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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30707-8.txt b/30707-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b5a305 --- /dev/null +++ b/30707-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6086 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cyrus the Great, by Jacob Abbott + +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: Cyrus the Great + Makers of History + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: December 18, 2009 [EBook #30707] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CYRUS THE GREAT *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + Makers of History + + Cyrus the Great + + BY + + JACOB ABBOTT + + WITH ENGRAVINGS + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + + 1904 + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand + eight hundred and fifty, by + + HARPER & BROTHERS, + + in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District + of New York. + + Copyright, 1878, by JACOB ABBOTT. + + + + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +One special object which the author of this series has had in view, +in the plan and method which he has followed in the preparation of +the successive volumes, has been to adapt them to the purposes of +text-books in schools. The study of a _general compend_ of history, +such as is frequently used as a text-book, is highly useful, if +it comes in at the right stage of education, when the mind is +sufficiently matured, and has acquired sufficient preliminary +knowledge to understand and appreciate so condensed a generalization +as a summary of the whole history of a nation contained in an ordinary +volume must necessarily be. Without this degree of maturity of mind, +and this preparation, the study of such a work will be, as it too +frequently is, a mere mechanical committing to memory of names, and +dates, and phrases, which awaken no interest, communicate no ideas, +and impart no useful knowledge to the mind. + +A class of ordinary pupils, who have not yet become much acquainted +with history, would, accordingly, be more benefited by having their +attention concentrated, at first, on detached and separate topics, +such as those which form the subjects, respectively, of these volumes. +By studying thus fully the history of individual monarchs, or the +narratives of single events, they can go more fully into detail; they +conceive of the transactions described as realities; their reflecting +and reasoning powers are occupied on what they read; they take notice +of the motives of conduct, of the gradual development of character, +the good or ill desert of actions, and of the connection of causes and +consequences, both in respect to the influence of wisdom and virtue on +the one hand, and, on the other, of folly and crime. In a word, their +_minds_ and _hearts_ are occupied instead of merely their memories. +They reason, they sympathize, they pity, they approve, and they +condemn. They enjoy the real and true pleasure which constitutes the +charm of historical study for minds that are mature; and they acquire +a taste for truth instead of fiction, which will tend to direct their +reading into proper channels in all future years. + +The use of these works, therefore, as text-books in classes, has been +kept continually in mind in the preparation of them. The running index +on the tops of the pages is intended to serve instead of questions. +These captions can be used in their present form as _topics_, in +respect to which, when announced in the class, the pupils are to +repeat substantially what is said on the page; or, on the other hand, +questions in form, if that mode is preferred, can be readily framed +from them by the teacher. In all the volumes, a very regular system of +division is observed, which will greatly facilitate the assignment of +lessons. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. HERODOTUS AND XENOPHON 13 + + II. THE BIRTH OF CYRUS 37 + + III. THE VISIT TO MEDIA 68 + + IV. CROESUS 101 + + V. ACCESSION OF CYRUS TO THE THRONE 124 + + VI. THE ORACLES 144 + + VII. THE CONQUEST OF LYDIA 164 + + VIII. THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON 187 + + IX. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS 207 + + X. THE STORY OF PANTHEA 226 + + XI. CONVERSATIONS 253 + + XII. THE DEATH OF CYRUS 270 + + + + +ENGRAVINGS. + + + Page + + MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE _Frontispiece._ + + THE EXPOSURE OF THE INFANT 48 + + CYRUS'S HUNTING 90 + + THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE 132 + + THE SIEGE OF SARDIS 179 + + RAISING JEREMIAH FROM THE DUNGEON 219 + + THE WAR-CHARIOT OF ABRADATES 242 + + + + +CYRUS THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HERODOTUS AND XENOPHON. + +B.C. 550-401 + +The Persian monarchy.--Singular principle of human nature.--Grandeur +of the Persian monarchy.--Its origin.--The republics of +Greece.--Written characters Greek and Persian.--Preservation +of the Greek language.--Herodotus and Xenophon.--Birth of +Herodotus.--Education of the Greeks.--How public affairs were +discussed.--Literary entertainments.--Herodotus's early love of +knowledge.--Intercourse of nations.--Military expeditions.--Plan +of Herodotus's tour.--Herodotus visits Egypt.--Libya and the +Straits of Gibraltar.--Route of Herodotus in Asia.--His return +to Greece.--Doubts as to the extent of Herodotus's tour.--His +history "adorned."--Herodotus's credibility questioned.--Sources of +bias.--Samos.--Patmos.--The Olympiads.--Herodotus at Olympia.--History +received with applause.--Herodotus at Athens.--His literary +fame.--Birth of Xenophon.--Cyrus the Younger.--Ambition of Cyrus.--He +attempts to assassinate his brother.--Rebellion of Cyrus.--The Greek +auxiliaries.--Artaxerxes assembles his army.--The battle.--Cyrus +slain.--Murder of the Greek generals.--Critical situation +of the Greeks.--Xenophon's proposal.--Retreat of the Ten +Thousand.--Xenophon's retirement.--Xenophon's writings.--Credibility +of Herodotus and Xenophon.--Importance of the story.--Object of this +work. + + +Cyrus was the founder of the ancient Persian empire--a monarchy, +perhaps, the most wealthy and magnificent which the world has ever +seen. Of that strange and incomprehensible principle of human nature, +under the influence of which vast masses of men, notwithstanding the +universal instinct of aversion to control, combine, under certain +circumstances, by millions and millions, to maintain, for many +successive centuries, the representatives of some one great family +in a condition of exalted, and absolute, and utterly irresponsible +ascendency over themselves, while they toil for them, watch over them, +submit to endless and most humiliating privations in their behalf, and +commit, if commanded to do so, the most inexcusable and atrocious +crimes to sustain the demigods they have thus made in their lofty +estate, we have, in the case of this Persian monarchy, one of the most +extraordinary exhibitions. + +The Persian monarchy appears, in fact, even as we look back upon it +from this remote distance both of space and of time, as a very vast +wave of human power and grandeur. It swelled up among the populations +of Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, about five +hundred years before Christ, and rolled on in undiminished magnitude +and glory for many centuries. It bore upon its crest the royal line +of Astyages and his successors. Cyrus was, however, the first of the +princes whom it held up conspicuously to the admiration of the world +and he rode so gracefully and gallantly on the lofty crest that +mankind have given him the credit of raising and sustaining the +magnificent billow on which he was borne. How far we are to consider +him as founding the monarchy, or the monarchy as raising and +illustrating him, will appear more fully in the course of this +narrative. + +Cotemporaneous with this Persian monarchy in the East, there +flourished in the West the small but very efficient and vigorous +republics of Greece. The Greeks had a written character for their +language which could be easily and rapidly executed, while the +ordinary language of the Persians was scarcely written at all. There +was, it is true, in this latter nation, a certain learned character, +which was used by the priests for their mystic records, and also for +certain sacred books which constituted the only national archives. It +was, however, only slowly and with difficulty that this character +could be penned, and, when penned, it was unintelligible to the great +mass of the population. For this reason, among others, the Greeks +wrote narratives of the great events which occurred in their day, +which narratives they so embellished and adorned by the picturesque +lights and shades in which their genius enabled them to present the +scenes and characters described as to make them universally admired, +while the surrounding nations produced nothing but formal governmental +records, not worth to the community at large the toil and labor +necessary to decipher them and make them intelligible. Thus the Greek +writers became the historians, not only of their own republics, but +also of all the nations around them; and with such admirable genius +and power did they fulfill this function, that, while the records of +all other nations cotemporary with them have been almost entirely +neglected and forgotten, the language of the Greeks has been preserved +among mankind, with infinite labor and toil, by successive generations +of scholars, in every civilized nation, for two thousand years, solely +in order that men may continue to read these tales. + +Two Greek historians have given us a narrative of the events connected +with the life of Cyrus--Herodotus and Xenophon. These writers disagree +very materially in the statements which they make, and modern readers +are divided in opinion on the question which to believe. In order to +present this question fairly to the minds of our readers, we must +commence this volume with some account of these two authorities, whose +guidance, conflicting as it is, furnishes all the light which we have +to follow. + +Herodotus was a philosopher and scholar. Xenophon was a great general. +The one spent his life in solitary study, or in visiting various +countries in the pursuit of knowledge; the other distinguished himself +in the command of armies, and in distant military expeditions, which +he conducted with great energy and skill. They were both, by birth, +men of wealth and high station, so that they occupied, from the +beginning, conspicuous positions in society; and as they were both +energetic and enterprising in character, they were led, each, to a +very romantic and adventurous career, the one in his travels, the +other in his campaigns, so that their personal history and their +exploits attracted great attention even while they lived. + +Herodotus was born in the year 484 before Christ, which was about +fifty years after the death of the Cyrus whose history forms the +subject of this volume. He was born in the Grecian state of Caria, +in Asia Minor, and in the city of Halicarnassus. Caria, as may be +seen from the map at the commencement of this volume, was in the +southwestern part of Asia Minor, near the shores of the Ægean Sea. +Herodotus became a student at a very early age. It was the custom +in Greece, at that time, to give to young men of his rank a good +intellectual education. In other nations, the training of the young +men, in wealthy and powerful families, was confined almost exclusively +to the use of arms, to horsemanship, to athletic feats, and other such +accomplishments as would give them a manly and graceful personal +bearing, and enable them to excel in the various friendly contests of +the public games, as well as prepare them to maintain their ground +against their enemies in personal combats on the field of battle. The +Greeks, without neglecting these things, taught their young men +also to read and to write, explained to them the structure and the +philosophy of language, and trained them to the study of the poets, +the orators, and the historians which their country had produced. Thus +a general taste for intellectual pursuits and pleasures was diffused +throughout the community. Public affairs were discussed, before large +audiences assembled for the purpose, by orators who felt a great pride +and pleasure in the exercise of the power which they had acquired of +persuading, convincing, or exciting the mighty masses that listened to +them; and at the great public celebrations which were customary in +those days, in addition to the wrestlings, the races, the games, and +the military spectacles, there were certain literary entertainments +provided, which constituted an essential part of the public pleasures. +Tragedies were acted, poems recited, odes and lyrics sung, and +narratives of martial enterprises and exploits, and geographical and +historical descriptions of neighboring nations, were read to vast +throngs of listeners, who, having been accustomed from infancy to +witness such performances, and to hear them applauded, had learned to +appreciate and enjoy them. Of course, these literary exhibitions would +make impressions, more or less strong, on different minds, as the +mental temperaments and characters of individuals varied. They seem to +have exerted a very powerful influence on the mind of Herodotus in his +early years. He was inspired, when very young, with a great zeal and +ardor for the attainment of knowledge; and as he advanced toward +maturity, he began to be ambitious of making new discoveries, with a +view of communicating to his countrymen, in these great public +assemblies, what he should thus acquire. Accordingly, as soon as he +arrived at a suitable age, he resolved to set out upon a tour into +foreign countries, and to bring back a report of what he should see +and hear. + +The intercourse of nations was, in those days, mainly carried on over +the waters of the Mediterranean Sea; and in times of peace, almost the +only mode of communication was by the ships and the caravans of the +merchants who traded from country to country, both by sea and on the +land. In fact, the knowledge which one country possessed of the +geography and the manners and customs of another, was almost wholly +confined to the reports which these merchants circulated. When +military expeditions invaded a territory, the commanders, or the +writers who accompanied them, often wrote descriptions of the scenes +which they witnessed in their campaigns, and described briefly the +countries through which they passed. These cases were, however, +comparatively rare; and yet, when they occurred, they furnished +accounts better authenticated, and more to be relied upon, and +expressed, moreover, in a more systematic and regular form, than the +reports of the merchants, though the information which was derived +from both these sources combined was very insufficient, and tended +to excite more curiosity than it gratified. Herodotus, therefore, +conceived that, in thoroughly exploring the countries on the shores +of the Mediterranean and in the interior of Asia, examining +their geographical position, inquiring into their history, their +institutions, their manners, customs, and laws, and writing the +results for the entertainment and instruction of his countrymen, he +had an ample field before him for the exercise of all his powers. + +He went first to Egypt. Egypt had been until that time, closely shut +up from the rest of mankind by the jealousy and watchfulness of the +government. But now, on account of some recent political changes, +which will be hereafter more particularly alluded to, the way was +opened for travelers from other countries to come in. Herodotus was +the first to avail himself of this opportunity. He spent some time in +the country, and made himself minutely acquainted with its history, +its antiquities, its political and social condition at the time of his +visit, and with all the other points in respect to which he supposed +that his countrymen would wish to be informed. He took copious notes +of all that he saw. From Egypt he went westward into Libya, and thence +he traveled slowly along the whole southern shore of the Mediterranean +Sea as far as to the Straits of Gibraltar, noting, with great care, +every thing which presented itself to his own personal observation, +and availing himself of every possible source of information in +respect to all other points of importance for the object which he had +in view. + +The Straits of Gibraltar were the ends of the earth toward the +westward in those ancient days, and our traveler accordingly, after +reaching them, returned again to the eastward. He visited Tyre, and +the cities of Phoenicia, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean +Sea, and thence went still farther eastward to Assyria and Babylon. +It was here that he obtained the materials for what he has written in +respect to the Medes and Persians, and to the history of Cyrus. After +spending some time in these countries, he went on by land still +further to the eastward, into the heart of Asia. The country of +Scythia was considered as at "the end of the earth" in this direction. +Herodotus penetrated for some distance into the almost trackless wilds +of this remote land, until he found that he had gone as far from the +great center of light and power on the shores of the Ægean Sea as he +could expect the curiosity of his countrymen to follow him. He passed +thence round toward the north, and came down through the countries +north of the Danube into Greece, by way of the Epirus and Macedon. To +make such a journey as this was, in fact, in those days, almost to +explore the whole known world. + +It ought, however, here to be stated, that many modern scholars, who +have examined, with great care, the accounts which Herodotus has +given of what he saw and heard in his wanderings, doubt very seriously +whether his journeys were really as extended as he pretends. As his +object was to read what he was intending to write at great public +assemblies in Greece, he was, of course, under every possible +inducement to make his narrative as interesting as possible, and not +to detract at all from whatever there might be extraordinary either in +the extent of his wanderings or in the wonderfulness of the objects +and scenes which he saw, or in the romantic nature of the adventures +which he met with in his protracted tour. Cicero, in lauding him as a +writer, says that he was the first who evinced the power to _adorn_ a +historical narrative. Between adorning and _embellishing_, the line is +not to be very distinctly marked; and Herodotus has often been accused +of having drawn more from his fancy than from any other source, in +respect to a large portion of what he relates and describes. Some do +not believe that he ever even entered half the countries which he +professes to have thoroughly explored, while others find, in the +minuteness of his specifications, something like conclusive proof that +he related only what he actually saw. In a word, the question of his +credibility has been discussed by successive generations of scholars +ever since his day, and strong parties have been formed who have gone +to extremes in the opinions they have taken; so that, while some +confer upon him the title of the father of _history_, others say +it would be more in accordance with his merits to call him the +father of _lies_. In controversies like this, and, in fact, in all +controversies, it is more agreeable to the mass of mankind to take +sides strongly with one party or the other, and either to believe or +disbelieve one or the other fully and cordially. There is a class of +minds, however, more calm and better balanced than the rest, who can +deny themselves this pleasure, and who see that often, in the most +bitter and decided controversies, the truth lies between. By this +class of minds it has been generally supposed that the narratives of +Herodotus are substantially true, though in many cases highly colored +and embellished, or, as Cicero called it, adorned, as, in fact, they +inevitably must have been under the circumstances in which they were +written. + +We can not follow minutely the circumstances of the subsequent life +of Herodotus. He became involved in some political disturbances and +difficulties in his native state after his return, in consequence of +which he retired, partly a fugitive and partly an exile, to the island +of Samos, which is at a little distance from Caria, and not far from +the shore. Here he lived for some time in seclusion, occupied in +writing out his history. He divided it into nine books, to which, +respectively, the names of the nine Muses were afterward given, to +designate them. The island of Samos, where this great literary work +was performed, is very near to Patmos, where, a few hundred years +later, the Evangelist John, in a similar retirement, and in the use +of the same language and character, wrote the Book of Revelation. + +When a few of the first books of his history were completed, Herodotus +went with the manuscript to Olympia, at the great celebration of the +81st Olympiad. The Olympiads were periods recurring at intervals of +about four years. By means of them the Greeks reckoned their time. +The Olympiads were celebrated as they occurred, with games, shows, +spectacles, and parades, which were conducted on so magnificent a +scale that vast crowds were accustomed to assemble from every part of +Greece to witness and join in them. They were held at Olympia, a city +on the western side of Greece. Nothing now remains to mark the spot +but some acres of confused and unintelligible ruins. + +The personal fame of Herodotus and of his travels had preceded him, +and when he arrived at Olympia he found the curiosity and eagerness +of the people to listen to his narratives extreme. He read copious +extracts from his accounts, so far as he had written them, to the vast +assemblies which convened to hear him, and they were received with +unbounded applause; and inasmuch as these assemblies comprised nearly +all the statesmen, the generals, the philosophers, and the scholars of +Greece, applause expressed by them became at once universal renown. +Herodotus was greatly gratified at the interest which his countrymen +took in his narratives, and he determined thenceforth to devote his +time assiduously to the continuation and completion of his work. + +It was twelve years, however, before his plan was finally +accomplished. He then repaired to Athens, at the time of a grand +festive celebration which was held in that city, and there he appeared +in public again, and read extended portions of the additional books +that he had written. The admiration and applause which his work now +elicited was even greater than before. In deciding upon the passages +to be read, Herodotus selected such as would be most likely to excite +the interest of his Grecian hearers, and many of them were glowing +accounts of Grecian exploits in former wars which had been waged in +the countries which he had visited. To expect that, under such +circumstances, Herodotus should have made his history wholly +impartial, would be to suppose the historian not human. + +The Athenians were greatly pleased with the narratives which Herodotus +thus read to them of their own and of their ancestors' exploits. They +considered him a national benefactor for having made such a record of +their deeds, and, in addition to the unbounded applause which they +bestowed upon him, they made him a public grant of a large sum of +money. During the remainder of his life Herodotus continued to enjoy +the high degree of literary renown which his writings had acquired for +him--a renown which has since been extended and increased, rather than +diminished, by the lapse of time. + +As for Xenophon, the other great historian of Cyrus, it has already +been said that he was a military commander, and his life was +accordingly spent in a very different manner from that of his great +competitor for historic fame. He was born at Athens, about thirty +years after the birth of Herodotus, so that he was but a child while +Herodotus was in the midst of his career. When he was about twenty-two +years of age, he joined a celebrated military expedition which was +formed in Greece, for the purpose of proceeding to Asia Minor to enter +into the service of the governor of that country. The name of this +governor was Cyrus; and to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, whose +history is to form the subject of this volume, and who lived about one +hundred and fifty years before him, he is commonly called Cyrus the +Younger. + +This expedition was headed by a Grecian general named Clearchus. The +soldiers and the subordinate officers of the expedition did not know +for what special service it was designed, as Cyrus had a treasonable +and guilty object in view, and he kept it accordingly concealed, even +from the agents who were to aid him in the execution of it. His plan +was to make war upon and dethrone his brother Artaxerxes, then king of +Persia, and consequently his sovereign. Cyrus was a very young man, +but he was a man of a very energetic and accomplished character, and +of unbounded ambition. When his father died, it was arranged that +Artaxerxes, the older son, should succeed him. Cyrus was extremely +unwilling to submit to this supremacy of his brother. His mother was +an artful and unprincipled woman, and Cyrus, being the youngest of +her children, was her favorite. She encouraged him in his ambitious +designs; and so desperate was Cyrus himself in his determination to +accomplish them, that it is said he attempted to assassinate his +brother on the day of his coronation. His attempt was discovered, and +it failed. His brother, however, instead of punishing him for the +treason, had the generosity to pardon him, and sent him to his +government in Asia Minor. Cyrus