their king, and Cyrus brought Croesus into the
+palace and caused yet heavier chains to be put upon him; but the fetters
+again fell to the ground, this time amid thunder and lightning. At
+length Cyrus liberated Croesus, showed him great kindness, and presented
+him with the large city of Barene, near Ecbatana, which had been
+garrisoned by 5000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.[3]
+
+Polyaenus relates that Croesus, after his defeat in Cappadocia by Cyrus,
+withdrew his troops in the night by a pass. This pass he then filled
+with a quantity of timber, to which he set fire in order to check the
+pursuit of the Persians. When the armies met a second time for battle,
+Cyrus rendered the numerous cavalry of the Lydians, in which they
+trusted, useless by placing camels opposite them. Thus they were at once
+put to flight, and trod down the infantry, so that Cyrus was again
+victorious. At Sardis Croesus once more tried the fortune of battle. As
+his Greek allies delayed their coming, he provided the strongest and
+tallest Lydians with Greek armour. The sight of the strange arms checked
+the Persians. They were terrified by the sound of the spears striking
+against the brazen shields, and the glitter of the shields caused their
+horses to take fright and turn. They retired, and Cyrus concluded a
+treaty for three days with Croesus, in which he was to withdraw his
+forces from Sardis. But as soon as it was night he turned his army again
+upon Sardis, and attacked the city unexpectedly. The ascent of the walls
+by scaling ladders was successful, yet Croesus maintained the citadel
+and defended it bravely in the deceptive hope that his allies would
+arrive. Then Cyrus caused the relatives of those who were with Croesus
+in the citadel to be seized and bound, and brought before the walls; and
+he announced to their kinsmen on the towers that if the citadel were
+given up the captives would be set at liberty, if not they would all be
+hanged. This induced the Lydians in the citadel to open the gates. But
+in another passage Polyaenus repeats the version of Ctesias about the
+capture of the city. Cyrus caused figures in Persian clothing, and
+wearing beards, with quivers on their shoulders and bows in their hands,
+to be placed on tall poles of equal length, and in the night these were
+laid against the walls of the citadel so that the figures rose above the
+wall. At break of day Cyrus attacked the part of the city underneath the
+citadel. The attacks were beaten off, but on turning round some Lydians
+saw the figures above the citadel, and thinking that it had been stormed
+by the Persians, they fled, and Cyrus took Sardis by storm.[4]
+
+In Xenophon the Persians and Medes are contending against Babylonia. On
+the representation of the king of Babylon that those two nations would
+subjugate all the world, unless measures were taken to prevent them,
+Croesus marches out to aid the king,[5] with an army of 40,000 horse,
+and about 150,000 light-armed infantry and bowmen. But the united army
+of the Lydians and Babylonians, though it reached nearly 60,000 cavalry
+and more than 200,000 infantry,[6] was defeated. Cyrus turned his steps
+towards Lydia, and Croesus collected a new army on the Pactolus of
+Lydians, Phrygians, Paphlagonians, and Lycaonians, who were joined by
+the Cilicians and Cappadocians. The Egyptians and Cyprians came on board
+ship; envoys went to Lacedaemon to ask for troops. With this army Croesus
+marched to meet Cyrus at Thymbrara. Here the battle took place. Cyrus
+had placed two archers on each of the camels; these were ranged
+opposite the enemy's cavalry, and even from a distance the Lydian horses
+sought to avoid the camels; some turn round, others rear, and press upon
+each other. So the Persians succeeded in overthrowing the disorganised
+cavalry. But the battle had to be fought out with the javelin, lance,
+and sword; the Persians were not victorious without great bloodshed.
+Croesus flies to Sardis, the Lydians alone remain faithful, the rest of
+his army disperses. Cyrus pursues him on the next morning, and at once
+invests Sardis. In the very night after the camp was pitched before
+Sardis, Chaldaeans (_i.e._ Gordyaeans, Carduchians)[7], and Persians climb
+the fortifications where they seem to be steepest. They were led by a
+Persian, who having formerly been the slave of one on the watch in the
+citadel, knew the place where the rocks could be climbed from the river.
+The Lydians abandoned the walls, as soon as they saw the citadel taken.
+Croesus shut himself up in his palace, and asked for quarter. Cyrus had
+him brought into his presence, and said that it was not his intention to
+abandon to his soldiers the richest city in Asia after Babylon, but they
+must have some reward for their efforts and dangers which they had
+undergone. Croesus replied that the sack of the city would destroy the
+sources of wealth, the woven stuffs and industry of the place; if it
+were spared the Lydians would gladly bring the best of what they had,
+and in a year's time the city would once more be in great prosperity.
+Then Cyrus asked Croesus how it came to pass that he who was such a
+zealous servant of Apollo, and did everything by his direction, had
+fallen into calamity. Croesus replied that he had brought upon him the
+aversion of the god by putting it to the test whether his announcements
+were true. He believed indeed that he had appeased his wrath by rich
+presents of gold and silver, and when he lost his youthful son he had
+further asked how he could most happily pass the rest of his life, and
+the god had answered, "By knowing thyself, thou wilt live happily." He
+had regarded this condition of happiness as a very easy one; a man might
+have some difficulty in learning to know others, but himself he could
+know quite easily. "But I did not know myself," Croesus continues in
+Xenophon, "when I fancied that I was equal to you in war; you are
+descended from the gods, from a series of kings, and from your youth
+have been exercised in brave deeds. My ancestor was a slave who became
+king. Now I know myself." Cyrus allowed him to retain his wife and
+daughters, gave him servants and entertainment, and took him with him
+wherever he went, either because he held the advice of Croesus to be
+useful, or because this seemed to him the safest thing to do.[8]
+
+Only fragments have come down to us of Diodorus' narrative of the fall
+of Croesus; in some respects these agree with the account of Herodotus;
+more frequently they differ from it. He may have borrowed from
+Ephorus.[9] Diodorus began with the death of Attys by the javelin of the
+Phrygian Adrastus. Croesus at first threatens to have Adrastus burnt
+alive, but forgives his offence when he offers his own life for it. But
+he voluntarily slays himself at the tomb of Attys. Diodorus then gives
+an account of the oracles--the first, which Croesus received at Delphi
+before the war on behalf of his dumb son,--Croesus was foolish in
+wishing to hear the much-desired voice of his child; he would speak in a
+day of disaster--the second, about the consequences of crossing the
+Halys; the third, about the mule. Croesus sent Eurybatus of Ephesus with
+gold, apparently to Delphi, but in reality to the Peloponnesus, in order
+to receive as many Hellenes as possible into his pay; but Eurybatus
+passed over to Cyrus, and revealed everything to him. This act of
+treachery was held in such detestation by the Greeks, that to his day a
+villain was called Eurybatus. When Cyrus had reached the passes of
+Cappadocia with his united forces he sent heralds to Croesus, to
+discover his forces, and to tell him that Cyrus would pardon his former
+offences and nominate him satrap of Lydia, if he would appear at his
+gates and there proclaim himself a servant like the rest. Croesus
+replied that Cyrus and the Persians would sooner endure to be his
+slaves, as in former times they had been the servants of the Medes; as
+regarded himself, he had never obeyed the order of another person. When
+Croesus had been taken captive, and the flames of the pyre quenched,
+Diodorus represents Croesus putting to Cyrus the question which we find
+in Herodotus (p. 14), about the sacking of the city; Cyrus puts an end
+to the plundering, and orders the possessions of the inhabitants to be
+brought into the palace. We are further told, that as the rain had
+suddenly come down and quenched the flames, Cyrus regarded Croesus as a
+pious man. Moreover, he kept Solon's saying in mind; he held Croesus in
+honour, and made him his adviser, regarding one who had associated with
+so many wise men as being himself prudent and able.[10]
+
+Justin's excerpt from Pompeius Trogus gives a brief account of the fall
+of the Lydian kingdom. When Cyrus had reduced the greater part of the
+nations which had previously been subject to the Medes, Croesus, the
+king of Lydia, whose power and wealth were then very great, came to the
+help of the Babylonians. He was conquered and retired into his kingdom.
+When Cyrus had settled his quarrel with Babylon, he engaged in war with
+Lydia. He easily put to flight the Lydian army, already dispirited by
+the previous defeat. Croesus himself was captured. "But the less the
+danger of the war, the milder was the use made of the victory. To
+Croesus was given his life, portions of his property, and the city of
+Barka, where he lived a life, which, if not that of a king, approached
+nearly to royal magnificence."[11]
+
+The end only of the account of Nicolaus of Damascus, containing the
+story of the intended burning of Croesus, has come down to us. Cyrus, we
+are told, had great sympathy with the misfortune of Croesus, but the
+Persians insisted that he should be burnt as an enemy. A great pyre was
+erected at the foot of a hill. Cyrus marched out with all his army; a
+great multitude of natives and foreigners gathered together. When
+Croesus and fourteen Lydians were brought out in chains, all the Lydians
+broke out into sighs and lamentations, and beat their heads, so that the
+weeping and wailing of men and women was greater now than it had been at
+the capture of the city. This showed what affection Croesus inspired
+among his subjects. "They tore their garments, and thousands of women
+ran weeping forward. Croesus advanced without tears, and with a firm
+countenance, and when he reached Cyrus he asked with a loud voice that
+his son might be brought to him. This was done. The son embraced his
+father, and said with tears: 'Woe is me, my father. Of what avail was
+your piety; when will the gods help us? Have they granted me speech only
+to bewail our misfortunes?' Turning to the Persians he said: 'Burn me
+also; I am no less your enemy than my father.' But Croesus checked him
+with these words: 'I alone determined on the war, and no one else of the
+Lydians; therefore I alone must pay the penalty.' When numerous servants
+of the Lydian women had brought rich garments and ornaments of every
+kind to be burned with him, Croesus kissed his son and the Lydians who
+were standing by, and ascended the pyre; but the son raised his hands to
+heaven and cried aloud: 'King Apollo, and all ye gods to whom my father
+has done honour, come now to our help, that the piety of mankind may not
+be destroyed with Croesus.' His friends could hardly restrain him from
+casting himself on the pyre. But on a sudden Herophile, the sibyl of
+Ephesus, appeared, and descended from the height, and cried: 'Ye fools,
+what injustice is this? Supreme Zeus, and Phoebus, and glorious
+Amphiaraus will not permit it. Obey the truthful sayings of my words,
+that the god may not visit your frenzy with grievous destruction.' Cyrus
+caused the oracle to be interpreted to the Persians that they might
+desist from their purpose, but they set the pile on fire with torches on
+every side. Then Croesus called thrice on the name of Solon, and Cyrus
+wept, that he should be compelled by the Persians to do an unrighteous
+act, and burn a king who was no less in honour than himself. When the
+Persians looked on Cyrus and saw his distress, they changed their
+minds, and the king bade those who were near him put out the fire. But
+the pile was on fire and no one could quench it. Then Croesus called on
+Apollo for help, because his enemies wished to save him and could not.
+From the morning the day had been cloudy, but without rain, but when
+Croesus had prayed, dark clouds rolled up from every side, lightning and
+thunder followed fast, and the rain poured down in such streams that not
+only was the pyre quenched but men could hardly withstand the storm. A
+purple canopy was quickly spread over Croesus, but the Persians,
+terrified at the storm, the darkness, and the panic which had come upon
+the horses owing to the tempest, were seized with fear of the gods. They
+thought of the saying of the sibyl and the commands of Zoroaster, cast
+themselves on the earth, and cried for pardon. From this date the rule
+of Zoroaster, which had existed among the Persians for a long time, not
+to burn their dead nor pollute fire in any way, was strictly observed.
+Cyrus led Croesus into the palace, treated him as a friend, seeing that
+he was a pious man, and bade him ask without hesitation for any favour
+that he chose. Croesus asked that he might send his fetters to Delphi
+and ask the god, why he had deceived him by his responses and driven him
+into war, when he had sent him such trophies; the messengers were also
+to ask whether the gods of the Greeks paid no heed to the gifts which
+they received. Cyrus granted this request with a smile and said that he
+would not refuse Croesus even a greater favour; he made him his friend,
+and when he left Sardis, restored his wives and children, and took him
+as a companion. Some say that he would have made him viceroy of Sardis,
+if he had not been afraid that this would induce the Lydians to
+revolt."[12]
+
+We have already noticed how deep was the impression made on the Greeks
+by the greatness and splendour of the Lydian kingdom. Lydia was the
+power of the East with which they first came into immediate contact, the
+first Oriental court which they had before their eyes. A king of Lydia
+had subjugated the great cities of the coast; his wide dominion, power,
+and wisdom were the admiration of the Greeks; his glory and treasures
+excited their astonishment; he had shown himself kindly and gracious
+towards them, and sent the richest gifts to their gods--and this king it
+was who fell by a sudden overthrow from his splendid position. He
+succumbed to a foreign and distant nation, whose name up to that time
+was hardly known to Greece, and his fall brought with it distress and
+mischief for the Greeks of the west coast of Asia Minor. This sudden
+fall of Croesus was a striking event, and most disastrous for the
+Greeks, the more striking owing to the unexpected and rapid nature of
+the change. How could so brave, wise, and religious a ruler fall from
+the summit of fortune into the deepest distress, and come by a mischance
+which brought disaster not only on himself and his kingdom, but also on
+the Greek cities? How could this be the result of an undertaking begun
+on the authority of the god of Delphi? These questions forced themselves
+on the Greeks of Anatolia, and beyond the sea, and their legends were at
+pains to solve the problem. In the mind of Herodotus the solution was
+the punishment which sooner or later overtakes every unrighteous act.
+Gyges, the ancestor of Croesus, had robbed the ancient royal family of
+the Lydians, the race of Sandon, of their throne. It was the vengeance
+for this crime which overtook Croesus. It was a widely-spread and
+favourite story among the Greeks, how Solon of Athens, unmoved by the
+successes, the prosperity, and splendour of Croesus, had warned him in
+his proud citadel at Sardis of the mutability of human things, and
+preferred to his brilliant position as a sovereign the modest lot of a
+life well spent in the performance of duty. We have observed (III. 458)
+that this narrative is not without some basis of fact. Could there be a
+more impressive illustration of the saying of Solon than the fate which
+had overtaken Croesus? The tradition of the Greeks, especially of the
+Delphian priesthood, was aware of several oracular responses which had
+been given to Croesus. Herodotus' point of view led him to believe that
+no one, though warned by portents, dreams, and oracles, could escape the
+doom which hung over him. In this fact lay the justification of the
+Delphian oracle in regard to the prophecies given to Croesus. It had
+announced what was correct, but owing to the blindness sent upon him by
+fate, Croesus had not been able to understand its meaning.
+
+Guided by these views, Herodotus represents misfortune as coming on
+Croesus in one blow upon another immediately after he had displayed the
+splendour of his empire to Solon, and in foolish vainglory had declared
+himself to be the most fortunate of men. That Croesus had two sons, one
+a youth of promise, the other dumb, and that he lost the former in the
+bloom of his youth, are facts mentioned by Xenophon as well as
+Herodotus.[13] A dream indicates to Croesus the death which is destined
+for his noble son; and the means which he adopts to avert the death
+serve to bring it about. Adrastus, who first slays his own brother, then
+the son of Croesus, and at length slays himself on the young man's
+grave, is called a scion of the old Phrygian royal family of Midas and
+Gordius; hence there is a close connection between the fall of the
+Phrygian and Lydian houses. The Greeks worshipped Nemesis Adrastea,
+_i.e._ the doom which none can escape, on the Granicus, and on a
+mountain near Cyzicus.[14] In the tradition of the Lydians, Attys was
+their first king, whom Herodotus calls the son of the god Manes;
+according to the legend of the Phrygians and Lydians, he had been slain
+by a boar.[15] As we saw, the Phrygians mourned each year for the death
+of Attys, who had been carried off in the bloom of youth (I. 532). When
+death had overtaken this son, Croesus sent to Delphi to ascertain
+whether his remaining son should ever receive the gift of speech; and
+the answer was returned that he would speak on a day of great
+misfortune. Thus the prescience of the Delphic priestess is brought
+forward in the most emphatic manner.
+
+The overthrow of Astyages caused Croesus to examine a whole series of
+oracles that he might ascertain whether they knew what was hidden from
+men, before he inquired whether he should march against Cyrus. Before
+this examination, Croesus had sought and received many prophecies at
+Delphi, and now he tests not this oracle only, but many others. The
+mixture of belief and scepticism which would give rise to such an
+examination is not in itself incredible, but the manner in which the
+test is carried out in the narrative of Herodotus, or rather of the
+Delphian priesthood, is wholly beyond belief. The frivolous
+question--what was the king of the Lydians doing on a certain day--the
+drift of which was so obvious, would certainly be left unanswered by any
+oracle of repute which was believed to receive revelations from the
+gods. If we consider the nature of the Delphic prophecy, which claimed
+rather to announce the responses of Apollo than to bring to light the
+past or the future; the religious solemnity of the ceremonies, which
+they who would consult the oracle had to perform; the small number of
+the days on which the priestess spoke, we may be quite sure that the
+priests would have rejected the question. Herodotus cannot give the
+answers of the other oracles--not even the answer of Amphiaraus (which
+is also mentioned in the account of Nicolaus), and yet this oracle must
+have stood the test no less than Delphi, for Croesus sent presents to
+it, and laid before it his second question. To Apollo of Miletus, whose
+answer to the first question Herodotus does not know, and of whom the
+second question is not asked, Croesus dedicates exactly the same gifts
+as those sent to Apollo of Delphi after he had stood the test. Hence it
+is quite clear that the supposed examination of the oracles is merely a
+story invented by the Greeks to glorify the Delphic shrine. Croesus
+fell, in spite of the splendid presents he had made to the Delphic god,
+on whose advice he had acted; in order to maintain the divine wisdom of
+the oracle against this charge, it must be proved to have knowledge of
+the most secret things. And it is true that Croesus had put the oracle
+to the test, though in another manner, by following up the answer to his
+question whether he should go against the Persians, with a second
+question--whether his empire would continue. The story how splendidly
+Delphi had stood the test then received an apparently certain
+foundation in the hexameters about the lamb's flesh and tortoise, which
+was subsequently manufactured in Delphi in the name of the priestess.
+
+The narrative of the campaign in Herodotus is obviously intended to put
+Croesus in the wrong, and burden him with guilt of his own in addition
+to the offence of his ancestor. Sandanis warns him in vain (p. 5). Cyrus
+has done nothing to injure Croesus, and therefore Croesus is the
+aggressor. He crosses the Halys, invades the territory of Cyrus, in
+order to conquer Cappadocia and avenge Astyages on Cyrus; he causes the
+land of the Cappadocians to be desolated; and Herodotus lays stress on
+the fact that this nation was quite innocent. Guilt is followed by
+incapacity, after the indecisive battle. Croesus disbands his army for
+the singular reason that it "was inferior in numbers to that of Cyrus."
+He is then surprised in Sardis; the citadel is naturally ascended in the
+very place where in old days king Meles omitted to carry the lion which
+was to make the walls of Sardis impregnable, because he thought it
+unnecessary, the place being inaccessible. (I. 561). Croesus is saved
+from instant death, because the deaf and dumb son receives his speech on
+a day of misfortune, as Delphi had announced. The son can not only
+speak, but knows how to address his father by name. The favour of the
+gods, who turn again to Croesus when he has expiated the guilt of Gyges
+and himself by his overthrow, is shown in this miracle, and more plainly
+still on the funeral pyre. The wisdom of the Greeks, and of Solon, is
+set in the clearest light, when Croesus in his deepest distress, on the
+brink of a terrible death, remembers the warning once given him by
+Solon. If such a recollection forms the most brilliant evidence of the
+insight of the Greeks, it might also give the motive for the rescue of
+Croesus.
+
+The occurrences on and at the pyre partake so strongly of the miraculous
+that Herodotus himself is puzzled. What reason could Cyrus, whose
+gentleness Herodotus himself extols, have for condemning Croesus to a
+death by fire, and with him fourteen Lydian youths? Herodotus knows that
+fire is a god in the eyes of the Persians, and that corpses could not be
+burnt.[16] He says: "Cyrus either wished to offer first-fruits to some
+god, or to fulfil a vow, or to ascertain whether Apollo would assist the
+pious Croesus." When narrating the astonishing incidents which took
+place on the pyre, he drops the positive tone, and continues the story
+with "the Lydians say." The pyre is already kindled when the question is
+asked by the interpreters, What is the meaning of the cry "Solon"?
+Croesus is at first obstinately silent, then answers obscurely; and only
+after long pressure tells of his meeting with Solon, which could not be
+done very briefly if it was to be made intelligible to Cyrus, and the
+narrative had to be translated by the interpreters, as Herodotus himself
+relates. Then Cyrus is seized with remorse for the execution he has
+commanded, and the attempt is made to quench the pyre. Impossible as all
+this is, Croesus at the last moment confesses that Solon is right, and
+Solon's deep insight moves the heart of the great sovereign of the
+Persians, and rescues the once prosperous but now fallen king.
+
+In his minute account of the cremation, which, in his rhetorical manner,
+he connects with the recovery of speech by the deaf and dumb son,
+Nicolaus of Damascus felt difficulties like those in Herodotus. The law
+bidding the Persians not to pollute fire, nor to "burn the dead," is
+well known to him. He removes the contradiction by representing the
+cremation as taking place against the will of Cyrus, and remarks that
+after this incident the regulation was more strictly observed. In his
+story also the change is made by the mention of Solon's name. When Cyrus
+had ascertained what Solon had said to Croesus, he began to weep, and
+saw that he had done wrong, and the pain of their king touches the heart
+of the Persians. This movement is assisted in Nicolaus by the sibyl of
+Ephesus; in which no doubt he follows the legend of Ephesus; Croesus had
+made large presents to the temple of Artemis in that city (III. 451).
+
+In Herodotus, as in Diodorus and Nicolaus, it is the rain, by which the
+pyre is quenched, which causes Cyrus to continue his gentle treatment of
+Croesus. Moreover, the excellent advice, which Croesus with immediate
+prudence gives, for putting an end to the plunder of Sardis, and other
+matters in Herodotus, in Diodorus, and Xenophon, co-operate in
+influencing Cyrus to hold such a wise man in respect. Xenophon knows, or
+at any rate says, nothing of the burning of Croesus. Ctesias knows
+nothing of it: in his account miracles of another kind are vouchsafed to
+the imprisoned Croesus by Apollo in his temple; the triple loosing of
+the bonds, and their final removal with thunder and lightning, determine
+Cyrus to set him at liberty and make provision for him.
+
+Lastly, it was incumbent on Herodotus and the Greek narratives to
+justify the Delphian oracle with regard to the responses given to
+Croesus. In Herodotus and Nicolaus this justification is introduced and
+pointed by the sending of the fetters, which Croesus had worn, as the
+first-fruits of the promised victory to Delphi, and the question whether
+it was the manner of the Greek gods to deceive those who had done them
+kindness. Following, no doubt, the legend of the Delphic priesthood,
+Herodotus then gives the defence of the priestess, that Croesus had not
+rightly understood the oracles,--though as we shall see, he had
+understood them correctly enough. The priestess further tells Croesus,
+that he was destined to pay the penalty for the offence, which his
+ancestor Gyges had committed against Candaules, though the Delphic
+oracle had sanctioned this crime and carried it out. Then destiny has to
+bear the blame. No man can escape his doom; the god of Delphi had
+deferred the fall of Croesus for three years, and saved him from the
+flames of the funeral pyre. The god of Delphi had thus announced the
+truth (to prove this Cyrus is made the son of a Median mother), and had
+shown his gratitude for the gifts of Croesus by delaying his overthrow,
+and rescuing him from the flames, as Croesus must himself confess.
+Xenophon dwells yet more on the justification. Croesus had placed
+himself in the wrong with the god, by putting it to the test whether he
+could tell the truth; then he hopes that he has appeased him by rich
+presents, but he misunderstands the further response of the god, "that
+he will be happy when he knows himself," for in descent, bravery, and
+generalship he holds himself the equal of Cyrus. In Herodotus and
+Nicolaus the gift of speech to the deaf and dumb son, the quenching of
+the pyre,--in Herodotus also the delay of destiny, and in Ctesias, the
+miraculous loosing of the fetters,--are proofs that the dedicatory gifts
+of Croesus and his piety had not been in vain. They could not avert his
+doom, but they had alleviated it; the god of the Greeks, whom he
+serves, has at the last saved him from the most cruel fate, and brought
+it about that Croesus ends his days, if not as a ruler, yet in peace and
+dignity.
+
+In spite of all the national and individual points of view which mark
+Herodotus' account of the fall of Croesus, and the legends which he has
+woven into it, and used for his own purposes--the fanciful colours which
+stamp it as fabulous--it nevertheless contains a nucleus of historical
+truth, and we can give it a place before the rest as a narrative of
+facts. We have seen above how suddenly the successful rebellion of Cyrus
+put an end to the close relations between Babylonia, Lydia, and Media;
+how Lydia was touched by this change, how clearly the intervention of
+Lydia was needed, and what reasons could induce Croesus to defer it.
+Croesus was obviously brought to abandon his delay by the successes
+which Cyrus achieved in establishing his dominion over the Medes, and
+extending it to North and South, but above all by his conquests in the
+West and the advance of the Persian border to the Halys. Herodotus'
+account shows us very clearly that Cappadocia had become subject to
+Cyrus. When, on a previous occasion, the Medes reached the Halys,
+Alyattes, the father of Croesus, had taken up arms; was he to fall short
+of this example, in the presence of a power which had grown up more
+rapidly and threatened greater danger than the Medes? As Herodotus told
+us, it was his intention to attack Cyrus before he became too powerful.
+We may conclude with certainty from what Herodotus relates, that Croesus
+did not hide from himself the importance and difficulty of the
+undertaking. Above all he sought to win the favour of Sandon the
+national deity (I. 564). The Lydians offered large burnt-sacrifices to
+this deity, their sun-god; on a huge pyre they burnt numerous victims,
+gold and silver vessels, and costly robes in his honour. Herodotus tells
+us that Croesus bade the Lydians sacrifice from their own stores on that
+occasion; hence the great sacrifice, the gold of which Croesus dedicated
+to the god of Miletus and Delphi, was a national offering, which Croesus
+presented to Sandon. We have already shown that the Greeks recognised in
+the sun-god of the Lydians their own Apollo and Hercules, while the
+Lydians found their solar deity in the Apollo of the Greeks. When Gyges
+undertook to overthrow the old royal family which claimed to spring from
+this sun-god, and could not succeed in his attempt, an answer was sought
+from the sun-god of Delphi. The god of the Greeks then dethroned the
+descendants of the Lydian deity. In the year 556 B.C.[17] Croesus had
+already sent to Delphi, and given dedicatory offerings to the god of
+Delphi and to the Ismenian Apollo at Thebes; and at the present time,
+when he had resolved to enter on a severe struggle for his throne and
+kingdom, he called to mind the god, to whose oracle his house owed its
+position; he would now receive by his favour both kingdom and crown. So
+Apollo of Miletus and Delphi received silver and gold which had been
+consecrated by the fire. The bricks into which it was formed were
+intended to bear the lion which was also fashioned out of the same
+gold--the symbol of the burning sun, the image of the Lydian god. The
+four golden bricks formed the uppermost steps. The total amount of the
+gold dedicated at Delphi and Miletus reached 270 talents. For the
+presents at Miletus Croesus used the property of Sadyattes, which he had
+confiscated at the beginning of his reign, dedicated, and applied as an
+offering.[18] When Croesus sent the gifts to Delphi, he inquired of the
+oracle, as Gyges had previously done. At this time--about 140 years
+before Croesus--the question had been who was to ascend the throne of
+Lydia; now the question was, whether the descendant of Gyges would
+maintain it in the conflict against Persia. The answer of the priestess,
+which Aristotle and Diodorus have preserved in metre,[19]--"That Croesus
+by crossing the Halys would destroy a great kingdom"--is genuine, and
+was certainly given in the meaning that Croesus should undertake the war
+and would destroy the kingdom of his opponent. The object of Croesus in
+asking the question was to know whether he would be fortunate in his
+attack on Persia. If it was the object of the priesthood to give a
+dubious answer to this question, they could not possibly have answered
+the further question--whether he should take allies to help him,--with
+the command that he must take the "most powerful of the Hellenes." At
+that time the Spartans were beyond all question the most powerful of the
+Hellenes. How could the priests of Delphi, who owing to the close
+connection in which they stood to Sparta were well aware that the oracle
+would be a law to that state, send the Spartans to defeat and
+destruction, if they foresaw such a thing?[20] That at Delphi, owing to
+the impression made on the Greeks by the power, greatness, and splendour
+of the Lydian empire, the remote and unknown Persians were underrated is
+quite probable, and indeed sufficiently proved by the subsequent embassy
+of the Spartans to Cyrus. The first response did not entirely remove
+the doubts of Croesus, so he asked a second time--"whether his dominion
+would continue long," and this question received a thoroughly
+satisfactory answer, _i.e._ an answer which, in the obscure form
+purposely adopted by oracles, deferred the defeat of the Lydians to
+distant times, and impossible conditions.
+
+Croesus had not waited for the oracle to provide himself with sufficient
+support in his undertaking. Yet it suited him to enter into negotiations
+with the Spartans, who after a series of successful contests against the
+Pisatae, Argos, and some cantons of Arcadia, had obtained the foremost
+place in the Peloponnesus. At an earlier time Croesus had sent the
+Spartans a considerable present for the erection of a statue of Apollo,
+and their grateful feeling towards him would certainly be strengthened
+by the authority of the Delphian oracle, whose response was known to the
+Spartans, as Herodotus expressly states (p. 9). Even in Xenophon's
+account they declared themselves ready to send auxiliary troops to
+Sardis.[21] Croesus did not stop here: he sent Eurybatus to obtain yet
+more troops in Hellas. Herodotus told us that Croesus was in league with
+Egypt and Babylonia against Persia before he made the treaty with
+Sparta. Amasis, king of Egypt, had determined to support Croesus,
+perhaps in return for the service which Gyges had once rendered to
+Psammetichus, when he sent soldiers to aid him against his
+fellow-princes, the vassals of Assyria (III. 301). The attitude of
+Babylonia must be decisive. If Lydia and Babylonia, who were both
+equally threatened by the new power, united in a firm military alliance,
+they might hope to contend successfully with the prince of the
+Persians. At Babylon, after the accession of Nabonetus in the year 555
+B.C., the royal power was again in strong hands. According to Herodotus,
+there was a league between Croesus and Nabonetus against Persia.
+Xenophon represents Croesus as coming to the aid of the king of Babylon.
+Justin states that Cyrus was at war with Babylon when Croesus attacked
+him; Cyrus drove him back, came to terms with Babylonia, and carried the
+war to Lydia. From all this we may assume that Lydia and Babylonia were
+united, and that they undertook the war against Persia in common.
+
+Croesus then might consider that careful preparations had been made for
+his enterprise, when in the year 549 B.C., and as we may pre-suppose
+with certainty, in the spring of the year, he took the field.[22] He
+crossed the Halys, and directed his course to the commanding plateau of
+Pteria, which Herodotus rightly regards as the strongest position in
+those regions. He took Pteria, and the neighbouring cities, and laid
+waste the land, with the view no doubt of making it impossible for the
+Persian army to support itself. There he remained, either because he
+shrank from going further, and seeking a decisive conflict at a distance
+from his own borders, or because he expected a diversion on the part of
+the Babylonians.
+
+The attack of Croesus was unexpected by Cyrus. He was also engaged with
+another enemy. These conclusions we may draw from the fact that it was
+autumn according to Herodotus before the armies stood opposite each
+other. Herodotus further remarks that Babylon, the Bactrians, and the
+Sacae caused Cyrus to return out of Asia Minor.[23] By lingering in
+Cappadocia Croesus had given Cyrus time to collect his army and add to
+it the troops of the countries through which he passed on his march to
+the West. With his usual circumspection he sought to avail himself of
+the weak points in his enemy. He sent ambassadors to the Greek cities
+subject to Croesus, on the West coast, to urge them to revolt that he
+might raise up enemies in the rear of the Lydians. Croesus awaited the
+attack of the Persians in the neighbourhood of the conquered Pteria.
+Herodotus tells that the contest was severe. In spite of the
+considerable superiority of numbers on the Persian side, the Lydians did
+not give way. The battle was not decided, when night came on. In truth
+the victory was with the Lydians, whose bravery made such an impression
+on Cyrus that he would not renew the battle. But the timidity of Croesus
+put in his hands all the advantages of a victory. After the bloody day
+it seemed better to Croesus, as is the case with men of weaker mould,
+not to risk everything, but to put off the final decision; he thought it
+safer to retire, in order to strengthen his army and so fight with
+equal numbers. Under the supposition that Cyrus would not venture to
+advance "as the winter was at the gate," he retired to Lydia. He
+intended to use the winter for collecting the forces of his confederates
+at Sardis. He requested Nabonetus of Babylon, the Lacedaemonians and the
+Pharaoh, to embark their forces on the Syrian coast, the Laconian Gulf,
+and at the mouths of the Nile, in time for them to reach Sardis in the
+fifth month, _i.e._ in the early spring. To the want of resolution which
+had suggested the thought of retreat, Croesus, when returning, added
+another great act of folly. He disbanded "the mercenaries" of his army
+(Alyattes had made use of hired soldiers), bidding them come again to
+Sardis in the spring, and returned home with the Lydians alone. Such a
+series of blunders could not go unpunished in the presence of a general
+like Cyrus. In no case could he remain in the devastated country of the
+Cappadocians. He must go either forwards or backwards. To choose the
+latter was voluntarily to abandon the advantages which the retreat of
+Croesus offered. Yet he did not content himself with slowly following
+the unexpected retreat of the Lydians. He appears to have been informed
+of the plans of Croesus by Eurybatus of Ephesus, whose treason is not
+only mentioned by Diodorus after Ephorus, but alluded to by Plato,
+Demosthenes, and Aeschines.[24] By a rapid march upon the enemy's
+metropolis Cyrus intended to cripple the Lydian forces, hit Croesus in
+the very centre of his power, and bring the war to an end at a blow. He
+came so quickly, that, as Herodotus says, he announced his own arrival.
+The sudden appearance of the Persian army in the neighbourhood of
+Sardis completely startled and terrified Croesus. He retired in order to
+be able to place in the field a number of warriors equal to the army of
+Cyrus, and now he was compelled to shut himself up in the walls of
+Sardis or fight with far smaller numbers than took the field at Pteria.
+He chose the latter, and awaited the attack on the plain of the Hermus,
+which was large enough to provide a field for his excellent cavalry.
+
+Though he had a great advantage in his forces, and in the consciousness
+of his superiority to his enemy, Cyrus omitted no means for securing the
+victory. He had experienced at Pteria the attack of the Lydian horse,
+their superiority to his own cavalry, in spite of the practice in riding
+which the Persians underwent from their youth up, and the excellence of
+the Median horse. To render useless the attack of these horsemen, Cyrus
+caused the camels which carried the baggage and supplies of his army to
+be mounted, and placed them in the first line. This arrangement is
+mentioned not only by Herodotus but also by Xenophon. No doubt the
+Lydian horse would be frightened by the noise and unwonted aspect of
+these animals. Though robbed of their best arm and mode of fighting, the
+Lydians nevertheless resolved to dismount and carry on the battle on
+foot. They pressed courageously on the Persians, and could only be
+driven into the gates of Sardis after a bloody battle. Croesus was now
+limited to the walls of his city, and compelled to defend them. He hoped
+to be able to hold the city till his confederates should come, to whom
+on the approach of Cyrus he had sent with appeals for immediate
+assistance. But on the fourteenth day after the investment of the city,
+as Herodotus maintains, Cyrus brought matters to a decision. Then the
+Mardian climbed the steep rock on the Pactolus, on which the citadel
+lay, at a place where no guard was set, the citadel and city were taken,
+and Croesus became a prisoner. A picture at Pompeii exhibits Cyrus
+before his tent, and Harpagus beside him, at the moment when Croesus is
+brought forward.
+
+Herodotus' narrative of the ascent of the citadel of Sardis is confirmed
+by a precisely analogous incident which took place more than three
+centuries later. Antiochus III. had besieged his brother-in-law Achaeus
+for more than a year in Sardis, and in vain. All hope of taking the city
+except by starvation was given up, when Lagoras, a Cretan, observed that
+the walls must be left without a guard where the citadel and the city
+met. At this point the walls rose on steep rocks above a cleft into
+which the besieged threw from the towers their dead along with the
+carcasses of beasts of burden and horses. As the birds of prey when they
+had eaten the corpses settled on the walls, Lagoras concluded that no
+guards were stationed there. By night he examined whether it was quite
+impossible to climb up and plant scaling-ladders there. When he
+discovered a ravine by which this seemed practicable, he acquainted the
+king. The necessary preparations were made; in the night, towards
+morning, when the moon had set, Lagoras with sixteen companions climbed
+up the rocks; 2000 men were ready to support him. The spur on which the
+wall lay was so steep that even when the morning broke a jutting piece
+of rock prevented the garrison from seeing what was going on, and when
+Antiochus led his army against the Persian gate the garrison went to
+meet them. Meanwhile the assailants by means of two ladders scaled the
+walls close against the citadel and opened the nearest door; the
+confusion which ensued put the city in the hands of Antiochus after a
+short struggle. Yet Achaeus maintained the citadel; by a secret steep and
+dangerous path in the rear he was able to keep up a communication with
+Ptolemy Philopator of Egypt, and finally he attempted to escape by this
+means, but he was betrayed and fell into the hands of Antiochus (213
+B.C.).[25]
+
+Croesus determined not to survive the great overthrow and sudden
+disaster which he had brought upon Lydia by his campaign. The Lydians
+had become the slaves of the Persians, but it might be possible to
+appease the wrath of Sandon, from whom all this misfortune must have
+come; it might be that the god would again show favour to his people,
+turn aside their misfortune and slavery, and raise up the kingdom from
+the depths. In vain had Croesus attempted by lavish presents to win the
+favour of Sandon-Apollo; there still remained the last great sacrifice.
+So he resolved to offer himself as a peace-offering for his land and
+people. In this way he might succeed in laying the foundation of the
+future liberation and rise of Lydia, in conquering by his death his
+successful opponent. The sacrifice of the heir to the throne and of the
+king himself in his purple to avert the anger of the sun-god was not
+unknown in Semitic rites. Zimri of Israel had burnt himself with his
+citadel in Tirzah; Ahaz of Judah, when defeated by the Damascenes, had
+sacrificed his son as a burnt-offering; Manasses of Judah "caused his
+son to pass through the fire in the valley of Ben Hinnom" (III. 43,
+209); the last king of Asshur had burnt himself with his palace in the
+year 607 B.C.; Hamilcar, the son of Hanno, threw himself into the flames
+of the sacrificial fire in order to turn the battle of Himera. Cyrus had
+no reason for preventing the death of his opponent, if he chose to die.
+Though he was offering himself as a sacrifice to his gods, these gods
+were false in the eyes of the Persians--they were evil spirits or
+demons. The Persian king could quite understand the resolution of
+Croesus not to outlive the fall of a prosperous and mighty kingdom, and
+to escape a long imprisonment, and would probably look on it as worthy
+of a brave man. Still less could he object to the wish of a king to die
+in his royal robes. That the cremation was a sacrifice and not an
+execution is further proved by the circumstance that Croesus is
+accompanied by twice seven youths. It could never have entered the mind
+of Cyrus to seize and execute fourteen youths, but they might be quite
+ready to sacrifice themselves with their king. The seventh planet
+belonged to Adar-Sandon, _i.e._ to the angry sun-god, and Croesus had
+sat on the throne fourteen years. The gifts also which the Lydian women
+bring or send to the pyre (costly robes and ornaments of every kind, as
+was customary in the great sacrifices of Sandon), are a distinct proof
+of a peace-offering. In the picture at Pompeii Croesus has laurel
+branches round his head, and a wand of laurel in his right hand, and
+this marks him out, though in the Greek manner, as dedicated to Sandon;
+a vase in the Louvre presents him seated on the pyre, in a royal robe,
+with a crown of laurel on his head. In his left hand he holds a sceptre,
+with the right he is pouring libations from a goblet, while a servant is
+sprinkling with water the already burning pyre.[26] But the sun-god
+would not accept the royal sacrifice and peace-offering. It was no
+favourable sign that the weather was gloomy ([Greek: cheimon]) on that
+day, as Nicolaus, who here, no doubt, follows Xanthus the Lydian, tells
+us, though no rain had fallen. The pyre was kindled; Croesus prayed that
+Sandon would graciously accept the offering--the invocation of the god
+by Croesus with tears Herodotus gives on the authority of the
+Lydians[27]--but the prayer is not heard; a storm of rain descends, and
+the pyre is quenched. This was an unmistakable sign, the
+clearly-pronounced decision of the god, that he did not and would not
+accept the sacrifice. Croesus must abandon his purpose.[28]
+
+At no time can Cyrus have had the intention of doing any further injury
+to the captive king of the Lvdians. Herodotus told us that before the
+battle at Sardis he bade his soldiers spare Croesus. And he would be the
+more inclined to show favour and grace to a man whose death heaven had
+openly prevented. As Ctesias told us (p. 16), he allotted to Croesus the
+city of Barene, near Ecbatana, as a residence or means of support.
+Ptolemy mentions the city of Uarna in the neighbourhood of Ragha, and
+the Avesta speaks of Varena in the same region.[29] After that day
+Croesus submitted to his fate; we find him at the court of Cyrus as well
+as at that of Cambyses in an honourable position; both Cyrus and his
+successor at times apply to him for advice.
+
+The convulsion which Cyrus had caused in the Median empire might have
+ended with placing the Persians at the summit instead of the Medes, and
+establishing the power of Cyrus within the old borders of the Median
+kingdom. Had Lydia and Babylonia resolved to recognise this change; had
+they reasons for the assumption that Cyrus would not go beyond these
+limits, the old relation of the three powers might have been renewed,
+though it would not have been confirmed by the bonds of alliance. But
+Lydia no less than Babylonia believed that they were threatened by the
+advance of Cyrus. At the time when Croesus attacked him, Cyrus certainly
+did not intend to proceed to the West beyond the borders of Cappadocia.
+This is proved by the fact that he kept within the Halys after the
+conquest of that country. He must establish his power in the East before
+he could extend his views to the distant West and Asia Minor. It was
+Babylon which at that time was threatened, if not actually attacked, by
+Cyrus. The advance of the Persians to the West, which Croesus intended
+to prevent by his attack, was really caused by it. He brought on the
+storm which he sought to allay before it burst upon him. By attempting
+to check the advance of Cyrus in the midst of Asia he invited him to
+Sardis. The dominion of the Mermnadae was at an end; Croesus had lost it
+140 years after his ancestor Gyges had won it. It is seldom that a
+sovereign is hurled so suddenly as Croesus from the summit of power and
+prosperity; that the splendour of a high and glorious position stands in
+such close and striking proximity to the deepest humiliation. There is
+hardly any instance of a warlike and brave nation passing so suddenly
+and utterly into obscurity as the Lydians; and never has so ancient, so
+flourishing, and powerful a kingdom, while yet in the period of its
+growth, been so swiftly overthrown, never to rise again.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Herod. 1, 74, 79, 155; Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 7, 2, 11.
+
+[2] Herod. 1, 71; and equally from the Persian point of view, Xenophon,
+"Cyri inst." 6, 2, 22.
+
+[3] Ctes. "Pers." 4; Fragm. 31, ed. Mueller.
+
+[4] Polyaen. "Strateg." 7, 6, 3, 19; 7, 8, [Woelfflin].
+
+[5] "Cyri inst." 1, 5, 3.
+
+[6] "Cyri inst." 2, 1, 5, 6.
+
+[7] Xenoph. "Anab." 5, 5, 17. Vol. I. 257.
+
+[8] "Cyri inst." 2, 1, 5; 6, 2, 8, 9; 7, 2, 15 ff.
+
+[9] I draw this conclusion from the story of Eurybatus, which was told
+by Ephorus; Fragm. 100, ed. Mueller.
+
+[10] Excerpt. Vatic, p. 26; "De virtute et vitiis," p. 553. [=9, 31 ff.]
+
+[11] Justin, 1, 7. Lucian ("Contemplat." 9) represents Cyrus as
+conquering Babylonia and then marching against Lydia.
+
+[12] [Nic. Damasc. Frag. 68, ed. Mueller.]
+
+[13] "Cyri inst." 7, 2, 20.
+
+[14] Strabo, p. 575, 587.
+
+[15] Pausan. 7, 17, 9. 10.
+
+[16] Herod. 1, 131; 3, 16.
+
+[17] Marmor Parnium, ep. 41.
+
+[18] Boeckh, "Staatshaushaltung" 1. 10, 11; H. Stein on Herod. 1, 50.
+
+[19] Aristot. "Rhetor." 3, 5; Diod. Exc. Vatic. p. 25, 26[=9, 31].
+
+[20] Herod. 1, 69.
+
+[21] "Cyri inst." 6, 2, 10, 11.
+
+[22] The Parian marble mentions a mission of Croesus to Delphi in the
+year 556. The date of the year for the capture of Sardis is destroyed,
+and cannot be even approximately restored, as the nearest dates are
+either mutilated or destroyed. The dates in Eusebius are derived from
+Apollodorus, who in turn draws from Eratosthenes. Eusebius puts the
+testing of the oracles in Olymp. 57,3 = 550 B.C., the march of Cyrus
+against Croesus in Ol. 57,4 = 549 B.C., the capture of Croesus in Ol.
+58,3 = 546 B.C. Jerome represents Croesus as beginning the war in Ol.
+57,3 = 550 B.C. and puts his capture in Ol. 58,1 = 548 B.C. According to
+the statement of Syncellus (1,455, ed. Bonn.), Croesus was defeated in
+the 14th year of Cyrus, which would give 547 B.C., if with Eusebius, who
+allows Cyrus to reign 31 years, we put his accession in 560 B.C. (V. p.
+381 _n._). The interval of three years which Eusebius (549-546) and two
+years which Jerome (550-548) places between the beginning of the war and
+the capture of Croesus, appears to be due to the three years for which,
+according to Herodotus, Apollo delayed the overthrow of Croesus; the
+presents came to Delphi three years before the fall (Herod. 1, 91).
+According to Herodotus the campaign occupies only one summer and autumn.
+The temple of Delphi was burned down in 548 B.C. (Ol. 58,1; Pausan. 10,
+5, 13), and as Herodotus represents the temple as intact at the time
+when Croesus sent to Delphi after his fall, this must have taken place
+before 548 B.C., and therefore Croesus must have been conquered by Cyrus
+in 549 B.C. If the justification of the oracle in Herodotus is merely an
+invention of the priests, yet in things so well known the existing
+circumstances could not be left out of sight. It is certain that if the
+presents of Croesus had been injured by the burning of the temple before
+his fall, this evil omen would not have been left out of sight by the
+legend, or by Herodotus, who himself saw and mentions the lion of
+Croesus at Delphi which had been injured by the fire (1, 50). I have
+therefore no scruple in putting the fall of the Lydian kingdom in the
+year 549 B.C. Though the reign given by Herodotus for Croesus, fourteen
+years and fourteen days, may have arisen out of the fourteen Lydian boys
+who wished to be sacrificed with their king (p. 12), yet Eusebius,
+Jerome, and Syncellus put the reign of Croesus at 15 years. It may
+therefore be regarded as an established fact that his reign ended in the
+fifteenth year. According to Herodotus (1, 64, 65), it might seem as
+though he were of opinion that Croesus sought allies in Hellas at the
+time when Pisistratus was tyrant for the third time over Athens. But
+this would be an error due to Herodotus' habit of anticipation. We can
+only be concerned with the second tyranny of Pisistratus, which belongs
+to the years 550 and 549 B.C. Against the argument here used--that the
+priests could not leave out of sight the actual circumstances in things
+so widely known, even in their inventions, Buedinger objects: "The
+chronological relations in Lydian-Persian history were neither various
+nor generally known, when Herodotus visited Delphi." The objection would
+be pertinent if the legend of the priests had only been manufactured
+during Herodotus' stay at Delphi, and for his use. This is not tenable.
+The fall of Croesus was an event which deeply moved the Hellenic world,
+and created the most lively astonishment; the responses of Delphi had
+allured him to war; the oracle must at once justify itself if it were
+not to lose considerably in its authority. The justification must,
+therefore, have been invented at once; in the cities of Anatolia it
+would be best known at that time how and when the Mede came into the
+land with the fall of Croesus ([Greek: pelikos esth' hoth' ho Medos
+aphiketo]; Xenophanes in Athenaeus, p. 54), and it was also known
+everywhere how long before the great presents of Croesus had come to
+Miletus and Delphi. This must be noticed by the Delphian priests. But,
+as I have expressly said, I have not laid any great stress on this fact,
+but on the burning of the temple in 548 B.C., for that is the only
+certain point which can be gained. It does not seem possible to me to
+make Xenophon's account of the Lydian and Babylonian wars of Cyrus in
+the Cyropaedia a reason for placing the overthrow of Croesus in 541 B.C.
+and putting back the beginning of the third tyranny of Pisistratus to
+that date in order to suit this account. There are also reasons of fact
+against such a date, which are given elsewhere.
+
+[23] Herod. 1, 153.
+
+[24] Plat. "Protagoras," p. 327. Demosth. "De Corona," 24; Aesch. "in
+Ctesiph." 137, and the Scholia.
+
+[25] Polyb. 7, 15; 8, 22.
+
+[26] Raoul Rochette, "Memoires de l'institut," 17, 2, p. 278 ff.
+
+[27] Herod. 1, 87.
+
+[28] Buedinger objects to this view that the Lydian tradition, which
+would be favourable to Croesus, could not possibly convert the merit of
+such a sacrifice into an execution. Whether the tradition of the Lydians
+was favourable or not to Croesus is not handed down; that the Greeks
+were favourable to him we know for certain. It is the tradition of the
+Greek cities--favourable to Croesus and unfavourable to Cyrus--which we
+have in the account of Herodotus. The rescue of Croesus and the wisdom
+of Solon were the points of view given in the Greek tradition and
+guiding it. If Nicolaus of Damascus has used Xanthus, and his account
+rests on a combination of the Greek and Lydian tradition--it is
+precisely in his account that the sacrifice, and the prevention of it by
+rain, comes out more clearly than in Herodotus.
+
+[29] Steph. Byzant. [Greek: Barene]. The Barce of Justin (1, 7) must be
+the same city. [Barene in Jeep's ed.] Ptolem. 6, 2, 8; "Vend." 1, 68.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE SUBJUGATION OF ASIA MINOR.
+
+
+However unexpected the attack of the Lydians had been by the ruler of
+the Medes and Persians, however inconvenient the war with them, he had
+brought it to a rapid and prosperous decision. Though he had entertained
+no thought of conquests in the distant West before Croesus took up arms
+against him, he resolved to maintain the advantage which the war had
+brought him to such a surprising extent. Great as was the distance
+between Sardis and Pasargadae, Lydia was to be embodied in his empire,
+and the AEgean was to form its western boundary. His army took up winter
+quarters in Lydia; from Sardis he arranged in person the new government
+of the land, and the fate of the nations which had been subject to the
+Lydians. We do not know whether the Phrygians, Bithynians, and
+Paphlagonians submitted to the change of dominion without resistance.
+AEschylus represents Cyrus as subjugating Phrygia. According to Xenophon,
+Phrygia was reduced by Cyrus as he returned from Sardis; the
+Paphlagonians submitted voluntarily, like the Cilicians; this was the
+reason why no satraps were sent there, yet the fortresses were occupied
+with Persian garrisons, and the Paphlagonians and Cilicians had to pay
+tribute and perform service in war.[30] Cilicia had not been subject to
+the Lydians; ever since the irruption of the Scyths had broken the
+cohesion of the Assyrian power, her princes were independent, though
+they had paid tribute to Assurbanipal (III. 166, 178), They bore the
+standing title of Syennesis. More than sixty years previously
+Nabopolassar of Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia had brought about peace
+and alliance between Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes of Lydia (V. 295).
+That Cilicia now voluntarily submitted to Cyrus, if it had not done so
+previously, can be concluded with certainty from the fact that we
+subsequently find kings named Syennesis at the head of Cilicia, who are
+bound to pay tribute to the Persian empire and render service in
+war.[31]
+
+Cyrus met more vigorous resistance in the west of Asia Minor. The
+Lycians, who maintained their independence against the Lydians in their
+mountains to the south, were not inclined to submit to the Persians, nor
+were their neighbours in the south-west, the Carians. The cities of the
+Greeks, who possessed the entire western coast, hesitated which course
+to take. After their ancestors had set foot on this coast, 400 years
+previously, they had succeeded in maintaining their ground for a century
+and a half against the rising power of the Lydians under the Mermnads;
+indeed it was during this period that they had extended their trade and
+colonisation, and risen to be a second naval power beside the
+Phenicians,--the centre of a commerce, which on the one hand included
+the Black Sea and the Maeotis, and on the other almost all the
+Mediterranean--which included in its empire Cyprus and Sicily and
+Corsica, Egypt and the mouths of the Po and Rhone, and even extended to
+the banks of the Baetis. Along with the trade and wealth of these cities,
+poetry had burst into a new bloom, plastic art and architecture were
+eagerly cultivated, the foundations were laid for Greek science, natural
+history, geography, history, and philosophy. Life was pleasant and
+luxurious; no doubt the morals of the Lydians had found their way into
+the cities, but the old vigour still remained in the inhabitants by sea
+and land. At last they had succumbed to Croesus, not because they did
+not know how to fight, but because they had not followed the advice of
+Thales of Miletus, who urged them to carry on the war in common, and
+place at their head a council with dictatorial powers (III. 450). But
+the supremacy of Croesus, to which they did not submit for much more
+than a decade, had not been of an oppressive character. It had left the
+cities unchanged in their internal trade, and in fact had increased
+rather than destroyed it. Croesus had contented himself with yearly
+tributes from the cities, and we have seen to what a large extent Greek
+art and manners found protection, favour, and advancement at the court
+of Croesus. Now these cities suddenly found themselves in the presence
+of a power of which they had hardly heard the name, and which had
+prostrated with a mighty blow the kingdom of Croesus. As they were not
+pledged to provide soldiers for the king of the Lydians, they had looked
+on in irresolute neutrality during the war. And they had paid no heed to
+the request of Cyrus that they would join his side. Previously it might
+have been to their interest to weaken the power of Lydia, in order to
+regain their full independence, but when Cyrus marched upon Sardis it
+became much more imperative to prevent a stronger power from taking the
+place of the Lydians. A diversion on the part of the Greek cities when
+Cyrus was besieging Sardis, would have delayed the fate of the city, and
+might have rendered possible the arrival of the allies. But they had
+done nothing, and now found themselves alone in the presence of the
+conqueror. Their danger prompted them to offer submission to the king of
+the Persians on the same terms as those on which they had served
+Croesus. Cyrus rejected the offer which the ambassadors of the Ionian
+and Aeolian cities brought to Sardis. Mere recognition of his supremacy
+and payment of tribute he did not consider sufficient to secure the
+obedience of cities so remote, and he was strong enough to insist on a
+more dependent relation without great efforts. But ever cautious and
+provident, he took means to separate the cities. To Miletus, the
+strongest, he offered a continuance of the relations in which she had
+stood to Lydia. When Miletus, "from fear," as Herodotus remarks,
+accepted these conditions, Cyrus had already won the victory. The cities
+were divided, robbed of their strongest power and natural head.
+
+Conscious that their submission on the conditions proposed had been
+refused, the cities of the Ionian tribe took counsel at their old common
+place of sacrifice on the shore of the sea, opposite Samos, under Mount
+Mycale. Miletus, it is true, was absent; but among the Ionians there was
+far too much pride, far too great a sense of freedom, to offer
+unconditional submission to Cyrus. The defection of Miletus seemed to be
+compensated when ambassadors of the cities of the Aeolian tribe appeared
+on the same day as the Ionians, which had never occurred before, and
+declared their common resolution "to follow the Ionians wherever they
+led."[32] It was resolved to fortify the cities, to make a resistance to
+the Persians, and for this object to call as quickly as possible on the
+mother country for help. A common embassy of the Ionian and Aeolian
+cities went to Sparta, in order to ask aid of the Dorians there, the
+leading state in the peninsula. But in vain did Pythermus of Phocaea,
+the mouthpiece of the embassy, put on his purple robe in order to
+manifest the importance and wealth of the cities, when the ephors
+introduced the legation before the common assembly. Though the Spartans
+at that time were at the height of their power, and had promised help to
+Croesus, though the ships had been equipped and the contingent was ready
+to embark when the news came of the capture of Sardis, Sparta now
+refused to send aid, regardless of the fate of her countrymen. She
+merely resolved to despatch ambassadors to Cyrus with the request that
+he would leave the Greek cities in peace. A ship of fifty oars carried
+the embassy to Asia, with the real object, as Herodotus supposes, of
+ascertaining the position of affairs in Ionia and with Cyrus. It landed
+at Phocaea. Lacrines, the spokesman of the ambassadors, found Cyrus in
+Sardis, and there warned him in Sparta's name, "to do no harm to any
+Hellenic city, for Sparta would not allow such conduct to go
+unpunished." Without the support of an army this warning was an empty
+and foolish threat, which Cyrus treated as it deserved.[33]
+
+There must have been some urgent necessity which summoned Cyrus to the
+East before he subjected the Lydians, Carians, and Greeks of the coast.
+Herodotus tells us that he intended to conquer Babylon, the Bactrian
+nation, the Sacae and Egyptians. In the early spring he set out with the
+bulk of his army to Ecbatana.[34] Croesus was in his train. He had given
+the government of Lydia to Tabalus, a Persian, but the management of the
+revenues to Pactyas, a Lydian.[35] He may have thought that Lydia was
+more peaceable than it really was, or more reconciled to its fate by his
+gentle treatment of Croesus, and the nomination of a Lydian as manager
+of the taxes. The dominion of the Persians had come upon the Lydians
+suddenly; they refused to recognise the superior power of their rulers,
+and could not finally accept the rapid change which had so suddenly
+overthrown their ancient kingdom and their fame in arms. So far from
+being subdued, they hardly considered themselves seriously beaten. The
+rapid and decisive action, in which they had been defeated, might appear
+to them rather a fortunate surprise, than a victory won by the Persians.
+It was Pactyas, whom Cyrus had made manager of the revenues, who raised
+the standard of revolt. He collected the Lydians, and induced the
+inhabitants of the coast, i.e. the cities of the Greeks, to join him.
+Tabalus could not resist in the open field the sudden outburst of
+rebellion. When Pactyas marched against Sardis, he was compelled to shut
+himself up in the citadel, and was there besieged. While yet on his
+march Cyrus received the news of the revolt. Yet his presence in upper
+Asia was so necessary that he did not return in person; he sent Mazares,
+a Mede, with a part of the army, to bring the Lydians once more to
+obedience. The rebellion appears to have been undertaken in haste
+without sufficient preparations, and Pactyas was not the man to lead it
+with energy. He did not venture to await the arrival of Mazares; the
+citadel of Sardis was delivered; Tabalus was free; the rebellion was
+crushed; Pactyas fled to the Greeks on the coast, to Cyme, the leading
+city of the Aeolians. When Mazares demanded that he should be given up,
+the oracle of Apollo at Miletus twice ordered the Cymaeans, in answer to
+their repeated inquiry, to surrender him. The priests of that temple,
+the Branchidae, well knew that the arrangement which their city had made
+with Cyrus, pledged her to carry out the wishes of the Persians. The
+Cymaeans did not obey even the second response, but first took Pactyas in
+safety to Mytilene in Lesbos, and when they found that the Mytileneans
+were ready to give him up, they took him to Chios. But the Chians,
+though, like the Lesbians, they had nothing to fear from the Persians in
+their island, nevertheless surrendered him.[36]
+
+The hopes which the Greek cities might have built upon the rebellion of
+the Lydians were quickly broken. The mother country had refused any
+help. Sparta would not come to their assistance, and Athens, torn as she
+was by internal dissensions, could not. No one in the cantons of the
+Greek peninsula roused themselves to give aid to an important section of
+the Greek nation, to the colonies which had outstripped the mother
+country in their development, or strove to save the most vigorous
+centres of Greek nationality from subjection to a foreign people, which
+had come out of the remote part of Asia. If the voice of a common blood
+and the sense of nationality failed to warn the Greeks beyond the sea
+against giving over to strangers for plunder such rich and flourishing
+cities, was there no one in Hellas who foresaw that if the establishment
+of the Persian dominion on the coasts of Asia Minor were not prevented,
+and the cities of the coast with their navy were allowed to fall into
+the hands of the Persians, Greece itself would not be safe from their
+attack, and they would be able to visit the coasts of Hellas in Greek
+ships? Yet even without assistance the power of the Hellenic cities
+would have sufficed for a considerable resistance to the Persians--for
+the position of affairs in Asia did not allow Cyrus to bring any great
+force against these distant coasts--if they had been able to understand
+and take to heart the lessons of their own past. If they had neglected
+to unite their forces against the Lydians, such union was now doubly
+necessary. They had learned from experience the evil of delay, and the
+danger was now greater than ever. The Greek cities were in uncontested
+possession of the sea,[37] and thus in a position to give help in common
+to any city which the Persians might attack. An organisation which
+permitted the whole force of the city to be used for the benefit of each
+one, would have given a prospect of successful resistance. But no step
+whatever was taken in this direction. Each city turned its attention to
+strengthening its own walls, and awaiting the attack of the Persians.
+
+After the subjugation of the Lydians, Mazares, as Herodotus tells us,
+turned his arms against "those who had besieged Tabalus along with
+Pactyas." He invested Priene, took the city, and reduced the inhabitants
+to slavery; then the plain of the Maeander was laid waste, the city of
+Magnesia taken, and its inhabitants enslaved. After the capture of
+Magnesia Mazares fell sick and died. Cyrus sent Harpagus the Mede as his
+successor. He marched northwards from the valley of the Maeander; in the
+first instance against Phocaea, which appeared to have taken the leading
+part in resistance, or at any rate had done most to gain the help of
+Sparta; after Miletus it was the most powerful city of the Ionians. The
+trade in the Adriatic and the Tyrrhene sea, on the coasts of Gallia and
+Iberia, was in the hands of the Phocaeans. A strong and magnificent
+wall, well built of large stones, surrounded the city, the circuit of
+which, as Herodotus says, reached "not a few stadia." Harpagus invested
+Phocaea, and threw up works round the walls; he then sent intelligence
+to the Phocaeans that he should be content if they would pull down but
+one tower, and solemnly give up to him the possession of one dwelling.
+The Phocaeans must have thought that they could no longer hold the city
+or repulse an attack. According to Herodotus, they answered the offer of
+Harpagus with a request that he would allow them a day for
+consideration, and for that day would lead his army from the wall.
+Harpagus replied that he knew very well what their intentions were, but
+he would give them time for consideration. When Harpagus led his forces
+from the wall, the Phocaeans drew their ships to the sea, put upon them
+their wives and children, and everything that they could carry away,
+even the images of the gods and the votive offerings, and then embarked
+and sailed to Chios. It was their intention to purchase from the Chians
+the Oenussae, islands lying off Chios, and to settle there. But the
+Chians refused to sell them, fearing that their trade would go there.
+Then the Phocaeans turned their course back to Phocaea; Harpagus had
+taken possession of the empty city and left a garrison in it. This the
+Phocaeans cut down; then they sunk a large mass of iron in the sea, with
+an oath that they would not return again to the city till the iron
+should float, and shaped their course to the distant Western sea, for
+the island of Cyrnus (Corsica), where twenty years previously they had
+founded the colony of Alalia. Harpagus is said to have burnt Phocaea,
+thus punishing the houses and temples for the attack on the
+garrison.[38] After the capture of this city, he besieged Teos, and
+gained possession of the walls by means of the works which he threw up.
+The Teians then went on board their ships, one and all, sailed to the
+north, and settled on the coast of Thrace opposite Thasos, where they
+founded Abdera.[39] "So all the Ionians," says Herodotus, "with the
+exception of the Milesians, who had come to terms with Cyrus, fought
+against Harpagus, and showed themselves brave warriors, each for his own
+city; but Harpagus took them one after the other by investing them and
+throwing up works against the walls. Thus conquered they remained in
+their cities, with the exception of those exiles, and did what they were
+bid." After the subjugation of the Ionians, Harpagus turned to the
+North, reduced the cities of the Aeolians, and bade their military
+forces join his army.
+
+The line of conquest had now reached the Dorian cities of the coast, the
+Carians and Lycians. The Dorians and Carians made but little
+resistance.[40] The Greeks of Asia had not only been abandoned by their
+kinsmen beyond the sea, but also by their gods, or at any rate by their
+oracles. As Apollo of Miletus had bidden the Cymaeans to give up
+Pactyas, so Apollo of Delphi bade the Cnidians to desist from making
+their city impregnable. Cnidus lay on the western edge of a long and
+narrow promontory. The inhabitants had begun to cut a channel through
+the land with a view of securing themselves against the attack of the
+Persians. But though a large number of hands were engaged, the work did
+not make progress in the hard rock; and as many of the workmen were
+injured the city sent to Delphi to inquire the cause of their
+misfortunes. The priestess answered, according to the Cnidian account:
+"Ye must not fortify the Isthmus, nor cut through it; Zeus would have
+made it an island if he had wished."[41] The Cnidians desisted, and
+surrendered without a struggle to Harpagus on his approach. Among the
+Carians, the Pedasians alone, who had fortified Mount Lida, made a
+vigorous resistance; it cost Harpagus much trouble to take this
+fortification. The Lycians, who had never been subject to the kings of
+the Lydians, marched out against Harpagus. In the open field they fought
+bravely, though few against many. When conquered and driven into their
+city Xanthus (Arna, I. 577), they brought their wives and children,
+their servants, and their goods into the citadel and set them on fire;
+then they bound themselves by an oath, fell upon the Persian army, and
+maintained the conflict to the last man. Then the remaining towns of the
+Lycians, being robbed of their best defenders, submitted. The Caunians
+alone, as Herodotus tells us, followed almost exactly the example of the
+city of Xanthus.[42] Even the sea put no limit to the supremacy of the
+Persians. The Greeks of the islands of Chios and Lesbos voluntarily
+submitted to them, though, as Herodotus assures us, "they had nothing to
+fear," "for the Persians were not mariners, and the Phenicians were not
+their subjects at that time."[43] The two islands would not give up all
+hope of the possession of the districts on the coasts opposite.
+
+About three years after Cyrus had left Sardis in the spring of the year
+548 B.C. his power in Lydia was not only firmly founded, but the whole
+western coast, with all its harbours and landing-places, together with
+two considerable islands, was subject to him. As Aeschylus tells us, he
+had reduced Ionia by force. The East had again overpowered the colonists
+of the West on its western edge. Asia Minor, beyond the Halys, was
+subjugated to Cyrus in even greater extent than to Croesus; in fact it
+was wholly in his power.[44] He placed two viceroys over it. One, the
+viceroy of Phrygia, was to govern the north-eastern; the other, the
+viceroy of Lydia, was to govern the south-western half of this wide
+region. The first took up his position at Dascyleum, not far from the
+shore of the Propontis; the other in the citadel at Sardis.[45] Among
+the cities of the Greeks, Priene and Magnesia on the Maeander had been
+destroyed, and their inhabitants enslaved; Phocaea had been burned. The
+rest had not been injured by Harpagus after their capture; he had not
+placed any Persian governors over them, nor introduced garrisons. It was
+not intended in any way to destroy their nationality or their religious
+worship. Their social life, their forms of government, their autonomy
+remained; even the common sacrifices and assemblies of the Ionian cities
+at Mycale were permitted to continue. They had only to recognise the
+supreme authority of the king of the Persians and his viceroys, to pay
+yearly tribute to the king, the amount of which each city fixed for
+itself, and furnish a contingent to the army when called upon by the
+viceroy to do so. When the Ionians again met at the common place of
+sacrifice for the first time after their subjugation, Bias of Priene,
+who had escaped the destruction of his country, proposed that all the
+Ionian cities should follow the example of the Phocaeans and Teians;
+that there should be a general emigration to Sardinia, in order that all
+might obtain a new country there. They were then to form one great
+community; one city was to be founded by all in common. Had this
+proposal been carried out, the achievements of Cyrus would have
+exercised a far deeper influence over the distant West, than the mere
+settlement of the Phocaeans in Alalia, who moreover were not able to
+maintain themselves in their new settlement. The centre of Hellenic
+colonisation would have been transplanted from East to West, and the
+fate of Italy would have been changed; the Greeks would have retired
+before the supremacy of the East in order to establish a strong insular
+power among the weak communities of the West. But the Ionians could not
+rise to the height of such a revolution. Among the Greeks, the
+attachment to their ancient soil, their homes and temples, was
+peculiarly strong. If men could and would forget independence, the
+supremacy of the Persians did not seem very oppressive. It limited the
+trade of the Greeks as little as it repressed their social life; on the
+contrary, it rather advanced commerce, which now received the protection
+of the Persian king throughout the whole of his wide dominions. The ruin
+of Phocaea also aided the trade of Miletus which had suffered neither
+war nor siege.
+
+Yet the cities of the Greeks were essentially weakened by the war and
+their subjugation. In Phocaea, it is true, a community again grew up.
+Half of the emigrants, in spite of their solemn vow, were seized with a
+longing for their ancient home; they returned to their desolated city.
+But for fifty years after this time the new Phocaea would or could
+furnish no more than three ships of war. In Priene also and Teos
+sufficient inhabitants gradually assembled to establish small
+communities.[46] Other circumstances weighed more heavily even than
+their natural losses. Cyrus knew well that it would not be easy to
+retain in secure obedience cities so distant in situation, so important
+in population and military resources. At such a distance isolated
+garrisons would have been exposed to great danger; yet without them the
+cities would have closed their gates to the Persians at any moment,
+manned their walls, and entered into combinations beyond the sea. Every
+rebellion of this kind made new sieges necessary, and these were the
+more difficult as Persia had no fleet, and could only use the ships of
+the Greeks. Situated at the extreme edge of the kingdom, and supported
+by the opposite shore of the AEgean, each of the larger cities could
+offer a long resistance. With the unerring political insight which
+distinguished him, Cyrus saw that he must gain adherents within the
+cities, and have on his side influential interests of sufficient weight
+to keep the cities in obedience. Yet he did not aim at supporting one or
+other of the parties who contended in the Greek cities for the
+leadership of the community; on the other hand, his favour and that of
+his viceroys was given to this or that party-leader. His allegiance was
+to be secured and certain advantages were held out in prospect to the
+city when led by him. Cyrus intended to govern the cities of the Greeks
+by Greeks, who were not to be his officers, but to rule the cities as
+their lords and princes for their own advantage and profit. By their
+position, which they owed to the favour of Persia, and could only
+maintain with the help of Persia against their fellow-citizens, by the
+interested desire to retain this power in their families and bequeath it
+to their children, by the concentration of the princely authority, as
+opposed to the republican institutions and republican spirit of their
+cities--which authority rested on the Persian court, and was closely
+connected with it--these rulers in union with the viceroys and their
+troops must be in a position to secure the subjection of the cities.
+Thus it came to pass that not in Cyme only, the most important city of
+the Aeolians, but in almost all the towns of the Greeks, men were raised
+to power by the favour and support of the Persian satraps, who managed
+the public affairs, and in the place of autonomous communities came
+despotisms and principalities, in reality if not in name. How correct
+Cyrus was is proved by the result.[47] He was able to secure the
+obedience of the Lydians also. He caused the land to be stripped of its
+arms, even to the extent of taking away the cavalry horses,[48] and so
+abandoned all thought of forcing the Lydians to serve in his army. The
+disuse of arms and the lapse of time did their work, aided as they were
+by a vigorous trade, which in Lydia was due not only to the natural
+wealth and the gold of the soil, but to a long-established and skilful
+industry. In these pursuits and a luxurious life the Lydians forgot
+their old days and ancient deeds. Persia had never again to contend with
+a rebellion of the Lydians.
+
+The tradition of the Greeks has not omitted to illustrate the important
+events of the extension and establishment of the Persian dominion in
+Asia Minor by a series of pointed anecdotes and stories. Among these is
+the reply which Cyrus is said to have given to the Greek cities, when
+they offered their submission after the fall of Sardis (p. 50). At that
+time Cyrus, as Herodotus tells us, narrated the following story with
+reference to their refusal of his first request:--A flute-player once
+played to some fishes in the sea in order to entice them out. As they
+did not come, he took them out with a net, and when they leapt about, he
+said, Cease dancing now; ye did not dance out of the water when I
+played. Diodorus puts the transaction later, and with him it is not
+Cyrus, but Harpagus, who, as we saw, received the command against the
+cities after Mazares, who told the following apologue to the
+ambassadors:--He had once asked a maid of her father in marriage, but
+the father betrothed her to a man of greater importance. When he
+afterwards found out that the man whom he had despised as a son-in-law
+was in favour with the king he brought him his daughter, and Harpagus
+took her not for his wife, but for his concubine. By this Harpagus meant
+that as the Greeks had not become friends of the Persians when Cyrus
+wished it, they could not any longer be allies but only servants.[49]
+When Lacrines brought to Cyrus from the Spartans the command that he
+must not attack any Greek city, Herodotus represents Cyrus as answering,
+in the pride of his absolute power, that he had never been afraid of men
+who met in the market-places and deceived each other by speeches and
+promises. If he remained in health, they would not have to lament over
+the sorrows of the Ionians, but over their own.[50] Here also Diodorus
+gives another version:--To the command of the Spartans that he must not
+attack the Hellenes in Asia who were their kinsmen, Cyrus answered, that
+he would acquaint himself with the bravery of the Spartans when he sent
+one of his servants to subjugate Hellas.[51]
+
+The account which Herodotus gives of the negotiations of Harpagus with
+the Phocaeans is not historical. If the resistance of the Phocaeans was
+so difficult to overcome that Harpagus descended to the concession that
+only one tower need be pulled down and a single habitation given up to
+him, the Phocaeans had no reason to abandon their city. But if they
+were in such a condition that they must abandon the defence, the lapse
+of one day would certainly not suffice for them to get the ships in
+order, and put on board the whole population with their goods, the
+images of their gods, and the votive offerings. Still more inconceivable
+would be the folly of Harpagus in drawing off his army from the city and
+thus allowing the Phocaeans to destroy his siege works, so that he had
+to begin them all anew.
+
+The striking change which took place in the Lydian character after the
+suppression of the rebellion under Pactyas, the contrast between the
+horse-breeding Lydians of the Homeric poems, between the mounted
+squadrons which once pressed so heavily on the Greek cities, reduced
+Asia Minor, and offered such a brave resistance to the Medes and
+Persians, and the peace-loving, effeminate, submissive Lydians of the
+fifth century B.C., was explained by the Greek tradition after its own
+manner. When in his return from Sardis to Ecbatana, Cyrus received the
+intelligence of the rebellion of the Lydians, he confided to Croesus, as
+Herodotus tells us, that it seemed to him the best plan to make all the
+Lydians slaves. "I have dealt with them," so Herodotus represents Cyrus
+as saying, "as one who spares the children when he has slain the father.
+I have captured you who have been more to them than a father, and left
+them their city, and now I wonder that they rebel." Croesus replied:
+"What you say is just, but let your anger pass by; do not destroy an
+ancient and guiltless city. What took place before was my doing, and the
+guilt lies on my shoulders; what has happened now is due to Pactyas to
+whom you yourself entrusted Sardis. Punish him, but spare the Lydians.
+Forbid them to carry weapons for the future, order them to wear coats
+under their mantles, shoes with high heels, and to train their boys in
+playing and singing and in trade. You will soon make them women instead
+of men, and they will never revolt or be a source of alarm." Croesus
+gave this advice with the double object of turning aside the vengeance
+of Cyrus from the Lydians--for even such a life was better than
+slavery--and of preserving the Lydians for the future from bringing
+about their own destruction by new rebellions. Cyrus followed the advice
+of Croesus. This story is repeated by Polyaenus. When the Lydians had
+revolted, Cyrus bade Mazares take away their weapons and horses, and
+allow them no longer any practice in throwing the spear and riding; on
+the contrary, he was to compel them to wear women's clothes, to weave,
+and play the lute. In this way the Lydians became the most unwarlike
+people, though previously they had been the most warlike.[52] The new
+dress which Cyrus, on the advice of Croesus, commanded the Lydians to
+wear, was the hereditary dress of the Lydians (who are called
+soft-footed in the response of the Delphic priestess (p. 9), because
+they wore shoes), and practice in playing and singing were old customs
+of the Lydians which previously had done no harm to their martial
+valour. The narrative is invented, though not by Herodotus, to glorify
+the wisdom of Croesus and give a reason for the clemency which Cyrus
+showed after the rebellion--and at the same time to explain the contrast
+between the Lydians of antiquity and their descendants.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[30] Aesch. "Pers." 770; Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 7, 4, 2; 8, 6, 8.
+
+[31] Herodotus, 9, 107, remarks that Xerxes gave the satrapy of Cilicia
+to Xenagoras of Halicarnassus; yet even after this date we find a
+Syennesis at the head of that country, which in the list of Herodotus
+formed the fourth satrapy.
+
+[32] Herod. 1, 141, 142, 151, 169.
+
+[33] Herod. 1, 152; Diod. Exc. Vatic. p. 27 = 9, 36, 1.
+
+[34] Herod. 1, 153. In 1, 157, on the other hand, we find "to the
+Persians;" cf. 1, 177.
+
+[35] H. Stein on Herod. 1, 153.
+
+[36] Herod. 1, 161. What is brought forward in the treatise "on the
+unfairness of Herodotus" from Charon of Lampsacus against the
+historian's statement about the surrender of Pactyas is limited to the
+naked fact that he came from Chios into the power of Cyrus.
+
+[37] Thucyd. 1, 12, 14.
+
+[38] Herod. 1, 164, 165; Plutarch, "Aristid." c. 25; Pausan. 7, 5, 4.
+
+[39] A party of the emigrant Teians is said to have founded Phanagoria;
+Scymn. Ch. 886; "Corp. inscrip. Graec." 2, 98.
+
+[40] Herod. 1, 174.
+
+[41] Herod. _loc. cit._
+
+[42] The subsequent inhabitants of Xanthus are explained by Herodotus to
+be foreigners, except eighty families, who were absent at the time. He
+also mentions Caunians about the year 500 B.C. The name of the city
+occurs at a later date. On the continuance of the league of the Lycians,
+vol. I. p. 575.
+
+[43] Herod. 1, 143, 160.
+
+[44] The year 548 B.C. no doubt passed before the revolt of Pactyas. The
+Greek cities had time to build or strengthen their walls before they
+were attacked. Phocaea entered into negotiations for this object with
+the prince of Tartessus after the fall of Croesus (Herod. 1, 163), and
+the great wall of the city was finished, with the assistance of money
+furnished by him owing to the approach of the Medes, when Harpagus
+attacked it. This attack cannot therefore have taken place before 547
+B.C. The sieges of the Ionian and Aeolian cities occupied at least a
+year; the campaign against the Dorian cities, the Carians and Lycians,
+must therefore have taken place in 546 B.C., if not a year later.
+Hieronymus puts the battle of Harpagus against Ionia in Olymp. 58, 3 =
+546 B.C.
+
+[45] Oroetes resided at Sardis in the reign of Cambyses and Mithrobates
+at Dascyleum; Herod. 3, 120.
+
+[46] Herod. 1, 168; Miletus and Samos contended in 440 B.C. for the
+possession of Priene.
+
+[47] Herod. 5, 37, 38; Heracl. Pont. fragm. 11, 5, ed. Mueller.
+
+[48] Justin. 1, 7.
+
+[49] Excerpt. Vatic. p. 27 = 9, 35, 1.
+
+[50] Herod. 1, 153.
+
+[51] Diod. Excerpt. Vatic. p. 27 = 9, 36, 1.
+
+[52] Herod. 1, 155, 156; Polyaen. "Strateg." 7, 6, 4.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FALL OF BABYLON.
+
+
+When the kingdom of the Lydians had succumbed to the arms of Cyrus,
+Babylonia alone was left of the three states which had joined in the
+overthrow of Assyria. It was a region of very considerable extent,
+reaching from the Tigris to the coasts of Syria, and from the foot of
+the Armenian and Cilician mountains to the deserts of Arabia; the
+population was united, and a strong centre was not wanting. As we saw,
+Nebuchadnezzar had not only greatly increased the agriculture and trade
+of his kingdom, but had also erected the strongest barriers for the
+protection of his native land and the metropolis. In this he had only
+the Median power in view, but owing to the victory of Cyrus over
+Astyages a stronger power had taken the place of Media, and neither his
+wisdom nor his energy had descended to his successors. After a reign of
+two years his son Evilmerodach fell by the hand of his own
+brother-in-law, Neriglissar, who sat but four years on the throne which
+he had thus acquired. The boy whom Neriglissar left behind was murdered
+by the conspirators who in the year 555 B.C. elevated Nabonetus to the
+throne. Of this king we only know that he did not belong to the race of
+Nabopolassar. Neriglissar had continued the fortification of the
+metropolis, and Nabonetus completed the walls which were intended to
+enclose the two parts of the city of Babylon on the east and west of the
+Euphrates towards the river. He continued the buildings of
+Nebuchadnezzar at the temples at Ur (Mugheir), and restored the ancient
+temple of Bilit (Mylitta) at that place. His inscriptions entreat the
+god Sin that his works may continue as the heavens, and commend his
+first-born son Belshazzar (Bil-sarussur) to the favour of the moon-god.
+To the city of Tyre he gave a new king, Hiram of the race of Ethbaal, in
+the year 551 B.C.[53]
+
+We cannot ascertain what position Nabonetus took up towards the growing
+power of Cyrus. According to the statement of Trogus Pompeius, Babylon
+was at war with Cyrus, when Croesus went to her aid. Cyrus repelled this
+attack, came to terms with Babylonia, and carried on war against Asia
+Minor. Xenophon represents Croesus as beginning the war against Cyrus at
+the request of the king of Babylon (p. 17). Herodotus, as has been
+mentioned above, repeatedly assures us that Croesus was in league with
+the king of Babylon, whom he calls Labynetus (p. 20). As we saw, Cyrus
+left Sardis and Asia Minor in the spring of 548 B.C., before the nations
+of the western coast, the Carians and Lycians, had been subjugated; and
+Herodotus remarks that he intended to march against Babylon. For
+Babylonia there could certainly be no more favourable moment for
+carrying on the war with the Persians than the time at which Cyrus lay
+opposite the army of Croesus at Pteria in Cappadocia, before he advanced
+upon Sardis. A march of the Babylonian army up the river Euphrates would
+have cut off the communications of the Persian army with their own home,
+and compelled Cyrus to abandon the Lydians and to turn upon Babylon. We
+do not know whether Nabonetus looked idly on at the fall of Croesus in
+spite of the league, or whether a second Persian army compelled him to
+leave events to take their course in Asia Minor, or whether Cyrus, on
+his return to Ecbatana, after the overthrow of Croesus, as Herodotus
+tells us, marched against Nabonetus. All that we know from Herodotus is
+that Harpagus subdued lower Asia, _i.e._ Asia Minor, and Cyrus himself
+upper Asia, passing from one nation to another without any exception.
+
+"The greater part of their achievements," Herodotus continues, "I will
+omit; I will only narrate that feat which cost the most trouble and is
+the most worthy of notice. When Cyrus had reduced the whole of the
+continent he attacked the Assyrians. Now Assyria had many other large
+cities, but the most famous and strongest of them was Babylon, where
+their kings dwelt after the destruction of Nineveh. Labynetus was ruler
+of the Assyrians, and against him Cyrus marched." According to this more
+exact statement, Cyrus did not march against Babylon directly after the
+Lydian war, but only "when the whole of upper Asia had been reduced to
+subjection." That Elam and the land between the lower Tigris and the
+mountains of Persia was subject to Cyrus before he attacked Babylonia,
+follows from the statements of a prophet of the Jews.[54] Berosus says
+quite distinctly: "When Cyrus had subjugated the whole of Asia, he set
+out with a great power from Persia against Babylon in the seventeenth
+year of the reign of Nabonetus."[55] We can establish the correctness of
+this date from other sources, and prove that the war between Babylon and
+Persia, which Herodotus sets himself to describe in the words quoted,
+took place ten years after the Lydian war. Yet it remains doubtful
+whether Babylonia and Persia had already met in arms, before, during, or
+immediately after the Lydian war. So much only is certain, that if a
+collision of this kind had previously taken place, it was indecisive.
+Nor can we make it clear what motives caused Nabonetus to allow Cyrus to
+attack Babylonia at a time most convenient to himself; whether this
+attitude was due to the experience of previous failures, or to a feeling
+of confidence that the natural and artificial barriers of the Babylonian
+land offered a better prospect of success under any circumstances, than
+an attack on Persia.
+
+We have already seen how faithfully the Jews, whom Nebuchadnezzar had
+transported to Mesopotamia and Babylonia in the year 597 B.C., and again
+in 586 B.C. when he conquered and destroyed Jerusalem, clung to their
+God and their religion (III. 395). They cherished the firm hope that the
+judgment which had fallen on Judah and Jerusalem would come to an end,
+and Jehovah's anger would turn, when the purification was completed;
+that the kingdom of David would be restored, and Babylon punished for
+all that it had done to Jerusalem. Since the times of Hosea and Isaiah,
+the prophets of the Israelites had always pointed beyond the
+punishments which Jehovah would send upon the sins of his people to
+their restoration in a happy future. Thus in the first year of the reign
+of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah had announced that Jehovah would allow the
+King of Babel to come upon Judah and Jerusalem, but that the servitude
+of Judah would only continue for a definite period--for seventy years
+(III. 326); and Ezekiel had definitely and solemnly announced the
+restoration of the national sanctuary to his people in Mesopotamia (III.
+395). Zealously devoted to the worship of the God whose strong hand
+alone could break their yoke asunder and lead back their weak numbers to
+their home, the exiles impatiently awaited the fall of Babylon. It was
+their firm hope that as Assyria had fallen, which had annihilated Israel
+and brought the severest blows upon Judah, so would the line of
+destruction reach Babylon also, and vengeance would not be delayed. "By
+the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered thee, O
+Zion. We hung up our harps on the willows that are in the land; our
+conquerors asked us for a melody, and those that troubled us for songs
+of joy. How can we sing Jehovah's song in a strange land? O daughter of
+Babylon, thou that makest desolate, blessings be upon him who taketh thy
+children and throweth them against the rocks."[56] "Why go I sorrowing
+under the oppression of the enemy? It was not by their sword that they
+took the land, nor did their arms win the victory, but thou, O Jehovah,
+wert gracious to them. All this came upon us, and yet we were not
+faithless, our steps strayed not from thy path. Tears are my food day
+and night, while they say to me, Where is thy God? I thought how I went
+with the multitude into the house of God with songs and thanksgiving.
+Thou art my King, Jehovah (III. 396); send help to Jacob; with thy name
+we shall tread down our enemies. I put not my trust in my bow, but thou
+givest us victory over the oppressor. Send thy light and thy truth, that
+they may bring me to thy holy hill, to the God of my joy, that I may
+praise thee on the lute. Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Awake. Cast us not
+away for ever. Our soul is bowed down to the dust, our body pressed to
+the ground. Save us for thy mercy's sake. I will yet praise him, who is
+my Saviour and my God."[57]
+
+Even in the last years of Nebuchadnezzar, as they looked on the mighty
+works with which the destroyer of Jerusalem surrounded his city, the
+hopes of the Jews rose. From these enormous structures they might
+conclude how insecure Babylon felt herself against the Medes.
+Immediately after the death of the great and dreaded prince the Jews
+began to dream of an attack of the Medes on Babylonia. "Israel was a
+stray sheep," such are the words of a prophet of this period, "which was
+in terror of lions. The king of Assyria ate it, and Nebuchadnezzar, king
+of Babylon, gnawed the bones." "But the God of Israel says, 'I will have
+vengeance on the king of Babel, as I had vengeance on the king of
+Assyria, and I will lead Israel back, that he may pasture on Carmel and
+Bashan, and satisfy himself on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.'"[58] "Bel
+shall be put to shame, and I will take out of his mouth that which he
+has swallowed, and Merodach shall be overthrown, their images and
+idols."[59] "Thou who dwellest on the great waters, thine end is
+approaching. Though Babylon exalted herself to heaven, and made the
+height of her fortification so that no one could pass over, the broad
+walls shall be cast down and the high gates shall be consumed with
+fire."[60] "Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, summon
+against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni (Armenia), and Ashenas; arm
+against her all the governors of the kings of the Medes, and all the
+lands of their dominion. Summon against her all who draw the bow; stand
+round Babylon, ye archers, and spare not the arrows."[61] Similar views
+gave rise to another prophecy which deduces the imminent fall of Babylon
+from her pride. "Babylon said in her heart, I will climb up to heaven, I
+will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and dwell on the hill of
+assembly in the uttermost north. I will climb to the heights of the
+clouds, and make myself equal to the Highest. But against them Jehovah
+arouses the Medes, who regard not silver and have no pleasure in
+gold.[62] Call aloud to them, wave the hand, that they may enter into
+the gates of the tyrants. Their bows will destroy her young men, and she
+laments not for her children. And thus Babylon, the delight of the
+kingdoms, shall be as Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall be no more inhabited
+for ever; the Arab shall not pitch his tent there, nor the shepherd feed
+his flock. Beasts of the field shall dwell there; owls shall inhabit the
+houses, ostriches shall make their home there, and the satyrs shall
+dance. Jackals shall howl in her palaces, and foxes in her
+pleasure-houses. I will make Babylon a dwelling for the hedge-hog, saith
+Jehovah, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. The time is
+at hand, it will come quickly. Thy glory is gone down into hell, and the
+noise of thy harps. Thy bed is with the worm, and thy covering is
+corruption. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
+morning! how art thou beaten to the ground that didst lay low the
+nations!"[63]
+
+The eager and impatient expectation of the Jews could not but perceive
+the change which had been made in the relation of the states of Asia by
+the victory of Cyrus over Astyages and the Medes three years after the
+death of Nebuchadnezzar. When Cyrus afterwards subjugated the nations to
+the east and west of Media, and the mighty kingdom of Lydia was
+shattered by him, so that the fame of his victories filled the
+East--when it might be expected that his arms would turn against
+Babylon, the Jews considered their rescue certain. With redoubled zeal
+they called down the punishment of Jehovah on Babylon, and delighted
+themselves in advance with the coming vengeance. Cyrus was the
+instrument which Jehovah had chosen to punish Babylon. As the old
+prophets had seen in the kings of Assyria, and Jeremiah in
+Nebuchadnezzar, the servants of Jehovah, who were to carry out his will
+on the nations, and hold the judgment day of the Lord, so did the Jews
+now see in Cyrus a man called to a similar mission, their saviour and
+liberator; he seemed to them the anointed of Jehovah. If the absence of
+images in the rites of the Persians, the worship of Auramazda, the
+creator of heaven and earth, were nearer the religion of the Jews than
+the sacrifices which the Babylonians offered before the images of Bel
+and Bilit-Istar, Adar, Samas and Sin, Merodach and Nebo, and the worship
+which they devoted to the ruling powers of the stars, they did not
+overlook the gulf which divided them; but they were convinced that
+Jehovah chose Cyrus as the rod of his anger, and the goad of his wrath,
+to punish the pride and wickedness of Babylon. In this spirit we find a
+prophet saying, with a definite reference to the announcements of
+Jeremiah: "Who called him from the East, whom victory meets at every
+step? Who gives him the nations and subjugates kings to him, and makes
+their swords as dust, and their bows as chaff? He pursues them and
+follows safely in the path which his feet have never trodden. I,
+Jehovah, aroused him from the North (midnight), and he came from the
+rising sun, who calls upon my name. He passes over the mighty ones as
+over clay, as a potter breaks a vessel. I summoned him for salvation,
+and his ways will I make smooth; he shall build my city and release my
+captives, without ransom and without price. I will speak to Koresh
+(Cyrus), my shepherd; all my business he shall perform, so that he will
+say of Jerusalem, It shall be built, and of the temple, It shall be
+established. And I will speak to Koresh, mine anointed, whom I hold by
+his right hand to throw down the nations before him, and strip the loins
+of the kings, and open the gates and doors: I called thee, though thou
+knewest me not;[64] I will go before thee and make plain the ramparts; I
+will break in pieces the brazen gates, and the cross bars will I loosen"
+(the gates of Babylon were of brass);[65] "I will say to the deep, Dry
+up, and thy streams I will cause to be parched. Hear this, O wanton one,
+O daughter of the Chaldaeans, thou that didst lay thy yoke heavily on my
+people, on the aged one, saying, I will be a lady for ever; but suddenly
+on one day thou shalt be childless and widowed. Keep to thy
+incantations, to the multitude of the charms wherewith thou hast
+comforted thyself from thy youth up. May the quarters of the sky arise
+and help thee, which look to the stars, which on the new moons announce
+what will come upon thee. Bel boweth down, Nebo falleth. No more shalt
+thou be called mistress of the kingdoms, daughter of the Chaldaeans. I
+will place thee on the earth without a throne, I will plant thee in the
+dust, and make thee crawl in the darkness, O virgin, daughter of
+Babylon. Take the mill and grind meal, remove thy veil, lift up thy
+garment, lay bare the thigh, and pass through the rivers; no more shalt
+thou be called delicate and tender[66]. Zion said, Jehovah has left me,
+and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, and
+have no pity on the fruit of her womb? Yet though she may forget, yet
+will not I, Jehovah, forget thee. I have graven thee upon my hands, and
+thy walls were ever before my eyes[67]. Loose the fetters from thy neck,
+O captive daughter of Zion. Shake off the dust, Jerusalem; rise up, thou
+that hast drunk the cup of wrath from the hand of Jehovah[68]. Behold, I
+take from thy hand the cup of my wrath, that thou mayest drink it no
+more. I put it into the hand of those who have prepared sorrow for thee.
+Break forth into singing, ye ruins of Jerusalem; cry aloud, O heaven;
+rejoice, O earth, for Jehovah has mercy on his people[69]. He called the
+eagle from the east" (the eagle was the standard of the Achaemenids),
+"the man of his counsel from the distant land. Jehovah spake and called
+him; he leads him forth, and he shall accomplish it; he brings to pass
+the will of Jehovah on Babylon, and his might on the Chaldaeans."[70]
+
+Herodotus describes the approach of Cyrus and his war against Babylon in
+the following manner: "When on his march against Babylon he came to the
+Gyndes (now the Diala), which falls into the Tigris, and crossed it, one
+of the sacred white horses was carried away by the stream. Cyrus was
+angry, and threatened that he would make the river so insignificant that
+a woman should cross it without wetting her knee. With this view he drew
+180 lines on each side of the river, and bade his army dig a channel on
+every line; and as a great multitude was employed, the work was
+finished, but it occupied the whole summer, so that Cyrus did not lead
+his army against Babylon till the second spring. The Babylonians marched
+out of the city and awaited his attack. When Cyrus came up the
+Babylonians joined battle; they were defeated, and driven into the
+walls. They had known for a long time that Cyrus would not remain at
+rest, for they had seen how he had reduced all nations alike, and
+therefore they had collected provisions for many years in the city. The
+siege, therefore, caused them no alarm; but Cyrus was in difficulties,
+for time passed away, and he made no advance. Afterwards he did as
+follows, whether it was that some one suggested the plan to him, or
+whether he discovered it for himself. He placed part of his army where
+the river flows into the city, and part where it flows out, and bade
+them enter the city by the river as soon as it could be forded. After he
+had given them orders, he went with the bulk of his army to the basin,
+which the queen of the Babylonians had caused to be excavated, and did
+what she had done with the basin and the river. By leading the river
+through the opening into this basin, which was a marsh, he made the old
+bed so that it could be forded. When this had been done, and the water
+of the river had fallen to such an extent that it reached the middle of
+a man's thigh, the Persians who had been placed near the city forced
+their way into Babylon along the bed of the river. Had the Babylonians
+previously known or suspected what Cyrus intended, the Persians would
+not have passed unnoticed into the walls; had they closed the gates
+leading from the city to the river, and mounted the walls which line the
+banks, they would have caught the Persians in a trap as it were, and
+they would have perished miserably. But the Persians came quite
+unexpectedly. The outer parts of the city had been already taken while
+those in the centre, who, as the Babylonians say, knew nothing of the
+matter, owing to the extent of the city, were dancing and making
+merry--for it so happened that a festival was being celebrated--until
+they at length discovered their misfortune."
+
+Xenophon relates that the inhabitants of Babylon laughed at the siege,
+because the strong and lofty walls could not be taken by storm, and the
+siege would not hurt them, for they had provisions for more than twenty
+years. Cyrus also soon convinced himself that the city could not be
+taken by the means which he was employing, and resolved to draw off the
+Euphrates, which traverses the city in a stream two stadia (1200 feet)
+in breadth, and twice the height of a man in depth. For this object he
+threw a rampart round the whole city, with a very broad and deep trench
+before it on the side towards the city. This great work was apportioned
+to the different parts of the army, and the time occupied in it was
+calculated at a year. Where the trenches approached the river the earth
+was not excavated, so that the water would not flow into the trenches.
+When Cyrus perceived that the Babylonians celebrated a festival at a
+fixed time, at which they feasted for the whole night, he caused the
+earth which separated the river from the trenches above the city to be
+cut through by a multitude of men as soon as it was dark; the water at
+once ran into the trenches, and the river sank so low that it could be
+forded. The river now opened a way into the city, and Cyrus bade his
+troops enter by its bed. They would find the inhabitants drunk and
+asleep, without any organization for resistance, and when they found the
+enemy in the city they would lose all their courage. If the Babylonians,
+nevertheless, attempted to hurl down missiles from the roofs, the houses
+could be burned, and they would take fire readily, as the doors were of
+palm-wood covered with bitumen. A separate troop of the Persian army,
+which Gobryas led, had orders to make their way to the palace of the
+king as quickly as possible. The Persians entered, and cut down the
+inhabitants whom they found; others saved themselves by flight. The
+watch of the palace were drinking by a bright fire before the gates,
+which were closed. They were surprised and cut down. When the noise of
+the fight was heard inside the palace, the king sent to inquire what was
+the meaning of the tumult. But as soon as the gate was opened the
+Persians forced their way into the palace; the king and those around him
+drew their swords, but succumbed to numbers, and were killed. Meanwhile
+Cyrus had despatched his cavalry along the streets, sending with them
+men skilled in the Syrian language, who proclaimed that every one who
+remained in his house would be uninjured; all who showed themselves in
+the streets would be put to death. Thus the city quickly passed into the
+hands of the Persians. The gates of the citadel were opened the next
+morning, when the dawn of light showed them the Persians in possession
+of the city.[71]
+
+Polyaenus gives two versions of the taking of Babylon. The Babylonians
+laughed at the siege, as they had provisions for many years. But Cyrus
+drew off the Euphrates, which flows through the middle of the city, and
+turned it into a neighbouring swamp. As the Babylonians were thus cut
+off from drinking-water, they soon opened their gates to Cyrus. The
+second version is different. When, in order to take Babylon, Cyrus had
+made a trench to receive the water of the Euphrates, which flows through
+the city, he led away the army from the walls. The Babylonians believed
+that Cyrus had abandoned the siege, and they became negligent in keeping
+watch on the walls. But after drawing off the water, Cyrus led the
+Persians through the old bed, and unexpectedly made himself master of
+the city.
+
+Besides these accounts of the Greeks, proclamations of the Hebrews,
+which are joined on to the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, give
+indications on the fall of Babel. "Behold, saith Jehovah, I will dry up
+their sea and parch their fountains. When they are heated I will prepare
+a drink for them, and intoxicate them, so that they make merry, that
+they may sleep an everlasting sleep, and awake no more. And behold!
+there came mounted men. The night of my pleasure was turned to horror.
+The watchman wakes, the table is prepared, there is eating and
+drinking. Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield. Their dwellings are
+set on fire, the bars are broken. One runs to meet another, and
+messenger to meet messenger, bringing news to the king of Babylon that
+his city is captured on every side; the channels are taken, the lakes
+they have burned with fire. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all her
+idols are trampled underfoot. The whole earth rests, and is at peace,
+the lands break forth into joy. The cypresses are glad over thee, the
+cedars of Lebanon; now that thou art fallen, no one will come to cut us
+down."[72] The kings of Babylon, like those of Asshur, used the cedars
+of Lebanon for their palaces; Nebuchadnezzar himself tells us that he
+caused cedars to be felled in Lebanon for his palace (III. 386). A later
+book of the Hebrews, the Book of Daniel, which was written in the first
+century B.C., under Antiochus Epiphanes (176-164 B.C.), about the year
+167 B.C., represents Babylon as taken by the Persians during the night
+of a festival, but Darius, not Cyrus, is the Persian king. Belshazzar,
+the son of Nebuchadnezzar, is king of Babylon. He gives a great banquet
+to his thousand mighty men, and, heated by wine, causes the gold and
+silver vessels to be brought which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from
+the temple at Jerusalem; and his mighty men, their wives and concubines,
+drink out of them, and sing songs of praise to their gods of gold and
+silver, brass, iron, stone, and wood. Then suddenly a hand writes
+letters on the wall of the palace. The king changes colour; the wise men
+of Babylon, the Chaldaeans, the magicians, and prophets were brought, but
+they cannot read the writing. Then Daniel was summoned, one of the Jews
+whom Nebuchadnezzar brought from Babylon, who had already interpreted
+dreams for Nebuchadnezzar which the wise men of Babylon could not
+expound, and had remained true to the religion of Jehovah under all
+temptations. He read the words, which were Hebrew,--Mene, Tekel,
+Peres,--and explained them: Thy kingdom is "numbered"; thou hast been
+"weighed" in the balance and found wanting, because thy heart is not
+humbled, and thou honourest not the God in whose hand is thy breath and
+all thy fortunes; thy kingdom has been "divided" among the Medes and
+Persians. Then the king commanded to put the purple robe on Daniel, and
+the golden chain upon his neck, and proclaim him third in the kingdom.
+"But in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldaeans slain, and
+Darius the Mede received the kingdom."[73]
+
+Only a short excerpt has come down to us of the account which Berosus
+gave of the capture of Babylon. "Cyrus set out from Persia with a strong
+force against Babylon. When Nabonetus heard of his approach, he went to
+meet him with his army, and they joined battle. He was defeated, and
+fled with a few companions into the city of the Borsippeans, where he
+was besieged. Cyrus took Babylon, and as he had found the city difficult
+to reduce, and stubborn, he gave orders to throw down the walls outside
+the city, and then set out against Borsippa in order to get Nabonetus
+into his power, by bringing the siege to an end. But Nabonetus did not
+wait for the city to be taken by storm; he surrendered. Cyrus treated
+him with kindness, and sent him from Babylon to Carmania, which he
+appointed to be his dwelling-place. There Nabonetus lived for the
+remainder of his life, and there he died." According to Eusebius, Cyrus
+gave the vice-royalty of Carmania to Nabonetus, and Darius took it away
+again.[74]
+
+After all that has been observed above, the attack of Cyrus could not be
+unexpected by Nabonetus, and we also see from Herodotus that it had been
+long foreseen, and provisions for many years had been collected in
+Babylon--according to Xenophon there was sufficient for twenty years. We
+find, moreover, that the fortifications of the city had been completed;
+the great extent which Nebuchadnezzar had allowed for the wall of the
+city must have enclosed a wide breadth of country, or at any rate
+pastures large enough to maintain numerous herds of cattle. And
+Nebuchadnezzar had not merely made the metropolis the fortress and
+strong camp of the kingdom, which could both receive and protect the
+military forces, he had covered the northern edge of the Babylonian land
+by a fortification of a hundred feet in height and twenty in thickness,
+which extended from the Euphrates to the Tigris. Behind this wall were
+the four great canals which connected the Euphrates and Tigris; and,
+protected by the great wall, there lay on the Euphrates at Sepharvaim,
+the reservoirs by which the level of the Euphrates could be raised or
+lowered, and the canals fed--the basin of which Nebuchadnezzar had
+availed himself in building his bridge over the Euphrates,--works which
+Herodotus, we do not know on what authority, but very erroneously
+ascribes to Nitocris, a queen of Babylon. By this wall, and the canals,
+which it would be necessary to dam up, any attack on the heart of
+Babylonia from the direction of Mesopotamia would be rendered almost
+impossible. The Tigris after leaving the mountains of Armenia, above the
+ruins of Nineveh, is not difficult to cross in the summer, yet an
+attack from this side would encounter almost insuperable difficulties,
+and even if they were overcome the attacking army would be involved in a
+labyrinth of canals, in which the cavalry of the Persians could be of
+little use. Hence Babylonia could only be reached by crossing the Tigris
+and Euphrates below that fortification and the canals,--a difficult
+task. If Cyrus attempted to cross both rivers above this point, and then
+march down the western shore till he was below the "Median wall," he
+would sacrifice altogether his communication with Persia, he would have
+to march southwards through the Syrian desert, and then force the
+passage of the Euphrates, in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, _i.e._
+in the face of the enemy's power, while he at the same time would find
+himself in the midst of an extensive system of canals, and of the swamps
+which lie along the Euphrates between Babylon and the sea (I. 300, III.
+359).
+
+Under these circumstances Cyrus could only cross the Tigris from the
+east, and attempt an attack below the wall which united the two rivers.
+This was the line which, in fact, he followed. Berosus told us that
+Cyrus "marched from Persia against Nabonetus," and Herodotus exhibits
+him as occupied for a whole summer on the Diala. His occupation there,
+as Herodotus describes it, is very unintelligible; the Diala was
+punished by being divided into 360 canals, and so made fordable. That
+Cyrus should punish a river is both unlikely in itself and opposed to
+the religious conceptions of Iran, which as we know required the
+greatest respect to be paid to rivers; more improbable still and indeed
+impossible is it in the midst of the war against Babylon. If we do not
+assume that the source from which Herodotus drew has wrongly brought a
+great work of irrigation which Cyrus undertook for the land of the Diala
+at some other time into connection with this war against Babylon, it
+must be the passage of the Tigris which is in question. What we know of
+the military achievements of Cyrus does not allow us to suppose that
+when once in the field he would give his opponents the respite of a
+whole summer. If we could assume that the army of Nabonetus had
+contested the crossing with Cyrus at this point, above the mouth of the
+Diala, where at a later time the Babylonians attempted to check
+Darius--and that they had ships of war in the Tigris then, as at the
+time of Darius--we might then suppose that Cyrus reached the Tigris
+above the mouth of the Diala, and not being able to force the crossing,
+attempted to carry off the water of the river into the Diala, above and
+behind his camp, and at length succeeded in his attempt. Even then the
+number of the canals is very remarkable. But whether the supposition is
+right or wrong, in any case we may assume on the basis of the narrative
+of Herodotus that Cyrus began the war against Babylon in the spring of
+the year 539 B.C., that he crossed the Tigris in the neighbourhood of
+the Diala, and that the only result of his first campaign was to effect
+the passage of the Tigris and retain command of the river. From this
+point, in the next spring, he led his army, as Herodotus states, in a
+diagonal across Babylonia towards the city. Nabonetus lost the battle,
+which, as Herodotus says, was fought in the neighbourhood of Babylon. Of
+Nabonetus and his fate the historian says not a word; we have therefore
+no reason to doubt the statement of Berosus, that Nabonetus did not
+again return to Babylon, but took refuge in Borsippa with a few
+companions, and was there besieged. It was obviously of great advantage
+to Cyrus to prevent the Babylonians from entering into their city, to
+drive away the army or part of it from the city in order to diminish the
+number of those who could defend the walls. He might accomplish this
+object by strengthening his right wing and advancing with it. If
+Nabonetus and a part of the fugitives were thus cut off from Babylon, he
+could only retire southwards beyond the Euphrates into the city nearest
+Babylon, _i.e._ into Borsippa, to seek protection at the great temple of
+Nebo (I. 291), the god whose name he bore.[75] The command in Babylon
+then devolved on his eldest son Bil-sar-ussur (p. 67). It follows from
+the narrative of Berosus that Cyrus quickly followed up the defeated
+army of the Babylonians, that a part of the Persians, treading on the
+heels of the fugitives, crossed the Euphrates below the city, to invest
+Borsippa and the metropolis on the western side. Berosus has told us
+that Cyrus marched against Babylon with a great force. His army must
+indeed have been strong enough to enclose the second circuit of the
+city, 35 or 40 miles (III. 372), to meet the attack of the whole force
+of the besieged on both sides of the river, and blockade Borsippa.
+
+But the inhabitants "ridiculed the siege," and Cyrus could make no
+progress--such is the account in Herodotus and Xenophon. Owing to the
+amount of provisions at the command of the city, an investment could not
+promise any result, and there was little prospect of storming the city.
+The broad and deep trenches in front of the walls made it impossible to
+undermine them; even if these could be filled up under the missiles of
+the enemy in a few places for the battering-rams to be brought forward,
+the strength of the walls was so great that they could not be broken.
+Still less possible was it to mount them. They were so high that the
+arrows of the besiegers could not reach them with force, and even if the
+attack was carried successfully over the trenches, no towers or ladders
+would be at once strong and high enough to bring the storming party to
+the turrets. According to Herodotus, a long time had elapsed before
+Cyrus formed his plan. He bethought himself of the basin which
+Nebuchadnezzar had excavated at Sepharvaim, for the regulation of the
+inundations of the Euphrates, for feeding and damming up the canals;
+this work constructed for the benefit and protection of the land he used
+for the destruction of the capital. The Euphrates was to be led off into
+this basin till its bed could be forded at Babylon. Then the storming of
+the city was to be attempted from the river, the walls on the banks
+being less high and strong. For this object it was necessary to obtain
+possession of the fortress of Sepharvaim, which guarded the sluices of
+the basin, to deepen or enlarge the basin itself, so that for a certain
+period it could receive the whole mass of water; it was also requisite
+that the canal which led into it should be widened and deepened; and
+lastly the course of the river beneath the basin, or rather beneath the
+great canals which led into the Tigris, must be barred by a dam, if the
+Euphrates was to flow into it. The army of Cyrus must have been so
+strong, that after leaving behind a sufficient number of men on both
+sides of the Euphrates to continue the blockade of the city and of
+Borsippa, it could detach an adequate force of troops and workmen to
+Sepharvaim. Before these works could be begun, the inundation which in
+June and July the Euphrates pours over the plain of Babylon must have
+been over; and before the return of the inundation in the autumn, which
+would imperil the whole undertaking, Sepharvaim must be captured, the
+Euphrates drawn off, and Babylon conquered. When Sepharvaim was in the
+hand of Cyrus, the stream, which had previously been dammed up with the
+exception of a small passage, must have been rapidly closed, that the
+Babylonians might not have their suspicions roused by the fall of the
+water, and guard the walls on the river with redoubled vigilance. The
+time was short. Pliny has preserved for us the statement that the large
+city of Agranis, which lay on the Euphrates, where the canal Nahr Malka
+(III. 359) flowed out of the river, was destroyed by the Persians; the
+walls of the city of Sepharvaim which had been rendered famous by the
+wisdom of the Chaldaeans (Sippara, I. 245), were also destroyed by the
+Persians, and Gobares (Gobryas), as some say, had drawn off the
+Euphrates.[76] To Gobryas Xenophon also allots an important share in the
+capture of Babylon (p. 78). Even without these statements of Pliny,
+which support the account of Herodotus, and inform us of the battles
+which the Persians had to fight on the Euphrates above Babylon in order
+to establish themselves at the entrance of the Nahr Malka, and get the
+mouth of the basin into their power--even without the hints of the
+prophets of the Hebrews about the "drying up of the springs," and
+"parching of the channels," and the remark of Polyaenus about the
+drawing off of the Euphrates at a marsh (the basin of Sepharvaim was,
+when not filled, a marsh), we must reject Xenophon's account of the
+drawing off of the Euphrates. Conceding the extent of the walls of
+Babylon, even if limited to one bank of the river, the work could not
+have been done in a year; and every day the execution of the work under
+the eyes of the besieged would have made its object more plain.
+
+The plan of Cyrus succeeded. The removal of Agranis and Sepharvaim made
+the execution possible; the number of hands at his disposal caused all
+the works to be carried out at the right time, _i.e._ before the
+inundation of the autumn. The storming of the city could be attempted by
+the river-bed both above and below the city.[77] That it took place and
+was accomplished on the night of a festival, is stated in the narratives
+of Herodotus and Xenophon, and indicated by the Hebrew prophet in the
+words "the night of my pleasure was turned to horror," and other phrases
+(p. 80); and the book of Daniel makes the same assertion. Aristotle is
+of opinion that even three days after, a third part of the population
+did not know that the city had been taken.[78] Xenophon represents the
+division of Gobryas as the first to reach the palace; the king falls
+when defending himself against their attack. By the palace is here meant
+one of the two royal citadels, either the older on the western bank, or
+the more recent on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, the palace of
+Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar (III. 375), and the king whom he
+represents as slain there, must have been Bil-sarussur, the son and
+heir of Nabonetus. As we have observed, the book of Daniel calls the
+king who lost his throne and life on the night of the festival,
+Belshazzar. In addition to him, Nabonetus had a second son, named
+Nebuchadnezzar (see below, chap, xiv.). Besides the palace of the king,
+Xenophon speaks of citadels of Babylon which surrendered to the
+conqueror on the following morning.
+
+After the capture of the metropolis, which was followed by the surrender
+of Borsippa, and the capture of Nabonetus (538 B.C.), Cyrus, so far as
+we can tell, showed clemency both towards the king, whom he caused to be
+taken to Carmania, and to the city of Babylon. The kings of Asshur
+treated besieged princes and conquered cities in a manner very different
+from that in which Cyrus treated Astyages, Croesus and Sardis, Nabonetus
+and Babylon. Babylonia was not oppressed; the city was not destroyed.
+Cyrus stepped into the place of the native king. The Babylonian tablets
+after the capture of the city and the fall of the kingdom, date from the
+years of the reign of Cyrus over Babylonia, the years "of Kurus, king of
+Babylon, king of the lands."[79] The city of Babylon retained her
+temples and palaces and her mighty walls. Herodotus tells us expressly
+that Cyrus did no injury to the walls or the gates of Babylon,[80] and
+twenty years afterwards we find the city in possession of her
+impregnable works. Xenophon remarks that Cyrus placed troops in the
+citadels, set captains over them, left behind a sufficient garrison in
+the city and charged the inhabitants with the maintenance of it; the
+arrangements then made for keeping guard were in existence still.[81]
+If, therefore, the excerpt of Josephus from Berosus tells us that Cyrus
+destroyed the walls "outside the city," this can only refer to the great
+wall which Nebuchadnezzar had built from the Euphrates to the Tigris
+above Sepharvaim, as a protection against an attack from the north. It
+would have been a heavy task to level with the ground this fortification
+throughout its entire length of from 60 to 75 miles, the Persians
+therefore contented themselves with making large breaches in it. The
+wall was in this condition when Xenophon came with the ten thousand to
+Babylon.[82]
+
+The fall of the metropolis had decided the fortune of the Babylonian
+kingdom, and the provinces. The most important of these was Syria, with
+the great trading places of the Phenicians on the Mediterranean; we
+remember how many and what severe struggles the subjection of Syria had
+cost Nebuchadnezzar. At the present moment the approach of the Persians
+was enough to cause Syria to recognise the supremacy of Cyrus almost
+without a blow. Herodotus tells us that the Phenicians voluntarily
+submitted to the Persians; Xenophon mentions that Cyrus had subjugated
+the Phenicians; Polybius observes that Gaza alone among all the cities
+of Syria offered resistance; the rest, terrified at the approach of the
+Persians and the greatness of their power, had surrendered themselves
+and their lands to them. With the capture of Gaza Cyrus stood on the
+borders of Egypt. As we have seen, Nebuchadnezzar allowed the states and
+cities of Syria to retain their native princes, so long as these
+preserved their fidelity to him; even over the Phenician cities he and
+his successors placed men of their own royal or priestly families to be
+at once judges or princes of the cities and viceroys of Babylon. That
+Tyre surrendered without a struggle, as Herodotus and Polybius tell us
+of Syria, that Cyrus, like Nebuchadnezzar before him, left the princes
+who submitted in command, follows from the fact that Hiram, whom
+Nabonetus had made king of Tyre, continued to reign over the city under
+Cyrus.[83] If Cyrus felt himself compelled to establish princes in the
+Greek cities of the coast for the first time, who owed their position to
+him, and could not maintain it without his aid, the cities of Phoenicia
+had long been accustomed to receive these princes from distant
+sovereigns. Cyrus and his successors confined themselves in their choice
+to the old royal families of the Phenician cities; at any rate we find,
+even under the Achaemenids, men with the hereditary names at the head of
+Tyre and Sidon. Yet the relations of the Phenician cities did not remain
+without change. Cyrus, as it seems, availed himself of the old rivalry
+between Tyre and Sidon to win a further support for his power. Ever
+since the foundation of Gades, and the times of the first Hiram of Tyre,
+the contemporary of Solomon, Sidon had been gradually forced by Tyre
+into the second place; under the Persian kingdom Sidon again appears as
+the first city of Phoenicia, and her kings have the precedence of those
+of Tyre and the other cities.[84] To the population on the whole the
+change to the Persian dominion would be regarded with indifference if
+not with pleasure; a connection with the Persian empire opened a far
+more extensive market for trade, and secured and protected intercourse
+over a far greater extent of country than the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+The ancient kingdom of Babylon, in which the civilisation of the Semitic
+stock had taken root some fifteen centuries previously, and had attained
+to such peculiar development, which had struggled so long and stubbornly
+against the younger kingdom of Assyria, and when it finally succumbed,
+had been raised to yet greater power than it had ever attained
+to in old times, under the brilliant reigns of Nabopolassar and
+Nebuchadnezzar--which had united the branches of the Semitic stem from
+the Tigris to the Mediterranean, from the foot of the Armenian mountains
+to the deserts of Arabia--had succumbed to the attack of Cyrus after a
+brief existence, sixty-nine years after the fall of Nineveh. The
+predominance exercised for so many centuries by Semitic culture and
+Semitic arms through the old Babylonian, the Assyrian, and the second
+Babylonian kingdom, passed to a tribe of different character, language,
+and culture--to the Arians of Iran.
+
+It was this violent change, which brought to a Semitic tribe liberation
+for its fellow Semites. The hopes of the Jews were at last fulfilled.
+The fall of Babylon had avenged the fall of Jerusalem, and the
+subjugation of Syria to the armies of Babylon opened the way for their
+return. Cyrus did not belie the confidence which the Jews had so eagerly
+offered him; without hesitation he gave the exiles permission to return
+and erect again their shrine at Jerusalem. The return of the captives
+and the foundation of a new state of the Jews was very much to his
+interest; it might contribute to support his empire in Syria. He did not
+merely count on the gratitude of the returning exiles, but as any
+revival of the Babylonian kingdom, or rebellion of the Syrians against
+the Persian empire, imperilled the existence of this community, which
+had not only to be established anew, but would never be very strong, it
+must necessarily oppose any such attempts. Forty-nine years--seven
+Sabbatical years, instead of the ten announced by Jeremiah--had passed
+since the destruction of Jerusalem, and more than sixty since Jeremiah
+had first announced the seventy years of servitude to Babylon. Cyrus
+commissioned Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, a grandson of Jechoniah,
+the king who had been carried away captive, and therefore a scion of the
+ancient royal race, and a descendant of David, to be the leader of the
+returning exiles, to establish them in their abode, and be the head of
+the community;[85] he bade his treasurer Mithridates give out to him the
+sacred vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away as trophies to
+Babylon, and placed in the temple of Bel; there are said to have been
+more than 5000 utensils of gold and silver, baskets, goblets, cups,
+knives, etc. But all the Jews in Babylon did not avail themselves of the
+permission. Like the Israelites deported by Sargon into Media and
+Assyria some 180 years previously, many of the Jews brought to
+Mesopotamia and Babylonia at the time of Jechoniah and Zedekiah, had
+found there a new home, which they preferred to the land of their
+fathers. But the priests (to the number of more than 3000[86]), many of
+the families of the heads of the tribes, all who cared for the sanctuary
+and the old country, all in whom Jehovah "awoke the spirit," as the Book
+of Ezra says, began the march over the Euphrates. With Zerubbabel was
+Joshua, the high priest, the most distinguished among all the Jews, a
+grandson of the high priest Zeraiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had executed
+after the capture of Jerusalem. The importance of the priests had
+increased in the captivity; they had become the natural heads and judges
+of the Jews, and the people following the guidance of the prophets, had
+learned to regard Jehovah as their peculiar lord and king. It was a
+considerable multitude which left the land "beyond the stream," the
+waters of Babylon, to sit once more under the fig-tree in their ancient
+home, and build up the city of David and the temple of Jehovah from
+their ruins; 42,360 freemen, with 7337 Hebrew men-servants and
+maid-servants; their goods were carried by 435 camels, 736 horses, 250
+mules, and 6720 asses (537 B.C.)[87] The exodus of the Jews from Babylon
+is accompanied by a prophet with cries of joy, and announcements filled
+with the wildest hopes. Was not the fall of Babylon and the return home
+a sure pledge that the anger of Jehovah was appeased? Must not the dawn
+of that brilliant time be come, which the prophets had always pointed
+out behind the execution of the punishment? Could not the most joyful
+expectation prevail that Jehovah's grace would be greater henceforth
+than his anger in the past? Thus, in the spirit, the prophet saw all the
+scattered members of the people of Israel, who since the time of
+Tiglath-Pilesar II. had been carried away, or fled for refuge, return
+from the distant lands, from Egypt and the isles; Jerusalem has put on a
+new splendour which far exceeds that of old days; and therefore he gives
+expression to the confident expectation that the people of Jehovah will
+be the first nation of the earth, and the resurgent Zion will be the
+centre and the protector of all nations. "Go forth from Babylon," he
+cries; "fly from the land of the Chaldaeans! Proclaim it with shouts
+of joy, tell it to the end of the earth and say: 'Jehovah hath redeemed
+his servant Jacob.'"[88] "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
+of him that bringeth glad tidings, that publisheth peace, that saith
+unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.[89] Up, up, go forth, touch no unclean
+person; go forth from among them. Cleanse yourselves, ye that bear
+Jehovah's vessels.[90] Ye shall go forth in joy and be led in peace; the
+mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and
+all the trees shall clap their hands.[91] Jehovah goes before you, and
+the God of Israel brings up the rear. Was it not Jehovah who made the
+depths of the sea to be your pathway, so that His redeemed passed
+through? In the desert through which they passed they thirsted not; He
+clave the rock and the waters flowed.[92] So shall the ransomed of
+Jehovah return, and come with singing to Zion, and everlasting joy shall
+be upon their heads; sorrow and sighing shall flee away.[93] O, poor
+ones, surrounded with misery and comfortless; for a little time Jehovah
+left thee, but He takes thee up again with greater love, and I will have
+mercy on thee for ever, saith Jehovah. As I swore that the waters of
+Noah should not come again upon the earth, so do I swear to be angry
+with thee no more. The mountains may melt and tremble, but my mercy will
+leave thee no more. Jehovah calls thee as an outcast sorrowful woman,
+and thy God speaks to thee as to a bride who has been put away;[94] thy
+ruins, and deserts, and wasted land, which was destroyed from generation
+to generation--thy people build up the ruins, and renew the ancient
+cities.[95] Behold, I will make thy desert like Eden, and thy wilderness
+like the garden of the Lord; I will lay thy stones with bright lead, and
+thy foundations with sapphires, and make thy towers of rubies and thy
+gates of carbuncles.[96] Joy and delight is in them, thanksgiving and
+the sound of strings. The wealth of the sea shall come to thee, and the
+treasures of the nations shall be thine;[97] like a stream will I bring
+salvation upon Israel, and the treasures of the nations like an
+overflowing river.[98] Thy sons hasten onward; those that laid thee
+waste go forth from thee.[99] Lift up thine eyes and see; thy sons come
+from far, and I will gather them to those that are gathered together.
+The islands and the ships of Tarshish wait to bring thy children from
+afar, their gold and their silver with them.[100] The land will be too
+narrow for the inhabitants; widen the place for thy tent, let the
+carpets of thy habitation be spread--delay not. Draw out the rope; to
+the right and to the left must thou be widened.[101] I will set up my
+banner for the nations, that they bring thy sons in their arm, and thy
+daughters shall be carried on the shoulders. Kings shall be thy
+guardians, and queens thy nursing-mothers; I will bow them to the earth
+before thee, and they shall lick the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt
+know that I am Jehovah, and they who wait patiently for me shall not be
+put to shame."[102]
+
+Such expectations and hopes were far from being realised. The Edomites
+had, in the mean-time, extended their borders, and obtained possession
+of the South of Judah, but the land immediately round Jerusalem was free
+and no doubt almost depopulated. As the returning exiles contented
+themselves with the settlement at Jerusalem, the towns to the North,
+Anathoth, Gebah, Michmash, Kirjath-Jearim, and some others--only
+Bethlehem is mentioned to the South,[103] they found nothing to impede
+them. Their first care was the restoration of the worship, according to
+the law and custom of their fathers, for which object an altar of
+burnt-offerings was erected on the site of the temple, in order to offer
+the appointed sacrifice at morning and evening. The priests, minstrels,
+and Levites were separated according to their families, and those who
+could not prove their priestly descent were rejected for the sacred
+service;[104] the attempt was then made to arrange the rest of the
+exiles according to their families, in order to decide their claims and
+rights to certain possessions and lands. Then voluntary gifts were
+collected from all for the rebuilding of the temple; contributions even
+came in from those who had remained in Babylonia, so that 70,000 pieces
+of gold and 5000 minae of silver are said to have been amassed. Tyrian
+masons were hired, and agreements made with Tyrian carpenters, to fell
+cedars in Lebanon, and bring them to Joppa, for which Cyrus had given
+his permission. The foundation of the temple was laid in the second year
+of the return (536 B.C.). The priests appeared in their robes with
+trumpets, and the Levites with cymbals, to praise Jehovah; "that He
+might be gracious, and His mercy be upon Israel for ever." Those of the
+priests and elders who had seen the old temple are said to have wept
+aloud; "but many raised their voices in joy so that the echo was heard
+far off."[105] We have evidence of the grateful and elevated tone which
+filled the exiles in those days, in songs, where we read: "They pressed
+upon me in my youth, but they overpowered me not. The ploughers ploughed
+upon my back and made long furrows. Jehovah is just; he broke the bonds
+of the wicked. Praised be Jehovah, who did not give us over as prey to
+their teeth; our soul escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
+When Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion, our way was filled with
+joy; and they said among the nations: Jehovah hath done great things for
+them! Jehovah hath chosen Zion, and taken it to be His abode and
+resting-place for ever and ever. There He will clothe His priests with
+salvation, and exalt the power of David, and clothe his enemies with
+shame."[106]
+
+The fortunate beginning of the restoration of the city and temple soon
+met with difficulties. The people of Samaria, who were a mixture of the
+remnant of the Israelites and the strangers whom Sargon had brought
+there after the capture of Samaria (III. 86), and Esarhaddon at a later
+date (III. 154), came to meet the exiles in a friendly spirit, and
+offered them assistance, from which we must conclude that in spite of
+the foreign admixture the Israelitish blood and the worship of Jehovah
+were preponderant in Samaria. The new temple would thus have been the
+common sanctuary of the united people of Israel. But the "sons of
+captivity" were too proud of the sorrows which they had undergone, and
+the fidelity which they had preserved to Jehovah, and their pure
+descent, to accept this offer. Hence the old quarrel between Israel and
+Judah broke out anew, and the exiles soon felt the result. After their
+repulse the Samaritans set themselves to hinder the building by force;
+"they terrified the exiles that they built no more, and hired
+counsellors to make the attempt vain during the whole of the remainder
+of the reign of Cyrus."[107] The reasons which these counsellors brought
+forward before Cyrus against the continuation of the buildings at
+Jerusalem, would be the same which were afterwards brought before
+Artaxerxes Longimanus; namely, that when Jerusalem and its walls were
+finished the city would become rebellious and disobedient, as it was
+previously under the kings of Babylon.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[53] The reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Evilmerodach, Neriglissar, and the
+accession of Nabonetus in 555 B.C., are now fixed not only by the canon
+of Ptolemy but also by the Babylonian tablets, which give forty-three
+years for Nebuchadnezzar (604-561), two years for Evilmerodach
+(561-559), four years for Neriglissar (559-555), seventeen years for
+Nabonetus, (555-538); "Transactions Bibl. Society," 6, p. 47-53. Oppert
+(_l. c._ p. 262) also mentions a tablet of Labasi-marduk (Labasoarchad),
+who sat on the throne for nine months. Boscawen reads Lakhabasi-Kudur,
+_l. c._ p. 78. On the elevation of Hiram in Tyre, vol. III. 394.
+
+[54] Ps. and Isa. xxi. 2.
+
+[55] Fragm. 14, ed. Mueller.
+
+[56] Ps. cxxxvii.
+
+[57] Ps. liii., liv.
+
+[58] Jer. 1. 17-19.
+
+[59] Jer. 1. 2; li. 44.
+
+[60] Jer. li. 13, 53, 58.
+
+[61] Jer. 1. 14, 29; li. 27.
+
+[62] V. 314 _n_.
+
+[63] Deut. Isa. xiii. 17-22; xiv. 4, 11-14. [Cf. Cheyne, "Isaiah," Vol.
+II., Essay xi.]
+
+[64] Deut. Isa. xli. 2, 3; xli. 25; xliv. 28. Kohut, "Antiparsismus in
+Deut. Yesaias, Z. D. M. G." 1876, 3, 711 ff.
+
+[65] Deut. Isa. xlv. 1, 2, 3. Vol. III. 369.
+
+[66] Deut. Isa. xlvii. 1-13.
+
+[67] Deut. Isa. xlix. 14-16.
+
+[68] Deut. Isa. li. 17. Vol. III. 326.
+
+[69] Deut. Isa. xlix. 13.
+
+[70] Deut. Isa. xlvi. 11; xlviii. 14, 15.
+
+[71] Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 7, 5.
+
+[72] Jer. li. 31, 32, 39; Deut. Isa. xiv. 7-9; xxi. 4-9.
+
+[73] Dan. v. 1-31.
+
+[74] Beros. fragm. 14; Euseb. "Chron." 1. 42, ed. Schoene.
+
+[75] On the site of Borsippa, Vol. I. 291, and on Nebuchadnezzar's
+buildings at the temple of Nebo, at Borsippa, III. 385.
+
+[76] Pliny, "H. N." 6, 30.
+
+[77] Sir Henry Rawlinson spoke in the Asiatic Society on Nov. 17, 1879,
+of a Babylonian cylinder brought home by Rassam, which, though broken,
+is said to give an account in thirty-seven legible lines of the capture
+of Babylon by Cyrus, and to contain a genealogical tree of Cyrus. As yet
+I have not been able to learn anything further. [Cf. Cheyne, "Isaiah,"
+Vol. II., Essay xi.]
+
+[78] "Pol." 3, 1, 12.
+
+[79] Oppert et Menant, "Docum. Juridiq." p. 266.
+
+[80] Herod. 3, 159.
+
+[81] "Cyri inst." 7, 5, 34, 69, 70.
+
+[82] Xenoph. "Anab." 2, 4. Vol. III. 366.
+
+[83] Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 1, 1, 4; 7, 4, 1. On Hiram, above, p. 67;
+Joseph. "c. Apion," 1, 21; Polybius, 16, 40. The statement of Polybius
+might be referred to the campaign of Cambyses against Egypt, if the
+supremacy of Cyrus in Syria were not proved by other evidence, as Ezra
+iii. 7, and the return of the Jews. Herodotus also would not have
+omitted the siege of Gaza in his detailed description of the march of
+Cambyses against Egypt, if it had not taken place until then. The
+general expression in Herodotus (3, 34) cannot outweigh all these
+proofs; it only says with the exaggerated tone of flattery that Cambyses
+first placed a fleet on the sea, and claims the subjugation of Cyprus
+for him. As a fact Cyrus left the islands of Anatolia, except Chios and
+Lesbos, which voluntarily submitted, uninjured, and did not call on them
+for a fleet, for which there were many good reasons from the point of
+view of a Persian king.
+
+[84] Herod. 3, 19; 5, 104, 110; 7, 96, 98, 128; Xenoph. "Ages." 2, 30;
+Diod. 16, 41. The rebellion of Sidon in 351 B.C. again reversed the
+relations.
+
+[85] 1 Chron. iii. 17-19.
+
+[86] Ezra ii. 36-39.
+
+[87] Ezra ch. ii. As Babylon was conquered in the summer of 538, the
+first year of Cyrus in Babylon reaches to the summer of 537; Ezra i. 1,
+3; Beros. fragm. 15, ed. Mueller.
+
+[88] Deut. Isa. xlviii. 20.
+
+[89] Deut. Isa. lii. 7.
+
+[90] Deut. Isa. lii. 11.
+
+[91] Deut. Isa. lv. 12.
+
+[92] Deut. Isa. xlviii. 21.
+
+[93] Deut. Isa. li. 11.
+
+[94] Deut. Isa. liv. 6-10.
+
+[95] Deut. Isa. xlix. 19; lviii. 12.
+
+[96] Deut. Isa. liv. 11.
+
+[97] Deut. Isa. lx. 5.
+
+[98] Deut. Isa. lxvi. 12.
+
+[99] Deut. Isa. xlix. 17.
+
+[100] Deut. Isa. lx. 4-9.
+
+[101] Deut. Isa. liv. 2.
+
+[102] Deut. Isa. xlix. 22, 23.
+
+[103] Ewald, "Volk. Israel." 3, 91.
+
+[104] Ezra ii. 59-63.
+
+[105] Ezra iii. 8-13.
+
+[106] Ps. cxxix.-cxxxii.
+
+[107] Ezra iv. 1-5, 24. It is obvious that verse 24 must follow on verse
+5 in chap. iv. The verses 6-23 treat of things which happened under
+Xerxes and Artaxerxes, and they have got into the wrong place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE KINGDOM OF CYRUS.
+
+
+We were able to prove that Cyrus, soon after his victory over Astyages
+and the Medes, reduced the Parthians and Hyrcanians beneath his
+dominion, that the Caducians, the Armenians, and the Cappadocians were
+his subjects before the Lydian war, that his empire at this period
+extended to the Halys. How far he had already advanced towards the
+Bactrians and Sacae must remain uncertain, owing to the contradiction
+which exists on this point between the summary narrative of Herodotus
+and the excerpt from Ctesias. Afterwards the Lydian war and its sequel
+made Cyrus master of the whole of Asia Minor. Between the Lydian and
+Babylonian wars Herodotus represents him as conquering the whole of
+upper Asia, one nation after the other, and Berosus as conquering the
+whole of Asia. When our knowledge is so scanty, it is impossible to fix
+the campaigns of Cyrus in the East and the West with greater exactness,
+or even to ascertain clearly what successes he achieved in these regions
+before and after the Babylonian war. We merely perceive that Elam was
+subject to Cyrus before the attack on Babylon (p. 83), and if a
+habitation could be allotted to Nabonetus in Carmania, that country
+must have been subject before the war which destroyed the Babylonian
+kingdom; we may also conclude with great probability that Cyrus would
+not have marched against Babylon before he felt himself secure in the
+East. Hence we may assume that Iran was subject before the Babylonian
+war, and the campaigns which resulted in the conquest of the Gandarians
+and their northern neighbours, the Sogdiani and Chorasmians, must be
+ascribed to the period after this war. Whether the nations in the north
+of Armenia, on the isthmus between the Black and the Caspian Sea, the
+Saspeires and Alarodians in the East, and the Colchians and Phasians in
+the valley of the Phasis, were reduced by Cyrus or his immediate
+successors remains doubtful. In the East he had conquered the Drangians,
+Areians, Arachoti, Gedrosians, and Gandarians, to the south of the Cabul
+on the Indus,[108] and imposed tribute on the Acvakas to the north of
+the Cabul.[109] In the land of the Arachoti he destroyed, as we are
+told, the city of Capisa; Darius mentions a city, Kapisakani in
+Arachosia, and Capisa is also mentioned elsewhere in later writers.[110]
+Nearchus tells us that Cyrus undertook a campaign against the land of
+the Indians; on the march thither he lost the greater part of his army
+in Gedrosia, owing to the desert and the difficulties of the way;
+according to the account of the natives Cyrus and seven men alone
+remained out of the whole army.[111] In his account of Alexander of
+Macedon, Diodorus remarks that after he had encamped at Drangiana (V.
+7), he came to the Ariaspi, who were neighbours to the Gedrosians. These
+Ariaspi (whose abodes we have already discovered in the neighbourhood
+of the Etymandros) were called "Benefactors" for the following reason.
+On one of his campaigns, Cyrus was in the desert, and reduced to extreme
+distress for want of necessaries; famine compelled his men to eat each
+other; till the Ariaspians brought up 30,000 waggons, filled with
+provisions. Thus rescued, Cyrus allowed them immunity from
+contributions, honoured them with other presents, and gave them the name
+of "Benefactors."[112] Strabo also tells us that the Ariaspians received
+this name from Cyrus, and so does Arrian, though he gives a different
+and less appropriate reason for it, saying that they had assisted Cyrus
+in his campaign against the Scyths.[113] Curtius tells us, as a reason
+for the name, that the Ariaspi had aided the army of Cyrus when
+suffering from want of provisions and the cold, with supplies and
+shelter.[114] Herodotus observes that those who had done a service to
+the king were called "Orosangians." In Old Bactrian, _Huvarezyanha_
+means the doer of a kind action. Other instances are not wanting to
+prove that the Persian kings followed the example of Cyrus in conferring
+this title as a distinction.
+
+We may regard it as certain that Cyrus had gone beyond Gedrosia and
+reduced the Gandarians and the Acvakas to the north of the Cabul; that
+he afterwards advanced to the Indus, and his army was brought into great
+distress in the deserts of Gedrosia, as was afterwards the case with
+Alexander's army on his return from the Indus. The Ariaspians, from the
+position of their country, could only be in a position to bring aid if
+Cyrus were returning from the Indus, or if the distress was so great on
+the outward march that he felt himself compelled to return when in
+Gedrosia. Megasthenes distinctly states that Cyrus did not cross the
+Indus or set foot in India.[115] In the north-east he had reduced the
+Margiani and Bactrians to lasting obedience. As he had gained a good
+frontier in the east on the Indus, he set himself to obtain a similar
+frontier in the north-east. The northern neighbours of the Hyrcanians,
+Parthians and Margiani, the Sacae and the Chorasmians on the lower Oxus,
+were subject to him. With the conquest of the Sogdiani on the western
+slope of the Belurdagh Cyrus touched the course of the Jaxartes. There,
+on a stream running into that river, he built six citadels and a large
+fortress to secure the border against the nomads of the steppes beyond.
+These, like the fortress in the land of the Cadusians (V. 388), bore the
+name of Cyrus. The Greeks call the north-eastern Cyrus, Cyreshata,
+_i.e._ the farthest Cyrus (V. 22).
+
+From the mountains of his native land Cyrus had subjugated in thirty
+years three great kingdoms--Media, Lydia, and Babylonia; he had
+conquered Asia from the shore of the AEgean Sea to the Indus, and from
+the brook of Egypt to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas and the
+banks of the Jaxartes. None of the conquerors before him--no Pharaoh of
+Egypt--none of the ancient kings of Elam or Babylon, or of the restless
+sovereigns of Assyria, nor even the Mede Cyaxares--had achieved results
+which could be distantly compared with the successes of Cyrus. And he
+had done more than merely subdue this region; he had understood how to
+maintain his conquests; he was not compelled like the rulers of Assyria
+to begin each year a new struggle against his defeated opponents; in
+his unbounded empire he knew how to institute arrangements which ensured
+an existence of two whole centuries. Hence it would be of great service
+to know more precisely what his regulations were for the management of
+his empire. But we are almost entirely without information about them.
+We can only attempt to draw conclusions from certain hints supplied by
+tradition as to the form which Cyrus gave to his dominions. We have
+already remarked that the Greeks ascribed to Cyrus the foundation of
+excellent institutions, and placed him by the side of Lycurgus; they
+maintained that at the time of Cyrus the Persians were in a condition
+midway between slavery and freedom. Arrian observes that the Persians,
+with whom Cyrus deprived the Medes of the empire and subjugated the
+remaining nations of Asia partly by arms and partly by voluntary
+submission, were poor and the inhabitants of a rugged country, and
+obeyed regulations which made their training like that of the
+Spartans.[116] We can plainly see that the kingdom rested on the power
+and devotion of the Persians; they were the ruling tribe beside the
+sovereign, and in addition to the proud consciousness that they were the
+lords of the empire Cyrus allowed them to enjoy the fruits and
+advantages of dominion. The Persians were free from contributions and
+taxes for the empire, they had only to render military service. Xenophon
+tells us that in the time of Cyrus the owners of land furnished
+excellent horsemen, who took the field; the rest served for pay. The
+garrisons in the fortresses were composed of Persians who were
+handsomely treated.[117] The Greeks have already told us that Cyrus
+permitted the Persians to express their opinions freely and openly, and
+paid honour to those who gave good counsel, and if they assert that no
+one rewarded services more liberally (V. 390), these rewards would
+mainly fall into the hands of the Persians. From the Persians were first
+and chiefly elected the captains of the armies, the commanders of the
+contingents which the subject nations had to furnish, and the viceroys
+who governed the conquered provinces. Yet nearer to the king stood the
+six princes of the Persian tribes (the prince of the Pasargadae was the
+king), the descendants of those who in union with Achaemenes had once
+governed the Persian nation. Like the king himself they wore the upright
+tiara; from their families the king had to choose his legitimate wife,
+while his daughters were married to the sons of the tribal princes.[118]
+The wife of Cyrus was the daughter of the tribal prince Pharnaspes. The
+chiefs of the Persians were the nearest to the throne; they entered into
+the king's presence unannounced, and no doubt formed with the king the
+chief council of the kingdom. Besides this chief council there was a
+supreme court of seven judges. These, as Herodotus tells us, were chosen
+men, who had to pronounce sentence for the Persians, and explain the
+customs of the fathers; and "everything was brought before them." They
+held their office for life, unless convicted of injustice.[119] We also
+find that the son succeeded the father. But even these judges were
+subject to the supervision and authority of the king, and if it was
+proved that any of them had received bribes he inflicted the severest
+penalties.[120]
+
+"At the time of the Medes," Herodotus tells us, "the nations ruled over
+each other; the Medes ruled over all, and directly over those nearest to
+them; these again over their neighbours, who in their turn ruled over
+those who lay on their borders. In the same way the Persians estimate
+the value of nations. They consider themselves by far the best of all
+nations; next in order come those who live nearest to them, and those
+who are most remote are held in least estimation."[121] If Herodotus has
+here correctly represented the self-consciousness of the Persians his
+statement also obviously implies the pride of race, the community of
+language and religion, which united the Persians with the kindred
+nations of the Iranian table-land, and most closely with the Medes, and
+the nations of Western Iran. This feeling presented itself to Cyrus as a
+valuable political consideration, and he felt himself called upon to win
+for his kingdom the Medes as the nation nearest akin to the Persians and
+more numerous. With this view he spared and respected Astyages, took his
+daughter into his house, and made her his wife, and even in the first
+decade of his reign had no hesitation in appointing Medes as generals
+and viceroys; the custom of his successors, to reside for some time in
+Ecbatana, in order by this means to attach the Medes to the kingdom,
+must, no doubt, go back to Cyrus.
+
+But even towards the conquered nations of alien race, language, and
+religion Cyrus conducted himself in a manner very different from the
+manner of the kings of Asshur before him. Their kings were not executed,
+their cities were not burnt, and their religion and worship were left
+uninjured. On the other hand Cyrus did not content himself with the
+homage of the conquered princes, nor did he, like the Assyrians, allow
+men of the same nation to take their place. Execution, cruel treatment,
+imprisonment of the conquered prince, alone or with his family, could
+only embitter the conquered nation against the conqueror. The
+continuance of the conquered prince in power only supplied them with the
+impulse and means to recover their former independence, and princes
+chosen in their place from the midst of the subjects would soon follow
+the lead of the national tendencies, and their own ambition. Astyages,
+Croesus, and Nabonetus received residences and possessions in distant
+regions, which allowed them to live in dignity and opulence; and where
+the throne remained in the families of the native rulers in districts of
+moderate extent which had submitted voluntarily, as in Cilicia and the
+cities of the Phenicians, this was not done without certain limitations
+and safe regulations. Cyrus set viceroys over the parts of his empire,
+who were supplied with troops in moderate numbers. The chief cities,
+such as Sardis and Babylon, like the border fortresses, were secured by
+garrisons of Persian troops. Cyrus did not impose heavy burdens on the
+conquered nations; he left it to themselves to fix the amount of the
+yearly contributions which they should pay into his treasury, though it
+is true that the amount of the favour they had to expect from the king
+depended on the tribute. The viceroys were subordinate to the king, but
+with this restriction they exercised supreme authority in the regions
+over which they presided. Their main duty was to preserve the province
+in obedience and peace. Whether the command that they were to look after
+the development of agriculture, and the growth of the population, is
+traceable to Cyrus (V. 206), we cannot decide, but we see clearly that
+the various communities and regions managed their own affairs
+independently, and governed themselves. The local political institutions
+were not attacked and removed any more than the religious. It was of no
+importance whether the local organisation was dynastic or republican,
+though in more important communities such as the Greek cities--the
+Anatolian, and the Phenician cities on the Syrian coast, Cyrus gave the
+preference to the dynastic form, inasmuch as the dynasties there were
+compelled to seek from the king the support necessary for maintaining
+their power. If princes of the old royal families were set up over the
+cities of the Phenicians, the rise of party leaders to a princely
+position was favoured among the Greeks. The local interests of one town
+were also advanced against those of another, _e.g._ the interests of
+Sidon against those of Tyre, and the interests of Miletus against the
+other cities. The persons thus favoured were by this means closely
+connected with the kingdom; in the event of a change of dominion they
+had to fear the loss of the privileges which they had attained. Moreover
+Cyrus had at hand rewards and distinctions of merit, not for the
+Persians only, but also for his subjects in other nations. Xenophon lays
+stress on the liberality of Cyrus towards those who had done him good
+service as the chief means by which he established and strengthened his
+empire, and if he tells us that the kings of Persia had continued what
+Cyrus had begun, we may certainly assume that the magnificent list of
+distinctions and honours, which we find in use at a later time in the
+Persian empire, goes back to Cyrus. The merits which whole regions and
+tribes had done to the king were also rewarded. We have already seen
+that the title "Benefactors," with which largesses in land were
+joined,[122] was given not only to distinguished men but also to tribes.
+"What conqueror except Cyrus," asks Xenophon, "has been called Father by
+his subjects, a name which is obviously given not to the plunderer but
+to the Benefactor?" By gentleness and liberality he induced men to
+prefer him to son, or brother, or father. As he cared for his subjects
+and treated them as a father, so did they honour him as a father. In
+this way he was able to reign alone, and rule according to his own will
+his kingdom which was the greatest and most splendid of all.[123]
+
+Though this description of Xenophon is idealised, though even the more
+sober statements of the Greeks, the words of Plato already quoted, the
+statements of Herodotus, that the Persians held no one to be the equal
+of Cyrus, that they called him father because he had ruled them with a
+father's gentleness and had provided them with all good things,[124] and
+the opinion of Aeschylus who speaks of Cyrus as a wise and right-minded
+man, primarily represent the grateful memory which the Persians
+cherished of the founder of their kingdom, Cyrus is undoubtedly the
+least bloody among the conquerors and founders of empires known to the
+history of the East. His object was not to terrify the conquered nations
+and hold them in check by arms, but to reconcile them to the new
+government. In Babylon he simply took the place of the native king; like
+him, he took measures for the maintenance of the great temples of the
+land; on a brick found at Senkereh we read: "Kuras, maintainer of
+Bit-Saggatu" (_i.e._ of the great temple of Merodach at Babylon) "and
+Bit-Zida" (the temple of Nebo at Borsippa), "son of Kambuziya, I, the
+king."[126] Hence he not only left his subjects their religion and
+rites, but was careful of them. In the same way their administration of
+justice remained undisturbed, and so far as possible he allowed them to
+rule themselves. He did not attempt to exhaust their means; on the
+contrary, agriculture and trade were favoured, and wherever a rebellion
+was attempted and suppressed, the supression was not followed by any
+sanguinary punishment. In spite of our defective information we may
+still recognise some trace of his keen and unerring political insight.
+The manner in which he organised his empire deserves the higher praise
+because it is the product of his own mind, and not a copy of any
+pattern. The grounds for the clemency and moderation by which he was
+guided, we must seek not only in the religious views of Iran, but to a
+still greater degree in his character and his political conceptions.
+That along with the effort to satisfy the Persians and win the hearts of
+his subjects,--with the clever opposition of interests, and most lavish
+application of rewards and distinctions,--Cyrus did not neglect real
+support and means of power, is proved by the care which Xenophon
+represents him as bestowing on the army, the fortification of
+Pasargadae, the garrisons in the chief cities of the subject lands, the
+fortresses on the borders of the kingdom. The commanders in all these
+places, no less than the "chiliarchs" of the garrisons, were nominated
+directly by Cyrus, the lists of the garrisons were brought before the
+king. The arrangement of the Persian army in divisions of ten battalions
+of a thousand men each, which were again broken up into ten companies,
+with seven corporals each, is attributed by Xenophon to Cyrus. He put
+an end to all skirmishing with horsemen cavalry, by clothing cavalry and
+horses in mail, and supplying each soldier with a javelin only, so that
+they fought man against man; the infantry he armed with the wicker,
+leather-covered shield, battle-axe, and knife, also with a view to close
+fighting.[127] To meet the costs of government and the army, Cyrus
+collected a large treasure, which he deposited in his palace at
+Pasargadae. Pliny has preserved the statement that the conquest of Asia
+yielded to Cyrus 24,000 pounds of gold besides that which had been
+manufactured, and the golden vessels, and 500,000 talents of
+silver.[128] Though this statement may be exaggerated, the gold
+accumulated by Alyattes and Croesus at Sardis, the treasures of the
+royal palaces at Ecbatana and Babylon, all of which fell into the hands
+of Cyrus, were not inconsiderable. In both these latter places the booty
+of Assyria was collected, and in Babylon the booty of Syria and the
+tribute of the Phenicians. In any case the treasure which Cyrus
+deposited at Pasargadae provided abundant means for a long time to
+satisfy the most extravagant needs of the empire, the court, and the
+army, and to recompense every deed of merit with gold. The treasures
+which Alexander, after a long period of decline in Persia, found at
+Susa, Persepolis, Ecbatana, and Pasargadae, are estimated by the Greeks
+at 180,000 talents, _i.e._ at more than L40,000,000, and beside this
+there were the gold and silver ornaments of the citadel (V. 309), and a
+large amount of manufactured gold and silver. What Alexander left of the
+latter in Susa alone afterwards provided Antigonus with 15,000
+talents.[129]
+
+"Concerning the death of Cyrus," so Herodotus tells us, "there are many
+narratives, but the most probable in my mind is the following: When he
+had reduced the Babylonians, he wished to conquer the Massagetae also.
+There were many things which impelled him to this: in the first place
+his birth, by which he considered himself more than human. Then the
+success which had attended him in all his wars; for whatever the nation
+against which he directed his army it was unable to withstand him. The
+Massagetae were said to be a great and brave nation; some call them
+Scythians. They dwell beyond the Araxes (Jaxartes: Herodotus confuses
+this river with the Aras), towards the morning and sunrise. The Caspian
+Sea is a sea by itself, fifteen days' journey in length and eight in
+breadth; on the west side of the sea is the Caucasus, but towards the
+east it is bounded by a plain of unlimited extent. A considerable part
+of this plain was occupied by the Massagetae. They wear a dress like that
+of the Scythians, and resemble them in their mode of life; they fight on
+horse and on foot, use the bow and the lance, and also carry
+battle-axes. The points of their lances and arrows and their axes are
+made of copper, as also are the corslets of the horses. But for their
+girdles, for the adornment of the head and shoulders, as well as for the
+bits, cheek-pieces, and curbs of their horses, they use gold. Silver and
+iron they do not possess, these metals are not found in the country, but
+gold and copper in abundance. Each man marries one wife, but they have
+their wives in common, and when any one desires to lie with a woman he
+hangs his quiver on her waggon, and no attack is made upon him. Those
+who reach a great age are put to death by their relations, who assemble
+for that purpose, cooked along with sheep's flesh, and eaten; this they
+consider the most fortunate lot. Those who die of sickness are not eaten
+but buried, and they look on it as a misfortune not to be killed. They
+do not cultivate the soil, but live on their herds and on fish, which
+the Araxes supplies in large quantities, and drink milk. Of the gods
+they worship the sun only, and to him they sacrifice horses, because
+they think that the swiftest animal should be offered to the swiftest
+deity. At that time a woman, Tomyris by name, was queen of the
+Massagetae, her husband being dead. Cyrus sent to her under pretext of an
+offer of marriage; he wished to make her his wife. But Tomyris perceived
+that it was not her, but the kingdom of the Massagetae, that he wanted,
+and refused the offer. As cunning was of no avail, Cyrus marched openly
+against the Massagetae, threw a bridge of boats over the Araxes in order
+to carry his army across, and caused towers to be built on the
+merchant-men which were to form a bridge over the river. While he was
+occupied with this, Tomyris sent him a herald, saying: 'O, king of the
+Persians, desist from the undertaking which thou hast begun, for thou
+knowest not whether thou wilt bring it to a good end. Desist, and rule
+over what is thine, leaving us to govern what is ours. But thou wilt
+take no heed of these exhortations, but rather do anything than remain
+at rest. If thou eagerly desirest to make trial of the Massagetae, desist
+from making this bridge over the river; enter upon our land; we will
+retire three days' march from the river; or if thou wouldst rather have
+us in thy land, do thou the same.' When Cyrus heard this he collected
+the chiefs of the Persians in order to consult with them what he should
+do. Their advice was all to one purport; he was to allow Tomyris and her
+army to come into his land. But Croesus, the Lydian, who was present,
+dissented from this advice. 'If we allow the enemy to come into the
+land,' he said to Cyrus, there will be danger: 'Shouldst thou be
+defeated, the whole empire will be ruined. The victorious Massagetae will
+never retire, but invade thy lands, and shouldst thou be victorious,
+thou wilt not reap such results as if thou wert to defeat the Massagetae
+beyond the river, for then thou couldst advance into the dominion of
+Tomyris. Besides, it is shameful and disgraceful that the son of
+Cambyses should retire before a woman. For this reason it seems to me
+right to cross the river and advance as far as they retire, and there
+attempt to gain the victory over them. As I am told, the Massagetae are
+not acquainted with the luxuries of the Persians; they have no
+experience of enjoyment. We must prepare a meal for them in our camp,
+slaying and dressing sheep, and placing at hand goblets of unmixed wine,
+and various kinds of food; then leave behind the weakest part of the
+army and retire to the river. If I am not deceived, they will seize upon
+the provisions when they see them, and we shall be in a position to do
+great things.' Cyrus decided in favour of the advice of Croesus, and
+caused a message to be sent to Tomyris that she should retire; he would
+advance beyond the river. She retired as she promised. But Cyrus gave
+his son Cambyses, who would be king after him, to Croesus, and exhorted
+him to honour the Lydian king, and treat him kindly if the expedition
+across the river should turn out badly. Then he sent the two to Persia,
+and crossed the river with his army. And in the first night which he
+spent in the land of the Massagetae he saw in a dream the eldest son of
+Hystaspes, with wings on his shoulders, one of which overshadowed Asia
+and the other Europe. The eldest son of Hystaspes was Darius, at that
+time a youth of about 20 years, who had been left behind in Persia,
+because he was not old enough to accompany the army. Cyrus summoned
+Hystaspes, took him aside, and said to him in private: 'Hystaspes, thy
+son is conceiving evil plots against me and my kingdom. The gods watch
+over me, and show me the danger which is threatening. Return at once to
+Persia, and act in such a way that if I succeed in this enterprise and
+return home, thou mayest bring thy son before me for examination.'