immediately turned all his thoughts to +the plan of raising an army and making war upon his brother, in order +to gain forcible possession of his throne. That he might have a +plausible pretext for making the necessary military preparations, he +pretended to have a quarrel with one of his neighbors, and wrote, +hypocritically, many letters to the king, affecting solicitude for +his safety, and asking aid. The king was thus deceived, and made no +preparations to resist the force which Cyrus was assembling, not +having the remotest suspicion that its destiny was Babylon. + +The auxiliary army which came from Greece to enter into Cyrus's +service under these circumstances, consisted of about thirteen +thousand men. He had, it was said, a hundred thousand men besides; but +so celebrated were the Greeks in those days for their courage, their +discipline, their powers of endurance, and their indomitable tenacity +and energy, that Cyrus very properly considered this corps as the +flower of his army. Xenophon was one of the younger Grecian generals. +The army crossed the Hellespont, and entered Asia Minor, and, passing +across the country, reached at last the famous pass of Cilicia, in +the southwestern part of the country--a narrow defile between the +mountains and the sea, which opens the only passage in that quarter +toward the Persian regions beyond. Here the suspicions which the +Greeks had been for some time inclined to feel, that they were going +to make war upon the Persian monarch himself, were confirmed, and they +refused to proceed. Their unwillingness, however, did not arise from +any compunctions of conscience about the guilt of treason, or the +wickedness of helping an ungrateful and unprincipled wretch, whose +forfeited life had once been given to him by his brother, in making +war upon and destroying his benefactor. Soldiers have never, in any +age of the world, any thing to do with compunctions of conscience in +respect to the work which their commanders give them to perform. +The Greeks were perfectly willing to serve in this or in any other +undertaking; but, since it was rebellion and treason that was asked of +them, they considered it as specially hazardous, and so they concluded +that they were entitled to extra pay. Cyrus made no objection to this +demand; an arrangement was made accordingly, and the army went on. + +Artaxerxes assembled suddenly the whole force of his empire on the +plains of Babylon--an immense army, consisting, it is said, of over a +million of men. Such vast forces occupy, necessarily, a wide extent of +country, even when drawn up in battle array. So great, in fact, was +the extent occupied in this case, that the Greeks, who conquered all +that part of the king's forces which was directly opposed to them, +supposed, when night came, at the close of the day of battle, that +Cyrus had been every where victorious; and they were only undeceived +when, the next day, messengers came from the Persian camp to inform +them that Cyrus's whole force, excepting themselves, was defeated and +dispersed, and that Cyrus himself was slain, and to summon them to +surrender at once and unconditionally to the conquerors. + +The Greeks refused to surrender. They formed themselves immediately +into a compact and solid body, fortified themselves as well as they +could in their position, and prepared for a desperate defense. There +were about ten thousand of them left, and the Persians seem to have +considered them too formidable to be attacked. The Persians entered +into negotiations with them, offering them certain terms on which they +would be allowed to return peaceably into Greece. These negotiations +were protracted from day to day for two or three weeks, the Persians +treacherously using toward them a friendly tone, and evincing a +disposition to treat them in a liberal and generous manner. This threw +the Greeks off their guard, and finally the Persians contrived to get +Clearchus and the leading Greek generals into their power at a feast, +and then they seized and murdered them, or, as they would perhaps term +it, _executed_ them as rebels and traitors. When this was reported in +the Grecian camp, the whole army was thrown at first into the utmost +consternation. They found themselves two thousand miles from home, in +the heart of a hostile country, with an enemy nearly a hundred times +their own number close upon them, while they themselves were without +provisions, without horses, without money; and there were deep rivers, +and rugged mountains, and every other possible physical obstacle to be +surmounted, before they could reach their own frontiers. If they +surrendered to their enemies, a hopeless and most miserable slavery +was their inevitable doom. + +Under these circumstances, Xenophon, according to his own story, +called together the surviving officers in the camp, urged them not to +despair, and recommended that immediate measures should be taken for +commencing a march toward Greece. He proposed that they should elect +commanders to take the places of those who had been killed, and that, +under their new organization, they should immediately set out on +their return. These plans were adopted. He himself was chosen as +the commanding general, and under his guidance the whole force was +conducted safely through the countless difficulties and dangers which +beset their way, though they had to defend themselves, at every step +of their progress, from an enemy so vastly more numerous than they, +and which was hanging on their flanks and on their rear, and making +the most incessant efforts to surround and capture them. This retreat +occupied two hundred and fifteen days. It has always been considered +as one of the greatest military achievements that has ever been +performed. It is called in history the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. +Xenophon acquired by it a double immortality. He led the army, and +thus attained to a military renown which will never fade; and he +afterward wrote a narrative of the exploit, which has given him an +equally extended and permanent literary fame. + +Some time after this, Xenophon returned again to Asia as a military +commander, and distinguished himself in other campaigns. He acquired a +large fortune, too, in these wars, and at length retired to a villa, +which he built and adorned magnificently, in the neighborhood of +Olympia, where Herodotus had acquired so extended a fame by reading +his histories. It was probably, in some degree, through the influence +of the success which had attended the labors of Herodotus in this +field, that Xenophon was induced to enter it. He devoted the later +years of his life to writing various historical memoirs, the two most +important of which that have come down to modern times are, first, +the narrative of his own expedition, under Cyrus the Younger, and, +secondly, a sort of romance or tale founded on the history of Cyrus +the Great. This last is called the Cyropædia; and it is from this +work, and from the history written by Herodotus, that nearly all our +knowledge of the great Persian monarch is derived. + +The question how far the stories which Herodotus and Xenophon have +told us in relating the history of the great Persian king are true, is +of less importance than one would at first imagine; for the case is +one of those numerous instances in which the narrative itself, which +genius has written, has had far greater influence on mankind than the +events themselves exerted which the narrative professes to record. It +is now far more important for us to know what the story is which +has for eighteen hundred years been read and listened to by every +generation of men, than what the actual events were in which the tale +thus told had its origin. This consideration applies very extensively +to history, and especially to ancient history. The events themselves +have long since ceased to be of any great interest or importance to +readers of the present day; but the _accounts_, whether they are +fictitious or real, partial or impartial, honestly true or embellished +and colored, since they have been so widely circulated in every age +and in every nation, and have impressed themselves so universally and +so permanently in the mind and memory of the whole human race, and +have penetrated into and colored the literature of every civilized +people, it becomes now necessary that every well-informed man should +understand. In a word, the real Cyrus is now a far less important +personage to mankind than the Cyrus of Herodotus and Xenophon, and it +is, accordingly, their story which the author proposes to relate in +this volume. The reader will understand, therefore, that the end and +aim of the work is not to guarantee an exact and certain account of +Cyrus as he actually lived and acted, but only to give a true and +faithful summary of the story which for the last two thousand years +has been in circulation respecting him among mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BIRTH OF CYRUS. + +B.C. 599-588 + +The three Asiatic empires.--Marriage of Cambyses.--Story of +Mandane.--Dream of Astyages.--Astyages' second dream.--Its +interpretation.--Birth of Cyrus.--Astyages determines to destroy +him.--Harpagus.--The king's command to him.--Distress of Harpagus.--His +consultation with his wife.--The herdsman.--He conveys the child to +his hut.--The herdsman's wife.--Conversation in the hut.--Entreaties +of the herdsman's wife to save the child's life.--Spaco substitutes +her dead child for Cyrus.--The artifice successful.--The body +buried.--Remorse of Astyages.--Boyhood of Cyrus.--Cyrus a king +among the boys.--A quarrel.--Cyrus summoned into the presence +of Astyages.--Cyrus's defense.--Astonishment of Astyages.--The +discovery.--Mingled feelings of Astyages.--Inhuman monsters.--Astyages +determines to punish Harpagus.--Interview between Artyages and +Harpagus.--Explanation of Harpagus.--Dissimulation of Astyages.--He +proposes an entertainment.--Astyages invites Harpagus to a grand +entertainment.--Horrible revenge.--Action of Harpagus.--Astyages +becomes uneasy.--The magi again consulted.--Advice of the +magi.--Astyages adopts it.--Cyrus sets out for Persia.--His parents' +joy.--Life at Cambyses's court.--Instruction of the young men.--Cyrus +a judge.--His decision in that capacity.--Cyrus punished.--Manly +exercises.--Hunting excursions.--Personal appearance of +Cyrus.--Disposition and character of Cyrus.--A universal favorite. + + +There are records coming down to us from the very earliest times of +three several kingdoms situated in the heart of Asia-Assyria, Media, +and Persia, the two latter of which, at the period when they first +emerge indistinctly into view, were more or less connected with and +dependent upon the former. Astyages was the King of Media; Cambyses +was the name of the ruling prince or magistrate of Persia. Cambyses +married Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, and Cyrus was their son. In +recounting the circumstances of his birth, Herodotus relates, with all +seriousness, the following very extraordinary story: + +While Mandane was a maiden, living at her father's palace and home in +Media, Astyages awoke one morning terrified by a dream. He had dreamed +of a great inundation, which overwhelmed and destroyed his capital, +and submerged a large part of his kingdom. The great rivers of that +country were liable to very destructive floods, and there would have +been nothing extraordinary or alarming in the king's imagination being +haunted, during his sleep, by the image of such a calamity, were +it not that, in this case, the deluge of water which produced such +disastrous results seemed to be, in some mysterious way, connected +with his daughter, so that the dream appeared to portend some great +calamity which was to originate in her. He thought it perhaps +indicated that after her marriage she should have a son who would +rebel against him and seize the supreme power, thus overwhelming his +kingdom as the inundation had done which he had seen in his dream. + +To guard against this imagined danger, Astyages determined that his +daughter should not be married in Media, but that she should be +provided with a husband in some foreign land, so as to be taken away +from Media altogether. He finally selected Cambyses, the king of +Persia, for her husband. Persia was at that time a comparatively small +and circumscribed dominion, and Cambyses, though he seems to have been +the supreme ruler of it, was very far beneath Astyages in rank and +power. The distance between the two countries was considerable, and +the institutions and customs of the people of Persia were simple and +rude, little likely to awaken or encourage in the minds of their +princes any treasonable or ambitious designs. Astyages thought, +therefore, that in sending Mandane there to be the wife of the king, +he had taken effectual precautions to guard against the danger +portended by his dream. + +Mandane was accordingly married, and conducted by her husband to her +new home. About a year afterward her father had another dream. He +dreamed that a vine proceeded from his daughter, and, growing rapidly +and luxuriantly while he was regarding it, extended itself over the +whole land. Now the vine being a symbol of beneficence and plenty, +Astyages might have considered this vision as an omen of good; still, +as it was good which was to be derived in some way from his daughter, +it naturally awakened his fears anew that he was doomed to find a +rival and competitor for the possession of his kingdom in Mandane's +son and heir. He called together his soothsayers, related his dream to +them, and asked for their interpretation. They decided that it meant +that Mandane would have a son who would one day become a king. + +Astyages was now seriously alarmed, and he sent for Mandane to come +home, ostensibly because he wished her to pay a visit to her father +and to her native land, but really for the purpose of having her in +his power, that he might destroy her child so soon as one should be +born. + +Mandane came to Media, and was established by her father in a +residence near his palace, and such officers and domestics were put +in charge of her household as Astyages could rely upon to do whatever +he should command. Things being thus arranged, a few months passed +away, and then Mandane's child was born. + +Immediately on hearing of the event, Astyages sent for a certain +officer of his court, an unscrupulous and hardened man, who possessed, +as he supposed, enough of depraved and reckless resolution for the +commission of any crime, and addressed him as follows: + +"I have sent for you, Harpagus, to commit to your charge a business of +very great importance. I confide fully in your principles of obedience +and fidelity, and depend upon your doing, yourself, with your own +hands, the work that I require. If you fail to do it, or if you +attempt to evade it by putting it off upon others, you will suffer +severely. I wish you to take Mandane's child to your own house and +put him to death. You may accomplish the object in any mode you +please, and you may arrange the circumstances of the burial of the +body, or the disposal of it in any other way, as you think best; the +essential thing is, that you see to it, yourself, that the child is +killed." + +Harpagus replied that whatever the king might command it was his duty +to do, and that, as his master had never hitherto had occasion to +censure his conduct, he should not find him wanting now. Harpagus then +went to receive the infant. The attendants of Mandane had been ordered +to deliver it to him. Not at all suspecting the object for which the +child was thus taken away, but naturally supposing, on the other hand, +that it was for the purpose of some visit, they arrayed their +unconscious charge in the most highly-wrought and costly of the robes +which Mandane, his mother, had for many months been interested in +preparing for him, and then gave him up to the custody of Harpagus, +expecting, doubtless, that he would be very speedily returned to their +care. + +Although Harpagus had expressed a ready willingness to obey the cruel +behest of the king at the time of receiving it, he manifested, as soon +as he received the child, an extreme degree of anxiety and distress. +He immediately sent for a herdsman named Mitridates to come to him. In +the mean time, he took the child home to his house, and in a very +excited and agitated manner related to his wife what had passed. He +laid the child down in the apartment, leaving it neglected and alone, +while he conversed with his wife in a harried and anxious manner in +respect to the dreadful situation in which he found himself placed. +She asked him what he intended to do. He replied that he certainly +should not, himself, destroy the child. "It is the son of Mandane," +said he. "She is the king's daughter. If the king should die, Mandane +would succeed him, and then what terrible danger would impend over me +if she should know me to have been the slayer of her son!" Harpagus +said, moreover, that he did not dare absolutely to disobey the orders +of the king so far as to save the child's life, and that he had sent +for a herdsman, whose pastures extended to wild and desolate forests +and mountains--the gloomy haunts of wild beasts and birds of +prey--intending to give the child to him, with orders to carry it into +those solitudes and abandon it there. His name was Mitridates. + +While they were speaking this herdsman came in. He found Harpagus and +his wife talking thus together, with countenances expressive of +anxiety and distress, while the child, uneasy under the confinement +and inconveniences of its splendid dress, and terrified at the +strangeness of the scene and the circumstances around it, and perhaps, +moreover, experiencing some dawning and embryo emotions of resentment +at being laid down in neglect, cried aloud and incessantly. Harpagus +gave the astonished herdsman his charge. He, afraid, as Harpagus had +been in the presence of Astyages, to evince any hesitation in respect +to obeying the orders of his superior, whatever they might be, took up +the child and bore it away. + +He carried it to his hut. It so happened that his wife, whose name was +Spaco, had at that very time a new-born child, but it was dead. Her +dead son had, in fact, been born during the absence of Mitridates. He +had been extremely unwilling to leave his home at such a time, but the +summons of Harpagus must, he knew, be obeyed. His wife, too, not +knowing what could have occasioned so sudden and urgent a call, had to +bear, all the day, a burden of anxiety and solicitude in respect to +her husband, in addition to her disappointment and grief at the loss +of her child. Her anxiety and grief were changed for a little time +into astonishment and curiosity at seeing the beautiful babe, so +magnificently dressed, which her husband brought to her, and at +hearing his extraordinary story. + +He said that when he first entered the house of Harpagus and saw the +child lying there, and heard the directions which Harpagus gave him to +carry it into the mountains and leave it to die, he supposed that the +babe belonged to some of the domestics of the household, and that +Harpagus wished to have it destroyed in order to be relieved of a +burden. The richness, however, of the infant's dress, and the deep +anxiety and sorrow which was indicated by the countenances and by the +conversation of Harpagus and his wife, and which seemed altogether too +earnest to be excited by the concern which they would probably feel +for any servant's offspring, appeared at the time, he said, +inconsistent with that supposition, and perplexed and bewildered him. +He said, moreover, that in the end, Harpagus had sent a man with him a +part of the way when he left the house, and that this man had given +him a full explanation of the case. The child was the son of Mandane, +the daughter of the king, and he was to be destroyed by the orders of +Astyages himself, for fear that at some future period he might attempt +to usurp the throne. + +They who know any thing of the feelings of a mother under the +circumstances in which Spaco was placed, can imagine with what +emotions she received the little sufferer, now nearly exhausted by +abstinence, fatigue, and fear, from her husband's hands, and the +heartfelt pleasure with which she drew him to her bosom, to comfort +and relieve him. In an hour she was, as it were, herself his mother, +and she began to plead hard with her husband for his life. + +Mitridates said that the child could not possibly be saved. Harpagus +had been most earnest and positive in his orders, and he was coming +himself to see that they had been executed. He would demand, +undoubtedly, to see the body of the child, to assure himself that it +was actually dead. Spaco, instead of being convinced by her husband's +reasoning, only became more and more earnest in her desires that the +child might be saved. She rose from her couch and clasped her +husband's knees, and begged him with the most earnest entreaties and +with many tears to grant her request. Her husband was, however, +inexorable. He said that if he were to yield, and attempt to save +the child from its doom, Harpagus would most certainly know that +his orders had been disobeyed, and then their own lives would be +forfeited, and the child itself sacrificed after all, in the end. + +The thought then occurred to Spaco that her own dead child might be +substituted for the living one, and be exposed in the mountains in +its stead. She proposed this plan, and, after much anxious doubt and +hesitation, the herdsman consented to adopt it. They took off the +splendid robes which adorned the living child, and put them on the +corpse, each equally unconscious of the change. The little limbs of +the son of Mandane were then more simply clothed in the coarse and +scanty covering which belonged to the new character which he was now +to assume, and then the babe was restored to its place in Spaco's +bosom. Mitridates placed his own dead child, completely disguised as +it was by the royal robes it wore, in the little basket or cradle in +which the other had been brought, and, accompanied by an attendant, +whom he was to leave in the forest to keep watch over the body, he +went away to seek some wild and desolate solitude in which to leave +it exposed. + +[Illustration: THE EXPOSURE OF THE INFANT.] + +Three days passed away, during which the attendant whom the herdsman +had left in the forest watched near the body to prevent its being +devoured by wild beasts or birds of prey, and at the end of that time +he brought it home. The herdsman then went to Harpagus to inform him +that the child was dead, and, in proof that it was really so, he said +that if Harpagus would come to his hut he could see the body. Harpagus +sent some messenger in whom he could confide to make the observation. +The herdsman exhibited the dead child to him, and he was satisfied. He +reported the result of his mission to Harpagus, and Harpagus then +ordered the body to be buried. The child of Mandane, whom we may call +Cyrus, since that was the name which he subsequently received, was +brought up in the herdsman's hut, and passed every where for Spaco's +child. + +Harpagus, after receiving the report of his messenger, then informed +Astyages that his orders had been executed, and that the child was +dead. A trusty messenger, he said, whom he had sent for the purpose, +had seen the body. Although the king had been so earnest to have the +deed performed, he found that, after all, the knowledge that his +orders had been obeyed gave him very little satisfaction. The fears, +prompted by his selfishness and ambition, which had led him to commit +the crime, gave place, when it had been perpetrated, to remorse for +his unnatural cruelty. Mandane mourned incessantly the death of her +innocent babe, and loaded her father with reproaches for having +destroyed it, which he found it very hard to bear. In the end, he +repented bitterly of what he had done. + +The secret of the child's preservation remained concealed for about +ten years. It was then discovered in the following manner: + +Cyrus, like Alexander, Cæsar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon, and +other commanding minds, who obtained a great ascendancy over masses of +men in their maturer years, evinced his dawning superiority at a very +early period of his boyhood. He took the lead of his playmates in +their sports, and made them submit to his regulations and decisions. +Not only did the peasants' boys in the little hamlet where his reputed +father lived thus yield the precedence to him, but sometimes, when the +sons of men of rank and station came out from the city to join them +in their plays, even then Cyrus was the acknowledged head. One day the +son of an officer of King Astyages's court--his father's name was +Artembaris--came out, with other boys from the city, to join these +village boys in their sports. They were playing _king_. Cyrus was the +king. Herodotus says that the other boys _chose_ him as such. It was, +however, probably such a sort of choice as that by which kings and +emperors are made among men, a yielding more or less voluntary on the +part of the subjects to the resolute and determined energy with which +the aspirant places himself upon the throne. + +During the progress of the play, a quarrel arose between Cyrus and the +son of Artembaris. The latter would not obey, and Cyrus beat him. He +went home and complained bitterly to his father. The father went to +Astyages to protest against such an indignity offered to his son by a +peasant boy, and demanded that the little tyrant should be punished. +Probably far the larger portion of intelligent readers of history +consider the whole story as a romance; but if we look upon it as in +any respect true, we must conclude that the Median monarchy must have +been, at that time, in a very rude and simple condition indeed, to +allow