+Hystaspes answered: 'If the dream shows thee that my son is conceiving a
+revolt against thee, I will give him over to thee to deal with as thou
+wilt.' Then Hystaspes went over the Araxes on his way back to Persia, to
+keep his son under guard for Cyrus. But when he had gone a day's march
+from the river, Cyrus did as Croesus had advised; he left the useless
+men in the camp, and marched with the able-bodied back to the river. A
+third part of the army of the Massagetae came to the camp, slew those
+that were left behind, in spite of their resistance, and as they found
+the meal prepared, and had conquered the enemy, they feasted, and then
+fell asleep, gorged with food and wine. When the Persians came up they
+slew many of them, and took even more prisoners, among them Spargapises,
+the son of Tomyris, the leader of the Massagetae. When the queen
+discovered what had befallen the army and her son, she sent a herald to
+Cyrus, who said: 'O Cyrus, insatiate of blood, exalt not thyself because
+that by the fruit of the vine, filled with which ye rage and utter evil
+words--that by such poison thou hast treacherously got possession of my
+son, and not by bravery in the battle. Now take my advice, for I counsel
+thee well. Give me my son back again, and depart out of this land,
+without punishment for bringing shame on the third part of the army of
+the Massagetae. If thou dost not do this, I swear by the sun, the lord of
+the Massagetae, that I will satisfy thee with blood, insatiate as thou
+art.' To this message Cyrus paid no heed. When he had recovered from the
+effects of the wine, Spargapises discovered into what a calamity he had
+fallen. He requested Cyrus that he should be freed from his chains. As
+soon as this was done, and his hands were free, he killed himself. As
+Cyrus did not obey her, Tomyris collected her whole force, and joined
+battle with him. I learn that this battle was the most severe ever
+fought among the barbarians, and it was fought as follows. In the first
+place, so we are told, they hurled missiles from a distance, and when
+the missiles were exhausted they fell upon each other, and fought with
+lances and swords. They maintained the battle a long time, for neither
+side would fly; but at last the Massagetae got the upper hand. The
+greater part of the Persian army perished and Cyrus himself fell, after
+a reign of 29 years. Tomyris searched for the corpse of Cyrus among the
+dead, and when she had found it, she plunged the head in a bottle filled
+with human blood, and said in insult to the dead: 'Though I live and
+have conquered thee in the battle, thou hast nevertheless made me
+unhappy, for thou hast taken away my son by treachery. Yet, as I
+threatened, I will satisfy thee with blood.'"
+
+In a similar way, though not without variations, Diodorus and Trogus
+narrate the death of Cyrus. The account of Diodorus marks even more
+strongly the shameful death of the king. He tells us that, after the
+overthrow of the Babylonians, Cyrus desired to subdue the whole earth.
+He had reduced the greatest nations and mightiest nations, he was of
+opinion that no ruler or nation could withstand his power. Like many of
+those who exercise irresponsible power, Cyrus did not know how to bear
+prosperity as a man should. He led a strong army to Scythia; but the
+queen of the Scythians took him prisoner and crucified him. In the
+excerpt from Pompeius Trogus we are told that when Cyrus had reduced
+Asia and brought the East into his power, he marched upon the Scythians.
+But Tomyris, their queen, was not terrified by the approach of the
+Persians. She might have defended the passage of the Jaxartes against
+them, but she considered that flight would be more difficult for the
+enemy if they had the river behind them. So Cyrus crossed the Jaxartes,
+and pitched his camp when he had advanced some distance into the country
+of the enemy. On the next day he abandoned it as if in terror and
+retired, leaving in it a sufficiency of wine and everything that is
+required for a banquet. The queen, on hearing this, sent her young son
+to pursue the enemy with a third part of her army. When he reached the
+camp, the youth, who had no experience of war, gave up all thought of
+the enemy, and allowed his people to become intoxicated with the wine,
+to which they were not accustomed. Cyrus returned in the night, and all
+the Scythians including the queen's son were cut down. In spite of the
+loss of such an army, and the still greater loss of her only son,
+Tomyris thought only of revenge, and plotted how she could destroy the
+victors by treachery. When she was no longer in a condition to give
+battle she enticed Cyrus by retiring into a pass, after she had placed
+an ambush in the mountains. So she succeeded in defeating the whole
+Persian army, 200,000 men, with the king. Not even a messenger escaped
+to tell of the disaster. She caused the head to be cut off the body of
+Cyrus, and placed in a bottle filled with human blood, calling out:
+"Satiate thyself with the blood for which thou didst thirst with an
+insatiable desire."[130] In regard to this story, which no doubt is to
+be ascribed to Deinon, Arrian remarks quite briefly: "Whether the defeat
+of the Persians in Scythia was brought about by the difficulty of the
+land, or some mistake of Cyrus, or whether the Scythians were better
+soldiers than the Persians of that date, I cannot determine."[131]
+Polyaenus must have had stories of a similar kind before him; but in his
+account the stratagem which Cyrus uses against Tomyris is used by the
+queen against Cyrus, and this is the reason given for the defeat of the
+Persian army and the death of the king. When Cyrus approached, Tomyris
+retreated with her army in pretended flight. The Persians pursued; in
+the camp of the queen they found a great store of wine, provisions, and
+cattle, on which they feasted and drank the whole night through as
+though they had already won the battle. Then, when they could scarcely
+move, Tomyris attacked them and cut them all down together with Cyrus
+himself.[132]
+
+The narrative of Herodotus involves glaring contradictions. In
+opposition to the cunning, ambition, and bloodthirstiness of Cyrus, it
+presents to us as a model of honour, love of peace, moderation and
+self-restraint, the queen of a nation of cannibals, who gives Cyrus the
+wisest lessons before exacting punishment for his insatiable ambition.
+She perceives the treachery of his intended wooing. When he comes openly
+with force, she urges him to be content with what he possesses, makes
+the battle easier for him by allowing him to cross the river without
+opposition, and then gives him the choice of a field of battle. When
+Cyrus has made a treacherous use of her honourable and open offers she
+taunts him with the evil results of the use of wine on the Persians and
+again offers peace on the most favourable conditions; if Cyrus
+surrenders her son and retires from her country she will allow the
+destruction of her army to go unpunished. This moderation remains
+without any effect; Cyrus goes blindly to his destruction. But the queen
+of the barbarians has no enjoyment of this success; her sorrow for the
+loss of her son, who puts an end to his own life in noble shame that he
+has brought his army to destruction, and become a captive by excess in
+wine, is greater than her joy at the victory. Hardly less strange is the
+conduct of Cyrus. The general who has conquered Media, Lydia, and
+Babylonia, and the nations of Asia, is uncertain how to carry on the
+campaign against the Massagetae; he takes counsel with the prince, whom
+in spite of the bravery of his people he has defeated most rapidly and
+decisively: he allows this prince to tell him that the son of Cambyses
+ought not to give way to a woman, and follows his advice against the
+unanimous opinion of the Persians. At the same time he has evil
+intimations about the issue of the decision; and sends the heir to the
+throne back to Persia. He boasts that the gods have announced to him all
+the misfortunes which threatened him, whereas it is the elevation of
+Darius which was shown to him in the dream, a danger which did not even
+remotely threaten him, and not the destruction which was to overtake him
+in two days.
+
+It need not be proved that this narrative has come from a poetical
+source. The prominent traits, the long speeches and counter-speeches,
+the lament of the mother, the bottle of blood, point beyond all mistake
+to poetry. It is clear that Persian poems would not ascribe to the great
+founder of their empire, whom they honoured as a father, the part which
+Herodotus represents him as taking against the queen of a barbarous
+nation; least of all would they charge Cyrus with an insatiable thirst
+for blood, and bring him on that account to a shameful end. But the
+Medes, as they had matched the poems of the Persians on the birth,
+youth, and rise of Cyrus with other songs about his origin, his fortune,
+and the fall of Astyages composed from their own point of view, might
+very well describe after their own manner the death of the king. They
+could not reverse their own subjugation, but they could have the
+satisfaction of reprobating the ambition and bloodthirstiness of their
+conqueror, who called out the Median army for ceaseless service; they
+could bring the conqueror of Asia to a miserable end, and represent the
+subduer of the noblest men as finding his master in a woman. And if it
+was the advice of a conquered and captive king which led Cyrus to
+destruction,--the trait suits the context and presents an instance of
+poetical justice. The dream of Cyrus obviously belongs to another
+context; it is merely inserted here in order to show how Cambyses and
+Hystaspes escaped the great defeat in the land of the Massagetae. At a
+later time the Medes felt heavily enough the power of Darius. The Median
+poems on the rebellion of Cyrus contained a certain element of fact in
+the desertion of Harpagus, and the same may have been the case in their
+poems about Tomyris. Ctesias told us above that Cyrus conquered and took
+prisoner the king of the Sacae, but was afterwards severely defeated by
+his wife Sparethra, in which defeat many captives were taken, and among
+them the most distinguished Medes. Strabo also tells us of a battle
+which Cyrus lost against the Sacae. Forced to retire, he had abandoned
+his camp and all that was in it, and when the Sacae were enjoying the
+booty he fell upon them and cut them down. These events may underlie the
+story of Tomyris.
+
+From the various narratives, which, as Herodotus informs us, were
+current about the rise and death of Cyrus, the historian chose that
+account of both which seemed to him the "most probable," _i.e._ that
+which coincided with his own views, and thus appeared to him most
+credible. It is the firm conviction of Herodotus, the thought which lies
+at the base of his great history, that every unjust deed, every act of
+violence, is followed by punishment. Cyrus had considered himself to be
+more than a man; he had placed no limit, no end to his conquests. Hence
+retribution overtook him in his conflict with a woman. The description
+of the barbarous custom of the Massagetae was obviously wanting in the
+authority which Herodotus followed about the death of Cyrus; it comes
+from another source. In this way, though unobserved by Herodotus, a
+glaring contradiction has crept into his narrative. If we may draw a
+conclusion from the name Spargapises, _i.e._ youthful form, the enemies
+in the poetry which he used were of Arian stock.[133]
+
+According to the account of Ctesias Cyrus fell in war against the
+Derbiccians. These were said by some to dwell in the neighbourhood of
+the Margiani; by others they were placed on both sides of the mouth of
+the Oxus; but as Ctesias mentions the Indians as their allies and
+represents the Sacae as dwelling at no great distance, we must look for
+them on the middle course of the Oxus in the neighbourhood of Bactria.
+According to Strabo's description, the Derbiccians worshipped the earth,
+to which they sacrificed male creatures, just as they ate none but male
+animals. The smallest offence was punished with death. The men who had
+exceeded their seventieth year were slain and eaten by their nearest
+relatives. The women who came to old age were also killed but not eaten.
+Curtius states that a part of their warriors were armed with poles
+hardened in the fire.[134] "Amoraeus," so we are told in the excerpt
+preserved from Ctesias' "Persian History," "was king of the Derbiccians;
+against him Cyrus marched, and the Indians aided the Derbiccians in the
+battle. The elephants which the Derbiccians received from the Indians
+were placed in the ambush. They caused the Persian cavalry to retreat.
+Cyrus fell from his horse, and as he lay on the ground an Indian hit him
+with his javelin under the hip in the thigh. He was lifted up and
+carried into the Persian camp. In this battle many of the Persians fell,
+and also many of the Derbiccians--10,000 on either side. Hearing this,
+Amorges the king of the Sacae came to the help of Cyrus with 20,000 men.
+When the battle was renewed, the Persians and Sacae fought bravely and
+conquered. Amoraeus fell and with him his two sons; 30,000 Derbiccians
+and 9000 Persians were left in the field, and the land of the
+Derbiccians submitted to Cyrus. But he felt his end approaching. He
+named his eldest son Cambyses as his successor; and the younger
+Tanyoxarkes he made lord of the Bactrians, the Chorasmians, Parthians,
+and Carmanians, with an arrangement that their lands should pay no
+tribute. To the two sons of Spitamas, Spitaces and Megabernes (V. 383),
+he gave the satrapies of the Derbiccians and Hyrcanians (Barcanians),
+and bade them obey their mother (Amytis) in all things. They were also
+to give their hands to each other and to Amorges in pledge that they
+would treat him and each other as friends; on him who persisted in
+kindness to his brother Cyrus invoked blessings, and curses on him who
+should be the first to begin a quarrel. Thus saying, he died on the
+third day after his wound."[135]
+
+This narrative also goes back to a poetical source, though it is not
+directly borrowed any more than the narrative of Herodotus. Meagre as
+the excerpt is, there can be no doubt about the poetical origin of it.
+This is proved by the compression of the events into a few days; the
+rapid and ready assistance given by the king of the Sacae, whom Cyrus
+had once captured in battle and then made his friend; the gratitude
+which he reaped for this deed in his last days; the heavy penalty laid
+upon the Derbiccians for the wound of Cyrus; the fall of their king and
+his two sons and the submission of the country; the death of Cyrus after
+great danger in the moment of victory; the appointment of a successor;
+the recommendation of Amorges; the exhortations to union given by Cyrus
+when dying to his sons; his blessing on the son who remembered them, and
+his curse on him who neglected them. Here also, as in the different
+accounts of Herodotus and Ctesias in the elevation of Cyrus, we find
+points of agreement in the two versions. Whether the names Tomyris and
+Amoraeus can be connected we need not inquire. Each story contains the
+space of three days, the appointment of a successor, the exhortations
+and the recommendation of a third person--Croesus in the one, Amorges in
+the other. As in the story of Ctesias--Nicolaus about the rise of Cyrus,
+Oebares takes the place of Harpagus in Herodotus, so here the Sacian
+Amorges takes the place of the Lydian Croesus; though Croesus, it is
+true, gives only ruinous advice, and Amorges renders active and valuable
+help. As the Persian tradition is preserved in the story of Ctesias
+about the rise of Cyrus, though the Medes had their discrepant version,
+so in the story of the fall, as given by this historian, we have no
+doubt the Persian account. The region which is allotted to the second
+son, the emphasis laid on the harmony of the sons, the death of Cyrus in
+victory, no less than the tone which pervades the whole narrative, prove
+the Persian origin of the story. The aged prince is wounded at the head
+of his people in a battle on horseback; but his friends avenge him; he
+dies, as he had lived, in victory and success, surrounded by his sons
+and stepsons. This glorification of his death was matched by the Medes
+in the poems from which the narrative of Herodotus has arisen.
+
+Xenophon represents Cyrus as dying at an advanced age in peace, when he
+has reached Persia for the seventh time after winning the empire. In the
+palace he had a dream which announced his approaching end. He caused his
+sons to be brought to him, who had accompanied him to Persia, his
+friends, and the captains of the Persians. His power, so he told them,
+had not decayed with age; he had striven for nothing and attempted
+nothing that he had not obtained, and what he had once obtained he had
+never lost. Though everything had succeeded according to his wishes, he
+had never allowed himself to indulge in proud thoughts and excessive
+rejoicing, for he had ever been attended by the apprehension that evil
+would come upon him in the future. "Do you now, Cambyses," he continued,
+"receive the throne, which the gods and I, so far as lies in me, give to
+you; to you, Tanaoxares, I give the satrapy over the Medes, the
+Armenians, and the Cadusians. I give you this because I deem it right to
+leave to the elder the larger dominion and the name of king, but to you
+a less burdensome fortune." Then he urged both to remain in the closest
+friendship, for they had been nourished by one mother, and had grown up
+in one house; neither of them could find a stronger support than his
+brother. He made them swear by the gods of their fathers that they would
+hold each other in honour; they could not prove their love for him more
+truly in any other way. Finally, he reminded them that by showing
+kindness to friends they would be able to punish their enemies, gave his
+hand to all, veiled his face and died.[136]
+
+According to the account of the companions of Alexander of Macedon, the
+corpse of Cyrus rested in the abode of his ancestors, at his metropolis,
+Pasargadae, in the precincts of the "old citadel." Concerning his tomb
+we have only the account of Aristobulus, who saw it when Alexander
+reached Pasargadae, and on the return from India received a commission
+to restore the sepulchres which had been plundered in the mean time.
+This account is preserved in two excerpts; the shorter one is given by
+Strabo, the more circumstantial by Arrian. In the latter we are told:
+"At Pasargadae in the royal garden (Paradeisus) was the tomb of Cyrus.
+Round the tomb a grove of trees had been planted of various kinds; the
+soil was permeated by streams and overgrown with thick grass. The tomb
+itself was built of square stones in a rectangular form; the upper part
+was a covered chamber." From Strabo we learn that "the tomb is a tower
+of no great size, which is massive in the lower part, but in the upper
+story is a room." "The door which leads into it," Arrian continues, "is
+so narrow, that a moderately stout man could scarcely enter. In the
+chamber was a couch with feet of beaten gold, with purple coverlet over
+which lay carpets of Babylonian pattern. There was also a robe
+(_kandys_) and under-garments of Babylonian manufacture, and Median
+trowsers, garments coloured blue and purple, some of one colour, some of
+the other, chains, swords, and necklaces of gold and precious stones,
+and a table (Strabo adds goblets). On the middle of the couch was the
+coffin with the corpse of Cyrus, covered with a lid. The inscription on
+the grave, in the Persian language and Persian letters, says: 'O men, I
+am Cyrus the son of Cambyses, who founded the empire of the Persians and
+governed Asia; do not grudge me this monument.' Within the outer wall of
+the sepulchre near the steps which lead to the chamber was a small
+dwelling for the Magians, who have watched the tomb since the time of
+Cyrus, the office descending from father to son. Each day they receive a
+sheep and a fixed amount of corn and wheat, and each month a horse to
+sacrifice to Cyrus." The corpse itself is said to have been completely
+preserved after two centuries. Onesicritus tells us that the tower of
+the sepulchre had ten stories; the inscription was in Persian and Greek
+written in Persian letters, and said: "Here lie I, Cyrus, king of
+kings."[137]
+
+Near the modern city of Murghab, on a plain covered with the ruins of
+walls, not far from a square tower and a platform, built of square
+blocks of marble to a height of nearly forty feet, on a substructure of
+seven flats (the sacred number which we meet everywhere) arranged in
+terraces, rises a plain oblong building constructed of huge stones of
+the most beautiful white marble, which are closely fitted together, and
+covered with a flat gable roof; it forms a chamber in which the entrance
+is through a door four feet in height. The excellent and beautiful
+proportions, the quiet simple forms of the building, give an impression
+of solemnity, and appear to mark a consecrated place. Close to this
+building, and again in a terrace, we find bases, shafts, and pillars,
+which must have belonged to a large structure, perhaps to a portico,
+which was in some connection with the stages of the terrace. Three
+door-posts bear, in three different languages, the inscription: "I,
+Cyrus, the king, the Achaemenid." Hence there can be no doubt that these
+remains belong to a structure erected by Cyrus. Before the posts are
+twelve bases, and before these a pillar of marble fifteen feet in
+height, formed from a single stone. On this is cut in relief a slim form
+in profile. It has four wings springing from the shoulders, is clothed
+in a closely-fitting garment falling to the ancles; on the right side
+which is visible, and on the lower hem, the garment is furnished with
+fringes. The form of the uncovered lower arm seems to indicate a
+commanding attitude. The head is covered with a striped, closely-fitting
+cap, which reaches down to the neck. Out of the crown of it rise two
+horns, which extend on either side and bear a tall ornament of
+peculiarly-formed leaves and feathers. The face is surrounded by a full
+but short beard, the nose is somewhat rounded at the tip, the line of
+the profile is straight and well-formed, the expression mild and serene.
+Over the head, as on the posts, we find written in cuneiform letters:
+"_Adam Kurus Khsayathiya Hakhamanisiya_" _i.e._ "I, Cyrus, the king,
+Achaemenid."[138] This is, it would seem, a picture of the famous king.
+
+So far as we can tell Cyrus was long in coming to his prime, and did not
+attain to his full powers till he had reached the years of manhood.
+Sprung from the royal house of the Persians, grandson of Achaemenes, he
+grew up at Pasargadae, and rendered service as a vassal to his
+sovereign. While performing courtly and martial duties at Ecbatana, the
+extinction of the male line of the house of Deioces, and the rival
+claims which the death of Astyages would call forth, opened to him the
+prospect of obtaining independence for himself and the Persians. When
+once more among his own people, the suspicion of Astyages forces arms
+into the hands of himself and his father. Astyages penetrates into the
+mountains of Persia, and Cambyses is slain; only after severe struggles
+are the Medes beaten back. Cyrus avails himself of his success in order
+to carry war into Media. About eighty years after Achaemenes had joined
+Phraortes Cyrus marches victoriously into Ecbatana. He at once aims at a
+higher object. The dominion of the Medes must pass over to the Persians.
+Babylon and Lydia give him time to subjugate the Parthians and
+Hyrcanians, to make war on the Sacae and Bactrians, to reduce the
+Cadusians, Armenians, and Cappadocians. When yet unprepared or engaged
+in other conflicts, he is attacked by Croesus. A brilliant campaign
+carries him far beyond the defensive; he overthrows the Lydian empire
+and advances to the shore of the AEgean. While his generals complete the
+reduction of Asia Minor he turns again to the East; once more Babylon
+gives him time to establish and extend his empire in the table-land of
+Iran. Secure on the East and West he proceeds to the decisive struggle
+with Babylon. In the first campaign he crosses the Tigris and secures
+the passage; in the second he defeats Nabonetus, captures Sepharvaim,
+storms Babylon, obtains possession of Borsippa, subjugates Syria, and
+the Phenician cities. After the annihilation of the Babylonian kingdom,
+Cyrus extends the borders of his empire still further to the East. The
+nations on the right bank of the Indus, the Chorasmians and the
+Sogdiani, are reduced, and the Jaxartes becomes the limit of the
+kingdom. Thus by unwearied energy, restless effort, and tough endurance,
+Cyrus achieved a career which has no equal; from being chief of the
+Persian tribes he became sovereign of Asia. As Xenophon says, his
+kingdom extended from regions which are rendered uninhabitable by heat,
+to others which are uninhabitable by reason of the cold. This aim Cyrus
+had pursued with great determination; he had not been guilty of any wild
+outbursts. A general, rapid in decision and tenacious in purpose, he had
+understood how to meet failure and make himself master of the most
+difficult undertakings. Other military princes of the East have achieved
+greater conquests in a shorter space of time than Cyrus, but none
+understood how to preserve the empire he had won, and make it permanent,
+as Cyrus did. He possessed not only the keen eye of the general, but an
+unerring political insight, and an unusual power of penetrating into the
+interests, the motives, the manners and actions of the communities and
+nations which victory placed in his power. Among the rulers of the East
+no one is like him, and one alone approaches him, the second successor
+on the throne which he founded.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[108] Behist. 1, 6.
+
+[109] Arrian. "Ind." 1, 1.
+
+[110] Plin. "H. N." 6, 25; Ptolem. 6, 18.
+
+[111] Script. Alex. Magni; fragm. 23, ed. Mueller.
+
+[112] Diod. 17, 81.
+
+[113] Strabo, p. 724; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 27, 4; 4, 4, 6.
+
+[114] Curtius, 7, 3, 1.
+
+[115] In Strabo, p. 686.
+
+[116] Arrian, "Anab." 4, 5.
+
+[117] Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 6, 6, 9; 8, 8, 20.
+
+[118] _E.g._ Ctes. "Pers." 43.
+
+[119] Herod. 3, 31; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 6, 4; Esther i. 14.
+
+[120] Herod. 5, 25; 7, 194.
+
+[121] Herod. 1, 134.
+
+[122] Herod. 3, 154; 8, 85.
+
+[123] "Cyri inst." 8, 8, 1; 8, 2, 7.
+
+[124] Herod. 3, 75, 86, 160.
+
+[125] "Persae," 768-770.
+
+[126] "Transact. Bibl. Arch." 2, 148.
+
+[127] "Cyri inst." 8, 6, 9; 8, 8, 22, 23.
+
+[128] Plin. "H. N." 33, 15.
+
+[129] Arrian, "Anab." 3, 16; Curtius, 5, 2, 11; 6, 9, 6, 10; Diod. 17,
+66, 71; Strabo, p. 731.
+
+[130] Diod. "Exc. vat." p. 33, 2, 44; Justin, 1, 8; 2, 3; 37, 3.
+
+[131] Arrian, "Anab." 5, 4. A similar story is in Frontin. "Strateg." 2,
+5, 5.
+
+[132] Polyaen. "Strateg." 8, 28.
+
+[133] _Cparheghapaeca_, from _cpareg_, to shoot, spring, and _paeca_,
+_pica_, shape: Muellenhoff, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akad." 1866, s. 567.
+
+[134] Strabo, p. 514, 520; Plin. "H. N." 6, 16; Ptolem. 4, 20; Curtius,
+3, 2; Diod. 2, 2; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Derbikkai].
+
+[135] Ctes. "Pers." 6-9.
+
+[136] "Cyri inst." 8, 7.
+
+[137] Ctes. "Pers." 7; Arrian, "Anab." 6, 28; Strabo, p. 730; Plin. "H.
+N." 6, 29; Plut. "Alex." 69. Curtius (10, 1) asserts after Cleitarchus,
+that when Alexander visited the tomb of Cyrus on his return from India,
+he only found the shield of Cyrus, then rotten, two Scythian bows, and a
+sword in the sepulchre.
+
+[138] In the wings, the clothing, and the peculiar head-dress this
+portrait (Tenier, "Descript." pl. 84) differs essentially from the
+representation of Darius and his successors at Persepolis and
+Naksh-i-Rustem. It is not Cyrus but his Fravashi which is here
+represented. The building at Murghab is somewhat like the description of
+the tomb of Cyrus given in the text, but the site will not allow us to
+regard it as the tomb at Pasargadae. It must be a building which one of
+his successors has dedicated to the memory of the great king. The
+profile in the relief confirms to some degree Plutarch's statement that
+Cyrus had an aquiline nose, and the Persians therefore considered beaked
+noses the most becoming: "Praec. ger. reip." c. 30. The nose of Darius,
+as we see it in the monuments, appears straighter and longer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE FALL OF EGYPT.
+
+
+After the death of the great king who had founded the Persian empire,
+Cambyses (Kambujiya), the elder of the two sons whom Cassandane had
+borne to Cyrus, ascended the throne of the new kingdom in the year 529
+B.C. A few years before his death Cyrus had entrusted him with the
+vice-royalty of Babylonia.[139] Herodotus tells us that "Cambyses again
+reduced the nations which Cyrus had subjugated, and then marched
+against Egypt." Egypt was the oldest of the great powers of the ancient
+East, and, after the fall of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia, it still
+remained independent beside the kingdom which had risen up so rapidly
+and brilliantly out of their ruins. A hundred and fifty years previously
+Egypt had succumbed to the arms of the Assyrians; how could an ambitious
+ruler of Persia imagine that it could now resist the incomparably
+greater forces which were at his command?
+
+We know how Psammetichus and his descendants had restored Egypt to her
+ancient position, the place which they had assigned to the Greeks and
+Greek civilisation in their state, a place which had not been altered by
+Amasis, though brought to the throne by a revolution which had removed
+the house of Psammetichus (570 B.C.). The attempt of Necho to renew the
+achievements of the Tuthmosis, Amenophis, and Ramses in Syria and on the
+Euphrates was wrecked by the sudden rise of the Babylonian kingdom under
+Nebuchadnezzar, and Hophra had in vain attempted to prevent the fall of
+Jerusalem and the advance of Babylon to the borders of Egypt. The growth
+of the Persian power threatened to give Egypt a far more dangerous
+neighbour than she had had in Babylonia. Amasis did not underrate the
+crisis. Herodotus told us above that he had combined with Lydia against
+Cyrus, that Croesus had called upon the Egyptian auxiliaries for the
+second campaign, and finally for the rescue of Sardis. The rapid
+progress of the war and the fall of Sardis defeated the aims of Amasis.
+Then, as we saw, a decade elapsed before Cyrus directed his arms against
+Babylonia. That Amasis made every attempt to support Nabonetus against
+the Persians is not told us by tradition, unless indeed we accept as
+tradition Xenophon's statement, who represents the Lydians and Egyptians
+as fighting against the Persians with the Babylonians (p. 17). The fall
+of Babylon was followed directly by the subjugation of Syria, the
+conquest of Gaza (p. 90), and the advance of the Persian border to the
+desert. Amasis does not appear to have been wholly inactive in the face
+of the approaching danger. Herodotus tells us that he took the island of
+Cyprus and made it tributary, and Diodorus narrates that he subjugated
+the cities in Cyprus, and adorned many of the temples there with
+splendid offerings.[140] We may assume that the enterprise of Amasis
+against Cyprus was intended to provide a counterpoise to the
+incorporation of Syria in the Persian empire. It may have appeared more
+desirable to the princes of the Cyprian cities to be vassals of the
+remote and less powerful Egypt than of the rising and powerful kingdom
+of Persia. In any case, when he had set foot in Cyprus, Amasis prevented
+that rich island, with its numerous cities, from falling into the power
+of the Persians; the ships of the Cyprian cities could assist him in
+keeping off the fleet of the Phenicians from their coasts, should the
+Persian monarch call out that fleet against Egypt. That this was the
+object of the occupation of Cyprus by Amasis is confirmed by the fact
+that some years after the fall of Babylon he entered into communication
+with the island of Samos. While Chios and Lesbos, as has been observed,
+submitted to the Persians without compulsion, Samos had remained
+independent. Polycrates, the son of Aeaces, who had made himself master
+of the island in the year 536 B.C., built a splendid fleet of eighty
+heavy and a hundred light ships, with which he could maintain his
+independence against the Persians. The fleet of Polycrates could hold
+the fleet of the Ionians in check if it were called upon by the
+Persians, just as the Cyprians could restrain the Phenicians. Amasis
+entered into close and friendly relations with the prince of Samos, who
+on his part must have gladly accepted the support of Egypt against the
+Persians. Besides the possession of Cyprus and this union with Samos,
+Egypt's power of resistance rested essentially on the difficulty of
+crossing the desert which separates Egypt from Syria with a large army,
+on the considerable numbers of the warrior caste, in spite of the
+emigration under Psammetichus, and the fidelity and bravery of the
+Ionian and Carian mercenaries, to whom Amasis had entrusted his personal
+protection. The danger of an attack from Persia seemed to have passed
+over when, after the subjugation of Syria, Cyrus turned towards the
+distant East, the Indus and Jaxartes; and Amasis may have been careful
+not to irritate his powerful neighbour. The skill of the physicians of
+Egypt was in great repute. When Cyrus asked Amasis for the best oculist,
+the Pharaoh, according to the Persian story, may have acceded to his
+wish.[141] The death of Cyrus would then bring still greater prospects
+of power to Amasis, until at last the decisive moment came thirteen
+years after the fall of Babylon.
+
+"Cambyses," so Herodotus tells us, "sent to Egypt and asked the daughter
+of Amasis in marriage. Both hating and dreading the power of the
+Persians, Amasis was uncertain whether to send or refuse her, for he
+well knew that Cambyses did not intend to take her as his legitimate
+wife, but as a concubine. So he devised the following plan:--Nitetis,
+the daughter of the preceding king Hophra was the only member of her
+family remaining. She was tall and beautiful, and Amasis adorned her
+with garments and gold and sent her as his own daughter to Persia. But
+some time after, when Cambyses was embracing Nitetis and calling her by
+the name of her father, she said: 'O king, thou art deceived by Amasis,
+who has sent me to thee thus adorned as his daughter, whereas in truth I
+am the daughter of Hophra, whom, though his lord, Amasis slew together
+with the Egyptians.' This speech put Cambyses into a violent rage, and
+for this reason he marched against Egypt. This is the account which the
+Persians give; but the Egyptians claim Cambyses as their own,
+maintaining that he was the son of this daughter of Hophra. It was not
+Cambyses, but Cyrus, who desired the daughter of Hophra. But in this
+they are wrong. The law of the Persians is not unknown to them (for the
+Egyptians know the laws of the Persians better than any one else), that
+the son of the concubine is not made king if there are sons of the
+queen, and that Cambyses was the son of Cassandane, the daughter of
+Pharnaspes, and not of the Egyptian woman. They invert the transaction
+because they wish to give themselves out as allied to the house of
+Amasis. Among the auxiliary troops of Amasis there was a man of
+Halicarnassus, Phanes by name, of good understanding and mighty in war.
+Injured by Amasis in some way, he fled by ship out of Egypt, in order to
+join Cambyses. As he was a man of importance among the auxiliary troops,
+and most accurately acquainted with Egypt, Amasis was anxious to take
+him, and sent his most trusty eunuch after him in a trireme. The eunuch
+caught him up in Lycia, but he did not bring him back to Egypt. Phanes
+outwitted him, by making his guards intoxicated, and so escaped to
+Persia. When he came to Cambyses, who, though intending to invade Egypt,
+was uncertain how to pass through the waterless region, Phanes told him
+all the affairs of Amasis, and how the march was to be arranged. He
+advised him to send to the king of the Arabians, and ask him to give him
+a safe passage. The approach to Egypt is open on this side only. From
+Phoenicia to the borders of the city of Gaza,[142] which, as it seems to
+me, is not much smaller than Sardis, the land belongs to the Syrians,
+who are called Palaestinians (Pelishtim), but from this city to Jenysus
+the harbours of the sea are subject to the Arabians; from Jenysus to the
+Serbonian Lake they again belong to the Syrians, and at the Serbonian
+Lake Egypt begins. The strip between the city of Jenysus and the
+Serbonian Lake, a journey of three days, is wholly without water.
+Instructed by the Halicarnassian, Cambyses sent messengers to the
+Arabian, and received permission for the passage, and when the Arabian
+had given the envoy of Cambyses a solemn promise with invocation of
+Urotal and Alilat, and smearing of seven stones with blood (I. 308), he
+caused bags of camel-skins to be filled with water, loaded all his
+camels with them, and after marching into the waterless district he
+there awaited the army of Cambyses. But Psammenitus, the son of Amasis,
+encamped on the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. For when Cambyses marched
+with all over whom he ruled, even with those of the Hellenes who were in
+his power,[143] against Egypt, he found that Amasis was no longer
+alive; he had died after a reign of 44 years, without meeting with any
+great disaster in that time. When the Persians had marched through the
+waterless region and had pitched their camp opposite the Egyptians for
+battle, the auxiliaries of the Egyptians, Hellenes and Carians, who were
+enraged against Phanes because he had brought a foreign army against
+Egypt, did as follows:--The children of Phanes had remained in Egypt.
+They brought them into the camp, and then led them between the two camps
+before the eyes of their father, and slew them one after the other over
+a vessel. When they were all dead they poured water and wine into the
+vessel; all the mercenaries drank of the blood and then went to battle.
+The struggle was severe; when a great number had fallen on both sides
+the Egyptians were put to flight. And here I observed a very strange
+phenomenon, my attention being called to it by the natives. The bones of
+those who fell in the battle were gathered up separately; the Persians
+are on one side and on the other the Egyptians, and the sculls of the
+Persians are so thin, that even if a pebble is thrown upon them they
+break, while those of the Egyptians are so hard that they can hardly be
+broken with a stone. The Egyptians fled without any order. To those who
+were shut up in Memphis Cambyses sent a Persian herald in a trireme, to
+summon them to surrender. But when the Egyptians saw the ship come into
+Memphis they hastened down from the citadel, destroyed the ship, tore
+the men in pieces, and carried them to the citadel. Then the Egyptians
+were besieged and finally surrendered."
+
+"On the tenth day after Cambyses had taken the citadel of Memphis he
+desired to make trial of Psammenitus, whom he had taken prisoner with
+the other Egyptians in the city, and who had reigned but six months. He
+therefore did as follows: He sent his daughter in the dress of a slave
+with a pitcher, and along with her the daughters of the leading
+Egyptians, similarly attired, to fetch water. When they passed before
+their fathers with lamentations and sighs, these also cried and sighed
+at the sight of their daughters' shame, but when Psammenitus saw what
+was done he fixed his eyes on the earth. When the maidens had passed
+with the water, Cambyses caused the son of Psammenitus to be led past
+with two thousand Egyptians of the same age, with ropes round their
+necks and in their mouths. They were to be the expiation of the
+Mytileneans, who were slain on the ship in Memphis; the royal judges of
+the Persians (p. 105) had decided that for every dead man ten of the
+leading Egyptians must die. Psammenitus saw the train, and knew that his
+son was being led out to death, and the Egyptians who sat round him
+wailed and lamented, but he did as he had done at the sight of his
+daughter. When they also had passed, it happened that an old man, who
+had been a guest at the table of the king, but had now lost everything
+and was as poor as a beggar, and asked alms of the soldiers, passed by
+Psammenitus and the Egyptians in the suburbs. When Psammenitus saw this
+he lamented aloud, beat his head, and called on his friend by name. The
+guards who stood by announced what he had done on each occasion.
+Cambyses was astonished, and asked Psammenitus, by a messenger, why he
+had neither lamented nor sighed at the sight of his daughter in her
+shame, and his son when led out to execution, but had paid this tribute
+of respect to a beggar with whom Cambyses had discovered he was in no
+way connected. Psammenitus answered, 'O son of Cyrus, my own misfortune
+was too great for tears, but the sorrows of my friend called for
+lamentation, since on the threshold of old age he had fallen from great
+possessions to the condition of a beggar.' When this was told to
+Cambyses it seemed to him well said; but as the Egyptians tell the
+story, Croesus wept (he had followed Cambyses to Egypt), and the
+Persians who were present wept, and Cambyses was touched with some
+degree of compassion. He at once gave orders not to execute the son of
+Psammenitus, and to fetch Psammenitus from the suburb into his presence.
+The messengers found the son no longer alive, but they brought
+Psammenitus himself to Cambyses, who did him no further injury. Had
+Psammenitus known how to remain quiet, he would certainly have received
+the government of Egypt; for the Persians are wont to honour the sons of
+kings, and even though the fathers have revolted, they give the dominion
+to the son. But when Psammenitus dealt treacherously he received his
+reward. He was detected in exciting the Egyptians to revolt. When
+Cambyses discovered this, he compelled him to drink bulls' blood, and he
+died on the spot. Such was his end."
+
+"But Cambyses came from Memphis to Sais, and when he entered the palace
+of Amasis, he gave orders to take his body out of the grave; when this
+was done he caused the corpse to be scourged, the hair to be torn out;
+he stabbed it and treated it with every kind of indignity. When those
+who were executing his commands grew weary, for the body being embalmed
+resisted their blows, and did not come to pieces, he ordered it to be
+burned. This was a sacrilegious command. The Persians regard fire as a
+deity, and the burning of the dead is not according to the laws either
+of the Persians or the Egyptians. The Persians do not consider it right
+to offer a corpse to a god; the Egyptians regard fire as a living
+all-consuming animal, and as it is by no means lawful to give up corpses
+to animals, they embalm them that they may not be consumed by worms.
+Hence Cambyses had commanded what was not allowed by the law of either
+nation. But the Egyptians say that it was not Amasis who endured this
+contumely, but another Egyptian of the same age, whom the Persians
+outraged under the impression that they were outraging Amasis. Amasis
+had been informed by an oracle what would happen to him after death; to
+escape his fate he had buried a man, who died at the time, in the tomb
+which he had made for himself at the temple of Neith at Sais, near the
+door, and had commanded his son to bury him in the innermost
+grave-chamber. In my opinion these arrangements of Amasis about his
+burial were not carried out, they were mere inventions of the
+Egyptians."
+
+Ctesias' narrative is as follows: Cambyses fulfilled the last commands
+of his father that his younger brother Tanyoxarkes should be made lord
+of the Bactrians, Chorasmians, Parthians, and Carmanians, and in every
+other respect, and sent his corpse to Persia for burial. Having
+ascertained that the Egyptian women were more desirable than others, he
+asked Amasis for one of his daughters, and Amasis sent Nitetis the
+daughter of Hophra. Cambyses took great delight in her, and loved her
+much, and when he had learned all her story he acceded to her request
+that he would avenge the murder of her father. When he had armed against
+Egypt and Amyrtaeus, the Egyptian king, the eunuch Combaphes, who had
+great influence with Amyrtaeus, betrayed the passes into Egypt, and all
+the affairs of the country, in order that he might be viceroy of it.
+Then Cambyses set out on his march; in the battle 50,000 Egyptians and
+20,000 Persians were slain,[144] Amyrtaeus was taken alive, and all
+Egypt was subjugated. Cambyses did no further harm to Amyrtaeus beyond
+sending him with 6000 Egyptians of his own choice to Susa; but Combaphes
+became governor of Egypt as Cambyses had promised first by Izabates, his
+most trusted eunuch and the cousin of Combaphes, and then by his own
+mouth.[145]
+
+Herodotus' account is once more dominated by the desire to give
+prominence to the vengeance for the crime which Amasis committed in
+betraying Hophra his master and thrusting from the throne the legitimate
+ruler of Egypt (III. 407). Amasis was spared, but the punishment fell
+upon the son, who thus suffered for his father's sins. The sources open
+to Herodotus were the narratives of the Persians, of the Egyptians, and
+of his own people. The Greeks of Asia Minor had taken part in the
+campaign of Cambyses against Egypt; Greek mercenaries assisted in the
+defence; and as we have seen, Greeks were settled in Egypt in
+considerable numbers. Herodotus himself rejects the story that Cambyses
+was the son of the daughter of Hophra, as the Egyptians maintained by
+way of consolation; as well as another story that Cambyses had invaded
+Egypt in order to avenge the preference which Cyrus showed to the
+daughter of Hophra over his mother Cassandane. On the other hand, he
+adopts, though with hesitation, the story of the Persians that Cambyses
+sought a wife from Amasis, because it agrees with his own idea that ruin
+was brought upon Amasis by his own treachery and the daughter of the
+Pharaoh whom he had deposed. Deinon in his Persian History and Lyceas of
+Naucratis retained both these stories together in the form that Amasis
+sent Nitetis to Cyrus, and that she was the mother of Cambyses who
+invaded Egypt to avenge Hophra. The solicitation of Cambyses, and the
+deception of Amasis, in Herodotus, and in a still more pointed form in
+Ctesias, the source of which, Herodotus tells us, was the narrative of
+the Persians, has obviously arisen out of Persian poems about Cambyses,
+which required some poetical motive for the campaign against Egypt; we
+saw that the modern version of the poems concerning Cyrus represented
+the campaign against Tomyris as due to a similar motive. Hophra died in
+the year 570; when Cambyses ascended the throne, his youngest daughter
+must have been more than forty years of age. There was no need of any
+motive of this kind to excite Cambyses against Egypt, as has been shown
+above; after the fall of Lydia and Babylonia, Egypt was the natural aim
+for the Persian weapons.
+
+Cambyses did not begin the war against Egypt immediately after his
+accession. Though Ctesias tells us that he first placed his brother over
+the Bactrians, Chorasmians, Parthians, and Carmanians, Cyrus, when he
+entrusted the kingdom of Babylonia to Cambyses, may have given the
+viceroyalty over the regions of the East to his younger son. We may
+confidently believe Herodotus that the death of Cyrus gave the subject
+nations the hope of again throwing off the yoke. After overcoming these
+rebellions (p. 131), in the fifth year of his reign, Cambyses marched
+against Egypt. Amasis, as we have observed, had made himself master of
+the island of Cyprus, and had entered into communication with
+Polycrates the prince of Samos, in order to cover an attack on Egypt by
+sea, and provide, in case of necessity, a counterpoise to the naval
+power of the Greek cities on the coast, and that of the Phenicians.
+Cyrus had allowed his empire to be bounded by the sea, though he did not
+refuse the voluntary submission of Chios and Lesbos. Cambyses went
+further. He wished to procure a fleet for his kingdom; Persia was to
+rule by sea as well as land. This, it is true, could only be done by
+forcing arms into the hands of subject tribes and cities, and that on an
+element on which the Persians could not pursue them. It was a bold
+conception, and in forming it Cambyses must have felt quite secure of
+the obedience of the Greek and Phenician cities, and of the allegiance
+of the old princely houses who ruled in the latter no less than of the
+new ones who ruled in the former. For the first time the command went
+forth to the harbour cities of the Syrian and Anatolian coasts, that
+they were to arm their ships for the king. The fleet was to support the
+attack of the land army, and then, passing up the Nile, facilitate the
+movements of the army in Egypt. The ships of the Greeks were to unite
+with those of the Phenicians in the harbour of Acco to the south of
+Carmel.[146] This resolution of Cambyses and the assembling of so
+magnificent a fleet on the coast of Phoenicia at once bore fruit. The
+princes of the Cyprian cities abandoned Egypt, recognised the supremacy
+of Persia, and at once prepared their ships for a voyage against Egypt.
+In return for this sudden and voluntary submission they were allowed to
+remain at the head of the cities; they were only to pay tribute and
+furnish contingents in war.[147] On Polycrates of Samos also the naval
+armament of Cambyses made a most lively impression. When in possession
+of a strong fleet Cambyses could use it against Samos. Was Polycrates to
+fight for Egypt whose naval power could not defend him against this
+fleet, or was he to remain neutral? Polycrates held the latter course to
+be the worst; neutrality during the war of Cyrus and Croesus had cost
+the Greek cities dear enough. He determined to change his front. When
+the Ionian cities launched their ships, and the vessels of Chios and
+Lesbos steered towards the Syrian coast, he also offered to place ships
+at the disposal of the Persian king for use in Egypt. Cambyses accepted
+the submission of Polycrates, and he sent forty well-manned ships of
+war.[148]
+
+Thus Cambyses had already deprived the Pharaoh of two important points
+of support before he had begun the war. Whether Amasis was alive at the
+defection of the princes of Cyprus, and of Polycrates, is doubtful. It
+is possible that his death, which elevated to the throne of Egypt his
+son Psammenitus (Psamtek III.), an untried prince in the place of a
+proved and experienced leader such as Amasis, was another weight in the
+scale on the side of defection. There was still another difficulty to
+remove. The Syrian coast formed a strong wall of protection for Egypt.
+If the fleet followed the army along the coast it found none but
+difficult landing-places; at present there are none in that region for
+the heavier ships of our days. In any case, in a numerous army such as
+Cambyses no doubt led, care would have to be taken for the horses and
+camels. It is not true that Cambyses requested a free passage from the
+king of the Arabians; the men in question were the chiefs of the Arabs
+in the peninsula of Sinai, the Midianites and Amalekites; and it was the
+supply of water for the army which these tribes undertook. After
+completing his preparations Cambyses set out early in the year 525 B.C.,
+in order to march through the desert before the beginning of the hottest
+weather, and arrive in Egypt sufficiently early before the
+inundation.[149]
+
+As the desertion of Eurybatus aided Cyrus in the Lydian war (p. 20), so
+was Cambyses assisted in his preparations for the campaign against Egypt
+according to the narrative of Herodotus by the advice of Phanes, and
+according to Ctesias by the advice of Combaphes. We may here give
+unhesitating confidence to the definite assertion of Herodotus as it
+concerns his own countryman of Halicarnassus. The departure of Phanes
+for Egypt must have taken place in the autumn of the year 526 B.C., for
+it is Amasis who sends his trusted eunuch after him as far as Lycia. For
+the name of Psammenitus the fragment of Ctesias gives the incorrect name
+of Amyrtaeus (if this name of the later opponent of Persia on the Nile
+is not due to the excerpt), it substitutes Combaphes for Phanes, _i.e._
+to all appearances the eunuch who pursues Phanes for Phanes himself. We
+do not find elsewhere the slightest trace that Combaphes received the
+vice-royalty of Egypt; on the contrary, the statements of the fragments
+about the cousinship of the chief eunuch of Pharaoh and the chief eunuch
+of Cambyses, and the repeated promise of the vice-royalty which is made
+to Combaphes, point to Persian poems, which had to clothe incidents of
+this nature in a poetical garb; we have already frequently met with the
+analogous promises of Arbaces to Belesys, and of Cyrus to the
+interpreters of dreams at Babylon.
+
+With regard to the course of the war we can only establish the fact,
+that Psammenitus collected all his forces, _i.e._ the warrior caste, and
+his Ionian and Carian troops, which were apparently strengthened by
+Libyan tribes, and Greeks from Cyrene, and awaited the attack of the
+Persians at the point where at the present day the caravan road from
+Gaza reaches Egypt, near Pelusium, the old border fortress, surrounded
+by the sand of the desert and wide expanses of mud. In regard to this
+battle we only learn from Ctesias that 50,000 Egyptians and 20,000
+Persians fell; whether it be that these numbers are taken from the
+Persian poems, or whether they belong to the official Persian account. A
+part of the Egyptian army retired to Pelusium; with another band of
+fugitives Psammenitus reached Memphis. When the Persians had besieged
+and captured Pelusium, which made a bold resistance, Egypt lay open to
+them. Cambyses shaped his course to Memphis. There in past days the
+empire of the Pharaohs had arisen; there stood the temple of Ptah, the
+most sacred shrine of the land, which Menes himself was said to have
+founded, which all his successors, including Amasis, had enlarged and
+adorned. Memphis closed the approach to the upper river valley, which
+was barred to the Persians so long as the city held out. Hence it
+appears to have been the determination of Psammenitus to give up the
+delta to the Persians, to defend Memphis, and shut himself up in its
+walls. The city is said to have been twenty miles in circuit (I. 85); it
+lay on the western bank of the Nile, and Cambyses had the difficult task
+of crossing the river before he could invest the city. But now it was
+seen how great was the support afforded by the fleet. The Egyptian ships
+must have been forced to retire; the union of the Persian army with the
+fleet was accomplished; one of these ships appeared before the walls of
+Memphis sooner than the army. According to the account of Herodotus it
+would seem that it was not the city but only the citadel of Memphis,
+"the white tower" on the southern dam, which defended itself. If this
+was the case Cambyses had no doubt to thank the fleet for it. Elsewhere
+the city must have been defended on the side towards the Nile by the
+river-dams merely, which the garrison despaired of holding against the
+attack of numerous ships of war. Thus invested and attacked the citadel
+must at length have opened the gates; and with the citadel Psammenitus
+fell into the hands of the Persians.[150] After the fall of Memphis
+Cambyses does not seem to have found resistance anywhere. It is
+nevertheless possible that Sais, the residence of Psammetichus and his
+descendants, as well as of Amasis and Psammenitus, the burial-place of
+the princes and of Amasis, attempted a defence. In any case the conquest
+of Sais completed the subjugation of the Egyptian land. An inscription
+of the Egyptians says: "When the great prince, the lord of the world,
+Kambathet, marched against Egypt, all nations of the earth were with
+him. He became lord of the whole land and settled there."[151] In a war
+of a few months Cambyses had overthrown a kingdom which reckoned by
+millenniums, and had been the wonder of the world.
+
+What Herodotus tells us of the fate of Psammenitus and the death of his
+son reminds us in a striking manner of the legend of the Greeks about
+the distress and the rescue of Croesus, who also reappears in this
+narrative. In both Herodotus becomes uncertain towards the end, and
+changes from direct to indirect narration, from assertion to
+supposition. When Cyrus commanded Croesus to be burned, he intended,
+according to Herodotus, to prove whether a god would come to his aid;
+Cambyses intends to put the endurance of Psammenitus to the test. Two
+trials are made with this object; and a third trial also takes place;
+and if Croesus calls on Solon three times on the pyre, Psammenitus
+remains dumb "with horror," as Aristotle says, at the sight of his
+daughter at her slavish task, and of his son when led out to execution;
+it is only at the sight of his friend who has become a beggar that he
+breaks forth into lamentation. Like Cyrus at Sardis, Cambyses at Memphis
+inquires into the reason of such conduct. But if Cyrus weeps at the
+pyre, and desires to save Croesus, who is finally rescued by a god, so
+in this place, all the Persians who are present weep, and Croesus weeps,
+and Cambyses himself is touched by compassion; he wishes to save the son
+of Psammenitus; and though he cannot do this he releases the father out
+of captivity and receives him at his court. There is a difference in the
+stories in the fact that though Cambyses is putting Psammenitus to the
+test, the son is actually executed, and that the compassion of Cambyses
+is not aroused by the danger impending over the Egyptian king, but by
+his conduct. As in the story of Croesus and Cyrus, so in this, we have
+obviously a legend of the Greeks--the Greeks in Egypt. The first story
+has arisen out of the intention of Croesus not to survive the fall of
+his kingdom, to offer himself as a sacrifice to the angry god of the
+Lydians; and the second has no other foundation than the punishment
+exacted by Cambyses in accordance with the sentence of the seven judges
+(p. 105), for the murder of his herald who had demanded the surrender of
+Memphis, and for the massacre of the crew of the ship in which the
+herald had gone to the city. If the seven judges demand ten Egyptians
+for every man slain, this sentence, though it fell on the most
+distinguished families of Egypt, would seem mild enough according to the
+scale of oriental punishments; as 2000 men were brought out for
+execution, the ship must have had the usual crew of a Greek trireme.
+Whether the son of Psammenitus was really put to death for the herald,
+we must leave to the legend; Ctesias tells us only of the deportation of
+Psammenitus and 6000 Egyptians to Susa.
+
+Cambyses resolved to treat Psammenitus and Egypt in precisely the same
+way as Cyrus had treated Croesus and Lydia, Nabonetus and Babylon. It is
+not said that any harm was done to the city of Memphis, and Herodotus
+tells us himself that if Psammenitus had known how to keep quiet,
+Cambyses would have entrusted him with the governorship of Egypt. Yet
+the degradation of his daughter and the execution of his son were a
+strange initiation of such treatment.[152] Still more incredible is the
+ill-treatment and burning of the corpse of Amasis, for which Cambyses
+had not the slightest reason, especially as Herodotus states that
+Cambyses sent Ladice, the widow of Amasis, unharmed back to her own city
+of Cyrene.[153] The story belongs to the context of the narrative
+according to which Cambyses sues for the daughter of Amasis, and is
+deceived by him with the daughter of Hophra, whose desire for vengeance
+on Amasis he satisfies. As Amasis is no longer alive, vengeance comes
+upon his son and grandson, and even on his own body. For this reason
+Herodotus has adopted this story, for he lays great stress on the fact
+that no misfortune befell Amasis in his life, though he rejects the
+Egyptian version that Amasis had taken the precaution to substitute the
+corpse of another person of the same age for his own. If Sais resisted
+and was taken by storm, the temple of Neith might certainly be injured,
+the royal sepulchres violated, and the mummies taken from them, without
+any blame attaching to Cambyses, though on a similar occasion at Memphis
+he is charged by Herodotus with opening the tombs and disturbing the
+rest of the dead.[154] The Egyptian inscription informs us that the
+conduct of Cambyses at Sais and in the temple of Neith, in the portico
+of which Amasis had built his sepulchre, was widely different from that
+described by the legend. He removed his soldiers from the temple,
+purified it, and both here and in other places he showed his regard for
+the worship of the Egyptians as Cyrus had shown it for the worship of
+the Babylonians and the Hebrews. From the account of Herodotus, no less
+than from the later circumstances of Egypt, it is clear that no
+alteration was made in the government, law, and administration of
+justice, except that a Persian satrap was placed at the head of the
+country and Persian garrisons were sent to the citadels of the most
+important places. Even the Egyptian warrior caste remained unchanged and
+undiminished; it merely passed from the service of the Pharaohs into
+that of the Achaemenids; and after repeated rebellions numbered more than
+400,000 men in the middle of the fifth century B.C.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[139] The Babylonian tablets give dates from the first to the ninth year
+inclusive of "Kuras, king of Babylon," which entirely agree with the
+dates of the canon of Ptolemy, _i.e._ with the capture of Babylon by
+Cyrus 538 B.C., and the death of Cyrus in 529 B.C. On another tablet,
+No. 877, Br. Mus., we find the "year eleven of Cambyses king of Babylon"
+(E. Schrader, "Z. Aegypt. Sprach." 1878, s. 40 ff.). It is a fact
+established by the canon of Ptolemy as well as by Herodotus that
+Cambyses did not sit on the throne for eight whole years. Tablet 906
+explains this eleventh year; it runs as follows: "Babylon month Kislev,
+day 25, year 1 of Cambyses king of Babylon, at that time Cyrus king of
+the lands." Hence in Babylon dates were sometimes fixed by the years of
+Cyrus king of Babylon, and sometimes by the years of the viceroy. If the
+"year eleven" of Cambyses in Babylon was the year of Cambyses' death,
+Cyrus must have handed over the government of Babylonia to him in the
+year 532 B.C., _i.e._ three years before his own death. This view, which
+has been developed by E. Schrader, I feel able to adopt against the
+opinion of T. G. Pinches, who wrongly assumes an abdication of Cyrus.
+That years were not dated from Cambyses after his death is proved by
+seventeen other tablets, which do not go beyond the eighth year of his
+reign, and two others of the 20 Elul and 1 Tisri from the first year of
+Barziya, _i.e._ of the Pseudo-Smerdis.
+
+[140] Herod. 2, 182; Diod. 1, 68.
+
+[141] Herod. 3, 1.
+
+[142] Herodotus writes Kadytis after the Egyptian name Kazatu. Vol. I.
+132.
+
+[143] Herod. 2, 1; 3, 44.
+
+[144] Bekker reads 7000.
+
+[145] Ctesias, "Pers." 9; Athenaeus, p. 560.
+
+[146] Strabo, p. 758.
+
+[147] In Herod. (3, 19) the voluntary submission of the Cyprians stands
+in direct connection with their participation in the campaign against
+Egypt; hence it cannot be placed earlier. If Xenophon ("Inst. Cyri," 1,
+1) represents the Cyprians as already subjugated by Cyrus, he maintains
+the same of Egypt also. On the other hand, the statement of Xenophon
+that the Cyprians retained their native kings owing to their voluntary
+submission is amply confirmed by later events ("Inst. 2 Cyri." 7, 4, 2;
+8, 6, 8).
+
+[148] Herod. 3, 44.
+
+[149] According to Lepsius, Amasis died in January 525, and hence
+Memphis fell in July of this year: "Monatsberichte Berl. Akademie,"
+1854. The Psammenitus of Herodotus is called Psammecherites in Manetho;
+and Psamtik on the monuments. Rosell. "Monum. storici." 2, 153; 4, 105.
+
+[150] Diod. "Exc. de virtute," p. 557; Polyaen. "Strateg." 7, 9. In
+regard to the campaign we may compare the march of Pharnabazus and
+Iphicrates against Nectanebos in the year 374 B.C., in Diod. 15, 41-43.
+Aristot. "Rhet." 2, 8, 12.
+
+[151] Herod. 2, 181. De Rouge, "Revue Archeol," 8, 3; Brugsch, "Hist. of
+Egypt," 2, 294.
+
+[152] Aristot. "Rhet." 2, 8, 12.
+
+[153] Herod. 2, 181.
+
+[154] Herod. 3, 37.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE MARCH TO MEROE.
+
+
+More than two centuries before Cambyses set foot upon its soil, Egypt
+had experienced the rule of the stranger. The reign of the Ethiopic
+monarchs of Napata over Egypt (730-672 B.C.) was followed by the more
+severe dominion of the Assyrians. But Psammetichus had been able to
+restore the kingdom, and the sovereignty of his house; the reign of
+Amasis had called into existence a beautiful after-bloom of Egyptian
+art, had given a lively impulse to trade, and increased the welfare of
+the land. Now the day of Pelusium and the fall of Memphis had decided
+the fate of Egypt irrevocably and for all time. The kingdom had been
+founded from Memphis three thousand years previously, and at Memphis it
+was now overthrown. Egypt, in spite of repeated and stubborn attempts,
+was never able to recover from the dominion of the Persians, and even
+the fall of the Persian empire did not permit the rise of the Egypt of
+the Egyptians.
+
+The speedy and great success which Cambyses achieved had effects beyond
+the borders of Egypt. Herodotus narrates that the Libyans in their
+anxiety about the fortune of Egypt submitted to Cambyses without a
+battle, promised to pay tribute, and sent presents. The Cyrenaeans also
+and Barcaeans from similar apprehensions had done the same. The
+presents of the Libyans were graciously accepted by Cambyses, but the
+500 minae which the Cyrenaeans sent, he threw with his own hand among
+the people because "it was too little."[155] Diodorus explains the
+anxiety of the Libyans and Cyrenaeans, "after Cambyses had become lord
+of the whole of Egypt" and the voluntary submission which was the
+consequence of it, by the fact that the Libyans and Cyrenaeans had
+fought against Cambyses with the Egyptians. We know from other sources
+that the princes of Cyrene were in close and friendly connection with
+Amasis.[156] The subjugation of the Libyans cannot have extended farther
+than to the tribes adjacent to the Delta, and reaching towards the west
+perhaps as far as Cyrene. At that time Archelaus III. was the king of
+Cyrene. More than a century before, Greeks from the island of Thera had
+founded the city on the well-watered and grassy slopes which run from
+the table-land of Barca to the sea. Ever since that time the family of
+Battus and Archelaus had reigned over this settlement, which, owing to
+its favoured position and lively trade, rose quickly to power and
+wealth. The attack which Pharaoh-Hophra made upon it in the year 571
+B.C. had been successfully repulsed by the Cyrenaeans (III. 405).
+Subsequently, about the year 545 B.C., Battus III. had been compelled to
+submit to a constitutional form of government which restricted the
+monarchy to a hereditary presidentship. Discontented with this position,
+Archelaus III. attempted to recover the old powers. The attempt failed,
+Archelaus fled, and found shelter with Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos.
+When he had collected there an army of adventurers he returned at their
+head, subverted the constitution, and set on foot a cruel persecution
+against all who had adhered to it. He may have felt the ground insecure
+under his feet in the city; the fall of Egypt deprived him of the
+support which he had had in that country, and if he had really sent a
+contingent to aid Psammenitus he had to fear the vengeance of Cambyses.
+These were reasons enough for seeking the protection of the Persian
+king. He recognised the sovereignty of Cambyses, and sent that sum of
+money as the first proof of his submission.
+
+"Cambyses now proposed to himself a threefold expedition," so Herodotus
+relates; "one against the Carthaginians, a second against the Ammonians,
+and a third against the long-lived Ethiopians, who inhabit Libya on the
+southern sea. It seemed best to send the fleet against the
+Carthaginians, and a part of the land army against the Ammonians, but to
+the Ethiopians envoys were first sent. When he had given this command he
+ordered fish-eaters to be brought from Elephantine (the island on the
+Nile on the border of Egypt) who were acquainted with the language of
+the Ethiopians. While these were being brought he ordered the fleet to
+set out against Carthage. But the Phenicians refused; they were bound by
+great oaths, and they would be guilty of a crime if they went against
+their own children. As the Phenicians refused, the rest (_i.e._ the
+Greeks) were not strong enough, and so the Carthaginians escaped slavery
+under the Persians. For Cambyses could not do violence to the
+Phenicians, because they had voluntarily submitted to the Persians (p.
+90), and the whole naval power rested on the Phenicians. When the
+fish-eaters had come, they were told what they had to say to the
+Ethiopians, and received the presents which they had to take--a purple
+robe, a golden necklace and bracelets, a box of alabaster filled with
+ointment, and a jar of palm-wine. The Ethiopians to whom they were sent
+were said to be the tallest and most beautiful of men, and as they live
+under laws which are different from those of other men, they were said
+to regard the man who is the tallest and strongest among them as the
+most worthy of the throne."
+
+"When the fish-eaters reached the Ethiopians and gave over their
+presents to the king, they said: 'Cambyses, the king of the Persians,
+wishes to be your friend and sends you as presents these things in which
+he takes most delight himself.' The Ethiopians answered: 'The Persian
+king has not sent you with these presents because he wishes to be my
+friend, and ye are not speaking the truth. You have been sent to spy out
+my kingdom, and he is not a righteous man. If he were righteous he would
+not have desired another land than his own, nor would he have reduced
+men to slavery from whom he had suffered no wrong. Give him this bow
+(the bows of the Ethiopians were of palm-wood and more than four cubits
+in length),[157] and say to the king of the Persians, that when his
+people can string a bow of that size he may march against the long-lived
+Ethiopians with an overwhelming army; till then, he may thank the gods
+that it has not occurred to the sons of the Ethiopians to conquer
+another land in addition to their own.' Then he gave them the bow, and
+he took the purple robe, and asked what it was and how it was made. And
+when the fish-eaters gave him a true account of the purple and the
+dyeing, he said that the men were deceivers and their garments
+deceptive. When he saw the necklace and bracelets, the king laughed,
+for he imagined that they were fetters; their fetters, he said, were
+stronger. Then he inquired about the ointment, and when the preparation
+and use of this were explained, he said the same as about the robes. The
+wine he drank and it pleased him greatly, and he asked what the king of
+Persia ate, and what was the greatest age to which the Persians lived.
+They replied that he ate bread, and explained the nature of wheat; they
+also put the greatest age to which the Persians lived at eighty years.
+The king replied that he did not wonder that their years were few,
+inasmuch as they ate dirt, and they would not live so long as they did,
+if the drink did not strengthen them--in that matter the Persians had
+the advantage. Of the Ethiopians most lived to 120 years, and some even
+longer; their food was cooked flesh, and their drink milk. When the
+envoys returned and Cambyses received their account, he fell into a
+passion, and marched against the Ethiopians without taking measures for
+the supply of provisions or considering that he was about to march to
+the end of the world, but like one distraught and out of his mind, he
+set forth on his expedition as soon as he heard the account of the
+fish-eaters. No Persian was able to draw the bow of the Ethiopians;
+Smerdis alone, the brother of Cambyses, was able to draw it two
+finger-breadths.[158] Cambyses bade the Greeks who were with him (_i.e._
+the crews of the Greek ships) to remain in Egypt; but the whole of the
+rest of the army he took with him. When he came to Thebes, he sent
+50,000 men away with orders to enslave the Ammonians and burn the oracle
+of Zeus; with the rest he marched against the Ethiopians. But before the
+army had traversed a fifth part of the way all their provisions were
+consumed, and not long after even the beasts of burden were eaten. If
+Cambyses when he saw this had given up his intention, and led the army
+back, he would have shown himself a wise man after his first mistake,
+but he went recklessly onward. So long as the soldiers found anything
+growing on the ground, they ate herbs and grass; but when they came to
+the sand, some of them did a horrid deed; they drew lots for the tenth
+man and ate him. When Cambyses heard of this, he was distressed that the
+soldiers should eat each other, abandoned the war against the
+Ethiopians, marched back, and reached Thebes after losing many men. This
+was the end of the expedition against the Ethiopians. But with regard to
+those who were sent against the Ammonians it is only known that they
+reached the city of Oasis where the Samians dwell, seven days' march
+distant from Thebes through the desert; in the Greek language this place
+is called the island of the blessed. To this place the army came; but
+beyond this no man knows anything except what the Ammonians say. They
+relate that when they marched from the oasis through the sand and were
+about midway between the oasis and the Ammonians, and were eating
+breakfast, a great wind from the south blew up a mass of sand and
+overwhelmed them, and in this way they perished." Diodorus represents
+Cambyses as making the attempt to subjugate the Ethiopians with a great
+host, in which he lost the whole of his army and was in the greatest
+danger.[159]
+
+If the legend of the Greeks of the fortunes of Psammenitus after his
+defeat exhibits analogous traits to the legend, also Greek, of the fate
+of Croesus after his capture, the account given by Herodotus of the
+march of Cambyses against the long-lived Ethiopians reminds us of his
+account of the march of Cyrus against the Massagetae. In both cases the
+aim is directed against unknown foreign nations, against whom there is
+no reason to make war; in both cases good sense, moderation, wisdom, and
+love of peace are found in the chief of the barbarians; in both envoys
+are sent under false pretences; in both the conversation on either side
+is accurately known. In the first case it is a foolish resolution which
+brings ruin; in the second it is the vexation of Cambyses at the answer
+of the Ethiopians, and the inability to draw the bow, which causes him
+to lead his army without any hesitation into destruction. Along with
+other indications, the test of the bow here, like the bottle in the
+other legend, points to a poetical source.
+
+We have seen that the ancient Pharaohs, the Sesurtesen and Amenemha,
+Tuthmosis and Amenophis, and after them Sethos and Ramses II., had
+extended the dominion of Egypt up the Nile to Semne and Cumne, and
+subsequently to Mount Barkal. The Egyptian language, worship, and art
+spread in this direction, and with the decline of the Egyptian power
+after the time of the Ramessids (from the year 1100 B.C.), an
+independent state grew up, the metropolis of which was Napata, near the
+modern Meravi, on Mount Barkal. The princes of this state in their turn,
+from king Pianchi onwards, had forced their way down the Nile.[160]
+Sabakon, Sebichos, and Tirhaka had governed Napata and Egypt. After
+Sabakon had come into conflict with the Assyrians at Raphia in Syria
+(720 B.C.), and Tirhaka at Altaku (701 B.C.), Tirhaka succumbed in the
+year 672 B.C. to the arms of Esarhaddon. Repeated attempts of Tirhaka
+and his son Urdamane upon Egypt were wrecked; Esarhaddon calls himself
+king of Miluhhi and Cush. Assurbanipal boasts that he pursued Urdamane
+as far as the land of Cush. But the kingdom of Napata, which the
+inscriptions of Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal call
+Miluhhi (Meroe[161])--in the inscriptions on Mount Barkal we find the
+names Meru and Merua--continued to exist, and maintained itself against
+the restoration of Egyptian power under Psammetichus and his successors.
+We cannot doubt that Cambyses wished to penetrate up the Nile at least
+as far as the army of the Assyrians, that he felt it necessary to secure
+his dominion in Egypt against attacks from Napata, and to extend his
+dominion as far up the Nile as the army of the old Pharaohs had reached.
+That the prince, who, as we saw, made the most careful preparations for
+the campaign against Egypt, should have thrown himself foolishly and
+recklessly into this undertaking, as Herodotus represents, is
+incredible, and the statement must be attributed to special tendencies
+in the sources used by the historian. So far as Meroe, Herodotus tells
+us from information collected at Elephantine on the southern border of
+Egypt, the way lay up and on the Nile. First there were four days'
+journey from Elephantine (against the stream), then forty days' march
+along the river, since the rocks made navigation impossible, and then
+after twelve days' voyage the great city of Meroe was reached, the
+metropolis of the rest of the Ethiopians. The distance to the place
+where the Egyptians lived who had emigrated under Psammetichus (III.
+307) was not less than the distance from Elephantine to Meroe, and it
+was a long journey for them to the long-lived Ethiopians. The total of
+56 days' journey from the way from Elephantine to Meroe upon or along
+the Nile points to a place much higher up the river than Napata. The new
+Meroe is meant, which the princes of Napata, receding before the
+Persians, had founded before the time of Herodotus.[162] Herodotus'
+statements that the Ethiopians worshipped Zeus and Dionysus alone among
+the gods, and worshipped them very zealously, that there was an oracle
+of Zeus in their country, and that it was only by its command that they
+went to war, are completely established by the monuments of Napata. They
+show that the worship of Ammon, the god of Thebes and upper Egypt, and
+that of Osiris whom the Greeks, as we know, compared with their
+Dionysus, were zealously prosecuted. From inscriptions and intelligence
+of other kinds we have also ample information of the influence of the
+priests, and the importance of the oracle in the kingdom of Napata. The
+fame of the priesthood at Napata may be the basis of the "pious
+Ethiopians" of Homer; the same piety, though further removed, is shown
+in Herodotus' narrative of the long-lived Ethiopians.
+
+When Cambyses, so Strabo tells us, had made himself master of Egypt, he
+advanced to Meroe (Napata), and it is said that he gave the name to the
+city in honour of his wife, or his sister, as others say, who was buried
+there. Diodorus indeed tells us that Cambyses founded the famous city of
+Meroe, and gave it the name of Meroe after his mother.[163] Josephus
+also observes that Cambyses changed the name of the royal city of the
+Ethiopians and called it Meroe.[164] However unfounded may be the
+assertion that the name of Meroe proceeded from Cambyses--for we find it
+used two centuries previously by the Assyrians--it is quite clear from
+these statements that Cambyses did advance as far as the old metropolis
+of the Ethiopians and brought it into his power; that he conquered and
+maintained the kingdom of Napata. Indeed Herodotus tells us elsewhere
+himself that he advanced far beyond Napata to the south. "In his
+campaign against the long-lived Ethiopians," we are told in this
+passage, "Cambyses subjugated the Ethiopians who dwell around the sacred
+Nysa, and hold festivals in honour of Dionysus." The position of the
+mythical Nysa, we cannot, it is true, define more precisely than that a
+Homeric hymn puts it above the fountains of the Nile,[165] and Herodotus
+himself places it above Egypt in Ethiopia;[166] but inasmuch as these
+Ethiopians of Nysa wore leopard and lion skins, according to Herodotus,
+and were armed with clubs; as their arrow-heads were made of sharp
+stones, and their lances of the horns of antelopes; as they painted
+themselves half red and half white in battle;[167] as they had to pay
+to the Persians every third year two hundred logs of ebony, twenty large
+tusks of elephants, five boys, and two choenixes of unrefined gold,[168]
+Cambyses must have penetrated into the land of the negroes, the zone of
+ebony and the elephant. On the middle course of the Nile in Nubia, and
+above Napata, there were tribes akin to the Egyptians; the land of the
+negroes began about the union of the White and Blue Nile. The monuments
+of Egypt comprise both populations under the name Cush, the name of the
+land of the south, and they exhibit these southern nations as partly red
+and partly black. The Greeks call the red and black inhabitants of the
+land of the south, Ethiopians. According to the statements of
+Artemidorus of Ephesus and of Agatharchides, which have been preserved
+by Strabo and Diodorus, the land of the elephant-hunters and
+ostrich-eaters, who fought with the Ethiopians, men armed with the horns
+of the antelope, began south of the confluence of the Atbara and
+Bahr-el-Azrek or Blue River, and the Nile.[169] At the present time the
+region of the ebony-woods and elephants begins in the marsh at the foot
+of the Abyssinian Alps; elephants are not found elsewhere except in some
+more northern regions on the Red Sea; and that the Ethiopians did not
+acquire the elephants' tusks in the way of trade is proved by the small
+amount of gold which they had to pay as tribute. As we find in the
+reliefs of Persepolis and Naksh-i-Rustem, among the nations of the
+Persian kingdom, certain figures which are marked out as negroes by
+their short, curly hair, their snub nose, their bare breast and the
+animal's skin on the shoulders; as the Ethiopians of Nysa and their
+neighbours served, according to Herodotus, in the army of Xerxes, and
+paid the tribute mentioned, as Herodotus expressly tells us, even in his
+day, the march of Cambyses must have penetrated beyond the mouth of the
+Atbara, and Napata must have been permanently maintained, otherwise such
+distant tribes would not have furnished contingents in war fifty years
+later, and their tribute would have come to an end long before
+Herodotus.
+
+Hence Cambyses did not, as the account of Herodotus represents, return
+to Egypt from the upper Nile without success. On the contrary, he
+penetrated much further than the Assyrians, and his campaign had more
+lasting results than the conquests of Tuthmosis III. and Ramses II. on
+the upper Nile. The account given by Herodotus of the distress into
+which the army fell, the statement that the soldiers ate each other
+(which is also told of the expedition of Cyrus to the Indus), and that
+the retreat to Egypt was thus brought about, is hardly compatible with
+such results and so firmly-established a supremacy. Yet we may suppose
+that Cambyses wished to penetrate even further than the junction of the
+White and Blue Nile, and there fell into difficulties. But it is
+probable that quite another incident lies at the base of the legend of
+the distress of Cambyses "in the sand." At Premnis on the Nile, Pliny
+mentions "the market of Cambyses;" in Ptolemy the same place is called
+"the Magazine of Cambyses." Strabo, when narrating the campaign which
+Petronius took in the year 24 B.C. against Napata, tells us, that after
+Petronius had taken Pselchis (140 miles above Elephantine) he came to
+Premnis (150 miles further up the Nile, below Abu Simbel and the falls
+of Wadi Halfa), "after he had marched through the sand-heaps in which
+the army of Cambyses was buried by a sudden wind." Thus, five hundred
+years after the campaign of Cambyses, the tradition was in existence,
+that his army had been buried there. Hence when Napata had been
+conquered, and the negro stems subjugated, when Mount Barkal and the
+falls of Wadi Halfa were already behind the army on the return journey,
+it was overtaken by a sand-storm in the neighbourhood of Egypt, and a
+part of the army, though not the whole, was buried.[170]
+
+Herodotus told us above that Cambyses in his march against the
+Ethiopians sent a section of his army against the Ammonians, to reduce
+them to slavery, and burn the oracle of Ammon there. Diodorus repeats
+the statement of Herodotus almost in the same words. Justin observes,
+that Cambyses had sent an army for the conquest of the famous temple of
+Ammon, but it was overwhelmed by a storm and masses of sand. Herodotus'
+narrative of this campaign cannot have arisen from the source from which
+he took the striking traits of his account of the march against the
+long-lived Ethiopians. Had this treated of the march against the
+Ammonians it would have given some account of the issue of it; but
+Herodotus expressly tells us that only the Ammonians could give an
+account of this. His authority therefore was a Greek-Egyptian tradition.
+The Ammonians inhabited the oasis of Sivah, which lies in the desert to
+the west of Egypt: the worship of Ammon was carried there by Egyptian
+settlers and Egyptian influence.[171] We cannot doubt that Cambyses,
+after Cyrene and the tribes of the Libyans between Egypt and Cyrene had
+submitted, sent a part of his army to obtain possession of this oasis.