of the submission of such a question as this to the personal +adjudication of the reigning king. + +However this may be, Herodotus states that Artembaris went to the +palace of Astyages, taking his son with him, to offer proofs of the +violence of which the herdsman's son had been guilty, by showing the +contusions and bruises that had been produced by the blows. "Is this +the treatment," he asked, indignantly, of the king, when he had +completed his statement, "that my boy is to receive from the son of +one of your slaves?" + +Astyages seemed to be convinced that Artembaris had just cause to +complain, and he sent for Mitridates and his son to come to him in the +city. When they arrived, Cyrus advanced into the presence of the king +with that courageous and manly bearing which romance writers are so +fond of ascribing to boys of noble birth, whatever may have been the +circumstances of their early training. Astyages was much struck with +his appearance and air. He, however, sternly laid to his charge the +accusation which Artembaris had brought against him. Pointing to +Artembaris's son, all bruised and swollen as he was, he asked, "Is +that the way that you, a mere herdsman's boy, dare to treat the son +of one of my nobles?" + +The little prince looked up into his stern judge's face with an +undaunted expression of countenance, which, considering the +circumstances of the case, and the smallness of the scale on which +this embryo heroism was represented, was partly ludicrous and partly +sublime. + +"My lord," said he, "what I have done I am able to justify. I did +punish this boy, and I had a right to do so. I was king, and he was my +subject, and he would not obey me. If you think that for this I +deserve punishment myself, here I am; I am ready to suffer it." + +If Astyages had been struck with the appearance and manner of Cyrus +at the commencement of the interview, his admiration was awakened far +more strongly now, at hearing such words, uttered, too, in so exalted +a tone, from such a child. He remained a long time silent. At last he +told Artembaris and his son that they might retire. He would take the +affair, he said, into his own hands, and dispose of it in a just and +proper manner. Astyages then took the herdsman aside, and asked him, +in an earnest tone, whose boy that was, and where he had obtained him. + +Mitridates was terrified. He replied, however, that the boy was his +own son, and that his mother was still living at home, in the hut +where they all resided. There seems to have been something, however, +in his appearance and manner, while making these assertions, which led +Astyages not to believe what he said. He was convinced that there was +some unexplained mystery in respect to the origin of the boy, which +the herdsman was willfully withholding. He assumed a displeased and +threatening air, and ordered in his guards to take Mitridates into +custody. The terrified herdsman then said that he would explain all, +and he accordingly related honestly the whole story. + +Astyages was greatly rejoiced to find that the child was alive. One +would suppose it to be almost inconsistent with this feeling that he +should be angry with Harpagus for not having destroyed it. It would +seem, in fact, that Harpagus was not amenable to serious censure, in +any view of the subject, for he had taken what he had a right to +consider very effectual measures for carrying the orders of the king +into faithful execution. But Astyages seems to have been one of those +inhuman monsters which the possession and long-continued exercise of +despotic power have so often made, who take a calm, quiet, and +deliberate satisfaction in torturing to death any wretched victim whom +they can have any pretext for destroying, especially if they can +invent some new means of torment to give a fresh piquancy to their +pleasure. These monsters do not act from passion. Men are sometimes +inclined to palliate great cruelties and crimes which are perpetrated +under the influence of sudden anger, or from the terrible impulse of +those impetuous and uncontrollable emotions of the human soul which, +when once excited, seem to make men insane; but the crimes of a tyrant +are not of this kind. They are the calm, deliberate, and sometimes +carefully economized gratifications of a nature essentially malign. + +When, therefore, Astyages learned that Harpagus had failed of +literally obeying his command to destroy, with his own hand, the +infant which had been given him, although he was pleased with the +consequences which had resulted from it, he immediately perceived +that there was another pleasure besides that he was to derive from +the transaction, namely, that of gratifying his own imperious and +ungovernable will by taking vengeance on him who had failed, even in +so slight a degree, of fulfilling its dictates. In a word, he was glad +that the child was saved, but he did not consider that that was any +reason why he should not have the pleasure of punishing the man who +saved him. + +Thus, far from being transported by any sudden and violent feeling of +resentment to an inconsiderate act of revenge, Astyages began, calmly +and coolly, and with a deliberate malignity more worthy of a demon +than of a man, to consider how he could best accomplish the purpose +he had in view. When, at length, his plan was formed, he sent for +Harpagus to come to him. Harpagus came. The king began the +conversation by asking Harpagus what method he had employed for +destroying the child of Mandane, which he, the king, had delivered to +him some years before. Harpagus replied by stating the exact truth. He +said that, as soon as he had received the infant, he began immediately +to consider by what means he could effect its destruction without +involving himself in the guilt of murder; that, finally, he had +determined upon employing the herdsman Mitridates to expose it in the +forest till it should perish of hunger and cold; and, in order to be +sure that the king's behest was fully obeyed, he charged the +herdsman, he said, to keep strict watch near the child till it was +dead, and then to bring home the body. He had then sent a confidential +messenger from his own household to see the body and provide for its +interment. He solemnly assured the king, in conclusion, that this was +the real truth, and that the child was actually destroyed in the +manner he had described. + +The king then, with an appearance of great satisfaction and pleasure, +informed Harpagus that the child had not been destroyed after all, and +he related to him the circumstances of its having been exchanged for +the dead child of Spaco, and brought up in the herdsman's hut. He +informed him, too, of the singular manner in which the fact that the +infant had been preserved, and was still alive, had been discovered. +He told Harpagus, moreover, that he was greatly rejoiced at this +discovery. "After he was dead, as I supposed," said he, "I bitterly +repented of having given orders to destroy him. I could not bear my +daughter's grief, or the reproaches which she incessantly uttered +against me. But the child is alive, and all is well; and I am going to +give a grand entertainment as a festival of rejoicing on the +occasion." + +Astyages then requested Harpagus to send his son, who was about +thirteen years of age, to the palace, to be a companion to Cyrus, and, +inviting him very specially to come to the entertainment, he dismissed +him with many marks of attention and honor. Harpagus went home, +trembling at the thought of the imminent danger which he had incurred, +and of the narrow escape by which he had been saved from it. He called +his son, directed him to prepare himself to go to the king, and +dismissed him with many charges in respect to his behavior, both +toward the king and toward Cyrus. He related to his wife the +conversation which had taken place between himself and Astyages, and +she rejoiced with him in the apparently happy issue of an affair +which might well have been expected to have been their ruin. + +The sequel of the story is too horrible to be told, and yet too +essential to a right understanding of the influences and effects +produced on human nature by the possession and exercise of despotic +and irresponsible power to be omitted. Harpagus came to the festival. +It was a grand entertainment. Harpagus was placed in a conspicuous +position at the table. A great variety of dishes were brought in and +set before the different guests, and were eaten without question. +Toward the close of the feast, Astyages asked Harpagus what he thought +of his fare. Harpagus, half terrified with some mysterious +presentiment of danger, expressed himself well pleased with it. +Astyages then told him there was plenty more of the same kind, and +ordered the attendants to bring the basket in. They came accordingly, +and uncovered a basket before the wretched guest, which contained, as +he saw when he looked into it, the head, and hands, and feet of his +son. Astyages asked him to help himself to whatever part he liked! + +The most astonishing part of the story is yet to be told. It relates +to the action of Harpagus in such an emergency. He looked as composed +and placid as if nothing unusual had occurred. The king asked him if +he knew what he had been eating. He said that he did; and that +whatever was agreeable to the will of the king was always pleasing to +him!! + +It is hard to say whether despotic power exerts its worst and most +direful influences on those who wield it, or on those who have it to +bear; on its masters, or on its slaves. + +After the first feelings of pleasure which Astyages experienced in +being relieved from the sense of guilt which oppressed his mind so +long as he supposed that his orders for the murder of his infant +grandchild had been obeyed, his former uneasiness lest the child +should in future years become his rival and competitor for the +possession of the Median throne, which had been the motive originally +instigating him to the commission of the crime, returned in some +measure again, and he began to consider whether it was not incumbent +on him to take some measures to guard against such a result. The end +of his deliberations was, that he concluded to send for the magi, or +soothsayers, as he had done in the case of his dream, and obtain their +judgment on the affair in the new aspect which it had now assumed. + +When the magi had heard the king's narrative of the circumstances +under which the discovery of the child's preservation had been made, +through complaints which had been preferred against him on account of +the manner in which he had exercised the prerogatives of a king among +his playmates, they decided at once that Astyages had no cause for any +further apprehensions in respect to the dreams which had disturbed him +previous to his grandchild's birth. "He has been a king," they said, +"and the danger is over. It is true that he has been a monarch only in +play, but that is enough to satisfy and fulfill the presages of the +vision. Occurrences very slight and trifling in themselves are often +found to accomplish what seemed of very serious magnitude and moment, +as portended. Your grandchild has been a king, and he will never reign +again. You have, therefore, no further cause to fear, and may send him +to his parents in Persia with perfect safety." + +The king determined to adopt this advice. He ordered the soothsayers, +however, not to remit their assiduity and vigilance, and if any signs +or omens should appear to indicate approaching danger, he charged them +to give him immediate warning. This they faithfully promised to do. +They felt, they said, a personal interest in doing it; for Cyrus being +a Persian prince, his accession to the Median throne would involve the +subjection of the Medes to the Persian dominion, a result which they +wished in every account to avoid. So, promising to watch vigilantly +for every indication of danger, they left the presence of the king. +The king then sent for Cyrus. + +It seems that Cyrus, though astonished at the great and mysterious +changes which had taken place in his condition, was still ignorant of +his true history. Astyages now told him that he was to go into Persia. +"You will rejoin there," said he, "your true parents, who, you will +find, are of very different rank in life from the herdsman whom you +have lived with thus far. You will make the journey under the charge +and escort of persons that I have appointed for the purpose. They will +explain to you, on the way, the mystery in which your parentage and +birth seems to you at present enveloped. You will find that I was +induced many years ago, by the influence of an untoward dream, to +treat you injuriously. But all has ended well, and you can now go in +peace to your proper home." + +As soon as the preparations for the journey could be made, Cyrus set +out, under the care of the party appointed to conduct him, and went to +Persia. His parents were at first dumb with astonishment, and were +then overwhelmed with gladness and joy at seeing their much-loved and +long-lost babe reappear, as if from the dead, in the form of this tall +and handsome boy, with health, intelligence, and happiness beaming in +his countenance. They overwhelmed him with caresses, and the heart of +Mandane, especially, was filled with pride and pleasure. + +As soon as Cyrus became somewhat settled in his new home, his parents +began to make arrangements for giving him as complete an education as +the means and opportunities of those days afforded. + +Xenophon, in his narrative of the early life of Cyrus, gives a minute, +and, in some respects, quite an extraordinary account of the mode of +life led in Cambyses's court. The sons of all the nobles and officers +of the court were educated together, within the precincts of the royal +palaces, or, rather, they spent their time together there, occupied in +various pursuits and avocations, which were intended to train them for +the duties of future life, though there was very little of what would +be considered, in modern times, as education. They were not generally +taught to read, nor could they, in fact, since there were no books, +have used that art if they had acquired it. The only intellectual +instruction which they seem to have received was what was called +learning justice. The boys had certain teachers, who explained to +them, more or less formally, the general principles of right and +wrong, the injunctions and prohibitions of the laws, and the +obligations resulting from them, and the rules by which controversies +between man and man, arising in the various relations of life, should +be settled. The boys were also trained to apply these principles and +rules to the cases which occurred among themselves, each acting as +judge in turn, to discuss and decide the questions that arose from +time to time, either from real transactions as they occurred, or from +hypothetical cases invented to put their powers to the test. To +stimulate the exercise of their powers, they were rewarded when they +decided right, and punished when they decided wrong. Cyrus himself was +punished on one occasion for a wrong decision, under the following +circumstances: + +A bigger boy took away the coat of a smaller boy than himself, because +it was larger than his own, and gave him his own smaller coat instead. +The smaller boy complained of the wrong, and the case was referred to +Cyrus for his adjudication. After hearing the case, Cyrus decided that +each boy should keep the coat that fitted him. The teacher condemned +this as a very unjust decision. "When you are called upon," said he, +"to consider a question of what fits best, then you should determine +as you have done in this case; but when you are appointed to decide +whose each coat is, and to adjudge it to the proper owner, then you +are to consider what constitutes right possession, and whether he who +takes a thing by force from one who is weaker than himself, should +have it, or whether he who made it or purchased it should be protected +in his property. You have decided against law, and in favor of +violence and wrong." Cyrus's sentence was thus condemned, and he was +punished for not reasoning more soundly. + +The boys at this Persian court were trained to many manly exercises. +They were taught to wrestle and to run. They were instructed in the +use of such arms as were employed in those times, and rendered +dexterous in the use of them by daily exercises. They were taught to +put their skill in practice, too, in hunting excursions, which they +took, by turns, with the king, in the neighboring forest and +mountains. On these occasions, they were armed with a bow, and a +quiver of arrows, a shield, a small sword or dagger which was worn at +the side in a sort of scabbard, and two javelins. One of these was +intended to be thrown, the other to be retained in the hand, for use +in close combat, in case the wild beast, in his desperation, should +advance to a personal re-encounter. These hunting expeditions were +considered extremely important as a part of the system of youthful +training. They were often long and fatiguing. The young men became +inured, by means of them, to toil, and privation, and exposure. They +had to make long marches, to encounter great dangers, to engage in +desperate conflicts, and to submit sometimes to the inconveniences of +hunger and thirst, as well as exposure to the extremes of heat and +cold, and to the violence of storms. All this was considered as +precisely the right sort of discipline to make them good soldiers in +their future martial campaigns. + +Cyrus was not, himself, at this time, old enough to take a very active +part in these severer services, as they belonged to a somewhat +advanced stage of Persian education, and he was yet not quite twelve +years old. He was a very beautiful boy, tall and graceful in form and +his countenance was striking and expressive. He was very frank and +open in his disposition and character, speaking honestly, and without +fear, the sentiments of his heart, in any presence and on all +occasions. He was extremely kind hearted, and amiable, too, in his +disposition, averse to saying or doing any thing which could give pain +to those around him. In fact, the openness and cordiality of his +address and manners, and the unaffected ingenuousness and sincerity +which characterized his disposition, made him a universal favorite. +His frankness, his childish simplicity, his vivacity, his personal +grace and beauty, and his generous and self-sacrificing spirit, +rendered him the object of general admiration throughout the court, +and filled Mandane's heart with maternal gladness and pride. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE VISIT TO MEDIA. + +B.C. 587-584 + +Astyages sends for Cyrus.--Cyrus goes to Media.--Cyrus's +reception.--His astonishment.--Sympathy with childhood.--Pleasures +of old age.--Character of Cyrus.--First interview with his +grandfather.--Dress of the king.--Cyrus's considerate reply.--Habits +of Cyrus.--Horsemanship among the Persians.--Cyrus learns +to ride.--His delights.--Amusements with the boys.--The +cup-bearer.--The entertainment.--Cyrus's conversation.--Cyrus +and the Sacian cup-bearer.--Cyrus slights him.--Accomplishments of +the cup-bearer.--Cyrus mimics him.--Cyrus declines to taste the +wine.--Duties of a cup-bearer.--Cyrus's reason for not tasting the +wine.--His description of a feast.--Cyrus's dislike of the +cup-bearer.--His reason for it.--Amusement of the guests.--Cyrus +becomes a greater favorite than ever.--Mandane proposes to return +to Persia.--Cyrus consents to remain.--Fears of Mandane.--Departure +of Mandane.--Rapid progress of Cyrus.--Hunting in the park.--Game +becomes scarce.--Development of Cyrus's powers, both of body and +mind.--Hunting wild beasts.--Cyrus's conversation with his +attendants.--Pursuit of a stag.--Cyrus's danger.--Cyrus's +recklessness.--He is reproved by his companions.--Cyrus kills a +wild boar.--He is again reproved.--Cyrus carries his game +home.--Distributes it among his companions.--Another hunting +party.--A plundering party.--Cyrus departs for Media.--Parting +presents.--The presents returned.--Cyrus sends them +back again.--Character of Xenophon's narrative.--Its +trustworthiness.--Character of Cyrus as given by +Xenophon.--Herodotus more trustworthy than Xenophon. + + +When Cyrus was about twelve years old, if the narrative which Xenophon +gives of his history is true, he was invited by his grandfather +Astyages to make a visit to Media. As he was about ten years of age, +according to Herodotus, when he was restored to his parents, he could +have been residing only two years in Persia when he received this +invitation. During this period, Astyages had received, through Mandane +and others, very glowing descriptions of the intelligence and vivacity +of the young prince, and he naturally felt a desire to see him once +more. In fact, Cyrus's personal attractiveness and beauty, joined to a +certain frank and noble generosity of spirit which he seems to have +manifested in his earliest years, made him a universal favorite at +home, and the reports of these qualities, and of the various sayings +and doings on Cyrus's part, by which his disposition and character +were revealed, awakened strongly in the mind of Astyages that kind of +interest which a grandfather is always very prone to feel in a +handsome and precocious grandchild. + +As Cyrus had been sent to Persia as soon as his true rank had been +discovered, he had had no opportunities of seeing the splendor of +royal life in Media, and the manners and habits of the Persians were +very plain and simple. Cyrus was accordingly very much impressed with +the magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced when he +arrived in Media, and with the gayeties and luxuries, the pomp and +display, and the spectacles and parades in which the Median court +abounded. Astyages himself took great pleasure in witnessing and +increasing his little grandson's admiration for these wonders. It is +one of the most extraordinary and beautiful of the provisions which +God has made for securing the continuance of human happiness to the +very end of life, that we can renew, through sympathy with children, +the pleasures which, for ourselves alone, had long since, through +repetition and satiety, lost their charm. The rides, the walks, the +flowers gathered by the road-side, the rambles among pebbles on the +beach, the songs, the games, and even the little picture-book of +childish tales which have utterly and entirely lost their power to +affect the mind even of middle life, directly and alone, regain their +magic influence, and call up vividly all the old emotions, even to the +heart of decrepit age, when it seeks these enjoyments in companionship +and sympathy with children or grandchildren beloved. By giving to us +this capacity for renewing our own sensitiveness to the impressions of +pleasure through sympathy with childhood, God has provided a true and +effectual remedy for the satiety and insensibility of age. Let any one +who is in the decline of years, whose time passes but heavily away, +and who supposes that nothing can awaken interest in his mind or give +him pleasure, make the experiment of taking children to a ride or to a +concert, or to see a menagerie or a museum, and he will find that +there is a way by which he can again enjoy very highly the pleasures +which he had supposed were for him forever exhausted and gone. + +This was the result, at all events, in the case of Astyages and Cyrus. +The monarch took a new pleasure in the luxuries and splendors which +had long since lost their charm for him, in observing their influence +and effect upon the mind of his little grandson. Cyrus, as we have +already said, was very frank and open in his disposition, and spoke +with the utmost freedom of every thing that he saw. He was, of course, +a privileged person, and could always say what the feeling of the +moment and his own childish conceptions prompted, without danger. He +had, however, according to the account which Xenophon gives, a great +deal of good sense, as well as of sprightliness and brilliancy; +so that, while his remarks, through their originality and point, +attracted every one's attention, there was a native politeness and +sense of propriety which restrained him from saying any thing to give +pain. Even when he disapproved of and condemned what he saw in the +arrangements of his grandfather's court or household, he did it in +such a manner--so ingenuous, good-natured, and unassuming, that it +amused all and offended none. + +In fact, on the very first interview which Astyages had with Cyrus, an +instance of the boy's readiness and tact occurred, which impressed his +grandfather very much in his favor. The Persians, as has been already +remarked, were accustomed to dress very plainly, while, on the other +hand, at the Median court the superior officers, and especially the +king, were always very splendidly adorned. Accordingly, when Cyrus +was introduced into his grandfather's presence, he was quite dazzled +with the display. The king wore a purple robe, very richly adorned, +with a belt and collars, which were embroidered highly, and set with +precious stones. He had bracelets, too, upon his wrists, of the most +costly character. He wore flowing locks of artificial hair, and his +face was painted, after the Median manner. Cyrus gazed upon this gay +spectacle for a few moments in silence, and then exclaimed, "Why, +mother! what a handsome man my grandfather is!" + +Such an exclamation, of course, made great amusement both for the king +himself and for the others who were present; and at length Mandane, +somewhat indiscreetly, it must be confessed, asked Cyrus which of the +two he thought the handsomest, his father or his grandfather. Cyrus +escaped from the danger of deciding such a formidable question by +saying that his father was the handsomest man in Persia, but his +grandfather was