+The oasis of Ammon was well adapted to keep the Libyans of the coast as
+well as the Cyrenaeans in subjection; and was at the same time an
+important station for trade, and a desirable point of support for
+further undertakings in the West. The command to enslave the inhabitants
+of the oasis and burn the temple, is part of the conception which
+represents Cambyses as setting out against the Ethiopians in a moment of
+reckless passion. According to Herodotus, the expedition to Sivah came
+in seven days after leaving Thebes to "the Island of the Blest," _i.e._
+to the oasis El Charigeh, which as a fact is seven good days' march from
+Thebes in the desert.[172] From this point the army had to proceed about
+500 miles; at present the caravans go northward from El Charigeh, then
+to the west from the oasis of Kasr, to Sivah. What happened to the army
+on one of these routes, no one, Herodotus says, can tell; the Ammonians
+declared that it was buried half way between El Charigeh and Sivah.
+
+It would be rash to connect the heaps of bones which a traveller in our
+times saw in the neighbourhood of the oasis of Kasr with the destruction
+of the army of Cambyses,[173] and it is surprising that the Persians
+took the longer route from Thebes, when the shorter route which led from
+Memphis to Sivah was already frequented. Alexander of Macedon, in order
+to reach the Ammonians, marched from the Mareotic Lake along the coast
+westward to Paraetonium, then he turned directly to the south, and in
+eight marches reached the oasis. A modern traveller reached it in
+fifteen days from Fayum, in 1809, and the troops of Mahomet Ali who
+subjugated Sivah in 1820 to Egypt (2000 men and 500 camels with water)
+reached it in fourteen days. Most remarkable of all is the fact, that
+both campaigns of Cambyses were overtaken by the same disaster. The
+direction taken by each does not allow us to connect the two; the route
+to Sivah could not be past Pselchis and Premnis. Yet neither one nor the
+other disaster is in itself incredible, though 50,000 men cannot have
+perished. Some 70 years ago a caravan of about 2000 souls was buried in
+a sand-storm on the road from Darfur to Egypt.[174] But even if the
+division which was despatched against the oasis of Ammon succumbed to
+the storms of the desert, Cambyses maintained the oasis El Charigeh,
+which Herodotus calls the city Oasis and the Island of the Blessed. The
+magnificent remains of a temple which Darius the son of Hystaspes caused
+to be erected there to the god of the oasis, the ram-headed Ammon, prove
+that the oasis was conquered and held by Cambyses.[175]
+
+Like the undertaking against the Ammonians, the intention of Cambyses to
+send the fleet against Carthage was evidence of his plan of extending
+his power to the west, and achieving in Africa what his father had done
+in Asia. Herodotus gives the account of the order commanding the fleet
+to sail, of the refusal of the Phenicians, and the abandonment of the
+project by Cambyses, according to the tradition of the Greeks, who
+together with the Phenicians made up the fleet of Cambyses and the
+Greeks in Egypt. There is no reason to doubt the statement. By the
+submission of the Cyrenaeans and Barcaeans Cambyses became the neighbour
+of Carthage, which had lately united the Phenician colonies of West
+Africa under her leadership and was eager to oppose the advance of the
+Greeks in the west of the Mediterranean, the settlement of their
+colonies to the west of the great Syrtis, and their progress in
+Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily. If the attempt to advance to the desert
+to the west of El Charigeh were already wrecked, if Cambyses had already
+returned from Napata when he commanded the fleet to sail against
+Carthage, new successes covered that disaster as well as the calamity of
+Premnis, and the gain of Carthage was of more importance than that of
+the oasis of Sivah. The old Phenicians of the East, in union with the
+navy of the Anatolian cities, was to conquer the new Phoenicia of the
+West. The Greeks no doubt were ready, but the Phenicians refused. By
+injuring their colonies in the West they would have rendered the
+greatest service to the rival naval power and trade of the Greeks; in
+Anatolia and on the coasts of Sicily they would probably have given a
+fatal blow to their own power by sea. Whether Cambyses saw this
+connection of affairs, and felt that the subjection of Carthage would
+liberate the independent Greeks from a dangerous neighbour, and the
+dependent Greeks from a rival in trade, or whether he simply gave way to
+the refusal of the Phenicians, we cannot decide: we only know that "as
+the fleet of the Phenicians refused,"--and it formed the preponderating
+part of the naval force,--it was impossible to compel it to go.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[155] Herod. 3, 13.
+
+[156] Diod. "Exc. de legat." p. 619 = 10, 14.
+
+[157] Herod. 7, 69. Cf. Strabo, p. 802.
+
+[158] Herod. 3, 30.
+
+[159] Herod. 3, 17-26; Diod. 3, 1.
+
+[160] Vol. III. 63 ff. 159.
+
+[161] The name Miluhhi is nevertheless used so often in the inscription
+of the kings, and in such close connection with Egypt, that the kingdom
+of Napata may merely be meant. Assurbanipal tells us that his brother
+seduced into rebellion "the princes of Miluhhi whom he subjugated." Vol.
+III. 170.
+
+[162] Herod. 2, 29; Strabo, p. 786. Herodotus' statements, like those of
+the later authorities from Eratosthenes to Strabo and Pliny, have the
+second, more southern, Meroe in view, the ruins of which were found at
+Begerauieh, above the mouth of the Atbara, some 150 miles as the crow
+flies to the south of Napata. They describe this Meroe as situated on an
+island, because the Atbara was regarded as an arm of the Nile. The ruins
+at Begerauieh are less important and artistic than those of Napata, the
+hieroglyphics are of another kind. As the Persians maintained their hold
+on Napata, a new metropolis of the Ethiopian kingdom obviously grew up
+at this place after the times of Cambyses and Darius, which adopted the
+name and civilization of the old.
+
+[163] Strabo, p. 790; Diod. 1, 33.
+
+[164] "Antiq." 2, 10.
+
+[165] "Hymn." 26, 9.
+
+[166] "Hymn." 2, 146.
+
+[167] "Hymn." 7, 69.
+
+[168] "Hymn." 3, 97.
+
+[169] Diod. 3, 26, 33; Strabo, p. 772.
+
+[170] Plin. "H. N." 6, 35; Strabo, p. 822.
+
+[171] Herod. 2, 42.
+
+[172] Parthey, "Die Oase des Jupiter Ammon, Abh. Berl. Akad." 1862, s.
+159 ff.
+
+[173] Belzoni, "Narrative," p. 398.
+
+[174] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 2, 1, 397.
+
+[175] Lepsius, "Trinuthis, Z. Aegypt. Sprache," 1874, s. 76 ff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE DEATH OF CAMBYSES.
+
+
+"When Cambyses returned from Thebes to Memphis," so Herodotus narrates,
+"Apis appeared to the Egyptians. They put on their best clothes, and
+made holiday. Cambyses seeing this, formed the opinion that they held
+the festival because misfortune had happened to him. He summoned the
+governors of Memphis, and when they came into his presence asked them
+why the Egyptians had done nothing of this kind when he had been in
+Memphis before, but only now that he had lost the greater part of his
+army. They replied that their god had appeared to them, who for a long
+time had been wont to appear, and when he appeared all the Egyptians
+were delighted. When Cambyses heard this he said that they lied, and
+punished them with death. He then sent for the priests, and when they
+said the same, he said that he would soon ascertain whether a tame deity
+had appeared to the Egyptians, and commanded them to bring out Apis.
+Apis was brought out, and Cambyses mad as he was drew his sword. He
+meant to stab Apis in the belly, but he hit the thigh and said with a
+laugh to the priests: 'Wretches, are these creatures gods, which have
+flesh and blood, and feel iron? Such a god is worthy of the Egyptians.
+But you shall not mock me for nothing,' He gave command to scourge the
+priests and slay every Egyptian who was found making holiday. In this
+way the festival came to an end; the priests were punished, the Apis
+died in the temple of the wound in his thigh, and the priests buried him
+secretly unknown to Cambyses.[176] But the king remained in Memphis and
+raged against the Egyptians, the allies, and the Persians. He caused the
+old sepulchres to be opened and looked at the corpses; he went into the
+temple of Hephaestus (Ptah, I. 43), and desecrated the image of the god
+in various ways. He also entered the temple of the Cabiri (belonging to
+the Phenicians at Memphis, III. 310), which none but the priests may
+enter, and outraged the images and burned them."[177] Diodorus observes
+that Cambyses, as was said, took away the Golden Zone in the Ramesseum,
+which measured 365 cubits, one for each day in the year, and was a cubit
+thick.[178] Justin tells us quite generally that Cambyses, enraged at
+the superstition of the Egyptians, gave orders for the destruction of
+the temples of Apis and the other gods.[179]
+
+In the narrative of Herodotus the best reason given for the wounding of
+Apis is the vexation of the king at the failure of his campaigns against
+the Ethiopians and Ammonians, and the refusal of the Phenicians; and the
+belief that the festival of Apis was merely an excuse for making merry
+over the blows which had fallen upon him. If Cambyses tells the priests,
+who exhibit Apis to him as a god who has recently appeared to them, that
+"they lied," it was very difficult for a worshipper of Auramazda to
+believe that a young bull was a god, and the highest god, and the "lie"
+with which Cambyses charges them, seems to be an accurate trait
+corresponding to the conceptions of the Avesta about the "lying gods,"
+and to the Zoroastrian respect for the truth. There could hardly be a
+more strongly-marked contrast than between the worship of Auramazda, the
+creator of heaven and earth, and surrounded by the light spirits of the
+sky, in which no images were allowed, and the rites of the Egyptians,
+their worship of numerous images of the most extraordinary form in
+splendid temples, their adoration of the sacred animals, in which these
+deities appeared, and were thought to be present,--between their anxious
+care for the preservation of the corpse, and the eagerness of the
+Iranians to remove the impure remains of man. Cambyses might in all
+honesty believe that he was in contact with a stupid worship of idols, a
+senseless adoration of calves, crocodiles, and serpents, and a nation of
+"liars."
+
+But if he held such opinions, he did not act on them. If he had outraged
+the worship of Egypt in the manner represented by the legends of the
+Egyptians in Herodotus and Justin, the country could hardly have
+remained at rest after his death, when almost all the other lands
+rebelled against the Persians. Egyptian inscriptions prove that under
+Cambyses there was no sort of religious persecution, but quite the
+reverse. In the tombs of the Apis, on the plateau of Memphis, on the
+vestibule of the new gallery which Psammetichus had caused to be
+hollowed out for them, when the old gallery of Ramses II. was filled, we
+see on a pillar Cambyses adoring the Apis. The inscription tells us: "In
+the year four, in the month Epiphi, in the reign of Cambyses
+(Kambathet), the immortal, the god was brought here for the burial which
+the king ordained for him. A second Apis, the successor of that which
+was buried, was born, as the inscription of the Apis tombs tells us, on
+the 28th Tybi, in the fifth year of the reign of Cambyses.[180]
+Inscriptions found on the statue of an Egyptian, Uzahorsun (at present
+in the Vatican), tell us that he had been a magistrate under Amasis and
+Psammenitus (Psamtik III.), and afterwards under Cambyses and Darius.
+'When the great prince, the lord of the world, Kambathet,'[181] so we
+are told in these, 'marched against Egypt, all the nations of the earth
+were with him.' He became lord of the whole land, and settled therein.
+He was the great lord of Egypt, the great prince of the whole world, the
+king of upper and lower Egypt, Ra-mesut (_i.e._ Ra born again[182]). And
+his holiness conferred on me the dignity of a counsellor and overseer of
+the royal gates, and commanded that I should ever be where he was. I
+brought a complaint before his holiness touching the people who were in
+the temple of Neith, that they might be driven out, that the temple
+might be purified and clean as before. His holiness commanded the temple
+to be purified, and the sacred gifts to be brought as before to Neith,
+the great mother of the great gods who dwell in Sais. And his holiness
+commanded to celebrate all the great and little festivals, as had been
+done before. This his holiness did because he had commanded me to
+announce to him the greatness of Sais, which is the city of all the
+gods, who are there enthroned on their seats for ever. When the king of
+upper and lower Egypt came to Sais, he entered himself into the temple
+of Neith. He visited the sacred place of her holiness the goddess, as
+every king had done. His holiness did this on the information which he
+had received of the greatness of her holiness, who is the mother of the
+sun himself. His holiness performed all the rites in the temple of
+Neith. He offered a libation of the lord of Eternity (Osiris) in the
+inner chamber of the temple of Neith, as all kings had done before him.
+On the command of his holiness, the worship of Neith, the great mother
+of the gods, was re-established in all its completeness for ever. I have
+provided the sacred worship of Neith, the lady of Sais, with all good
+things, as a good servant does for his master. I have re-established the
+priests in their office, and on the command of the king have given them
+rich possessions to be their own for ever. I have erected a good
+sepulchre for him who was without a coffin. I was a good citizen of my
+city. I have caused its children to live. I have set up all their
+houses; I have shown them every kindness as a father for his son. I have
+rescued their population, when disaster fell upon their canton, at a
+time when there was great calamity in all the land. Never did such
+calamity fall upon their land before."[183]
+
+This inscription, like those on the Apis tombs, proves that Cambyses in
+Egypt, like his father in Babylon, wished to take the place of the old
+princes of the land, and did take it; and that he bore the titles of the
+ancient Pharaohs, and that a regal-name Ra-mesut was added to his name,
+as was the custom with his predecessors. He undertook the protection of
+the ancient gods of the land; he allowed Egyptians, servants of the old
+king's, to come into his immediate service; he listened to their advice;
+heard their complaints about the outrages done to the temple, which
+could hardly have been avoided in the occupation (p. 147), and removed
+the cause; restored the priests to the enjoyment of their incomes;
+showed respect to their religion, and allowed it to continue without
+restriction. However great we suppose the care to be which the Egyptian
+inscriptions take to say no evil of the Persian king, whatever weight we
+ascribe to the fact that after the Persians had once become their
+masters, the priests followed the traditional custom in denoting the
+kings of the Persians by the titles of their Pharaohs; whatever
+importance we allow to the fact that the priests were closely interested
+in representing religious affairs as unaltered even after the change in
+the rulers, and however much we deduct from their formal style on the
+score of these considerations--it still remains an established fact,
+from these inscriptions, that Cambyses did not oppress the Egyptians or
+their religion. The purification of one of the largest and most sacred
+temples in Egypt, the restoration of the priesthood and the worship at
+the temple, could not have been ascribed to Cambyses if the opposite was
+known to be the case. On the other hand, the narrative of Uzahorsun
+presents us with the natural course of affairs. If he speaks of a great
+calamity such as had never before fallen on the district of Sais and the
+whole land, this refers to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians, since
+he claims the merit of having rescued the population at Sais in this
+calamity. We saw above, from the narrative of Herodotus, that Cambyses
+went to Sais, after the capture of Memphis. The inscriptions show that
+the priests had been driven from the temple of Neith, that the soldiers
+were quartered in it, that sacrifice and worship came to an end. But it
+also teaches us that Cambyses removed these evils. Whether he felt
+himself called upon to offer gifts in the temple of Neith and pour
+libations, or whether the priests when restored to possession of the
+temple property did this on his behalf, is indifferent; the inscription
+and Herodotus tell us that he entered the temple in person. Of the two
+Apis-bulls which the inscriptions mention as belonging to the reign of
+Cambyses, the first, which was buried in Epiphi of the fourth year of
+Cambyses, may have been that which the king is said to have wounded
+after his return from Napata. But Herodotus observes that the priests
+buried this Apis "secretly." This is contradicted by the sepulchral
+pillar, inasmuch as Cambyses causes a place to be prepared for the
+burial of this Apis, and we have a picture of Cambyses in adoration
+before this Apis. The hypothesis, which we might frame, that the priests
+have given themselves the satisfaction of representing Cambyses as
+entreating the pardon of the god whom he had slain in a holy place,
+little visited by the Persians, would be very artificial and
+insufficient to account for this glaring contradiction.
+
+Hence we have to correct in some very essential points the
+Greek-Egyptian tradition of Cambyses. Though the Egyptians might
+attempt, as we saw, to change Cambyses into the grandson of their own
+Pharaoh Hophra, the people could hardly fail to attribute evil deeds and
+crimes to the man who had deprived their land of its independence, who
+had caused them painfully to feel the loss of their pride, the antiquity
+and the monuments of their history, their wisdom and art, a loss which
+they felt deeply as their repeated and stubborn rebellions show. But
+Herodotus would be the more ready to give credence to the narrative of
+the Egyptians of the wounding of Apis, because it explained the
+miserable death of Cambyses as the just punishment for this crime.
+Besides there were narratives of the Persians, which tended to impress
+on Cambyses the traits which he bears in Herodotus.
+
+"Smerdis, the brother of Cambyses," so Herodotus further narrates, "was
+with him in Egypt. Cambyses sent him back out of jealousy, because he
+was able to draw the bow of the Ethiopians further than all the rest of
+the Persians. When Smerdis had returned to Persia, Cambyses saw in a
+dream a messenger from Persia, who told him, that his brother sat up on
+the throne and that his head touched heaven. He was afraid that his
+brother would slay him and take possession of the kingdom; hence he sent
+Prexaspes the Persian in whom he had most confidence to Persia to put
+him to death. Prexaspes went to Susa, and slew Smerdis as some say,
+while hunting with him, but according to others, by taking him out on
+the Red Sea (the Persian Gulf) and throwing him into the water. This was
+the first evil deed which Cambyses committed immediately after his crime
+against Apis. The second he committed against his own sister, by the
+same father and mother (_i.e._ against the youngest of the three
+daughters whom Cassandane bore to Cyrus; her name has not come down to
+us with certainty). He was seized with a passion for one of his sisters,
+and desired to have her to wife; but as he saw that this was unusual,
+for up to this time the Persians had not taken sisters to wife, he asked
+the royal judges (p. 105) whether there was any law which stood in the
+way of his wish to marry his sister. The judges made a reply which was
+both just and safe; they could find no law which bade the brother marry
+the sister, but they had found a law which allowed the king of the
+Persians to do as he pleased. Then Cambyses married the sister whom he
+loved, and after this a second younger sister. The latter followed him
+to Egypt. Here she witnessed, together with Cambyses, a young lion
+fighting against a young dog, and when the dog was being beaten, its
+brother broke its chain and came to its aid, and the two together got
+the better of the lion. Cambyses was delighted at the sight, but his
+sister wept. When Cambyses perceived this he asked the cause of her
+tears; she replied that she wept because she thought of Smerdis when she
+saw the brother running to help the brother, and knew that no one would
+come to help him (Cambyses). For this speech, the Greeks say, Cambyses
+put his sister to death. The Egyptian account is that at table she took
+a lettuce, stripped off the leaves and asked Cambyses whether it looked
+better when bare or when full of leaves, and when he replied that it
+looked better when full of leaves, she retorted: 'And yet you have made
+it bare by desolating the house of Cyrus.' In a rage Cambyses gave her a
+kick, and as she was pregnant, she miscarried and died. Such was the
+fury of Cambyses against his own family, and he was guilty of similar
+acts against the Persians. He asked those Persians who sat with him and
+Croesus what sort of a man he appeared to be in comparison with his
+father. They replied that he was greater than his father; for he
+possessed all that Cyrus had possessed, and Egypt and the sea in
+addition. This answer did not please Croesus, who said: 'O son of
+Cyrus, to me thou seemest not to be equal to thy father, for thou hast
+not a son to leave behind thee such as he left in thee'; and when he
+heard this Cambyses was pleased and praised the answer of Croesus. He is
+said once to have asked Prexaspes whom he most honoured, and who carried
+in messages to him--his son was cup-bearer to Cambyses, an office of no
+slight honour--What do the Persians think and say of me? Prexaspes
+replied: 'O Sire, in all other things they praise thee greatly, but they
+say thou art too much given to wine.' Cambyses answered in displeasure:
+'So the Persians now say that owing to wine I am mad and not in my right
+mind; their previous answer was untrue.' He remembered that they had
+called him greater than Cyrus, and said to Prexaspes: 'See now for
+yourself whether the Persians speak the truth, or whether they tell
+foolish tales. There is your son in the portico; if I hit him in the
+heart it is clear that the Persians are wrong in what they say. But if I
+miss they are right and I am not in my senses.' The king drew the bow,
+hit the youth, ordered the body to be opened and the wound to be
+examined. When it was found that the arrow was in the heart he laughed,
+and in great delight said to the father: 'Now I have proved to you,
+Prexaspes, that I am not mad, but that the Persians are out of their
+senses. Tell me now, did you ever see such an archer?' As Prexaspes saw
+that he was not in his right mind, and was afraid for himself, he
+replied: 'I believe that God himself could not shoot so well.' On
+another occasion he caused twelve of the leading Persians for some
+trifling cause to be buried alive, head downwards. Then Croesus felt it
+right to warn him with words such as these: 'O king, do not yield in
+everything to youth and anger; restrain and bridle thyself. It is good
+to look beforehand, and prudence is wise. Thou slayest men of thy own
+nation without good reason and killest youths. If thou persistest in
+this, beware lest the Persians fall from thee. Thy father Cyrus charged
+and bade me many times to warn thee and counsel thee for good.' Cambyses
+answered: 'Dost thou venture to advise me, who hast governed thine own
+land so well, and advised my father to cross the Araxes against the
+Massagetae, when they were willing to come over the river? A bad ruler of
+your country, you have brought yourself to destruction, and Cyrus also
+who followed your advice: you shall not escape me; I have long been
+seeking for an excuse to take you.' He seized his bow in order to shoot
+him, but Croesus escaped and ran out. As he could not shoot him, he
+ordered his servants to seize him and put him to death. The servants,
+who knew his manner, hid Croesus; if Cambyses changed his mood and asked
+for Croesus they intended to bring him and receive presents, but if not,
+they would put him to death. Not long after Cambyses asked for Croesus,
+and the servants said that he was alive. Then Cambyses said he was glad
+that Croesus was alive; but those who had preserved him should not
+escape, but die; and this sentence he executed."
+
+"While Cambyses was passing his time in Egypt two brothers rose up
+against him, two Magians, one of whom Cambyses had left behind as the
+overseer of his house. This man, whose name was Patizeithes, rebelled
+when he found that the death of Smerdis was concealed, that few Persians
+knew of it, and the majority believed him to be alive. Building on this,
+he intended to make himself master of the throne. He had a brother who
+was very like Smerdis and had also the same name. When he had persuaded
+this brother to take his advice in everything, he put him on the throne,
+and sent heralds in every direction, even to Egypt, to announce to the
+army that henceforth they should obey Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and not
+Cambyses. The envoy to Egypt found Cambyses and the army at Ecbatana in
+Syria; he came forward and proclaimed his message. When Cambyses heard
+this, he thought that what was said was true, that Prexaspes had
+betrayed him, and when sent to kill Smerdis had not done so. He said to
+Prexaspes: 'Is this the way you have carried out my commands?' But
+Prexaspes answered: 'Sire, it is not true that thy brother has rebelled
+against thee, and no war will ever proceed from him. I myself, after
+executing your commands, buried him with my own hands. If the dead can
+rise then expect that Astyages the Mede will rise again; but if things
+continue as they have hitherto been, no evil will happen to you from
+Smerdis. I think that we should send for the herald and find out from
+him by whose order he announces to us that we are to obey Smerdis.' This
+advice pleased Cambyses. The herald was fetched, and Prexaspes asked
+him: 'You say that you come as a messenger from Smerdis, the son of
+Cyrus. If you tell us the truth, whether you saw Smerdis when he gave
+these orders, or whether you received them from one of his servants, you
+shall go away uninjured from this place.' The man replied: 'Since
+Cambyses left for Egypt I have not seen Smerdis; the Magian whom
+Cambyses left as overseer of his house gave me these commands; he said
+that Smerdis the son of Cyrus bade me make this proclamation to you.'
+Then Cambyses said: 'Prexaspes, you like a brave man have done what I
+commanded, and avoided all blame; but who of the Persians is it that has
+taken the name of Smerdis and revolted against me.' Prexaspes replied:
+'O king, I believe that I understand what has happened; the rebels are
+the Magians, Patizeithes, the overseer of the palace, and his brother
+Smerdis.' Then Cambyses was struck with the truth of the speech, and the
+fulfilment of the dream, and when he found that he had killed his
+brother for no result, he wept and bewailed his misfortune, and
+determined to lead his army with all haste against Susa and the Magians.
+But as he was mounting his horse, the button fell from the end of the
+sheath of his sword, and the naked point entered his thigh in the same
+place in which he had once stabbed Apis. As he believed that the wound
+was mortal, he asked for the name of the city. He was told that it was
+Ecbatana. It had been previously announced to him at Buto that he would
+die at Ecbatana; and he believed that he would end his days as an old
+man at Ecbatana in Media. But when he heard the name he was brought to
+his senses by the terror of the calamity which threatened him from the
+Magians, and by the wound, and said, with clear understanding of the
+oracle, that it was fated for the son of Cyrus to die there. After some
+twenty days he caused the most distinguished of the Persians who were
+with him to be summoned, and said: 'Persians, I am brought to such a
+state that I must reveal to you what I have most carefully concealed.
+When I was in Egypt I saw in my sleep a dream,--would that I had never
+seen it. It seemed to me that a messenger came from home, who announced
+that my brother sat on the royal throne and touched heaven with his
+head. Then I was afraid that my brother was taking the throne from me,
+and I acted more rashly than wisely,--it is not permitted to human
+nature to avoid the coming future. I sent, fool that I was, Prexaspes to
+Susa to slay Smerdis. After the crime, I felt myself secure; I never
+believed that another would rise up against me after the death of
+Smerdis. Wholly in error concerning that which was to come, I have
+murdered my brother without sufficient cause, and am nevertheless
+deprived of the sovereignty. It was the rebellion of the Magian Smerdis
+which the demon revealed to me in a dream. This deed I have done: be ye
+assured that Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, is no longer alive. The Magian
+whom I left behind as overseer of the palace and his brother Smerdis
+have obtained possession of the throne. He who before all others would
+have averted this disgrace from me, is no more; he has met his death by
+wicked murder at the hands of his nearest relation. As he is no more,
+and I am dying, Persians, I must tell you what to do after my death. And
+so I charge you, calling on the royal gods, all of you, but chiefly the
+Achaemenids, who are here present, not to allow the dominion to pass over
+to the Medes. If they obtain it by craft, take it from them by craft; if
+they maintain it by force, take it away by yet stronger force. If ye do
+this, the earth will bring forth fruit for you, and your wives will bear
+children, and your flocks will increase, and ye will be free men for all
+time. But if ye do not acquire the sovereignty again or attempt to
+recover it, I pray the gods that the opposite may happen to you all, and
+that every Persian may come to such an end as mine.' When Cambyses had
+thus spoken he lamented all the deeds that he had done, and the Persians
+rent their garments and lamented and cried aloud. When the bone had
+gangrened and the thigh became inflamed, Cambyses, the son of Cyrus
+died, after he had sat on the throne for seven years and four months,
+without leaving behind him son or daughter."
+
+If in the narrative given by Herodotus of the fate of Psammenitus and
+the campaign of Cambyses against the Ethiopians we perceived Egyptian
+and Greek traditions, and along with them a poetical source, so in this
+account of the crimes of Cambyses and his death we have obviously
+Greek-Egyptian legends and echoes of Iranian poetry existing side by
+side. To the first we may trace the wounding of Apis, as already
+observed, and then the explanation of a custom which is hinted at in the
+Avesta, the marriage with a sister, by the decision of the judges and
+the example of Cambyses, the oracle of Buto, and its explanation by the
+Syrian Ecbatana, the reason for the wound in the thigh of Cambyses (the
+similar wound inflicted on Apis), and, as we shall see, the warning of
+Croesus. The legends did not trouble themselves with the contradiction
+that, though they represent Cambyses as outraging Osiris-Apis, and Ptah,
+they allow him to ask advice from Egyptian gods--a proceeding which is
+not made more credible by the fact that Stephanus of Byzantium
+identifies the Syrian Ecbatana with Bataneia, and observes that the city
+of Hamath (Amatha) was also called Akmatha, though the invention of the
+oracle is thus made more intelligible.[184] Like his countrymen before
+him, Herodotus must have been struck by the contrast between the long
+reign, the achievements and successes of Cyrus, and the short reign and
+disastrous end of his son. The Egyptian-Greek tradition explained it by
+the wickedness of Cambyses, and this wickedness is the result of his
+attack on Apis; the frenzy of Cambyses begins immediately after this
+with the murder of his brother. In Herodotus the frenzy begins even
+earlier; the supposed maltreatment of the corpse of Amasis must belong
+to the period immediately after the victory over the Egyptians, _i.e._
+to the period before the march to the South, and consequently Herodotus
+represents Cambyses as out of his mind when entering on this campaign,
+and continuing in his frenzy till he is compelled to return. The reason
+which he gives for this madness is that Cambyses, though Herodotus
+represents him in another story as full of ambitious plans from his
+youth, was afflicted from his birth, as it was said, with a severe
+disease, which some call "the sacred sickness," and that in great
+sickness of the body it was not strange that the mind also should be
+affected.[185] By the sacred sickness the Greeks meant epilepsy, or
+spasmodic attacks in general, which were ascribed to the anger of the
+gods. With complete consistency Herodotus represents the madness as
+going on, till Cambyses is seized with anxiety concerning the rebellion
+of the Magian, and finds himself wounded in the thigh. With this
+observation he introduces the public confession and remorse--the last
+words of Cambyses. Other Greeks explain the crimes of Cambyses in a more
+natural manner. Diodorus is of opinion that he was naturally furious and
+changeful in his moods; the greatness of the kingdom made him yet wilder
+and more proud of spirit, and after the capture of Pelusium and Memphis
+he could not bear his prosperity as a man should.[186] The "Laws" (of
+Plato) lay the blame on the education of Cambyses. In the field from his
+youth, surrounded by war and danger, Cyrus left the education of his
+sons to the royal women, and overlooked the fact that his children were
+not brought up and educated in the customary Persian manner. The women
+and eunuchs brought them up as if they needed no control, and, while yet
+mere children, were prosperous and perfect men. No one was allowed to
+contradict them; all must praise what they said or did; thus they grew
+up luxurious and uncontrolled; their spirits were over-full of ambition.
+When after such adulation and uncontrolled freedom they grew up and
+received the kingdom, one slew the other, enraged at his equal position,
+and then, maddened by drink and debauchery, lost the dominion owing to
+the Medes and the so-called eunuch, who despised the foolishness of
+Cambyses.[187]
+
+It is more difficult to trace the tendencies of the poetical source
+which has become united with the legends in the narrative of Herodotus
+than to separate the legends themselves, and fix the motives which have
+determined the conception and judgment of the Greeks about Cambyses.
+From what other source could the vision of Cambyses, the shot into the
+heart of the cup-bearer, have come, or the conversations of Cambyses
+with Prexaspes, or the final words of Cambyses? If these traits are only
+before us as fragments at third or fourth hand, their connection with
+the narrative of the campaign against the long-lived Ethiopians is
+undeniable (the bow of the Ethiopians is the point of connection). And
+if we call to mind that in his last exhortations to his two sons, Cyrus
+calls down blessings on the son who remains well disposed to his
+brother, and imprecates curses on the son who is the first to do evil
+(p. 123), the structure of the poem becomes clear. It founds the
+misfortune of Cambyses on his disobedience to his father's command, and
+exhibits the penalty of disobedience and crime committed against a
+brother. Smerdis is able to draw the bow of the Ethiopian further than
+Cambyses and all the other Persians. This excites envy and jealousy in
+his brother, who sends Smerdis back to Persia. Then in a dream he sees
+him on the throne, and his head reaches to heaven. He sends Prexaspes to
+Persia, who slays the son of Cyrus in the chase and buries him with his
+own hand. The instrument of the murder is quickly overtaken by
+punishment. Had Cambyses slain Prexaspes himself intentionally or in
+anger, it would be conceivable; but the murder of his son is
+unintelligible. Only poetical justice could execute vengeance for the
+fact that Prexaspes had laid his hand on the son of Cyrus, by
+representing Cambyses as slaying with his own hand, without any personal
+reason whatever, the son of the man who by his own command had slain his
+brother, and who is best acquainted with this secret crime, the
+revelation of which would rouse the hearts of all the Persians against
+the king. As the poem goes on, it has in store even heavier penalties
+for the man who has slain the son of Cyrus. But it is not merely the
+murder of the young Prexaspes which belongs to a poetical source. The
+same authority represents Cambyses as becoming more and more deeply
+involved in guilt and crime against his house. When looking on at the
+two dogs which together got the better of the lion, his sister reminds
+him of the death of his brother. In his rage he ill-treats her and so
+destroys his long-cherished hope of posterity. The house of Cyrus is
+desolate. He has mistrusted his brother without reason--the man whom he
+has trusted and made the governor of his palace rebels against him; he
+places his brother on the throne as the younger son of Cyrus, and causes
+him to be proclaimed as king. In despair at such calamities, at the ruin
+of the kingdom of which he is the guilty cause, Cambyses ends his days.
+He pays the penalty of his heavy guilt by confessing and lamenting his
+offence before the assembly of the chief Persians. The curse of Cyrus is
+fulfilled. If Herodotus gives the account of the death of Cambyses after
+the Greek-Egyptian legend, he is obviously following Iranian poetry in
+the accompanying circumstances and in the speech of the dying Cambyses.
+We have Iranian conceptions in the answer of Prexaspes: "If the dead can
+rise, your brother will return"; in the saying of Cambyses to the
+Persians: "If ye strive earnestly to win back the dominion, the earth
+will bring forth fruit, and your wives will bear children, and your
+flocks will increase." Conceptions and ideas of this kind, expressed
+almost in the same words, have met us frequently in the Avesta. The
+close of the speech of Cambyses removes the guilt and points to the
+future, for he charges the Persians, and above all the Achaemenids, to
+risk everything that the dominion may not again pass to the Medes. If
+the Persians fight bravely with all the means at their disposal for the
+dominion, all will go well with them, if not Cambyses prays the gods
+that the reverse may happen to them; may every Persian die like himself
+by a most miserable death, _i.e._ by suicide, which the doctrines of
+Zarathrustra from their whole tenor must have most severely condemned.
+
+No doubt the Persian epos had to explain the contrast in which the reign
+of Cambyses stood to that of Cyrus; no doubt it was a fact that the race
+of Cyrus came to an end in the male line owing to his guilt. It was due
+to him that his reign was followed by that of an usurper; that rebellion
+broke out in all quarters, the kingdom became completely disintegrated,
+and the establishment of Cyrus seemed ruined. The songs of the Persians
+gave a reason for the sudden change in the manner indicated, by the
+murder of the brother and its results. But they would not have charged
+Cambyses with madness or with any other offences than this combination
+required. They would not have forgotten his services to Persia; the
+establishment of the Persian power in the Mediterranean, the victory
+over Egypt, over the Ethiopians of Napata, and the negroes. It was not
+these poems which branded his campaign to the south as a mad
+undertaking, and represented it as a failure; they could not have
+opposed Croesus as a wise adviser to Cambyses, or allowed Cambyses to
+speak of the miserable end of Cyrus in the land of the Massagetae. If
+these elements in the narratives of Herodotus have not come down from
+Greek-Egyptian tradition, if the warning of Croesus, in the form in
+which we have it, was not attached by him to his account of the death of
+Cambyses, we should have to assume that in this case also the Persian
+poems came to Herodotus in their Median counterparts--a hypothesis which
+is excluded by the distinctly ante-Median and Persian traits in the
+dying speech of Cambyses.
+
+Let us see whether information from other sources puts us in a position
+to establish the actual connection of affairs free from the admixture of
+Greek-Egyptian tradition and Persian poetry. Ctesias treated the reign
+of Cambyses in detail in the twelfth book of his Persian History. Of
+this only a meagre excerpt has come down to us, according to which the
+narrative began with the statement that Cambyses, in accordance with the
+last commands of his father, handed over Chorasmia, Bactria, Parthia,
+and Carmania to his brother Tanyoxarkes, as Ctesias calls him. Then
+follows the conquest of Egypt, as given above; and after this we are
+told: "There was a Magian of the name of Sphendadates who had committed
+some fault and been scourged by Tanyoxarkes. The Magian went to Cambyses
+to calumniate his brother, saying that his mind was set on evil. As a
+proof of defection he alleged that Tanyoxarkes would not come if he were
+sent for. Cambyses bade his brother come, but he refused, being occupied
+with other business. Then the Magian became more persistent in his
+calumnies. Amytis, who saw what was the Magian's object, warned her son
+Cambyses not to trust him. Cambyses pretended not to trust him, but in
+reality reposed entire confidence in him. When Cambyses bade his brother
+come for the third time, he obeyed. Cambyses embraced him, but was none
+the less determined to put him out of the way; but he was anxious to
+carry out his design unknown to his mother. The deed was accomplished.
+The Magian advises the king as follows: He was very like Tanyoxarkes,
+the king might give orders that his head should be cut off as having
+accused his brother falsely; he would then secretly slay Tanyoxarkes,
+and clothe him (the Magian) in his robes, so that he might be taken for
+him. This was done. Tanyoxarkes died by drinking bull's blood, and the
+Magian was clothed in his garments and called Tanyoxarkes. This was for
+a long time concealed from all except Artasyras the Hyrcanian and the
+eunuchs Bagapates and Izabates, who were most intimate with Cambyses;
+to them alone had Cambyses ventured to mention the matter. He caused the
+eunuchs of Tanyoxarkes and Labyzus, the chief of them, to be summoned,
+showed them the Magian thus attired, and said: Do you believe that this
+is Tanyoxarkes? Labyzus was astonished and said: What other man are we
+to think that he is? so greatly did the Magian deceive men by his
+likeness to Tanyoxarkes. The Magian was now sent to Bactria, and there
+conducted himself in all respects as Tanyoxarkes. When five years had
+gone by Amytis learnt what had been done from the eunuch Tibetheus, whom
+the Magian had caused to be beaten. She asked Cambyses to give up
+Sphendadates, but he refused. Then she pronounced her curse, took
+poison, and died. When Cambyses sacrificed, the blood of the sacrificial
+animals did not flow. He became dejected, and when Roxane bore him a boy
+without a head, he was even more out of heart, and the Magians
+interpreted the signs to mean that he could leave no successor. His
+mother appeared to him in a dream and threatened him for the murder, and
+this made him more dejected than ever. When he came to Babylon, by way
+of pastime he chipped a piece of wood with a sword, and so hit the
+muscle of his thigh, and died on the eleventh day after, when he had
+reigned eighteen years. Before his death Artasyras and Bagapates had
+resolved that the Magian should reign; and he reigned after the death of
+Cambyses."
+
+The length of the reign of Cambyses is incorrect, as indeed almost all
+the numbers in Ctesias are wrong. It is also a mistake that in his
+account Cambyses and his brother are the sons of Cyrus and Amytis the
+daughter of Astyages. As we have said, they were the sons of Cyrus and
+Cassandane, who died before Cyrus (V. 384). The object of Ctesias was to
+prove the statements of Herodotus incorrect by opposing them with
+others. The elevation of Amytis to be the mother of the brothers, and
+the part which the account of Ctesias ascribes to this supposed mother,
+shows that Ctesias has here followed a Median version, in which the
+daughter of Astyages became, not the mother of Cyrus, it is true, but
+the mother of his successor, the ruler of Persia and Media,--the same
+version which, as we have already seen, assigns to Amytis the greatest
+influence on Cyrus, and in the present instance on his son Cambyses.
+Without doubt this version is derived from a poetical source; that is
+proved by a number of traits: the calumniation of the brother, the
+double introduction of the scourging, the three-fold summoning before
+the king, the conversation of Cambyses with the eunuch, the three-fold
+increase of the distress of Cambyses, the suicide and curse of Amytis,
+the signs at sacrifice and the abortion, the appearance of the dead,
+which fills up the measure and drives Cambyses to death. As in the
+previous case, in this form of the poems, it was the Median queen who
+punished Oebares, who incited Cyrus to revolt, for this act and for the
+death of her father, so here she visits the ruler of the Persians and
+Medes for his crime. Against this view of the account of Ctesias it may
+be urged that the Medes would take the side of the Magian more
+vigorously than that of Amytis, for the Magian was apparently a Mede.
+Herodotus, at any rate, once represents Gobryas as calling him a
+Mede.[188] Cambyses, it is true, does not call him so, but in his last
+speech merely urges the Persians not to let the empire revert to the
+Medes, which means no more than that the empire is not to go back to the
+Medes on the extinction of the house of Cyrus, when his kingdom is being
+broken up. We shall see that the usurper was not a Mede, and is only
+called a Mede by Herodotus because he wrongly thought that all the
+Magians were exclusively Medes (V. 194). But as the story of Ctesias
+obviously goes back to a poetical source, we are not carried any further
+by it in establishing the actual facts of the case.
+
+A third story of the death of Cambyses, that of Trogus, is also retained
+in an excerpt only. It is apparently taken from the Persian history of
+Deinon. "Cambyses added Egypt to the kingdom of his father. Enraged at
+the superstition of the Egyptians, he commanded the temples of Apis and
+the other gods to be destroyed. He also sent an army to conquer the
+far-famed temple of Ammon, but it was overwhelmed by storms of sand.
+Then in a dream he saw his brother as the future king. Terrified by this
+vision, he did not hesitate to add the murder of a brother to the
+burning of temples. For this horrible service he sent Cometes, a Magian,
+one of his trusted servants. Meantime, his sword coming accidentally out
+of the sheath, he wounded himself deeply in the thigh, and died, as a
+penalty either for the murder of his brother which he had commanded, or
+for the burning of the temples. When the Magian heard this he hastened
+to commit the crime before the news of the death of the king was spread
+abroad; and when he had killed Smerdis, to whom the throne belonged, he
+brought in his brother Oropastes. This brother was very like Smerdis in
+form and feature; and as no one suspected the deception, Oropastes
+became king instead of Smerdis. The matter was the more secret because
+among the Persians the king lives in retirement by reason of his
+majesty."[189]
+
+Darius, in his inscriptions on Mount Behistun, has left us the authentic
+though very compressed history of Cambyses. "Kambujiya, the son of
+Kurus," he tells us, "was of our race, was previously king here. This
+Kambujiya had a brother, Bardiya by name, of the same father and mother
+as Kambujiya. Kambujiya slew this Bardiya. When Kambujiya had slain
+Bardiya the people did not know that Bardiya was dead. Then Kambujiya
+marched against Egypt. When Kambujiya marched against Egypt the people
+became rebellious, and the lie spread both in Persia and in Media and in
+the other provinces. There was a man, a Magian, Gaumata by name; he rose
+up from Pisiyauvada, from mount Arakadris, which is there. It was in the
+month Viyakhna, on the fourteenth day, that he rose up. He lied to the
+people; I am Bardiya, the son of Kurus, the brother of Kambujiya. Then
+the whole kingdom rebelled against Kambujiya; it went over to the other,
+both Persia and Media and the rest of the provinces. He took them for
+his own; he was king; he seized the empire. In the month Garmapada, on
+the ninth day, it was that he seized the dominion. Then Kambujiya died,
+for he took his own life."[190]
+
+Hence we may establish the true course of events in something like the
+following form. Cyrus made a certain division of the kingdom; under the
+sovereignty of the elder son he assigned to the younger Chorasmia,
+Bactria, Parthia, and Carmania, and thus sowed the germ of contention
+between the brothers. The younger was called Bardiya. This name sounded
+to the Greek as Berdis, and then it passed into Smerdis, as Bagabukhsa
+becomes Megabyzus.[191] If Xenophon calls Smerdis Tanaoxares, and
+Ctesias Tanyoxarkes, this can only be an epithet which the Persians gave
+to Smerdis. The old Bactrian _thanvarakhshathra_ would mean king of the
+bow. The Persians might give this name to Smerdis, as their poems
+celebrate him as the best drawer of the bow; it was this superiority of
+Smerdis which, according to the poems of the Persians, aroused the
+jealousy of Cambyses. The tradition of Iran can tell of the three best
+shots that were ever made:[192]--the best was made by Arshana, the son
+of Kava Kavata (V. 37, 253); and king Bahram Gor slays his beloved
+because she does not sufficiently admire his skill with the bow.
+
+Bardiya did not accompany his brother to Egypt; so that he could not
+have been sent back from thence. On the contrary, Cambyses had conceived
+a suspicion of him even before the campaign to Egypt; he was afraid that
+his brother in Bactria would make use of the distance at which he would
+be to seize the throne in secret, and the more extensive the conquests
+which Cambyses intended to make in Africa the more dangerous would the
+possibility appear to him. He caused him to be put to death before he
+set out to Egypt. His death remained a secret. By whom and how Bardiya
+was killed, and how the secret was kept, whether by an arrangement such
+as that described by Ctesias or by some other means, we cannot decide.
+The kingdom, the Persians, and the princes of the Persians did not know
+but that Bardiya was alive. But the Magian Gaumata is aware of the fact.
+Of the writers of the West, Trogus Pompeius alone gives the true name of
+the usurper in the Grecised form of Cometes. As the name is correct in
+Trogus, the name of the brother of Cometes, whom he calls Oropastes, may
+also be correct. But the narrative in the excerpt in Trogus must be so
+far altered in accordance with the version of Herodotus that Cambyses
+left Oropastes behind as overseer of the palaces, and that he placed his
+brother Gaumata on the throne. In Ctesias the man who suggests the
+murder becomes himself the false Bardiya and the future king. The
+inscription of Darius speaks only "of the Magian Gaumata," of "his
+leading adherents." The rebellion of Gaumata was not delayed till the
+death of Cambyses, as Ctesias supposed. It occurred, as the inscription
+shows, while he was still on the Nile. During the absence of Cambyses
+the lie spread in Persia, Media, and the rest of the provinces. The
+inscription mentions the day on which Gaumata rebelled, and the place
+where it happened: at Pisiyauvada in mount Arakadris this false Bardiya
+arose. As the position of this place and mountain is not defined, as is
+elsewhere the case in the inscription of Darius, by the addition of the
+name of the country, we may assume that it was in Persia that the false
+Bardiya, as his interests and the position of affairs required, came
+forward, and that he first called on the Persians to acknowledge him as
+king and lord of the realm, as indeed he must have done if he desired
+success. The inscription does not tell us that Gaumata was a Mede, or
+that the Medes first recognized him as their king; it merely says: on
+the fourteenth of the month Viyakhna (_i.e._ in the spring of the year
+522 B.C.) the whole kingdom rose in rebellion against Cambyses, both
+Persia and Media and the rest of the provinces. We shall see below that
+even after the fall of Gaumata it was not Media which gave the sign for
+rebellion against his murderers, but that that country followed the
+example of the Elamites and Babylonians, and was led by Uvakhshathra, a
+man of the race of Cyaxares. First Persia, then Media, then the rest of
+the lands recognized the false Bardiya as their king; "he took from
+Cambyses Persia, Media, and the rest of the provinces," says the
+inscription. Then in the month of Garmapada (_i.e._ in July or August)
+the false Bardiya was crowned at Pasargadae (V. 358). That Gaumata was
+recognized as king in Babylonia is not only proved by the assertion of
+Darius, but also by two Babylonian tablets, which are dated from the
+20th Elul and 1st Tisri "in the first year of king Barziya."[193] On the
+news of the rebellion Cambyses makes Aryandes satrap of Egypt,[194] and
+sets out against the usurper. On this march, at Ecbatana in Syria,
+according to Herodotus, _i.e._ at Batanea or Hamath, or at Babylon, as
+Ctesias asserts, or on the return to Damascus, according to
+Josephus,[195] he died.
+
+However dark may be the shadows which fall on the figure of Cambyses, it
+has received blacker traits than truth can confirm in the legends of
+Greece and Egypt, and, to some extent, in the poems of Media and Persia.
+We have mentioned the story which ascribes to him ambitious plans in his
+boyish years; in the estimate which the Persians form of him according
+to their poems it is only his love of wine which is reprobated. More
+important is the judgment which the Persians really passed on Cambyses;
+Herodotus tells us they called Cyrus the father, but Cambyses, because
+he was severe and ambitious, they called the master.[196] From this
+sentence--from despotic severity and violence, whatever may have been
+the degree in which they were present--it is a long way to the picture
+of the frantic tyrant which Herodotus has sketched on the basis of these
+legends and poems. What we know by credible tradition of the crimes of
+Cambyses, apart from his act against his brother, and the supposed
+outburst of rage against his sister, is limited to the penalty which he
+imposed upon Memphis for the murder of the herald and the crew, and the
+punishment of Sisamnes, one of the seven judges who was found guilty of
+bribery and unjust judgment. He had him executed, the corpse was flayed,
+and the judge's seat covered with the skin, on which the son, who was
+named his successor, was to give judgment.[197] The punishment of
+Memphis cannot be called cruel in the spirit of these times; and the
+punishment of the unjust judge is in the manner of an oriental prince
+who loves justice. The reign of Cambyses was undoubtedly marked by the
+effort to continue the acts of his father, and in this effort he shows
+both vigour and resolution. The idea of creating a fleet for the Persian
+empire was bold and happy, and bore fruits in the submission of Cyprus
+and Samos without a blow. The preparations for the campaign against
+Egypt were made with great prudence, and proved adequate and effectual.
+But even before he set out for Egypt he had cast the lot which decided
+his life. How far the conduct of his brother, which is suggested in the
+version of Ctesias, excused the suspicion of Cambyses, we cannot decide.
+He did not venture to leave the kingdom so long as his brother ruled
+over the eastern half of it; he feared his rebellion during his absence,
+and removed him out of the way. The painful secrecy of the deed shows
+that Cambyses was tormented with remorse and shame for this crime. At
+the gates of Egypt he conquered in a mighty battle. He used the victory
+to storm the strong border fortresses of Egypt, and then at once turned
+against Memphis, the most important city and fortress of the enemy. The
+treatment of the captive Psammenitus repeats the mild manner of Cyrus
+towards conquered princes; we have seen above what clemency Cambyses
+showed after the conquest was completed towards the Egyptians and their
+temples. In possession of Egypt, he intended to achieve in Africa what
+his father had done in Asia; far to the south and west the country was
+to be subject to the Persians. The campaign against Napata led to the
+conquest of that kingdom. By maintaining this conquest, the supremacy of
+Persia over Egypt was rendered secure from attacks on that side, and the
+negro tribes to the south of Napata were kept in obedience, though
+previously they had been visited by the Pharaohs only in flying
+incursions. It was at Napata that, according to the tradition preserved
+by Diodorus, Strabo, and Josephus, Cambyses lost his sister, and with
+her the hope of an heir, by his own brutal violence, as the songs
+represent, when his sister reminded him of the death of his brother. But
+Strabo and Diodorus observe, as has been shown above, that he named the
+city after his sister "to honour her." No doubt the disquiet of his
+conscience increased the longer he remained without children. What was
+to become of the kingdom after his death? The brother, whom he had
+killed, had only left a daughter.[198] Burdened with new anxiety, if not
+with new guilt, he turned back from Napata. The disaster, which befell
+the army at Premnis, and the failure of the expedition against the oasis
+of Sivah, though it did not involve the loss of 50,000 men, might seem
+to him proofs that he had brought upon himself the anger of Auramazda
+and Mithra. Then the Phenicians refused to march against the
+Carthaginians, and he was unable to compel them. The absence of any
+heir, the misfortunes which had fallen upon him, increased his inward
+torments. He became more distrustful, passionate, and savage. He may
+have sought forgetfulness in wine, but the remedy only increased his
+violence. He shrank from seeing again his home and the desolate house of
+Cyrus, and remained inactive and irresolute for a year and a half in
+Egypt; in spite of the danger which attached to the absence of the ruler
+of so vast a kingdom.
+
+In Persia and the provinces nothing was known of the death of Bardiya.
+The neglect of the kingdom, the absence of the king for three years,
+inspire Gaumata with the courage to make use of his opportunity, and
+turn the secrecy of the crime against Cambyses. The Persians declare for
+the brother who is among them, as against the distant king who seemed to
+have forgotten Persia in Egypt; even the satraps of the other countries
+soon decide in favour of Bardiya, as for years they had seen nothing of
+Cambyses. In three months after his appearance Gaumata was formally
+crowned. The account of the rebellion startled Cambyses from his stupor
+in Egypt; he placed a satrap over the conquests he had made and hastened
+to Syria, where he learnt the full amount of the usurper's success. With
+anger he sees the crown of Cyrus on the head of a miserable pretender.
+If he is effectually to contend against the opponent who has risen to
+such power, he must acknowledge himself before the Persians and the
+kingdom as the murderer of his brother, and even if he makes this
+shameful confession, will the Persians believe and follow him? Will they
+not think that he announces the murder in order to thrust his brother
+from the throne? In despair he perceives that he has destroyed the house
+of Cyrus, and ruined the work of his father, the fruit of thirty years
+of effort and struggle. He sees no means of preventing the course of
+affairs, the ruin of the kingdom of which he is the cause. He
+acknowledges before the princes of the Persians what he has done,
+commands them to make good the damage which he has caused, and seals his
+declaration by taking his own life. Such was the tragical end of the son
+of the great Cyrus.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[176] Herod. 3, 27-30.
+
+[177] Herod. 3, 37.
+
+[178] Vol. I. 175. Diod. 1, 49.
+
+[179] Justin. 1, 8.
+
+[180] The reading "year 4" in the first is confirmed by "year 5" in the
+second inscription. Lepsius ("Monatsberichte Berl. Akad." 1854, s. 224,
+495) has examined the difficulties which arise regarding the time of
+Cambyses' campaign against Egypt, from the contradiction between these
+dates and the statements of the Greeks.
+
+[181] The inscriptions also give the name Cambyses in the form Kambuza.
+
+[182] Lepsius, "Z. Aegypt. Spr." 1874, s. 76.
+
+[183] De Rouge, "Revue Archeol." 8, 37 ff.; Brugsch, "Hist. d'Egypt," p.
+267, 269. In the "History of Egypt," Brugsch reads Uzahorenpiris for
+Uzahorsun.
+
+[184] Stephen. Byz. [Greek: Agbatana Batana Amatha]. Cf. V. 307, and von
+Gutschmid, "N. Beitrage," s. 96.
+
+[185] Herod. 3, 3, 33.
+
+[186] "Excerpt. de virt." p. 557 = 10, 13.
+
+[187] Plato, "Legg." p. 691, 694, 695.
+
+[188] Herod. 3, 73.
+
+[189] Justin. 1, 9.
+
+[190] So Oppert according to the Persian inscription in "Journal
+Asiatique," 4, 17, 385, 386; and according to the second series,
+"Records of the Past," 7, 90.
+
+[191] Barziya in the Babylonian text. Smerdis, the favourite of
+Polycrates (Anacreon, fragm. 4, ed. Bergk), was no doubt named after the
+brother of Cambyses.
+
+[192] Sachau, "Albiruni," p. 205; Noeldeke, "Tabari," s. 91, 271.
+
+[193] Elul and Tisri fall in September and October. The last year of
+Cambyses is 522 B.C. According to Herodotus, Cambyses reigned seven
+years and five months, and the Magian more than seven months; the two
+make up eight years. The number of the Persian days of the month are
+repeated in the Babylonian version of the Behistun inscription. Hence
+the Persians adopted the year of the Assyrians and Babylonians as well
+as their cuneiform writing, but they had independent names for the
+months. Unfortunately the names of the months in the Babylonian text are
+more frequently destroyed than not, so that we can only be certain in
+giving Kislev (November-December) as corresponding to the Athriadiya of
+the Persians, Tebet (December-January) to Anamaka, Iyar (May-June) to
+Taigarshis. Oppert maintains that we can also identify the Babylonian
+Adar or Veadar (Febr.-March) with the Viyakhna of the Persians; but the
+text is uncertain in this passage. Finally, we may with tolerable
+certainty regard Garmapada (_i.e._ the path of heat) as corresponding to
+July and August, to the Tammuz or Ab of the Babylonians. If Viyakhna is
+really Adar, the proclamation of the Magian took place in March, 522
+B.C., and his coronation in Garmapada (July and August). This according
+to Darius was followed by the death of Cambyses. The two tablets quoted
+date from September and October in the first year of Barziya. According
+to Herodotus, the Magian reigned more than seven months after the death
+of Cambyses, _i.e._ down to the spring of 521 B.C. According to the
+inscription of Behistun, Darius slew him on the tenth of Bagayadis
+(_i.e._ sacrifice to the gods), which would thus be parallel to the
+Nisan of the Babylonians, _i.e._ to our April.
+
+[194] Herod. 4, 166.
+
+[195] "Antiqu." 11, 2.
+
+[196] Herod. 3, 89.
+
+[197] Herod. 5, 25.
+
+[198] Herod. 3, 88; 7, 78.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE RISE OF DARIUS.
+
+
+"The Persians, when they heard the words of Cambyses," so Herodotus
+continues his narrative, "did not believe that the Magians had possessed
+themselves of the throne; on the contrary, they thought that Cambyses
+had said what he had said of the death of Smerdis in order to deceive
+them, that the whole of Persia might rise against Smerdis. They believed
+that Smerdis the son of Cyrus was on the throne; for even Prexaspes
+solemnly denied that he had slain Smerdis; after the death of Cambyses
+it was dangerous for him to allow that he had put to death the son of
+Cyrus with his own hand. The Magian who had taken the name of Cambyses
+reigned in security and showed great mildness to all his subjects.
+Immediately after he had got possession of the throne, he proclaimed
+freedom from military service and tribute for three years to all the
+nations over whom he reigned. But in the eighth month of his reign it
+was discovered who he was. Otanes, the son of Pharnaspes, was one of the
+first of the Persians in descent and wealth. He first conceived a
+suspicion of the Magian because he never went out of the citadel, nor
+allowed any of the leading Persians to approach him. Phaedyme, the
+daughter of Otanes, had been the wife of Cambyses, and with the rest of
+the wives she had passed over to the Magian. Otanes caused the question
+to be put to his daughter, whether the man with whom she lay was Smerdis
+the son of Cyrus, or another. She replied that she had never seen
+Smerdis, and could not tell who he was. Then Otanes sent a second time:
+'If you do not know Smerdis, ask Atossa, with whom you and she lie, for
+she will know her own brother.' The daughter answered: 'I cannot speak
+with Atossa, or see any other of the women, for since this man, whoever
+he is, came to the throne, he has kept us all apart, and sent one in one
+direction, and another in another.' When Otanes heard this, the matter
+became yet clearer. He sent a third message to his daughter, saying: 'My
+daughter, you are come of a noble race and must accept the risk which
+your father lays upon you. If this man is not Smerdis the son of Cyrus,
+but the person whom I suspect that he is, he must not go unpunished for
+associating with you, and exercising dominion over the Persians. Do as
+follows: When you perceive that he is asleep, feel for his ears. If he
+has ears, be sure that he is the son of Cyrus, but if he has none he is
+Smerdis the Magian.' Phaedyme sent an answer to her father, saying that
+she would run the greatest risk in doing as he bade, for if the man had
+no ears, and she was found feeling for them, he would put her out of the
+way; however, she would do it. And when it came to her turn to go to the
+Magian, she did all that her father had bidden her; she lay with him,
+and when he was asleep she felt for his ears, and easily discovered that
+he had none. When Cyrus was king he had for some grave reason cut off
+this man's ears. When it was day she sent her father word how the
+matter stood."
+
+"Otanes related all the circumstances to Aspathines and Gobryas, who
+were the first among the Persians and most worthy of confidence, and as
+they had also had their suspicions that the case was so, they listened
+to the proposals of Otanes. The three were of opinion that each should
+join with him the Persians whom he counted most worthy of confidence.
+Otanes brought Intaphernes; Gobryas, Megabyzus; and Aspathines,
+Hydarnes. To these six at Susa, Darius the son of Hystaspes came from
+Persia, for Hystaspes was satrap of Persia, and when he came, the six
+resolved to make him their associate. They met, pledged mutual fidelity,
+and took counsel. And when it came to Darius' turn to give his opinion,
+he said: 'I believed that I alone knew that the Magian was king, and
+that Smerdis the son of Cyrus was dead, and for that reason I came with
+haste to put the Magian to death. But as I feel that you also know this
+and not I only, we must at once proceed to action without delay; for
+that will be dangerous.' Then Otanes spoke: 'O son of Hystaspes, thou
+art the son of a brave father, and thou showest thy courage not less
+than he. But do not so hasten the matter without consideration; begin it
+with prudence. We must be more numerous, and then make our attempt.'
+Darius replied: 'Ye men that are present, if ye enter on the matter as
+Otanes wishes, ye will come to a shameful end. Some one who seeks his
+own advantage will betray the matter to the Magian. Ye ought to have
+taken the matter on yourselves and so accomplished it. But as ye have
+resolved to take in more confederates, and have confided the matter to
+me, it must be done to-day. If this day passes by, I tell you that I
+will allow no informer to be before me; I will myself betray you to the
+Magian.' When Otanes saw Darius so eager, he said: 'As you compel us to
+hasten the matter and allow no delay, tell us how shall we enter the
+palace and overcome them? You know yourself--if you have not seen, you
+have heard--that guards are set; how shall we pass by them?' 'Many
+things,' Darius said, 'may be proved by deeds and not by words; other
+things may be done in word but no brilliant deed corresponds to them.
+You know that it is not difficult to pass through the guards that are
+set. No one will prevent men of our rank; one will give way from
+respect, another from fear. Then I have an excellent excuse for passing
+through, if I say that I have just come from Persia and have to give a
+message from my father to the king. If an untruth must be told, let it
+be told. If a man seeks for no advantage to himself by his untruth, he
+who tells the truth may be a liar, and he who lies may be a truthful
+man. If any of the door-keepers allow us to pass willingly by, this will
+be in the future an advantage for him, but any one who opposes us will
+show at once that he is our enemy; we will then force our way and begin
+the work.' Then Gobryas said: 'We can never with greater honour win back
+the empire, or, if we fail, find a more honourable death. Are not we
+Persians ruled by a Mede, a Magian, a fellow without ears? Those of you
+who were with Cambyses when sick remember what he imprecated on the
+Persians if they did not seek to regain the dominion. At that time we
+did not believe him, we thought that he spoke to deceive us. Now I give
+my vote to you, Darius, and go straight from this consultation to the
+Magian.' So Gobryas spake and all agreed with him.
+
+"While they were thus deliberating, the following incident happened.
+After solemn deliberation it seemed advisable to the Magians to make
+Prexaspes their friend; he had been cruelly treated by Cambyses, he
+alone knew of the death of Smerdis, and was of great influence among the
+Persians. For this reason they sent for him, and sought by pledges and
+oaths to bind him not to reveal to any one the deception he had
+practised on the Persians, and they promised him everything in their
+power. When Prexaspes agreed to do as they wished, they further proposed
+that he should summon the Persians under the walls of the citadel; mount
+a tower and tell them that they were governed by Smerdis and by no
+other. This request the Magians made because the Persians had great
+confidence in Prexaspes, and he had repeatedly told them that Smerdis
+was alive and his death a fiction. When Prexaspes declared his readiness
+they summoned the Persians to the tower and bade him speak. But he,
+purposely forgetting what they had requested, began to speak of the race
+of Cyrus, and when he came to Cyrus himself he enumerated the blessings
+which he had provided for the Persians, and going yet further he
+revealed the truth, declaring that he had concealed it before because it
+was dangerous for him to say what had been done, but now the necessity
+was laid upon him to reveal it. And now he said, that, compelled by
+Cambyses, he had slain Smerdis, and that Magians were on the throne.
+When he had imprecated a bitter curse upon the Persians if they did not
+win back the kingdom, and take vengeance on the Magians, he threw
+himself head foremost down from the tower. All his life he had been an
+honourable man, and such he died.
+
+"When they had resolved to attack the Magians without delay, the seven
+Persians invoked the gods, and set forth on the way, without knowing
+what had happened to Prexaspes. When they had proceeded half the
+distance, they heard of it. They slipped aside to consider the matter.
+And Otanes with some others were of opinion that they must wait, for all
+would be in confusion, but Darius and the rest declared that without
+hesitation they must carry out what they had resolved upon. While they
+were thus at variance, seven pairs of hawks appeared, which pursued and
+tore to pieces two pairs of vultures. When the seven saw this they all
+took the view of Darius, and encouraged by the birds, went to the
+palace. When they reached the gates it happened as Darius expected. The
+guards respectfully allowed the first men among the Persians to pass
+through, as though they were led by some divine guide; no one suspected
+them, and no one asked any questions. But when they came to the portico,
+they came upon the eunuchs who carried messages in to the king. These
+asked what they wanted, threatened the guards for allowing them to pass,
+and detained them. The conspirators encouraged each other, drew their
+swords, struck down those who sought to detain them, and burst at a run
+into the hall. The two Magians were there at the time, consulting about
+the affair of Prexaspes. When they heard the noise and the cry of the
+eunuchs, they sprang up to see what was the matter, then hastened back
+and made ready for defence. One seized a bow, the other a spear. The
+first could not use the bow, for the conspirators were close upon him,
+but the other wounded Aspathines in the thigh and hit Intaphernes in the
+eye. The Magian with the bow retired into a dark chamber off the hall,
+and wished to close the door, but Darius and Gobryas hastened after
+him; Gobryas seized and held him, and when Darius hesitated to strike
+lest in the darkness he should hit Gobryas, Gobryas cried out: 'Strike
+even though you pierce us both.' Darius did so and smote the Magian
+only. When both were slain, their heads were cut off; the two
+conspirators who were wounded remained to guard the citadel; the other
+five rushed out, called the Persians together, and showed them the
+heads. When the Persians heard of the deception of the Magians, and what
+had happened, they thought it right to do the same; they drew their
+swords, and slew every Magian whom they could find, and had they not
+been prevented by the approach of night, not a Magian would have been
+left."
+
+The account given by Trogus of the overthrow of the Medes, so far as it
+has been preserved to us, differs only in unimportant points from the
+narrative of Herodotus. In order to gain the favour of the people, the
+Magians remitted the tribute and military service for three years. This
+first excited suspicion in the mind of Otanes, a Persian of great
+position and discernment. He commanded his daughter, who was among the
+royal concubines,--they were secluded from each other,--to feel the ears
+of the king when asleep, for Cambyses (in Herodotus it is Cyrus) had cut
+off both the ears of the Magian. "Informed by his daughter that the king
+had no ears, he announced this to the princes of the Persians, urged
+them to put the false king to death, and bound them by an oath. Seven
+persons shared in the conspiracy; and to prevent any change of opinion
+in time, or any disclosure, they at once put their swords under their
+garments and went to the palace. They cut down all who came in their
+way, and so reached the Magians, who were not wanting in skill to defend
+themselves; with drawn weapons they slew two of the conspirators (in
+Herodotus these are only wounded), but they were overpowered by numbers.
+Gobryas seized one of them, and when his companions hesitated to strike
+lest they should pierce him along with the Magian, for the affair took
+place in a dark room, he called out to them to strike even through his
+own body. But by good fortune he was uninjured and the Magian was
+slain."
+
+In the narrative of Ctesias, as we have seen, there is but one Magian,
+Sphendadates, whom Cambyses himself had placed on the throne of Bactria
+in the place of his murdered brother (Tanyoxarkes), and had commanded
+him to play his part. Astasyras, Bagapates, and Izabates are aware of
+the secret. After Cambyses, Sphendadates becomes king, whom Astasyras
+and Bagapates had determined to assist to the throne even before the
+death of Cambyses. "When the Magian was reigning under the name of
+Tanyoxarkes, Izabates came out of Persia, where he had brought the body
+of Cambyses, revealed all to the army, and insulted the Magians. Then he
+fled to the sanctuary, where he was seized and his head cut off. Then
+seven distinguished Persians met, and after pledging their faith
+mutually, they joined with themselves Artasyras and then Bagapates who
+had the keys of the royal citadel. And when the seven were admitted by
+Bagapates to the citadel, they found the Magian with a concubine from
+Babylon. When he saw them, he sprang up, and as he had no weapons--for
+Bagapates had secretly removed them all--he broke up a golden chair, and
+fought with the foot of this till he was cut down by the seven. He had
+reigned seven months."[199]
+
+Herodotus' narrative of the death of the Magians again points to a
+poetical source. In the speech of the dying Cambyses, in the curse which
+he imprecates if the kingdom is not maintained and recovered, and the
+indication that it must be done by force and treachery, this source
+introduces the new series of events in an attractive and exciting
+manner. But the concealment of the truth, the secret murder of his
+brother, have evil consequences which extend beyond the life of
+Cambyses. The Persians did not believe him; they thought that when dying
+he wished to make them the enemies of his brother. It required the
+penetration of Otanes, the courage and devotion of his daughter, to
+bring the truth to light. At first Otanes prudently admits two men only
+into the secret; each of the three then discloses it to a trusty friend,
+and when Darius comes from Persia to Susa all are agreed to make him a
+confederate. His high mission has already been indicated in the poem by
+the dream of Cyrus wherein he saw the son of Hystaspes with wings on his
+shoulders, one of which overshadowed Asia, the other Europe. Darius
+urged the confederates to immediate action. The faint justification of
+the deception which we find in Herodotus shows that in this matter an
+attempt was made in the poetical source to keep in harmony with the
+Iranian view of the absolute necessity of telling the truth. The
+decisive moment approaches nearer and with greater force to the Magians.
+They have won the throne by treachery, they maintain it by cunning,
+inasmuch as they demand neither tribute nor soldiers from the subject
+countries; but at length they suffer for their treachery. They attempt
+to gain Prexaspes; he is to declare publicly that the Magian is the son
+of Cyrus. Prexaspes proceeds apparently to do this, but he is resolved
+to use the freedom of speech which the Magians allow him for their ruin.
+He reveals the truth before all the people, and throws himself down from
+the tower. The punishment which the poem has already inflicted on
+Prexaspes for the murder of Bardiya in the death of his own son (p. 185)
+is not sufficient. Like the king at whose command he sinned, Prexaspes
+ends his days by suicide. It is only by this complete revelation of the
+truth, this voluntary death, and tragic end, that he makes complete
+atonement for laying his hand on the son of Cyrus. Thus the figure of
+Prexaspes belongs to the series of faithful Persians, who, like Oebares,
+knew how to serve not the king only but the prosperity of Persia with
+complete devotion. While this took place before the citadel, and the
+Magians in terror deliberated what they should do, now that the
+proceeding which was to establish their dominion had dashed them to the
+ground, the conspirators were already on the way. Once more the prudent
+Otanes hesitates; and once more Darius urges haste. But the princes of
+the Persians must perform the act alone; they cannot wait for the effect
+of the revelation of Prexaspes on the people. The gods themselves give
+them a sign; the seven hawks tear to pieces the two vultures. The poem
+closes with the death-struggle of the Magians, the readiness of Gobryas
+to allow himself to be slain with the Magian, _i.e._ the false king, and
+the happy restoration of the dominion of the Achaemenids.
+
+The objections which can be made against this poetical account of the
+matter are obvious. The disbelief of the Persians in the admissions of
+Cambyses is hardly credible. If they had doubted at the first, they
+could doubt no longer when the king had sealed his accusation by his
+despair and death. When Otanes imparts his discovery to Gobryas and
+Aspathines, they say that "they had already suspected it;" Darius then
+comes, and when he has been unanimously received into the conspiracy he
+says: "that he had hitherto believed that he alone knew the secret, and
+had hastened from Persia in order to slay the Magian." The poem has no
+doubt inserted this scepticism of the Persians to explain why they did
+not rise against the usurper immediately after the death of Cambyses.
+The discovery by the absence of the ears must also belong to the poem;
+it is a tale of the harem, in the manner of the poetry of the East. The
+deed of Prexaspes, whose place is taken by Izabates in Ctesias, is quite
+incredible and impossible in the context of Herodotus. The Magians had
+no reason whatever to urge Prexaspes to a public explanation; no one
+among the people had any suspicion; seven men only are acquainted with
+the truth, and the Magians have no intimation of their knowledge. If
+Susa was the scene of the deed, the Magians acted still more perversely,
+and Prexaspes sacrificed himself at any rate without the hope of any
+immediate effect. The Susians had not the least interest in the
+legitimacy or illegitimacy of the king. If the Achaemenids were no longer
+their masters, so much the better, inasmuch as they now enjoyed that
+mild dominion, which Herodotus himself ascribes to the Magians. In the
+narrative of the conspiracy two factors are obviously combined. Otanes
+is the originator, Darius joins the band later, but has already resolved
+to slay the Magi. Supported by Gobryas he urges immediate action, and
+indeed forces the conspirators to act by the threat that, if there is
+any delay, he will himself reveal the conspiracy, while Otanes, both in
+the deliberation, and on the way to the palace, is in favour of delay.
+It was obviously the effect of the poem to bring plainly into light the
+merit which, on the one hand, Otanes and the five conspirators, and on
+the other Darius, had earned in the great achievement of the overthrow
+of the Magi, and to apportion a part of it to each section. The eminent
+position which the poem allots Otanes is explained by the advantages and
+privileges which the house of Otanes enjoyed in Persia above the other
+tribal princes, and which were attributed to the part which he took in
+the removal of the dominion of the Magi.[200] According to Herodotus
+Otanes was the son of Pharnaspes, and his sister Cassandane was the wife
+of Cyrus, the mother of Cambyses and Smerdis. He was thus the uncle of
+the king and of Smerdis; and he was also the father-in-law of the king,
+for his daughter Phaedyme was among the wives of Cambyses. This is the
+account of Herodotus. But we have convincing evidence that Otanes was
+not the son of Pharnaspes. As the father-in-law of Cambyses he was
+sufficiently near the throne to take a leading part in the action.
+Hystaspes, the father of Darius, had already been sent back by Cyrus
+from his camp on the Jaxartes (p. 115), according to Herodotus, in order
+to keep watch over his son Darius. In Herodotus Hystaspes is now
+overseer of Persia, and his son comes to Susa, to slay the Magians with
+his own hand. In another passage Herodotus himself relates that Darius
+was sprung from the family of the Achaemenids; Hystaspes was the son of
+Arsames, who was the son of Ariaramnes, the brother of Cambyses I. the
+father of Cyrus.[201]
+
+It is a fact that Darius was sprung from the younger line of the house
+of Achaemenes. The elder son of Teispes, the son of Achaemenes, was
+Cambyses I., and the younger son was Ariaramnes. His son was Arsames,
+who was the father of Hystaspes, the cousin of Cambyses.[202] When the
+older line became extinct in Cambyses, the younger should have ascended
+the throne in the person of their head Hystaspes, but the Magians
+usurped it. What could be more natural than that Hystaspes and Darius
+should take the lead in overthrowing the usurper, and winning back the
+crown which had been taken from them. As the future head of the tribe of
+the Pasargadae, the future heir to the throne takes the lead, and we may
+find in his six associates the remaining six tribes of the Persians. We
+know that they had the privilege of marriage with the house of
+Achaemenes, and of free entry to the king; the tribal princes also wore
+the upright _kidaris_, like the king (V. 328). Hence Darius could say in
+Herodotus: "Who will refuse entrance to us, the chiefs of the
+Persians?[203]" And any one who should do so "would at once show himself
+to be their enemy;" hence, as Herodotus relates, the seven, by divine
+guidance, arrived at the palace.
+
+Thus far does tradition carry us; but the inscriptions of Darius enable
+us to go a good step farther. "The dominion, which Gaumata the Magian
+took from Cambyses, belonged of old to our family," so king Darius tells
+us. "My father was Vistacpa, the father of Vistacpa was Arsama, the
+father of Arsama was Ariyaramna, the father of Ariyaramna was Chaispis,
+and the father of Chaispis was Hakhamanis. This Gaumata lied. He said: I
+am Bardiya, the son of Kurus; I am king. There was no one, either Mede
+or Persian, or of our family, who had taken the dominion from Gaumata
+the Magian.[204] The people feared him; he put to death many people who
+had known Bardiya, to prevent its being known that he was not Bardiya
+the son of Kurus. No one made any attempt against Gaumata the Magian,
+till I came. Then I called Auramazda to my aid; and Auramazda assisted
+me. There is a citadel, Cikathauvatis by name, in the land of Nicaya in
+Media; there with men devoted to me I slew Gaumata the Magian and his
+chief adherents. This was in the month Bagayadis, on the tenth day. I
+slew him, and took from him the dominion. By the grace of Auramazda I
+became king. Auramazda transferred the kingdom to me; I restored the
+dominion which was taken from our tribe. The places of worship (the
+houses of the gods in the Babylonian version) which Gaumata the Magian
+destroyed, these I preserved for the people. I gave back to the families
+what Gaumata had taken from them. What had been carried away I placed
+where it had been before. By the grace of Auramazda I did this. I
+laboured till I placed this race of ours again in its position. As it
+was before, as though Gaumata the Magian had not robbed our family, so I
+arranged it again.[205] These are the men who were present at the time
+when I slew Gaumata the Magian, who called himself Bardiya; these men
+helped me at that time as my adherents: Vindafrana (Intaphernes in
+Herodotus), the son of Vayacpara, a Persian; Utana (Otanes), the son of
+Thukhra, a Persian; Gaubaruva (Gobryas), the son of Marduniya
+(Mardonius), a Persian; Vidarna (Hydarnes), the son of Bagabigna, a
+Persian; Bagabukhsa (Megabyzus), the son of Daduhya, a Persian;
+Ardumanis, the son of Vahuka (Ochus), a Persian."[206]
+
+As has been shown, Gaumata had seized the dominion on Persian ground. He
+had first shown himself to the Persians as their master: "He caused
+Persia to revolt," is the recapitulation in the inscription of Behistun.
+The statement of Herodotus that he remitted for a certain period the
+tribute, which the provinces had to furnish yearly in the form of
+presents, and announced that for some years to come they need not expect
+anything from distant wars, cannot be called in question. He had every
+reason to make his rule acceptable, and the treasures of Cyrus at
+Pasargadae were no doubt still large enough to enable him to dispense
+with the tribute for some years.[207] The inscription of Darius and the
+tablets at Babylon (p. 195), establish the fact that not the satraps
+only, whom Cyrus and Cambyses had set up, and the population of the
+subject lands, but even the army of Cambyses which had gone with him to
+Egypt and returned after his death, recognized the Magian as king. As
+Herodotus says, Gaumata succeeded so that all nations wished his reign
+back when he had fallen, except the Persians. Most remarkable is the
+passage in the inscription of Darius according to which Gaumata had
+destroyed the places of worship or the houses of the gods. How could a
+man, who claimed to be the son of Cyrus, begin by attacking the existing
+mode of worship, which Cyrus had practised and protected, without
+annihilating himself? Or was it the Magian tendency in him, which
+sought to bring the stricter forms observed by the priests into
+universal observance, and establish uniformity of worship? Or does
+Darius merely mean that Gaumata had allowed the temples of the subject
+nations to fall into ruin (Cyrus and Darius took them under their care).
+This is probably the meaning of the obscure passage in the Persian text;
+the Babylonian version shows that temples of the gods are spoken of, and
+these the Persians and Medes did not possess.
+
+The murder of Smerdis cannot have remained an entire secret. The
+murderer or murderers knew it, and the relatives, the members of the
+house of Achaemenes, the servants and women, cannot have been deceived by
+the resemblance for any length of time. The narrative of Darius tells us
+plainly, "that Gaumata put to death many men in order that it might not
+be known that he was not the son of Cyrus." There is no doubt that
+Cambyses, when dying, acknowledged his deed, but only to the Achaemenids
+and the six tribal princes. Darius was with Cambyses in Egypt. From
+Herodotus we learn that he secretly sent messages to the satraps at the
+time of the rule of the Magians[208]. Hence he knew of the fact, and, as
+was fitting, he urged the overthrow of the Magian before all others. Why
+the younger line of the royal house and the tribal princes of the
+Persians did not come forward immediately after the death of
+Cambyses--why they did not call on the Persians to rise against the
+Magians--on these matters we can only make conjectures, which however
+are of a suggestive kind. One obvious reason was that the declaration
+that the throne had been usurped, and the rising of the Persians which
+would have followed such a declaration, would have thrown the kingdom
+into the most violent convulsions. This would have given the subject
+nations the choice of taking up arms for their favourite, the usurper,
+or for their own independence; it would have given them the right, and
+the Medes above all, of throwing off the existing rule. Could they
+venture to renew the dangerous war, which Cyrus had waged against the
+Medes, which had been so long undecided, and had brought the Persians
+into the greatest distress, in which they had conquered only after the
+most severe efforts? Who would guarantee a happy issue to the new
+conflict? And if the Medes were really conquered for the second time,
+would not the conflict with them be the signal for the other nations to
+revolt on their part also? In this way the kingdom of Cyrus would be
+completely disorganized. Thus Hystaspes and Darius and the princes of
+the Persians hesitated; and contented themselves with coming to a secret
+understanding with the satraps. So long as the royal house and the six
+princes remained silent, the pretended son of Cyrus was compelled to
+spare the Achaemenids and the tribal princes in order to play his own
+part, but their silence on the other hand declared the Magian to be the
+legitimate ruler, and the longer that they were silent the more securely
+did they establish his throne. This position of affairs was the more
+difficult for the Achaemenids, because Gaumata, as we are told in the
+inscription, removed his residence from Persia to Media. He was aware no
+doubt that his deception could not be long maintained against the
+Persians and the satraps. In Media, therefore, he was more secure than
+in Persia, for in Media the Magians formed a numerous and exclusive
+order. If the Persians rose against him his best support against them
+was the Medes; if the deception had to be dropped, the rising of the
+Persians would pass into a war between the Persians and Medes.
+
+From the important position which the authority of Herodotus assigns to
+Otanes, and the peculiar honours subsequently paid to him and his
+family, we may perhaps assume that it was he more than any other, who,
+with the fixed resolution not to endure the dominion of Gaumata, pointed
+out at the same time the unavoidable consequences of an armed rising of
+Persia. Instead of shattering the central power with their own hands, he
+must have advised his confederates to get it into their own power, and
+with this object in view he proposed the removal of the Magian, the
+surprise, and assassination in the citadel. There would be time for an
+open conflict if the assassination failed. Darius, who was then about
+thirty-five,[209] was younger and more hasty; he may have insisted on a
+sudden decision and have been more inclined to use open violence.
+Finally, the princes of the Persians united with Darius in the attempt
+to assassinate the king. It is obvious that the consultations and
+deliberations which led to this resolution took place among few, and in
+the greatest secrecy. It was necessary to avoid observation and
+suspicion; they must not go in a company. The son of Hystaspes might
+take a message from his father to the king, and the chiefs of the
+Persian tribes might accompany him. They were the chosen councillors of
+the king, and had the right of free entry to him. Ought they to despair
+of this because they had not been summoned to the council? If they had
+had confederates in the palace of Gaumata, as Ctesias suggests, it
+would have been the most foolish rashness to go to Media in such small
+numbers. That Darius accomplished the deed with six associates only, as
+he himself tells us, proves that they could reckon on obtaining an
+entrance for these seven only, and that the king dared not refuse it to
+them. His false assertion that he was an Achaemenid, and the king of the
+Persians, must have been his ruin; it compelled him to admit the seven;
+at any rate the guards of the palace had no orders to the contrary. The
+upright tiara, which the Persian kings, the descendants of Achaemenes,
+and the princes of the remaining six tribes wore, and which Plutarch
+suggests was the mark of recognition among the conspirators (Polyaenus
+states this for a fact[210]), pointed out Darius and his associates to
+the body-guard as having the right of free entrance. It was not, as the
+Greeks thought, a mark of distinction given to the six after the deed,
+but, as we have seen, a distinction which they possessed, along with
+others, from the time of Achaemenes, and the arrangement of the Persian
+constitution. The six princes of the Persians, and at their head the
+eldest son of the lawful successor to the throne, Hystaspes the prince
+of the seventh tribe, or Pasargadae, were resolved to attack the
+pretended king in his palace in Media, and risk their lives to maintain
+the throne in the hands of the Persians. We must look for the citadel of
+Cikathauvatis in Nicaya between Kermanshah and Elvend, at the southern
+foot of the mountain overlooking the pastures of the Nisaean horses. If
+the attempt failed Darius and his companions could hardly escape. But
+the father of Darius and two younger brothers (Artabanus and
+Artaphernes) were alive and in safety. They could avenge the fall of
+the conspirators, and by taking up the struggle openly, attempt to
+succeed where craft had failed. In the struggle, as in the previous
+consultation, the source from which Herodotus has drawn represents
+Gobryas as the leading person next to Darius. He is the first whom
+Otanes admits to the secret; he always votes with Darius for immediate
+action; he seizes one of the two Magians--obviously the king
+himself--whom Darius then slays. Gobryas was the chief of the
+Pateischoreans, who dwelt next to the Pasargadae on Lake Bakhtegan, and
+the father-in-law of Darius, to whom his daughter had already borne
+three sons.[211]
+
+The bold resolution to attack the usurper in the midst of Media and cut
+him down with his adherents in his palace succeeded. If Herodotus tells
+us that when the princes after the assassination called the Persians
+together, and showed them the heads of the Magians, the Persians also
+drew their swords and slew all the Magians who came in their way, the
+truth is that the only Persians before the citadel of Cikathauvatis in
+the Median district of Nisaea would be the servants of the Persians who
+accompanied them there. The question was not the slaughter of the Magi;
+such a massacre would have been the most foolish thing that could have
+been done. The Persians who attended the princes had no other duty than
+to enable their masters to escape from the citadel in case of failure,
+and in case of success to prevent the servants of Gaumata, who may very
+likely have been for the most part Magians, from dispersing, and to cut
+them down, to avail themselves of the overthrow of the guard in order to
+disarm them. The supposed slaughter of the Magians has arisen from the
+festival, by which the Persians celebrated the day of the assassination
+of the Magian, the tenth of Bagayadis.[212]
+
+Five days after the death of the Magian the seven took counsel together,
+as Herodotus relates, on the state of affairs. Otanes was of opinion
+that the government should be handed over to the whole body of the
+Persians, that it was not well that one should rule over them. Megabyzus
+represented oligarchy; the best men should form the best resolutions.
+Darius spoke in favour of monarchy. In an oligarchy enmities arise, and
+out of enmities rebellions and struggles, which lead to monarchy. In
+democracy baseness forces its way in, and the base gather together till
+a man arises who can reduce them to order; he is then admired by the
+people and raised to be their ruler. A man had given freedom to the
+Persians, and it was not well to set aside the laws of the fathers. Then
+Otanes said: "Fellow-conspirators, it is obvious that one of us will be
+king, as we are leaving the choice to the Persians either by lot or in
+some other manner. But I do not seek the throne with you: I wish neither
+to be a ruler, nor to be ruled over. I leave the dominion to you on the
+condition that neither I nor my descendants shall be subjects to you."
+The six agreed, and Otanes remained apart; to this day his family is the
+only free family in Persia, and is governed only so much as it pleases,
+provided that it does not transgress the laws of the Persians. The
+others resolved, that if the monarchy came to one of them, Otanes and
+his descendants should each year receive a Median robe and the gifts of
+highest honour usual among the Persians, because he had been the first
+to entertain the idea and had called them together. For the whole seven
+they resolved that each should have the right of entering the palace
+without announcement, whenever he would, and the king should not be
+allowed to take a wife from any but the families of the conspirators.
+The throne was to go to the man whose horse, when in the suburbs of the
+city, should be the first to neigh at the rising of the sun. In the
+night Oebares, the groom of Darius, led his horse along the road, on
+which the six would ride in the morning, to a mare which he had
+previously caused to be brought there. When the princes rode out next
+morning, as had been agreed upon, the horse of Darius neighed at the
+place where the mare had been brought to him in the night, and at the
+same moment there was thunder and lightning in a clear sky. Then the
+five sprang from their horses and did homage to Darius. And when Darius
+was established on his throne, he set up a picture in relief on stone
+representing a man with a horse, and underneath it he engraved the
+words: "Darius, the son of Hystaspes, by the help of his horse and his
+groom Oebares, came to be king over the Persians."[213]
+
+In Pompeius Trogus we are told: "The conspirators were so equal in
+valour and noble birth, that it was difficult for the people to elect
+one of them to be king. But the conspirators themselves devised an
+expedient which left the decision to religion and good luck. They
+resolved to ride early in the morning to a particular place before the
+citadel; and he whose horse was the first to neigh at the rising of the
+sun, was to be king. For the Persians regarded the sun as the only
+deity, and horses as sacred to him. Among the conspirators was Darius
+the son of Hystaspes." After narrating the trick of the groom in the
+same manner as Herodotus, our excerpt continues: "The moderation of the
+others was so great that when they had received the sign from the gods
+(Justin speaks only of the neighing, not of the thunder and lightning),
+they at once sprang from their horses and greeted Darius as king. The
+whole people followed the decision of the princes and made him their
+king. By such a trivial circumstance did the monarchy of the Persians,
+which was won by the valour of the seven noblest men, come into the
+hands of one person. It is extraordinary that those who risked their
+lives to wrest the throne from the Magians, should have resigned it with
+such readiness, though it is true that in addition to the nobility of
+form, and the valour, which made Darius worthy of the throne, he was
+also related by blood to the ancient kings."[214] The excerpt from the
+account of Ctesias tells us: "Sphendadates (p. 208 ff.) had reigned
+seven months (_i.e._ after the death of Cambyses). Of the seven Darius
+became king because his horse first neighed at the rising of the sun,
+which was the sign agreed upon among them; but it was induced to neigh
+by a certain trick and stratagem. Since then the Persians celebrate the
+slaughter of the Magians on the day on which Sphendadates the Magian was
+slain."[215]
+
+An election to the throne was not a matter of necessity after the fall
+of the Magian. The older line of the royal house, the descendants of the
+elder son of Teispes, had become extinct with Smerdis and Cambyses; the
+younger line had the right to ascend the throne. The head of this line
+was Hystaspes. We not only learn from Herodotus, that he was still
+alive, the inscription of Behistun mentions his achievements after his
+son ascended the throne. The father gave place to the son, just as the
+father of Cyrus had given place to his son in the rise of the Persians
+against Astyages. Hystaspes abandoned the throne in favour of his eldest
+son. This renunciation, in case of success, must have taken place before
+Darius set out to Media, when the son went with the princes of the
+Persians to succeed in the work of liberation or to perish. These
+princes were in a position to salute Darius as king immediately after
+the fall of the Magian. A sign from the gods could only be required to
+show that the son would be accepted in the place of the father. It was
+more important to prove to the Medians, the inhabitants of Nisaea, that
+the new ruler who took the place of the murdered prince had done so with
+the will of the gods, that Darius had seized the crown with the will of
+Auramazda and Mithra. We know the sacred horses and chariot which the
+Persians kept for the god of the sun and of light. The lucky neighing
+with which the horse on which the new king was mounted greeted the
+rising of the sun on the seventh day after the death of the Magian, put
+it beyond doubt that the act was just, that the new ruler of Persia was
+under the protection of the far-seeing Mithra, the god of truth, the
+destroyer of lies. The narrative of the trick of Oebares is no doubt a
+Greek invention. In the mind of the Persians it would have deprived the
+divine signal of any importance. In the narrative of Herodotus it is
+quite superfluous, for not only does the horse neigh but thunder and
+lightning occur in a clear sky. The name of the groom, Oebares, does
+not improve the story or make it more credible; it is merely a
+repetition of the name of that most faithful and energetic counsellor
+and helper of Cyrus, who first, himself a fortunate omen, meets him in
+the foreign country, and carries horsedung towards him, and afterwards
+assists him to victory and the throne (V. 346). As regards the
+equestrian picture, which, according to Herodotus, Darius set up in
+honour of his horse and his groom, Darius had certainly no interest in
+announcing to the kingdom that he had won the throne by deception. No
+doubt Darius left splendid monuments behind him. He may also have caused
+the divine consecration and confirmation of his kingdom to be engraved
+upon a rock, but the inscription to the picture certainly did not
+mention the deception, or the inventor of it and his service.
+
+Herodotus represents the conspirators as consulting about the best form
+of government on the sixth day after the assassination, no doubt because
+the opinion existed among the Greeks, that the Persians had a custom by
+which anarchy was allowed to prevail for five days after the death of
+the king, not as a sign of mourning, but in order to learn by experience
+what an evil anarchy was.[216] The best form of government might be
+discussed in Hellas, but it could not be discussed in Persia, and least
+of all in the citadel of Cikathauvatis. Herodotus himself observes, that
+these speeches were incredible to some of the Greeks, but that
+nevertheless they were made;[217] he even recurs to the subject,
+supporting the story on the fact that Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, had
+removed the tyrants from the cities of the Ionians and set up
+democracies there. Herodotus exaggerates what was done in the year 493
+B.C. in order to support his story of this discussion; if Mardonius
+established democracies, Otanes may have represented this form of
+constitution in the council of the seven. At that time tyrannies were
+not preserved in the Greek cities to the extent that the princes of
+Miletus, Histiaeus and Aristagoras, raised the sign of rebellion for the
+Ionians on purely personal grounds. Hence after the rebellion had been
+crushed, tyrannies were not fully restored in these cities. But the
+tyrants who remained faithful to Persia, like Aeaces of Lesbos, and
+Strattis of Chios, were replaced on their thrones. Strattis was ruler of
+Lesbos in the time of Xerxes. Even after Mardonius had visited the coast
+of Anatolia, Hippoclus and Aeantides ruled over Lampsacus; the
+Pisistratidae in Sigeum; Demaratus obtained Teuthrania, Halisarna, and
+Pergamum; Gongylus, Gambrion, Myrina, and Gryneum; Theomestor in the
+reign of Xerxes was tyrant of Samos; in Herodotus' own city the
+descendants of Lygdamis retained the throne. To renew the tyrannies in
+their old extent, when they were intended to keep in subjection Greek
+maritime cities of considerable power without Persian garrisons was not
+necessary after these cities had been so greatly weakened by the
+suppression of the rebellion.[218]
+
+The legend of the discussion of the seven as to the best form of
+constitution has grown up out of the privileges of the six tribal
+princes, who as a fact formed an aristocratic element in the Persian
+constitution (V. 329), and out of the peculiar immunities enjoyed by the
+house of Otanes; the Greeks traced both one and the other back to the
+assassination of the Magians. From the immunities, and supposed
+self-government of this house, the Greeks concluded that Otanes must at
+that time have pronounced for the freedom and self-government of the
+Persians, and Herodotus represents him as consistently democratic, and
+taking no part in the election to the throne. In the discussion the
+defence of monarchy was naturally assigned to the future occupant of the
+throne.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[199] Ctes. "Pers." 13. The names of the Seven in Ctesias have been
+discussed already, Vol. V. 329 _n._
+
+[200] Herod. 3, 83, 84, and below, p. 221, 222.
+
+[201] Herod. 4, 83; 5, 25, 30.
+
+[202] Vol. V. 326 _n._
+
+[203] Herod. 3, 72, 77.
+
+[204] Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 7, "to say;" so Oppert ("Peuple des
+Medes," p. 110) after the Turanian version; on the other hand Mordtmann
+in "Z. D. M. G." 16, 37 gives, "to undertake."
+
+[205] Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 81 ff.; Oppert, _loc. cit._ p. 121.
+
+[206] Herodotus gives Aspathines or Aspathenes; the inscription on the
+tomb of Darius mentions Acpachana as holding an honourable office near
+the person of the king.
+
+[207] Herod. 3, 67.
+
+[208] Herod. 3, 139, 126, 127.
+
+[209] See below, p. 229.
+
+[210] Plutarch, "Praec. gerend. reip." c. 27; Polyaen. "Strateg." 7, 12.
+
+[211] Herod. 7, 2; Behist. 4, 84; 5, 7, 9. N. R. c.
+
+[212] G. Rawlinson's view, which he gives in an excursus to his
+Herodotus (2, 548 ff.)--that the Magian was not a Mede, I accept, as I
+have observed, p. 191. Darius says in the inscription of Behistun that
+neither a Persian nor a "Mede" had risen against Gaumata, and moreover,
+that he had recovered the dominion which had been taken "from his tribe"
+and "race." But in no case was it a question of a religious conflict,
+but rather to avoid a new struggle between Media and Persia. On the
+passage 3, 14 in the inscription all that need be said has been given
+already (p. 216).
+
+[213] Herod. 3, 80-88.
+
+[214] Justin. 1, 10.
+
+[215] Ctes. "Pers." 14.
+
+[216] Sext. Empir. "Adv. Rhet." 33 in Stein, Herod. 3, 80.
+
+[217] Herod. 6, 43.
+
+[218] The evidence in support of this will be found in the Greek
+History.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE REBELLIONS IN THE PROVINCES.
+
+
+One of the boldest deeds known to history had been accomplished, one of
+the most marvellous complications had been severed by a remarkable
+venture. At a distance from their home and people, six Persians, led by
+a prince of the royal house, had attacked and cut down the pretended son
+of Cyrus, in his fortified citadel, when surrounded by his adherents,
+after he had reigned for more than ten months (Spring 521 B.C.[219]). An
+Achaemenid again sat on the throne of Cyrus. Whether the removal of the
+usurper and the sudden proclamation of Darius on the soil of Media had
+really prevented the ruin of the kingdom, as it was intended to do, and
+whether it would produce the results which the Achaemenids and the
+princes of the Persians expected from it, was a question, which, in
+spite of the success, still remained to be settled. It was true that the
+resumption of the struggle with the Medes for the sovereignty was for
+the moment avoided, but that the accession of Darius brought the whole
+kingdom into obedience to his power had still to be shown. Undeniable
+facts prove that even in the last years of Cambyses the bonds of
+obedience were relaxed. The satraps of the provinces had been able to
+rule over their provinces independently. This had been rapidly followed
+by two violent changes in the succession, which seemed to promise
+success to further usurpation. The various nations were quite satisfied
+with the rule of Gaumata. Their favourite chief had been slain; they
+were now called upon to obey his assassin, whose reign betokened the
+return of the severer rule. Neither in Media nor in Babylon did men
+forget the state of affairs before Cyrus; scarcely eighteen years had
+elapsed since Babylon had been taken by Cyrus. The nations of the
+kingdom were in agitation.[220]
+
+Elated by the success of his venture, in the full vigour of his
+life,--according to Herodotus Darius had scarcely reached the thirtieth
+year, and according to Ctesias the thirty-sixth year of his
+age,[221]--the new ruler seemed equal even to the heaviest tasks. The
+boldness of his resolution, the daring nature of the advice which he had
+given, were favourable indications that he possessed the power to keep
+the kingdom of Cyrus together. While he could not but direct his gaze in
+the most eager expectation to the nations of the empire, he found in his
+immediate proximity, among the associates in the deed of Cikathauvatis,
+an independent and rebellious spirit. A remarkable indication proved
+that the princes of the Persian tribes, to whose devotion he owed the
+throne, who had risked as much as himself, were for that very reason
+inclined to regard themselves as more on an equality with the new king,
+and to pay less respect to his authority. Soon after the assassination
+of the Magian, Intaphernes, one of the six Persian princes, who had lost
+an eye in the conflict with the Magians, came one day into the palace to
+speak with the king. But the doorkeepers and servants would not admit
+him because the king was with one of his wives. Intaphernes thought that
+this statement was false, and that the new king intended to refuse to
+the Persian princes the ancient right of free entry; he drew his sword,
+cut off the ears and noses of each of the two servants, strung them on
+the reins of his bridle and hung them round their necks. In this act of
+violence Darius could only see extreme contempt for the royal dignity,
+and the most severe outrage of it in the persons of his servants; he was
+convinced that it was the announcement of a rebellion. He did not
+venture to step in and punish at once; he could hardly assume that
+Intaphernes would have done such an action without an understanding with
+the other chieftains; they had intended, no doubt, to humble the king,
+and now that they had helped him to the throne, they wished to take up a
+different position towards the ruler whom they had raised from that
+which they had occupied towards Cyrus and Cambyses. It was not till
+Darius had questioned each of the princes separately, and ascertained
+that Intaphernes had acted independently, that he caused him to be
+thrown into prison with his sons and all his family. He desired, no
+doubt, on this first opportunity to show the chiefs of the Persians
+their master, and his intention was naturally carried out with oriental
+cruelty. Regardless of the services of Intaphernes and the wound which
+he had received, he was to be executed and all the males of his house
+with him; the entire stock of this princely family was to be
+annihilated. The entreaties of the wife of Intaphernes only prevailed so
+far as to save from death her brother and her eldest son, so that the
+race could at least be kept in existence.[222]
+
+Still more dangerous, though at a greater distance, appeared to be the
+attitude of a satrap who ruled over wide regions. Oroetes had been made
+satrap of Lydia and Ionia by Cyrus. In the last year of Cambyses he had
+enticed Polycrates of Samos to Magnesia into his power, and had caused
+him to be executed there, in order to bring about the subjugation of
+Samos. When called upon by Darius to declare against Gaumata he had paid
+no heed to the command, but had availed himself of the confusion to
+assassinate Mitrobates the satrap of Phrygia, who resided at Dascyleum,
+and possess himself of that satrapy. He now ruled from Sardis to the
+Halys. After the accession of Darius, so far from obeying his commands
+to appear at the court, he cut down the messenger who brought them. It
+was obviously his intention to establish an independent kingdom in Asia
+Minor. It did not appear possible to crush him without an open struggle,
+and the beginning of this would be a signal of revolt for many others.
+Darius summoned the chief of the Persians, and asked if any one could
+remove Oroetes out of the way. In the narrative of Herodotus not one
+only but thirty offered themselves for the venture. They cast lots, and
+the lot fell on Bagaeus the son of Artontes. Provided with the necessary
+letters from the king, he went as an extraordinary commissioner to
+Sardis. The garrison of the citadel at Sardis in which Oroetes resided
+consisted of a thousand Persian lance-bearers. Bagaeus caused a
+communication from Darius to be read to these troops in the presence of
+Oroetes. They showed respect for the letter and the royal seal, and
+expressed a willingness to obey the king's commands. As soon as Bagaeus
+had convinced himself of their feeling, he read an order from Darius in
+which the lance-bearers were forbidden to obey Oroetes any longer. They
+at once placed their lances on the ground. Encouraged by this, Bagaeus
+immediately read the last order, in which Darius bade the Persians at
+Sardis to put Oroetes to death. This command also was executed on the
+spot. It was a rapid success, and an extremely fortunate event for
+Darius. Asia Minor from the Halys to the Aegean was brought under his
+authority at a single blow.
+
+Herodotus only remarks in passing, that the Medes revolted from Darius,
+but were conquered in the battle and reduced again to submission.[223]
+He relates the rebellion of the Babylonians at greater length. Since the
+accession of the Magian the Babylonians had secretly prepared to throw
+off the yoke of Persia. They put to death all the women in the city who
+were not mothers, leaving only a childless wife and another woman in
+each household, that their provisions might not fail, and when Darius
+brought up his forces, and invested Babylon, they made merry over the
+siege and danced behind their towers. A whole year and seven months
+passed away, and Darius tried every art and invention in vain, including
+the means by which Cyrus had taken the city and many others, but the
+Babylonians were strongly on their guard, and it was impossible to take
+the city. In the twentieth month, Zopyrus the son of Megabyzus, one of
+the men who had taken part in the assassination of the Magian, appeared
+before the throne of Darius with his nose and ears cut off, his hair
+shaved, and his body covered with blows from a whip. Distressed to see
+one of the most distinguished men in such a condition, the king sprang
+up and asked who had done him such an irreparable injury. It was
+intolerable, Zopyrus answered, that the Assyrians should mock the
+Persians any longer; he had not acquainted the king with his design that
+he might not prevent him from carrying it out. It was his intention in
+this plight to seek admittance into the city and to tell the Babylonians
+that the king of the Persians had treated him thus. He thought that they
+would believe him, and entrust him with the command over a division. On
+the tenth day after his reception into the city, Darius was to place a
+thousand men of the troops which he valued least against the gate of
+Semiramis; on the seventeenth two thousand against the gate of Ninus; on
+the thirty-seventh four thousand against the gate of the Chaldaeans. If
+he achieved great successes against these troops the Babylonians would
+no doubt entrust everything to him, even the keys of their gates. Then
+Darius was to attack the city on all sides, and place the Persians
+against the gates of Belus and the gate of the Cissians. "Zopyrus set
+forth, gave his name at the gate, pretended to be a deserter, and
+demanded entrance. The guards led him before the council of the city. He
+lamented the treatment which he had received from Darius because he had
+advised him to lead away his army, inasmuch as there was no way of
+taking the city. He could do them the greatest services, and Darius and
+the Persians the greatest harm, for he knew their plans in every
+direction. The Babylonians seeing the most distinguished Persian without
+nose or ears, covered with stripes and blood, listened to his words, and
+believed that he had come to aid them; and they were ready at his
+request to allow him the command of a division." At the head of his
+Babylonian soldiers Zopyrus cut down the three troops on the days agreed
+upon. "Then Zopyrus was all in all to the Babylonians; they elected him
+general and keeper of the walls of the city, and when Darius, as had
+been agreed upon, stormed the city on every side, and the besieged
+repulsed their opponents in every direction, Zopyrus opened the Cissian
+gate and the gate of Belus to the Persians and brought them into the
+city. The Babylonians who saw this fled into the shrine of Belus, but
+the others fought on in their ranks till they perceived that they had
+been betrayed. Thus Babylon was recovered, and Darius now did what Cyrus
+had neglected to do at the time of his conquest; he destroyed the walls,
+tore down the gates, impaled nearly three thousand of the leading men,
+and gave the city to the remainder for a habitation. In order that they
+might have wives and posterity, Darius commanded each of the
+neighbouring nations to send a number of women to Babylon; in all there
+were 50,000, and from these the present inhabitants of the city are
+descended. In the judgment of Darius no one had ever done greater
+service to the Persians than Zopyrus, with the exception of Cyrus, with
+whom no Persian could be compared. It is also asserted that Darius was
+wont to say that he would willingly lose twenty Babylons, if Zopyrus
+might be restored from his mutilated condition. He held him in great
+honour, gave him each year the presents which are most honourable among
+the Persians, conferred on him for his life the government of Babylon
+free of all tribute to the king, and a great deal besides."[224]
+
+Megabyzus, the son of Daduhya, who aided Darius in putting the Magian to
+death, and his descendants, were only too well known to the Greeks, and
+more especially to the Athenians. Megabyzus conquered Perinthus, and
+reduced Thracia and Macedonia beneath the Persian rule. The son of this
+Megabyzus was Zopyrus, to whom Darius, according to the narrative of
+Herodotus, owed the capture of Babylon; the son of Zopyrus was Megabyzus
+the younger, who in the year 455 B.C. inflicted on the Athenians in
+Egypt one of the heaviest defeats which they ever experienced; they lost
+more than 200 triremes, and nearly the whole of the crews, for those who
+escaped to Cyrene were few in number.[225] From the marriage of this
+Megabyzus with the daughter of Xerxes and Amestris, the granddaughter of
+Otanes, sprang the younger Zopyrus, who broke with Artaxerxes I. after
+the death of his parents, retired to Athens after 440 B.C., and
+afterwards, when attacking the city of Caunus in Caria with Attic
+troops--the city belonged to the Attic league but had withdrawn from
+it, and it was necessary to reduce it--was killed by a stone thrown from
+the walls.[226] Hence the achievements of the princely family, who were
+the forefathers of the deserter--of his father Megabyzus, his
+grandfather, the elder Zopyrus, and his great-grandfather--were
+peculiarly interesting to the Greeks. The minute account which Herodotus
+gives of the greatest act of the older Zopyrus must be derived from
+information which he obtained in Athens either from the younger Zopyrus
+or from his retinue, and these would relate what the minstrels of the
+Persians had sung of the sacrifice made by the elder Zopyrus for the
+great king and the kingdom. We can trace a poetical source in the
+mocking of the besiegers, and the saying connected with it. A Babylonian
+cries to the Persians, "Why do you sit there? Why do you not retire? Ye
+will take the city when mules bring forth." A mule belonging to Zopyrus
+does bring forth; this sign, showing that Babylon can be taken,
+determines Zopyrus to mutilate himself, when he had previously
+ascertained from Darius that the king attached the greatest importance
+to the capture of the city. The massacre of the women of the Babylonians
+must also be poetical. Herodotus himself tells us that the Babylonians
+had prepared their rebellion for a long time, ever since the Magian had
+ascended the throne. Thus they had at least a year before the investment
+of the city in which to furnish it with provisions, and the adjacent
+country was most fruitful; moreover, the walls of Babylon enclosed a
+very large extent of arable and pasture land (III. 382). We may conceive
+of such wholesale massacre as an act of desperation in consequence of a
+long siege; but in the account of Herodotus it took place before the
+city was invested, and is one of the preparations of the Babylonians. It
+is not until he has heard of the massacre of the women that Darius sets
+out against Babylon. Not less remarkable are the definite numbers of the
+troops, which Zopyrus with the Babylonians cuts down on the appointed
+days. The names of the five gates mentioned in the narrative seem to
+show exact local knowledge. But though a gate in Babylon might be named
+after Belus, and another "the gate of Elam" (the Cissians); no gate in
+that city could have been named after the Chaldaeans, or Ninus, or
+Semiramis. So far as the inscriptions of Babylon have been deciphered,
+the names of the gates were different.[227] As the forms of Ninus and
+Semiramis and their history do not belong even in the remotest degree to
+Babylonia and her history, but are rather shown to be inventions of the
+Medo-Persian Epos, these two gates which are named after them point to
+the Persian source from which the narrative of Herodotus was derived.
+More incredible even than the massacre of the women at the beginning of
+the rebellion is their replacement after the capture by the 50,000 women
+whom Darius causes the neighbouring nations to send to Babylon. Darius
+had no reasons for assisting a city which had maintained itself against
+him for more than twenty months, the walls and gates of which he had
+broken, and at the same time, as Herodotus himself tells us, had
+executed the leading men, 3000 in number, by a cruel death. His
+interests lay in precisely the opposite direction.
+
+Darius himself informs us about the rising of the Babylonians and their
+subjugation. "When I had slain Gaumata, there was a man Atrina, by
+name, the son of Upadarma, who rebelled in Susiana. He said to the
+people: 'I am king in Susiana.' Then the inhabitants in Susiana became
+rebellious; they went over to Atrina; he was king in Susiana. Moreover
+there was a man of Babylon, Naditabira by name (Nidintabel in the
+Babylonian text), the son of Aniri; he rebelled in Babylon. He deceived
+the people thus: 'I am Nabukadrachara (Nabukudurussur), the son of
+Nabunita.' Then the people of Babylon went over entirely to Naditabira;
+he seized the throne in Babylon. After this I sent (an army?) to
+Susiana; Atrina was brought in fetters before me; I slew him. Then I
+marched to Babylonia against Naditabira, who called himself
+Nabukadrachara. The army of Naditabira maintained the Tigris, and
+occupied the river with ships; his whole power protected the
+Tigris.[228] Auramazda came to my aid; by the grace of Auramazda I
+crossed the Tigris, and severely defeated the army of Naditabira. On the
+26th of the month of Athriyadiya (on the 26th of the month Kislev), then
+it was, that we gave battle. After this I marched against Babylon. When
+I went against Babylon, there is a city, by name Zazana on the
+Euphrates, there this Naditabira, who called himself Nabukadrachara, had
+come with an army to give me battle. Then we joined battle. Auramazda
+came to my aid; by the grace of Auramazda I severely defeated the army
+of Naditabira. The enemy was driven into the water; the water carried
+him away;[229] on the second day of the month of Anamaka, then we
+joined battle. Then Naditabira went with a few horse to Babylon, and I
+went to Babylon. By the grace of Auramazda I took Babylon and captured
+Naditabira. Then I slew Naditabira at Babylon. While I was in Babylonia
+these provinces revolted: Persia, Susiana, Media, Assyria, Parthia,
+Margiana, the Sattagydae, the Sacae."[230]
+
+The inscription shows that the inhabitants of Elam gave the signal for
+revolt, that their leader Atrina attempted to raise once more that
+ancient kingdom 125 years after its fall. Nabonetus (Nabunahed,
+Nabunita), the last king of Babylon, had been sent by Cyrus to Carmania
+and had died there (p. 89). A man, who gave himself out to be his
+younger son, took the lead of the Babylonians, and once more called into
+existence the revered name of Nebuchadnezzar. He had time to collect an
+army, and considered himself strong enough to meet the Persians in the
+open field. On the eastern border of the ancient kingdom, on the Tigris,
+he awaited the attack of the Persians; he brings armed ships to the
+place, that they may facilitate his defence of the right bank, and make
+it difficult for the enemy to cross the river. The Elamites were
+overpowered, their leader captured and slain. The heavier task of
+reducing Babylon was undertaken by Darius himself. The army which he led
+was obviously the same as that which conquered Susiana; it consisted of
+Persians and Medes, as is shown by the sequel of the inscription. Darius
+had to open the campaign against the new Nebuchadnezzar in the same
+manner in which Cyrus nineteen years previously had begun his war
+against Nabonetus. He had first to cross the Tigris. This was done, and
+Nebuchadnezzar retired in a slanting direction across Babylonia to the
+Euphrates, closely pursued by Darius. On the Euphrates he was again
+defeated, and his people were driven in part into the river, but he was
+not cut off from the city as Nabonetus had been by Cyrus; he was able to
+reach the protection of the walls of Babylon. We know their powers of
+resistance. The Persians had crossed the Tigris at a place where it is
+not more than 100 miles distant from the Euphrates, _i.e._ not far below
+the Median walls; for the battle on the Tigris was fought on the 26th
+(or 27th) of Athriadiya, and six days after, on the 2nd of Anamaka, the
+Babylonian army suffered its second defeat on the bank of the Euphrates
+at Zazana. As Athriadiya coincides with the Kislev (November-December)
+and Anamaka with the Tebet (December-January) of the Babylonians (p.
+195), the rebellion of Babylonia must have taken place in the summer and
+the investment of the city in the last weeks of the year 521 B.C. The
+inscriptions tell us nothing of the length of the siege. On the other
+hand we have five tablets from the reign of the rebel, Nebuchadnezzar
+III., all dated from Babylon, and bearing the name of the same witness.
+They date, in the time of this king, from Kislev 20, to the next Tisri
+and Marchesvan, _i.e._ from November-December of the year of the battles
+down to October-November of the next year.[231] The inscription of
+Behistun allows that all the central lands of the kingdom, not excepting
+Persia, rebelled against Darius during the siege. It follows therefore
+that success at Babylon was long enough delayed to awake the hope that
+Darius would be checked before Babylonia, and defeated there. The twenty
+months of Herodotus would carry us from the end of the year 521 B.C. to
+the autumn of the year 519 B.C.
+
+The rebellion made head everywhere. In spite of the day of
+Cikathauvatis, the kingdom was going to ruin. The position of Darius was
+desperate. The longer the siege, the more fixed the belief that he could
+not succeed, the greater was the progress of the revolt. If he raised
+the siege to turn against the rebels, that was a proof that he could not
+conquer Babylon; the confidence of the rebels in their fortunes would be
+increased, and the army discouraged with which he had conquered on the
+Tigris and the Euphrates, with which he stood in personal relations, and
+which he had drawn into close connection with himself. On this army the
+kingdom rested; it remained yet loyal in the camp at Babylon. The deed
+in Nisaea had been best confirmed by the fact that Media recognized
+Darius as king, that he had been able to summon the Median contingent to
+the field, and by his successes to connect the Median army with himself.
+"The Persian and Median army which was with me remained faithful; the
+Median nations which remained at home, revolted"--so we learn from the
+inscription.[232] Darius perceived that he must not weaken the only
+support which he had in this difficult crisis, or remove it by his own
+act. He judged the situation correctly, and remained before Babylon in
+spite of bad news which was brought to him from all sides. But the
+resistance was not less stubborn than the attack. It seemed as though
+the new reign of Darius must come to an end before Babylon. Could it
+continue beside the defection of the Medes, Parthians, Hyrcanians,
+Margiani, Sagartians and Sattagydae, the Armenians, Assyrians, and
+Susiani, the rebellion of the Persians themselves? Was it possible to
+check the outbreak of the storm of ruin in the face of the indomitable
+resistance of Babylon? Only in the distant east and west were there
+glimpses of light. The satraps of Arachosia and Bactria, Vivana and
+Dadarshis, remained loyal to Darius and kept their lands in obedience.
+Asia Minor was quiet; if Darius had not succeeded in removing Oroetes at
+the right moment, these regions also would have taken up arms against
+Darius either under him or under some native ruler.
+
+The account of Darius allows us to see that the recently-subdued Susiani
+were the first to rebel when Darius was delayed at Babylon. After them
+the Medes rebelled, in order to renew the struggle for the sovereignty
+between Persia and Media; this was followed in the east by the rebellion
+of the Sattagydae, the Parthians, the Hyrcanians, the Margiani, the Sacae;
+in the west the Armenians and Syrians took up arms. Finally, even the
+Persians held out a hand to the subject nations for the overthrow of the
+kingdom and their own dominion. Vahyazdata, a Persian of the tribe of
+the Utians (V. 323), declared himself to be the legitimate ruler; the
+brother of Cambyses was alive; he was no other than Bardiya, the son of
+Cyrus. The Persians believe him; this second pretender finds many
+adherents.
+
+The inscription is as follows: "There was a man, by name Martiya; he
+dwelt in the city of Kuganaka in Persia; he revolted in Susiana; and
+said to the people: 'I am Ymani, king in Susiana.' There was a man,
+Fravartis (Phraortes) by name, a Mede. He revolted in Media, and said:
+'I am Khsathrita of the family of Uvakhshathra' (Cyaxares). The Median
+nation then became rebellious towards me; they went over to Fravartis;
+and he was king in Media. Thereupon I sent an army. I made Vidarna, a
+Persian, my servant, the general, and said to them: 'Go down and smite
+the Median army which does not call itself mine.' Then Vidarna marched
+out. When he came to Media, he fought a battle with the Medes at Marus,
+a city in Media. By the grace of Auramazda the army of Vidarna conquered
+that rebellious army on the (twenty-seventh) day of the month Anamaka
+(of the month Tebet).[233] There was a district Campada (Cambadene) in
+Media; there my army awaited me. The Parthians and Hyrcanians became
+rebellious to me, and joined Fravartis. Vistacpa, my father, was in
+Parthia; the people left him and revolted. Then Vistacpa took those who
+adhered to him and marched against the rebels. On the 22nd day of the
+month Viyakhna Vistacpa, by the grace of Auramazda, defeated the rebels
+near the city of Vicpauvatis in Parthia. I sent my servant, Dadarshis by
+name, an Armenian, to Armenia. When he came to Armenia, the rebels
+gathered together and marched against Dadarshis to give battle. By the
+grace of Auramazda my army defeated the revolted army near Zuza in
+Armenia, on the 6th day of the month of Thuravahara. The rebels marched
+against Dadarshis a second time. Near the fortress of Tigra in Armenia
+on the 18th of Thuravahara my army defeated the rebellious army; they
+slew 526 of them, and took 520 prisoners.[234] A third time the rebels
+marched against Dadarshis. Near the fortress of Uhyama in Armenia my
+army defeated the rebellious army on the 9th day of the month
+Thaigarshis. There Dadarshis waited till I came to Media. A man, by name
+Chitratakhma, revolted from me. 'I am king of Sagartia,' he said to the
+people, 'of the race of Uvakhshathra' (Cyaxares). There is a province
+Margiana (Margu) by name which revolted from me. They made a man of
+Margiana, Frada by name, their leader. Against him I sent Dadarshis
+(Dadarsu) a Persian, my servant, the satrap of Bactria. There was a man,
+Vahyazdata by name, in the city of Tarava, in the district of Yutiya in
+Persia; he said to the people: 'I am Bardiya, the son of Kurus.' The
+Persian nation revolted from me. He was king in Persia. This Vahyazdata,
+who called himself Bardiya, sent an army to Arachosia against the
+Persian Vivana, my servant, the satrap of Arachosia."
+
+The rebellion of Phraortes (which took place in the summer of 520 B.C.)
+was the more dangerous because it was undertaken with the obvious
+intention of restoring the independence of Media under a scion of the
+old native royal house, and the name of Cyaxares could not but excite
+and give new life to national memories among the Medes. Whatever troops
+Darius could spare, and for this purpose he could only use Persians, he
+sent under the command of the tribal prince Hydarnes, his associate in
+the assassination of the Magi, against the Medes, at the same time
+despatching Dadarshis an Armenian to Armenia, to check the advance of
+the rebellion there, and mainly, no doubt, to prevent the alliance of
+the Armenians and the Medes. A whole year after Darius had begun the
+investment of Babylon, on the 27th day of Anamaka (December-January, 520
+B.C.), Hydarnes encountered Phraortes at Marus. He did not obtain any
+great success. He had to content himself with maintaining against
+Phraortes the district of Cambadene in the south of Media. In the west
+of Media, Dadarshis had no better success against his Armenian
+compatriots. When he had fought two battles, of no great importance, if
+we are to judge from the losses of the rebels in one, in one month (on
+the eight and eighteenth), and a third in May (Thaigarshis) of the year
+519 B.C., he was compelled to retire to a fortress named Uhyama. In
+Parthia, to the east of Media, Hystaspes the father of Darius, who was
+expected to keep these regions of the kingdom in obedience, was not in a
+position, with the forces at his disposal, to prevent the defection of
+the Parthians, Hyrcanians, Margiani, and Sacae. He contented himself with
+the attempt to prevent the combination of the Parthians and Hyrcanians
+with Phraortes, and to limit as far as possible the spread of the
+rebellion. He only succeeded in retaining a part of the Parthians in
+obedience. The battle at Vicpauvatis (in Viyakhna, _i.e._ in March,
+519), made it possible for him to maintain himself in Parthia, but was
+far from giving him the control of the land. The troops and generals
+sent by Darius were not able to prevail against the rebels; in Media and
+Armenia they were reduced to the defensive, and the same was the case
+with Hystaspes the father of Darius in Bactria. This collapse of the
+kingdom and general rebellion was used by a Persian of the tribe of the
+Utians (Yutiya[235]) in order to win over the Persians once more with
+the name of Bardiya, and to wrest them from the rule of Darius.
+Vahyazdata must have found a considerable following in Persia, and his
+successes must have been important, since he could attempt to extend
+his dominion to the east over Carmania and Arachosia, and to send an
+army to Arachosia in order to win this province also from Darius.
+
+The position of Darius before Babylon was hopeless. The danger increased
+every day, and there was still no prospect of winning the city. We may
+certainly believe the narrative of Herodotus that Darius left no means
+untried to reduce it, that he repeated the device of drawing off the
+water of the Euphrates into the basin of Sepharvaim, by which Cyrus had
+attained his object twenty years previously; the Babylonians had been
+taught by that siege to be on their guard in this direction. The account
+of Darius does not tell us how the city was finally taken; he does not
+mention the name of Zopyrus. The pressure of the surrounding dangers was
+so great, the hope of taking the city by force so small, that the son of
+a tribal king might feel himself called upon to sacrifice himself for
+the king and the kingdom, to adopt desperate measures. That Zopyrus did
+take a prominent part in the capture of Babylon is clear from the fact,
+which we do not learn from Herodotus only, that the satrapy of Babylon
+was given to him, and remained in his hands during the whole reign of
+Darius and afterwards. He is said to have lost his life in a rebellion
+of the Babylonians in the reign of Xerxes.[236] We cannot doubt that
+after the capture Darius proceeded with greater severity against Babylon
+than Cyrus had done, that the gates were broken and large spaces of the
+walls thrown down (p. 234). The inscription of Behistun merely mentions
+the execution of the third Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+After a siege of twenty months Babylon fell in the autumn of the year
+519 B.C. Darius tells us further: "Thereupon I went up from Babylon, and
+marched to Media. The Susiani were overcome with fear, they seized upon
+Martiya (p. 242), who was their general, and put him to death. When I
+had reached Media, there is a city, Kudurus (Kunduru) by name, in Media,
+to which Fravartis marched against me with an army. Then they gave me
+battle. Auramazda came to my aid. By the grace of Auramazda I severely
+defeated the army of Fravartis on the 26th day of the month of Adukanis.
+Then Fravartis with a few horsemen withdrew to the district of Raga in
+Media. Then I sent an army against them; Fravartis was captured and
+brought to me. I cut off his nose, ears, and tongue. He was kept in
+chains at my gate; all the people saw him. Then I crucified him at
+Hangmatana (Ecbatana), and the men who were his principal adherents I
+imprisoned in the citadel of Hangmatana. Then I sent a Persian army from
+Raga to Vistacpa, and when it had reached him, he marched out with it.
+There is a city Patigrabana[237] in Parthia, there Vistacpa severely
+defeated that rebellious army on the 1st day of the month of Garmapada;
+he slew 6560 of them, and took 4182 captives. Then the land of Parthia
+was mine. I sent Vaumica a Persian, my servant, to Armenia; when he came
+there the rebels collected to give battle to Vaumica. At Achitu in
+Assyria my army defeated the rebels on the 15th day of Anamaka, and slew
+2024 of them. A second time they gathered together and marched against
+Vaumica. There is a district Antiyara (Otiara) by name, in Armenia;
+there they fought on the last day of the month of Thuravahara (Yiyar
+30). By the grace of Auramazda my army defeated the rebels severely;
+they slew 2045 and took 1559 prisoners. Against Chitratakhma (the leader
+of the rising of the Sagartians), I sent a part of the Persian and
+Median army.[238] I made Takhmacpada, a Mede, the general. Takhmacpada
+fought with Chitratakhma and my army defeated the rebellious army,
+seized Chitratakhma, and brought him to me. I cut off his nose and ears,
+he lay in chains at my gate; all the people saw him. Then I crucified
+him at Arbira (Arbela in Assyria). Dadarshis, a Persian, my servant, the
+satrap of Bactria, fought a battle with the Margiani (Frada was the
+leader of the rising here) on the 23rd day of the month of Atriyadiya.
+By the grace of Auramazda my army defeated the hostile army very
+severely. Dadarshis slew 4203 of them, and took 6562 prisoners.[239]
+Then the land was mine. Vahyazdata, who called himself Bardiya, sent an
+army to Arachosia against the Persian Vivana, my servant, the satrap of
+Arachosia. 'Go up,' he said to them; 'defeat Vivana and the army, which
+calls itself the army of king Darius.' There is a fortress, Kapisakani
+by name; there they fought the battle. By the grace of Auramazda my army
+defeated the rebellious army on the 13th of Anamaka. For a second time
+the rebels marched against Vivana. In the district of Gandutava
+(Ganduvada) on the 7th of the month Viyakhna, my army defeated the
+rebellious army. Then the general of Vahyazdata withdrew with his
+faithful warriors to a fortress, Arsada by name, in Arachosia. Vivana
+followed him with an army. Then he seized him and slew him and the
+captains who were with him. I sent out a part of the Persian and Median
+army which was with me; I made Artavardiya, a Persian, my servant, the
+general of it; Artavardiya marched to Persia; the rest of the army went
+with me to Media. When Artavardiya was in Persia, there is a city Rakha
+(Racha); to this Vahyazdata who called himself Bardiya marched to fight
+against Artavardiya. Auramazda came to my aid; on the 12th of
+Thuravahara my army defeated the army of Vahyazdata very severely. Then
+Vahyazdata went to Pisicauvada. From thence he marched against
+Artavardiya and gave him battle. There is a mountain Paraga (Parga) by
+name; there they fought on the 6th day of Garmapada. By the grace of
+Auramazda my army defeated that of Vahyazdata; and they seized
+Vahyazdata and also his chief adherents. Uvadaidaya is a city in Persia;
+there I crucified Vahyazdata and the captains who were with him."
+
+The connection between these various battles is no doubt as follows.
+When Babylon had fallen in the autumn of the year 519 B.C. and the new
+Nebuchadnezzar had been executed, Darius set out in the spring of the
+year 518 B.C. Hydarnes maintained himself against Phraortes on the
+western border of Media, Dadarshis against the rebels in Armenia, and
+Hystaspes in Parthia. The new pretender to the name of Smerdis ruled in
+Persia, and his attempt to gain possession of the lands farther to the
+east and of Arachosia was first checked by the defeat which he suffered
+from the satrap of Arachosia in a battle fought in December of the year
+519 B.C. In all these directions, in Armenia and Parthia, help was
+needed, and the decision lay in Persia and Media. Darius did not direct
+his march against Persia, but against Media. There, as he acutely saw,
+lay the main strength of the rebellion. His approach terrified the
+Susiani; they slay their chief, their king Martiya, and submit. Arrived
+at the border of Media and Persia, Darius divides his army. To make use
+of the mutual jealousy of the Persians and Medes, and to prevent any
+contact of his Median troops with their rebellious kinsmen, he sends the
+Persian Artavardiya with the Median troops to Persia against Vahyazdata,
+and with the Persians he marches against Phraortes to Media. Hydarnes
+waited for him at Campada; the first object was to unite the troops. The
+road from Susiana to Ecbatana ran through the district of Cambadene.
+When united with Hydarnes Darius overcomes Phraortes in the month of
+Adukanis (perhaps in June) of the year 518 at Kudurus, pursues him to
+Ragha, and takes him prisoner. Before he executed him in front of the
+citadel of Deioces, Phraortes, and Cyaxares, he had cut off his nose,
+ears, and tongue, and in this condition he had publicly exhibited him in
+chains, in order to convince the Medes that they had nothing to hope
+from the supposed scion of Cyaxares. The rebellion of the Medes is at an
+end. Darius can divide his forces. From Ragha he sends aid to his father
+Hystaspes in Parthia, and with this additional aid Hystaspes is able to
+defeat the rebellion of the Parthians in Garmapada, _i.e._ in the summer
+of 518 B.C. At the same time Dadarshis had received the support in
+Armenia for which he was waiting, under the protection of the fortress
+of Uhyama. The Persian Vaumica, who brought up the reinforcements for
+Darius, defeats the Armenian rebels in Anamaka, _i.e._ in December of
+the year 518 B.C.; a second victory of Vaumica, in Yiyar (May) of the
+following year (517 B.C.), puts an end to the rebellion in Armenia. A
+third army was sent by Darius after the fall of Phraortes against the
+Sagartians; which overpowered them and took their chief Chitratakhma
+prisoner. Meanwhile Artavardiya, whom Darius had sent from Susiana, when
+on his march against Phraortes, to check the rebellion in the native
+land, had fought with success against Vahyazdata. The latter had
+weakened his forces by sending a detachment to Arachosia. Vivana, the
+satrap of Arachosia, had repulsed their attack in December 519 at
+Kapisakani, and in March (Viyakhna) of the year 518 B.C. he had entirely
+destroyed them. This failure in the east was followed in the same spring
+by the attack of Artavardiya from the west. First defeated in
+Thuravahara (April) at Racha, Vahyazdata succumbed in the summer (in
+Garmapada) at Mount Paraga, five days after Hystaspes had again become
+master of the Parthians in the north-east of Iran. The forces of the
+satrap of Bactria, the second Dadarshis, had sufficed to put an end to
+the rebellion of the Margians.
+
+That which the deed of Cikathauvatis, the assassination of Gaumata in
+the spring of the year 521 B.C., was intended to prevent, had
+nevertheless happened. The whole kingdom was disorganised. In ceaseless
+conflicts, which extended over four years, from the autumn of 521 B.C.
+to the spring of 517 B.C., Darius had reconquered it, step by step. He
+had been compelled to reduce by force of arms even the very foundation
+of it, the native land of Persia, and to carry on once more the conflict
+between Persia and Media. It had been necessary to repeat the
+achievements of Cyrus, if not to their full extent yet in part under far
+more difficult conditions. The new king had passed with success through
+the severest crisis, and had reorganised the kingdom. This was the
+result of his indomitable persistence before Babylon. By this means he
+had retained the Medes and Persians of his army in their fidelity, and
+by the final success had filled them with self-confidence. The fear
+which afterwards preceded his arms, certainly rendered more easy the
+decisive victory of Kudurus and at Mount Paraga.
+
+Darius had not yet reached the goal; the kingdom was not entirely
+pacified. The reduction of Babylon and the execution of Nebuchadnezzar
+III. had not eradicated the strong impulse which the Babylonians felt to
+regain their independence. They were once more carried away by the charm
+which the name of Nebuchadnezzar exercised upon them: "When I was in
+Persia and Media," so Darius relates at the close of the third column of
+the great inscription of Behistun, "the Babylonians became rebellious
+for the second time. A man of the name of Arakha, an Armenian, rose up
+in the city of Dubana (Dubala, Dibleh?) in Babylonia. 'I am
+Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonetus,' such was his falsehood: he made
+himself master of the city of Babylon and was king. I sent Intaphernes,
+my servant, a Mede, with an army against Babylon. Intaphernes took
+Babylon, and slew much people. On the 22nd of the month Markazana,
+Arakha with his chief adherents was captured;[240] then I ordered them
+to be crucified in Babylon." No doubt Darius had left sufficient
+garrisons in the two royal citadels of the city which he had conquered
+with so much trouble, and, therefore, it is the more remarkable that
+Arakha, who did not rebel in Babylon itself, was able to make himself
+master of the city. We may assume that Darius did not give the
+Babylonians time to fill up the breaches which he had made in the walls
+of Babylon; this time the Median Intaphernes must have found the task
+lighter. The second rising of the Babylonians seems to have seduced the
+Susiani, and to have caused a third rebellion of this land. In a fifth
+column, subsequently added to the inscription of Behistun, we have
+information about this rebellion of the Susiani and the reduction of the
+Sacae. But this part of the inscription is so greatly injured that only a
+few words can be read with certainty. All that is clear is that
+Gaubaruva (Gobryas), the father-in-law of Darius and one of the Seven,
+was sent against the Susiani and conquered them, that Darius himself
+marched against the Sacae, that he fought against the _Caka tigrakhauda_,
+i.e. against the Sacae with pointed caps, and conquered them on the sea
+(_i.e._ on the Caspian), that he captured and slew their chief Cakunka.
+Polyaenus has preserved a few details of the war against the Sacae,
+though they rest on little authority; they prove that it was carried on
+in the neighbourhood of Bactria, and was a serious struggle.[241]
+Darius recapitulates the narrative of the achievements of the first
+years of his reign thus: "This is what I accomplished, what I
+accomplished always with the grace of Auramazda; I have fought nineteen
+battles, and taken captive nine kings."[242]
+
+In remembrance of these deeds and achievements, Darius erected a
+magnificent memorial in that flourishing district of Media which the
+Medes called Bagistana, _i.e._ land of the gods. The Choaspes (Kerkha)
+rises on the southern slope of the Elvend, on the northern slope of
+which lay Ecbatana. Breaking through the mountain rim of Iran, it flows
+down a long and narrow valley towards the south into the Lower Tigris.
+In its upper course the Choaspes traverses an elevated depression, which
+is now thickly strewn with villages, the chosen summer abode of the
+shepherd tribes. To the north this depression is bounded by a steep
+mountain-chain, twenty miles in length, which ends towards the east in a
+precipitous wall of rock more than 1500 feet high. On this wall, which
+looks towards the rising sun, over a clear fountain which springs at the
+foot of the rock, Darius caused a part of the stone 300 feet above the
+plain to be made smooth with the chisel, polished and cut in relief; the
+relief is explained by two inscriptions, a shorter one above and a
+longer one below, in cuneiform letters. At the foot of the rock there
+was a park (paradisus) twelve stades in the circuit.[243] Being placed
+in Media, this monument was no doubt intended to remind the Medes that
+any rebellion against the power of the Persians even under the most
+favourable circumstances would fail. The rock-picture represents Darius,
+who in size towers over the other figures. He wears a robe which in
+front falls down over the knee, and behind to the middle of the calf, a
+crown, a simple fillet with spikes on his head; rings are on his arms,
+the hair is long, the beard curled. Behind him stand a bow-bearer and a
+lance-bearer, both with long robes and beards. The king places his right
+foot on a man lying on the ground. Below this we can read: "This
+Gaumata, the Magian, lied: he said, 'I am Bardiya, the son of Kurus; I
+am king.'" Opposite to Darius, bound to each other by a rope round their
+necks, and their hands tied behind them, stand nine kings with their
+heads uncovered (the last only has a very tall pointed cap, which marks
+him as the king of the _Caka tigrakhauda_), clothed in various garments.
+Over the first form, which is clad in a long beautiful robe reaching to
+the ancles, we read: "This Atrina lied; he said: 'I am king in
+Susiana'"; and over the second, in a short robe: "This Naditabira lied;
+he said thus: 'I am Nabukadrachara, the son of Nabunita, I am king of
+Babylon.'" Near the third figure, also in a short garment, is written:
+"This Fravartis lied; he said: 'I am Khsathrita, of the race of
+Uvakhshathra, I am king in Media.'" The fourth wears Persian clothing:
+"This Martiya lied; he said; 'I am Ymani, king in Susiana.'" Over the
+fifth form we find: "This Chitratakhma lied; he said: 'I am king in
+Sagartia, of the race of Uvakshathra.'" Over the sixth, who is clothed
+as a Persian: "This Vahyazdata lied; he said: 'I am Bardiya, the son of
+Kurus; I am king.'" Over the seventh prisoner, who is clothed like the
+second, we read: "This Arakha lied; he said thus: 'I am Nabukadrachara,
+the son of Nabunita; I am king in Babylon.'" Over the eighth, who wears
+Persian garments: "This Frada lied; he said thus: 'I am king in
+Margiana.'" The ninth stands a little further back; the inscription
+tells us: "This is Cakunka, the Sacian." The picture does not mention
+the conquest of the Parthians, Hyrcanians, Assyrians, Armenians, and
+Sattagydae. In the midst, above the whole description, hovers Auramazda,
+a solemn, aged countenance, with long hair and beard, visible only to
+the knees, in a winged circle.
+
+Under this picture, at the close of the fourth column, before the
+account of the new rebellion of the Susiani and the subjugation of the
+Sacae, the inscription tells us: "What I have done, I have done by the
+grace of Auramazda. Auramazda came to my aid, and the other gods, who
+did so because I was not hostile; because I was not a liar or violent.
+Thou, who readest these inscriptions, may they tell thee what I have
+done. Regard them not as lies. These lands which became rebellious to
+me, the lie made them rebellious. Thou who wilt be king hereafter, guard
+against the lie. Punish severely the man who is a liar; if thou keepest
+this mind, my land will be powerful. Thou who seest this tablet
+hereafter, destroy it not. If thou preservest it as long as thou canst,
+Auramazda will be favourable to thee; thou wilt have descendants, and
+live long, and may Auramazda cause that to succeed which thou dost
+undertake. If thou destroyest this tablet, may Auramazda smite thee,
+may he give thee no posterity, and what thou doest may he render
+vain.[244]"
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[219] Above, p. 195, _n._
+
+[220] Herod. 3, 67, 126, 150.
+
+[221] He was, according to Herodotus, twenty years old at the death of
+Cyrus. Herod. 1, 209; 3, 139. Ctesias ("Pers." 19) gives Darius a reign
+of thirty-one years and a life of seventy-two. That the reign of Darius
+lasted thirty-six years is fixed both by the astronomical canon and
+Egyptian inscriptions, which mention the thirty-sixth year of Darius;
+and lastly by the Egibi-tablets of Babylon, which give dates out of
+thirty-five years (with the single exception of the seventh year).
+"Transact. Bibl. Arch." 6, 69 ff. According to Ctesias, Darius would be
+thirty-six years old in the year 521 B.C.
+
+[222] Herod. (3, 118, 119) puts this event; [Greek: autika meta ten
+epanastasin].
+
+[223] Herod. 1, 130.
+
+[224] Justin repeats the narrative of Herodotus in a rhetorical form; he
+incorrectly regards Zopyrus as one of the seven. Diodorus attempts to
+unite the statements of Herodotus and Ctesias, by maintaining that
+Zopyrus was also called Megabyzus; the "twenty Babylons" are reduced to
+ten. (Exc. Vat. p. 34, 35 = 10, 19.) In Herod. (4, 143) Darius wishes
+when he opens the finest pomegranate that he had as many Megabyzuses
+(the father of Zopyrus is meant) as the fruit had seeds. Plutarch
+transfers this to Zopyrus, and represents Darius as saying that he would
+rather have Zopyrus uninjured than 100 Babylons; "Reg. Apophthegm." 3.
+In Polyaenus (7, 12), Zopyrus imitates the device which Sirakes, a
+Sacian, had previously employed against Darius, and opens the gates of
+Babylon to the Persians by night.
+
+[225] Thucyd. 1, 104, 109, 110; Diod. 11, 71, 74, 75, 77; 12, 3; Isocr.
+"De Pace," 82.
+
+[226] Ctes. "Pers." 44. The paidagogos of Alcibiades was no doubt named
+after this Zopyrus. Plutarch, "Lycurg." c. 16; Alcib. c. 1; Kirchhoff,
+"Enstehungszeit," s. 15.
+
+[227] _E.g._ Menant, "Babylon," p. 204; Oppert. "Exped." 1, 187, 223.
+
+[228] So according to the Babylonian text in Schrader,
+"Keilinschriften," s. 345.
+
+[229] Oppert after the Turanian text: "I slew much people from the army
+of Nidintabel, and drove others to the river; they were drowned in the
+river."
+
+[230] The Turanian version mentions Egypt after Assyria. In the
+inscription nothing is said of this country; no Egyptians are found in
+the rows of the conquered rebels.
+
+[231] The two Egibi-tablets quoted by Boscawen in "Trans. Bibl. Arch."
+6, 68, on Nebuchadnezzar III. have been rightly ascribed by Oppert,
+relying on the names of the witnesses, to the later rebellion of Arakha.
+
+[232] Cf. Schrader, "Keilinschriften," s. 346.
+
+[233] Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 346. The day of the month belongs to the
+corresponding Babylonian month Tebet.
+
+[234] Mordtmann, _loc. cit._ s. 75; Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 347.
+
+[235] Above, Vol. V. 323. The district of Otene belongs no doubt to
+Armenia. Steph. Byz. _sub voce_.
+
+[236] What Herodotus relates of Zopyras, Ctesias relates of his son
+Megabyzus II. in regard to this new rising, of which we have no more
+accurate knowledge in any other source, but which must not be called in
+question. Herodotus himself indicates a rebellion under Xerxes, in which
+the golden image of Belus was taken away from the lower chamber in the
+great temple (1, 183), and we have Strabo's statement of the destruction
+of Belus by Xerxes, p. 738. If Darius, as Herodotus tells us, 3, 159,
+"destroyed the gates of Babylon," it does not follow that he opened the
+supposed tomb of Nitocris over the main gateway, because it made it
+impassable, as Herodotus thinks (1, 187).
+
+[237] Vol. V. p. 10, _n._
+
+[238] Oppert, "Peuple des Medes," p. 133.
+
+[239] Mordtmann, _loc. cit._ s. 76, 77; Spiegel, "Altpers.
+Keilinschriften," Bag. 3, 3; Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 351.
+
+[240] Oppert, "Records of the Past," 7, 104. The date of this rebellion
+cannot be accurately fixed. The passage in the inscription of Behistun
+which bears upon it stands at the close of the connected narrative; we
+should therefore have to assume that it took place in the year 517 B.C.,
+for this passage begins with the words, "When I was in Persia and
+Media," which in the connection can only have the meaning: When I was
+occupied with the overthrow of Phraortes and Vahyazdata. On the other
+hand the Egibi-tablets are wanting for the seventh year of Darius only,
+so that according to this the year 515 B.C. would be the year of the
+rebellion of Arakha. Above, p. 240, _n_.
+
+[241] Polyaen. 7, 27.
+
+[242] Oppert, "Peuple des Medes," p. 158, inserts at the beginning of
+this fifth column of the inscription of Behistun before _thardam_:
+_duvadacamam_, so that we get the meaning; "This is what I have done up
+to the twelfth year." The eleventh year of Darius ends in spring 510.
+But chronological dates are not to be obtained by merely emending the
+text. According to the context and the first line of Col. v. Darius said
+in reference to the four preceding columns: "This I have done up to this
+or that year." Then follows the narrative of the new rebellion of the
+Babylonians and the subjugation of the Sacae. If the rebellion of Arakha
+took place in the seventh year of Darius, as Oppert himself assumes, we
+should rather insert _astemam_ before _thardam_.
+
+[243] Diodor. 2, 13; 17, 110. Suidas [Greek: Bagistanon oros]. Ritter,
+"Erdkunde," 9, 350.
+
+[244] Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 31 ff. Oppert in the "Journal
+Asiatique," S. 4, VOL XVII., 322 ff., and "Peuple des Medes," p. 151
+ff., Col. iv. 19. Oppert after a Turanian version above the picture here
+translates as follows: "Et Darius le roi dit: par la grace d'Ormuzd j'ai
+fait une collection de textes ailleurs en langue arienne, qui autrefois
+n'existait pas. Et j'ai fait un texte de la loi et un commentaire de la
+loi et la benediction et les traductions. Et ce fut ecrit et je le
+promulgai en entier, puis je retablis l'ancien livre dans tous les pays
+et les peuples le reconnurent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF DARIUS ON THE INDUS AND THE DANUBE.
+
+
+Aeschylus represents the Persians as saying, "A great, prosperous,
+victorious life was granted to us by destiny, when King Darius, the lord
+of the bow, Susa's beloved captain, governed the land, without fault or
+failure, like a god. The Persians called him their divine counsellor: he
+was filled with a godlike wisdom, and wisely did he, the Susa-born god
+of Persia, lead our army. We were seen in splendid array; there was
+ready for him the unwearying might of armed men, and troops mingled from
+all nations, and the return from the wars was glorious. According to his
+will, he ruled the wealthy populous cities of the Greeks in the land of
+Ionia, and the wave-beaten islands of the seas, adjacent to that land,
+Chios, Lesbos and Samos rich in olives, and Lemnos between both shores,
+and the cities of Cyprus, Paphos, Soli, and Salamis. Many cities he took
+adjacent to the Thracian borders on the Strymonian Sea: even the walled
+cities, far from the shore, obeyed him, and the famous cities on the
+strait of Helle, on the bay of the Propontis, and the mouth of the
+Pontus. Beloved hero, thy like lies not in the land of Persia."[245]
+
+The rebellions were crushed, the kingdom of Cyrus was once more
+established. Darius took precautions to prevent the recurrence of such
+serious dangers, and to bring the nations into a lasting state of
+dependence. He created fixed districts for government, strengthened the
+action of the central power, secured the necessary means for this, and
+sought to arrange the taxes and tributes of the provinces and settle
+them at fixed contributions. Along with this improvement in the
+organization of the kingdom he kept in sight the extension of it; he did
+not wish to be left behind Cyrus and Cambyses in this respect. We cannot
+decide whether the northern boundary of the kingdom reached the Caucasus
+in the time of Cyrus; it is certain that under Darius the nations
+between the Black and the Caspian Sea, the Colchians, the Tibarenes,
+Chalybes, Moschians, and Saspeires, were subject to the Persians.
+Herodotus observes that the Colchians and their neighbours paid the
+tribute which they had imposed upon themselves--which implies that these
+nations submitted voluntarily. "The empire of the Persians," Herodotus
+tells us, "extends to the Caucasus; the territory to the north pays no
+heed to them."[246] It was a considerable gain when the kingdom extended
+as far as the Caucasus, or included the whole range; for by this means
+it acquired a strong natural border, and at the same time controlled the
+trading road which ran from the east and the Caspian Sea through the
+valleys of the Cyrus (Kur) and the Phasis to the Black Sea.
+
+In the East Cyrus, as we saw, had already advanced as far as the Indus;
+he had conquered the Acvakas on the north of the Cabul, and the
+Gandaras to the south of that river. Of their neighbours, Bactria and
+Arachosia had remained true during the great rebellion, though the
+Sattagydae (the Gedrosians) had revolted. Darius had himself marched
+against the Sacae, and reduced them again to subjection. Herodotus tells
+us, that he sent out a party to explore the Indus; in which was Scylax,
+an inhabitant of Caryanda in Caria. They set out from the land of the
+Pactyes (_i.e._ from Arachosia), and from the city of Caspatyrus (Cabul)
+they followed the course of the Indus to the sea. Then they sailed to
+the west, and in the thirtieth month they arrived at the point from
+which the Phenicians started, who sailed round Africa at the command of
+Necho (III. 313), _i.e._ they did not return to the Persian Gulf but
+sailed round Arabia, and landed in the north-west corner of the Arabian
+Gulf at Heroonpolis. After their return Darius made use of this sea, and
+subjugated the Indians.[247] The extension of the Persian kingdom in the
+land of the Indus, by Darius, is beyond a doubt. In the inscription
+which he caused to be engraved on Mount Behistun after the suppression
+of the rebellions, he enumerates the nations which obey him. We can find
+but one name of an Indian nation to the right of the Indus--the
+Gandaras. The inscription of the palace of Persepolis, which Darius
+built a few years later, mentions the Idhus, _i.e._ the Indians, besides
+the Gandarians. Herodotus further informs us that it was the Northern
+Indians whom Darius had subjugated. They formed the twentieth satrapy of
+his kingdom, while the Gandarians were united with the Arachoti in the
+seventh satrapy. The twentieth satrapy of Northern Indians comprised the
+lands to the north of Cabul, on the right bank of the stream, from the
+land of the Acvakas as far as the summits of the Himalayas. It paid 360
+talents of gold, the highest tax among all the satrapies of the
+kingdom.[248]
+
+In the west Darius pursued even more extensive plans. If Cambyses had
+trodden the soil of Africa, his armies were to cross the western sea,
+and carry the empire of Persia into Europe--a point which none of the
+great warrior princes of the east had as yet reached. Diodorus tells us,
+that Darius, filled with eager desire to extend his dominion, master of
+almost all Asia, and trusting to the magnitude of the Persian power,
+desired to conquer Europe as his ancestors had defeated the mightiest
+nations with less forces.[249] The first achievement of Darius in this
+direction was the conquest of Samos, the most powerful and prosperous of
+the islands on the coast of Asia Minor. Oroetes had already prepared the
+way for this by inviting Polycrates to Magnesia and there putting him to
+an ignominious death, for when Polycrates was master of Samos and at the
+head of the splendid naval power which he had created he could contest
+with Persia the possession of the AEgean (p. 143, 231). Polycrates had
+left the most trusted of his dependents, Maeandrius, as regent during
+his absence. On the news of the death of Polycrates, he declared his
+willingness to lay down his power. But when the nobles of Samos demanded
+an account of the treasures of Polycrates which were in the hands of
+Maeandrius, he treacherously seized those who made the demand, threw
+them into prison, and maintained himself as tyrant. At an earlier time,
+Polycrates, in close union with his two brothers, Pantagnotus and
+Syloson, had made himself master of Samos: he then removed the former
+out of his path, and sent the second into banishment. Syloson went to
+Egypt to amuse himself with the sights of the country. There, according
+to Herodotus, he was one day seen by Darius, who was then in Egypt with
+Cambyses, in the market-place of Memphis, clad in a red cloak. The cloak
+pleased Darius and he wished to purchase it, but Syloson hastened to
+offer it as a present to the Persian prince. When Darius became king,
+Syloson went to Susa, as Herodotus relates, placed himself at the gate
+of the palace, and told the door-keeper that he had done a service to
+the king. Darius in astonishment at such an assertion from a Greek,
+caused Syloson to be brought, remembered the cloak, and was prepared to
+reward the gift by a liberal present of gold and silver. But Syloson
+urged the king to restore him to the throne of Polycrates, which was now
+in the hands of a man who had been a slave in his family; the island was
+to be spared.[250]
+
+Whether this narrative has any real foundation or not (in any case Susa
+must be struck out) Darius found it advantageous to get Samos into his
+power; and, as we have seen, it was a maxim from the time of Cyrus to
+set up princes in the maritime cities and the islands, who owed their
+power to the Persians, and who could only maintain it with their help.
+He commanded Otanes, whose service in the assassination of the Magi we
+know, to cross over into Samos. The Samians had no inclination to fight
+in the cause of Maeandrius, nor did they venture to resist the Persians.
+When Otanes landed with the Persian troops, Maeandrius with his
+dependants retired into the citadel, and sent a message to Otanes that
+he was prepared to quit the island. When this had been agreed upon, the
+captains of the Persians waited without suspicion before the citadel
+for the departure of Maeandrius and his associates, and for the opening
+of the gates. Then the half-witted brother of Maeandrius, Charilaus, who
+had been confined in prison in the citadel, burst forth from the open
+gates with the old mercenaries of Polycrates and fell upon the nearest
+Persians, who in reliance on the treaty were unprepared for an enemy,
+and cut the captains down, while Maeandrius passed by a subterranean
+passage to the sea, and embarked on board ship. The mass of the Persians
+hastened to the rescue; the mercenaries were driven back into the
+citadel. Enraged at the treachery, Otanes gave the command to cut down
+all the Samians who fell into the hands of the Persians both within and
+without the walls. The city was set on fire, and the flames injured the
+temple of Hera, which was the largest building in Greece after the
+temple of Artemis at Ephesus. When the citadel had fallen, Syloson
+received from the Persians (516 B.C.) the ruined city and the desolate
+island. He enjoyed the throne but a short time, which he had purchased
+by the ruin of the flourishing country, and vassalage to the great
+king.[251] The island recovered from the blow which it received from the
+Persians. Twenty years after the subjugation it could once more equip
+and man 60 triremes.
+
+The possession of Samos completed the dominion of Darius over the coasts
+of Anatolia. It was of greater importance to get into his power the two
+straits which separate Europe from Asia--the Hellespont and the
+Bosphorus. If the Greek cities on the Asiatic side were subject, the
+cities and lands beyond were still to be conquered, and with the
+conquest of these the Persian empire would set foot in Europe.
+Perinthus, a colony of the recently-conquered Samos, Selymbria on the
+northern shore of the Propontis, and Byzantium on the Bosphorus, both
+colonies of Megara, recognised the dominion of Darius; in Byzantium, the
+most important of these cities, a tyrant, Ariston by name, soon took the
+lead.[252] The European shore of the Hellespont, the Thracian
+Chersonesus, had been for more than forty years under the rule of a
+princely family, which sprang from Attica. One of the oldest noble
+families in Attica, which had retired from the country before the
+usurpation of Pisistratus in 560 B.C.--the Philaidae, had established a
+principality there, by protecting and securing the Doloncian Thracians
+in the peninsula against their fellow-countrymen the Apsinthians, who
+dwelt at the mouth of the Hebrus. The position which the first of these
+princes, Miltiades II., thus obtained in the Hellespont, filled the city
+of Lampsacus, which lay opposite, on the Asiatic shore, with jealousy
+and anxiety for her trade; the question in dispute was the control of
+the busy strait. Lampsacus waged long and vigorous war against Miltiades
+and his nephew and successor Stesagoras. The latter was followed by his
+younger brother, Miltiades III. (about 518 B.C.), who had taken the
+reins of government tightly in hand. The forces of the little
+principality did not suffice to offer resistance to the Persians; and
+the walls of Sestos and Cardia were insufficient. We hear of no
+resistance, and Miltiades passed into the series of Persian vassal
+princes. In this way he was secured against Lampsacus and Sigeum also,
+where Pisistratus, in league with Polycrates of Samos, had placed his
+younger son Hegesistratus as prince about the year 533 B.C., who became
+a vassal of Persia when Cambyses demanded ships from the Greek cities,
+or after the fall of Polycrates, or certainly when Darius extended his
+sovereignty over Samos.
+
+By the subjugation of Byzantium and the Thracian Chersonesus, Darius was
+not merely master of the whole of the important trade of the Greek
+cities of Asia Minor, and the cantons of Hellas, with the north shore of
+the Black Sea, but the path into Europe was in his hand. According to
+Ctesias, he bade Ariamnes, his satrap in Cappadocia, sail to Scythia and
+there make prisoners. Ariamnes carried out the command with thirty
+penteconters, and brought back captives.[253] If the statement is
+correct, it must refer to an investigation of the north coast of the
+Black Sea, similar to that made by Darius of the east on the Indus (p.