the handsomest of all the Medes he had ever seen. +Astyages was even more pleased by this proof of his grandson's +adroitness and good sense than he had been with the compliment +which the boy had paid to him; and thenceforward Cyrus became an +established favorite, and did and said, in his grandfather's presence, +almost whatever he pleased. + +When the first childish feelings of excitement and curiosity had +subsided, Cyrus seemed to attach very little value to the fine clothes +and gay trappings with which his grandfather was disposed to adorn +him, and to all the other external marks of parade and display, which +were generally so much prized among the Medes. He was much more +inclined to continue in his former habits of plain dress and frugal +means than to imitate Median ostentation and luxury. There was one +pleasure, however, to be found in Media, which in Persia he had never +enjoyed, that he prized very highly. That was the pleasure of learning +to ride on horseback. The Persians, it seems, either because their +country was a rough and mountainous region, or for some other cause, +were very little accustomed to ride. They had very few horses, and +there were no bodies of cavalry in their armies. The young men, +therefore, were not trained to the art of horsemanship. Even in their +hunting excursions they went always on foot, and were accustomed to +make long marches through the forests and among the mountains in this +manner, loaded heavily, too, all the time, with the burden of arms and +provisions which they were obliged to carry. It was, therefore, a new +pleasure to Cyrus to mount a horse. Horsemanship was a great art among +the Medes. Their horses were beautiful and fleet, and splendidly +caparisoned. Astyages provided for Cyrus the best animals which could +be procured, and the boy was very proud and happy in exercising +himself in the new accomplishment which he thus had the opportunity to +acquire. To ride is always a great source of pleasure to boys; but in +that period of the world, when physical strength was so much more +important and more highly valued than at present, horsemanship was a +vastly greater source of gratification than it is now. Cyrus felt that +he had, at a single leap, quadrupled his power, and thus risen at once +to a far higher rank in the scale of being than he had occupied +before; for, as soon as he had once learned to be at home in the +saddle, and to subject the spirit and the power of his horse to his +own will, the courage, the strength, and the speed of the animal +became, in fact, almost personal acquisitions of his own. He felt, +accordingly, when he was galloping over the plains, or pursuing deer +in the park, or running over the racecourse with his companions, as +if it was some newly-acquired strength and speed of his own that he +was exercising, and which, by some magic power, was attended by no +toilsome exertion, and followed by no fatigue. + +The various officers and servants in Astyages's household, as well as +Astyages himself, soon began to feel a strong interest in the young +prince. Each took a pleasure in explaining to him what pertained to +their several departments, and in teaching him whatever he desired to +learn. The attendant highest in rank in such a household was the +cup-bearer. He had the charge of the tables and the wine, and all the +general arrangements of the palace seem to have been under his +direction. The cup-bearer in Astyages's court was a Sacian. He was, +however, less a friend to Cyrus than the rest. There was nothing +within the range of his official duties that he could teach the boy; +and Cyrus did not like his wine. Besides, when Astyages was engaged, +it was the cup-bearer's duty to guard him from interruption, and at +such times he often had occasion to restrain the young prince from the +liberty of entering his grandfather's apartments as often as he +pleased. + +At one of the entertainments which Astyages gave in his palace, Cyrus +and Mandane were invited; and Astyages, in order to gratify the young +prince as highly as possible, set before him a great variety of +dishes--meats, and sauces, and delicacies of every kind--all served in +costly vessels, and with great parade and ceremony. He supposed that +Cyrus would have been enraptured with the luxury and splendor of the +entertainment. He did not, however, seem much pleased. Astyages asked +him the reason, and whether the feast which he saw before him was not +a much finer one than he had been accustomed to see in Persia. Cyrus +said, in reply, that it seemed to him to be very troublesome to have +to eat a little of so many separate things. In Persia they managed, he +thought, a great deal better. "And how do you manage in Persia?" asked +Astyages. "Why, in Persia," replied Cyrus, "we have plain bread and +meat, and eat it when we are hungry; so we get health and strength, +and have very little trouble." Astyages laughed at this simplicity, +and told Cyrus that he might, if he preferred it, live on plain bread +and meat while he remained in Media, and then he would return to +Persia in as good health as he came. + +Cyrus was satisfied; he, however, asked his grandfather if he would +give him all those things which had been set before him, to dispose of +as he thought proper; and on his grandfather's assenting, he began to +call the various attendants up to the table, and to distribute the +costly dishes to them, in return, as he said, for their various +kindnesses to him. "This," said he to one, "is for you, because you +take pains to teach me to ride; this," to another, "for you, because +you gave me a javelin; this to you, because you serve my grandfather +well and faithfully; and this to you, because you honor my mother." +Thus he went on until he had distributed all that he had received, +though he omitted, as it seemed designedly, to give any thing to the +Sacian cup-bearer. This Sacian being an officer of high rank, of tall +and handsome figure, and beautifully dressed, was the most conspicuous +attendant at the feast, and could not, therefore, have been +accidentally passed by. Astyages accordingly asked Cyrus why he had +not given any thing to the Sacian--the servant whom, as he said, he +liked better than all the others. + +"And what is the reason," asked Cyrus, in reply, "that this Sacian is +such a favorite with you?" + +"Have you not observed," replied Astyages, "how gracefully and +elegantly he pours out the wine for me, and then hands me the cup?" + +The Sacian was, in fact, uncommonly accomplished in respect to the +personal grace and dexterity for which cup-bearers in those days were +most highly valued, and which constitute, in fact, so essential a part +of the qualifications of a master of ceremonies at a royal court in +every age. Cyrus, however, instead of yielding to this argument, said, +in reply, that he could come into the room and pour out the wine as +well as the Sacian could do it, and he asked his grandfather to allow +him to try. Astyages consented. Cyrus then took the goblet of wine, +and went out. In a moment he came in again, stepping grandly, as he +entered, in mimicry of the Sacian, and with a countenance of assumed +gravity and self-importance, which imitated so well the air and manner +of the cup-bearer as greatly to amuse the whole company assembled. +Cyrus advanced thus toward the king and presented him with the cup, +imitating, with the grace and dexterity natural to childhood, all the +ceremonies which he had seen the cup-bearer himself perform, except +that of tasting the wine. The king and Mandane laughed heartily. +Cyrus then, throwing off his assumed character, jumped up into his +grandfather's lap and kissed him, and turning to the cup-bearer, he +said, "Now, Sacian, you are ruined. I shall get my grandfather to +appoint me in your place. I can hand the wine as well as you, and +without tasting it myself at all." + +"But why did you not taste it?" asked Astyages; "you should have +performed that part of the duty as well as the rest." + +It was, in fact, a very essential part of the duty of a cup-bearer to +taste the wine that he offered before presenting it to the king. He +did this, however, not by putting the cup to his lips, but by pouring +out a little of it into the palm of his hand. This custom was adopted +by these ancient despots to guard against the danger of being +poisoned; for such a danger would of course be very much diminished by +requiring the officer who had the custody of the wine, and without +whose knowledge no foreign substance could well be introduced into it, +always to drink a portion of it himself immediately before tendering +it to the king. + +To Astyages's question why he had not tasted the wine, Cyrus replied +that he was afraid it was poisoned. "What led you to imagine that it +was poisoned?" asked his grandfather. "Because," said Cyrus, "it was +poisoned the other day, when you made a feast for your friends, on +your birth-day. I knew by the effects. It made you all crazy. The +things that you do not allow us boys to do, you did yourselves, for +you were very rude and noisy; you all bawled together, so that nobody +could hear or understand what any other person said. Presently you +went to singing in a very ridiculous manner, and when a singer ended +his song, you applauded him, and declared that he had sung admirably, +though nobody had paid attention. You went to telling stories, too, +each one of his own accord, without succeeding in making any body +listen to him. Finally, you got up and began to dance, but it was out +of all rule and measure; you could not even stand erect and steadily. +Then, you all seemed to forget who and what you were. The guests paid +no regard to you as their king, but treated you in a very familiar and +disrespectful manner, and you treated them in the same way; so I +thought that the wine that produced these effects must have been +poisoned." + +Of course, Cyrus did not seriously mean that he thought the wine had +been actually poisoned. He was old enough to understand its nature +and effects. He undoubtedly intended his reply as a playful satire +upon the intemperate excesses of his grandfather's court. + +"But have not you ever seen such things before?" asked Astyages. "Does +not your father ever drink wine until it makes him merry?" + +"No," replied Cyrus, "indeed he does not. He drinks only when he is +thirsty, and then only enough for his thirst, and so he is not +harmed." He then added, in a contemptuous tone, "He has no Sacian +cup-bearer, you may depend, about _him_." + +"What is the reason, my son," here asked Mandane, "why you dislike +this Sacian so much?" + +"Why, every time that I want to come and see my grandfather," replied +Cyrus, "this teazing man always stops me, and will not let me come in. +I wish, grandfather, you would let me have the rule over him just for +three days." + +"Why, what would you do to him?" asked Astyages. + +"I would treat him as he treats me now," replied Cyrus. "I would stand +at the door, as he does when I want to come in, and when he was coming +for his dinner, I would stop him and say, 'You can not come in now; +he is busy with some men.'" + +In saying this, Cyrus imitated, in a very ludicrous manner, the +gravity and dignity of the Sacian's air and manner. + +"Then," he continued, "when he came to supper, I would say, 'He is +bathing now; you must come some other time;' or else, 'He is going to +sleep, and you will disturb him.' So I would torment him all the time, +as he now torments me, in keeping me out when I want to come and see +you." + +Such conversation as this, half playful, half earnest, of course +amused Astyages and Mandane very much, as well as all the other +listeners. There is a certain charm in the simplicity and confiding +frankness of childhood, when it is honest and sincere, which in +Cyrus's case was heightened by his personal grace and beauty. He +became, in fact, more and more a favorite the longer he remained. At +length, the indulgence and the attentions which he received began to +produce, in some degree, their usual injurious effects. Cyrus became +too talkative, and sometimes he appeared a little vain. Still, there +was so much true kindness of heart, such consideration for the +feelings of others, and so respectful a regard for his grandfather, +his mother, and his uncle,[A] that his faults were overlooked, and he +was the life and soul of the company in all the social gatherings +which took place in the palaces of the king. + +[Footnote A: The uncle here referred to was Mandane's brother. His +name was Oyaxares. He was at this time a royal prince, the heir +apparent to the throne. He figures very conspicuously in the +subsequent portions of Xenophon's history as Astyages's successor on +the throne. Herodotus does not mention him at all, but makes Cyrus +himself the direct successor of Astyages.] + +At length the time arrived for Mandane to return to Persia. Astyages +proposed that she should leave Cyrus in Media, to be educated there +under his grandfather's charge. Mandane replied that she was willing +to gratify her father in every thing, but she thought it would be very +hard to leave Cyrus behind, unless he was willing, of his own accord, +to stay. Astyages then proposed the subject to Cyrus himself. "If you +will stay," said he, "the Sacian shall no longer have power to keep +you from coming in to see me; you shall come whenever you choose. +Then, besides, you shall have the use of all my horses, and of as many +more as you please, and when you go home at last you shall take as +many as you wish with you. Then you may have all the animals in the +park to hunt. You can pursue them on horseback, and shoot them with +bows and arrows, or kill them with javelins, as men do with wild +beasts in the woods. I will provide boys of your own age to play with +you, and to ride and hunt with you, and will have all sorts of arms +made of suitable size for you to use; and if there is any thing else +that you should want at any time, you will only have to ask me for it, +and I will immediately provide it." + +The pleasure of riding and of hunting in the park was very captivating +to Cyrus's mind, and he consented to stay. He represented to his +mother that it would be of great advantage to him, on his final return +to Persia, to be a skillful and powerful horseman, as that would at +once give him the superiority over all the Persian youths, for they +were very little accustomed to ride. His mother had some fears lest, +by too long a residence in the Median court, her son should acquire +the luxurious habits, and proud and haughty manners, which would be +constantly before him in his grandfather's example; but Cyrus said +that his grandfather, being imperious himself, required all around +him to be submissive, and that Mandane need not fear but that he +would return at last as dutiful and docile as ever. It was decided, +therefore, that Cyrus should stay, while his mother, bidding her child +and her father farewell, went back to Persia. + +After his mother was gone, Cyrus endeared himself very strongly to all +persons at his grandfather's court by the nobleness and generosity of +character which he evinced, more and more, as his mind was gradually +developed. He applied himself with great diligence to acquiring the +various accomplishments and arts then most highly prized, such as +leaping, vaulting, racing, riding, throwing the javelin, and drawing +the bow. In the friendly contests which took place among the boys, to +test their comparative excellence in these exercises, Cyrus would +challenge those whom he knew to be superior to himself, and allow them +to enjoy the pleasure of victory, while he was satisfied, himself, +with the superior stimulus to exertion which he derived from coming +thus into comparison with attainments higher than his own. He pressed +forward boldly and ardently, undertaking every thing which promised +to be, by any possibility, within his power; and, far from being +disconcerted and discouraged at his mistakes and failures, he always +joined merrily in the laugh which they occasioned, and renewed his +attempts with as much ardor and alacrity as before. Thus he made great +and rapid progress, and learned first to equal and then to surpass one +after another of his companions, and all without exciting any jealousy +or envy. + +It was a great amusement both to him and to the other boys, his +playmates, to hunt the animals in the park, especially the deer. The +park was a somewhat extensive domain, but the animals were soon very +much diminished by the slaughter which the boys made among them. +Astyages endeavored to supply their places by procuring more. At +length, however, all the sources of supply that were conveniently at +hand were exhausted; and Cyrus, then finding that his grandfather was +put to no little trouble to obtain tame animals for his park, +proposed, one day, that he should be allowed to go out into the +forests, to hunt the wild beasts with the men. "There are animals +enough there, grandfather," said Cyrus, "and I shall consider them all +just as if you had procured them expressly for me." + +In fact, by this time Cyrus had grown up to be a tall and handsome +young man, with strength and vigor sufficient, under favorable +circumstances, to endure the fatigues and exposures of real hunting. +As his person had become developed, his mind and manners, too, +had undergone a change. The gayety, the thoughtfulness, the +self-confidence, and talkative vivacity of his childhood had +disappeared, and he was fast becoming reserved, sedate, deliberate, +and cautious. He no longer entertained his grandfather's company by +his mimicry, his repartees, and his childish wit. He was silent; he +observed, he listened, he shrank from publicity, and spoke, when he +spoke at all, in subdued and gentle tones. Instead of crowding forward +eagerly into his grandfather's presence on all occasions, seasonable +and unseasonable, as he had done before, he now became, of his own +accord, very much afraid of occasioning trouble or interruption. He +did not any longer need a Sacian to restrain him, but became, as +Xenophon expresses it, a Sacian to himself, taking great care not to +go into his grandfather's apartments without previously ascertaining +that the king was disengaged; so that he and the Sacian now became +very great friends. + +This being the state of the case, Astyages consented that Cyrus +should go out with his son Cyaxares into the forests to hunt at the +next opportunity. The party set out, when the time arrived, on +horseback, the hearts of Cyrus and his companions bounding, when +they mounted their steeds, with feelings of elation and pride. There +were certain attendants and guards appointed to keep near to Cyrus, +and to help him in the rough and rocky parts of the country, and to +protect him from the dangers to which, if left alone, he would +doubtless have been exposed. Cyrus talked with these attendants, as +they rode along, of the mode of hunting, of the difficulties of +hunting, the characters and the habits of the various wild beasts, +and of the dangers to be shunned. His attendants told him that the +dangerous beasts were bears, lions, tigers, boars, and leopards; +that such animals as these often attacked and killed men, and that +he must avoid them; but that stags, wild goats, wild sheep, and wild +asses were harmless, and that he could hunt such animals as they as +much as he pleased. They told him, moreover, that steep, rocky, and +broken ground was more dangerous to the huntsman than any beasts, +however ferocious; for riders, off their guard, driving impetuously +over such ways, were often thrown from their horses, or fell with +them over precipices or into chasms, and were killed. + +[Illustration: CYRUS'S HUNTING.] + +Cyrus listened very attentively to these instructions, with every +disposition to give heed to them; but when he came to the trial, +he found that the ardor and impetuosity of the chase drove all +considerations of prudence wholly from his mind. When the men got into +the forest, those that were with Cyrus roused a stag, and all set off +eagerly in pursuit, Cyrus at the head. Away went the stag over rough +and dangerous ground. The rest of the party turned aside, or followed +cautiously, while Cyrus urged his horse forward in the wildest +excitement, thinking of nothing, and seeing nothing but the stag +bounding before him. The horse came to a chasm which he was obliged to +leap. But the distance was too great; he came down upon his knees, +threw Cyrus violently forward almost over his head, and then, with a +bound and a scramble, recovered his feet and went on. Cyrus clung +tenaciously to the horse's mane, and at length succeeded in getting +back to the saddle, though, for a moment his life was in the most +imminent danger. His attendants were extremely terrified, though he +himself seemed to experience no feeling but the pleasurable +excitement of the chase; for, as soon as the obstacle was cleared, he +pressed on with new impetuosity after the stag, overtook him, and +killed him with his javelin. Then, alighting from his horse, he stood +by the side of his victim, to wait the coming up of the party, his +countenance beaming with an expression of triumph and delight. + +His attendants, however, on their arrival, instead of applauding his +exploit, or seeming to share his pleasure, sharply reproved him for +his recklessness and daring. He had entirely disregarded their +instructions, and they threatened to report him to his grandfather. +Cyrus looked perplexed and uneasy. The excitement and the pleasure of +victory and success were struggling in his mind against his dread of +his grandfather's displeasure. Just at this instant he heard a new +halloo. Another party in the neighborhood had roused fresh game. All +Cyrus's returning sense of duty was blown at once to the winds. He +sprang to his horse with a shout of wild enthusiasm, and rode off +toward the scene of action. The game which had been started, a furious +wild boar, just then issued from a thicket directly before him. Cyrus, +instead of shunning the danger, as he ought to have done, in +obedience to the orders of those to whom his grandfather had intrusted +him, dashed on to meet the boar at full speed, and aimed so true a +thrust with his javelin against the beast as to transfix him in the +forehead. The boar fell, and lay upon the ground in dying struggles, +while Cyrus's heart was filled with joy and triumph even greater than +before. + +When Cyaxares came up, he reproved Cyrus anew for running such risks. +Cyrus received the reproaches meekly, and then asked Cyaxares to give +him the two animals that he had killed; he wanted to carry them home +to his grandfather. + +"By no means," said Cyaxares, "your grandfather would be very much +displeased to know what you had done. He would not only condemn you +for acting thus, but he would reprove us too, severely, for allowing +you to do so." + +"Let him punish me," said Cyrus, "if he wishes, after I have shown him +the stag and the boar, and you may punish me too, if you think best; +but do let me show them to him." + +Cyaxares consented, and Cyrus made arrangements to have the bodies of +the beasts and the bloody javelins carried home. Cyrus then presented +the carcasses to his grandfather, saying that it was some game which +he had taken for him. The javelins he did not exhibit directly, but +he laid them down in a place where his grandfather would see them. +Astyages thanked him for his presents, but he said he had no such need +of presents of game as to wish his grandson to expose himself to such +imminent dangers to take it. + +"Well, grandfather," said Cyrus, "if you do not want the meat, give it +to me, and I will divide it among my friends." Astyages agreed to +this, and Cyrus divided his booty among his companions, the boys, who +had before hunted with him in the park. They, of course, took their +several portions home, each one carrying with his share of the gift a +glowing account of the valor and prowess of the giver. It was not +generosity which led Cyrus thus to give away the fruits of his toil, +but a desire to widen and extend his fame. + +When Cyrus was about fifteen or sixteen years old, his uncle Cyaxares +was married, and in celebrating his nuptials, he formed a great +hunting party, to go to the frontiers between Media and Assyria to +hunt there, where it was said that game of all kinds was very +plentiful, as it usually was, in fact, in those days, in the +neighborhood of disturbed and unsettled frontiers. The very causes +which made such a region as this a safe and frequented haunt for wild +beasts, made it unsafe for men, and Cyaxares did not consider it +prudent to venture on his excursion without a considerable force to +attend him. His hunting party formed, therefore, quite a little army. +They set out from home with great pomp and ceremony, and proceeded to +the frontiers in regular organization and order, like a body of troops +on a march. There was a squadron of horsemen, who were to hunt the +beasts in the open parts of the forest, and a considerable detachment +of light-armed footmen also, who were to rouse the game, and drive +them out of their lurking places in the glens and thickets. Cyrus +accompanied this expedition. + +When Cyaxares reached the frontiers, he concluded, instead of +contenting himself and his party with hunting wild beasts, to make an +incursion for plunder into the Assyrian territory, that being, as +Zenophon expresses it, a more noble enterprise than the other. The +nobleness, it seems, consisted in the greater imminence of the danger, +in having to contend with armed men instead of ferocious brutes, and +in the higher value of the prizes which they would obtain in case of +success. The idea of there being any injustice or wrong in this wanton +and unprovoked aggression upon the territories of a neighboring nation +seems not to have entered the mind either of the royal robber himself +or of his