+260), and at a later time of the coasts of Hellas and Magna
+Graecia.[254] Darius contemplated a great expedition; he wished to cross
+the straits with a large force, but not to pass to the west against
+Macedonia and the cantons of the Greeks, but to the north beyond the
+Danube. It must have seemed more important to him to secure himself in
+the north first; the conquest of the west he regarded as less urgent,
+and also as a less important undertaking. Herodotus tells us that
+Darius' object was to avenge the incursion which the Scythians made, at
+the time of Cyaxares, into Media.[255] It is his manner to connect
+events by a nexus of guilt and punishment; Darius cared very little for
+the disaster which had fallen on Media. We shall be more correct in
+ascribing to him the intention of getting the whole shore of the Black
+Sea into his power, in order that he might reduce the western and
+northern coasts, when, the south-west, as far as the Caucasus, being
+already subjugated, the whole sea would be a Persian lake. On the
+northern edge lay a district fertile in corn, and flourishing colonies
+of the Greeks. With this territory and these cities the Persian kingdom
+would have gained the mouth of the rivers of the north, and the outlet
+of the trading roads to the nations of the north, as it had already got
+command of the trading roads which met from the east and west in
+Colchis. But what really happened to the north of the Danube, so far as
+we can fix the incidents, does not agree with this plan. The object of
+the enterprise, unless we assume that Darius only wished to carry his
+arms to the most remote nations, cannot be made clear, nor can we follow
+with certainty all the phases in it.
+
+If Cambyses had supported his expedition against Egypt by the navy of
+the Phenician cities and the Greek cities of Anatolia, Darius had still
+more urgent need of their sailors to convey him to Europe, across the
+Danube. To the mariners of the Anatolian coasts and the islands lying
+off them, the waters of the Black Sea and the mouths of the Danube and
+Borysthenes were hardly less familiar than the shores of the AEgean. This
+co-operation was therefore the most essential. Darius called out the
+navy of the Greek cities of his kingdom, and that navy only; employment
+was found for the Phenician fleet was another direction. The Greeks had
+to furnish no less than 600 triremes, _i.e._ a fleet of which the crews
+reached the total of 120,000 men. That fleet was intended to convey the
+land army, the levy of the entire kingdom, across the straits, and it
+must assemble before the army arrived. The task before it was the
+transport of 700,000 men, for that, according to Herodotus, was the
+strength of the army of Darius, with numerous horses, and the enormous
+train of servants, porters, and beasts of burden to Europe. This
+involved the embarkation and debarkation of the animals,--a long and
+difficult operation; it was desirable to lose as little time as
+possible, and more desirable still to keep and maintain a safe
+connection with Asia in the rear of the army. Hence Darius considered
+whether it were possible to bridge over one of the straits. He found a
+Greek who undertook to carry out this idea, and had no scruples in
+building a bridge to connect the mighty Persian empire with Europe, and
+facilitate the subjugation of his own countrymen in their native land.
+In the island of Samos, so recently conquered by Darius, were the best
+engineers in Greece. After the construction of the great temple of Hera
+had been begun, the Samians had found various opportunities of
+exercising their skill. A long and difficult acqueduct, and breakwaters
+for the protection of the harbour, had been partly begun and partly
+carried out before the reign of Polycrates; the building of the palace,
+the strong fortifications, and, above all, the great docks and
+harbour-works, which Polycrates set on foot, had given yet further
+practice to the Samians. From this school came Mandrocles, who undertook
+the construction of the bridge.
+
+Darius commanded Mandrocles to build a bridge over the Bosphorus, which
+lay in the direction of his march. This strait was narrower than the
+Hellespont, but the current which sets through it from north to south
+was much stronger. Mandrocles began the structure with the crews and
+materials of the fleet which had been ordered to assemble.[256] Several
+hundreds of ships, fastened together, were placed in the strait,[257]
+and carefully anchored against the north wind and the current. On the
+coast of Asia, the bridge lay to the north of the city of Chalcedon and
+in its territory; Herodotus supposes that the European end touched the
+shore between Byzantium and the temple, which, situated to the north of
+Byzantium at the mouth of the Pontus, served as a signal to the ships
+entering the Bosphorus.[258] Polybius remarks that the bridge "was said"
+to end at the Hermaeum, which lay on the promontory of the European
+shore.[259] Strabo places this temple ten stadia to the south of the
+northern entrance of the Bosphorus.[260] Hence we may assume that
+Mandrocles constructed his bridge across the narrowest part of the
+strait, about 1000 paces in breadth,[261] and that it lay at the place
+where the castles of Anadoli Hissari and Rumili Hissari now stand
+opposite each other.
+
+The army was collected, the bridge was ready, when Darius came to
+Chalcedon. He inspected the bridge, and was greatly pleased with the
+construction; he embarked on board ship and proceeded for some distance
+into the Pontus, then he returned to the temple of Zeus Urius on the
+shore of Asia, at the mouth of the Bosphorus, and looked out into the
+sea. Before his wishes and his power, and the skill of his Greek
+engineer, the impossible had become possible; the Bosphorus was
+compelled to submit to a bridge. Mandrocles received the most valuable
+presents. The fleet of the Ionians lay on the Black Sea, when the army,
+which was the greatest that a Persian sovereign had ever brought
+together, commenced the passage. The train was interminable which filed
+before the king over the sea; the rock on which Darius sat was pointed
+out for a long time afterwards. Even "shepherd Sacae, of the race of the
+Scythians, the children of a nomad race," passed over the bridge;[262]
+the nomads of the steppes of the Oxus were led by Darius against the
+nomads of the steppes to the north of the Pontus. In remembrance of this
+passage Darius caused two columns of white stone to be erected on the
+European shore, which recorded the names of all the nations included in
+the army; the inscription on one side was in the Persian cuneiform (in
+Assyrian letters, as Herodotus says), and on the other in the Hellenic
+language and letters. Mandrocles also was proud of his work, and
+dedicated a picture which represented the bridge, the army crossing it,
+and Darius sitting on his throne, in the great sanctuary of his city,
+the temple of Hera at Samos, with the following inscription: "When
+Mandrocles bridged the fish-teeming Bosphorus, he dedicated this picture
+to Hera in remembrance of the floating bridge. He obtained the crown,
+the glory of the Samians, in that he completed the work to the
+satisfaction of King Darius."[263]
+
+It was in the year 513 B.C. that the armies of Asia trod the soil of
+Europe.[264] The fleet was ordered to sail along the Thracian coast in
+the Pontus, then to enter the mouth of the Danube, and there prepare
+means for the army to cross the river, by procuring supplies, and
+constructing a bridge, no easy task considering the breadth and rapidity
+of the stream. The sovereigns of the Greek cities, who owed their
+elevation to the Persian king, commanded their ships in person, as
+Darius had taken the field in person, or entrusted them to their sons.
+Thus Histiaeus the son of Lysagoras, the sovereign of Miletus, which was
+the most powerful of the Greek cities of the coast, commanded his own
+ships, Laodamas the ships of Phocaea, Aeaces the son of Syloson the
+ships of Samos, Strattis the ships of Chios, Aristagoras the ships of
+Cyzicus, Metrodorus those of Proconnesus in the Propontis, Daphnis the
+ships of Abydus. The ships of Lampsacus were in the charge of Hippoclus,
+those of Parium in the charge of Herophantus; and lastly, the sovereigns
+of the recently-conquered districts, Ariston and Miltiades, commanded
+the ships of Byzantium, of Sestos, and Cardia. While the fleet sailed to
+the Danube, the land army marched for two days from the coast, to the
+north, in the direction of the Balkan. At the sources of the Tearus,
+which no doubt are those of the Simir dere, which near Bunar Hissar send
+up warm and cold springs--thirty-eight in number according to
+Herodotus--the army rested three days; Darius caused a monument to be
+erected with an inscription, which Herodotus gives thus: "The springs of
+the Tearus supply the best and purest water of all rivers, and to these
+on his march against the Scyths came the bravest and most handsome of
+men, Darius the son of Hystaspes, the king of the Persians and of all
+the mainland."[265]
+
+The tribes of the Thracians, through whose districts the expedition
+marched, submitted without opposition. These were the inhabitants of the
+region of Salmydessus; the Odrysae in the valley of the Artiscus (_i.e._
+the Teke deresi or Nessowa), the Skyrmiads and Nipsaeans, who dwelt near
+Apollonia, the Greek city on this coast (a colony of Miletus, now
+Sizepoli), and Mesembria, now Misivri (a colony of the Greeks, planted
+soon after the other).[266] It was not till the Persians had passed the
+heights of the Balkan that they found resistance. Between this range and
+the Danube were the Getae, called by Herodotus the most brave and just
+of all the Thracians. They offered an obstinate resistance, but were
+nevertheless at once crushed by overpowering numbers.[267] Meanwhile the
+fleet had advanced two days' voyage up the river from the mouth, and
+placed the bridge there, _i.e._ at the place where the river becomes
+one stream. By this bridge the Greek army, to use the expression of
+Herodotus, passed "over the greatest river which we know." Strabo says
+that the bridge was placed over the lower part of the southern, and
+largest, of the mouths of the Danube; which was called the sacred mouth.
+On the further shore began the land of the Scoloti. When the army had
+crossed the Danube, Darius, as Herodotus relates, wished to destroy the
+bridge and employ the crews in his army. But on the advice of Coes of
+Lesbos, who pointed out that he must leave the way open for his return,
+Darius abandoned his purpose; he then summoned the princes of Ionia, and
+gave them a thong with 60 knots, bidding them untie a knot each day. If
+the army did not return to the bridge in these 60 days they were to go
+home.[268]
+
+The three kings of the Scoloti (III. 236) Idanthyrsus, who inherited the
+largest dominion, Scopasis and Taxakis--so Herodotus relates--as soon as
+they received news of the approach of Darius, sent messengers to their
+neighbours to ask for assistance. The kings of the Agathyrsi (the
+western neighbours of the Scoloti), the Neuri, the Cannibals and
+Melanchlaeni (who lay to the north), and the kings of the Sarmatians,
+Geloni, and Budini, who dwelt in the east beyond the Don, assembled for
+consultation. The kings of the Sarmatians, Geloni, and Budini agreed to
+send help to the Scoloti, but the rest refused. As the Agathyrsi, Neuri,
+Cannibals, and Melanchlaeni would not help them in the contest, the
+Scoloti determined to decline battle with the Persians and retire. Their
+wives and children they placed on chariots together with the rest of
+their goods, took their slaves and herds and marched to a secure
+position in the north; only so much cattle was left with the army as was
+necessary for its support. Then the army was divided into two parts. One
+under the command of Scopasis was to unite with the Sarmatians and
+retire straight towards the Don, if the Persians took that direction; it
+was to keep one or two marches ahead of the Persians, to stop up the
+springs and fountains, and destroy the pastures; but if Darius turned,
+it was at once to pursue the Persians. The other part of the army, under
+Idanthyrsus and Taxakis, was to unite with the Budini and Geloni, and to
+march in a similar manner to the north as far as the land of the Neuri,
+the Cannibals, and Melanchlaeni, in order to involve them in the war. The
+army of Scopasis found the Persians already three days' march on their
+side of the Danube. It retired, and the Persians pursued as far as the
+Don. When the Scoloti and Sarmatians crossed the river, the Persians
+crossed it also; in pursuit of the Scythians they marched through the
+land of the Sarmatians, reached that of the Budini, where they burned
+the great wooden city of the Geloni, which they found entirely deserted,
+and at length came to the desert which extended for seven days' journey
+to the north of the land of the Budini. When Darius reached the desert
+he abandoned the further pursuit, and encamped his army on the bank of
+the Oarus (_i.e._ the Volga). At the same time he built eight great
+fortresses, at equal distances, each about sixty stades from the other,
+the remains of which, Herodotus remarks, existed in his day. While
+Darius was thus occupied, the army of Scopasis in the north marched back
+into their own land and united with the army of Idanthyrsus. When the
+Scythians were no more to be seen, Darius left the fortresses
+unfinished, turned to the west, under the impression that the Scythians
+would retire in that direction, hastened in rapid marches to the land of
+the Scoloti, and there found the united army of the Scythians. Again the
+Scoloti retired, and as Darius did not cease to press them, they passed,
+as they had resolved, over the northern boundary of their land, into the
+land of the Melanchlaeni, who dwelt beyond the Scoloti, between the Don
+and the Gerrhus, a tributary of the Dnieper. From the land of the
+Melanchlaeni they proceeded yet further to the west, through the land of
+the Cannibals into that of the Neuri, who lay above the lake out of
+which the Dniester flows (III. 231). All these tribes fled before the
+approach of the Scoloti and the Persians to the north; but when the
+Scoloti wished to cross the borders of the Agathyrsi, they prepared to
+defend them, and compelled the Scoloti to return from the land of the
+Neuri to the south into their own land.
+
+When this went on, and there was no end, Darius sent a horseman to
+Idanthyrsus with the request that he would either stand and fight, if he
+had the forces to do so, or send earth and water to him as his master.
+Idanthyrsus answered that the Scoloti had neither cities nor lands which
+made it necessary to fight with the Persians in order to defend them;
+but if Darius was eager for a battle, there were the tombs of their
+fathers; let him discover these and attack them, he would then see
+whether the Scoloti dare fight or not. On this the Scoloti sent the part
+of the army which Scopasis commanded, with the Sarmatians, to the
+Danube, in order to negotiate with the Ionians at the bridge, but the
+army of Idanthyrsus was not to retire any longer, but to attack the
+Persians as soon as they began to prepare the meal after the day's
+march. This was done, and each time the Persian cavalry were put to
+flight by the Scoloti; but as soon as the foot soldiers came to the
+rescue of the cavalry, the Scoloti retired. In this way the Scoloti
+attacked the Persians by night also. And their kings (Idanthyrsus and
+Taxakis) sent to Darius a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows.
+Gobryas, the father-in-law of Darius, interpreted these gifts to mean,
+that the Scythian message was: Unless you become birds and fly into
+heaven, or mice and creep into the earth, or frogs and leap into the
+marshes, you will succumb to our arrows. The Scoloti also, who were now
+armed for battle, drew out with horse and foot; and when they were in
+line, a hare ran past and the Scoloti chased it, one after the other, as
+they happened to catch sight of it. Then Darius said, These men hold us
+in great contempt; Gobryas has correctly interpreted the meaning of the
+gifts; we must carefully consider how we are to secure our return.
+Gobryas advised that they should light the camp fires as usual when
+night came on; that they should leave behind the sick and weak, who
+could not bear burdens, in the camp, and with the rest set out at once
+for the Danube before the Scythians reached the river and broke down the
+bridge, or the Ionians came to some resolution ruinous to the Persians.
+This advice Darius followed. The sick and exhausted, and all whose loss
+would be of little importance, were commanded to defend the camp, as the
+king with the rest of the army wished to make an attack on the
+Scythians, and as soon as the fires had been lighted Darius began his
+march to the Danube. On the following morning those who had been left
+behind perceived that they had been betrayed by Darius, and prayed for
+quarter to the Scythians. The whole army of the Scythians with the
+Budini, the Geloni, and Sarmatians, went straight to the Danube, for
+Scopasis with his division had already retired from the river, after
+telling the Ionians that they must not allow the bridge to stand after
+the sixtieth day, and the Ionians had given a promise to that effect. As
+all the Scythians were mounted they marched far more rapidly than the
+Persians and could soon have caught up Darius, had not the Persians in
+ignorance taken a longer route, so that Idanthyrsus with the whole army
+of the Scythians reached the Danube before Darius arrived. The Scythians
+now called upon the leaders of the Greeks to break down the bridge, for
+the appointed time had passed; by that means they would get rid of their
+master, and might thank the gods and the Scythians for their liberation.
+As the sixty days during which the fleet was to remain in the Danube, by
+the command of Darius, were really past, Miltiades of the Chersonnesus
+urged the captains of the Greek ships to listen to the request of the
+Scythians, and set the Ionians at liberty. But Histiaeus, the tyrant of
+Miletus, said that each of them held his power in his city by Darius
+only; if the king's power were overthrown, he would not be a tyrant in
+Miletus, nor would any other tyrant keep his throne; every city would
+prefer democracy to tyranny. When all, with the exception of Miltiades,
+had agreed to this resolution, they determined to remain, but to prevent
+the bridge from being used by the Scythians they destroyed it for the
+length of a bowshot from the northern bank. Thinking that the Greeks
+were removing the whole bridge, the Scythians returned, to seek out
+Darius and destroy him. But they missed the Persians yet a second time.
+They thought that the Persians would seek out the places where the wells
+had not been stopped up, and the pastures had not been destroyed; but
+they returned by the way that they came, and their enemies with great
+difficulty reached the crossing of the Danube. It was night, the bridge
+could not be found, and the Persians were in great alarm that the
+Ionians had abandoned them. Then Darius commanded an Egyptian, who had a
+very loud voice, to come forward to the bank and call for Histiaeus of
+Miletus. The cry was heard; Histiaeus at once sent all the ships to
+transfer the troops, and restored the bridge.
+
+Clear and definite as the incidents are which lead Darius to the Danube,
+the river is no sooner crossed than everything passes into northern
+mists, into the marvellous and the incredible. Let us first consider the
+conduct of the Scoloti. The kings of the barbarous north, though far
+distant from each other--Herodotus gives the land of the Scoloti a
+length and breath of 500 miles--meet in a great congress. Where the
+congress was held we are not told. The kings of the Agathyrsi, Neuri,
+Melanchlaeni, and Cannibals find that the matter does not concern them,
+for they had not invaded Media. But the distant tribes to the east
+beyond the Don, the Sarmatians, Budini, and Geloni, come a distance of
+hundreds of miles to assist their neighbours; they carry their public
+spirit so far as to sacrifice their own lands, regardless of which the
+Budini and Geloni march with Idanthyrsus first to the north and then to
+the west; the Sarmatians follow Scopasis far to the north-east. Why the
+Scythians divided their army in the first instance, why they did not
+unite to meet Darius, we cannot ascertain. We are not told what
+Idanthyrsus is doing while Scopasis retires to the Volga; we only know
+that the two armies again unite, while Darius is building the castles
+on the Volga. When united the Scythians retire to the west as far as the
+borders of the Agathyrsi, _i.e._ to Transylvania, the most foolish thing
+for their own interests which they could have done, for by this means
+they brought Darius back into the neighbourhood of the Danube. On the
+borders of the Agathyrsi Darius summons them to battle. The princes
+answer that they will fight if he attacks the tombs of their fathers.
+These tombs we have found in the neighbourhood of the Gerrhus; they are
+the numerous Kurgans below the rapids of the Dnieper,[269] a region
+which Darius must have traversed on his way north-eastwards to the
+Volga. Darius does not accede to the request of the Scythians.
+Nevertheless they determined to attack the Persians, and yet contradict
+the object of this attack by sending Scopasis with his army and the
+Sarmatians to the Danube, thus weakening the army. When Scopasis and the
+Sarmatians are gone, Idanthyrsus offers the battle hitherto so carefully
+avoided, with cavalry and infantry, though Herodotus remarks that the
+Scythians have no infantry. Meanwhile Scopasis comes with his army to
+the Danube, not to fight with the Greeks but to treat with them. What
+reasons had the Scythians not to treat the Greeks as enemies? If they
+wished to cut off the return of Darius, they must attack the bridge and
+destroy it. If they thought that they could not do this, or did not wish
+to do it, but to treat, they need not have sent half the army with the
+Sarmatians, but only a few horsemen. The Greeks were able to protect the
+bridge with a fort, upon which the Scythian cavalry could hardly have
+made any effectual impression, or if they neglected to do that, they
+could at any moment, if watchful, bring the bridge to their own side of
+the river, and then secure it with all their ships till Darius should
+appear on the farther shore. But the Scythians send Scopasis with his
+army. He tells the Ionians that he knew that Darius had ordered them to
+wait sixty days; they were to wait till the time had passed and then
+sail away. When the Greeks had undertaken to do this Scopasis marches
+with his army to the north. He joins Idanthyrsus again when Darius has
+begun his retreat. The united army reaches the bridge long before
+Darius. A second time we have negotiations with the Ionians. The sixty
+days are past, and the Scythians entreat the Ionians to sail away now,
+at any rate. They are satisfied when the Greeks remove a part of the
+bridge, saying that they have begun to break it up and will now sail
+home. They do not wait till they see all the ships sailing down the
+stream. They have cut off Darius; he cannot escape them and reach the
+Danube. But they turn back into the steppe, and miss him again.
+
+Still more unintelligible and extraordinary is the conduct of Darius.
+When the Danube has been crossed he commands the Greeks to break down
+the bridge; the crews are to join the army on land. It would follow from
+this that Darius thought the bridge no longer necessary. It was not his
+intention therefore to return to the Danube, but to march round the
+Black Sea, and over the Caucasus, if indeed he did not mean to skirt the
+northern shore of the Caspian and return home over the Oxus. If this was
+his object why did he not avail himself of the important assistance
+which the fleet could afford him, and command it to accompany the march
+of the army along the northern shore of the Black Sea? It would then
+have brought provisions to the army, or to the mouths of the rivers, and
+supported any attacks on the Greek cities of these coasts; on Tyras at
+the mouth of the Dniester, on Ordessus on the Teligul, on Olbia at the
+mouth of the Bug, and Panticapaeum on the Cimmerian Bosphorus. To leave
+the attack on the Greek cities to the Greek ships only would be
+dangerous, but there was no danger in giving them a share in it if the
+main point was to strengthen the army on land. But Darius wished neither
+to use the fleet, nor to allow the bridge to stand, which is the more
+remarkable as the bridges on the Bosphorus were not removed but allowed
+to remain, obviously under the protection of Greek men-of-war. At the
+Danube Darius has to be informed for the first time by a Greek that a
+way must be left open for his return. Nevertheless he does not order the
+Greeks to keep the bridge till further notice, or till his return. For
+sixty days only after his departure does he leave the means for his
+return open; so long the bridge is to remain; when that time has
+expired, the fleet is to sail away. What interest had Darius in allowing
+the Greeks to depart home as quickly as possible? In order to fix this
+period of time, he gives the leader of the Greeks a thong with sixty
+knots. The calendars of the Persians and Greeks were different; there
+were variations in the calendars of the Aeolians, Ionians, and Dorians;
+but sixty days could have been fixed without a strap and knots. Beyond
+the Danube Darius blindly follows the division of Scopasis, wherever it
+leads him away to the east and north as far as the Volga. On what did
+the army of Darius subsist--and it numbered 700,000 men, or if we
+include the train, it reached a total of about a million--for more than
+two months in a country in which, according to Herodotus' own statement,
+there was no tilled land except at the mouths of the Bug and Dnieper,
+and in which the advancing Scythians had destroyed the wells and
+pastures, as Herodotus asserts? How did the Persians cross the Tyras
+(Dniester), Hypanis (Bug), Borysthenes (Dnieper), and the Tanais (Don)?
+From whence did they procure the wood for the bridges or rafts for
+crossing them, in the steppe which Herodotus rightly describes as
+entirely without wood down to the forests on the southern edge? Whence
+came the water for man and beast in the waterless desert? When Darius
+had crossed the Don Herodotus represents him as building eight large
+fortresses beyond the river on the bank of the Volga, the object of
+which it is impossible to discover; and in a space of a little more than
+two months he represents the Persian army as not only building these
+forts but marching round the whole territory of Scythia, which in his
+description extends for 500 miles from the mouth of the Danube to the
+mouth of the Don, and an equal distance northwards into the land, and
+even far beyond it. Darius marches as far as the Volga on the east, and
+northwards to the desert which lies beyond the Sarmatians (whose
+territory extends for fifteen days' journey up the Don),[270] and also
+beyond the Budini, "a great and numerous people," and the Geloni (p.
+275). From this point he returns, according to Herodotus, through the
+territory of the northern neighbours of the Scythians to the west, as
+far as the lake out of which the Tyras (Dniester) rises, till the
+Scythians, who are a day's march in advance of the Persians, reach the
+land of the Agathyrsi. According to Herodotus' reckoning of the
+distances, Darius traversed a journey of about a hundred days' marches
+of twenty-five miles each, in less than fifty days. If Herodotus allows
+the region of the Scoloti to extend too far to the north, if on the
+Dnieper it reached only to the rapids of the stream, where the tombs of
+the Scythian kings lay, the distance, on the other hand, from the mouth
+of the Danube to the Don, on which the Scoloti and the Sarmatians
+bordered, and which Darius is said to have crossed, was far greater than
+Herodotus assumes; it is at least 750 miles, and from the mouth of the
+Danube to the Volga at least 900 miles, which on the route taken by
+Darius could not possibly have been traversed both ways in eighty or
+ninety days. Herodotus does not allow Darius even this space of time.
+According to his account, the march of Darius to the desert, which
+separates the land of the Budini and Geloni on the north from the
+Thyssagetae, to the bank of the Volga, the building of the castles, the
+return from this point to the borders of the Agathyrsi and the lake from
+which the Dnieper springs, did not occupy sixty days. It is in this
+region that the Scythians resolve to retire no farther, but to attack
+the Persians daily, when they begin to cook their food in a land barren
+of wood, and they send Scopasis from this point to the Danube. Scopasis
+reaches the river before the expiration of the sixty days for which
+Darius has bidden the Ionians wait; indeed, the Scythians of Idanthyrsus
+occasionally surrender flocks to the army of Darius, in order that the
+Persians may not think of retiring, _i.e._ in order to keep them in
+Scythia till the sixty days are at an end. Impossible as all these
+marches are, especially in the short space which Herodotus allots to
+them, the conduct of Darius is more impossible still. He advances
+beyond the Don as far as the Volga, in order to build fortresses which
+he does not complete; from this point he marches back again after the
+Scythians as far as the sources of the Dniester in order to bring on a
+conflict. At last they draw out for battle; Darius has attained the
+object he so greatly desired. Then follows the hunting of the hare by
+the Scythians, and Darius determines to march away rapidly in the same
+night to the Danube; "because the Scythians held them in contempt." He
+fortunately reached the bridge by taking the road on which he had come,
+but the Scythians assume that as the wells had been stopped up and the
+pastures destroyed, he could not come by that route. But how could the
+Persians, who when advancing had marched to the north-east to the Don,
+strike out the same path on their return, upon which they started on the
+borders of Transylvania, and the sources of the Tyras (Dniester)?
+
+The course of affairs must have been widely different. As Darius allowed
+the bridge over the Bosphorus to remain, and left the fleet on the
+Danube, it cannot have been his fixed purpose to coast round the Black
+Sea. But in any case he must preserve his communications with Asia and
+Persia and support his army. All the sick, or wounded, or unserviceable
+men in the army, and all the messengers could only be sent back over the
+bridge on the Danube. The crews of the fleet were the rear-guard of the
+army, maintaining and defending its communications. It had also to
+provide for its own maintenance, _i.e._ for the needs of more than
+100,000 men, and no doubt it likewise collected the provisions for the
+army by land. However great the stores which the army brought with it,
+they would soon be consumed in the steppe, unless supplemented.
+Wherever Darius marched, he could not venture, with the enormous mass of
+men and animals in his army, to go more than a few days' march at the
+most from the river-courses. The idea of retiring before the enemy
+naturally occurred to a people who were without a settled habitation,
+who wandered in hordes through fixed districts of pasture, living on the
+backs of their horses, and carrying their women and children with them
+in waggons drawn by oxen (III. 234). What had they to lose, and what
+could they fear from the Persians, if the unarmed, the women, children,
+servants, and herds, had already been sent at the right time under safe
+convoys far into the interior towards the neighbouring nations?--if all
+the men--and the Scoloti were not a numerous nation[271]--collected
+together, and accustomed as they were to abstinence, and living in
+continual movement, advancing far more lightly and rapidly on their
+steppe-horses than their encumbered opponents, hovered round their
+enemy, stopped up wells and destroyed pastures, without ever engaging in
+battle? If the Scythians were wise, they would not retire to the east,
+where Darius could approach the coast, and bring up his fleet with
+auxiliaries, but away from the sea, _i.e._ to the north. If the
+Scythians were not terrified by the enormous power of Darius, and knew
+how to avoid battles, the army of Darius would soon be ruined by its own
+numbers in the desert.
+
+As a fact this is the way in which the war beyond the Danube seems to
+have been carried on. Herodotus tells us that Darius came upon the
+Scythians three marches beyond the Danube. If he found their forces
+united, he must have hoped to engage them in a battle which would have
+decided the campaign at one stroke in his favour. But these mounted
+opponents could not be captured, Darius sinks deeper and deeper into the
+desert, till he is compelled by distress to return, and his retreat was
+made an occasion of heavy losses by the light-armed Scythians.
+
+In the excerpt from the narrative of Trogus preserved by Justin, which
+may have been derived from Deinon's "Persian History," we are told: "The
+Scythians drove back Darius the king of the Persians in shameful flight.
+When Iancyrus (_i.e._ Idanthyrsus), the king of the Scythians, had
+refused to give his daughter in marriage to Darius, Darius made war upon
+him, and invaded Scythia with 700,000 soldiers. As the Scythians gave
+him no opportunity of battle, he retreated in great anxiety lest the
+bridge over the Danube should be broken in his rear, after losing 80,000
+men. Owing to the abundance of men this loss was not considered a
+disaster."[272] In Ctesias the king of the Scythians is called
+Scytharbes. "Darius collected an army of 800,000 men, bridged the
+Bosphorus and the Danube, marched into Scythia, and penetrated for a
+distance of fifteen days. Scytharbes and Darius sent each other the gift
+of a bow. As the bow of the Scythian was the stronger, Darius retired
+over the bridge and broke it up, before the whole army had passed over.
+Those who were left behind, 80,000 men in number, were cut down by
+Scytharbes. Darius crossed the bridge over the Bosphorus, and burnt the
+houses and the temples of Chalcedon, because the Chalcedonians had
+attempted to destroy the bridge, and had thrown down the altar which
+Darius had set up at the crossing."[273] Strabo remarks: "At the mouths
+of the Danube there is a large island, Peuce. The mouths are seven in
+number, and the largest is called the sacred mouth; the distance to
+Peuce by this is 120 stadia; above the lower part of this mouth Darius
+built the bridge; it might have been bridged on the upper part also. It
+is the first if you take the left hand when sailing into Pontus; the
+rest follow in the voyage to Tyras. On the Pontic Sea, from the Danube
+to the Tyras (Dniester) is the desert of the Getae, a vast waterless
+plain. When Darius, the son of Hystaspes, crossed the Ister, to march
+against the Scythians, he was in danger of perishing by thirst with his
+whole army through being cut off in this desert; but he discovered his
+danger just in time, and returned.[274] For the support of the camel
+which had best sustained with him the weariness of the journey through
+the desert of Scythia, and had carried the baggage with the provisions
+of the king, he apportioned the hamlet of Gaugamela in Assyria," _i.e._
+its income and tribute, or natural products.[275] The level desert of
+Strabo, between the Danube and the Dniester, includes Moldavia as far as
+the eastern slopes of the mountains of Transylvania, Bessarabia, and
+Podolia. Herodotus also represents the decisive charge in the campaign
+as taking place in the neighbourhood of the Agathyrsi, _i.e._ the
+inhabitants of Transylvania. Ctesias tells us that Darius had marched
+fifteen days beyond the Danube. Reckoning a day's march at 25 miles, as
+Herodotus does, Darius would thus have advanced 75 miles to the north of
+the Danube, with which the assertion of Herodotus agrees, that the
+Scoloti retired before Darius to the border of the land of the
+Agathyrsi, and the lake out of which the Tyras rises, but no further. By
+the lake out of which the Tyras rises we can hardly understand the
+lakes at Lemberg, for Darius could scarcely have come so far to the
+west. The marshes at the source of the Bug are probably meant, which as
+the crow flies are 325 miles from Reni, on the Danube. If the Scoloti
+ventured to retire but a little way from the river courses, the Persians
+retired still less. Hence the retreat of the Scythians and the advance
+of Darius must have proceeded up the Pruth, through Bessarabia to
+Podolia as far as the marshes on the upper Dniester in which the Bug
+rises, where Herodotus represents the two armies as encamping opposite
+each other, or as far as the marshes of the Prypet. The answer which
+Herodotus puts in the mouth of Idanthyrsus--that Darius should attack
+the tombs of the kings (on the rapids of the Dniester) and then the
+Scythians would fight, has a meaning, if Darius was far from the centre
+of Scythia, and the message was sent to him when in the neighbourhood of
+the source of the Bug or the Prypet; it was without meaning if he had
+already traversed the whole land of Scythia as far as the Don and the
+Volga. Want of provisions for man and beast far more than the want of
+water would have compelled him to return. Had the Scythians previously
+surrounded the army of Darius on all sides, they would have thrown
+themselves with impunity in full force on his rear when retreating. If
+everything left behind through weariness and sickness had fallen into
+their hands, they would now not merely hinder the retreat but greatly
+endanger it. As soon as the communications with the Danube were
+completely closed (Strabo tells us that Darius was cut off in the desert
+of the Getae), Darius must have been in alarm whether the fidelity of
+the tyrants or their desire to maintain their position in their own
+cities was strong enough to keep them at the bridge, and if this were
+the case whether they could induce their crews to remain.
+
+Such in its essential outlines must have been the course of the campaign
+of Darius beyond the Danube. What Herodotus tells us are legends of the
+Scythians, which he had heard with some additions from his
+fellow-countrymen, in Ordessus and Olbia. It was the greatest glory of
+the Scythians not to have succumbed to this attack; no doubt they placed
+in the most brilliant light the cunning and endurance of their fathers,
+which brought about this result. We must remove from the series of
+events the meeting of the barbarians, the assistance of the Geloni,
+Budini, and Sarmatians, the entire eastern part of the story, no less
+than the march through the whole of Scythia. That story has no doubt
+arisen from the supposed object of it--the assumed eight fortresses of
+Darius on the Volga, the remains of which were in existence in
+Herodotus' time. These unfinished citadels were either fortifications of
+some tribe or another, long since abandoned, or ancient tumuli, such as
+are still frequently found in the steppes above the Black Sea. Some were
+said to be trenches of the Cimmerians and others trenches of Darius. It
+was these which gave the direction to the march of Darius. Besides
+tradition from Greece and Scythia we have isolated traces of Iranian
+poetry in the accounts of Herodotus, Justin, and Ctesias. To these
+belong the suit of Darius for the daughter of the king of the Scythians
+and his refusal, the sending of the bow, and the enigmatical gifts of
+the Scythians, of which Gobryas could interpret the meaning. Other
+Greeks could mention the names of different persons who had guessed this
+riddle.[276]
+
+A peculiar concatenation of circumstances had placed in the hands of
+the princes of the Greeks of Anatolia the fortune of the Persian army,
+and with it the fortune of the Persian monarchy and the entire Persian
+empire. If they left Darius to his fate, removed the bridge, and sailed
+home with their ships, it would be almost impossible for the Persian
+king and army to cross the Danube, and the Greek cities would have been
+free from any foreign dominion. As soon as Darius was at a distance from
+the bridge, the Scythians must have called upon the Greeks to depart,
+and they must have repeated their request more urgently when they had
+cut off Darius's connection with the bridge and intercepted his retreat;
+they would represent his position to be as desperate as possible.
+Without doubt Histiaeus of Miletus was commander of the fleet. Not once
+only, as Herodotus represents, but every day Histiaeus, on whom the
+greatest responsibility rested, must have discussed with his associates
+the question of remaining or departing, when it was clear that Darius
+was in danger, and there could not be a doubt that the Scythians were
+pressing hard upon him, and perhaps cutting off his return.[277] But
+there was only one among the tyrants of the Greeks who firmly
+represented the view that they ought to abandon the king. This was
+Miltiades of Chersonesus, one of the newest vassals of Persia, who had
+not been raised to the throne by Darius, but only confirmed in his
+hereditary principality. The opposite view, according to Herodotus, was
+heard from the mouth of Histiaeus. It showed how correct was the
+calculation of Cyrus, when, in order to secure the obedience of the
+Greek states, he had made the elevation of princes in them one of his
+principles. There is no doubt that the princes could now have put an end
+to the dominion of the Persians, but at the same time they would have
+put an end to their own power; they would have annihilated themselves
+with the king of the Persians. The large majority of the tyrants, so we
+are told in Nepos, joined in the opinion of Histiaeus. We can with
+certainty assume that those of the tyrants who subsequently received
+peculiar marks of distinction from Darius; Histiaeus of Miletus,
+Hippoclus of Lampsacus, Coes, the leader of the ships of Lesbos,
+contributed in some essential manner to the retention of the fleet; that
+it was chiefly they who kept back the others, and above all the crews.
+But even those tyrants who maintained most strongly that the post
+entrusted to them should be kept, could not prevent the possibility that
+the Persians might be detained in the desert; that Darius might not
+return. In this uncertain and wavering position (Darius remained longer
+than was expected and thus many people thought him lost), the last
+decision would be deferred for a certain time, and the crews would be
+calmed by a promise not to wait for Darius beyond a certain period. The
+same reply might be made to the demands of the Scythians in order not to
+ruin their cause with them should they really destroy the army of the
+Persians. In the other event Darius might be told that the period was
+merely fixed in order to keep the Scythians away from the bridge. From
+such a period, which the princes fixed for themselves and their crews,
+may have arisen the legend of the command of Darius, that they were to
+wait for sixty days--a story which was afterwards quoted by the Greeks
+against the tyrants to the effect that they not only faithfully carried
+out the commands of Darius, but had gone beyond them to rescue him. As a
+fact Darius must have spent far more than sixty days beyond the Danube
+if he advanced fifteen full days' marches, according to the reckoning of
+Herodotus, and penetrated to the sources of the Dniester, the Bug, or
+the Prypet. For an army like that of Darius could not march more than
+ten miles a day, and thus the 750 miles of advance and retreat, which in
+the latter part would have been traversed amid continual encounters,
+required at least eighty or ninety days. The Ionians had remained,
+though they had not kept all the contingents with them. The ships of
+Antandros and Lamponium, and no doubt those of other cities also, had
+sailed away of their own accord.[278]
+
+How great soever the losses may have been which the army of Darius
+suffered in Scythia--the number, 80,000, which Ctesias represents as
+perishing by the premature destruction of the bridge, and which Justin
+represents as the entire sum of the losses of the army, appears to have
+been the official amount of the loss among the Persians--when the Danube
+was crossed, they found security and provisions, rest and refreshment.
+The Scythians could not force a passage against the ships of war, which
+controlled the stream, and the land army of the Persians. Undisturbed by
+them, Darius could now have made better arrangements for continuing the
+war beyond the Danube, and preparing for the conduct of it, if
+unexpected events had not compelled him to complete his retreat in
+haste. Ctesias told us above that the Chalcedonians, on whose territory
+lay the Asiatic end of the bridge, had attempted to break it down.
+Strabo relates that Darius burned the cities round the Propontis and
+Abydus because he was afraid that they might supply the Scythians with
+transports to Asia.[279] Herodotus tells us, that Darius, on his return
+from the Danube, marched through Thrace into the land of the
+Hellespontians; thence he crossed on the ships to Asia, and then
+repaired himself to Sardis,[280] leaving behind Megabyzus as general in
+the land of the Hellespontians, who reduced by force of arms those who
+did not "medize."[281] With the Persians who remained in Europe he first
+attacked the Perinthians "who would not submit to Darius;" the
+Perinthians fought bravely for their freedom, but the numbers of the
+Persians were overpowering.[282] But Otanes, the son of Sisamnes, to
+whom Darius entrusted the command by sea, took Byzantium, Chalcedon,
+Antandros, and Lamponium. The reason for enslaving and subjugating these
+cities, was that he charged some of them with abandoning the army on the
+march against the Scythians, and others with injuring the army on its
+return. The latter charge would apply chiefly to Byzantium and
+Chalcedon.[283] It follows further from the narrative of Herodotus, that
+Darius awaited the result of the action of Megabyzus and Otanes at
+Sardis, and did not return to Persia till Megabyzus had penetrated to
+the west into Thracia, and he had established his brother Artaphernes as
+satrap at Sardis.[284] Of the Scythians Herodotus tells us that they
+pursued Darius with their united forces as far as the Thracian
+Chersonese; Miltiades did not venture to await their arrival there but
+fled, till the Scythians had retired and the Doloncians had brought him
+back. Next, in order to punish Darius for his invasion of their land,
+the Scythians sent an embassy to Sparta, in order to call upon the
+Spartans to cross over to Ephesus, while they attacked Media from the
+Phasis.[285]
+
+From this we conclude that a serious rebellion of the Greek cities on
+both shores of the straits and the Propontis broke out in the rear of
+Darius; that the cities thought Darius lost, or intended to prevent his
+return. Byzantium rebelled, though the tyrant Ariston was at the river
+with the fleet of the city; so also Abydus, whose tyrant Daphnis was
+likewise there with his fleet. Besides these cities, Perinthus,
+Chalcedon, Antandrus, and Lamponium, on the Ionian coast, are expressly
+mentioned as rebels. Strabo speaks generally of the cities round the
+Propontis in this sense. Herodotus tells us that Chalcedon was taken,
+and Ctesias that it was burnt. According to the latter the Chalcedonians
+were eager to destroy the bridge; but Darius was nevertheless able to
+pass it. Herodotus asserts that Darius passed on the ships from Sestus
+into Asia, and that the Scythians pursued him as far as the Thracian
+Chersonesus. This definite and double statement on the direction of the
+return march, and the passage of Darius into Asia, must be maintained
+against the inexact excerpt from Ctesias. If the bridge lay over the
+Bosphorus, Darius certainly did not march to the Hellespont.
+
+The course of events was this. When he arrived on the northern side of
+the Danube Darius perceived that a part of the Greek ships had sailed
+homeward, that the communications with Asia were interrupted, that the
+bridge had been broken, that the cities on both shores of the straits
+were in rebellion. He was compelled to send the fleet at once to the
+straits in order to reopen communications. As Byzantium and Chalcedon
+could throw great difficulties in the way of any communication or
+passage over the Bosphorus, the fleet was bidden to open the Hellespont
+and keep it open. When the fleet was dismissed it was no longer possible
+to keep the army on the Danube; and besides it was imperative to bring
+the rebellious cities to obedience at once, a duty which could not be
+left merely to their fellow-countrymen who had remained faithful in the
+fleet. So Darius must have led the army to the Hellespont as soon as he
+had allowed time for rest on the Danube. The Scythians no doubt crossed
+the river when they saw the army of Darius leave the bank, and
+well-mounted hordes followed the retreating army on the south of the
+Danube in order to make booty, to carry off the baggage, and cut down
+the stragglers. But there was no serious pursuit. The Scythians could
+not have undertaken this against the Persians; and if they had
+undertaken it and threatened danger, Darius would not have sent a part
+of the army to Asia. He must then have turned his whole force upon the
+Scythians. Miltiades certainly did not retire before the Scythians but
+before the Persians. Even if he had gone no farther than expressing his
+wish, and had not left the Danube with his ships,[286]--though he had
+not found means for embarrassing the retreat of the Persians over the
+Hellespont, yet in the eyes of the Persians he was the author of the
+revolt, his vote in the council of war at the Danube was obviously
+treacherous, and the beginning which gave impulse to the mischief.
+Miltiades then retired to the Thracians. He had married the daughter of
+Olorus, a Thracian prince. Twelve years later the general revolt of the
+Greek states gave him the means of returning to his principality. The
+embassy of the Scythians to Sparta seems no more than a fable of the
+Spartans, which belongs to the obscure side of the history of Cleomenes.
+
+Arrived at the Hellespont, Darius allowed a part of the army under
+Megabyzus to remain on the European shore for the purpose of besieging
+Perinthus and the other cities on that coast, with the rest he passed on
+the raft to the Asiatic side: the conduct of sieges was no task for a
+king. But he wished to remain at Sardis in the neighbourhood till the
+rebels were punished, the passage secured, and till the auxiliaries for
+the army of Megabyzus and their communications were settled. Otanes, the
+son of Sisamnes, received the command on the Asiatic shore; he besieged
+and destroyed Abydus, reduced the cities on the Trojan coast, on the
+southern shore of the Propontis, and then turned against Chalcedon and
+Byzantium, while in the mean time Megabyzus had besieged and taken
+Perinthus and the cities on the northern coast of the Propontis. The
+campaign against the Scythians was not to remain without results; Darius
+could not allow himself to set foot in Europe for nothing. When only
+Chalcedon and Byzantium remained unconquered, Otanes received the
+command over the troops on both shores, and Megabyzus was commanded to
+make the tribes of the Thracians on the west as far as the Strymon
+subjects of the Persian king. Chalcedon was the first to fall after a
+protracted siege. The exiles from Chalcedon and Byzantium founded
+Mesembria.[287]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[245] "Pers." 555, 644, 654, 852 ff. 900.
+
+[246] Herod. 3, 92-94, 97; 7, 78, 79. Xenoph. "Anab." 5, 4; 7, 8. Arrian
+("Anab." 3, 11) mentions Albanians in the army of the last Darius.
+
+[247] Herod. 4, 44.
+
+[248] Vol. IV. 384.
+
+[249] Exc. Vatic. p. 35 = 10, 19, 5.
+
+[250] Herod. 3, 139, 140.
+
+[251] Herod. 3, 141-149. Paus. 7, 5, 4, ff. Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 10, ed.
+Mueller.
+
+[252] Herod. 4, 138.
+
+[253] Ctes. "Pers." 16.
+
+[254] At a later time Xerxes caused Sataspes to sail round Africa.
+
+[255] Herod. 4, 1.
+
+[256] Herod. 4, 85, 87.
+
+[257] 360 triremes and penteconters were used for the bridge of Xerxes.
+Herod. 7, 36.
+
+[258] Herod. 4, 87.
+
+[259] Polyb. 4, 39.
+
+[260] Strabo, p. 319, 320. Opposite the temple of the Chalcedonians on
+the mouth of the Pontus, which was sacred to Zeus Urias (now Anadoli
+Kavak), there lay on the European shore also on the mouth of the Pontus
+a temple of the Byzantines which later authors call the Serapeum (now
+Rumili Kavak). Scyl. "Peripl." 67.
+
+[261] Herodotus allows the Bosphorus a breadth of four stades; Strabo in
+one passage mentions four, in another five; p. 125, 319. Modern authors
+do not agree in their measurements (Grote, "Hist. of Greece," 5, 26),
+but give about 1-1/4 mile, _i.e._ above 5000 feet for the narrowest
+part, and five miles for the widest. For the narrowest place most
+authorities allow about 3900 feet, _i.e._ 6-1/2 stades; cp. Kruse, on
+Herodotus' measurement of the Pontus, s, 41. On the other hand, Moltke
+("Briefe," s. 82) gives the following: At the northern mouth between the
+light-houses, 4166 paces; at Tell Tabia, 1497 paces; between the
+castles, 958 paces.
+
+[262] "Anapl. P. E." frag. 35. Choerilus, in Strabo, p. 303.
+
+[263] Herod. 4, 88.
+
+[264] The chronology of the conquests of Darius is not easy to fix. In
+Herodotus the campaign against Samos is contemporaneous with the
+rebellion of the Babylonians (3, 150). If Darius had had armies at his
+disposal from Samos there, he would not have needed to send Bagaeus. The
+expedition to Samos must be placed after the end of the rebellion,
+_i.e._ at the earliest in the year 517, and it cannot be put later than
+a year at the least before the Scythian expedition, since the ships of
+Samos, led by Syloson's son, take part in that expedition, and in
+addition to Samos the cities of the Bosphorus are in the hands of the
+Persians before that event. The expedition to investigate the shores of
+Greece, in which Democedes took part, is placed by Herodotus before the
+attack upon Scythia. This is improbable, because the experience which
+Darius gained in the Scythian expedition, and which made it seem
+desirable to put the command in Persian hands, preceded this expedition.
+There is nothing to point to it before the expedition; it first becomes
+intelligible when Darius had resolved to change his plan of conquests in
+the north for conquests in the west, and had given Megabyzus orders to
+subjugate the coasts of Thracia on the AEgean,--when Megabyzus had
+advanced to the Strymon and Macedonia had recognised the sovereignty of
+Persia. On the other hand, the investigation of the Greek coasts cannot
+be put much later than 512, since Milo of Crotona, who is still of great
+influence in that region, as Herodotus himself remarks (3, 137),
+betroths his daughter to Democedes. This influence Milo retained only as
+far as the year 510 or 509; for soon after the victory over Sybaris and
+the destruction of the city, which took place 511 or 510 B.C., the
+rising against Pythagoras and the aristocracy took place; they were
+overthrown and expelled. In Herodotus the Scythian expedition comes
+after the capture of Babylon (4, 1). We have seen from the inscriptions
+(p. 254), that there were two rebellions of Babylon, and that they
+cannot have come to an end before the close of the year 517. Now Samos
+was subjugated before this Scythian expedition; moreover Byzantium and
+the Chersonese must have been in the hands of the Persians; at least a
+year must have been occupied with the preparations required to bring
+700,000 men to the Bosphorus, and with the preparations for building the
+bridge (Herod. 3, 83). Hence the campaign cannot have commenced before
+the year 515 B.C. and it cannot be put later than 510 B.C. Miltiades is
+already master of the Chersonese when Darius crosses the Danube;
+according to Herodotus it is the Pisistratids (not Hippias) who sent him
+there. Hence Miltiades was master of the Chersonese before 514 B.C., the
+year in which Hipparchus was murdered. Again, when Miltiades has to
+retire from the Chersonese before the return of Darius, he does not go
+to Athens, from which it follows that Hippias was still tyrant in
+Athens. Thucydides tells us that when Hippias, after the murder of
+Hipparchus, was looking about for alliances he married his daughter to
+Aeantides, the son of Hippoclus, tyrant of Lampsacus, because he saw
+that Hippoclus was in great repute with Darius. This influence Hippoclus
+must have gained in the Scythian expedition; he led the ships of his
+city to the Danube and voted for remaining there. Hence this expedition
+must be put some time before 510 B.C. If we allow two years for the
+battles of Megabyzus in Thrace, and the march of Bubares to Macedonia
+after the Scythian war, and place, as is natural, the expedition to the
+coasts of Hellas, which falls in the year 512 B.C., after these
+acquisitions, we might keep to the year 515 for the Scythian
+expeditions. But as the Indian conquests precede the Scythian war, the
+year 513 B.C. seems still better. The expedition to Barca is, in
+Herodotus, contemporaneous with the conflicts of Megabyzus against those
+"who were not of Median opinions" (4, 145). This contemporaneous date is
+supported by the fact that Greek ships only, and not Phenician, are
+ordered to the Danube, and to support the communications of Megabyzus
+with Asia,--a circumstance which is best explained by the absence of the
+Phenicians in the African expedition. Moreover, Justin (19, 1) speaks of
+an embassy of Darius to Carthage at the time when this city was engaged
+in a conflict with Doreus of Sicily (Herod. 5, 45-48; 7, 165; Diod. 4,
+23). Such an embassy, which could only be sent to demand a recognition
+of supremacy or union in war against the Greeks, was first suggested
+when the Persians reached as far as the Euhesperides and Persia became a
+neighbour of Carthage, _i.e._ after the expedition to Barca. The colony
+of Dorieus on the Eryx was planted between 510 and 508; he had
+previously taken part in the battle on the Traeis in 311 or 510 B.C. The
+embassy of Darius to Carthage would therefore be subsequent to the
+campaign to Barca and the expedition of Democedes, and the years 513 and
+512 seem most suitable for the first. From the inscriptions of Darius it
+is clear that the inscription of Persepolis, when compared with the
+inscription of Behistun, enumerates more subject lands. The former
+speaks of the Ionians of the continent and the Ionians of the sea
+(_daraya_), while the inscription of Behistun merely mentions the
+Ionians. By the Ionians of the sea we are to understand the
+newly-subjugated Greeks of Samos, the Greek cities on the Bosphorus and
+Propontis. Moreover, the inscription of Persepolis, as already
+mentioned, speaks of Idhus (p. 260), while the inscription of Behistun
+speaks of Gandaras only. It follows from this that the first
+undertakings of Darius after crushing the rebellion were the wars in the
+east, the conquests of Samos and the Greek cities on the straits. This
+is established by the statement of Herodotus that the Indians were
+included in the first division into satrapies--which he places soon
+after the accession of Darius--but the islands and the Thracians were
+added later on. The palace at Persepolis must therefore have been built
+about the year 515 B.C. after the war upon the Indians and the
+expedition to Samos, after the subjugation of the strait, but before the
+campaigns against Scythia and Barca. The Scythian campaign falls in the
+year 513, the conquests of Megabyzus and Otanes in 512, the campaign
+against Barca in 513 and 512, the expedition for the investigation of
+the Greek coasts in 512 or 511. The inscription on the tomb of Darius
+does not mention Ionians of the continent and Ionians of the sea, but
+Ionians merely in one case, and then _Yauna takabara_, _i.e._ Ionians
+who wore locks, by whom may be meant the Greeks of Lemnos and Imbros,
+the Greek cities of the Thracian coast, and the Macedonians, _i.e._ the
+regions which were first subjugated after the Scythian campaign. It will
+be made clear below that the last names in the inscription on the tomb
+are to be explained of African tribes, _i.e._ of the result of the
+expedition against Barca. By the Ckudra, mentioned on the inscription,
+we may understand the Thracians; in the place of the Caka who are
+mentioned without any addition at Behistun and Persepolis, the
+sepulchral inscription has three kinds of Caka:--_Caka humavarka_, who
+must be interpreted to mean the Amyrgian Sacae of Herodotus; _Caka
+tigrakhauda_, _i.e._ Sacae with pointed caps; and finally _Caka
+taradaraya_, _i.e._ Sacae beyond the sea, who must be the Scoloti.
+
+[265] Herod. 4, 89-91.
+
+[266] Herod. 4, 90-92. "Geographical Journal," vol. 24, p. 44 ff, where
+is also to be found the report of General Jochmus on the supposed
+inscription in cuneiform letters and on the stone-heaps, which,
+according to Herodotus, the soldiers of Darius piled up at Artiscus.
+
+[267] Herod. 4, 93, 94; Strabo, p. 305; Thuc. 2, 96.
+
+[268] Herod. 4, 97, 98.
+
+[269] Vol. III. 235. Neumann, "Hellenen in Skythenlande," s. 200, 211,
+215.
+
+[270] Vol. III. 229.
+
+[271] Neumann, _loc. cit._ s. 223 ff.
+
+[272] Justin, 2, 3, 5.
+
+[273] Ctes. "Pers." 16.
+
+[274] Strabo, p. 305.
+
+[275] Strabo, p. 737.
+
+[276] Pherecyd. fragm. 113, ed. Mueller.
+
+[277] Hic quum crebri afferrent nuntii male rem gerere Darium premique
+ab Scythis, Miltiades hortatus est, etc. Nepos, "Miltiades," 4, in any
+case following Ephorus.
+
+[278] Herod. 5, 27. It is clear that the Antandrians and Lamponians were
+accused only of abandoning the campaign, not of imperilling the retreat.
+
+[279] Strabo, p. 591.
+
+[280] Herod. 5, 11.
+
+[281] Herod. 4, 143, 144.
+
+[282] Herod. 5, 12.
+
+[283] Herod. 5, 26, 27.
+
+[284] Herod. 5, 12, 23, 25. The chronology which Herodotus thus gives to
+the campaign of Otanes, representing it as subsequent to that of
+Megabyzus, is impossible. He himself represents Otanes as nominated
+general of the forces on sea, and only subsequently as a successor of
+Megabyzus. The subjugation of the cities belongs to his first command.
+
+[285] Herod. 6, 40, 84.
+
+[286] It is self-evident that Miltiades did not wait for the arrival of
+Darius on the Danube.
+
+[287] According to Polyaenus, Chalcedon was taken by a mine, which was
+carried from a hill 15 stades from the city under the market-place.
+"Strateg." 7, 2, 5. It is obvious that we must read [Greek: Kalchedon]
+here, and not [Greek: Karchedon]. The altar of Zeus Diabaterius which,
+according to Ctesias, Darius erects, and the Chalcedonians subsequently
+pull down, is certainly identical with the two monuments which,
+according to Herodotus, Darius set up at Byzantium (above, p. 269).
+Herodotus also speaks of the destruction of the monuments, but ascribes
+it to the Byzantines. This was done obviously in the time after the
+battle of Mycale; if previously destroyed they would have been restored
+by Megabyzus and Otanes when they subjugated the Hellespont. Of the
+later destruction Herodotus relates that the Byzantines conveyed the
+stones into the city, and used them in building the altar of Artemis
+Orthosia; one stone only, covered with Assyrian letters, was left at the
+temple of Dionysus: Herod. 4, 87.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE CONQUESTS IN AFRICA AND EUROPE.
+
+
+Like Bactria and Arachosia, Asia Minor and Egypt had remained loyal,
+when the natives in the centre of the kingdom, the Semites and Arians,
+and even the Persians, had revolted against Darius. In Egypt Aryandes,
+who had been appointed satrap by Cambyses, still held his office.
+Uzahorsun, the Egyptian whom Cambyses had placed in his retinue and
+taken into his service (p. 171), tells us, "that his holiness, the king
+of upper and lower Egypt, Darius (Ntariush), the ever-living, had
+commanded him to go to Egypt, when his holiness was in Elam, when he
+became lord of the whole world, the great king of Egypt." According to
+the commands of his holiness he (Uzahorsun) had restored order in Egypt
+and had received contributions from all. No one had spoken evil of him,
+for he had given to every one what was justly his; he had restored all
+men to their rights, and had placed them in the boundaries of their
+property as it had been marked out; the worship of the gods and their
+habitations had been restored according to the will of his holiness; the
+offerings had been brought, the festivals had been celebrated.[288] In
+addition to the toleration which the Achaemenids always extended to the
+religion of the nations subject to them, though it was not their own
+religion, and the care which they took of their places of worship,
+Darius seems to have been at especial pains to win the affections of the
+Egyptians. His intention was, no doubt, to make Egypt the starting-point
+for further enterprise in Africa, and the support of the conquests which
+he had in contemplation. Herodotus tells us that when Darius determined
+to erect his statue before the temple of Ptah at Memphis, he gave way
+before the opposition of the priest of the temple. Diodorus tells us
+that the Egyptians consider Darius as their sixth law-giver, after
+Menes, Sasychis, Sesosis, Bocchoris, and Amasis. Darius had mixed with
+the Egyptian priests, and had thus become acquainted with their
+theology, and the magnanimity and devotion of their ancient kings. He
+set them before him as a pattern, and for this reason he was so highly
+honoured among the Egyptians that even in his life-time he was
+considered a god, and after his death he received the honours which in
+ancient days had been given to the kings of Egypt, whose reigns had been
+most in accordance with law. The name of Darius meets us frequently on
+the buildings of Egypt. A long inscription in the stone quarries at
+Hamamat informs us that an Egyptian architect, Chnum-ab-rha, who had
+already been in the service of Amasis, was in the service of Darius from
+the 26th to the 30th year of his reign, and carried out his various
+buildings.[289] The Apis which had appeared in the fifth year of
+Cambyses (p. 171), died in the fourth year of Darius (518 B.C.), and was
+buried in the necropolis of Memphis, in the sanctuary of Osiris-Apis, in
+the front space of the gallery of the tombs of Apis, which Psammetichus
+had added to the gallery of Ramses II.[290] Another great work which
+Darius undertook in connection with the monuments of the ancient
+Pharaohs, besides the advantages which it conferred on the trade of the
+whole kingdom and the intercourse between the parts of it, must have
+been of the very greatest value to Egypt.[291]
+
+From the valley of the Nile, to which Darius devoted such attention, in
+the autumn of the same year in which he marched to the Danube, a second
+Persian expedition set forth, comprising both an army and a fleet--a
+great armament, as Herodotus says, which was intended to establish and
+extend the dominion of the Persian kingdom on the north coast of
+Africa.[292] The Libyan tribes which inhabited these deserts on the
+borders of Egypt, like the great cities Cyrene and Barca, had paid
+homage to Cambyses, had sent presents, and agreed to pay tribute.[293]
+Barca had been founded by Cyrene about 30 years before the conquest of
+Egypt by Cambyses, and was governed by a branch of the Battiadae, the
+royal house of Cyrene. The daughter of the prince of Barca, whom
+Herodotus, following no doubt the Libyan name for the royal title, calls
+Alazeir, was the wife of Archelaus III. of Cyrene, who for reasons known
+to us had submitted to Cambyses. More than ten years afterwards,
+Archelaus repaired to his father-in-law at Barca; during his absence his
+mother Pheretima was to govern Cyrene. While at Barca, he was murdered
+together with his father-in-law Alazeir by certain Cyrenaeans who had
+fled to that city to escape the cruelty with which he had re-established
+his sway in Cyrene (p. 153), and by the people of Barca.[294] His
+mother, who was no longer in any position to maintain her power in
+Cyrene, fled to Egypt and besought assistance from Aryandes; "in return
+for her fidelity to Persia, her son had been slain." Aryandes
+sympathised with her distress, so Herodotus tells us, and put at her
+disposal the whole force in Egypt, both the army and the fleet; sympathy
+with Pheretima was the reason of the campaign of the Persians against
+Barca. He adds that in his own opinion this was merely a pretext; the
+real object was the subjugation of the Libyans, of whom a few only were
+the subjects of Darius.[295]
+
+By the assassination of the two princes who had submitted to Persia the
+word for revolt was given, and the more plainly because the Barcaeans,
+according to Herodotus, refused to give up the murderers. The land round
+Cyrene was extraordinarily fertile, and the district of Barca reached on
+the west to the great Syrtis. The army which set out to reduce a city,
+600 miles distant from Memphis, was led by a Persian, Amasis of the
+tribe of the Maraphians. (V. 323). This march along the north coast
+through regions partly desert and partly inhabited by nomads, was to be
+supported by a fleet formed no doubt of Phenician and Egyptian ships,
+under the command of Badres of the tribe of the Pasargadae. The Persians
+reached the extensive and well-watered mountain plain which formed the
+territory of Barca. The city was invested, but the Barcaeans made a
+vigorous resistance. Furious attacks of the Persians were repulsed, and
+even their attempt to carry mines under the city miscarried. A smith in
+Barca, according to Herodotus, discovered the direction of the mines by
+placing a brazen shield upon the ground, inside the wall, and striking
+it,--the soil being hollow, wherever the shield resounded. Then the
+Barcaeans dug shafts and killed the workmen of the enemy in their
+passages. After nine months of fruitless efforts Amasis was convinced
+that he could not take the place by storm. He offered to abandon the
+siege if the Barcaeans would pay a suitable tribute to the king; so long
+as they fulfilled this condition the Persians would not take up arms
+against them. The conditions were sworn to on both sides, as Herodotus
+tells us, in the form that they "should be kept so long as the earth
+remained." But on the previous night Amasis had excavated the place on
+which the oath was sworn, had covered the excavation with wood, and
+placed earth upon the wood. When the Barcaeans, in reliance on the
+truce, opened the gates, came out of their city and permitted the
+Persians to enter it, Amasis caused the earth to fall in by removing the
+wood-work, in order to make the treaty invalid. Being masters of the
+city the Persians gave up to Pheretima those who were chiefly implicated
+in the murder of Archelaus. She caused them to be crucified round the
+walls of Barca, and at the same time cut off the breasts of their wives
+and affixed them to the walls. The Persians also carried away a large
+number of prisoners, in order to weaken the city, and so to retain it in
+subjection with less effort. Only the Battiadae and a remnant of the
+population were left. After thus reducing the city, the Persians marched
+through the fruitful plain, which stretches to the west of Barca between
+the table-land and the sea, towards the west. At Euhesperides on the
+great Syrtis they reached the extreme point in the west of Africa to
+which the Persians ever penetrated.[296]
+
+"When the army reached Cyrene on its return," so Herodotus tells us,
+"the Cyrenaeans in obedience to an oracle allowed it to pass through the
+city. While passing through, Badres, the commander of the fleet, bade
+them take the city, but Amasis prevented this, saying that he was sent
+out against Barca, and no other city. When they had marched through, and
+the army was encamped on the hill of Zeus Lycaeus, they repented that
+they had not seized Carthage, and attempted to enter the city a second
+time. But this the Cyrenaeans would not allow. Then the Persians, though
+no one was fighting against them, were seized with a panic; they ran
+away about sixty stades and there encamped till a messenger of Aryandes
+called them back. At their request they received provisions for the
+journey from the Cyrenaeans and returned to Egypt. But those who
+remained behind and delayed their march were cut down by the Libyans for
+the sake of their clothes and armour, till they reached Egypt. The
+captive Barcaeans were sent to the king, and Darius gave them a village
+in Bactria for a habitation to which they gave the name Barca. This
+village was inhabited in Bactria down to my time."[297]
+
+According to this narrative the expedition to Barca, which set out in
+the autumn of 513 B.C. and returned home at the earliest towards the end
+of 512 B.C. (the siege of Barca occupied nine months), did not turn out
+prosperously for the Persians. The contrary was the case. Herodotus
+repeats a legend of the Cyrenaeans, which was intended to put their
+courage in a clear light, and according to which an entrance into the
+city when demanded for the third time was refused to the Persian army
+which had marched through Cyrene on its advance and return. Further, an
+attempted attack of the Persians failed though there was no resistance,
+and Cyrene magnanimously furnished the Persians with provisions for
+their journey. The army and fleet of the Persians, when quartered in the
+fertile district of Cyrene, were in a position to supply themselves
+abundantly at the cost of the city. Moreover, we subsequently find a
+fourth Battus at the head of Cyrene and Barca, and after him a fourth
+Arcesilaus.[298] After the murder of Arcesilaus III. a Battiad would
+have been the less likely to ascend the throne of Cyrene without the aid
+of the Persians, owing to the cruel punishment which Pheretima had
+inflicted on her opponents. Moreover, Herodotus tells us himself that
+Darius included the Libyans adjacent to Egypt as well as Cyrene and
+Barca in the sixth satrapy, _i.e._ the satrapy of Egypt, and imposed
+upon the two a yearly tribute of 700 talents.[299] From other accounts
+it is clear that the Libyans of this district, and with them the
+inhabitants of the oasis of Ammon, had to contribute salt to the
+Persians, and Herodotus tells us that these Libyans of the north coast,
+clad in the skins of animals and armed with poles hardened in the fire,
+served in the army of the Persian kings along with the curly-haired
+negroes living beyond Egypt.[300] Monuments and inscriptions also prove
+that not Cyrene and Barca only, but even the Libyan tribes of the north
+coast as far as the great Syrtis, _i.e._ the Adyrmachidae, Giligammae,
+and Asbystae were subdued at that time, and that the dominion of Darius
+extended as far as the oases on the northern edge of the desert.
+Herodotus has already told us of the oasis Polis, which was situated
+seven days' journey from Thebes in the sand (p. 165),--the modern Oasis
+el Charigeh. The inscriptions of the great temple, the walls of which
+still exist at this place in tolerable preservation, tell us that Darius
+"S-tut-Ra,"[301] _i.e._ rival of the sun, dedicated this temple to Ammon
+Ra of Thebes, the lord of Hib (which is the name of this oasis among the
+Egyptians). In the colossal picture on the exterior wall at the back,
+Darius offers sacrifice to this god and the goddess Mut, who stands
+behind him; behind the king we also see the goddess Hathor.[302] At a
+later time Darius Ochus added to this temple. The inscription of
+Naksh-i-Rustem, which distinguishes the tomb of Darius, quotes among the
+nations who were his subjects the _Putiya_, _Machiya_, and _Kushiya_. By
+the Putiya (Puta in the Babylonian translation of the inscription) we
+must understand beyond doubt the Put of the Hebrews, _i.e._ the Libyans;
+the Machiya may be the Maxyes of Herodotus, to the west of Cyrene, the
+Mashawasha of the Egyptians; the Kushiya are the Cushites of the
+Egyptians, Hebrews, and Assyrians, the Ethiopians of the Greeks, _i.e._
+the Nubians and negroes beyond Egypt.[303]
+
+Justin's excerpt from Pompeius Trogus tells us that Darius sent an
+embassy to Carthage with the command that the Carthaginians must abstain
+from human sacrifices and the use of dogs' flesh, burn their corpses
+instead of burying them; and at the same time he bade them furnish
+auxiliary troops against the Greeks, whom he intended to attack. The
+Carthaginians refused the auxiliary troops because they were frequently
+at war with their neighbours; to the rest of his commands they readily
+submitted that they might not seem to be obstinate.[304] Both the
+objects mentioned for the embassy are fictions, though they show an
+acquaintance with the Arian religion and the views of Darius, but there
+is no reason to doubt that Darius entered into negotiations with
+Carthage. Cambyses had already fixed his eye on Carthage, and Darius by
+the expedition to Barca and Euhesperides, had become the neighbour of
+the city, the territory of which reached as far to the east as the Great
+Syrtis. In common opposition to the Greeks the interests of Carthage and
+Darius were united, for the Greek navy was the rival of the Phenicians
+and Carthaginians, and the Carthaginians were in conflict with the Greek
+cities in Sicily. In Justin's account the embassy of Darius came to
+Carthage at the time when the Carthaginians in Sicily were in conflict
+with Dorieus. Their struggle to prevent the settlement on Eryx fell
+between the years 510 and 508 B.C. The expedition against Barca came to
+an end as we saw in the year 512 B.C. Hence the negotiations between
+Persia and Carthage must have followed upon this expedition.[305]
+
+While the Persians in the south of the Mediterranean were advancing to
+the west along the coast of Africa, the army of Megabyzus moved along
+the north in the same direction (512 B.C.). Perinthus and the cities on
+the northern shore of the Propontis were reduced and punished, and then
+Darius gave orders, according to Herodotus, for the reduction of Thrace.
+"And Megabyzus marched through Thrace, and reduced every nation and
+every city into submission to the king. The nation of the Thracians is
+the greatest after the Indians, and if it were united or governed by one
+man, it would be invincible, and in my opinion the strongest of all
+nations. But as this is impossible, and can never be brought about,
+they are weak. They buy their wives at a high price from their parents
+and sell the children into foreign countries. They regard it as the
+greatest degradation to till the field, as most honourable to do
+nothing, as most noble to live by war and plunder. It is a mark of birth
+to be tatooed, and of low origin to have no print upon the skin. The
+rich lay out their dead for three days; first they mourn for them, then
+they slay victims of every kind and make a feast, burn the corpse or
+bury it, heap up a mound, and celebrate games of all kinds, in which, as
+is right, the greatest prizes are put up for the victors. They worship
+only Ares, Dionysus, and Artemis; but their kings also specially worship
+Hermes from whom they claim to be descended. Of this territory Megabyzus
+subjugated the whole strip, which lay on the sea, to Darius." The
+Paeonians, who were settled on the Strymon and round Lake Prasias,
+assembled on their coast to await the attack. But Megabyzus turned into
+the inland region to the north of Mount Pangaeum, and from that
+direction fell unexpectedly upon the cities of the Paeonians, which were
+undefended. Then each of the Paeonians hastened back to his family and
+they submitted to the Persians, and Megabyzus caused the Paeonians on
+the Siris, and the Paeoplians, who were situated to the north of
+Pangaeum, on the Strymon, to be carried captive to Sardis to the king.
+"But the Paeonians who dwelt on Mount Pangaeum, and on piles in Lake
+Prasias, were not at first subjugated by Megabyzus, though he made the
+attempt."[306]
+
+Together with the tribes of the Thracians, the numerous cities of the
+Greeks on this coast became subjects of Darius.[307] Doriscus on the
+mouth of the Hebrus received a Persian garrison.[308] In vain the
+inhabitants of Teos, more than thirty years previously, had emigrated
+before the siege of Harpagus, and founded Abdera on this coast--they now
+became subjects of the Persians. In return for the great service which
+he had rendered at the bridge on the Danube, Histiaeus the prince of
+Miletus received permission to found a colony on the Strymon, where it
+leaves Lake Prasias, in the land of the Edonians, near Myrcinus, on the
+north-west spur of Pangaeum, which is here clothed with magnificent
+forests, and possessed fruitful veins of silver.[309] Histiaeus began at
+once to build the walls which were to protect the new settlement.
+
+With the subjugation of the Paeonians and the crossing of the Strymon,
+Megabyzus reached the border of an empire, the Macedonian kingdom, the
+central district of which lay between the Axius and the Haliaemon.
+Amyntas, the son of Alcetas,[310] the king of Macedonia, was requested
+by Megabyzus through an embassy of seven Persians to send earth and
+water as tokens of submission to Darius. Amyntas was in great terror of
+the Persians, as Herodotus tells us;[311] he did not refuse the request,
+and thus acknowledged the sovereignty of the Persians. In order to do
+honour to his envoys, they were hospitably entertained. But when in
+their intoxication they laid hands on the women of the royal house,
+Alexander the young son of Amyntas caused them to be cut down with their
+train. As they did not return, Megabyzus sent his son Bubares, the
+brother of the Zopyrus who had done good service before Babylon, and
+was now viceroy there, with an armed force.[312] Amyntas was prepared to
+pay a large sum as a fine, and to receive the son of Megabyzus at his
+royal house; he gave his own daughter Gygaea, the sister of Alexander,
+in marriage to Bubares.[313]
+
+While Megabyzus subjugated the Thracian coast with its harbours and
+trading-places to the west as far as the Strymon, Otanes had completed
+the reduction of the rebellious Greek towns to the south of the straits,
+on the shores of Asia Minor. Not only Lamponium and Antandrus, opposite
+Lesbos, but also Abydus, Chalcedon, and Byzantium were punished. Coes,
+who had led the ships from Lesbos to the Danube, had been rewarded for
+his services to Darius by the government of the island. He was not
+required to furnish ships to Otanes for the conquest of Lemnos and
+Imbros. The Lemnians resisted bravely. When they had been conquered,
+Otanes made Lycaretus, a brother of Maeandrius of Samos (p. 261), tyrant
+of the island, and he governed it till his death (towards 500
+B.C.[314]). With the conquest of Lemnos and Imbros, two large and
+important islands in the AEgean Sea, in addition to Samos, Chios and
+Lesbos were gained for the Persian kingdom.
+
+After the expedition across the Danube, Darius intended to carry his
+conquests to the west of Europe, not to the north. The cantons of
+Hellas were the aim towards the attainment of which Megabyzus and Otanes
+prepared the way. The co-operation of the marine appeared indispensable
+for further enterprises in this direction. The events at the bridge over
+the Danube had shown Darius that it was extremely rash to leave in the
+hands of the tyrants of the Greeks the command of the fleet formed out
+of the vessels from their cities. The Phenicians he could certainly
+trust, if he led them against the Greeks, but the navigation of the
+Greeks had long ago driven the trade of the Phenicians from the Greek
+coasts. In any case it was advisable that a number of leading Persians
+should be acquainted with the Greek waters, that they might be entrusted
+with the command of squadrons. That Persians were equal to such an
+office had been shown in Africa. Darius commanded fifteen Persians
+selected by himself to go on board Phenician ships in order to visit and
+investigate the coasts of Hellas and Sicily. The expedition embarked on
+two Sidonian ships of the line, which were accompanied by a transport
+vessel, and set sail from Sidon. On board was a Greek physician as
+interpreter and guide--Democedes of Croton, who had previously been
+physician to Polycrates of Samos. He had accompanied his master on his
+unfortunate voyage to Magnesia (p. 261). After the execution of
+Polycrates, Oroetes had released the Samians in his company, and
+retained the rest as slaves in his house. When Bagaeus had caused
+Oroetes to be slain he sent his property and slaves to the court of the
+king, where Democedes was kept in rags and chains along with his
+companions in misfortune. It happened that Darius, in leaping from his
+horse when hunting, dislocated his ancle. The Egyptian physicians, who
+were in the greatest repute in the east, and had already been retained
+since the time of Cyrus at the Persian court (p. 134), could not cure
+the mischief. At last some one remembered to have heard of the fame of
+Democedes among the Greeks. Darius caused him to be summoned, and was
+healed by him. Soon after Democedes cured Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus,
+the first wife of Darius, of a dangerous tumour in the breast. In return
+for his successful treatment Darius presented him with two pairs of
+golden chains; and when receiving them Democedes, according to the
+Greeks, inquired: Whether the king desired to double his misery in
+return for the cure? From that time he was in high favour with the king,
+and was appointed a companion of his table, one of the greatest and
+rarest distinctions in Persia; it was said to be his intercession which
+rescued the Egyptian physicians who were about to be crucified because
+they were unable to heal Darius. He now accompanied the expedition, as a
+man acquainted with the localities, to Hellas and Sicily, in the year
+512 B.C. The king bade the Persians keep watch upon Democedes, and not
+suffer him to escape to the Hellenes. The expedition sailed round
+Hellas; it kept close to the shore, and sketched the coast; as Herodotus
+remarks, these were the first Persians who had come to Greece. From
+Hellas they directed their course to lower Italy. When the Persians were
+at Tarentum Democedes succeeded in escaping. When it was discovered that
+he had gone to Crotona, his native city, the Persians sailed thither and
+requested the inhabitants to give him up, but in vain. Then they
+experienced a further disaster; they were driven to Iapygia; the crew
+were captured and enslaved; only after some time had passed were the
+Persians ransomed by Gillus, a Tarentine exile, and carried back to
+Persia.[315] However vexatious the loss of his physician might be to
+Darius, this expedition enabled him to prepare for the enterprise in the
+Greek waters which he had in view. The main object was attained; a
+number of Persians had been made acquainted with the sea and the
+coasts.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[288] De Rouge, "Revue Archeolog." 8, 51, 52. De Rouge has Aram, Brugsch
+now reads Elam ("Hist. of Egypt," 2, 297), and translates: "For he also
+was the great lord of all lands and a great king of Egypt,--in order
+that I might reinstate the number of the sacred scribes of the temples,
+and revive whatever had fallen into ruin. The foreigners escorted me
+from land to land, and brought me safe to Egypt, according to the
+command of the lord of the land. I did according to what he had
+commanded. I chose them from all their (?) of the sons of the
+inhabitants--to the great sorrow of those who were childless--and I
+placed them under expert masters, the skilful in all kinds of learning,
+that they might perform all their works. The king did all this--in order
+to uphold the name of all the gods, their temples, their revenues, and
+the ordinances of their feasts for ever."
+
+[289] Herod. 2, 110; Diod. 1, 50, 95. For _Rach-num-hat_ which he read
+previously Brugsch now reads _Chnum-ab-rha_. "Hist. of Egypt," 2, 299.
+
+[290] Mariette, "Athen. Franc." 1855; Mai, p. 48.
+
+[291] The remark in Polyaenus; Darius marching through Arabia against
+the Egyptians who rebelled against the tyranny of Aryandes, had again
+gained their affection by offering a prize of 100 talents of gold to the
+discoverer of a new Apis in the place of that which had just died,
+cannot be referred to the Apis which died in the year 518 B.C. In that
+year Darius was fighting in Media against Phraortes, Aryandes was satrap
+in the year 512 B.C. and long after. Hence it must refer to the second
+Apis, which appeared in 491 B.C., the thirty-first year of Darius, for
+which Darius caused a sepulchre to be built. That the first rebellion of
+the Egyptians against Darius took place about this time follows from a
+chapter in Aristotle's "Rhetoric," 2, 20, where we are told that Darius
+did not cross over to Hellas before he had reduced Egypt; and in like
+manner Xerxes reduced Egypt before crossing over to Hellas. The
+"crossing over" can only refer to the campaign of Datis and Artaphernes;
+the first rebellion of Egypt against Darius therefore took place just
+when the rebellion of the Ionians had been crushed, _i.e._ 492, 491
+B.C.; the second occurred in 486 B.C.
+
+[292] Herod. 4, 145 says, "at the same time when Megabyzus subjugated
+the inhabitants of the Hellespont." This subjugation would begin in the
+autumn and pass over into the next spring.
+
+[293] Herod. 4, 167. Above, p. 152.
+
+[294] Herod. 4, 164, 200.
+
+[295] Herod. 4, 165, 167, 197.
+
+[296] Herod. 4, 200-204; Heracl. Pont. fragm. 4, ed. Mueller.
+
+[297] Herod. 4, 203, 204.
+
+[298] Herod. 4, 163; Heracl. Pont. Fragm. 8, ed. Mueller; Pindar, "Pyth."
+4, 5 and the Scholia.
+
+[299] Herod. 3, 91.
+
+[300] Herod. 7, 71.
+
+[301] In Brugsch, "Hist. of Egypt," 2, 297, Settu-Ra.
+
+[302] Lepsius, "Inschriften von Charigeh und Dachileh, Z. f. Aeg. Spr."
+1874, s. 75, 78.
+
+[303] It seems to me rash to find Carthage in _Karka_ (so also in the
+Babylonian version) with Oppert ("Journal Asiatique," 1872, p. 163 ff.),
+and Mordtmann ("Z. D. M. G." 16, 110).
+
+[304] Justin, 19, 1.
+
+[305] Though I admit that negotiations may have taken place between
+Darius and the Carthaginians, I do not at the same time allow the
+accuracy of the statement in Diodorus about the league of Xerxes and the
+Carthaginians against the Greeks: a Sicilian may be suspected of
+ascribing to his countrymen as large a share as possible in the glory of
+the Persian war.
+
+[306] Herod. 5, 16.
+
+[307] Herod. 5, 26.
+
+[308] Herod. 7, 59.
+
+[309] Herod. 5, 11, 23.
+
+[310] Herod. 8, 139; Thuc. 2, 99, 200.
+
+[311] Herod. 5, 19.
+
+[312] Herod. 5, 21; 7, 21; Justin, 7, 3, 4.
+
+[313] Herod. 5, 18, 21; Justin, 7, 3, 4. In the year 512 B.C., in which
+this incident falls, Alexander must have been very young; Herodotus
+speaks of him as young and inexperienced. In Justin we are told in
+reference to the length of his life: "_Senex decessit_." On the reigns
+of Amyntas and Alexander Philhellen, I shall treat in my Greek History.
+For the present I refer to Droysen, "Hellenismus," 1^2, 75, and Von
+Gutschmid, "Ueber die makedonische Anagraphe, Symbol. Philolog." Bonn.
+
+[314] The Ionian revolt liberated Lemnos from the dominion of the
+Persians; when Miltiades during the revolt subjugated Lemnos and Imbros
+to Athens, Hermon was at the head of Lemnos.
+
+[315] Herod. 3, 129-138. Athenaeus, p. 522. On the date of the
+expedition above, p. 270, _n._ That this whole expedition owed its
+origin to an intrigue of Democedes, is merely a part of Herodotus' love
+of anecdote. But it is not incredible that Democedes joined it in the
+hope of returning to Greece.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE STATE OF DARIUS.
+
+
+The perseverance and vigour of Darius had succeeded in re-establishing
+and extending the kingdom of Cyrus. In the west he had reached Mount
+Olympus and the great Syrtis, in the east the course of the Indus, high
+up among the Himalayas; in the north the boundaries were the Caucasus
+and the Jaxartes, in the south the tribes of Arabia and the negroes
+above Nubia. He set himself to give a regulated administration to this
+empire, which had been acquired by such vast conquests, and which in its
+wide extent threw the empire of the Assyrians completely into the shade.
+He made the first attempt known to history to organize his conquests and
+govern them on a fixed plan. Thus he became the real founder of the
+Persian empire. He succeeded so far that an empire, the like of which
+had not been seen upon earth, which enumerated the most various nations
+among its subjects, was really governed, and the foundations which he
+laid were so firm that in spite of many serious rebellions, the empire
+never fell from internal disorganization.
+
+The chief support of the kingdom lay in the proud feeling of the
+Persians that they were the ruling nation of Asia, and governed the
+nations through their king and with their king. They saw with
+satisfaction how the tribute, the contributions, the prisoners of the
+subject nations came from the furthest distance to their mountains, how
+the palaces of their king rose in ever-increasing splendour on their
+native soil, what brilliance and magnificence surrounded their ruler,
+the king of kings. From the Persians were chosen the magistrates who
+governed the provinces, and the generals who commanded their
+contingents; Persians surrounded the king and were his counsellors and
+judges. The court, the administration, and the army opened the most
+brilliant prospect to every Persian who was in a position to distinguish
+himself in the eyes of the king; and service in war offered acceptable
+pay to the man of the people. Persian troops, excellently appointed,
+protected the person of the king; they formed the garrisons of the
+fortresses, they were the nucleus of the army, and marched before the
+rest of the troops. In solemn processions and parades, the Persians were
+always on the right of the king.[316] They were not only free from tax
+and tribute of every kind, but largesses of money were made whenever the
+king entered Pasargadae (V. 357). Plato's Laws maintain that Darius
+established as law the allotments which Cyrus promised the Persians; in
+this way he had shown his inclination to the Persians and had
+established a common feeling between the ruler and the nation.[317]
+However this may be, every one, even the meanest Persian, felt that he
+had a share in the government of Asia.
+
+It was a principle of the king of Persia from the time of Cyrus to grant
+to the leading families of the Persians and the Persian nobility a rich
+share in the fruits and advantages of the empire, but at the same time
+to accustom them to dependence and subjection, and to train up in them a
+vigorous class of magistrates and officers. If the wealthy families of
+Persia remained in their old mode of life in the country, with their
+flocks, such a position might keep up a feeling of independence and
+freedom which was hardly compatible with the unlimited power of the king
+and the interests of the empire. It was desirable to bring them to the
+court, and keep them under supervision, to make them dependent on the
+favour of the king, and habituate them to constant service. The Median
+court had been numerous; the Persian court was even more extensive, not
+merely for the sake of magnificence, or to display the splendour and
+greatness of the ruler, and so impose upon the Persians and the subject
+nations, but also with a view of educating the nobility in court life.
+No one could count on advancement who did not show himself at the gate
+of the king; indeed it was difficult for any one whom the king did not
+see to obtain a hearing from him. Those whose duty it was to appear at
+court were urged not to fail in their appearance.[318] In this way they
+learnt not merely behaviour and conduct, modesty and self-control,[319]
+but were accustomed to live in the shadow of the throne, and to seek the
+sun of royal favour. In the immediate neighbourhood of the king men
+could look up with obedience and respect to the greatness of the ruler.
+If in this way the nobility were linked round the court, and instructed
+to strive for the favour of the king as the highest honour, if the
+strict ceremonial of the court reduced them to constant obedience, the
+king on the other hand had opportunity to select, from personal
+knowledge and confidence, the magistrates to whom important posts might
+be entrusted.[320]
+
+The officers round the person of the king, and employed in the service
+of the state and court, were numerous. Next to the throne came the six
+tribal princes, who wore the upright kidaris, the sign of royalty, and
+to them, as we often find, the most difficult duties in war, and the
+most important expeditions and provinces were entrusted. Next to the
+tribal princes were the seven supreme judges of the kingdom, who watched
+over the hereditary customs, and the controller of the empire, "the
+king's eye." Less influential, but nevertheless important owing to their
+personal relation to the king, were the "quiver-bearer" and the
+"lance-bearer"; we find the persons who filled these offices at the time
+depicted on the relief at Behistun beside the king. The office of
+"bearer of the king's footstool" is also mentioned. The great
+court-offices, of the "chief staff-bearer," "messenger," "announcer,"
+"chief butler," "master of the horse," and "master of the chase,"
+together with various other honourable offices, and many subordinate
+places, gave an opportunity of uniting a large number of Persians
+closely with the court life, and employing as viceroys and generals
+those whom the king had found to be excellent servants.[321] But Medes
+were employed in the service of the kingdom as well as Persians. If
+Media was treated in other respects like the rest of the provinces (it
+had to pay yearly 450 talents of tax, and furnish 100,000 sheep for the
+court), the system of Cyrus, who by entrusting important commissions to
+eminent Medes, had attempted to reconcile Media to the new position of
+affairs, was followed by Darius in spite of the rebellion. From other
+nations only those who had been specially tested were in rare cases
+entrusted with high offices.
+
+Cyrus had introduced the custom of rewarding loyalty and devotion to the
+king and service to the kingdom by distinctions, marks of honour, and
+gifts conferred in the most marked and distinctive manner,--of exciting
+ambition and emulation by favour and liberality. Who makes such
+presents, said Xenophon, as the king of the Persians?--armlets, chains,
+and horses with golden bridles; no one could possess such things unless
+they were presented to him by the king.[322] Who could compare with the
+decorated friends of the king of Persia?--he alone appeared in more
+splendid array. The sending of a portion from the royal table was no
+slight honour.[323] The present of the kaftan (kandys) was a common
+distinction; more important were the golden armlets, the golden chain,
+the golden crown, the golden wreath, the golden sabre, the horse with
+golden harness. Other presents were also made, as plane-trees and vines
+of gold, golden millstones more than 300 pounds in weight.[324] There
+were also gifts of property, and allocations of the produce of certain
+cities and districts. Pre-eminent services were rewarded by the title
+"Benefactor"; we remember that the Avesta requires the good thought, the
+good word, and the good act. Besides these distinctions, advancement to
+the upper classes of the kingdom counted as the highest honour. The
+"table companions" of the king, and above them "the kinsmen" of the king
+had the first portion in the kingdom after the tribal princes and the
+great officers. The bestowal of the rank of the table companion
+conferred the right to eat at or near the table of the king, and
+occasionally to make merry with him. The elevation to be a "kinsman of
+the king" conferred the rank of an Achaemenid, a prince of the house.
+Like the king, the kinsmen wore a pale blue band round the tiara, and
+had the right to kiss the king, a custom which was usual in Persia among
+persons of equal rank.[325]
+
+According to the statements of Herodotus, the boys of the Persians were
+instructed from their fifth to their twentieth year (Xenophon and Strabo
+assert till their twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth year) in riding,
+shooting with the bow, and speaking the truth.[326] In the Laws we are
+told that the boys of the Medes were entrusted to the women, and those
+of the Persians to free men. According to the assertion of Nicolaus of
+Damascus, Cyrus was already instructed in the philosophy of the Magians,
+in justice and truthfulness, as the hereditary laws prescribed for the
+leading Persians.[327] Plato tells us that the sons of the kings of the
+Persians were attended by eunuchs till their seventh year; from that
+time till the fourteenth year they learned to ride, shoot, and hunt.
+Then they received distinguished teachers, of whom the first instructed
+them in the wisdom of Zoroaster, and the business of the crown, the
+second in the duty of truthfulness, the third in temperance, the fourth
+in courage and bravery.[328] Plutarch observes that a Magian presided
+over the education of the princes and instructed them even in
+magic.[329] Xenophon narrates that the princes and the children of the
+leading Persians were brought up "at the gate" of the king, where they
+learned temperance and prudence and saw nothing unbecoming. They
+observed what men were honoured by the king and whom he punished, and
+thus learned even in their boyhood to command and obey. Modesty and
+obedience were counted as a distinction among these boys. In this way
+they learned to be excellent riders, to throw the javelin, and use the
+bow. At a later time they became so skilful in hunting that they
+ventured to encounter a bear.[330] Even now, he says in another passage,
+it is the custom to educate children at the court, but the exercise in
+riding has fallen into disuse, because they no longer go where they
+could gain reputation by skill in the art; and if in former days they
+seemed to learn justice when they listened to just sentences, they now
+see that he obtains justice who gives most. And if they formerly learned
+the nature of all plants in order to avoid what was noxious, they now
+seem to have acquired this knowledge in order to do as much mischief as
+possible.[331] In Strabo's account the education seems arranged even
+more systematically. He tells us that the Persian boys were brought up,
+fifty together, with one of the sons of the king, or with the sons of
+the satraps. Intelligent men were appointed to teach them, who
+instructed them in the legends of the gods, sometimes with and sometimes
+without song, and also recounted to them the noblest deeds of men,
+besides those of gods.[332] At the same time the boys and young men
+were rendered hardy. They were aroused early in the morning by the sound
+of a gong, and for food commonly received barley or wheaten bread, and
+water to drink; when hunting or keeping the flocks, they were compelled
+to live on wild fruits, acorns, and forest berries, and to pass the
+night in the open air. They had also to learn to distinguish wholesome
+and noxious herbs, to plant trees, and prepare hunting nets.[333]
+
+Putting this evidence together, and remembering that even in the fourth
+century the kings and their retinue undertook long hunting expeditions
+on horseback, without permitting themselves to be checked by weariness,
+heat or cold, hunger or thirst,[334] there seems to be no doubt that the
+Persian kings introduced a system of education for the officers on the
+basis of the old mode of life and the customs of the nation, and in this
+system their own sons, so far as seemed good, had a part. Riding and
+shooting were national exercises among the Persians; hunting was
+necessary for the protection of the flocks, and was therefore carried on
+as a religious duty no less than as a pleasure; from all antiquity the
+keeping of flocks and the protection of them against beasts of prey was
+assigned to the youth. If these exercises were systematized, and regard
+was paid to the prospect of military service in some official capacity,
+if the young men were also accustomed to unhesitating obedience, such a
+school might be expected to supply capable and active officers and good
+generals. A hardy and vigorous life was the more necessary for the sons
+of the Persians as luxury began to spread among the higher classes
+after the successes of Cyrus. We may believe the accounts of the Greeks
+that instruction in religion formed a part of the system; the Avesta
+requires such instruction, and it is usual among the Parsees at the
+present day (V. 196, 202). But the Greeks are wrong in supposing that
+these cadet schools were the general mode of education among the
+Persians, and maintaining that the Persian boys received a training like
+those of the Spartans. It was only for political reasons that a number
+of young men from the eminent families were educated to be generals and
+viceroys. Xenophon has perceived that the education was limited to the
+higher classes, and states this distinctly in the "Anabasis." This
+education went on partly under the eyes of the king at court, partly at
+the courts of the satraps, which were arranged on the pattern of the
+royal household.[335] Even under the Sassanids the sons of the nobles
+were educated at court; we have special mention of the teachers of the
+horsemen.[336]
+
+It was not the intention of Cyrus or Darius to interfere with the life
+and habits of the subject nations more than was necessary in order to
+maintain their supremacy and to secure obedience. The ancient dynasties
+in Babylon and Egypt were removed; Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, and Xerxes
+are called kings of Babylon in numerous inscriptions;[337] in Egypt, as
+the native inscriptions have shown us, they received the style and title
+of the Pharaohs. In both countries they take the place of the native
+monarchs, and not in name only, for at the same time they undertake the
+protection of the national religion and law. The peculiar ordinances and
+the law, the political and administrative arrangements of the subject
+lands, are said to have continued under the Persian empire to the widest
+possible extent. In some cases, indeed, old native families remained at
+the head of affairs, as in Cilicia, the Phenician and Cyprian cities; in
+Bactria native princes governed the districts (V. 236); in the cities of
+the Greeks and the subjugated islands of the AEgean Sea, the Persian
+kings had set up princes from the native population. The nomad tribes of
+the empire could only be ruled by keeping up relations with their
+chiefs. But in whatever way the various parts of the subject territory
+were arranged, whether there were princes or a more popular
+administration, their communities, their lands and cities, were left to
+govern themselves in their hereditary manner, according to their own
+customs, laws, and rules, provided that they paid tribute and furnished
+a contingent in war. Darius appears even to have taken upon himself the
+development of the national law; we have seen that the Egyptians called
+him their sixth law-giver (p. 300).
+
+The gods, the modes of religion and worship, were interfered with even
+less than the custom and law of the subject nations, notwithstanding
+that Cyrus and Darius with the Persians and Arians of Iran may have been
+convinced that there could be none but lying gods and false worship
+beside Auramazda and Mithra, and the gods of the Arians. The kings of
+the Persians were not even content with this liberal tolerance which
+forms the chief glory of their rule; they promoted the worship of the
+subject nations. The inscription on the brick at Senkereh,[338]
+mentions Cyrus as the restorer of the great temple of Merodach at
+Babylon (the tower of Belus), and of the temple of Nebo at Borsippa
+(Bit-Zida); we found Cambyses with the Egyptian title of the new
+sun-god, and celebrated as the restorer of the worship of Neith at Sais;
+he is also represented in adoration before the Apis which died in his
+reign. And in this matter Darius did not remain behind his predecessors.
+We have already heard from the Egyptian Uzahorsun that he was sent to
+Egypt soon after the accession of Darius, in order to take care of the
+habitations of the gods and their festivals, _i.e._ to support and
+maintain the religious worship. In his temple at the Oasis of El
+Charigeh, Darius, adorned with the title "rival of the sun," offers
+prayer to Ammon with the ram's head. Darius caused the Apis which died
+in the fourth year of his reign to be buried (p. 301), and in spite of a
+recent rebellion, a sepulchre was built, "to endure for ever," for the
+Apis which appeared in the thirty-first year of his reign, _i.e._ in 491
+B.C.; to make room for this the gallery of Psammetichus was extended.
+Darius, it is said, proposed a prize of 100 talents of gold for the
+discovery of this new Apis.[339]
+
+Nor was it Egypt only which experienced the care of Darius for the
+national worship of the subject nations. The Samaritans had hindered the
+restoration of the temple and walls of Jerusalem, which the exiles from
+Babylonia had taken in hand, by threats and by warnings to the court of
+Cyrus (p. 99). When Darius ascended the throne, the prophets Haggai and
+Zechariah called upon their countrymen to finish the restoration of the
+temple. Haggai reproved the indifference to solemn duties and the
+selfishness which allowed panelled houses to rise for men, while the
+house of God was desolate: "therefore the heavens restrained their dew,
+and the earth her increase." He reminded them of the punishments which
+had come upon their fathers for neglecting the will of Jehovah: he
+demanded vigorous action from Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua; he
+pronounced the blessing of Jehovah, if the temple were finished and
+proclaimed to Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, to whom, eighteen years
+before (p. 93), Cyrus had entrusted the leadership of the "sons of
+captivity," that Jehovah would keep him as his seal-ring if the work
+were finished. To Joshua Zechariah promises royal splendour and long
+posterity in return for the building of the temple.[340] When the temple
+is restored, the scattered remnants of Israel would return, and if the
+walls of Jerusalem were not restored, Jehovah would be a wall of fire to
+his city. "Many people and mighty nations will come to seek Jehovah at
+Jerusalem, and make supplication in the presence of the Lord."[341] The
+exhortations of the prophets had such effect that the building of the
+temple and the city-walls was taken up again in the second year of
+Darius (520 B.C.). When the satrap of Syria, who is called Thathnai in
+the book of Ezra, and his subordinates raised the question--who had
+given permission for the building--the Jews fell back on the written
+permission of Cyrus. The satrap referred the matter to the king.
+According to the narrative of the Jews Darius caused a search to be made
+for this document in Babylon and Ecbatana, and when it was found in the
+archives at Ecbatana, he sanctioned the building by a new royal
+rescript. The work was carried on under repeated exhortations of the
+two prophets, and after four years and five months it was completed. In
+the sixth year of Darius (516 B.C.), seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar
+had pulled it down, the temple was rebuilt. The dedication was made by a
+sin-offering of twelve goats from the twelve tribes of Israel, and a
+thank-offering of 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs.[342] The walls of
+the city and the ancient citadel of David by degrees rose once
+more.[343]
+
+In the place of the governorships which Cyrus and Cambyses had
+established as the need arose, Darius introduced fixed departments.
+About the year 515 B.C. the kingdom was divided into twenty satrapies.
+Asia Minor was broken up into four satrapies. The first included the
+west coast of Asia Minor; it was the narrow strip of coast in which lay
+the Greek cities from the Sigean promontory as far as Caria; the
+territory of the Carians also, and that of the Lycians, the Solymi, and
+Pamphylians, under the Taurus on the south coast, were attached to this
+satrapy. The second satrapy, of which the metropolis was Sardis,
+comprised Mysia and Lydia, together with the southern strip of Phrygia.
+To the third satrapy, the satraps of which resided at Dascyleum on the
+Hellespont, the Greek cities on the Hellespont, the Propontis, and the
+Bosphorus were allotted; the Thracians in Asia, _i.e._ the Bithynians,
+the Paphlagonians, the Phrygians as far as the Halys, and the
+Cappadocians beyond the Halys as far as the border of Armenia. Cilicia
+with its metropolis of Tarsus was the fourth satrapy. Between Asia Minor
+and the highlands of Iran there were six satrapies. The Tibarenes,
+Mosynoeci, Macrones, and Moschians on the Pontus, formed the first (the
+eighteenth in Herodotus' reckoning); the nations who dwelt to the east
+of them in the valley of the Araxes, the Saspeires and Alarodians, along
+with the western part of Armenia, formed the second (the eleventh); the
+rest of Armenia the third (the thirteenth); Syria and Phoenicia and the
+island of Cyprus the fourth (the fifth);[344] Assyria and Babylonia,
+with the metropolis, Babylon, the fifth (the ninth); the land of the
+Cissians (Susiana) on the left bank of the Tigris the sixth (the
+eighth). Egypt with Cyrene and Barca, the subject tribes in Ethiopia and
+Libya, formed a separate satrapy (the sixth); the satrap resided at
+Memphis. The table-land of Iran was broken up into nine satrapies. These
+were the satrapy of Media (the tenth); the satrapy of the Caspians,
+which comprised the lands to the north of the Medes on the Caspian Sea,
+the valley of the Cyrus, and the lands of the Cardusians, the Mardians,
+the Tapurians and Hyrcanians (the nineteenth); the satrapy of the
+Parthians, Arians, Chorasmians, and Sogdians (the sixteenth); the
+satrapy of the Sacae (the fifteenth); the satrapy of the Bactrians, to
+which the Margians also seem to have belonged (the twelfth);[345] the
+satrapy of the Sattagydae (Thataghus) and the Gandarians, _i.e._ of the
+Gedrosians, the Arachoti, and the Gandharas, on the south bank of the
+Cabul (the seventh);[346] the satrapy of the Sagartians and Sarangians,
+which extended in the east of Persia as far to the south as the Persian
+Gulf, and included the islands belonging to it (the fourteenth); the
+satrapy of the Paricanians and Ethiopians in Asia; _i.e._ the
+inhabitants of the southern edge of the table-land on the east,
+including the black tribes in the delta of the Indus (the seventeenth);
+and finally the satrapy of the Indians, which included all the tribes on
+the right bank of the Indus, from the summits of the Himalayas to the
+junction of the Cabul and the Indus (the twentieth).[347]
+
+The viceroys whom Darius placed over these districts had to keep the
+aggregate of the various political bodies, of which the satrapies
+consisted, in obedience to the empire and in peace towards each other;
+to collect the taxes and tribute, to summon and organize the military
+levies. The satrap was the highest authority in his province--the
+supreme appeal in law, administration, and military affairs. The king
+alone was superior. He was the judge before whom could be laid appeals
+from the judgment of the princes and local boards, if the claimant had
+not preferred to go to him in the first instance; he was the only judge
+between the princes, the districts, the tribes and cities of his
+province. His arrangements must be obeyed. He was to take measures for
+the advancement of cultivation and the increase of the population in his
+province, both as fullfilling the rules of the Avesta, and in the
+interest of the kingdom. He kept watch over trade and currency, over the
+military roads, the stations, the harbours, the canals and dams; he had
+the right to strike silver coins for his province. He had charge of the
+military affairs of the province; and was responsible for the weapons
+and ships when required for the levy. The apportionment of the taxes and
+tributes to the districts and communities of the province, the
+collection of these, and the despatch of the proper revenues to the king
+were among his duties. He had royal scribes to assist him in these
+matters, who read to him the commands of the king and drew up his
+reports to the king. It was not likely to escape Darius that the great
+powers in the hands of the satrap would lead him to use his delegated
+power independently and even against his chief. The attempt of Oroetes
+to found an independent monarchy in Asia Minor, had caused him great
+anxiety in a time of difficulty. He could not always expect that such
+tendencies in distant provinces could be known in time, or that
+rebellions on the part of satraps could be prevented. The king withdrew
+from them the nomination of the commanders of the castles, which
+controlled the main roads of the provinces, the more important
+fortresses and citadels of the provinces, _e.g._ the citadels at
+Ecbatana, Babylon, and Memphis, that, as Xenophon says, "a satrap who
+trusting to his power and the number of his subjects should refuse
+obedience, might find opponents in his province"; and he even nominated
+the commanders of the Persian battalions, which formed the garrisons of
+the fortresses,[348] but limitations of this kind were insufficient
+against the power which their office gave to the satrap, if the royal
+power was unable to make itself felt with force and rapidity. The
+central power must be in vigorous operation against the satraps, if the
+feeling of dependence and responsibility were to be kept alive among
+them. Appeals from the jurisdiction of the satraps to the king were
+possible for the adjacent provinces and did occur, but for the
+inhabitants of more distant provinces they were extremely difficult; yet
+these were the provinces chiefly in point. If months elapsed before an
+order of the kings reached Memphis or Sardis, the Indus or the Caucasus,
+or the satraps of these provinces received an answer to their questions,
+the necessary result would be that these men would regard themselves as
+independent, withdrawn from all authority and obedience. And the distant
+provinces, no less than the satraps, had to be kept in order. If
+reinforcements were to be sent to them the march must not be too long;
+if the borders were to be defended at the right time, the advance of the
+army from the inner provinces must not occupy too much time. The larger
+the empire the more urgently were rapid communications required to give
+reality to the operation of the central force and secure the kingdom
+within and without. The distance from the Strymon to the Indus was
+enormous; from Ephesus to the Hindu Kush was 3000 miles, and from
+Memphis to Sogdiana 2500 miles.
+
+Darius perceived that the kingdom could not be governed or maintained
+without good communications. When the western border of the empire
+touched the Hellespont, the palaces in Persia were too far to the east;
+and the difficulty was increased when Africa, as far as the greater
+Syrtis, and the Thracian coast and Macedonia in Europe had been
+conquered. Reasons of this kind must have induced Darius to place the
+centre of administration as nearly as possible in the centre of the
+kingdom; yet he dared not venture to move too far from Persia. He did
+not hesitate to move his residence further to the west out of the native
+territory into Susiana, a region occupied by subjects of alien race and
+language, and make Susa the centre and metropolis of the kingdom. Strabo
+tells us that Cyrus and the Persians saw that, after the subjugation of
+the Medes, their land lay at the remote edge, while Susiana was more in
+the centre, and nearer the Babylonians and the other nations. For this
+reason they transferred the seat of the monarchy there, availing
+themselves of the proximity of the land and the fame of the city. The
+change was the more desirable because Susiana had never pursued an
+ambitious course of policy, but had always been part of a larger state,
+except perhaps in the times of the heroes.[349] It is a mistake in
+Strabo, which however Herodotus and Aeschylus had already made, to say
+that Cyrus transferred the residence from Persia to Susa. Aeschylus
+speaks of Darius as the Susa-born god of Persia; and Herodotus places
+the palace and government of the Pseudo-Smerdis at Susa; it is from the
+tower of the walls of the citadel of Susa that Prexaspes throws
+himself; there the Magian is assassinated, Darius is raised to the
+throne, and resides from the very beginning of his reign. But this is an
+anticipation of the residence which was erected here by Darius with the
+intention that it should be the fixed abode of himself and his
+successors, the centre of the kingdom and the government. Pliny and
+Aelian tell us definitely that Darius built Susa the royal citadel of
+the Persians, and the inscriptions confirm this statement.[350] Not less
+incorrect is the remark of Strabo, that Susiana had always formed part
+of a larger kingdom, and had never pursued an ambitious policy. On the
+contrary we saw how Elam, after an independence of 1500 years, became
+subject first to Assyria for a few decades, and then to Media and
+Persia. And the Elamites had so little forgotten their ancient days that
+they rose three times against Darius.[351]
+
+The intention to keep the Semitic lands in check, to be nearer Babylon,
+without giving up the communication with the native land, must have
+contributed to the resolution of Darius to transfer the residence to
+Susa. If Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried a road from his
+metropolis in a slanting direction through the desert to Syria (III.
+365), works of this kind were far more urgently needed for the immensely
+greater extent of the Persian empire. Great roads must be made from Susa
+in all directions to the borders of the empire, and maintained. Though
+Cyrus and Cambyses may have made some steps in this direction, it was
+Darius who carried out the plan and founded the great system of roads
+which traversed Persia in all directions, and were now carried from
+Susa. "Who," asks Xenophon, "could so quickly strike down opponents,
+separated from him by a road of many months, as the king of the
+Persians?"[352] At the close of his "Persian History" Ctesias gave a
+sketch of the Persian roads, which led from Ephesus to Bactria and
+India, with an account of the stations, days'-journey, and parasangs.
+This is lost. We know but one member of the system, the road which led
+from Susa, past Sardis, to Ephesus. Of this road, which interested the
+Greeks most, Herodotus gives the following account: "From the Greek sea
+to Susa is a distance of 14,040 stades (1755 miles). From Ephesus to
+Sardis is a distance of 540 stades (67-1/2 miles), which can be
+traversed in three days. From this point there are royal stations and
+the most excellent inns: the whole road passes through inhabited lands
+and is secure. First, it passes through the region of the Lydians, who
+inhabit a fruitful land and are rich in silver; then through the region
+of the Phrygians, who are rich in cattle and fruits of the field; these
+make up 20 stations, 94-1/2 parasangs. Then the Halys has to be crossed;
+there are gates here through which you must pass in order to go over the
+river, and a strong guard-house. Beyond the river you are in Cappadocia,
+and to the borders of Cilicia is a distance of 28 stations and 104
+parasangs. On the borders of Cappadocia and Cilicia are two gates and
+two guard-houses: passing through Cilicia in three stations, a distance
+of 15 parasangs, you reach the border of Armenia which is formed by the
+Euphrates. The Euphrates is crossed by a ferry. In Armenia, which
+possesses much cattle, there are 15 stations provided with guard-houses,
+and 56-1/2 parasangs. Then follows the Tigris, and two other rivers
+bearing the same name (the Greater and the Lesser Zab); and finally the
+Gyndes, which Cyrus diverted from its channel: these have to be crossed
+in boats. From Armenia you pass to the Matieni, the neighbours of the
+Armenians; here there are 34 stations and 137 parasangs to be traversed;
+from the borders of the Matieni and the Cissians (_i.e._ the Susiani) to
+the Choaspes, where Susa is built upon it (this river has also to be
+crossed by a ferry), are 11 stations and 42-1/2 parasangs, making a
+total of 111 stations and 450 parasangs, or 13,500 stades (1687-1/2
+miles). Hence if the royal road has been rightly measured, and a
+traveller makes 150 stades (five parasangs, 19 miles) a day, he goes
+from Sardis to Susa in 90 days, and to Ephesus (if we add in the
+distance from Ephesus to Sardis) in 93 days."
+
+From this description we see that the road has been accurately measured,
+well-kept, guarded, and provided with stations about every 15 miles, in
+which the travellers could find shelter. As Herodotus calls these inns
+very beautiful, we must assume that after the Persian fashion they were
+provided with plantations, and this is confirmed by other evidence. We
+are told that a station on the royal road in Cadusia, in a wholly bare
+and treeless region, was surrounded by a park of high pines and
+cypresses. The Indians also were accustomed to plant their roads and
+provide them with shady resting-places. The road from Sardis to Susa did
+not take the shortest route; the object was to escape the Syrian and
+Phrygian desert, and carry the road through regions which could support
+the army on the march. Hence it ran from Susa in the valley of the
+Tigris on the left bank of the river through Susiana and the native land
+of the Assyrians, for 600 miles in a north-westerly direction, to the
+mountains of Armenia. The region between the Tigris and the Zagrus to
+the north of the satrapy of Cissia (Susiana) is called by Herodotus the
+land of the Matieni, and he extends this name, which is elsewhere used
+only for the tribes dwelling round the Lake of Urumiah, to the Tigris.
+Armenia proper was then crossed by the road in a straight line from east
+to west, from the upper Tigris to the upper Euphrates. Of Cilicia it
+touched merely the north-east corner, and then cut through Cappadocia in
+a north-westerly direction to the Halys. It crossed the river in the
+neighbourhood of Pteria, passed in a south-westerly direction through
+Phrygia, leaving the desert to the south, and Lydia to Sardis.[353] From
+this great road to the west then branched off between the Gyndes (Diala)
+and the Physcus (Adhem) the road to Babylon, and at Physcus the road to
+Ecbatana.
+
+The royal roads through the kingdom secured before all things the rapid
+operation of the central power and the king on the representatives of
+his power in the provinces. The stations were used for a postal
+arrangement, the duty of which it was to carry the commands of the king
+and the reports and questions of the satraps. Thanks to this post the
+king was in the possession of a means of communication far superior to
+that within the reach of any of his subjects. At the stations on all the
+roads of the kingdom, at intervals of 15 miles or a little more, horses
+and riders (Astandae, Angari) were placed, whose sole business it was to
+carry the royal messages and errands. One of these postmen must always
+be in attendance, in order to carry a letter as soon as it arrived, at
+the full speed of his horse, by day or by night, in heat or in snow, to
+the next station. Among the Greeks it was said that the Persian couriers
+travelled swifter than cranes; Herodotus also assures us that nothing in
+the world was more rapid than these horsemen.[354] Thus the king's
+commands travelled on well-built and carefully-guarded roads by this
+post in the shortest space of time to the most remote provinces. They
+were brought from Susa to Sardis in five or six days and nights. The
+commands of the king to the satraps were always given in writing, and
+accredited by the impression of the king's seal.[355] This seal presents
+to us king Darius with the covered tiara on his head standing on the
+chariot behind the charioteer; a lion, struck by his arrow, lies beneath
+the hoofs of the horses which are leaping forward. The king is about to
+shoot a third arrow at a second huge lion, which has reared himself up
+in self-defence, and has already received two arrows from the king. At
+the side a date palm is visible; over the king hovers Auramazda. The
+inscription, which is in three languages, says: "I am Darius, the great
+king."[356] The rapidity with which the king's commands reached even the
+satraps of the most distant lands, kept the authority of the king before
+them. The fortresses and guard-posts on the roads not only served to
+maintain security on and near them, and to make commerce safe; they were
+also used to control trade, and travelling, and any correspondence among
+the subjects. The fortresses were placed at points which could not be
+avoided, in narrow passes, or on the bridges of great rivers. Those in
+command dared not allow any one to pass who did not establish his right,
+as above suspicion. The scribes assigned to the commanders looked over
+all the letters, which were carried through by messengers.[357] As the
+fortresses in which these guard-posts lay were placed in the most
+important divisions of the country, the roads could be closed by the
+posts. If a rebellion arose in this or that quarter, the effect on the
+neighbouring province was checked by closing the roads by means of the
+forts, or the road was defended from post to post. And if an enemy
+invaded from outside he found in them points of resistance, and the
+Persians points of support.
+
+The guidance and control of the viceroys was not confined to the rapid
+and lively communications between them and the king. The Greeks tell us
+that the king travelled every year to this or that province in order to
+review the troops, and examine the cultivation of the soil. Where the
+king did not make a visitation in person, he did so by confidential
+ministers. We are further informed that these visitations were
+entrusted to the princes of the royal house.[358] Where the king found
+that the land was populous and well cultivated, the forests in good
+order, and the fields full of the fruits which the land produced, he
+distinguished the governor by gifts and honours. But where he found the
+land thinly populated and badly cultivated, whether it was owing to the
+severity, the neglect, or the extortion of the satrap, the satrap was
+punished and removed from his place.[359] The charge of the whole
+country lay on the chief overseer, the high official who bore the title
+of the "king's eye." In the Persians of Aeschylus, the chorus inquire of
+Xerxes, "Where his faithful eye has remained?" Herodotus notices as an
+arrangement of the Median kingdom, that the king named a man especially
+devoted to him, his "Eye." We see that unexpected inspections were made
+by the "Eye" of the Persian king, and that his subordinates, who were
+not known to be such, carried on a minute superintendence over the
+conduct of the satraps, the other officers, and the subject people.[360]
+Still more mysterious was the work of the officers who were known as the
+king's "Ears." They cannot have been far removed from spies. We saw to
+what an extent the princes of India carried on the system of secret
+espionage. Herodotus told us in regard to Deioces that his spies and
+informers were in every land, and a Persian proverb said, "The king has
+many eyes and ears." The Greeks declare that the Persian spies did not
+always content themselves with relating what they had heard, but told
+much besides in order to show their zeal. Accusation was received with
+favour by the king and rewarded by distinctions and presents.[361] We
+saw what control was exercised on the great roads, the arteries of
+communication. Owing to the number of guard-houses in each road, which
+repeated the inquiries of the first, any one at the court was in a
+position to compare the accounts of the commanders, and to control them.
+No one passed even the borders of Babylonia without proving who he was,
+and of what city, and why he was travelling.[362] In this way every
+suspicious circumstance was brought to light, and it was certain that no
+conspiracy or rebellion could be contrived without some indications
+being received at the court of the king.
+
+What could not be prevented by the control of the higher and lower
+officers, and the police supervision of the subjects, was suppressed by
+the severe exercise of punishment, which was intended to strike fear
+into magistrate and subject alike by the force of terrible examples. The
+terrorist use of punishment which the Brahmans on the Ganges knew how to
+prove to be a divine right, and a duty of the royal office, was in
+Persia regarded as an indispensable means for supporting the state. And
+as a fact obedience to the absolute ruler rested, in the magistrates and
+the ruling tribe, more decidedly on the apprehension of punishment than
+on any personal interest or common share in the maintenance of the
+kingdom; and in the subject nations it rested on the fear of the ruler
+and the interests which the Persian kings gained in those districts.
+Those entrusted with the power of office must also be the most obedient
+and submiss. Above all, the feeling must be kept alive in the satraps of
+the provinces that the enormous powers delegated to them were given on
+the condition of absolute obedience. The severe penalties which overtook
+any resistance, or the careless execution of a royal command, were only
+the reverse of the favours which fell to their lot in other
+circumstances. However earnestly the religion of Zarathrustra preached
+the regard for life, the rules of religion were compelled, even in
+Persia, to give way to reasons of state. We find Darius no less than
+Cambyses inflicting severe penalties for trifling offences. If the
+satraps gave any grounds for suspicion, they were either secretly or
+openly removed out of the way.[363] But even in the judges and on those
+who were not officers every transgression and act of disobedience to the
+wish of the king was cruelly punished. Darius, who was not considered a
+harsh ruler, did not content himself with the execution of Intaphernes;
+he caused nearly all the males of the house to be put to death, though
+Intaphernes had taken such a prominent part in the assassination of the
+Magian. The leaders of the rebellions in the provinces were punished by
+crucifixion or hanging. Khsathrita, who caused the Medes to revolt, and
+Chitratakhma, the leader of the Sagartians, had their noses and ears cut
+off before execution, and in this state were exposed to public
+view.[364] When Darius marched against the Scythians, Oeobazus, a
+distinguished Persian, entreated that one of his three sons might remain
+behind. The king considered that this wish was not in harmony with the
+devotion which every Persian owed to the kingdom; he replied that all
+his sons should remain, and at once ordered them to be executed.
+Sandoces, one of the royal judges, had been bribed to give a false
+judgment; Darius caused him to be crucified; he was already placed on
+the cross when the king remembered that he had done more good than evil
+to the royal house, and ordered him to be taken down again. He lived,
+and remained in the service, but not in the highest court of the
+kingdom.[365] One of the mildest forms of punishment was banishment to
+the islands of the Persian Gulf. Common punishments were the loss of
+eyes, nose, ears, tongue; the cutting off of hands, arms, and feet;
+scourgings were frequent, and they were inflicted even by the
+satraps.[366] The king pronounced the sentence of death by touching the
+girdle of the accused, or occasionally allowed it to be pronounced in
+his presence by the seven judges. The sentence was then carried out by
+crucifixion or decapitation.[367] In later times we hear of grinding
+between stones, incisions in the body while alive, and painful
+imprisonment in troughs; Xenophon indeed tells us that one of those who
+took part in the rebellion of the younger Cyrus was tortured for a whole
+year.[368]
+
+If we compare the practice of the princes of Persia with the conduct of
+the Assyrian kings, and the later rulers of the East, we cannot fail to
+recognize that the officers under the Achaemenids were in a better
+position and more richly paid, but also better controlled and kept in
+greater dependence than was the case afterwards. The subjects, in spite
+of acts of cruel caprice which affected certain persons, were
+incomparably better off than those of the Assyrians, or of the dynasties
+which afterwards ruled the East. They were governed with more
+intelligence and clemency than the subjects of the Porte, or the
+Khedive, or the Shah of Persia, or the Emirs of Cabul and Herat. It was
+no small thing that the Persian kings established peace in all Asia from
+the shores of the Hellespont to the Belurdagh, and maintained order and
+security from the Nile to the Himalayas. Moreover, the religion and
+worship of the subject nations, of whatever kind they might be, were not
+injured, but rather protected and held in honour. Law, justice, and
+manners remained the same, and the subjects preserved their local
+self-government. Agriculture in the provinces received attention, trade
+and commerce went on along the roads and rivers of the vast empire, and
+was not only unmolested but protected.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[316] Herod. 7, 55; 8, 113; 9, 31. Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 3, 10, 25.
+
+[317] "Laws," p. 695. Vol. V. 390 _n._ 2.
+
+[318] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 5, 6, 17-20.
+
+[319] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 33.
+
+[320] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 11.
+
+[321] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 9.
+
+[322] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 40; 8, 2, 7-9.
+
+[323] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9, 25; "Cyri Instit." 8, 2, 3.
+
+[324] Herod. 3, 130. 8, 118; Ctes. "Pers." 22; Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8,
+3, 3, 4; "Anab." 1, 2; Plut. "Artaxerxes," c. 10-14.
+
+[325] Herod. 1,134; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9, 31; "Cyri Instit." 8, 3, 13;
+Arrian, "Anab." 7, 11; Curtius, 3, 3, 19.
+
+[326] Herod. 1, 136; Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 1, 2, 13; 8, 8, 7; Strabo,
+p. 733.
+
+[327] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 67, ed. Mueller; "Laws," p. 695.
+
+[328] "Alcib. I." p. 121, 122.
+
+[329] Plut. "Artax." c. 3.
+
+[330] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9.
+
+[331] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 8, 13.
+
+[332] Themistocles also was instructed in the doctrine of the Magians,
+when he was trained for a place at the Persian court; Plut. "Themist."
+c. 29.
+
+[333] Strabo, p. 733, 734.
+
+[334] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 1, 33; 8, 6, 10, 13, 14. Plut. "Artax."
+c. 5, 24.
+
+[335] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9, 3.
+
+[336] Noeldeke, "Tabari," s. 389, 443.
+
+[337] G. Smith, "Discoveries," p. 387, 388; Boscawen, "Transactions
+Bibl. Arch." 6, 61 ff.
+
+[338] Above, p. 109.
+
+[339] Mariette, "Athen. Franc,." May, 1855, p. 48; Brugsch, "Hist. of
+Egypt," 2, 291. Above, p. 301, _n._ 3.
+
+[340] Haggai i. 4, 10; ii. 16-20; Zechariah vi. 11-13.
+
+[341] Zechariah ii. 4, 5; viii. 23.
+
+[342] Ezra c. vi.; Psalm lxvi. appears to refer to this.
+
+[343] Nehemiah i. 3.
+
+[344] In the three lists of nations in the inscriptions of Darius, Syria
+and Phenicia are not specially mentioned; they must be included in the
+names Babylonia and Arabia; in the same way Lydians, Phrygians, Carians,
+and Mysians are included in the name Cparda, _i.e._ Sardis.
+
+[345] Behistun, 3, 11 ff.
+
+[346] The inscription of Behistun specially designates Arachosia and
+Bactria as satrapies, 3, 13, 14, 54, 55.
+
+[347] Herodotus (3, 89) places this arrangement into satrapies
+immediately after the accession. This is impossible, owing to the
+rebellions, which continued down to the year 517 B.C. But from the fact
+that Herodotus includes the Indians in this arrangement, and represents
+the Thracians and the islands as added subsequently (3, 94, 96), we may
+conclude that it was made after the Indian conquests and before the
+successes of Megabyzus and Otanes, _i.e._ about 515 B.C. The arrangement
+of Darius was not retained without changes. Babylonia and Assyria were
+afterwards separated; Babylonia formed one satrapy, Syria and Assyria a
+second, Phoenicia and Arabia a third. The satrapy of the Ionians
+revolted after the battle of Mycale; in the Peloponnesian war, we find,
+as in the time of Cyrus, two satrapies in hither Asia, Sardis and
+Dascyleum. Xenophon ("Anab." _in fine_) enumerates six satrapies in Asia
+Minor: Lydia, Phrygia, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Cappadocia and Lycaonia,
+Cilicia. Arrian, ("Anab." 1, 12) enumerates five: Phrygia on the Pontus,
+Greater Phrygia, Lydia, Cappadocia, Cilicia; and, finally, in these
+later periods several satrapies were united in one hand.
+
+[348] Above, p. 110. Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 6, 1, 9, 10; Curtius, 5,
+1, 20. There is no doubt that the satraps commanded the troops of their
+districts; at a later time they even carried on independent wars. That
+the garrisons of the fortresses were bound to obedience follows from
+Herod. 3, 128. The limitations, which Xenophon ascribes to Cyrus, must
+belong to Darius; "Cyri Instit." 7, 5, 34, 69, 70; "Oecon." 4, 6.
+
+[349] Strabo, p. 727.
+
+[350] Plin. "H. N." 6, 27; Ael. "Hist. Anim." 1, 59. Ardeshir also found
+Fars too distant; he made Shahabad near Susa the second city of the
+kingdom.
+
+[351] Vol. I. 252. Vol. III. 175. Above, p. 253.
+
+[352] "Cyri Instit." 8, 2, 9.
+
+[353] Kiepert has convincingly shown how the lacuna in Herodotus (5, 52)
+is to be filled up ("Monatsberichte der Berliner Akademie," 1857, s.
+123). Xenophon gives twelve short marches and about ten parasangs from
+the foot of the Carduchian mountains to the Greater Zab--_i.e._ about 60
+parasangs; from the Zab to the Physcus is 50 parasangs; from the Physcus
+to the bridge of the Tigris at Sittace is 20 parasangs. The territory
+which he traversed in this region he considers to be part of Media
+("Anabasis," 2, 4 ff.). Hence there can be no doubt that the length of
+the royal road from the point where it crossed the Tigris to the borders
+of Susiana was 137 parasangs. If Xenophon passed beyond the point at
+which the royal road crosses the Tigris, to the north, this is amply
+compensated by the greater distance from the bridge at Sittace to the
+Gyndes and the borders of Susiana. At Opis the column of the Greeks came
+upon the Persians who were marching from Ecbatana to Babylon. So the
+road from Ecbatana must have joined the great royal road at Physcus, and
+then it ran past Sittace to Babylon. Alexander also, in order to come
+from Babylon to Susa, first marched north-east to Sittace, and after
+crossing the Tigris proceeded south-east to Susa: Diod. 17, 65, 66.
+
+[354] Herod. 5, 14; 8, 98; Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 6, 17. Suidas and
+Hesychius [Greek: Astandes, Angaros]. Plut. "Artax." 25; "Alex." 18.
+Xenophon ascribes even this arrangement to Cyrus, but it could only be
+made effectual by a network of first-rate roads.
+
+[355] Herod. 3, 128; Ezra i. 23; vi. 2; Esther iii. 9, 12-15; Arrian,
+"Anab." 3, 11.
+
+[356] In Layard; cf. Brandis, "Muenzwesen in Vorderasien," s. 231.
+
+[357] Herod. 5, 35, 49-52. 7, 239.
+
+[358] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 6, 16.
+
+[359] Xenoph. "Oecon." 4, 8-12.
+
+[360] Herod. 1, 114; Aesch. "Pers." 980; Plut. "Artax." 12. Suidas and
+Hesych. [Greek: ophthalmos]; Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 6, 16; 8, 2, 11.
+
+[361] Xenoph. "Cyri Instit." 8, 2, 10; Brisson, "De Reg. Pers." 1, 190.
+
+[362] Herod. 5, 35, 49-52; 7, 239; Brisson, _loc. cit._ 1, 180.
+
+[363] Herod. 3, 129; 4, 166; Plut. "Artax." 23.
+
+[364] Above, p. 247, 248.
+
+[365] Herod. 4, 84; 7, 194.
+
+[366] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9; Brisson, "de Reg. Pers." 2, 227 ff.
+
+[367] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 6; Plut. "Artax." 29; Curtius, 3, 2, 16-19;
+Diod. 17, 30.
+
+[368] Plut. "Artax." 14, 16, 17, 19; Xenoph. "Anab." 2, 6.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE FINANCE AND ARMY OF DARIUS.
+
+
+The empire of Darius rested on the fact that the Persians regarded
+themselves as the governing nation in Asia, and on their desire and
+determination to maintain this position, with the advantages which it
+brought to them; on the devotion and fidelity with which the Persian
+tribal princes and nobles stood by the king; on their habits of
+obedience and subjection; on the ambition of officers and governors,
+which was excited by obvious distinctions; on the education of a
+considerable portion of the Persian youth specially for service in the
+army and the state. Darius was at pains to add to these foundations
+substantial means for maintaining the empire in the greatest profusion.
+When he abandoned the system of Cyrus and Cambyses, who had allowed the
+provinces to fix the amount of their yearly tribute themselves, and set
+himself to secure a fixed income for the state, it was previously
+necessary to fix the standard according to which the tribute, which
+would now be paid as taxes, should be assessed; to arrange the value at
+which the royal chest would accept the various standards current in the
+subject nations.
+
+With this object he created a currency. He founded his standard on the
+forms which the Babylonian system had developed in the course of time.
+The new gold currency was struck on the standard of the Babylonian gold
+talent, _i.e._ on a normal weight of 50-1/2 pounds. Three thousand coins
+were struck out of this total. The gold in this new currency was purer
+than that used by Croesus, or in the older coins in the Ionic cities of
+Asia Minor; the coins which have come down to us show but little alloy
+of silver. The gold piece weighed 8.40 grammes; and had in our coinage a
+value of about 21 shillings; hence the gold talent of Darius was worth
+3000 guineas. These new pieces were called by the Hebrews Darkon and
+Darkemon, among the Greeks Darics. It was of the first importance to
+bring the gold of the coinage into a simple and easily convertible ratio
+with silver. In order to do this the silver coins were struck from a
+larger weight than the gold. Here also Darius used a Babylonian
+talent;--the silver talent of 67-1/2 pounds, for the normal weight. From
+this 3000 staters were struck of a weight of 11.14 grammes; or 6000
+drachmas of a weight of 5.57 grammes. The silver staters of Darius
+(silver darics) were called by the Greeks Median sigli (shekels). As
+gold was valued at 13-1/3 times the value of silver, the silver stater,
+which was one-fourth heavier than the gold coin, was equal to a tenth
+part of its value, and the drachma to a twentieth. Hence the gold daric
+was changed for ten silver staters or twenty silver drachmas. The silver
+talent of Darius was worth more than L300 of our money, the silver
+stater was worth about two shillings. The silver talent of Darius (which
+the Greeks call the Babylonian talent) stood to the Euboean talent of
+the Greeks, who had used the light Babylonian talent as a standard, in a
+ratio of 3 to 4.[369]
+
+The new darics were marked with the figure of the king. Three hundred
+have been lately found in the bed of the canal which the son of Darius
+caused to be cut through the promontory of Athos; and they exhibit
+Darius running or kneeling, in a long cloak, with the kaftan over it,
+the royal tiara on the head, with thick hair and beard; in the right
+hand, which is depressed, we find a lance; sometimes a sword; and in the
+left, which is outstretched, the bow. The silver coins of the king also
+carried his image; in these he sometimes holds an arrow instead of a bow
+in his left hand. For the Syrian districts Darius had a special large
+silver coin of about 28 grammes struck, in addition to the royal
+currency. These present the king with his right hand elevated and his
+left depressed, on his chariot, which is drawn by four or six horses,
+which spring over a dead lion. On the reverse is the picture of a city
+with towers. On other coins of the same kind, the reverse of which
+presents a galley with rowers, the king is also on his chariot, the
+horses are moving slowly, and the royal staff-bearer follows the
+chariot.
+
+The new coinage was not entirely to expel or replace the standards
+current in the provinces. The coining of gold was indeed reserved for
+the crown, but the old silver coins of the provinces were not only
+allowed to be current, they might even be increased, for the right to
+coin silver was left to the districts, cities, and dynasties. They were
+allowed to use their own standards, and mark their coins in whatever way
+they pleased. Communities could put the arms of the city, the dynasts
+their own portraits, on the coins. The satraps also had the right to
+coin silver coins, and mark them with special emblems, their names or
+portraits (among the emblems we find two men before a fire-altar, the
+form of Auramazda, etc.). The silver money which the satraps struck had
+no legal privileges over the common coins of the provinces. In the first
+instance they were coined in exceptional cases when there was a
+deficiency of the currency, or money was needed for important military
+undertakings. The satraps, like the countries, the cities, and dynasts,
+rarely coined after the royal standard; they generally followed the
+standards common in their provinces in order to meet the local
+needs.[370] In the fourth century B.C. they began to coin more
+frequently. At the chest of the king only the royal currency was
+accepted; all other coins were received as bullion, weighed by the royal
+standard, and then melted down in order to be struck in the royal
+currency and issued when required.[371]
+
+It was the opinion of Darius that the crown ought to possess the means
+for the largest outlay that could be demanded. The treasury of Cyrus was
+not perhaps exhausted, but no doubt it was seriously diminished by the
+campaigns of Cambyses, the Magian, the rising of Vahyazdata, and the
+suppression of the rebellions. The object to be attained was that the
+yearly income should considerably surpass the yearly expenditure; the
+excess could then be collected in the treasury, which would thus be in a
+position to pay and support for years the largest armies that could be
+required. The care which Darius bestowed on the currency and taxation
+astonished the Persians, who no doubt remembered the magnanimous conduct
+of Cyrus, to whom such things were of little moment; as Herodotus tells
+us, they called him the "retail-dealer" in contrast to Cyrus.[372] The
+measure, by which Darius imposed on all his lands the taxes which they
+had to pay year by year, was the produce of their soil. If the tax which
+was thus laid on the soil of the provinces on a fixed ratio was not
+excessive, they were nevertheless subject to services, and the crown
+could with certainty reckon on the payment of the contributions. The
+whole amount of arable land in the provinces was measured by parasangs
+(each of 30 stades); and according to the extent, when thus ascertained,
+and the quality of the soil, as Herodotus states, the taxes of the
+provinces were fixed in the royal currency. Within each province the
+various countries and cantons, which formed a political unit, whether
+under dynasts or chieftains, or some other form of constitution, were
+burdened with a fixed share of the contribution of the whole--as we may
+see from the statement that the overseers of the cantons and countries
+were responsible for the payment of the taxes. After exhausting wars,
+new measurements were made with a view to further valuations.[373] The
+lowest contribution of land-tax was made by the satrapy of the Arachoti
+(the Pactyans of Herodotus), and the Gedrosians (the Sattagydae of
+Herodotus), to which belonged also the Gandarians to the south of Cabul;
+it amounted to 170 talents of silver (about L50,000); the next lowest
+amount was 200 talents, (about L57,000), which was paid by two
+satrapies, the Saspeires and Alarodians in the valley of the Araxes, and
+the Caspians, _i.e._ the Cadusians, the Mardians, the Tapurians, and
+Hyrcanians. The satrapy of the Sacians paid 250 talents (L70,000). Four
+satrapies paid 300 talents (L85,000), the satrapy of the Parthians,
+Areians, Chorasmians and Sogdiani, of the Moschians and Tibarenes, of
+the Ionians and of the Susiani. The satrapy of Syria with Phoenicia and
+Cyprus paid 350 talents (L100,000); the satrapies of Bactria and Phrygia
+with Cappadocia paid 360 talents each (L103,000); Armenia, and the
+satrapy of the Paricanians and Ethiopians in Asia, paid 400 talents each
+(L115,000); Media had to pay 450 talents (L130,000); the satrapies of
+Lydia and Cilicia 500 each (L145,000); Drangiana (the Sarangians and
+Sagartians) paid 600 talents (L170,000); Egypt with Cyrene, Barca, and
+the tribes of the Libyans, 700 talents (L200,000); the satrapy of
+Babylon, _i.e._ the region to the south of the Armenian mountains
+between the Euphrates and the Tigris as far as the mouth of the rivers,
+paid 1000 talents (_i.e._ L290,000). This was the highest tax imposed on
+any satrapy; from this assessment, as well as from other evidence, we
+may conclude that Babylonia was the best cultivated and most fruitful
+province in the whole kingdom. The entire income from this satrapy is
+put by Herodotus at an artabe of silver daily, and the Persian artabe
+was larger by three choenixes than the Attic medimnus. The artabe,
+therefore, was about equal to a Prussian bushel, _i.e._ to a measure of
+2770 cubic inches.[374]
+
+Darius thus received every year from the land-tax of the provinces,
+7600 talents of silver in the royal standard, _i.e._ in round figures
+L2,500,000. To this has to be added the large amount of gold-dust, which
+the twentieth, or Indian satrapy, paid yearly to the king. This amount,
+360 talents according to Herodotus, was not the land-tax of the
+province; it was obtained from the gold-sands of the Himalayas. This
+raised the net income of the treasury to a total of about L3,000,000,
+and to this again have to be added the taxes imposed on Lemnos and
+Imbros, on the Thracians and the Greek towns on the Thracian coast, with
+the Macedonians, after the campaign to the Danube, and the tribute in
+kind paid by the subject tribes among the Arabians (1000 talents of
+frankincense every year), and the negroes (ivory and ebony), and the
+tribute in slaves paid by the Colchians (100 boys and 100 virgins every
+fifth year).
+
+More important than these contributions of the Arabians, negroes, and
+Colchians, was the income in money which the crown derived from local
+sources, within the empire, and the proceeds of royal privileges--more
+important still the produce in kind which the provinces had to pay every
+year in addition to the land-tax. In the satrapy of the Parthians and
+Areians a large sum was paid every year for the opening of the sluices
+of the Ares (no doubt an affluent of the Margus, V. 9), without which
+the fields were in that district dried up in the summer. In Egypt the
+fishery on the canal, which connected the lake of Amenemhat with the
+Nile, brought the king every year 240 talents.[375] In what way the
+contributions in kind were divided and imposed upon the provinces, it is
+not easy to see. Herodotus only tells us that the whole kingdom was
+divided into cantons for the support of the king and army; a full third
+of this burden fell upon the satrapy of Babylon.[376] We know that
+Cappadocia, _i.e._ Phrygia and Cappadocia, the third satrapy of
+Herodotus, provided each year, in addition to the land-tax of L103,000,
+1500 horses, 2000 mules, and 50,000 sheep; Media in addition to her
+land-tax provided double this amount of animals.[377] Armenia provided
+10,000 foals each year in addition to the tax of L115,000.[378] Cilicia
+furnished 360 grey horses each year. Besides these contributions in
+animals, there were payments in corn for the garrisons in the provinces.
+The Persians who formed the garrison of the White Fortress in Memphis
+received yearly from Egypt 120,000 bushels of wheat, an amount which
+would abundantly supply the wants of 8000 men. As wheat was cheap in
+Egypt this contribution would represent a value of about L8500.[379]
+Each province sent its best products to the court; and nothing but the
+best was brought to court or received there; there all that was splendid
+in the empire was to be collected.[380] Babylon sent every year 500
+eunuch-boys for service at the court, and Colchis sent male and female
+slaves of Caucasian race. Chalybon (Helbon) in Syria furnished wine for
+the court; wheat came from the cities of the Aeolians and the Anatolian
+coast, salt from the Libyans and the oasis of Siwah.[381]
+
+"From ancient times," Theopompus of Chios informs us, "the taxes and the
+entertainment of the king were imposed on the cities according to their
+size."[382] Ctesias and Deinon maintain that the table of the king of
+Persia, _i.e._ the entertainment of the entire court, cost 400 talents
+daily. This is grossly exaggerated. From Herodotus we see that the
+support of Xerxes and his train, the officers, and all the necessary
+accompaniments, the tents and plate, and moreover the feeding of the
+entire army for one day cost the city of Abdera 300 talents, and the
+island of Thasos 400 talents (L85,000). Theopompus also tells us that
+when the king visited a city it cost them 20, and sometimes 30, talents
+to entertain him, and others spent even larger sums.[383] These expenses
+were increased by the fact that the servants took away with them the
+plate used at table.[384] The support of the king, and apparently of the
+satraps, officers, and generals when travelling, the maintenance of
+troops on the march, were extraordinary burdens, but the contributions
+for the table of the king were ordinary and regular. The daily
+maintenance of the court was expensive, because it included the support
+of a body-guard. "Every day," Heraclides of Cyme relates, "a thousand
+animals were slaughtered; among them horses, camels, oxen, asses, and
+deer, but chiefly sheep. Many birds were eaten, and Arabian ostriches
+among them. The greater part of this and of the other food was brought
+to court for the body-guard, and the overseers gave out meat and bread
+in equal portions; for as the mercenaries in Hellas receive money, so do
+these soldiers receive their maintenance from the king."[385] Fifteen
+thousand men are said to have been fed at the court every day; and as
+the body-guard may be put at 10,000 men, this statement does not seem
+exaggerated.
+
+Beside the contributions in kind for the equipment of the army, the
+support of garrisons and the court, there were burdens of another kind.
+The kings of Persia kept great studs for the court and army. We have
+already mentioned the stud in Nisaea in Media; 150,000 or 160,000 horses
+are said to have pastured there. The royal studs in Babylonia contained
+in breeding horses, 800 horses and 16,000 mares--"besides the horses for
+war," as Herodotus expressly adds. The Indian dogs which were kept by
+Darius or his successors were so numerous, that four great villages in
+Babylonia had to contribute exclusively to their maintenance.[386] As
+Herodotus observes that these villages were free from other burdens, we
+may assume that all the places, on which contributions in kind were
+imposed for special objects, were exempted from the large contributions
+for the court and army in horses, beasts of burden, cattle for
+slaughter, corn, etc. Elsewhere we find places burdened with special
+services to members of the royal house, or favourites. Certain districts
+and cities had to pay for the girdle of the queen, others for her veil;
+one place paid for the head-band, another for the necklace, a third for
+the hair ornaments of the queen.[387] Xenophon tells us that the
+favourites of the king of Persia received horses and servants in the
+various provinces, and transmitted them to their descendants.[388] When
+Demaratus, king of Sparta, after losing his throne, sought protection
+with Darius in Persia, the city of Halisarna and the district of
+Teuthrania were allotted to him. Gongylus of Eretria received from
+Darius Gambrium, Myrina, and Gryneum. At a later time Magnesia on the
+Maeander was assigned to Themistocles--a city, which, recovering from
+the destruction by Mazares (p. 54), paid, according to Thucydides, a
+yearly contribution of 50 talents (more than L10,000) for bread,
+Lampsacus, which was famous for its cultivation of the vine, for wine,
+and Myus for relishes. In this way, in accordance with the system of
+Cyrus and Darius, Demaratus was made prince of Halisarna, Gongylus
+became prince of Gambrium, Themistocles prince of Magnesia; the latter
+also received contributions in produce from other cities. Demaratus and
+Gongylus left their thrones to their descendants.[389] As the places
+which had to provide contributions in kind for special purposes or
+individuals were freed from the contributions of the provinces to the
+army and court--the land-tax of the places presented to favoured persons
+were no doubt taken out of the land-tax of the province.
+
+We are not in a position to fix even approximately the amount of the net
+income of the treasury of Darius which came in every year over and above
+the land-tax of the provinces and the tolls. Nor can we say how high the
+yearly contributions in kind paid by the provinces for the court and
+army ran. If we set aside the extraordinary burdens of supporting the
+king on a journey, or a satrap, or officer, and the maintenance of
+troops on a march, and follow Theopompus in assuming that the average
+daily expense of the whole court amounted to 30 Babylonian talents, a
+total of 11,000 talents of the royal standard, _i.e._ more than
+L3,000,000, would be required for this purpose, a sum in excess of the
+land-tax of the provinces. If we further assume that the maintenance of
+the army imposed on the provinces a burden equal to the maintenance of
+the court, the provinces would have to pay for the state, in ordinary
+burdens, without regard to their own requirements, three times the
+amount of the land-tax. Egypt, which, with Cyrene and Barca, had to pay
+700 talents in tax, would thus pay 2100 talents of royal money every
+year, _i.e._ more than L600,000. At a later time we find that Ptolemy
+II. received each year from Egypt 14,800 Attic talents, _i.e._ about
+L3,000,000, and 1,500,000 artabes of corn, and Ptolemy Auletes received
+6000, and, according to Cicero's statement, 12,500 Attic talents.[390]
+The income of the empire of the Sassanids under Chosru Parviz is put at
+nearly L14,000,000.[391]
+
+Thus the burdens which the subject lands had to pay to the king do not
+seem extraordinarily heavy, and, on the other hand, the rule of the
+Persians certainly tended to promote their welfare. We have observed
+that the satraps were commanded to take care for the agriculture and the
+forests of their provinces, and that special attention was paid to this
+in the visitation of the provinces. In his palaces and wherever he went
+the king caused the most beautiful gardens to be made and planted with
+excellent trees,[392] and the satraps did the same at their residences.
+The parks at the residence of the satrap of Phrygia-Cappadocia, near
+Dascyleum, were of great extent, consisting in part of an enclosure for
+game, in part of open hunting-ground. When Agesilaus of Sparta had laid
+them waste, the satrap Pharnabazus said to him: "All that my father left
+to me, beautiful buildings, gardens full of trees and game, which were
+the delight of my heart, I now see cut down and burnt."[393] At Sardis
+the satraps of Lydia-Mysia had made several parks of this kind; the most
+beautiful was adorned with water and meadows, with places for recreation
+and shade, in a most extraordinary and royal manner.[394] The younger
+Cyrus enlarged this by a new park. When he showed it to Lysander, the
+Greek marvelled at the beauty of the trees, the evenness of their
+growth, the straight rows and well-chosen angles in which they stood and
+cut each other, the various and delightful odours which met those who
+walked in it, and declared that he admired yet more the man who had
+measured out and arranged the whole. The prince replied that he had
+measured it out and arranged it himself, and had even planted some with
+his own hands. And when Lysander, looking at the splendid clothes of the
+prince, his chains and amulets and ornaments and perfumes, seemed to
+doubt this, Cyrus replied: "I swear by Mithra, that I never take food
+till I have heated myself into a sweat by martial exercises or garden
+work."[395]
+
+The trade of the empire must have been very greatly promoted by the
+roads which Darius made through it in every direction. Merchandise
+passed from one end of the empire to another on paved roads, which were
+provided with excellent inns and secured by numerous guard-posts.
+Moreover, by his royal currency, Darius had created money which passed
+from the Hellespont and the Nile to the Indus, and thus the merchants
+had everywhere at hand a fixed measure of value. The raw products which
+were required by the manufacturing lands, could be bartered in safety,
+on the upper Nile, in Libya and Arabia, and on the Indus; the wide
+market which the extent of the Persian kingdom opened to the harbour
+cities of Asia Minor and Syria, to the industry of the Lydians and
+Phenicians, the Egyptians and Babylonians, could be used in the readiest
+and most profitable manner. Ramses II. of Egypt had conceived the idea
+of a direct communication by water between the Nile and the Red Sea in
+order to facilitate the trade with South Arabia. For this object he had
+caused a canal to be taken from the Nile at Bubastis, but he had only
+carried it as far as the Lake of Crocodiles. Pharaoh Necho more than 700
+years later had again taken up the work and carried the canal as far as
+the Bitter Lakes. From this point the canal was to abandon the direction
+towards the east and turn almost at a right angle to the south and the
+Red Sea. Necho failed to effect the communication between the Bitter
+Lakes and the Red Sea; and the canal remained unfinished. Herodotus, who
+knew nothing of the attempt of Ramses II., says: "Darius carried a canal
+from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf."[396] "Necho was the first to attempt
+a canal leading into the Red Sea, and Darius accomplished what he began.
+The length of the voyage is four days, and the canal is broad enough to
+allow two triremes when rowing to pass one another (_i.e._ more than 100
+feet). The water of the Nile flows into it a little above Bubastis, and
+empties into the Red Sea. For the first part it is excavated in the
+plain of Egypt, which lies towards Arabia, under the mountains opposite
+Memphis, in which are the stone quarries. At the foot of the mountain
+the canal runs away to the east, and then through a cleft in the range
+to the south, and southward, into the Arabian Gulf. The distance from
+the northern sea--the Mediterranean--to the Red Sea by the shortest
+route from Pelusium[397] is 1000 stades (105 miles); but the canal is
+much longer, owing to bends in it."[398] In the bed of this canal, the
+direction of which can still be traced in part, three stones were
+discovered at Saluf El Terraba, on the Crocodile Lake, not far from the
+southern ridge of the Bitter Lakes. They have recently been much injured
+by the workmen at the Suez canal. On the front is seen the form of
+Darius with the tall tiara on his head (the upper part of one of the
+monuments is preserved); and beside the figure of the king we find the
+name and title in hieroglyphics. Beneath are the titles and inscriptions
+in Persian, Turanian, and Babylonian; on the back is an inscription in
+hieroglyphics which has been destroyed with the exception of a word; but
+of the Persian and Turanian version we can still read a part: "Darius,
+the great king, the king of kings, the king of the lands, the king of
+this wide earth, the son of Hystaspes, the Achaemenid. Darius the king
+says: 'I, the Persian, have governed Egypt; I have caused a canal to be
+dug from the river which flows in Egypt to the sea which reaches to
+Persia.'" Darius did not, like Ramses and Necho, think only of a direct
+communication by water with South Arabia, but rather of a communication
+with Persia, and not only with the coasts of Persia but even with the
+mouths of the Indus. His expedition to explore the Indus did not sail
+back to the Persian Gulf, but coasted Arabia and returned to the Red
+Sea; and Herodotus tells us that Darius, after that expedition, made use
+of the southern sea.[399] After opening a road by water into the Red
+Sea, Darius could, if he thought fit, order the ships of the Ionians and
+Phenicians to the coast of Arabia, the Persian Gulf, or the Indus, and
+send the ships of Babylon to the Mediterranean. Traders made a constant
+use of the canal; the ships of Sidon and Tyre could sail from the Nile
+to the shores of Arabia Felix, a voyage which the Phenicians at the time
+of Solomon, and Uzziah of Judah, attempted to make from Elath with the
+permission and assistance of those princes. From Arabia they could visit
+the mouth of the Indus, as their ships had done nearly 500 years before
+at the time of Solomon.
+
+However active the wearer of the crown and his immediate supporters
+might be in the government of the kingdom, however speedily their
+commands were made known in the provinces--in spite of the severity with
+which the satraps were watched and controlled, and the impulse given to
+their ambition and emulation,--in spite of the excellent management of
+the state income and the abundance of the means at disposal, and the
+sums of gold and silver, the gold and silver ornaments, the splendid
+furniture in the royal citadels, which were in existence for nearly 200
+years after this time, attest the success of Darius--the kingdom rested
+in the last resort on the fidelity and bravery of the army. In his
+body-guards and in the garrisons of the fortresses and guard-posts
+scattered up and down the whole kingdom, Darius had a considerable
+standing army formed of Persians.[400] In case of war this standing army
+was strengthened by the levy of the larger landed proprietors in Persia,
+who had to furnish cavalry, and the subject lands.[401] Though the
+fortified places were numerous, the amount of troops in the various
+forts was not necessarily great, and the complement of a Persian
+battalion, 1000 men, seems rarely to have been exceeded. The garrison of
+the oldest city in the empire, the White Fortress at Memphis, was much
+stronger, and so, no doubt, were the garrisons of the two citadels of
+Babylon and of Ecbatana. In the west Dascyleum on the Propontis, and
+Sardis, the citadel of which was held by 1000 men, were the extreme
+points; in the interior there were so many garrisons at Celaenae, on the
+bridge over the Halys, and at other places west of the Halys, that a
+considerable army could be formed for service in the field.[402] East of
+the Halys, in Cilicia, there was the garrison of the two forts on the
+borders of Cilicia and Cappadocia, and in addition a body of cavalry
+which it cost 140 talents (L40,000) a year to support. The citadels and
+fortresses which the inscriptions of Darius mention in Armenia, Media,
+Persia, and Arachosia, show that there was a certain number of fortified
+places in those regions. In Armenia Tigra and Uhyama are mentioned; in
+Media Ecbatana and Cikathauvatis; in Arachosia Kapisakanis (Kapisa) and
+Arsada. The chief points in the royal road from Susa to Sardis at the
+most important divisions in the country were closed by fortresses, and
+the same was the case on the other military roads; we cannot therefore
+doubt that the military arrangements in the eastern provinces were the
+same as in the west, though the Greeks can only tell us of the west.
+Lastly, there was a number of fortresses at the extreme borders of the
+kingdom. In Egypt, in addition to Memphis, Daphne and Elephantine were
+fortified;[403] in the country of the Cadusians Cyrus had already
+founded the city on the Jaxartes known as _Ultima Cyrus_, and in the
+neighbourhood were several citadels to protect the borders (p. 103).
+Besides the garrisons, the amount of troops was fixed which the satraps
+had to keep under arms, to support their authority, to carry out
+executions, and to secure the provinces.[404] Like the garrisons, the
+troops of the satraps, in case of necessity, could fall back on the
+assistance of the reserve corps of larger districts, such as the
+Cilician cavalry. The troops stationed in the provinces were reviewed
+yearly, as Xenophon tells us. For this object they were gathered
+together at a fixed place in the provinces, with the exception of the
+garrisons of the fortresses. For the more western districts the place of
+assembly was Thymbrara on the Pactolus,[405] where also, in time of war,
+the levy of the province was assembled. The troops which were nearer
+the residence of the king, were, according to Xenophon, inspected by the
+king in person; those at a greater distance by men in his confidence.