historian. + +Cyrus distinguished himself very conspicuously in this expedition, +as he had done in the hunting excursion before; and when, at length, +this nuptial party returned home, loaded with booty, the tidings of +Cyrus's exploits went to Persia. Cambyses thought that if his son was +beginning to take part, as a soldier, in military campaigns, it was +time for him to be recalled. He accordingly sent for him, and Cyrus +began to make preparations for his return. + +The day of his departure was a day of great sadness and sorrow among +all his companions in Media, and, in fact, among all the members of +his grandfather's household. They accompanied him for some distance on +his way, and took leave of him, at last, with much regret and many +tears. Cyrus distributed among them, as they left him, the various +articles of value which he possessed, such as his arms, and ornaments +of various kinds, and costly articles of dress. He gave his Median +robe, at last, to a certain youth whom he said he loved the best of +all. The name of this special favorite was Araspes. As these his +friends parted from him, Cyrus took his leave of them, one by one, as +they returned, with many proofs of his affection for them, and with a +very sad and heavy heart. + +The boys and young men who had received these presents took them home, +but they were so valuable, that they or their parents, supposing that +they were given under a momentary impulse of feeling, and that they +ought to be returned, sent them all to Astyages. Astyages sent them to +Persia, to be restored to Cyrus. Cyrus sent them all back again to his +grandfather, with a request that he would distribute them again to +those to whom Cyrus had originally given them, "which," said he, +"grandfather, you must do, if you wish me ever to come to Media again +with pleasure and not with shame." + +Such is the story which Xenophon gives of Cyrus's visit to Media, and +in its romantic and incredible details it is a specimen of the whole +narrative which this author has given of his hero's life. It is not, +at the present day, supposed that these, and the many similar stories +with which Xenophon's books are filled, are true history. It is not +even thought that Xenophon really intended to offer his narrative as +history, but rather as an historical romance--a fiction founded on +fact, written to amuse the warriors of his times, and to serve as a +vehicle for inculcating such principles of philosophy, of morals, and +of military science as seemed to him worthy of the attention of his +countrymen. The story has no air of reality about it from beginning to +end, but only a sort of poetical fitness of one part to another, much +more like the contrived coincidences of a romance writer than like the +real events and transactions of actual life. A very large portion of +the work consists of long discourses on military, moral, and often +metaphysical philosophy, made by generals in council, or commanders in +conversation with each other when going into battle. The occurrences +and incidents out of which these conversations arise always take place +just as they are wanted and arrange themselves in a manner to produce +the highest dramatic effect; like the stag, the broken ground, and +the wild boar in Cyrus's hunting, which came, one after another, to +furnish the hero with poetical occasions for displaying his juvenile +bravery, and to produce the most picturesque and poetical grouping of +incidents and events. Xenophon too, like other writers of romances, +makes his hero a model of military virtue and magnanimity, according +to the ideas of the times. He displays superhuman sagacity in +circumventing his foes, he performs prodigies of valor, he forms the +most sentimental attachments, and receives with a romantic confidence +the adhesions of men who come over to his side from the enemy, and +who, being traitors to old friends, would seem to be only worthy of +suspicion and distrust in being received by new ones. Every thing, +however, results well; all whom he confides in prove worthy; all whom +he distrusts prove base. All his friends are generous and noble, and +all his enemies treacherous and cruel. Every prediction which he makes +is verified, and all his enterprises succeed; or if, in any respect, +there occurs a partial failure, the incident is always of such a +character as to heighten the impression which is made by the final and +triumphant success. + +Such being the character of Xenophon's tale, or rather drama, we shall +content ourselves, after giving this specimen of it, with adding, in +some subsequent chapters, a few other scenes and incidents drawn from +his narrative. In the mean time, in relating the great leading events +of Cyrus's life, we shall take Herodotus for our guide, by following +his more sober, and, probably, more trustworthy record. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CROESUS. + +B.C. 718-545 + +The wealth of Croesus.--The Mermnadæ.--Origin of the Mermnadean +dynasty.--Candaules and Gyges.--Infamous proposal of +Candaules.--Remonstrance of Gyges.--Nyssia's suppressed +indignation.--She sends for Gyges.--Candaules is assassinated.--Gyges +succeeds.--The Lydian power extended.--The wars of +Alyattes.--Destruction of Minerva's temple.--Stratagem of +Thrasybulus--Success of the stratagem.--A treaty of peace +concluded.--Story of Arion and the dolphin.--The alternative.--Arion +leaps into the sea.--He is preserved by a dolphin.--Death of +Alyattes.--Succession of Croesus.--Plans of Croesus for subjugating +the islands.--The golden sands of the Pactolus.--The story of +Midas.--Wealth and renown of Croesus.--Visit of Solon.--Croesus and +Solon.--What constitutes happiness.--Cleobis and Bito.--Croesus +displeased with Solon.--Solon treated with neglect.--The two sons +of Croesus.--The king's dream.--Arrival of Adrastus.--The wild +boar.--Precautions of Croesus.--Remonstrance of Atys.--Explanation +of Croesus.--Atys joins the expedition.--He is killed by +Adrastus.--Anguish of Adrastus.--Burial of Atys.--Adrastus kills +himself.--Grief of Croesus. + + +The scene of our narrative must now be changed, for a time, from +Persia and Media, in the East, to Asia Minor, in the West, where the +great Croesus, originally King of Lydia, was at this time gradually +extending his empire along the shores of the Ægean Sea. The name of +Croesus is associated in the minds of men with the idea of boundless +wealth, the phrase "as rich as Croesus" having been a common proverb +in all the modern languages of Europe for many centuries. It was to +this Croesus, king of Lydia, whose story we are about to relate, +that the proverb alludes. + +The country of Lydia, over which this famous sovereign originally +ruled, was in the western part of Asia Minor, bordering on the Ægean +Sea. Croesus himself belonged to a dynasty, or race of kings, called +the Mermnadæ. The founder of this line was Gyges, who displaced the +dynasty which preceded him and established his own by a revolution +effected in a very remarkable manner. The circumstances were as +follows: + +The name of the last monarch of the old dynasty--the one, namely, whom +Gyges displaced--was Candaules. Gyges was a household servant in +Candaules's family--a sort of slave, in fact, and yet, as such slaves +often were in those rude days, a personal favorite and boon companion +of his master. Candaules was a dissolute and unprincipled tyrant. He +had, however, a very beautiful and modest wife, whose name was Nyssia. +Candaules was very proud of the beauty of his queen, and was always +extolling it, though, as the event proved, he could not have felt for +her any true and honest affection. In some of his revels with Gyges, +when he was boasting of Nyssia's charms, he said that the beauty of +her form and figure, when unrobed, was even more exquisite than that +of her features; and, finally, the monster, growing more and more +excited, and having rendered himself still more of a brute than he was +by nature by the influence of wine, declared that Gyges should see for +himself. He would conceal him, he said, in the queen's bed-chamber, +while she was undressing for the night. Gyges remonstrated very +earnestly against this proposal. It would be doing the innocent +queen, he said, a great wrong. He assured the king, too, that he +believed fully all that he said about Nyssia's beauty, without +applying such a test, and he begged him not to insist upon a proposal +with which it would be criminal to comply. + +The king, however, did insist upon it, and Gyges was compelled to +yield. Whatever is offered as a favor by a half-intoxicated despot to +an humble inferior, it would be death to refuse. Gyges allowed himself +to be placed behind a half-opened door of the king's apartment, when +the king retired to it for the night. There he was to remain while the +queen began to unrobe herself for retiring, with a strict injunction +to withdraw at a certain time which the king designated, and with the +utmost caution, so as to prevent being observed by the queen. Gyges +did as he was ordered. The beautiful queen laid aside her garments +and made her toilet for the night with all the quiet composure and +confidence which a woman might be expected to feel while in so sacred +and inviolable a sanctuary, and in the presence and under the +guardianship of her husband. Just as she was about to retire to rest, +some movement alarmed her. It was Gyges going away. She saw him. She +instantly understood the case. She was overwhelmed with indignation +and shame. She, however, suppressed and concealed her emotions; she +spoke to Candaules in her usual tone of voice, and he, on his part, +secretly rejoiced in the adroit and successful manner in which his +little contrivance had been carried into execution. + +The next morning Nyssia sent, by some of her confidential messengers, +for Gyges to come to her. He came, with some forebodings, perhaps, but +without any direct reason for believing that what he had done had been +discovered. Nyssia, however, informed him that she knew all, and that +either he or her husband must die. Gyges earnestly remonstrated +against this decision, and supplicated forgiveness. He explained the +circumstances under which the act had been performed, which seemed, at +least so far as he was concerned, to palliate the deed. The queen was, +however, fixed and decided. It was wholly inconsistent with her ideas +of womanly delicacy that there should be two living men who had both +been admitted to her bed-chamber. "The king," she said, "by what he +has done, has forfeited his claims to me and resigned me to you. If +you will kill him, seize his kingdom, and make me your wife, all shall +be well; otherwise you must prepare to die." + +From this hard alternative, Gyges chose to assassinate the king, +and to make the lovely object before him his own. The excitement of +indignation and resentment which glowed upon her cheek, and with +which her bosom was heaving, made her more beautiful than ever. + +"How shall our purpose be accomplished?" asked Gyges. "The deed," she +replied, "shall be perpetrated in the very place which was the scene +of the dishonor done to me. I will admit you into our bed-chamber in +my turn, and you shall kill Candaules in his bed." + +When night came, Nyssia stationed Gyges again behind the same door +where the king had placed him. He had a dagger in his hand. He waited +there till Candaules was asleep. Then at a signal given him by the +queen, he entered, and stabbed the husband in his bed. He married +Nyssia, and possessed himself of the kingdom. After this, he and +his successors reigned for many years over the kingdom of Lydia, +constituting the dynasty of the Mermnadæ, from which, in process of +time, King Croesus descended. + +The successive sovereigns of this dynasty gradually extended the +Lydian power over the countries around them. The name of Croesus's +father, who was the monarch that immediately preceded him, was +Alyattes. Alyattes waged war toward the southward, into the +territories of the city of Miletus. He made annual incursions into the +country of the Milesians for plunder, always taking care, however, +while he seized all the movable property that he could find, to leave +the villages and towns, and all the hamlets of the laborers without +injury. The reason for this was, that he did not wish to drive away +the population, but to encourage them to remain and cultivate their +lands, so that there might be new flocks and herds, and new stores of +corn, and fruit, and wine, for him to plunder from in succeeding +years. At last, on one of these marauding excursions, some fires which +were accidentally set in a field spread into a neighboring town, and +destroyed, among other buildings, a temple consecrated to Minerva. +After this, Alyattes found himself quite unsuccessful in all his +expeditions and campaigns. He sent to a famous oracle to ask the +reason. + +"You can expect no more success," replied the oracle, "until you +rebuild the temple that you have destroyed." + +But how could he rebuild the temple? The site was in the enemy's +country. His men could not build an edifice and defend themselves, at +the same time, from the attacks of their foes. He concluded to demand +a truce of the Milesians until the reconstruction should be completed, +and he sent embassadors to Miletus, accordingly, to make the proposal. + +The proposition for a truce resulted in a permanent peace, by means +of a very singular stratagem which Thrasybulus, the king of Miletus, +practiced upon Alyattes. It seems that Alyattes supposed that +Thrasybulus had been reduced to great distress by the loss and +destruction of provisions and stores in various parts of the country, +and that he would soon be forced to yield up his kingdom. This was, +in fact, the case; but Thrasybulus determined to disguise his real +condition, and to destroy, by an artifice, all the hopes which +Alyattes had formed from the supposed scarcity in the city. When the +herald whom Alyattes sent to Miletus was about to arrive, Thrasybulus +collected all the corn, and grain, and other provisions which he could +command, and had them heaped up in a public part of the city, where +the herald was to be received, so as to present indications of the +most ample abundance of food. He collected a large body of his +soldiers, too, and gave them leave to feast themselves without +restriction on what he had thus gathered. Accordingly, when the herald +came in to deliver his message, he found the whole city given up to +feasting and revelry, and he saw stores of provisions at hand, which +were in process of being distributed and consumed with the most +prodigal profusion. The herald reported this state of things to +Alyattes. Alyattes then gave up all hopes of reducing Miletus by +famine, and made a permanent peace, binding himself to its +stipulations by a very solemn treaty. To celebrate the event, too, he +built two temples to Minerva instead of one. + +A story is related by Herodotus of a remarkable escape made by Arion +at sea, which occurred during the reign of Alyattes, the father of +Croesus. We will give the story as Herodotus relates it, leaving the +reader to judge for himself whether such tales were probably true, or +were only introduced by Herodotus into his narrative to make his +histories more entertaining to the Grecian assemblies to whom he read +them. Arion was a celebrated singer. He had been making a tour in +Sicily and in the southern part of Italy, where he had acquired +considerable wealth, and he was now returning to Corinth. He embarked +at Tarentum, which is a city in the southern part of Italy, in a +Corinthian vessel, and put to sea. When the sailors found that they +had him in their power, they determined to rob and murder him. They +accordingly seized his gold and silver, and then told him that he +might either kill himself or jump overboard into the sea. One or the +other he must do. If he would kill himself on board the vessel, they +would give him decent burial when they reached the shore. + +Arion seemed at first at a loss how to decide in so hard an +alternative. At length he told the sailors that he would throw himself +into the sea, but he asked permission to sing them one of his songs +before he took the fatal plunge. They consented. He accordingly went +into the cabin, and spent some time in dressing himself magnificently +in the splendid and richly-ornamented robes in which he had been +accustomed to appear upon the stage. At length he reappeared, and took +his position on the side of the ship, with his harp in his hand. He +sang his song, accompanying himself upon the harp, and then, when he +had finished his performance, he leaped into the sea. The seamen +divided their plunder and pursued their voyage. Arion, however, +instead of being drowned, was taken up by a dolphin that had been +charmed by his song, and was borne by him to Tænarus, which is the +promontory formed by the southern extremity of the Peloponnesus. There +Arion landed in safety. From Tænarus he proceeded to Corinth, wearing +the same dress in which he had plunged into the sea. On his arrival, +he complained to the king of the crime which the sailors had +committed, and narrated his wonderful escape. The king did not believe +him, but put him in prison to wait until the ship should arrive. When +at last the vessel came, the king summoned the sailors into his +presence, and asked them if they knew any thing of Arion. Arion +himself had been previously placed in an adjoining room, ready to be +called in as soon as his presence was required. The mariners answered +to the question which the king put to them, that they had seen Arion +in Tarentum, and that they had left him there. Arion was then himself +called in. His sudden appearance, clothed as he was in the same dress +in which the mariners had seen him leap into the sea, so terrified the +conscience-stricken criminals, that they confessed their guilt, and +were all punished by the king. A marble statue, representing a man +seated upon a dolphin, was erected at Tænarus to commemorate this +event, where it remained for centuries afterward, a monument of the +wonder which Arion had achieved. + +At length Alyattes died and Croesus succeeded him. Croesus +extended still further the power and fame of the Lydian empire, and +was for a time very successful in all his military schemes. By looking +upon the map, the reader will see that the Ægean Sea, along the coasts +of Asia Minor, is studded with islands. These islands were in those +days very fertile and beautiful, and were densely inhabited by a +commercial and maritime people, who possessed a multitude of ships, +and were very powerful in all the adjacent seas. Of course their land +forces were very few, whether of horse or of foot, as the habits and +manners of such a sea-going people were all foreign to modes of +warfare required in land campaigns. On the sea, however, these +islanders were supreme. + +Croesus formed a scheme for attacking these islands and bringing +them under his sway, and he began to make preparations for building +and equipping a fleet for this purpose, though, of course, his +subjects were as unused to the sea as the nautical islanders were +to military operations on the land. While he was making these +preparations, a certain philosopher was visiting at his court: he +was one of the seven wise men of Greece, who had recently come from +the Peloponnesus. Croesus asked him if there was any news from that +country. "I heard," said the philosopher, "that the inhabitants of the +islands were preparing to invade your dominions with a squadron of ten +thousand horse." Croesus, who supposed that the philosopher was +serious, appeared greatly pleased and elated at the prospect of his +sea-faring enemies attempting to meet him as a body of cavalry. "No +doubt," said the philosopher, after a little pause, "you would be +pleased to have those sailors attempt to contend with you on +horseback; but do you not suppose that they will be equally pleased +at the prospect of encountering Lydian landsmen on the ocean?" + +Croesus perceived the absurdity of his plan, and abandoned the +attempt to execute it. + +Croesus acquired the enormous wealth for which he was so celebrated +from the golden sands of the River Pactolus, which flowed through his +kingdom. The river brought the particles of gold, in grains, and +globules, and flakes, from the mountains above, and the servants and +slaves of Croesus washed the sands, and thus separated the heavier +deposit of the metal. In respect to the origin of the gold, however, +the people who lived upon the banks of the river had a different +explanation from the simple one that the waters brought down the +treasure from the mountain ravines. They had a story that, ages +before, a certain king, named Midas, rendered some service to a god, +who, in his turn, offered to grant him any favor that he might ask. +Midas asked that the power might be granted him to turn whatever he +touched into gold. The power was bestowed, and Midas, after changing +various objects around him into gold until he was satisfied, began to +find his new acquisition a source of great inconvenience and danger. +His clothes, his food, and even his drink, were changed to gold when +he touched them. He found that he was about to starve in the midst of +a world of treasure, and he implored the god to take back the fatal +gift. The god directed him to go and bathe in the Pactolus, and he +should be restored to his former condition. Midas did so, and was +saved, but not without transforming a great portion of the sands of +the stream into gold during the process of his restoration. + +Croesus thus attained quite speedily to a very high degree of +wealth, prosperity, and renown. His dominions were widely extended; +his palaces were full of treasures; his court was a scene of +unexampled magnificence and splendor. While in the enjoyment of all +this grandeur, he was visited by Solon, the celebrated Grecian +law-giver, who was traveling in that part of the world to observe the +institutions and customs of different states. Croesus received Solon +with great distinction, and showed him all his treasures. At last he +one day said to him, "You have traveled, Solon, over many countries, +and have studied, with a great deal of attention and care, all that +you have seen. I have heard great commendations of your wisdom, and I +should like very much to know who, of all the persons you have ever +known, has seemed to you most fortunate and happy." + +The king had no doubt that the answer would be that he himself was the +one. + +"I think," replied Solon, after a pause, "that Tellus, an Athenian +citizen, was the most fortunate and happy man I have ever known." + +"Tellus, an Athenian!" repeated Croesus, surprised. "What was there +in his case which you consider so remarkable?" + +"He was a peaceful and quiet citizen of Athens," said Solon. "He lived +happily with his family, under a most excellent government, enjoying +for many years all the pleasures of domestic life. He had several +amiable and virtuous children, who all grew up to maturity, and loved +and honored their parents as long as they lived. At length, when his +life was drawing toward its natural termination, a war broke out with +a neighboring nation, and Tellus went with the army to defend his +country. He aided very essentially in the defeat of the enemy, but +fell, at last, on the field of battle. His countrymen greatly lamented +his death. They buried him publicly where he fell, with every +circumstance of honor." + +Solon was proceeding to recount the domestic and social virtues of +Tellus, and the peaceful happiness which he enjoyed as the result of +them, when Croesus interrupted him to ask who, next to Tellus, he +considered the most fortunate and happy man. + +Solon, after a little farther reflection, mentioned two brothers, +Cleobis and Bito, private persons among the Greeks, who were +celebrated for their great personal strength, and also for their +devoted attachment to their mother. He related to Croesus a story of +a feat they performed on one occasion, when their mother, at the +celebration of some public festival, was going some miles to a temple, +in a car to be drawn by oxen. There happened to be some delay in +bringing the oxen, while the mother was waiting in the car. As the +oxen did not come, the young men took hold of the pole of the car +themselves, and walked off at their ease with the load, amid the +acclamations of the spectators, while their mother's heart was filled +with exultation and pride. + +Croesus here interrupted the philosopher again, and expressed his +surprise that he should place private men, like those whom he had +named, who possessed no wealth, or prominence, or power, before a +monarch like him, occupying a station of such high authority and +renown, and possessing such boundless treasures. + +"Croesus," replied Solon, "I see you now, indeed, at the height of +human power and grandeur. You reign supreme over many nations, and +you are in the enjoyment of unbounded affluence, and every species +of luxury and splendor. I can not, however, decide whether I am to +consider you a fortunate and happy man, until I know how all this is +to end. If we consider seventy years as the allotted period of life, +you have a large portion of your existence yet to come, and we can not +with certainty pronounce any man happy till his life is ended." + +This conversation with Solon made a deep impression upon Croesus's +mind, as was afterward proved in a remarkable manner; but the +impression was not a pleasant or a salutary one. The king, however, +suppressed for the time the resentment which the presentation of +these unwelcome truths awakened within him, though he treated Solon +afterward with indifference and neglect, so that the philosopher soon +found it best to withdraw. + +Croesus had two sons. One was deaf and dumb. The other was a young +man of uncommon promise, and, of