+The satraps, chiliarchs, and commandants, who brought up the prescribed
+number of troops provided with excellent weapons and horses, were
+rewarded by presents and marks of distinction; those who neglected their
+troops or made money out of them were severely punished and removed from
+their office.[406]
+
+From Herodotus we learn that the guard of the king consisted of 2000
+selected Persian horsemen and 2000 lance-bearers on foot, whose lances
+were adorned at the lower end with apples of gold and silver, and also
+of a division of 10,000 infantry, whom the Persians call the immortals,
+because their number is always the same. But the name of the corps may
+be formed from the Amesha Cpenta Ameretat (V. 156, 164). Xenophon
+ascribes this institution to Cyrus.[407] Nine thousand of them had
+silver pomegranates on their lances, but a thousand who were selected
+from the whole corps to form the first battalion had their pomegranates
+of gold. On the monuments they carry lances taller than the height of a
+man, and oval shields of half a man's height. This troop was
+distinguished as the body-guard of the king by golden necklaces and
+other ornaments; it was better furnished than other troops with beasts
+of burden and camels to carry the baggage and the provisions. Later
+writers speak only of these 10,000 infantry as forming the guard. They
+inform us that the corps was always about the king, keeping watch in the
+palace day and night, where they had a court to themselves; they
+accompanied the king on his journeys, when they camped in a circle round
+the king's tent.[408] The amount of the whole army cannot even be
+approximately fixed. Darius led the levy of the empire over the
+Bosphorus to the amount of 700,000 men; from the subject lands so many
+soldiers would be required as would be necessary.[409] It was more
+difficult to organize this vast mass. The strength of the army, like
+that of the kingdom, rested on the military skill and superiority of the
+Persians. With the Persians, as with the Indians, the chief weapon was
+the bow, and the Persian arrows like the Indian were of reed. Aeschylus
+praises "the mighty with the bow, the strength of the Persian land," and
+Atossa, the queen of Darius, is represented as asking whether "the
+bow-driven arrow adorns the hand" of the Hellenes.[410] The Persians
+preferred to fight on horseback. The rider placed a coat of mail over
+the short shirt, and beside the bow and a short javelin carried a
+crooked and not very long sabre on the right hip;[411] the head was
+protected by the tiara. But there were also large divisions of heavy
+armed cavalry among the troops of the Persians in which the men wore
+brass or iron helmets and strong harness, while their horses were armed
+with frontlets and breast-pieces.[412] The infantry carried long
+rectangular shields of wicker-work, under which hung the quiver with the
+javelin and sabre, but as a rule they were without coats of mail.[413]
+The leading men and officers were adorned in battle with their best
+purple robes, neck-chains, and armlets; over the coat of mail they threw
+the glittering kandys; on the hip hung a sabre with a golden handle and
+a golden sheath. Thus they mounted their war-horses, Nisaean greys, with
+golden trappings, the wildness of which sometimes caused the death of
+the rider. Aeschylus speaks of them as "horsemen mighty with the bow,
+dreadful to behold, and terrible in the venturous courage of their
+hearts."[414] In military skill the Persians regarded the Medes as next
+to themselves; then followed the Sacae, the Bactrians, the Indians, and
+the other Arian tribes. Next to the Medes the Sacae were the most
+trustworthy troops.[415] The contingents of the provinces were governed
+by Persian generals, who were mainly taken from the members of the royal
+family, the "kinsmen" of the king, and the tribal princes.[416] Like the
+Persian troops, these contingents were arranged in divisions of 10,000
+men. Each division was subdivided into ten battalions of 1000 men, and
+the battalions into ten companies of 100 men; the company was made up
+of groups, which, according to Xenophon, consisted of seven men among
+the Persians, and according to Herodotus of ten in the contingents.[417]
+The commander of the entire contingent of a province had the nomination
+of the officers of divisions and the leaders of battalions; the officers
+of divisions, as Herodotus says, nominated the captains of companies,
+and the leaders of the groups.[418] The native dynasts as a rule marched
+out with their troops and ships, but they were subject to the commanders
+of the contingents.[419]
+
+The king reviewed the army from his war-chariot, surrounded by scribes,
+who wrote down everything worthy of notice. When parading before the
+king, the horsemen dismounted, stood by their horses, and concealed
+their hands in the sleeves of their kandys. The camp was always pitched
+in a particular order; the tent of the king was on the eastern side, for
+the abode of the gods was in the east. The large and splendid tent of
+the king was surrounded by the tents of the guard; the cavalry, the
+infantry, and the baggage had special places assigned to them.[420] They
+understood how to fortify the camp;[421] an open camp was always at a
+certain distance, about seven miles, from the enemy in order to avoid
+surprises as far as possible. The Persian cavalry required a
+considerable time, especially at night, for preparation. Their spirited
+horses had not only to be tethered, but even tied by the feet to prevent
+their running away. The unfettering, saddling and bridling of the
+horses, and putting on the harness, took up much time, and could not be
+done at night without disorder and confusion.[422] When there was
+danger of a surprise the troops had to remain at night under arms. The
+signal for marching was given from the royal tent with the trumpet, but
+never before daybreak,[423] "before the glittering Mithra mounted, and
+in golden shape seized the beautiful summits," the army of the Persians
+was not to move. In the same way the march ended at the latest at
+sunset.[424] In battle the king occupied the centre of the position,
+surrounded by the Achaemenids, the "kinsmen" and "companions," several
+hundred in number,[425] and the body-guard, the cavalry of which usually
+stood in the first ranks before the king; next to them in the centre
+came the best troops in the army.[426] According to ancient custom the
+king generally fought from a chariot drawn by Nisaean horses,[427] with
+his bow in his hand, in which manner, at an earlier period, the princes
+of the Indians had fought, and the kings of the east, the Pharaohs, the
+rulers of Assyria, and the princes of the Syrians. The king also, when
+in battle, wore all his royal ornaments, the purple kaftan over his
+armour, and the royal tiara. Near him was the ensign of the empire, the
+golden eagle on a tall pole.[428] The mass of the cavalry was generally
+placed on the wings; between these and the centre were the contingents
+of the subject nations, each according to its divisions, which were
+drawn up separately in solid squares.[429] The battle was begun by the
+cavalry and infantry with a thick shower of arrows. With this an attempt
+was made to ward off the attacks of the enemy, and it was kept up till
+the enemy seemed to be thrown into confusion. Then the troops were
+brought closer; javelins were hurled and sabres drawn.[430] The Persian
+and Sacian cavalry was most dreaded; as it consisted to a great extent
+of archers it was difficult to approach it. If the cavalry marched to
+the attack with arms in rest, the onset was made first with separate
+squadrons, and then in entire masses.[431] The Medes and Persians had
+learned the art of siege from the Assyrians. The cities were enclosed by
+ramparts, and on these works were carried forward, under the protection
+of which battering-rams were brought to bear against the trenches and
+walls. The Persians were also well acquainted with mining. Passages were
+carried under-ground, both to make breaches in the walls by excavations,
+and to provide a way into the city. In order to recapture Chalcedon,
+which had rebelled against Darius when he crossed the Danube against the
+Scythians, together with the cities of the Propontis and Hellespont, an
+under-ground passage of more than 15 stades in length was carried, after
+the king's return, under the walls of the city to the market-place, and
+the Chalcedonians had no suspicion of its existence, till the Persians
+appeared in the city.[432]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[369] In his "Metrological Studies" Boeckh fixed the ratio of the Euboean
+to the Babylonian talent as 5:6. Since that time the discovery of
+numerous gold and silver Persian coins and of weights at Babylon and
+Nineveh, and the lion of Abydus with its Aramaean stamp, have provided
+the means for fixing the gold talent of Darius at 25,245 kilogrammes,
+and his silver talent (the Babylonian talent) at 33,660 kilogrammes;
+Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 54, 63, 64, 69. Hence Brandis takes Mommsen's
+view, that in Herod. 3, 89, 95, we must read 78 instead of 70 Euboean
+talents; the Euboean talent in Attica was a little heavier than the
+light Babylonian talent (the gold talent of Darius), and in the
+calculation 7600 Babylonian talents must be made equal to 9880 Euboean
+talents, which enables us to preserve the total sum given by
+Herodotus--14,560 talents.
+
+[370] Brandis, "Muenzwesen," s. 225, 231, 239, 241.
+
+[371] Herod. 3, 96; Strabo, p. 735.
+
+[372] Herod. 3, 89; Xenoph. "Hellen." 3, 4, 25.
+
+[373] Herod. 6, 42.
+
+[374] Herod. 1, 192; Boeckh, "Staatshaush." 1^2, 130.
+
+[375] Herod. 3, 117; 2, 149.
+
+[376] Herod. 1, 192.
+
+[377] Strabo, p. 525.
+
+[378] Xenoph. "Anab." 4, 5, 34 ff.
+
+[379] Herod. 3, 91; Boeckh, "Staatshaush." 1^2, 135.
+
+[380] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 6, 23; Athenaeus, p. 145, 146.
+
+[381] Strabo, p. 735.
+
+[382] In Athenaeus, p. 145.
+
+[383] _Loc. cit._ in Athenaeus.
+
+[384] Herod. 7, 118; Plut. "Artax." c. 4, 5.
+
+[385] In Athenaeus, p. 146.
+
+[386] Herod. 1, 192.
+
+[387] Herod. 9, 109; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 4, 9; 2, 4, 27; Plato, "Alcib.
+I." p. 123; Cic. "In Verrem," 3, 33.
+
+[388] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 6, 5.
+
+[389] Xenoph. "Hellen." 3, 1, 6; "Anab." 2, 1, 3; 7, 8, 8; Thucyd. 1,
+138; Plutarch, "Themist." 29 ff. That Themistocles was prince of
+Magnesia is the less doubtful because a silver stater of this city, 8,56
+grammes in weight, with the square, and the name of Themistocles, is in
+existence: Mommsen. "Rom. Muenzwesen," s. 65; Brandis, "Muenzwesen in
+Vorderasien," s. 459, proves a second coin of Themistocles, 5.85 grammes
+in weight.
+
+[390] Droysen, "Hellenismus," 2, 44; Diod. 17, 52; Strabo, p. 798.
+
+[391] Noeldeke, "Tabari," s. 364 ff.
+
+[392] "Oecon." 4, 11, ff.
+
+[393] Xenoph. "Hellen." 4, 1, 33.
+
+[394] Plut. "Alcib." 24.
+
+[395] "Oecon." 4, 20-24; Aelian, "Hist. Anim." 1, 59.
+
+[396] Herod. 4, 39.
+
+[397] Herod. 4, 41.
+
+[398] Herod. 2, 158.
+
+[399] Herod. 4, 44. On the monuments of Darius, see Lepsius, "Chronol."
+s. 354, and "Monatsberichte B. A." 1866, s. 288; Oppert, "Memoires prs.
+a l'Acad. des Inscrip." 1, 8 (1869), p. 646 ff. In opposition to the
+definite and detailed assertion of Herodotus, given in the text, the
+assertion in Strabo (p. 804) and Diodorus (1, 33) that Darius nearly
+finished the canal but did not quite finish it, cannot be accepted.
+Herodotus was in Egypt not much more than 30 years after the death of
+Darius (about 450 B.C.). Diodorus and Strabo accept the tradition of the
+times of the Ptolemies, which sought to claim for them the glory of
+completing the work, though they did no more than reopen the canal which
+had become silted up. To support this tradition Oppert has supplemented
+the decisive word of which no more than the syllable _ta_ remains,
+according to his transcription, in such a way that the meaning extracted
+is that Darius filled up his own canal. I do not see why this _ta_
+should not be a part of _uctaka_, _i.e._ to excavate, as well as of
+_vikata_, _i.e._ to make level. We cannot assume without further
+evidence that Darius set up a monument over the failure of his
+undertaking or its destruction. The Turanian version, which Oppert has
+since published ("Peuple des Medes," p. 214) does not help us to a
+decision, for it is only preserved as far as the place in question.
+
+[400] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 7, 5, 66.
+
+[401] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 20-22.
+
+[402] Herod. 3, 127; 5, 102; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 2; Diod. 11, 34; Arrian,
+"Anab." 1, 29.
+
+[403] Herod. 2, 30.
+
+[404] Xenoph. "Oecon." 4, 5.
+
+[405] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 6, 2, 11.
+
+[406] "Oecon." 4, 5.
+
+[407] Herod. 7, 40, 41, 83; 8, 113; Heraclid. Cuman. fragm. 1, ed.
+Mueller; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 7, 5, 68.
+
+[408] Curtius, 3, 3, 13; Xenoph. _loc. cit._
+
+[409] It is true that the population between the Euphrates and the Indus
+is now rated at 18,000,000 only. Kenneir, "Geograph. Memoir of Persia,"
+p. 44-47. But the numbers of the prisoners and the slain in the
+inscriptions of Behistun allow us to conclude that the population of
+Iran was far greater. Under the Ptolemies Egypt, consisting of about
+30,000 communities, counted 7,000,000 inhabitants; Diod. 1, 31. That
+Asia Minor was not less populous is proved, for certain districts, by
+the statements of Xenophon; the budget of Darius, the numbers of his
+army, and more especially of the army of Xerxes, the mass of troops
+which the younger Cyrus collects in Asia Minor and Artaxerxes in the
+Eastern provinces, are evidence of a tolerably dense population.
+
+[410] "Pers.," 239, 926.
+
+[411] Herod. 7, 61.
+
+[412] Herod. 7, 85; 8, 113; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 8, 7; "Cyri Inst." 8, 8,
+22; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 13.
+
+[413] Herod. 5, 49; 9, 62; Strabo, p. 734.
+
+[414] Herod. 9, 20, 22, 63, 80; Plut. "Artax." 9; Aeschyl. "Pers."
+26-28.
+
+[415] Herod. 1, 134; Polyaen. "Strat." 7, 11. According to Herodotus the
+Sacae were in the centre at Marathon. Mardonius retains them in Thessaly
+with the Bactrians and Indians: Herod. 8, 113; 9, 31. In the battle at
+Arbela they were among the bravest: Arrian, "Anab." 3, 13.
+
+[416] Herod. 7, 64 ff.
+
+[417] Herod. 7, 82, 83; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 1, 14.
+
+[418] Herod. 7, 81.
+
+[419] Herod. 7, 96.
+
+[420] Herod. 7, 100; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 5, 1-16.
+
+[421] Herod. 9, 15.
+
+[422] Xenoph. "Anab." 3, 4, 35.
+
+[423] Curtius, 3, 3, 8.
+
+[424] Brisson, _loc. cit._ 3, c. 89.
+
+[425] Curtius, 3, 3, 14, 15; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 9, 31.
+
+[426] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 8; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 11.
+
+[427] Artaxerxes is on horseback in the battle of Cunaxa; Plutarch,
+"Artax." 10, 11, but the general custom is given in c. 6.
+
+[428] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 10, 12. Vol. V. 172.
+
+[429] Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 8.
+
+[430] Herod. 7, 218, 226; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 22, 23.
+
+[431] Herod. 9, 20, 23, 49.
+
+[432] Above, p. 303. Herod. 1, 162, 168; 4, 200; 5, 115; Polyaen.
+"Strateg." 7, 2, 5.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE COURT OF DARIUS.
+
+
+Along with the new arrangement of the administration of the empire
+Darius had transferred the centre of it into a province, which had
+thrice rebelled against him, to Susa,[433] the ancient metropolis of
+Elam, which Assurbanipal had conquered, plundered, and destroyed 130
+years previously. Since that time the city had risen from its ruins. We
+have seen what motives determined Darius to take this step. The position
+of the city, which was not far removed from his native territory, and at
+the same time brought the stubborn resistance of the Babylonians under
+the close pressure of the royal residence, offered the requisite
+security. Out of Media, from the southern foot of the Mount Elvend
+(Orontes), the Kerkha, or Choaspes, flows down the heights which bound
+Iran on the west, towards the south-west; and then breaks through them
+in order to fall into the Tigris. Further to the east is the Dizful.
+Rising more to the south than the Kerkha it reaches the plains of Elam
+in a course parallel to that stream and then falls also into the Tigris.
+Between these two rivers there rises in the mountain edge the Shapur, a
+river of a short and narrow course, but with a deep channel. For a time
+it flows in the same direction with the others, then it turns to the
+east, and falls into the Dizful, or rather into the Karun, as the Dizful
+is now called in its lower course, after the affluent which falls into
+it from the east. At the point where the Kerkha and Dizful approach
+within two or three leagues of each other,--though lower down they
+separate more and more widely,--about half a league from the east bank
+of the Kerkha, and on the eastern side of the Shapur, is the city of
+Susa. The approach from the west was barred by the Kerkha, and from the
+east by the Dizful and its affluents. If an enemy came from the west or
+the east, he had to cross considerable rivers. The great road which ran
+from the west from Sardis to Susa, came to an end opposite Susa on the
+west bank of the Kerkha. According to Herodotus the city could only be
+reached by a ferry across the river. This was no doubt an arrangement
+for security. An approaching enemy was not to find bridges either on the
+Kerkha or the Dizful.[434] Thus irrigated by three rivers, the land
+round the city was extraordinarily fruitful and blooming.
+
+The Greeks were right in calling Susa "the ancient great city." Though
+it was not, as they imagined, at one time the abode of Memnon, the son
+of the morning, who had come to the help of the Trojans, we have made
+acquaintance with the ancient kingdom of Elam, the beginnings of which
+we had to place about the year 2500 B.C. We saw that the princes of this
+kingdom could make war upon Babylonia, and reduce it to dependence in
+the last centuries of the third millennium B.C., and that its armies
+must have reached Syria. Then Elam had withstood the Assyrians for a
+long time with very great stubbornness, until at length after brave
+struggles it succumbed to the arms of Assurbanipal. A relief in the
+palace of Assurbanipal exhibited Susa before its capture, in the year
+645 B.C., stretching along between two rivers (the Shapur and the
+Dizful), and surrounded by high walls and numerous towers. The new Susa
+also, the Susa of Darius and his successors, extended, according to the
+evidence of Strabo, between the two rivers; according to his statement
+the city had a circuit of 120 stades, and according to Diodorus of 200
+stades, _i.e._ of 15 or 20 miles--an extent which does not leave it far
+behind the fallen cities of the Assyrians, and Babylon.[435] But Susa,
+which in spite of its numerous population was inhabited only to a small
+extent by Persians, required to be fortified even less than Ecbatana.
+The royal citadel must keep the city in check, and afford the most
+complete security to the palace. We are expressly told that this
+citadel was protected by strong works, which would indeed be necessary
+for the position of affairs and the object of Darius.[436] According to
+the statement of Pliny, the citadel was surrounded by the Eulaeus, the
+name which he gives to the Choaspes; the Book of Daniel also represents
+the Ulai as flowing round the castle of Susa.[437] The ruins prove that
+the palace lay on the Shapur. Within the protecting walls of the
+fortress was the "golden dwelling," "the gold-adorned chambers of
+Darius" as Aeschylus calls them,[438] the "far-famed palace" in the
+language of Diodorus. According to Aelian Darius took a pride in the
+buildings which he had erected at Susa; it was he who had erected the
+famous works there.[439]
+
+The ruins of Susa are now surrounded by a wilderness, inhabited only by
+lions and hyaenas. The soil is still productive of grass, and the remains
+of numerous canals attest the ancient cultivation. Steep mounds of
+debris and heaps of ruins rise thickly on the left bank of the Shapur,
+in appearance closely resembling the remains of Babylon and Nineveh. The
+highest mound is nearest the river; it rises 120 feet above the level of
+the water, is 3000 feet in circumference, and appears to have supported
+a part of the citadel; the mound abutting on the north only rises 80 or
+90 feet, and forms a square, the sides of which measure 1000 or 1200
+feet. On this the remains of a large building have been discovered.
+Further to the east is an extensive platform, the circumference of which
+far surpasses that of the two first put together; the height on the
+south side reaches 70 feet and on the east and north about 50 feet. On
+the east of these three heaps are mounds of a smaller size. These may be
+remains of the city, while the others represent the citadel. The entire
+circuit of the ruins is about 7-1/2 miles. They confirm the statement of
+Strabo that Susa was built of brick, inasmuch as they present masses of
+bricks, partly burnt, partly dried in the sun. But even the palaces in
+the citadels were built of bricks in the outer walls only; they did not
+contain those narrow long porticoes, which formed the royal palaces of
+Nineveh, but were rather large square halls, resting on huge terraces.
+The bases and remains of the northern hill allow us to trace three
+magnificent porticoes. The interior of the building was formed by a
+large hall with pillars, the roof of which was supported by 36 pillars
+ranged in six rows; the pillars were of stone, slight and tall, the
+capitals were formed by the fore-quarters of kneeling horses. Round
+three sides of this hall, the north, east, and west, were placed
+porticoes, 50 feet in breadth, the roofs of which were supported by 12
+pillars in two rows. Four pillars of the chief hall bear the same
+inscription in cuneiform letters, and, as always, in the Persian,
+Babylonian, and Turanian languages. In this Artaxerxes Mnemon (405-359
+B.C.) relates that his great-great-grandfather (_apanyaka_) Darius had
+erected this building and that he had restored it. He entreats
+Auramazda, Anahita, and Mithra, to protect him and his work. On some
+pillars we find the inscription: "I, Artaxerxes, the great king, the
+king of kings, son of the king Darius" (_i.e._ Darius Ochus).[440]
+
+Though Darius elevated Susa to be his chief residence, the native land
+of the empire, and the nucleus of it, his own home, was to receive a
+proper share of the splendour and glory of the court. After the
+conquests on the Indus Darius built a new residence in the land of the
+Persians, to the north-west of Pasargadae, which Cyrus had made a
+fortified city, and where he had erected his palace and deposited the
+spoil of his previous victories. At the confluence of the Pulwar and the
+Kum-i-Firuz the mountains retire on either side, and leave a space for
+the most delightful plain in Persia, which is still covered with
+villages,--the plain of Merdasht. Four thousand feet above the sea,
+surrounded on every side by lofty mountains, which on the west are
+covered with snow, the climate is mild and salubrious. Curtius considers
+it the most healthy district in Asia.[441] From the mountain-range on
+the west, a block of mountains now called Kuh Istachr advances into the
+plain, and gradually falls away to the Pulwar; opposite to this, the
+eastern range also advances with a mighty summit, called Rachmed, a spur
+of which, at no great height, forms a broad terrace commanding the
+plain. On both sides the heights extend a little further to the river,
+so that the terrace forms the retiring level of a natural semicircle.
+This terrace was chosen by Darius for the site of his new palace, by the
+walls of which a city was to rise. The Greeks call this city of Darius,
+Persepolis; _i.e._ city of the Persians. Diodorus tells us: "The citadel
+of Persepolis was surrounded by three walls, of which the first was 16
+cubits in height and surrounded by turrets, adorned with costly
+ornamentation. The second wall had similar ornaments, but was twice as
+high. The third wall formed a square, and was 60 cubits in height; it
+consisted of hard stones, well fitted together, so as to last for ever.
+On each side was a gate of brass, and near it poles of brass, 20 cubits
+in height; the first for security, the second to strike terror. In the
+citadel were several richly-adorned buildings for the reception of the
+king and the generals, and treasuries built for the reception of
+revenues. To the east of the citadel, at a distance of four plethra,
+lies a mountain, called the "royal mountain," in which are the tombs of
+the kings. The rock was excavated, and had several chambers in the
+middle, which served to receive the corpses. But they were without any
+means of access; the corpses were raised by machines and lowered into
+the tombs.[442]"
+
+The remains of Persepolis show that the terrace was surrounded on the
+west, north, and south by a wall; and that by removing the earth or
+filling it in it was changed into a surface measuring about 1800 feet in
+length from north to south, and about 500 feet in breadth from west to
+east, towards the heights of Rachmed. On the edge of the terrace rose a
+wall, the third wall of Diodorus, which surrounded it on the north,
+west, and south. According to the description of Diodorus, the eastern
+side, towards Rachmed, was also surrounded by this wall. At the present
+day we only find remains of the three sides mentioned, consisting of
+blocks of marble from four to six feet in thickness, which in some
+places rise to a height of 40 feet above the level of the terrace. If we
+reckon in the height of the terrace, those walls had certainly the
+elevation of 60 cubits which Diodorus gives them. The two other walls
+were on the plain, and barred the approach to the palace; of these there
+are no remains. Within the third wall, on the terrace, rise the
+buildings of the palace. An inscription on the wall of the terrace in
+the Turanian language tells us: "Darius the king says: On this place a
+fortress is founded; previously there was no fortress. By the grace of
+Auramazda I have founded this fortress, strong, beautiful, and complete.
+May Auramazda and all the gods protect me and this fortress and all that
+is in it."[443] On the western side of the terrace towards the northern
+edge, two flights of steps, receding into the terrace, and joining at
+the top, lead up to the surface and the gate of the palace. They consist
+of 200 broad steps of large blocks of marble, ten or fifteen steps being
+sometimes formed out of one block. Ten horsemen could easily ride up
+together on each side. On the top of the terrace behind the landing of
+the steps, there was a gate in the wall, the place of which can be found
+by a break in the ruins; through this was the entrance into the citadel.
+
+Not far from the western edge of the terrace, about equally removed from
+the northern and southern walls, on an elevated platform, rose a
+structure, 170 feet in length, and 90 feet in breadth; only a few
+fragments of the walls, door-posts, and window-cases remain, with the
+bases of the pillars in the hall (24 in number) which formed the centre
+of the building. On the window-ledges of the building is an inscription
+in three languages, in which we read: "Darius (Darayavus), the great
+king, the king of kings, the king of the lands, the son of Hystaspes, an
+Achaemenid, has erected this house."[444] On a pilaster in the south-west
+corner we find an inscription of Xerxes which tells us: "Under the
+protection of Auramazda, Darius, my father, erected this house." The
+relief of one of the two posts of the door, which forms the entrance to
+the central hall on the north, exhibits Darius himself. The figure is
+7-1/2 feet high. The king is dressed in a garment which falls down to
+the ancles; the sleeves are very wide; he has high shoes, and wears the
+tiara; in his left hand he holds a long sceptre, and in the right a
+cup-shaped vessel. The beard is long, the hair comes out in strong locks
+under the tiara; the face is so injured that little more can be
+recognized beyond the long profile, the straight outline of the nose,
+and the quiet dignity of expression. Both the lines of the face and the
+expression correspond to the head of the king preserved on the memorial
+stone of the canal (p. 358). Over the king in a winged circle hovers
+Auramazda, whose figure from the knees upward projects from the circle
+beneath which the long robe of the god runs out in feathers. He wears a
+tiara like the king and in the left hand bears a ring. The countenance
+is aged and solemn; the hair and beard are like those of the king. The
+figure of the deity is obviously copied from the Asshur which hovers
+over the kings of Assyria. Behind the king, in similar clothing, but
+with much smaller and lower tiaras on the head, are the bearer of the
+royal parasol, which he holds over the head of the king, and the bearer
+of the fan.
+
+The largest structure lies to the east, near the height of Rachmed. It
+forms a regular square of more than 200 (227) feet on each side, on
+which, on the north side, abutted a portico formed of two rows of
+pillars. The outer walls of the square consist of blocks of marble
+neatly fitted together, and more than ten feet in thickness. Eight
+gates, two towards each quarter, on the posts of which stand two
+lance-bearers face to face, led into a large hall the roof of which was
+supported by 100 pillars, ten in ten rows.[445] At the north entrance to
+the portico, in the two western doors of the hall, the king is
+represented in conflict with monsters. In these reliefs he is shown with
+only a narrow band round the brow, or he wears a low cap; his robe is
+short, his arms are bare. He raises a lion with his right hand and
+presses the throat, while in his left he holds a dagger; he seizes a
+winged one-horned monster with the jaws of a wolf and the legs of a bird
+by the horn, and rips up the belly;[446] the third monster has the head
+and the claws of an eagle; the fourth is a four-footed animal standing
+up, with a horn in the forehead, which the king seizes, while with his
+left hand he has already thrust the sword into the body. These pictures
+are, no doubt, like the human-headed bulls which Xerxes subsequently set
+up at Persepolis, imitations of Semitic symbols. The overpowering or
+slaughter of the lion was, among the Assyrians, Cilicians, and Lydians,
+an ancient mode of representing the greatest achievement of
+Melkart-Sandon--the conquest of the fierce heat. This victory over evil
+was easily and naturally transferred to the office of the ruler, and
+could be accepted, even among the Iranians, as the religion of the
+Avesta rests in its principles on the resistance to the evil spirits of
+Angromainyu and the contest with his savage and harmful creatures, and
+requires this contest. The great hall of 100 pillars was, as the
+sculptures of the walls and posts show, the royal hall of audience. The
+throne was between the two central rows of pillars, opposite the two
+doors of the north, on the southern wall of the hall. Here, on days of
+reception and festivity, the whole splendour of the Persian empire was
+displayed. Then, as the book of Esther says; "golden and silver cushions
+were laid on the floor of marble and alabaster, of pearls and
+tortoise-shell"; and "between the pillars hung white and purple
+curtains, on rings of silver, and linen and purple strings," and "wine
+was poured in abundance from golden vessels."[447] The walls of this
+room, and the beams of the roof, would not be without that ornamentation
+of gold and silver plates, which covered the walls, pillars, and beams
+of the chambers of the palace of Ecbatana (V. 309). The metal bolts
+which are found here and there on the inner side of the walls, can
+hardly have had any other purpose than to support plates of this kind.
+In both the northern gates two reliefs exhibit Darius sitting on the
+throne, on a lofty chair with a still higher back. The feet of the king
+rest on a stool; he wears the tiara, and has the sceptre in his right
+hand, a goblet in his left. Behind him is the bearer of the fan with a
+covered mouth, that his impure breath might not touch the king, then the
+bow-bearer without the Paitidana (V. 190), and at a greater distance one
+of the body-guard. A foreign emissary approaches the throne, clad in a
+tight coat with sleeves, and trousers joined to it, with a rounded cap.
+He holds his hand before his mouth while speaking to the king; behind
+him stands another figure with veiled mouth. This group of figures rests
+on a pediment which is formed by four rows of ten guards placed one over
+the other. These are armed partly with bows and lances, and partly with
+shields and lances. Their clothing exhibits two types; which often recur
+on the monuments of Persepolis. In the three lower rows one half of the
+men have wide coats reaching down to the ancles, with large sleeves, and
+high angular tiaras; the other half have coats with tight sleeves,
+reaching to the knee only, trowsers joined to them, and a low round
+covering for the head. This appears to be the Persian dress, the other
+is the dress of the Medes. Over the throne of the king a canopy with
+hanging fringes encloses the whole picture; except that in the middle,
+two winged circles are seen; beside the lower rows of figures on each
+side are four dogs (the animals of Auramazda); and beside the upper four
+bulls may be seen on each side. This picture of the enthroned king is
+repeated on the pilasters of the two southern gates; but on the third
+relief we find only Darius on the throne, with the fan-bearer behind;
+and the throne is not supported by the rows of guards, but on fourteen
+figures of another shape which are arranged in three rows; in the
+highest row are four figures, in the two lower five; in the last figure
+on the lowest row towards the west, there is an unmistakable negro. They
+bear the throne of the king with raised arms; above the two winged rings
+is the picture of Auramazda. On the fourth relief is some dignitary of
+the empire, or a prince of the house, behind the throne of the king,
+which is here supported in the same way by twenty-nine figures arranged
+in three rows. Here also Auramazda hovers over the two winged circles.
+
+These figures are intended to present a picture of the government of
+Darius as resting in the one case on the fidelity and bravery of the
+army, and in the other, on the obedience of the subject nations. The
+supporting figures of the southern doors are all clothed differently, in
+the various dresses of the empire. Between these doors we find the
+following inscription: "The great Auramazda, who is the greatest of
+gods, has made Darius king. He has given him the kingdom; by the grace
+of Auramazda Darius is king. Darius the king speaks: 'This land of
+Persia, which Auramazda has given to me, which is beautiful, rich in
+horses and men, fears no enemy by the protection of Auramazda, and of
+me, King Darius. May Auramazda stand beside me with the gods of the
+land, and protect this region against war, blight, and the lie. May no
+enemy come to this region, no army, no blight, no lie. For this favour I
+entreat Auramazda, and all the gods. May Auramazda grant me this with
+all the gods.'" On the same wall we are told: "I am Darius, the great
+king, the king of kings, the king of these numerous lands, the son of
+Hystaspes, an Achaemenid. Darius the king says: 'By the grace of
+Auramazda these are the lands which I rule over with this Persian army,
+which are in fear of me, and bring me tribute: the Susians, the Medes,
+the Babylonians, the Arabs, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Armenians,
+the Cappadocians, the inhabitants of Sardis, the Ionians of the
+mainland, and those of the sea. And in the east the Sagartians, the
+Parthians, the Sarangians, the Areians, the Bactrians, the Sogdiani, the
+Chorasmians, the Gedrosians, the Arachoti, the Indians, the Gandarians,
+the Sacae, the Macians. If thou thinkest: May I tremble before no enemy,
+then protect this Persian army; if the Persian army is protected,
+prosperity will remain unbroken to the most distant days.'"[448]
+
+The successors of Darius extended the palace of Persepolis. Directly
+behind the gate to which the great staircase on the terrace leads, King
+Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, erected a portico. From the two
+front pilasters which form the entrance to this court from the west, two
+horses are hewn out in high relief; their heads and fore-feet project in
+front, their bodies and hinder quarters stand out from the pilasters in
+the entrance. These horses are 18 feet in length. From the four pillars
+which support the roof of the portico behind this entrance, two are
+still standing, 24 feet in height. Corresponding to the two guards of
+the front entrances, we find at the exit of the hall towards the
+interior of the citadel, _i.e._ towards the east, two winged bulls with
+human heads, projecting from the pilasters. About 20 feet in length,
+these bulls are precisely similar to the human-headed bulls of Nineveh,
+but the wings of the bulls are not thrown back so far, and the solemn
+bearded head is not surmounted here by a round cap, but by the Persian
+tiara; these tiaras, like the caps at Nineveh, are surrounded by four
+united horns. The horse, the animal of Mithra, which occurs repeatedly
+on the ruins of Persepolis, was no doubt the peculiar symbol of the
+Persians; the human-headed winged bulls belong, as has been observed, to
+Babylon and Assyria. Between this portico and the smaller building of
+his father, on the western edge of the terrace, Xerxes constructed a
+magnificent building. Three porticoes, of twelve pillars each,
+surrounded on the north, west, and south, a hall, formed of 36 pillars
+of black marble, 67 feet in height, and placed closely to each other in
+six rows; 14 are still standing. The building rose upon a walled
+platform, paved with blocks of marble. This appears to have been a kind
+of vestibule in which the court, the foreign ambassadors, the
+emissaries of the provinces, who brought tribute, assembled. The
+inscription calls it a reception-house,[449] and the reliefs with which
+the front wall of the platform, ten feet in height, is ornamented,
+indicate that it was a vestibule. Two flights of steps lead up to this
+platform, and in the middle they form a projecting landing, on the front
+of which, on either side of an inscription, stand the seven guardians of
+the kingdom, three on one side and four on the other, in Median
+garments, with an upright spear in the hand. On the external walls of
+the steps we see a lion on either side, which attacks a horned horse
+from behind; the horse turns to defend itself. On the wall of the
+platform reliefs on either side of the steps exhibit three rows of
+figures one above the other. On the west side are the nations bringing
+tribute, on the eastern, which is more honourable, the body-guard and
+the court of the king. In each row here 22 soldiers of the body-guard
+advance to the steps; then the people of the court follow, partly in
+Median and partly in Persian dress; most of them have a dagger at the
+side; some are in conversation and take each other by the hand; others
+have suspended the bow in a belt over the shoulder; others carry cups,
+others staves which end in an apple in their hands. On the west side of
+the steps the figures are arranged in 20 sections, each containing six
+men (with one exception, which contains eight). The first figure always
+carries a staff, which marks him out as introducing strangers. The
+staff-bearer holds the nearest man by the hand; this second figure and
+the four which follow are differently clad in each section; the last
+four carry various objects, garments, jars containing different
+articles, etc., or lead camels, horses, humped oxen, cattle, rams,
+mules, and other animals. These are the 20 satrapies of the kingdom who
+are brought before the king by the officers, and present their tribute.
+A second building, which Xerxes erected to the south-west of the smaller
+structure of Darius, consists of a portico of 12 pillars, and a hall of
+36 pillars, on which abut four chambers on the east and west. This seems
+to have been his dwelling-house at Persepolis; at any rate we see in the
+sculptures of the hall six servants, who are carrying dishes with food,
+and a wine-skin. In addition to these, in four other places on the
+terrace, there are remains of less extensive buildings, one of which,
+lying in the south-west angle, was built by Artaxerxes III. Numerous
+ruins before the royal citadel, reaching from the foot of the terrace to
+the Pulwar, and the ruins of a wall, which ran along the river, confirm
+the statements of the Greeks, that a city of considerable size lay
+adjacent to the palace, just as the remains of canals and aqueducts show
+that the valley in front of the citadel was carefully cultivated.
+
+Near the new citadel and city, which Darius added to his home a few
+years later, he caused the place to be marked out in which his corpse
+should rest or be exposed. Two leagues to the north-west from the ruins
+of the citadel of Persepolis, on the further shore of the Pulwar, lies a
+steep wall of white marble, now called Naksh-i-Rustem, _i.e._ pictures
+of Rustem. At an elevation of 60 or 70 feet above the ground this wall
+is hewn and wrought. The lowest part of this work is a plain surface,
+which forms the basis for a facade of four pillars, which are cut out of
+the rock. The capitals, like those in the palaces of Persepolis, are
+formed of the fore-quarters of two kneeling horses united at the middle.
+Between the two central pillars is the case of a door. The heavy
+moulding which these pillars support passes into a toothed plinth, on
+which rises a sort of catafalque, where are two rows of men, each
+containing fourteen, in different dresses (among them are three
+negroes), who support a beam with upraised arms, on which a few steps
+lead up to a platform. On this stands Darius before an altar, the fire
+on which is flaming. The left hand rests on the bow which is planted on
+the platform, the right is raised in prayer. In the centre above the
+king hovers Auramazda in a winged circle; to the right the sun's disc is
+visible. The door of the facade does not seem to have been an entrance;
+but now the lower part of it is opened, and leads behind the facade into
+a long chamber, and three smaller ones, which are cut out of the
+mountain. Any one who wishes to have a near view of the facade must be
+drawn up, as Ctesias says that the parents of Darius were; the corpses
+also must have been drawn up, as we are told by Diodorus. On the facade
+under the form of the king we find the following inscription: "I,
+Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of the lands of all
+tongues, the king of the great and wide earth, the son of Hystaspes, the
+Achaemenid, the Persian, the son of a Persian, Ariya, scion of Ariya (in
+the Babylonia text we have only, a Persian, son of a Persian). Darius
+the king says: 'By the grace of Auramazda these are the lands which I
+governed beyond Persia; I ruled over them: they brought me tribute, they
+did what I commanded them: they obeyed my law: the Medes, Susians,
+Parthians, Areans, Bactrians, Sogdians, Chorasmians, Sarangians,
+Arachoti, Gedrosians, Gandarians, Indians, Amyrgian-Sacae, Sacae with
+pointed caps, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia,
+the inhabitants of Sardis, the Ionians, the Sacae beyond the sea, the
+Ckudra (the Thracians?) the Ionians who wear knots,[450] the Putiya, the
+Kushiya, the Machiya, the Karka (p. 307). Auramazda gave me these lands
+when he saw them in rebellion, and granted to me the rule over them; by
+the grace of Auramazda I have again reduced them to order; what I told
+them, that was done, because it was my will. If thou thinkest: How many
+were the lands which Darius ruled? look on the picture of those who bear
+my throne, in order to know them. Then wilt thou know that the lance of
+the Persian penetrated far, that the Persian fought battles far from
+Persia. What I have done, I have accomplished by the grace of Auramazda:
+Auramazda came to my help, till I accomplished it; may Auramazda protect
+me, my house and my land. May Auramazda grant me that for which I pray.
+O man, resist not the command of Auramazda; leave not the right path;
+sin not.'"[451] The mention of the "Knot-bearing" Ionians, and the
+Putiya (_i.e._ the Libyans), and the Sacae beyond the sea on this
+inscription shows that it was engraved after the campaigns to the Danube
+and Barca, the subjection of Lemnos and Miletus, and the Greek cities on
+the coast of Thracia, _i.e._ after the year 512 B.C.; it was after this
+year that Darius caused his tomb to be constructed.[452] On the frame of
+the facade, over the pillared portal, we find on each side three figures
+in long robes placed over each other. These are the six princes of the
+Persian tribes, the six chiefs of the empire after the king. Above the
+highest figure on the left of the king we read: "Gaubaruva (Gobryas) the
+Pateischorean, the lance-bearer of King Darius;"[453] over the second
+"Acpachana (Aspathines), the bow-bearer of King Darius."[454]
+
+The ruins of Susa and Persepolis, the only remains of ancient west
+Iranian architecture which have come down to us, show that it was indeed
+founded upon Babylonian and Assyrian patterns, but that it was by no
+means mere imitation. Neither in Ecbatana nor in Persepolis was the use
+of brick necessary; stone was at hand; and even in Susa, at a distance
+of 50 miles from the mountains, stone was used. The ruins give evidence
+of a skill in smoothing and fitting the stones, which can only have been
+attained by long practice. If the platform, on which the buildings rest,
+belongs to the Babylonian and Assyrian style, the ruins of Persepolis
+and Susa nevertheless exhibit a perfectly independent style, which seems
+to have arisen out of an earlier practice of building in wood, and a
+peculiar manner of treating the ornamentation. We have seen that the
+plan of the palace at Ecbatana presupposed the use of wood, that the
+pillars there were wooden posts covered with precious metals. In
+Persepolis stone took the place of wood. The outer walls of the building
+are strong, the blocks and mouldings over the windows and doors are high
+and massive, but along with this massiveness, strength, and permanence,
+the buildings show a tendency to run into great height. The pillars
+are slender, reminding us of tent-posts; though of more than 60
+feet in height they have a diameter of only four feet, and the
+inter-columniations are often more than 30 feet. The socles and capitals
+(which are either the fore-quarters of horses or bulls or inverted cups)
+are high and delicate. The socles do not project far, the capitals are
+slender; the buildings, which were covered by roofs of beams, overlaid
+no doubt with plates of gold and silver, thus acquired, along with their
+solidity, the impression of imposing elevation and delicate lightness.
+The sculptures also are distinguished from those of Babylon and Assyria,
+not merely by the fact that they are carried out in harder material, but
+they have also greater repose in the expression, the figures are less
+compressed, the muscles less prominent, the development of the forms
+more noble and free, the fall of the folds simple and natural. Animals
+are represented with extraordinary vigour and life. The execution in
+detail is careful, but flatter and duller than at Nineveh. The
+expression of the heads does not possess the energy and life which the
+sculptures of Assyria present; even in the most excited action it is
+ceremonious. It is solemn, massive, earnest, dignified, and restrained,
+but wanting in character. Beside the sculptures which symbolically
+represent the dignity, business, or deeds of the officers of the empire,
+the remaining reliefs of Persepolis give no chronicle of the reign of
+Darius and Xerxes; we find neither battles nor sieges; they merely
+glorify the splendour and greatness of the monarchy; they exhibit the
+throne of the king which the subject nations carry, surrounded by the
+princes of the kingdom, and protected by the body-guard. We see the
+subject nations bringing tribute, and thus we have a picture of
+established power, and secure majesty, but not of the individual acts
+and victories of the king. The only historical sculpture which is at
+present known, is the inscription of Darius at Behistun. The style is
+simple and severe, the treatment far less minute than on the reliefs of
+Persepolis and Naksh-i-Rustem, but naive and vigorous.
+
+Susa, so Strabo tells us, was adorned more than other cities by the
+kings of the Persians; each built a separate dwelling there as a
+memorial of his reign; after Susa they honoured the palaces of
+Persepolis and Pasargadae; at Gabae also in upper Persia and at Taoke on
+the coast they had castles.[455] From Xenophon we learn that "the kings
+of Persia, it is said, pass the spring and the summer in Susa and
+Ecbatana."[456] We may conclude from these statements, and from the fact
+that the Achaemenids not only preserved but multiplied the gold and
+silver ornaments of the citadel of Ecbatana, as well as the buildings of
+the palace (V. 315), that Susa remained the ordinary residence even
+under the successors of Darius, but that in the height of summer--in
+order to avoid the heat of the plains of Elam--the court sought the
+cooler air of the ancient residence of Phraortes and Cyaxares--a change
+advisable on political grounds also. Even a short residence in Ecbatana
+showed that Media did not occupy the last place in the kingdom. The
+Persian kings also resided at times in Babylon. The Sassanids pursued
+the same course. Ardeshir built Shahabad in Elam, his successors resided
+in Madain, but during the summer in Hamadan.[457] The palaces in the
+mother country were visited by Darius and his successors from time to
+time, who like himself caused their sepulchres to be cut either in the
+rocks of Naksh-i-Rustem, or on Mount Rachmed, immediately to the east of
+the citadel. There are three sepulchres by the side of that of Darius,
+and three on Mount Rachmed.
+
+The size and splendour of the palaces at Susa, Ecbatana, Persepolis, and
+Pasargadae were matched by the numbers and brilliance of the court. The
+ceremonies and the arrangement of the service were taken from the
+pattern of the Median court, but not without considerable variations,
+and the Medes, in turn, had imitated the style of the Assyrian and
+Babylonian court. The prominent position of the six tribal princes, the
+supreme judges, the "kinsmen and table companions of the king," were
+without a parallel among the Medes; it was they who immediately
+surrounded the king next to the occupants of the great offices of state
+or honour. It was the opinion of Cyrus, Xenophon tells us, that the
+ruler should not only be superior to his subjects in valour, but he must
+exert a charm over them also. Thus he accustomed both himself and his
+officers to give commands with dignity, and for himself and for them he
+adopted the Median dress, as being more imposing and majestic. On solemn
+occasions the king appeared in a long purple robe, bordered with
+white--such as no one but himself might wear,[458] a Kaftan (Kandys) of
+brilliant purple was thrown over it.[459] The embroidery exhibited
+falcons and hawks, the birds of the good god, which dwell in the pure
+air nearest to heaven. This garment was held together by a golden
+girdle, in which was a sabre adorned with precious stones. The trowsers
+were of purple; the shoes of the colour of saffron.[460] The head was
+covered by the upright tiara or kidaris,[461] of a white and blue
+colour, or by a band of the same colours, and also by a crown, as we see
+from the picture of Darius on a seal at Behistun.[462] Plutarch tells us
+that the king's attire was valued at 12,000 talents (nearly L3,000,000);
+his ornaments and attire on solemn occasions are no doubt meant.[463] If
+the royal court of the Sassanids was arranged after that of the
+Achaemenids, the attire of the king was even more extravagant. As the
+Greeks inform us, the king of the Persians was a sight seldom seen by
+the Persians.[464] Only the six tribal princes could enter without being
+announced. The attempt in any other person would be punished with death,
+unless the king forgave the offence.[465] It required time and trouble,
+and even special favour, to make way through the troops of body-guards,
+servants, eunuchs, under-officers, and court nobles; and when this was
+done it was necessary to be announced by the officers who introduced
+strangers, or by the chief door-keeper. The king sat on a golden throne
+when he gave audience. Over this was stretched a baldachino of
+vari-coloured purple, supported by four golden pillars adorned with
+precious stones.[466] It was the custom among the Persians for the lower
+to bow to the earth before the more honourable,[467] no one approached
+the king without falling in the dust before him.[468] Any one who spoke
+to the king was compelled to keep his hands hidden in the long sleeves
+of his upper garment, in order to show that he neither could nor would
+use them.[469]
+
+According to Xenophon the king of the Persians at day-break praised the
+powers of heaven, sacrificed daily to the gods, whom the Magians
+indicated. Plutarch tells us that he was awaked daily by a chamberlain
+with the words: "Arise, O king, and think of the things which Auramazda
+has given thee to think of."[470] At table the queen-mother and the
+queen sat beside him. The first sat above him, the second below, the
+king was in the middle of the table.[471] Like all the Persians, he ate
+but one meal a day, but this lasted a long time. The princes, the
+"kinsmen" and "table companions" of the king, as a rule, ate in an
+ante-chamber, but at banquets they were in the same hall with him, in
+their proper order, the king on a rich divan with a golden frame, the
+companions on pillows or carpets on the floor,[472] so arranged that
+those whom the king trusted most were on his left, the others on his
+right; "because the king," as Xenophon says, "could in case of need
+defend himself better with his right hand."[473] Before it was brought
+to the king the food was tested by tasters; and before handing the
+goblet to the king, the butler drank a few drops out of it with a spoon,
+to prove that it was not poisoned.[474] Many kinds of food were set on
+the table, but only a moderate portion of each was placed before every
+person. Xenophon praises the abstinence of the well-bred Persians at
+table; they regarded it as low and brutish to show desire for food or
+drink.[475] Plutarch says: "Not only the friends, and commanders, and
+body-guard of the king had portions from his table, but also what the
+slaves and dogs ate was put upon the board, so that the kings of the
+Persians made all who were in their service the companions of their
+table and their hearth."[476] What was left from the table of the king
+was carried into the courts and distributed in equal portions among the
+body-guard and the servants.[477] If the meal was followed by any
+drinking, the queen-mother and the queen retired, before the concubines
+entered to play and sing.[478] The table-companions might not look at
+the concubines, and the eunuchs, who brought the women into the hall,
+took care that they should not. Even at night, when the king retired to
+rest, the concubines played and sang by the light of burning lamps.[479]
+On the festival of Mithra, the king was allowed to dance in Persian
+fashion, and to be intoxicated;[480] on his birthday he gave a great
+banquet, which, as Herodotus tells us, was called among the Persians the
+perfect banquet. On this day the king gave presents to the Persians
+(_i.e._ they received a largess of money), and at the banquet, in which
+the women took part, he could not refuse any petition.[481] In
+accordance with the doctrine of the Avesta the king celebrated the day
+which had called him into life, and, as Plato tells us, all Asia
+celebrated with sacrifices and feasts the day which had given them their
+ruler.[482]
+
+No one ever saw the king on foot; if he passed through the courts of the
+palace carpets of Sardis were spread before him, on which no other foot
+might step.[483] Outside the palace the king was sometimes seen on
+horseback, but more frequently in his chariot. It was a much-envied
+distinction among the princes of Persia to be allowed to assist the king
+to his horse.[484] If he descended from his chariot, no one might reach
+out his hand to support him; it was the duty of the bearer of the royal
+stool to place a golden stool for him to descend. At solemn processions,
+the roads on which the royal train passed were cleansed, as in India,
+strewn with myrtle and made odorous with frankincense; a string of
+guards and whip-bearers were placed along the way to prevent any one
+from coming forward to the chariot of the king.[485] The body-guard in
+their golden ornaments with crowned tiaras led the way and brought up
+the rear. The chariot of Mithra, yoked with eight Nisaean greys, went
+before the king; the sacred fire was carried before him by the Magians;
+and beside the chariot of the king, which was drawn by six or four
+Nisaean horses, marched staff-bearers. The chiefs of the tribes, the
+Achaemenids, the great officers of the court, the "kinsmen and table
+companions" of the king followed. In the train in the rear no doubt the
+royal horses, two or four hundred in number, were, no doubt, led in
+splendid trappings.[486]
+
+Darius was married before he ascended the throne of the Magian. His wife
+was the daughter of Gobryas, the chief of the Pateischoreans. She had
+borne him three sons before he came to the throne: Artabazanes,
+Arsamenes, and Ariabignes.[487] When he had acquired the throne, he made
+Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, his queen, _i.e._ his legitimate wife;
+the younger line of Achaemenes was thus yet more closely united with the
+elder. The daughter of Gobryas fell into the rank of the second wives;
+Atossa took the place which Cassandane had held beside Cyrus, and which
+she herself had previously occupied with Cambyses. The second daughter
+of Cyrus, Artystone, and Parmys the only daughter whom Smerdis had left,
+passed into the harem of Darius. Atossa bore him four sons: Xerxes,
+Hystaspes, Masistes, and Achaemenes; Artystone bore Arsames and Gobryas,
+and Parmys Ariomardus. Darius had also sons by other women, as
+Phratagune, the daughter of his brother, Artanes; "he had many sons," is
+the remark of Justin.[488] The secondary wives of the king ranked above
+the concubines. The number of the latter was, at any rate under the
+successors of Darius, very considerable; it is given at 300, 350, and
+360. After the battle of Issus, 329 concubines of the last Darius were
+discovered among the captives.[489] These women, as Diodorus informs us,
+were sought out from the most beautiful maidens in Asia; for the
+new-comers, according to the book of Esther, a year's preparation was
+necessary. This went on in a special department of the seraglio, and
+consisted in the use of ointments, spices, and perfumes.[490] They were
+so far beneath the queen, that they were compelled to prostrate
+themselves before her when she looked at them;[491] at no time, except
+at the table of the king, could they be seen by men. If they accompanied
+the king on the chase or on journeys, and, as became usual at a later
+time, to the field, they were always in closed conveyances. Any one who
+touched one of the concubines was put to death, and even any one who
+approached their waggons, or passed through the train.[492] The queen
+enjoyed greater liberty. We are told of Stateira, the consort of
+Artaxerxes II., that she always travelled with her hangings drawn back,
+and allowed the women of the people to come up to her car and greet
+her.[493]
+
+We have mentioned already how numerous were the persons about the court.
+The Greeks call attention to the splendid attire of the servants, and
+remark that the preparation of the king's table and the waiting gave
+them a great deal of trouble: in fact half the day was taken up with
+this. Each of the great court officers had a large number of
+subordinates. The chief door-keeper had at his disposal a number of
+eunuchs, who watched over the inner courts of the palace and the harem,
+waited on the women and carried messages. The degrading use of
+castration was unknown to the nations of the Arians, and contrary to
+their religion, which put so high a value on life, and the preservation
+of the germs of life. It was from the princes of the Semites, the
+Assyrian and Babylonian court, that the use of eunuchs for guarding the
+harem, for waiting on the king and his women, and service in the inner
+chambers, was borrowed by the Median kings. In addition to other
+burdens, Babylonia supplied each year 500 mutilated boys to Darius.
+Eunuchs were never employed in the Persian army for commanders, or for
+officers of state, as was the case in Assyria and Babylonia; but
+personal attendance on the king, which even in the time of Cyrus
+devolved on eunuchs, brought some of them into favour and influence
+under him, and subsequently under Cambyses.[494] Beside the chief
+door-keeper and his eunuchs, was the chief staff-bearer with his
+subordinates. It was his duty to introduce strangers and those who came
+to ask for assistance; the envoys from countries and cities; to preserve
+order in the palaces, to superintend and punish the servants. The chief
+butler was at the head of a large number of butlers and waiters. The
+chamberlains, the valets of the king with their subordinates, the
+spreaders of pillows and carpets, the carvers and table-dressers, the
+cooks and bakers, the preparers of ointment, the weavers of crowns, the
+lamp-lighters and palace-sweepers formed a considerable body. In
+addition there was the chief groom with his subordinates, the master of
+the hunt, the hunters and dog-keepers. Physicians also were at hand,
+chiefly from Egypt, who had the greatest reputation in the east; then
+came the Greeks.[495]
+
+Long caravans, surrounded by the body-guard, conducted the court, when
+a change of residence was made, from Susa to the palaces of Persia or
+Ecbatana. A large amount of splendid furniture, cattle for slaughter,
+food and drink of special quality, were taken with them. Herodotus tells
+us that the king of Persia drank only the water of the Choaspes, _i.e._
+the Kerkha, which was boiled and carried in silver vessels on
+four-wheeled cars both into the field, and on journeys.[496] Beside
+numerous waggons the conveyance of the court required 1200 camels.[497]
+Along with the military equipage of the last Darius 277 cooks, 29
+pastry-cooks, 13 preparers of milk diet, 17 preparers of liquors, 70
+cellarmen, 40 preparers of ointment, and 41 chaplet-makers were
+captured.[498]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[433] The name in Hebrew is Shushan, among the Assyrians, Shusan,
+_hodie_, Shush.
+
+[434] Loftus, "Travels in Susiana," p. 425 ff. Noeldeke ("Goettingen G.
+G." 1874, s. 173 ff.) has treated exhaustively of the various names of
+ancient Elam, as Susiana is invariably called among the Assyrians,
+Babylonians, and Hebrews. He proves that the name [Greek: Kissie] which
+is in use among the older Greeks, Aeschylus, Hecataeus, and Herodotus,
+must be derived from the Kossaeans, a tribe who inhabited the northern
+and higher part of Susiana, and the mountainous edge towards Iran. Of
+later writers Polybius only uses the name Cissians, who also uses the
+name Matieni in the sense of Herodotus. Uwaya, the name common among the
+Persians for Susiana, is taken from the Uxians, who were the eastern
+neighbours of Persia, _i.e._ the tribe in Susiana which dwelt nearest to
+Persia; it is retained in the new Persian Chuz and Chusistan. Among the
+Greeks the name Elymaeans is first used by the companions of Alexander
+as the name for a tribe, and then in the second century B.C. as the name
+of a new kingdom which restored the ancient Elam. Yet to this tribe
+which inhabited the plain and the hills of Susa and Shuster was due the
+foundation and government of the kingdom which once ruled in the valley
+of the Euphrates, which so long resisted the Assyrians, but was entirely
+unknown to the Greeks. The rivers of Susiana are difficult to fix, as
+both Persian and native names are indifferently used. The name Choaspes,
+which contains _acpa_, is plainly Persian; it is no doubt the Kerkha. On
+the Eulaeus, Koprates, and Pasitigris, see Droysen, "Hellenismus," 1^2,
+266 _n._
+
+[435] Aesch. "Pers." 16, 120; Athen. p. 513; Strabo, p. 728, 731, 739;
+Diod. 17, 65.
+
+[436] Polyb. 5, 48.
+
+[437] Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 31; Daniel viii. 2, 16.
+
+[438] "Pers." 3, 4, 159, 160.
+
+[439] Ael. "Hist. An." 1, 59.
+
+[440] Menant, "Achaemenides," p. 140, 141; Oppert, "Peuple des Medes,"
+p. 229.
+
+[441] Curtius, 5, 4.
+
+[442] Diod. 17, 71.
+
+[443] Oppert, "Peuple des Medes," 196.
+
+[444] Oppert, _loc. cit._ 19, 148; Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 49;
+Schrader, "Assyr. Babyl. Keilinschriften," s. 363.
+
+[445] Texier, "Description," pl. 100.
+
+[446] Impressions of seals which have been discovered in the palace of
+Sennacherib at Kuyundshik, represent the king of Assyria in precisely
+the same position.--Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 154, 161.
+
+[447] Esther i. 6, 7.
+
+[448] Inscriptions H. and J. Oppert, "Journal Asiatique," 19, 141;
+Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 49. Oppert now translates _aniya_ not by
+"enemy" but literally by "the other;" by which Angromainyu would be
+meant: "Peuple des Medes," p. 199.
+
+[449] _Vicadahyaus_; Spiegel, _loc. cit._ s. 57; Benfey,
+"Keilinschriften," s. 63-65; Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 364.
+
+[450] Above, p. 272 _n._
+
+[451] Oppert. "Z. D. M. G." 11, 133 ff.; Mordtmann, _loc. cit._ 16, 109
+ff.; Spiegel, "Keilinschriften," s. 52; Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 361.
+
+[452] Above, p. 272 _n._, 307.
+
+[453] So the Babylonian text.
+
+[454] It is merely a guess that _saractibara_ means bow-bearer; Spiegel,
+"Keilinschriften," s. 106. Oppert translates: bearer of the commands of
+the king; "Peuple des Medes," p. 213.
+
+[455] Strabo, p. 728, 735.
+
+[456] "Anab." 3, 5, 15.
+
+[457] Noeldeke, "Tabari," s. 353. Xenophon's statements about the
+residences in the "Anabasis" (_loc. cit._) cannot be outweighed by the
+systematized arrangement in the "Cyropaedia" that Cyrus spent three
+months at Susa, two at Ecbatana, and seven months at Babylon, which
+Plutarch ("De Exilio," c. 12) repeats in the form, that the Persian
+kings passed the spring at Susa, the summer in Media, and the winter in
+Babylon. With Aeschylus and Herodotus Susa is a fixed residence, and so
+also in the treatise "De Mundo," p. 398, and the Hebrews, _e.g._
+Nehemiah i. 1. Joseph. "Antiq." 10, 11, 7. Athenaeus, p. 513, thinks
+that Persepolis was the residence for the autumn. In the winter of the
+year 396-395 Conon finds Artaxerxes II. at Babylon; the same king says
+in Plutarch ("Artax." c. 19) to Parysatis, that he will never see
+Babylon as long as she lives.
+
+[458] Plut. "Artax." c. 5.
+
+[459] Diod. 17, 77.
+
+[460] Aeschyl. "Pers." 660.
+
+[461] Plut. "Artax." c. 26.
+
+[462] Diod. 17, 77; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 3, 13.
+
+[463] Plutarch ("Artax." c. 24) maintains, it is true, that this is the
+value of the garments which the king habitually wore. Arrian treats of
+this subject, "Anab." 4, 7, and Curtius, 3, 3, 17-19; 6, 6, 4. With
+respect to the royal colours, cf. Esther i. 6.
+
+[464] Phan. Eres. Fragm. 9, ed. Mueller; Plut. "Artax." c. 20, 23;
+Strabo, p. 525.
+
+[465] Esther iv. 11. Cf. Herod. 3, 118, 119.
+
+[466] Heracl. Cum. fragm. 1, ed. Mueller; Esther v. 4.
+
+[467] Herod. 1, 134; Strabo, p. 734.
+
+[468] Arrian, "Anab." 4, 11.
+
+[469] Xenoph. "Hellen." 2, 1; 8.
+
+[470] Herod. 7, 54; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 1, 23, 24, with the addition
+that this was the custom in his day. Plut. "Ad princ. ineruditum," 3.
+
+[471] Plutarch, "Artax." c. 5; "Conjug. praecepta," c. 16; "Quaest.
+Conviv." 1, 3, 1.
+
+[472] Heracl. Cum. fragm. 2; Xenoph. "Hellen." 4, 1, 30.
+
+[473] "Cyri Inst." 8, 4, 2, 3.
+
+[474] Suidas, [Greek: Edeatros].
+
+[475] "Cyri Inst." 5, 2, 17.
+
+[476] Plut. "Quaest. Conviv." 7, 4, 5.
+
+[477] Athenaeus, p. 145. Above, p. 352.
+
+[478] Plut. "Quaest. Conviv." 1, 1, 1; "Conjug. praecepta," 16.
+
+[479] Heracl. Cum. fragm. 2; Diod. 17, 77.
+
+[480] Ctesias and Darius, in Athenaeus, p. 434.
+
+[481] Herod. 9, 110, 111; Esther ii. 18.
+
+[482] "Alcib. I." p. 121.
+
+[483] Heracl. Cum. fragm. 1, ed. Mueller.
+
+[484] Xenoph. "Anab." 4, 4, 4.
+
+[485] Herod. 7, 54; Curtius, 5, 1, 20.
+
+[486] Herod. 7, 40, 41; 54, 55; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 3, 5-10;
+Curtius, 3, 3, 21.
+
+[487] Herod. 7, 2, 97; 8, 89. Herodotus (7, 68) calls Arsamenes the son
+of Darius, and (7, 69) Arsames the son of Darius and Artystone.
+Artabazanes is called by Justin (2, 10) Artamenes.
+
+[488] Herod. 7, 224; Justin, 2, 10.
+
+[489] Diod. 17, 77; Athenaeus, p. 557.
+
+[490] Esther ii. 7-17; v. 2; viii. 4.
+
+[491] Deinon in Athenaeus, p. 557.
+
+[492] Heracl. Cum. fragm. 1, ed. Mueller; Plut. "Artax." c. 27.
+
+[493] Plut. "Artax." 5.
+
+[494] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 7, 5, 58.
+
+[495] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 1, 9; 8, 8, 20; Plut. "Artax." c. 19;
+Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66, ed. Mueller. On the physicians, above, p. 134,
+313.
+
+[496] Herod. (1, 188) ascribes this custom to Cyrus, though the
+reference to Susa which he adds shows that it can only have come into
+existence after Susa became a residence.
+
+[497] Demosth. "Symmor." p. 185.
+
+[498] Athenaeus, p. 608.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RETROSPECT.
+
+
+The arrangement which Darius had given to his vast empire allowed the
+character, laws, manners, and religion of the subject nations to remain
+as far as possible unchanged, and only interfered, exceptionally, in the
+hereditary local customs of the provinces. Adequate provision for the
+maintenance of the central government, the establishment of rapid
+combinations, care for the training of the generals and officers, ample
+and obvious rewards for service, a system of taxation far removed from
+extortion, regulations for the advancement of agriculture, development
+of the trade on the southern sea, or by land, since the caravans could
+pass unharmed and even protected from Miletus to Susa, from Cyrene to
+the Indus, seemed to give a solid foundation, an adequate support, and
+abiding power to the empire of Cyrus and Darius. Yet for the security
+and continuance of it, it was of the first importance, whether the
+national feeling of the subject peoples, in spite of or owing to the
+tolerance of the empire, was still sufficiently vigorous and strong to
+create in them the desire to rise from the subjection in which they
+were, to win back their independence, and develop their national
+existence; whether the controlling power of the ruling people was
+sufficient to maintain itself for a length of time over such wide
+regions; whether, in fine, the ruling house would preserve, amid the
+splendour of its new palaces, and the brilliance of extraordinary
+success, the vigour and force required to sustain the heavy task of
+administering the empire in the manner of Darius.
+
+Under his sceptre the national civilizations of Asia which had hitherto
+been separated were united into a great whole. Beside the ancient
+civilization of Babylon stood the yet more ancient civilization of
+Egypt; beside the Lydians and Syrians, and the Hellenes of the Anatolian
+coast, stood the forms of life existing on the Indus, all united in
+equal rights; above these, and yet owing to the formation of this
+empire, side by side with them, was the characteristic civilization of
+the Bactrians, Medes, and Persians. The ancient communities of Egypt,
+Babylonia, and Phoenicia were able, it is true, to make attempts, and
+even stubborn attempts, at resistance, but they did not succeed in
+effecting a new departure. On the contrary, the various forms of
+civilization united together began by degrees to exercise a mutual
+influence, and each wore down the other. Only the religious feeling of
+that Syrian tribe, whose states had been crushed beneath the armies of
+the kings of Asshur and Babylon, remained free from this assimilation,
+and self-secluded; in the native soil, which Cyrus had once more allowed
+the exiles to occupy, they struck new and deeper roots, which promised
+the noblest fruits from the old sturdy stock.
+
+The Persians, and especially the upper orders, could not remain
+uninfluenced by the privileged position of the ruling people and
+reigning class in such a wide empire, and by the pattern of the court.
+The fruits of dominion flowed in upon them; their lives were opulent
+and full of enjoyment. The Greeks can tell us a great deal of the
+splendour and luxury of the Persians, which were introduced in the time
+of Darius and subsequently. They inform us that the Persians adopted a
+richer style of dress. Like the Indians, the Medes and the Persians
+after them delighted to adorn themselves; but according to the Greeks
+the Persians were even more anxious to give themselves a dignified and
+imposing appearance. They wore the loose dress of the Medes, in blue and
+red purple; they also followed the Medes in wearing chains, and armlets,
+and earrings of gold.[499] The hair and beard received careful
+attention. In summer the parasol-bearers were always at hand, in winter
+gloves were worn.[500] The houses were adorned with costly carpets; the
+Persians lay on beds with golden feet, and soft cushions; and on the
+tables of the higher classes glittered goblets, bowls, and pitchers of
+gold and silver. The servants were numerous, trained butlers, bakers,
+and cooks were kept.[501] The table of the Persians, as the Greeks tell
+us, presented but few kinds of farinaceous food, but whole animals were
+served up, and the dessert was plentiful and in various courses.[502]
+The hereditary moderation in wine was not observed. Herodotus tells us
+that: "The Persians readily accept foreign customs. They wear the Median
+dress because they consider it more beautiful, and in war they use
+Egyptian coats of mail. They adopt any customs which please them, and
+in addition to a large number of wives, they have many concubines."[503]
+About the year 500 B.C. the Persians were so accustomed to convenience
+in their domestic economy, that they took even into the field of battle
+their servants together with their cooks and maid-servants, their entire
+harem with costly furniture, partly in closed waggons and partly on
+camels; even the men of the guard were followed by their women and
+furniture. The nobles encamped under tents splendidly wrought with gold
+and silver.[504] But in spite of this luxury, self-control and military
+vigour were never eradicated in the Persians. They were always seen in a
+becoming attitude. They were never observed to eat or drink greedily;
+they never laughed loud, or quarrelled, or gave way to passion.[505] The
+education which the sons of the nobles received under the eye of the
+king and the satraps, and the rich rewards in store for eminent valour,
+kept up a manly spirit. We have more than one instance of acts of rare
+devotion to the king and the empire. The remembrance of the conflicts of
+Cyrus, of the wars which Darius carried on, the consciousness of great
+successes, the proud feeling that they governed the nations of Asia,
+formed strong counterpoises to the advance of effeminacy. Even those who
+lived most delicately at home eagerly joined in the chase, in the
+prescribed extirpation of the animals of Angromainyu, and the princes
+did not disdain to do garden-work with their own hands day by day. At
+that time, as Xenophon observes, the old Persian sobriety and force
+existed beside the Median dress and luxury, and Heracleides of Pontus
+tells us that the Persians and Medes, who loved luxury and excess above
+others, were also the bravest and most magnanimous of the
+barbarians.[506] Artaxerxes Mnemon, in spite of his golden ornaments and
+purple kaftan, dismounted from his horse, and marched on foot, shield on
+arm and quiver on shoulder, day by day at the head of his soldiers,
+through the roughest and steepest mountain paths, though the day's march
+reached 25 miles or more. In spite of armlets and purple hose the
+leading Persians long after the time of Darius leapt from their horses
+into the mud, in order to extricate a baggage-cart, which prevented the
+march of the army; and the common soldier, even when frozen with cold,
+hesitated to lay the axe to beautiful trees which would be consumed
+merely to warm him by his watch-fire. The prescripts of religion were
+not without effect. The kings kept their word when given; every Persian
+regarded it as shameful to break the pledge of plighted hands, to refuse
+reverence to his parents--his mother especially--to speak falsely, and
+to seek for gains by trade. Thucydides says of them that they liked
+better to give than to receive.[507] The pride of the Persians preferred
+to serve the king with arms and receive favour and presents from him,
+than to carry on any kind of trade. A great number of the Persians were
+constantly under arms in the standing army; the rest tended their flocks
+and cultivated their fields in the hereditary way. They kept to the old
+Persian dress, the close and short garment of leather; their coats
+reached only half way down the thigh, and instead of the tiara they wore
+a low band round the head. Along with their dress and mode of life,
+they kept true to the manners and moderation of their forefathers, and
+practised the old arts of riding and archery.
+
+More serious for the future of the kingdom than any splendour or
+magnificence on the part of eminent Persians, was the influence, which
+in the composition of the court was unavoidable, of his personal
+servants on the king and on his resolutions--and the danger that court
+intrigues might override the interest of the empire; above all, the
+still more unavoidable influence of the harem. If the position of the
+queen-mother, who, in accordance with the doctrines of Zarathrustra,
+enjoyed a position of great respect at court, and her relations to the
+queen or first wife gave occasion for jealous rivalry, each secondary
+wife had still stronger motives to seek or maintain influence with the
+king, to disparage the queen and the other wives before him, and make
+provision for her sons if she could not aspire to gain the succession to
+the throne. Thus a door was opened to ambition and intrigue, and the
+eunuchs of the wives found in this occupation only too good an
+opportunity for gaining importance and weight. If such evils were a
+little matter under a ruler of the determination and wisdom of Darius,
+it was impossible to count on the fact that he would be followed by a
+series of kings like himself, and equally great. But if the court
+outgrew the state, and the fortunes of the empire were decided in the
+seraglio, the empire itself might be thrown into danger with a change in
+the succession. The education given to the princes, and especially to
+the heir to the throne, has been mentioned already, as well as their
+instruction in the wisdom of the Magi. The crown descended to the eldest
+son of the legitimate wife or queen. Whenever the king took the field,
+in order to prevent contention he nominated his successor. Even about
+the successor of Darius a difficulty might arise. His first wife, the
+daughter of Gobryas, had borne him three sons before he came to the
+throne; when king, he had made Atossa his queen, and had four sons by
+her (p. 394). Which was the legitimate heir, the eldest of the first
+family, or of the second?--Artabazanes or Xerxes?
+
+At the death of the king, as Diodorus tells us, the sacred fire in the
+royal palace, and in all the houses of the Persians, was put out.[508]
+We remember the prescript of the Avesta that the fire of the hearth must
+be removed from the house of the dead, together with all the sacred
+vessels, the pestle, the cup, the bundle of rods and the Haoma, and that
+the fire could not be kindled again till the ninth or thirtieth day
+after the death (V. 215). The heir to the throne repaired to Pasargadae,
+to receive consecration from the Magi there. "In that city," says
+Plutarch, "there is the shrine of a warlike goddess who may, perhaps, be
+compared with Athene; to this the prince who is to be consecrated goes,
+and there lays his robe aside, in order to put on the garment which
+Cyrus wore before he became king: then he eats a cake of dried figs,
+bites a terebinth, and drinks a cup of sour milk (no doubt in
+remembrance of the old life of the Persians). Whether he has anything to
+do beyond this is unknown."[509] We are told elsewhere that the new king
+put the royal _kidaris_ on his head; and no doubt the act would be
+accompanied with invocations by the Magi. The shrine of the goddess
+mentioned by Plutarch must have been a place of sacrifice to Anahita;
+the heroes and kings of the Avesta sacrifice to this goddess in order
+to attain the splendour of majesty, the supreme dominion.[510]
+
+The Arian tribes of the table-land of Iran have preserved the original
+character of their family more truly than their kinsmen who settled on
+the Indus and the Ganges, and filled the Deccan with their civilization.
+Placed in a less tempestuous region, in a land where there were sharp
+contrasts of climate, of hill and plain, of fertility and desolation, of
+snow and sand storms, the life of the Arians in Iran was more vigorous
+and manly than life in India. The tribes in the north-east attained to
+civic life and intellectual progress before the tribes of west Iran. The
+contrast in which the former stood to the hordes of the neighbouring
+steppes, and the repulsion of their attacks, led the Bactrians to a
+larger state, and the formation of a military monarchy, which arose from
+the midst of an armed nobility, while the weight of the ancient and
+powerful states of the Semites in the valley of the Euphrates and the
+Tigris, repressed the independent development of the tribes of western
+Iran. The foundations of the religious views of the Arians were the same
+to the east and west of the Indus. With the Arians of the Panjab, the
+Arians of Iran shared the belief in the power of the spirits of light
+which gave life and blessing, in the destructive power of the black
+spirits, and the struggle of the spirits of light against the spirits of
+darkness. The peculiar intensity of the contrasts in nature and in the
+conditions of life in the north-east, gave an impulse to the development
+of religious views there, which led to the systematic opposition of the
+hosts of heaven and of hell, and the union of these groups under two
+supreme spirits, and to deeper ideas of their nature. It was a
+transformation of the old conceptions which at the same time carried
+with it a change and increase in the ethical demands made upon men.
+While the development of conceptions beyond the Indus tended to set man
+free from all sensuality, and sought to bring him back to his divine
+origin, by crushing the body and quenching the individuality, the
+doctrine of Zarathrustra excludes only the harmful side of nature, and
+demands the increase of the useful side; it pledges every man to take a
+part in the conflict of the good spirits against the evil, demands that
+by his work, his activity, and the purity of his soul, he enlarge the
+kingdom of the good and light spirits to the best of his ability, and
+thus forms sound and practical aims for the conduct of men. When this
+doctrine had penetrated to the nations of west Iran, and struck deep
+roots among them, the Medes succeeded in combining their tribes, and
+repelling the supremacy of the Assyrians. In no long time the borders of
+their dominion extended, in the west to the Halys, and in the east over
+the whole table-land of Iran; in union with Babylon they overthrew the
+remnant of Assyria, and shared with that city the empire over Hither
+Asia. What the Medes had begun, the Persians finished, when they had
+taken the place of the Medes. One after another the ancient kingdoms of
+Hither Asia fell before them--the Lydian empire, which had finally
+united under its sway the tribes and cities of the western half of Asia
+Minor, ancient Babylon, which had once more united the valley of the two
+streams, the states of Syria, and the cities of the Phenicians, and at
+length even primeval Egypt.
+
+Arian life and Arian culture were now dominant through the whole breadth
+of Asia, from the pearl-banks and coral-reefs of the Indian Ocean to
+the Hellespont. At the time when the first Arian settlers were landing
+far in the east on Tamraparni (Ceylon) the cities of the Hellenes on the
+western coast of Anatolia and the strand of the Aegean were compelled to
+bow before the arms of Cyrus. The world had never seen before such an
+empire as that of Darius, the borders of which reached from the Libyans,
+the plateau of Barca, the Nubians and negroes beyond Egypt, the tribes
+of the Arabian desert to the summits of the Caucasus, the remote city of
+Cyrus on the Jaxartes, and the gold-land of the Daradas in the lofty
+Himalayas. And not contented with this range Darius aspired to extend
+yet further the limits of his empire.
+
+Beyond the Aegean Sea a branch of the Arian stock had developed an
+independent civilization and civic life in small mountain cantons
+surrounded by the sea. The eye of the potentate of Asia looked no doubt
+with contempt on these unimportant communities, whose colonies in Asia
+and Africa had long been subject to him; on states of which each could
+put in the field no more than a few thousand warriors. The sea, which
+separated the Persian kingdom from the cantons of the Greeks, had
+already been crossed; the Persians had seen the mouths of the Danube;
+the straits of the Bosphorus and the Hellespont were in the power of
+Darius, the coasts of Thrace and the Greek states were subject to him;
+he had already planted a firm foot at the mouths of the Hebrus and the
+Strymon, and the prince of Macedonia paid him tribute. At his command
+Phenicians and Persians had investigated the coasts of the Aegean Sea,
+and of Hellas.
+
+Was it possible that these small cantons, without political union or
+common interests, living in perpetual strife and feud, excited and torn
+by internal party contests in which there were almost as many views as
+men, whose exiles made their way to the lofty gates of the Persian
+monarch, whose princes were at pains to secure their dominions by
+vassalage to the great king, and join in leagues with him against their
+countrymen--was it possible that these cantons, in this position, would
+maintain their independence against Persia, and resist the attack of
+this universal empire,--the onset of Asia? Would the Greeks be bold
+enough to venture on such a hopeless struggle, to oppose the Persians,
+whose name was a terror to all their neighbours, and even to the
+Hellenes? Few, Herodotus tells us, could even bear the sight of the
+Persian cavalry, and Plato remarks that the minds of the Greeks were
+already enslaved to the Persians.
+
+It was a question of decisive importance for the civilization and
+development of humanity; whether the new principle of communal
+government, which had been carried out in the Hellenic cantons, should
+be maintained, or pass into the vast limits of the Persian empire, and
+succumb to the authority of the king: state power and civic life,
+absolute authority and the will of the majority, abject obedience and
+conscious self-control, the masses and the individual--these were ranged
+opposite each other, and the balance was already turning in favour of
+overwhelming material force.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[499] Plut. "Artax." c. 13; Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 1, 40; "Anab." 1, 5,
+8; Strabo, p. 734.
+
+[500] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 17.
+
+[501] Aeschyl. "Pers." 543; Xenophon, "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 16.
+
+[502] Herod. 1, 133; Heracleides of Cyme (Fragm. 2, ed. Mueller) contests
+the excess of the king at table as well as of the officers and generals.
+Cf. Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 5, 2, 17; 8, 8, 10; Strabo, p. 733, 734.
+
+[503] Herod. 1, 135.
+
+[504] Herod. 7, 83, 187; 9, 76, 80, 81, 82; Xenoph. "Anab." 4, 4.
+
+[505] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 8 ff.
+
+[506] Xenoph. "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 15; Heracl. Pont. ap. Athenaeum, p.
+512.
+
+[507] Plut. "Artax." 24, 25; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 5; "Cyri Inst." 8, 8, 2;
+Thuc. 2, 17.
+
+[508] Diod. 17, 114. Cf. Curtius, 3, 3, 9.
+
+[509] Plut. "Artax." 3.
+
+[510] Vol. V. 32, 37. "Aban Yasht," 22, 25, 46, 50.
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+BUNGAY: CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
+
+_J. D. & Co._
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
+
+
+1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+2. Carat character is used to indicate subscript in this text version.
+
+3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the chapters
+in this text version.
+
+4. The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version
+these letters have been replaced with transliterations.
+
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