course, as he only could succeed his +father in the government of the kingdom, he was naturally an object of +the king's particular attention and care. His name was Atys. He was +unmarried. He was, however, old enough to have the command of a +considerable body of troops, and he had often distinguished himself +in the Lydian campaigns. One night the king had a dream about Atys +which greatly alarmed him. He dreamed that his son was destined to die +of a wound received from the point of an iron spear. The king was made +very uneasy by this ominous dream. He determined at once to take every +precaution in his power to avert the threatened danger. He immediately +detached Atys from his command in the army, and made provision for his +marriage. He then very carefully collected all the darts, javelins, +and every other iron-pointed weapon that he could find about the +palace, and caused them to be deposited carefully in a secure place, +where there could be no danger even of an accidental injury from them. + +About that time there appeared at the court of Croesus a stranger +from Phrygia, a neighboring state, who presented himself at the palace +and asked for protection. He was a prince of the royal family of +Phrygia, and his name was Adrastus. He had had the misfortune, by some +unhappy accident, to kill his brother; his father, in consequence of +it, had banished him from his native land, and he was now homeless, +friendless, and destitute. + +Croesus received him kindly. "Your family have always been my +friends," said he, "and I am glad of the opportunity to make some +return by extending my protection to any member of it suffering +misfortune. You shall reside in my palace, and all your wants shall be +supplied. Come in, and forget the calamity which has befallen you, +instead of distressing yourself with it as if it had been a crime." + +Thus Croesus received the unfortunate Adrastus into his household. +After the prince had been domiciliated in his new home for some time, +messengers came from Mysia, a neighboring state, saying that a wild +boar of enormous size and unusual ferocity had come down from the +mountains, and was lurking in the cultivated country, in thickets and +glens, from which, at night, he made great havoc among the flocks and +herds, and asking that Croesus would send his son, with a band of +hunters and a pack of dogs, to help them destroy the common enemy. +Croesus consented immediately to send the dogs and the men, but he +said that he could not send his son. "My son," he added, "has been +lately married, and his time and attention are employed about other +things." + +When, however, Atys himself heard of this reply, he remonstrated very +earnestly against it, and begged his father to allow him to go. "What +will the world think of me," said he "if I shut myself up to these +effeminate pursuits and enjoyments, and shun those dangers and toils +which other men consider it their highest honor to share? What will my +fellow-citizens think of me, and how shall I appear in the eyes of my +wife? She will despise me." + +Croesus then explained to his son the reason why he had been so +careful to avoid exposing him to danger. He related to him the dream +which had alarmed him. "It is on that account," said he, "that I am so +anxious about you. You are, in fact, my only son, for your speechless +brother can never be my heir." + +Atys said, in reply, that he was not surprised, under those +circumstances, at his father's anxiety; but he maintained that this +was a case to which his caution could not properly apply. + +"You dreamed," he said, "that I should be killed by a weapon pointed +with iron; but a boar has no such weapon. If the dream had portended +that I was to perish by a tusk or a tooth, you might reasonably have +restrained me from going to hunt a wild beast; but iron-pointed +instruments are the weapons of men, and we are not going, in this +expedition, to contend with men." + +The king, partly convinced, perhaps, by the arguments which Atys +offered, and partly overborne by the urgency of his request, finally +consented to his request and allowed him to go. He consigned him, +however, to the special care of Adrastus, who was likewise to +accompany the expedition, charging Adrastus to keep constantly by his +side, and to watch over him with the utmost vigilance and fidelity. + +The band of huntsmen was organized, the dogs prepared, and the train +departed. Very soon afterward, a messenger came back from the hunting +ground, breathless, and with a countenance of extreme concern and +terror, bringing the dreadful tidings that Atys was dead. Adrastus +himself had killed him. In the ardor of the chase, while the huntsmen +had surrounded the boar, and were each intent on his own personal +danger while in close combat with such a monster, and all were hurling +darts and javelins at their ferocious foe, the spear of Adrastus +missed its aim, and entered the body of the unhappy prince. He bled to +death on the spot. + +Soon after the messenger had made known these terrible tidings, the +hunting train, transformed now into a funeral procession, appeared, +bearing the dead body of the king's son, and followed by the wretched +Adrastus himself, who was wringing his hands, and crying out +incessantly in accents and exclamations of despair. He begged the king +to kill him at once, over the body of his son, and thus put an end to +the unutterable agony that he endured. This second calamity was more, +he said, than he could bear. He had killed before his own brother, and +now he had murdered the son of his greatest benefactor and friend. + +Croesus, though overwhelmed with anguish, was disarmed of all +resentment at witnessing Adrastus's suffering. He endeavored to soothe +and quiet the agitation which the unhappy man endured, but it was in +vain. Adrastus could not be calmed. Croesus then ordered the body of +his son to be buried with proper honors. The funeral services were +performed with great and solemn ceremonies, and when the body was +interred, the household of Croesus returned to the palace, which was +now, in spite of all its splendor, shrouded in gloom. That night--at +midnight--Adrastus, finding his mental anguish insupportable retired +from his apartment to the place where Atys had been buried, and +killed himself over the grave. + + * * * * * + +Solon was wise in saying that he could not tell whether wealth and +grandeur were to be accounted as happiness till he saw how they would +end. Croesus was plunged into inconsolable grief, and into extreme +dejection and misery for a period of two years, in consequence of this +calamity, and yet this calamity was only the beginning of the end. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACCESSION OF CYRUS TO THE THRONE. + +B.C. 560 + +Change in the character of Cyrus.--His ambition.--Capriciousness +of Astyages.--Cyrus makes great progress in mental and personal +accomplishments.--Harpagus's plans for revenge.--Suspicions of +Astyages.--Condition of Persia.--Discontent in Media.--Proceedings +of Harpagus.--His deportment toward Astyages.--Co-operation in +Media.--Harpagus writes to Cyrus.--Harpagus's singular method +of conveying his letter to Cyrus.--Contents of Harpagus's +letter.--Excitement of Cyrus.--Cyrus accedes to Harpagus's +plan.--How to raise an army.--The day of toil.--The day of +festivity.--Speech of Cyrus.--Ardor of the soldiers.--Defection of +Harpagus.--The battle.--Rage of Astyages.--His vengeance on the +magi.--Defeat and capture of Astyages.--Interview with Harpagus.--Cyrus +King of Media and Persia.--Confinement of Astyages.--Acquiescence +of the Medes.--Death of Astyages.--Suddenness of Cyrus's +elevation.--Harpagus. + + +While Croesus had thus, on his side of the River Halys--which was +the stream that marked the boundary between the Lydian empire on the +west and the Persian and Assyrian dominions on the east--been employed +in building up his grand structure of outward magnificence and +splendor, and in contending, within, against an overwhelming tide +of domestic misery and woe, great changes had taken place in the +situation and prospects of Cyrus. From being an artless and +generous-minded child, he had become a calculating, ambitious, and +aspiring man, and he was preparing to take his part in the great +public contests and struggles of the day, with the same eagerness for +self-aggrandizement, and the same unconcern for the welfare and +happiness of others, which always characterizes the spirit of ambition +and love of power. + +Although it is by no means certain that what Xenophon relates of his +visit to his grandfather Astyages is meant for a true narrative of +facts, it is not at all improbable that such a visit might have been +made, and that occurrences, somewhat similar, at least, to those which +his narrative records, may have taken place. It may seem strange to +the reader that a man who should, at one time, wish to put his +grandchild to death, should, at another, be disposed to treat him with +such a profusion of kindness and attention. There is nothing, however, +really extraordinary in this. Nothing is more fluctuating than the +caprice of a despot. Man, accustomed from infancy to govern those +around him by his own impetuous will, never learns self-control. He +gives himself up to the dominion of the passing animal emotions of the +hour. It may be jealousy, it may be revenge, it may be parental +fondness, it may be hate, it may be love--whatever the feeling is +that the various incidents of life, as they occur, or the influences, +irritating or exhilarating, which are produced by food or wine, awaken +in his mind, he follows its impulse blindly and without reserve. He +loads a favorite with kindness and caresses at one hour, and directs +his assassination the next. He imagines that his infant grandchild is +to become his rival, and he deliberately orders him to be left in a +gloomy forest alone, to die of cold and hunger. When the imaginary +danger has passed away, he seeks amusement in making the same +grandchild his plaything, and overwhelms him with favors bestowed +solely for the gratification of the giver, under the influence of an +affection almost as purely animal as that of a lioness for her young. + +Favors of such a sort can awaken no permanent gratitude in any heart, +and thus it is quite possible that Cyrus might have evinced, during +the simple and guileless days of his childhood, a deep veneration and +affection for his grandfather, and yet, in subsequent years, when he +had arrived at full maturity, have learned to regard him simply in the +light of a great political potentate, as likely as any other potentate +around him to become his rival or his enemy. + +This was, at all events, the result. Cyrus, on his return to Persia, +grew rapidly in strength and stature, and soon became highly +distinguished for his personal grace, his winning manners, and for +the various martial accomplishments which he had acquired in Media, +and in which he excelled almost all his companions. He gained, as +such princes always do, a vast ascendency over the minds of all +around him. As he advanced toward maturity, his mind passed from its +interest in games, and hunting, and athletic sports, to plans of war, +of conquest, and of extended dominion. + +In the mean time, Harpagus, though he had, at the time when he endured +the horrid punishment which Astyages inflicted upon him, expressed no +resentment, still he had secretly felt an extreme indignation and +anger, and he had now, for fifteen years, been nourishing covert +schemes and plans for revenge. He remained all this time in the court +of Astyages, and was apparently his friend. He was, however, in heart +a most bitter and implacable enemy. He was looking continually for a +plan or prospect which should promise some hope of affording him his +long-desired revenge. His eyes were naturally turned toward Cyrus. +He kept up a communication with him so far as it was possible, for +Astyages watched very closely what passed between the two countries, +being always suspicious of plots against his government and crown. +Harpagus, however, contrived to evade this vigilance in some degree. +He made continual reports to Cyrus of the tyranny and misgovernment of +Astyages, and of the defenselessness of the realm of Media, and he +endeavored to stimulate his rising ambition to the desire of one day +possessing for himself both the Median and Persian throne. + +In fact, Persia was not then independent of Media. It was more or less +connected with the government of Astyages, so that Cambyses, the chief +ruler of Persia, Cyrus's father, is called sometimes a king and +sometimes a _satrap_, which last title is equivalent to that of +viceroy or governor general. Whatever his true and proper title may +have been, Persia was a Median dependency, and Cyrus, therefore, in +forming plans for gaining possession of the Median throne, would +consider himself as rather endeavoring to rise to the supreme command +in his own native country, than as projecting any scheme for foreign +conquest. + +Harpagus, too, looked upon the subject in the same light. Accordingly, +in pushing forward his plots toward their execution, he operated in +Media as well as Persia, He ascertained, by diligent and sagacious, +but by very covert inquiries, who were discontented and ill at ease +under the dominion of Astyages, and by sympathizing with and +encouraging them, he increased their discontent and insubmission. +Whenever Astyages, in the exercise of his tyranny inflicted an injury +upon a powerful subject, Harpagus espoused the cause of the injured +man, condemned, with him, the intolerable oppression of the king, and +thus fixed and perpetuated his enmity. At the same time, he took pains +to collect and to disseminate among the Medes all the information +which he could obtain favorable to Cyrus, in respect to his talents, +his character, and his just and generous spirit, so that, at length, +the ascendency of Astyages, through the instrumentality of these +measures, was very extensively undermined, and the way was rapidly +becoming prepared for Cyrus's accession to power. + +During all this time, moreover, Harpagus was personally very +deferential and obsequious to Astyages, and professed an unbounded +devotedness to his interests. He maintained a high rank at court and +in the army, and Astyages relied upon him as one of the most obedient +and submissive of his servants, without entertaining any suspicion +whatever of his true designs. + +At length a favorable occasion arose, as Harpagus thought, for the +execution of his plans. It was at a time when Astyages had been guilty +of some unusual acts of tyranny and oppression, by which he had +produced extensive dissatisfaction among his people. Harpagus +communicated, very cautiously, to the principal men around him, the +designs that he had long been forming for deposing Astyages and +elevating Cyrus in his place. He found them favorably inclined to the +plan. The way being thus prepared, the next thing was to contrive some +secret way of communicating with Cyrus. As the proposal which he was +going to make was that Cyrus should come into Media with as great a +force as he could command, and head an insurrection against the +government of Astyages, it would, of course, be death to him to have +it discovered. He did not dare to trust the message to any living +messenger, for fear of betrayal; nor was it safe to send a letter +by any ordinary mode of transmission, lest the letter should be +intercepted by some of Astyages's spies, and thus the whole plot be +discovered. He finally adopted the following very extraordinary plan: + +[Illustration: THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE.] + +He wrote a letter to Cyrus, and then taking a hare, which some of his +huntsmen had caught for him, he opened the body and concealed the +letter within. He then sewed up the skin again in the most careful +manner, so that no signs of the incision should remain. He delivered +this hare, together with some nets and other hunting apparatus, to +certain trustworthy servants, on whom he thought he could rely, +charging them to deliver the hare into Cyrus's own hands, and to say +that it came from Harpagus, and that it was the request of Harpagus +that Cyrus should open it himself and alone. Harpagus concluded that +this mode of making the communication was safe; for, in case the +persons to whom the hare was intrusted were to be seen by any of the +spies or other persons employed by Astyages on the frontiers, they +would consider them as hunters returning from the chase with their +game, and would never think of examining the body of a hare, in the +hands of such a party, in search after a clandestine correspondence. + +The plan was perfectly successful. The men passed into Persia without +any suspicion. They delivered the hare to Cyrus, with their message. +He opened the hare, and found the letter. It was in substance as +follows: + + "It is plain, Cyrus, that you are a favorite of Heaven, and + that you are destined to a great and glorious career. You + could not otherwise have escaped, in so miraculous a manner, + the snares set for you in your infancy. Astyages meditated + your death, and he took such measures to effect it as would + seem to have made your destruction sure. You were saved by + the special interposition of Heaven. Yon are aware by what + extraordinary incidents you were preserved and discovered, + and what great and unusual prosperity has since attended + you. You know, too, what cruel punishments Astyages + inflicted upon me, for my humanity in saving you. The time + has now come for retribution. From this time the authority + and the dominions of Astyages may be yours. Persuade the + Persians to revolt. Put yourself at the head of an army, and + march into Media. I shall probably myself be appointed to + command the army sent out to oppose you. If so, we will join + our forces when we meet, and I will enter your service. I + have conferred with the leading nobles in Media, and they + are all ready to espouse your cause. You may rely upon + finding every thing thus prepared for you here; come, + therefore, without any delay." + +Cyrus was thrown into a fever of excitement and agitation on reading +this letter. He determined to accede to Harpagus's proposal. He +revolved in his mind for some time the measures by which he could +raise the necessary force. Of course he could not openly announce his +plan and enlist an army to effect it, for any avowed and public +movement of that kind would be immediately made known to Astyages, +who, by being thus forewarned of his enemies' designs, might take +effectual measures to circumvent them. He determined to resort to +deceit, or, as he called it, stratagem; nor did he probably have any +distinct perception of the wrongfulness of such a mode of proceeding. +The demon of war upholds and justifies falsehood and treachery, in all +its forms, on the part of his votaries. He always applauds a forgery, +a false pretense, or a lie: he calls it a stratagem. + +Cyrus had a letter prepared, in the form of a commission from +Astyages, appointing him commander of a body of Persian forces to be +raised for the service of the king. Cyrus read the fabricated document +in the public assembly of the Persians, and called upon all the +warriors to join him. When they were organized, he ordered them to +assemble on a certain day, at a place that he named, each one provided +with a woodman's ax. When they were thus mustered, he marched them +into a forest, and set them at work to clear a piece of ground. The +army toiled all day, felling the trees, and piling them up to be +burned. They cleared in this way, as Herodotus states, a piece of +ground eighteen or twenty furlongs in extent. Cyrus kept them thus +engaged in severe and incessant toil all the day, giving them, too, +only coarse food and little rest. At night he dismissed them, +commanding them to assemble again the second day. + +On the second day, when they came together, they found a great banquet +prepared for them, and Cyrus directed them to devote the day to +feasting and making merry. There was an abundance of meats of all +kinds, and rich wines in great profusion. The soldiers gave themselves +up for the whole day to merriment and revelry. The toils and the hard +fare of the day before had prepared them very effectually to enjoy the +rest and the luxuries of this festival. They spent the hours in +feasting about their camp-fires and reclining on the grass, where they +amused themselves and one another by relating tales, or joining in +merry songs and dances. At last, in the evening, Cyrus called them +together, and asked them which day they had liked the best. They +replied that there was nothing at all to like in the one, and nothing +to be disliked in the other. They had had, on the first day, hard work +and bad fare, and on the second, uninterrupted ease and the most +luxurious pleasures. + +"It is indeed so," said Cyrus, "and you have your destiny in your own +hands to make your lives pass like either of these days, just as you +choose. If you will follow me, you will enjoy ease, abundance, and +luxury. If you refuse, you must remain as you are, and toil on as you +do now, and endure your present privations and hardships to the end of +your days." He then explained to them his designs. He told them that +although Media was a great and powerful kingdom, still that they were +as good soldiers as the Medes, and with the arrangements and +preparations which he had made, they were sure of victory. + +The soldiers received this proposal with great enthusiasm and joy. +They declared themselves ready to follow Cyrus wherever he should lead +them, and the whole body immediately commenced making preparations for +the expedition. Astyages was, of course, soon informed of these +proceedings. He sent an order to Cyrus, summoning him immediately into +his presence. Cyrus sent back word, in reply, that Astyages would +probably see him sooner than he wished, and went on vigorously with +his preparations. When all was ready, the army marched, and, crossing +the frontiers, they entered into Media. + +In the mean time, Astyages had collected a large force, and, as had +been anticipated by the conspirators, he put it under the command of +Harpagus. Harpagus made known his design of going over to Cyrus as +soon as he should meet him, to as large a portion of the army as he +thought it prudent to admit to his confidence; the rest knew nothing +of the plan; and thus the Median army advanced to meet the invaders, a +part of the troops with minds intent on resolutely meeting and +repelling their enemies, while the rest were secretly preparing to go +over at once to their side. + +When the battle was joined, the honest part of the Median army fought +valiantly at first, but soon, thunderstruck and utterly confounded at +seeing themselves abandoned and betrayed by a large body of their +comrades, they were easily overpowered by the triumphant Persians. +Some were taken prisoners; some fled back to Astyages; and others, +following the example of the deserters, went over to Cyrus's camp and +swelled the numbers of his train. Cyrus, thus re-enforced by the +accessions he had received, and encouraged by the flight or dispersion +of all who still wished to oppose him, began to advance toward the +capital. + +Astyages, when he heard of the defection of Harpagus and of the +discomfiture of his army, was thrown into a perfect phrensy of rage +and hate. The long-dreaded prediction of his dream seemed now about to +be fulfilled, and the magi, who had taught him that when Cyrus had +once been made king of the boys in sport, there was no longer any +danger of his aspiring to regal power, had proved themselves false. +They had either intentionally deceived him, or they were ignorant +themselves, and in that case they were worthless impostors. Although +the danger from Cyrus's approach was imminent in the extreme, Astyages +could not take any measures for guarding against it until he had first +gratified the despotic cruelty of his nature by taking vengeance on +these false pretenders. He directed to have them all seized and +brought before him, and then, having upbraided them with bitter +reproaches for their false predictions, he ordered them all to be +crucified. + +He then adopted the most decisive measures for raising an army. He +ordered every man capable of bearing arms to come forward, and then, +putting himself at the head of the immense force which he had thus +raised, he advanced to meet his enemy. He supposed, no doubt, that +he was sure of victory; but he under-rated the power which the +discipline, the resolution, the concentration, and the terrible energy +of Cyrus's troops gave to their formidable array. He was defeated. His +army was totally cut to pieces, and he himself was taken prisoner. + +Harpagus was present when he was taken, and he exulted in revengeful +triumph over the fallen tyrant's ruin. Astyages was filled with rage +and despair. Harpagus asked him what he thought now of the supper in +which he had compelled a father to feed on the flesh of his child. +Astyages, in reply, asked Harpagus whether he thought that the success +of Cyrus was owing to what he had done. Harpagus replied that it was, +and exultingly explained to Astyages the plots he had formed, and the +preparations which he had made for Cyrus's invasion, so that Astyages +might see that his destruction had been effected by Harpagus alone, in +terrible retribution for the atrocious crime which he had committed +so many years before, and for which the vengeance of the sufferer had +slumbered, during the long interval, only to be more complete and +overwhelming at last. + +Astyages told Harpagus that he was a miserable wretch, the most +foolish and most wicked of mankind. He was the most foolish, for +having plotted to put power into another's hands which it would have +been just as easy for him to have secured and retained in his own; and +he was the most wicked, for having betrayed his country, and delivered +it over to a foreign power, merely to gratify his own private revenge. + +The result of this battle was the complete overthrow of the power and +kingdom of Astyages, and the establishment of Cyrus on the throne of +the united kingdom of Media and Persia. Cyrus treated his grandfather +with kindness after his victory over him. He kept him confined, it +is true, but it was probably that indirect and qualified sort of +confinement which is all that is usually enforced in the case of +princes and kings. In such cases, some extensive and often sumptuous +residence is assigned to the illustrious prisoner, with grounds +sufficiently extensive to afford every necessary range for recreation +and exercise, and with bodies of troops for keepers, which have much +more the form and appearance of military guards of honor attending on +a prince, than of jailers confining a prisoner. It was probably in +such an imprisonment as this that Astyages passed the remainder of his +days. The people, having been wearied with his despotic tyranny, +rejoiced in his downfall, and acquiesced very readily in the milder +and more equitable government of Cyrus. + +Astyages came to his death many years afterward, in a somewhat +remarkable manner. Cyrus sent for him to come into Persia, where he +was himself then residing. The officer who had Astyages in charge, +conducted him, on the way, into a desolate wilderness, where he +perished of fatigue, exposure, and hunger. It was supposed that this +was done in obedience to secret orders from Cyrus, who perhaps found +the charge of such a prisoner a burden. The officer, however, was +cruelly punished for the act; but even this may have been only for +appearances, to divert the minds of men from all suspicion that Cyrus +could himself have been an accomplice in such a crime. + +The whole revolution which has been described in this chapter, from +its first inception to its final accomplishment, was effected in a +very short period of time, and Cyrus thus found himself very +unexpectedly and suddenly elevated to a throne. + +Harpagus continued in his service, and became subsequently one of his +most celebrated generals. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ORACLES. + +B.C. 547 + +Plans of Croesus.--The River Halys.--Nature of the oracles.--Situation +of Delphi.--The gaseous vapor.--The priestess.--The sacred tripod.--The +oracle of Dodona.--The two black doves.--The priestesses of +Dodona.--Manner of obtaining responses.--The great brazen caldron.--The +Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Discovery of the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Other +oracles.--Mode of consulting the oracle.--Mystic ceremonies.--Croesus +puts the oracle to the test.--Manner of doing it.--Return of the +messengers.--The replies.--Croesus decides in favor of Delphi.--His +costly gifts.--The silver tank.--The golden lion.--The bread-maker.--Her +history.--The oracle questioned.--The response.--Delight of +Croesus.--Supplementary inquiry.--Croesus's feeling of security.--Nature +of the oracles.--Means by which the credit of the oracles was +sustained.--Whether the priests were impostors.--Answers of the +oracles.--Collusion between the priests and those who consulted the +oracle.--Is there any revelation truly divine? + + +As soon as Cyrus had become established on his throne as King of the +Medes and Persians, his influence and power began to extend westward +toward the confines of the empire of Croesus, king of Lydia. +Croesus was aroused from the dejection and stupor into which the +death of his son had plunged him, as related in a former chapter, by +this threatening danger. He began to consider very earnestly what he +could do to avert it. + +The River Halys, a great river of Asia Minor, which flows northward +into the Black Sea, was the eastern boundary of the Lydian empire. +Croesus began to entertain the design of raising an army and +crossing the Halys, to invade the empire of Cyrus, thinking that that +would perhaps be safer policy than to wait for Cyrus to cross the +Halys, and bring the war upon him. Still, the enterprise of invading +Persia was a vast undertaking, and the responsibility great of being +the aggressor in the contest. After carefully considering the subject +in all its aspects, Croesus found himself still perplexed and +undecided. + +The Greeks had a method of looking into futurity, and of ascertaining, +as they imagined, by supernatural means, the course of future events, +which was peculiar to that people; at least no other nation seems ever +to have practiced it in the precise form which prevailed among them. +It was by means of the oracles. There were four or five localities in +the Grecian countries which possessed, as the people thought, the +property of inspiring persons who visited them, or of giving to some +natural object certain supernatural powers by which future events +could be foretold. The three most important of these oracles were +situated respectively at Delphi, at Dodona, and at the Oasis of +Jupiter Ammon. + +Delphi was a small town built in a sort of valley, shaped like an +amphitheater, on the southern side of Mount Parnassus. Mount Parnassus +is north of the Peloponnesus, not very far from the shores of the Gulf +of Corinth. Delphi was in a picturesque and romantic situation, with +the mountain behind it, and steep, precipitous rocks descending to +the level country before. These precipices answered instead of walls +to defend the temple and the town. In very early times a cavern or +fissure in the rocks was discovered at Delphi, from which there issued +a stream of gaseous vapor, which produced strange effects on those who +inhaled it. It was supposed to inspire them. People resorted to the +place to obtain the benefit of these inspirations, and of the +knowledge which they imagined they could obtain by means of them. +Finally, a temple was built, and a priestess resided constantly in it, +to inhale the vapor and give the responses. When she gave her answers +to those who came to consult the oracle, she sat upon a sort of +three-legged stool, which was called the sacred tripod. These stools +were greatly celebrated as a very important part of the sacred +apparatus of the place. This oracle became at last so renowned, that +the greatest potentates, and even kings, came from great distances to +consult it, and they made very rich and costly presents at the shrine +when they came. These presents, it was supposed, tended to induce the +god who presided over the oracle to give to those who made them +favorable and auspicious replies. The deity that dictated the +predictions of this oracle was Apollo. + +There was another circumstance, besides the existence of the cave, +which signalized the locality where this oracle was situated. The +people believed that this spot was the exact center of the earth, +which of course they considered as one vast plain. There was an +ancient story that Jupiter, in order to determine the central point of +creation, liberated two eagles at the same time, in opposite quarters +of the heavens, that they might fly toward one another, and so mark +the middle point by the place of their meeting. They met at Delphi. + +Another of the most celebrated oracles was at Dodona. Dodona was +northwest of Delphi, in the Epirus, which was a country in the western +part of what is now Turkey in Europe, and on the shores of the +Adriatic Sea. The origin of the oracle at Dodona was, as the +priestesses there told Herodotus, as follows: In very ancient times, +two black doves were set at liberty in Thebes, which was a very +venerable and sacred city of Egypt. One flew toward the north and the +other toward the west. The former crossed the Mediterranean, and then +continued its flight over the Peloponnesus, and over all the southern +provinces of Greece, until it reached Dodona. There it alighted on a +beech-tree, and said, in a human voice, that that spot was divinely +appointed for the seat of a sacred oracle. The other dove flew to the +Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. + +There were three priestesses at Dodona in the days of Herodotus. Their +names were Promenea, Timarete, and Nicandre. The answers of the oracle +were, for a time, obtained by the priestesses from some appearances +which they observed in the sacred beech on which the dove alighted, +when the tree was agitated by the wind. In later times, however, the +responses were obtained in a still more singular manner. Then was a +brazen statue of a man, holding a whip in his hand. The whip had three +lashes, which were formed of brazen chains. At the end of each chain +was an _astragalus_, as it was called, which was a row of little knots +or knobs, such as were commonly appended to the lashes of whips used +in those days for scourging criminals. + +These heavy lashes hung suspended in the hand of the statue over a +great brazen caldron, in such a manner that the wind would impel them, +from time to time, against its sides, causing the caldron to ring and +resound like a gong. There was, however, something in this resonance +supernatural and divine; for, though it was not loud, it was very +long continued, when once the margin of the caldron was touched, +however gently, by the lashes. In fact, it was commonly said that if +touched in the morning, it would be night before the reverberations +would have died entirely away. Such a belief could be very easily +sustained among the common people; for a large, open-mouthed vessel +like the Dodona caldron, with thin sides formed of sonorous metal, +might be kept in a state of continual vibration by the wind alone. + +They who wished to consult this oracle came with rich presents both +for the priestesses and for the shrine, and when they had made the +offerings, and performed the preliminary ceremonies required, they +propounded their questions to the priestesses, who obtained the +replies by interpreting, according to certain rules which they had +formed, the sounds emitted by the mysterious gong. + +The second black dove which took its flight from Thebes alighted, as +we have already said, in the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. This oasis was +a small fertile spot in the midst of the deserts of Africa, west of +Egypt, about a hundred miles from the Nile, and somewhat nearer +than that to the Mediterranean Sea. It was first discovered in the +following manner: A certain king was marching across the deserts, and +his army, having exhausted their supplies of water, were on the point +of perishing with thirst, when a ram mysteriously appeared, and took a +position before them as their guide. They followed him, and at length +came suddenly upon a green and fertile valley, many miles in length. +The ram conducted them into this valley, and then suddenly vanished, +and a copious fountain of water sprung up in the place where he +had stood. The king, in gratitude for this divine interposition, +consecrated the spot and built a temple upon it, which was called the +temple of Jupiter Ammon. The dove alighted here, and ever afterward +the oracles delivered by the priests of this temple were considered as +divinely inspired. + +These three were the most important oracles. There were, however, many +others of subordinate consequence, each of which had its own peculiar +ceremonies, all senseless and absurd. At one there was a sort of +oven-shaped cave in the rocks, the spot being inclosed by an +artificial wall. The cave was about six feet wide and eight feet deep. +The descent into it was by a ladder. Previously to consulting this +oracle certain ceremonies were necessary, which it required several +days to perform. The applicant was to offer sacrifices to many +different deities, and to purify himself in various ways. He was then +conducted to a stream in the neighborhood of the oracle, where he +was to be anointed and washed. Then he drank a certain magical water, +called the water of forgetfulness, which made him forget all previous +sorrows and cares. Afterward he drank of another enchanted cup, which +contained the water of remembrance; this was to make him remember all +that should be communicated to him in the cave. He then descended the +ladder, and received within the cave the responses of the oracle. + +At another of these oracles, which was situated in Attica, the magic +virtue was supposed to reside in a certain marble statue, carved in +honor of an ancient and celebrated prophet, and placed in a temple. +Whoever wished to consult this oracle must abstain from wine for three +days, and from food of every kind for twenty-four hours preceding the +application. He was then to offer a ram as a sacrifice; and afterward, +taking the skin of the ram from the carcass, he was to spread it out +before the statue and lie down upon it to sleep. The answers of the +oracle came to him in his dreams. + +But to return to Croesus. He wished to ascertain, by consulting some +of these oracles, what the result of his proposed invasion of the +dominions of Cyrus would be, in case he should undertake it; and in +order to determine which of the various oracles were most worthy of +reliance, he conceived the plan of putting them all to a preliminary +test. He effected this object in the following manner: + +He dispatched a number of messengers from Sardis, his capital, sending +one to each of the various oracles. He directed these messengers to +make their several journeys with all convenient dispatch; but, in +order to provide for any cases of accidental detention or delay, he +allowed them all one hundred days to reach their several places of +destination. On the hundredth day from the time of their leaving +Sardis, they were all to make applications to the oracles, and inquire +what Croesus, king of Lydia, was doing at that time. Of course he +did not tell them what he should be doing; and as the oracles +themselves could not possibly know how he was employed by any human +powers, their answers would seem to test the validity of their claims +to powers divine. + +Croesus kept the reckoning of the days himself with great care, and +at the hour appointed on the hundredth day, he employed himself in +boiling the flesh of a turtle and of a lamb together in a brazen +vessel. The vessel was covered with a lid, which was also of brass. He +then awaited the return of the messengers. They came in due time, one +after another, bringing the replies which they had severally obtained. +The replies were all unsatisfactory, except that of the oracle at +Delphi. This answer was in verse, as, in fact, the responses of +that oracle always were. The priestess who sat upon the tripod was +accustomed to give the replies in an incoherent and half-intelligible +manner, as impostors are very apt to do in uttering prophecies, and +then the attendant priests and secretaries wrote them out in verse. + +The verse which the messenger brought back from the Delphic tripod was +in Greek; but some idea of its style, and the import of it, is +conveyed by the following imitation: + + "I number the sands, I measure the sea, + What's hidden to others is known to me. + The lamb and the turtle are simmering slow + With brass above them and brass below." + +Of course, Croesus decided that the Delphic oracle was the one that +he must rely upon for guidance in respect to his projected campaign. +And he now began to prepare to consult it in a manner corresponding +with the vast importance of the subject, and with his own boundless +wealth. He provided the most extraordinary and sumptuous presents. +Some of these treasures were to be deposited in the temple, as sacred +gifts, for permanent preservation there. Others were to be offered as +a burnt sacrifice in honor of the god. Among the latter, besides an +incredible number of living victims, he caused to be prepared a great +number of couches, magnificently decorated with silver and gold, and +goblets and other vessels of gold, and dresses of various kinds richly +embroidered, and numerous other articles, all intended to be used in +the ceremonies preliminary to his application to the oracle. When the +time arrived, a vast concourse of people assembled to witness the +spectacle. The animals were sacrificed, and the people feasted on the +flesh; and when these ceremonies were concluded, the couches, the +goblets, the utensils of every kind, the dresses--every thing, in +short, which had been used on the occasion, were heaped up into one +great sacrificial pile, and set on fire. Every thing that was +combustible was consumed, while the gold was melted, and ran into +plates of great size, which were afterward taken out from the ashes. +Thus it was the workmanship only of these articles which was destroyed +and lost by the fire. The gold, in which the chief value consisted, +was saved. It was gold from the Pactolus. + +Besides these articles, there were others made, far more magnificent +and costly, for the temple itself. There was a silver cistern or tank, +large enough to hold three thousand gallons of wine. This tank was to +be used by the inhabitants of Delphi in their great festivals. There +was also a smaller cistern, or immense goblet, as it might, perhaps, +more properly be called, which was made of gold. There were also many +other smaller presents, such as basins, vases, and statues, all of +silver and gold, and of the most costly workmanship. The gold, too, +which had been taken from the fire, was cast again, a part of it being +formed into the image of a lion, and the rest into large plates of +metal for the lion to stand upon. The image was then set up upon the +plates, within the precincts of the temple. + +There was one piece of statuary which Croesus presented to the +oracle at Delphi, which was, in some respects, more extraordinary than +any of the rest. It was called the bread-maker. It was an image +representing a woman, a servant in the household of Croesus, whose +business it was to bake the bread. The reason that induced Croesus +to honor this bread-maker with a statue of gold was, that on one +occasion during his childhood she had saved his life. The mother of +Croesus died when he was young, and his father married a second +time. The second wife wished to have some one of her children, instead +of Croesus, succeed to her husband's throne. In order, therefore, to +remove Croesus out of the way, she prepared some poison and gave it +to the bread-maker, instructing her to put it into the bread which +Croesus was to eat. The bread-maker received the poison and promised +to obey. But, instead of doing so, she revealed the intended murder to +Croesus, and gave the poison to the queen's own children. In +gratitude for this fidelity to him, Croesus, when he came to the +throne, caused this statue to be made, and now he placed it at Delphi, +where he supposed it would forever remain. The memory of his faithful +servant was indeed immortalized by the measure, though the statue +itself, as well as all these other treasures, in process of time +disappeared. In fact, statues of brass or of marble generally make far +more durable monuments than statues of gold; and no structure or +object of art is likely to be very permanent among mankind unless the +workmanship is worth more than the material. + +Croesus did not proceed himself to Delphi with these presents, but +sent them by the hands of trusty messengers, who were instructed to +perform the ceremonies required, to offer the gifts, and then to make +inquiries of the oracle in the following terms. + +"Croesus the sovereign of Lydia and of various other kingdoms, in +return for the wisdom which has marked your former declarations, has +sent you these gifts. He now furthermore desires to know whether it is +safe for him to proceed against the Persians, and if so, whether it is +best for him to seek the assistance of any allies." + +The answer was as follows: + +"If Croesus crosses the Halys, and prosecutes a war with Persia, a +mighty empire will be overthrown. It will be best for him to form an +alliance with the most powerful states of Greece." + +Croesus was extremely pleased with this response. He immediately +resolved on undertaking the expedition against Cyrus; and to express +his gratitude for so favorable an answer to his questions, he sent +to Delphi to inquire what was the number of inhabitants in the city, +and, when the answer was reported to him, he sent a present of a +sum of money to every one. The Delphians, in their turn, conferred +special privileges and honors upon the Lydians and upon Croesus in +respect to their oracle, giving them the precedence in all future +consultations, and conferring upon them other marks of distinction +and honor. + +At the time when Croesus sent his present to the inhabitants of +Delphi, he took the opportunity to address another inquiry to the +oracle, which was, whether his power would ever decline. The oracle +replied in a couplet of Greek verse, similar in its style to the one +recorded on the previous occasion. + +It was as follows: + + "Whene'er a mule shall mount upon the Median throne, + Then, and not till then, shall great Croesus fear to lose his own." + +This answer pleased the king quite as much as the former one had done. +The allusion to the contingency of a mule's reigning in Media he +very naturally regarded as only a rhetorical and mystical mode of +expressing an utter impossibility. Croesus considered himself and +the continuance of his power as perfectly secure. He was fully +confirmed in his determination to organize his expedition without any +delay, and to proceed immediately to the proper measures for obtaining +the Grecian alliance and aid which the oracle had recommended. The +plans which he formed, and the events which resulted, will be +described in subsequent chapters. + +In respect to these Grecian oracles, it is proper here to state, that +there has been much discussion among scholars on the question how they +were enabled to maintain, for so long a period, so extended a credit +among a people as intellectual and well informed as the Greeks. It was +doubtless by means of a variety of contrivances and influences that +this end was attained. There is a natural love of the marvelous among +the humbler classes in all countries, which leads them to be very +ready to believe in what is mystic and supernatural; and they +accordingly exaggerate and color such real incidents as occur under +any strange or remarkable circumstances, and invest any unusual +phenomena which they witness with a miraculous or supernatural +interest. The cave at Delphi might really have emitted gases which +would produce quite striking effects upon those who inhaled them; and +how easy it would be for those who witnessed these effects to imagine +that some divine and miraculous powers must exist in the aërial +current which produced them. The priests and priestesses, who +inhabited the temples in which these oracles were contained, had, of +course, a strong interest in keeping up the belief of their reality in +the minds of the community; so were, in fact, all the inhabitants of +the cities which sprung up around them. They derived their support +from the visitors who frequented these places, and they contrived +various ways for drawing contributions, both of money and gifts, from +all who came. In one case there was a sacred stream near an oracle, +where persons, on permission from the priests, were allowed to bathe. +After the bathing, they were expected to throw pieces of money into +the stream. What afterward, in such cases, became of the money, it is +not difficult to imagine. + +Nor is it necessary to suppose that all these priests and priestesses +were impostors. Having been trained up from infancy to believe that +the inspirations were real, they would continue to look upon them as +such all their lives. Even at the present day we shall all, if we +closely scrutinize our mental habits, find ourselves continuing to +take for granted, in our maturer years, what we inconsiderately +imbibed or were erroneously taught in infancy, and that, often, in +cases where the most obvious dictates of reason, or even the plain +testimony of our senses, might show us that our notions are false. The +priests and priestesses, therefore, who imposed on the rest of +mankind, may have been as honestly and as deep in the delusion +themselves as any of their dupes. + +The answers of the oracles were generally vague and indefinite, and +susceptible of almost any interpretation, according to the result. +Whenever the event corresponded with the prediction, or could be made +to correspond with it by the ingenuity of the commentators, the story +of the coincidence would, of course, be every where spread abroad, +becoming more striking and more exact at each repetition. Where there +was a failure, it would not be direct and absolute, on account of +the vagueness and indefiniteness of the response, and there would +therefore be no interest felt in hearing or in circulating the story. +The cases, thus, which would tend to establish the truth of the +oracle, would be universally known and remembered, while those of a +contrary bearing would be speedily forgotten. + +There is no doubt, however, that in many cases the responses were +given in collusion with the one who consulted the oracle, for the +purpose of deceiving others. For example, let us suppose that +Croesus wished to establish strongly the credibility of the Delphic +oracle in the minds of his countrymen, in order to encourage them to +enlist in his armies, and to engage in the enterprise which he was +contemplating against Cyrus with resolution and confidence; it would +have been easy for him to have let the priestess at Delphi know what +he was doing on the day when he sent to inquire, and thus himself to +have directed her answer. Then, when his messengers returned, he would +appeal to the answer as proof of the reality of the inspiration which +seemed to furnish it. Alexander the Great certainly did, in this way, +act in collusion with the priests at the temple of Jupiter Ammon. + + * * * * * + +The fact that there have been so many and such successful cases of +falsehood and imposture among mankind in respect to revelations from +Heaven, is no indication, as some superficially suppose, that no +revelation is true, but is, on the other hand, strong evidence to +the contrary. The Author of human existence has given no instincts +in vain; and the universal tendency of mankind to believe in the +supernatural, to look into an unseen world, to seek, and to imagine +that they find, revelations from Heaven, and to expect a continuance +of existence after this earthly life is over, is the strongest +possible natural evidence that there is an unseen world; that man may +have true communications with it; that a personal deity reigns, who +approves and disapproves of human conduct, and that there is a future +state of being. In this point of view, the absurd oracles of Greece, +and the universal credence which they obtained, constitute strong +evidence that there is somewhere to be found inspiration and prophecy +really divine. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CONQUEST OF LYDIA. + +B.C. 546 + +Reasons which induced Croesus to invade Media.--The +Lacedæmonians.--Embassadors to Sparta.--Preparations of Croesus.--The +counsel of Sardaris.--The army begins to march.--Thales the +Milesian.--Mathematical skill of Thales.--His theorems.--Ingenious +plan of Thales for crossing the Halys.--Advance of Cyrus.--Preparations +for battle.--Great battle at Pteria.--Undecisive result.--Croesus +returns to Sardis.--Cyrus follows him.--Confusion and alarm at +Sardis.--The Lydian cavalry.--Nature of cavalry.--Manner of receiving +a cavalry charge.--The camels.--Cyrus opposes them to the cavalry.--The +battle fought.--Cyrus victorious.--Situation of Sardis.--Its walls.--An +ancient legend.--Cyrus besieges the city.--The reconnoissance.--The +walls scaled.--Storming of the city.--Croesus made prisoner.--The +funeral pile.--Anguish and despair of Croesus.--The saying of +Solon.--Croesus is saved.--He becomes Cyrus's friend.--Croesus +sends his fetters to the oracle at Delphi.--Explanations of the +priests.--Their adroitness and dexterity. + + +There were, in fact, three inducements which combined their influence +on the mind of Croesus, in leading him to cross the Halys, and +invade the dominions of the Medes and Persians: first, he was +ambitious to extend his own empire; secondly, he feared that if he did +not attack Cyrus, Cyrus would himself cross the Halys and attack him; +and, thirdly, he felt under some obligation to consider himself the +ally of Astyages, and thus bound to espouse his cause, and to aid him +in putting down, if possible, the usurpation of Cyrus, and in +recovering his throne. He felt under this obligation because Astyages +was his brother-in-law; for the latter had married, many years before, +a daughter of Alyattes, who was the father of Croesus. This, as +Croesus thought, gave him a just title to interfere between the +dethroned king and the rebel who had dethroned him. Under the +influence of all these reasons combined, and encouraged by the +responses of the oracle, he determined on attempting the invasion. + +The first measure which he adopted was to form an alliance with the +most powerful of the states of Greece, as he had been directed to do +by the oracle. After much inquiry and consideration, he concluded +that the Lacedæmonian state was the most powerful. Their chief city +was Sparta, in the Peloponnesus. They were a warlike, stern, and +indomitable race of men, capable of bearing every possible hardship, +and of enduring every degree of fatigue and toil, and they desired +nothing but military glory for their reward. This was a species of +wages which it was very easy to pay; much more easy to furnish than +coin, even for Croesus, notwithstanding the abundant supplies of +gold which he was accustomed to obtain from the sands of the Pactolus. + +Croesus sent embassadors to Sparta to inform the people of the plans +which he contemplated, and to ask their aid. He had been instructed, +he said, by the oracle at Delphi, to seek the alliance of the most +powerful of the states of Greece, and he accordingly made application +to them. They were gratified with the compliment implied in selecting +them, and acceded readily to his proposal. Besides, they were already +on very friendly terms with Croesus; for, some years before, they +had sent to him to procure some gold for a statue which they had +occasion to erect, offering to give an equivalent for the value of it +in such productions as their country afforded. Croesus supplied them +with the gold that they needed, but generously refused to receive any +return. + +In the mean time, Croesus went on, energetically, at Sardis, making +the preparations for his campaign. One of his counselors, whose name +was Sardaris, ventured, one day, strongly to dissuade him from +undertaking the expedition. "You have nothing to gain by it," said he, +"if you succeed, and every thing to lose if you fail. Consider what +sort of people these Persians are whom you are going to combat. They +live in the most rude and simple manner, without luxuries, without +pleasures, without wealth. If you conquer their country, you will find +nothing in it worth bringing away. On the other hand, if they conquer +you, they will come like a vast band of plunderers into Lydia, where +there is every thing to tempt and reward them. I counsel you to leave +them alone, and to remain on this side the Halys, thankful if Cyrus +will be contented to remain on the other." + +But Croesus was not in a mood of mind to be persuaded by such +reasoning. + +When all things were ready, the army commenced its march and moved +eastward, through one province of Asia Minor after another, until they +reached the Halys. This river is a considerable stream, which rises in +the interior of the country, and flows northward into the Euxine Sea. +The army encamped on the banks of it, and some plan was to be formed +for crossing the stream. In accomplishing this object, Croesus was +aided by a very celebrated engineer who accompanied his army, named +Thales. Thales was a native of Miletus, and is generally called in +history, Thales the Milesian. He was a very able mathematician and +calculator, and many accounts remain of the discoveries and +performances by which he acquired his renown. + +For example, in the course of his travels, he at one time visited +Egypt, and while there, he contrived a very simple way of measuring +the height of the pyramids. He set up a pole on the plain in an +upright position, and then measured the pole and also its shadow. He +also measured the length of the shadow of the pyramid. He then +calculated the height of the pyramid by this proportion: as the +length of shadow of the pole is to that of the pole itself, so is +the length of the shadow of the pyramid to its height. + +Thales was an astronomer as well as a philosopher and engineer. He +learned more exactly the true length of the year than it had been +known before; and he also made some calculations of eclipses, at least +so far as to predict the year in which they would happen. One eclipse +which he predicted happened to occur on the day of a great battle +between two contending armies. It was cloudy, so that the combatants +could not see the sun. This circumstance, however, which concealed the +eclipse itself, only made the darkness which was caused by it the more +intense. The armies were much terrified at this sudden cessation of +the light of day, and supposed it to be a warning from heaven that +they should desist from the combat. + +Thales the Milesian was the author of several of the geometrical +theorems and demonstrations now included in the Elements of Euclid. +The celebrated fifth proposition of the first book, so famous among +all the modern nations of Europe as the great stumbling block in the +way of beginners in the study of geometry, was his. The discovery of +the truth expressed in this proposition, and of the complicated +demonstration which establishes it, was certainly a much greater +mathematical performance than the measuring of the altitude of the +pyramids by their shadow. + +But to return to Croesus. Thales undertook the work of transporting +the army across the river. He examined the banks, and found, at +length, a spot where the land was low and level for some distance from +the stream. He caused the army to be brought up to the river at this +point, and to be encamped there, as near to the bank as possible, and +in as compact a form. He then employed a vast number of laborers to +cut a new channel for the waters, behind the army, leading out from +the river above, and rejoining it again at a little distance below. +When this channel was finished, he turned the river into its new +course, and then the army passed without difficulty over the former +bed of the stream. + +The Halys being thus passed, Croesus moved on in the direction of +Media. But he soon found that he had not far to go to find his enemy. +Cyrus had heard of his plans through deserters and spies, and he had +for some time been advancing to meet him. One after the other of the +nations through whose dominions he had passed, he had subjected to +his sway, or, at least, brought under his influence by treaties and +alliances, and had received from them all re-enforcements to swell +the numbers of his army. One nation only remained--the Babylonians. +They were on the side of Croesus. They were jealous of the growing +power of the Medes and Persians, and had made a league with Croesus, +promising to aid him in the war. The other nations of the East were in +alliance with Cyrus, and he was slowly moving on, at the head of an +immense combined force, toward the Halys, at the very time when +Croesus was crossing the stream. + +The scouts, therefore, that preceded the army of Croesus on its +march, soon began to fall back into the camp, with intelligence that +there was a large armed force coming on to meet them, the advancing +columns filling all the roads, and threatening to overwhelm them. The +scouts from the army of Cyrus carried back similar intelligence to +him. The two armies accordingly halted and began to prepare for +battle. The place of their meeting was called Pteria. It was in the +province of Cappadocia, and toward the eastern part of Asia Minor. + +A great battle was fought at Pteria. It was continued all day, and +remained undecided when the sun went down. The combatants separated +when it became dark, and each withdrew from the field. Each king +found, it seems, that his antagonist was more formidable than he had +imagined, and on the morning after the battle they both seemed +inclined to remain in their respective encampments, without evincing +any disposition to renew the contest. + +Croesus, in fact, seems to have considered that he was fortunate in +having so far repulsed the formidable invasion which Cyrus had been +intending for him. He considered Cyrus's army as repulsed, since they +had withdrawn from the field, and showed no disposition to return to +it. He had no doubt that Cyrus would now go back to Media again, +having found how well prepared Croesus had been to receive him. For +himself, he concluded that he ought to be satisfied with the advantage +which he had already gained, as the result of one campaign, and return +again to Sardis to recruit his army, the force of which had been +considerably impaired by the battle, and so postpone the grand +invasion till the next season. He accordingly set out on his return. +He dispatched messengers, at the same time, to Babylon, to Sparta, to +Egypt, and to other countries with which he was in alliance, informing +these various nations of the great battle of Pteria and its results, +and asking them to send him, early in the following spring, all the +re-enforcements that they could command, to join him in the grand +campaign which he was going to make the next season. + +He continued his march homeward without any interruption, sending off, +from time to time, as he was moving through his own dominions, such +portions of his troops as desired to return to their homes, enjoining +upon them to come back to him in the spring. By this temporary +disbanding of a portion of his army, he saved the expense of +maintaining them through the winter. + +Very soon after Croesus arrived at Sardis, the whole country in the +neighborhood of the capital was thrown into a state of universal alarm +by the news that Cyrus was close at hand. It seems that Cyrus had +remained in the vicinity of Pteria long enough to allow Croesus to +return, and to give him time to dismiss his troops and establish +himself securely in the city. He then suddenly resumed his march, and +came on toward Sardis with the utmost possible dispatch. Croesus, +in fact, had no announcement of his approach until he heard of his +arrival. + +All was now confusion and alarm, both within and without the city. +Croesus hastily collected all the forces that he could command. He +sent immediately to the neighboring cities, summoning all the troops +in them to hasten to the capital. He enrolled all the inhabitants of +the city that were capable of bearing arms. By these means he +collected, in a very short time, quite a formidable force, which he +drew up, in battle array, on a great plain not far from the city, and +there waited, with much anxiety and solicitude, for Cyrus to come on. + +The Lydian army was superior to that of Cyrus in cavalry, and as the +place where the battle was to be fought was a plain, which was the +kind of ground most favorable for the operations of that species of +force, Cyrus felt some solicitude in respect to the impression which +might be made by it on his army. Nothing is more terrible than the +onset of a squadron of horse when charging an enemy upon the field +of battle. They come in vast bodies, sometimes consisting of many +thousands, with the speed of the wind, the men flourishing their +sabers and rending the air with the most unearthly cries, those in +advance being driven irresistibly on by the weight and impetus of the +masses behind. The dreadful torrent bears down and overwhelms every +thing that attempts to resist its way. They trample one another and +their enemies together promiscuously in the dust; the foremost of the +column press on with the utmost fury, afraid quite as much of the +headlong torrent of friends coming on behind them, as of the line of +fixed and motionless enemies who stand ready to receive them before. +These enemies, stationed to withstand the charge, arrange themselves +in triple or quadruple rows, with the shafts of their spears planted +against the ground, and the points directed forward and upward to +receive the advancing horsemen. These spears transfix and kill the +foremost horses; but those that come on behind, leaping and plunging +over their fallen companions, soon break through the lines and put +their enemies to flight, in a scene of indescribable havoc and +confusion. + +Croesus had large bodies of horse, while Cyrus had no efficient +troops to oppose them. He had a great number of camels in the rear of +his army, which had been employed as beasts of burden to transport +the baggage and stores of the army on their march. Cyrus concluded to +make the experiment of opposing these camels to the cavalry. It is +frequently said by the ancient historians that the horse has a natural +antipathy to the camel, and can not bear either the smell or the sight +of one, though this is not found to be the case at the present day. +However the fact might have been in this respect, Cyrus determined +to arrange the camels in his front as he advanced into battle. He +accordingly ordered the baggage to be removed, and, releasing their +ordinary drivers from the charge of them, he assigned each one to the +care of a soldier, who was to mount him, armed with a spear. Even if +the supposed antipathy of the horse for the camel did not take effect, +Cyrus thought that their large and heavy bodies, defended by the +spears of their riders, would afford the most effectual means of +resistance against the shock of the Lydian squadrons that he was now +able to command. + +The battle commenced, and the squadrons of horse came on. But, as soon +as they came near the camels, it happened that, either from the +influence of the antipathy above referred to, or from alarm at the +novelty of the spectacle of such huge and misshapen beasts, or else +because of the substantial resistance which the camels and the spears +of their riders made to the shock of their charge, the horses were +soon thrown into confusion and put to flight. In fact, a general panic +seized them, and they became totally unmanageable. Some threw their +riders; others, seized with a sort of phrensy, became entirely +independent of control. They turned, and trampled the foot soldiers of +their own army under foot, and threw the whole body into disorder. The +consequence was, that the army of Croesus was wholly defeated; they +fled in confusion, and crowded in vast throngs through the gates into +the city, and fortified themselves there. + +Cyrus advanced to the city, invested it closely on all sides, and +commenced a siege. But the appearances were not very encouraging. The +walls were lofty, thick, and strong, and the numbers within the city +were amply sufficient to guard them. Nor was the prospect much more +promising of being soon able to reduce the city by famine. The wealth +of Croesus had enabled him to lay up almost inexhaustible stores of +food and clothing, as well as treasures of silver and gold. He hoped, +therefore, to be able to hold out against the besiegers until help +should come from some of his allies. He had sent messengers to them, +asking them to come to his rescue without any delay, before he was +shut up in the city. + +The city of Sardis was built in a position naturally strong, and one +part of the wall passed over rocky precipices which were considered +entirely impassable. There was a sort of glen or rocky gorge in this +quarter, outside of the walls, down which dead bodies were thrown on +one occasion subsequently, at a time when the city was besieged, and +beasts and birds of prey fed upon them there undisturbed, so lonely +was the place and so desolate. In fact, the walls that crowned these +precipices were considered absolutely inaccessible, and were very +slightly built and very feebly guarded. There was an ancient legend +that, a long time before, when a certain Males was king of Lydia, one +of his wives had a son in the form of a lion, whom they called Leon, +and an oracle declared that if this Leon were carried around the walls +of the city, it would be rendered impregnable, and should never be +taken. They carried Leon, therefore, around, so far as the regular +walls extended. When they came to this precipice of rocks, they +returned, considering that this part of the city was impregnable +without any such ceremony. A spur or eminence from the mountain of +Tmolus, which was behind the city, projected into it at this point, +and there was a strong citadel built upon its summit. + +[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF SARDIS.] + +Cyrus continued the siege fourteen days, and then he determined that +he must, in some way or other, find the means of carrying it by +assault, and to do this he must find some place to scale the walls. He +accordingly sent a party of horsemen around to explore every part, +offering them a large reward if they would find any place where an +entrance could be effected. The horsemen made the circuit, and +reported that their search had been in vain. At length a certain +soldier, named Hyræades, after studying for some time the precipices +on the side which had been deemed inaccessible, saw a sentinel, who +was stationed on the walls above, leave his post and come climbing +down the rocks for some distance to get his helmet, which had +accidentally dropped down. Hyræades watched him both as he descended +and as he returned. He reflected on this discovery, communicated it to +others, and the practicability of scaling the rock and the walls at +that point was discussed. In the end, the attempt was made and was +successful. Hyræades went up first, followed by a few daring spirits +who were ambitious of the glory of the exploit. They were not at first +observed from above. The way being thus shown, great numbers followed +on, and so large a force succeeded in thus gaining an entrance that +the city was taken. + +In the dreadful confusion and din of the storming of the city, +Croesus himself had a very narrow escape from death. He was saved by +the miraculous speaking of his deaf and dumb son--at least such is the +story. Cyrus had given positive orders to his soldiers, both before +the great battle on the plain and during the siege, that, though they +might slay whomever else they pleased, they must not harm Croesus, +but must take him alive. During the time of the storming of the town, +when the streets were filled with infuriated soldiers, those on the +one side wild with the excitement of triumph, and those on the other +maddened with rage and despair, a party, rushing along, overtook +Croesus and his helpless son, whom the unhappy father, it seems, was +making a desperate effort to save. The Persian soldiers were about to +transfix Croesus with their spears, when the son, who had never +spoken before, called out, "It is Croesus; do not kill him." The +soldiers were arrested by the words, and saved the monarch's life. +They made him prisoner, and bore him away to Cyrus. + +Croesus had sent, a long time before, to inquire of the Delphic +oracle by what means the power of speech could be restored to his son. +The answer was, that that was a boon which he had better not ask; for +the day on which he should hear his son speak for the first time, +would be the darkest and most unhappy day of his life. + +Cyrus had not ordered his soldiers to spare the life of Croesus in +battle from any sentiment of humanity toward him, but because he +wished to have his case reserved for his own decision. When Croesus +was brought to him a captive, he ordered him to be put in chains, and +carefully guarded. As soon as some degree of order was restored in the +city, a large funeral pile was erected, by his directions, in a public +square, and Croesus was brought to the spot. Fourteen Lydian young +men, the sons, probably, of the most prominent men in the state, were +with him. The pile was large enough for them all, and they were placed +upon it. They were all laid upon the wood. Croesus raised himself +and looked around, surveying with extreme consternation and horror the +preparations which were making for lighting the pile. His heart sank +within him as he thought of the dreadful fate that was before him. The +spectators stood by in solemn silence, awaiting the end. Croesus +broke this awful pause by crying out, in a tone of anguish and +despair, + +"Oh Solon! Solon! Solon!" + +The officers who had charge of the execution asked him what he meant. +Cyrus, too, who was himself personally superintending the scene, asked +for an explanation. Croesus was, for a time, too much agitated and +distracted to reply. There were difficulties in respect to language, +too, which embarrassed the conversation, as the two kings could speak +to each other only through an interpreter. At length Croesus gave an +account of his interview with Solon, and of the sentiment which the +philosopher had expressed, that no one could decide whether a man was +truly prosperous and happy till it was determined how his life was +to end. Cyrus was greatly interested in this narrative; but, in the +mean time, the interpreting of the conversation had been slow, a +considerable period had elapsed, and the officers had lighted the +fire. The pile had been made extremely combustible, and the fire was +rapidly making its way through the whole mass. Cyrus eagerly ordered +it to be extinguished. The efforts which the soldiers made for this +purpose seemed, at first, likely to be fruitless; but they were aided +very soon by a sudden shower of rain, which, coming down from the +mountains, began, just at this time, to fall; and thus the flames were +extinguished, and Croesus and the captives saved. + +Cyrus immediately, with a fickleness very common among great monarchs +in the treatment of both enemies and favorites, began to consider +Croesus as his friend. He ordered him to be unbound, brought him +near his person, and treated him with great consideration and honor. + +Croesus remained after this for a long time with Cyrus, and +accompanied him in his subsequent campaigns. He was very much incensed +at the oracle at Delphi for having deceived him by its false responses +and predictions, and thus led him into the terrible snare into which +he had fallen. He procured the fetters with which he had been chained +when placed upon the pile, and sent them to Delphi with orders that +they should be thrown down upon the threshold of the temple--the +visible symbol of his captivity and ruin--as a reproach to the oracle +for having deluded him and caused his destruction. In doing this, the +messengers were to ask the oracle whether imposition like that which +had been practiced on Croesus was the kind of gratitude it evinced +to one who had enriched it by such a profusion of offerings and gifts. + +To this the priests of the oracle said in reply, that the destruction +of the Lydian dynasty had long been decreed by the Fates, in +retribution for the guilt of Gyges, the founder of the line. He had +murdered his master, and usurped the throne, without any title to it +whatever. The judgments of Heaven had been denounced upon Gyges for +this crime, to fall on himself or on some of his descendants. The +Pythian Apollo at Delphi had done all in his power to postpone the +falling of the blow until after the death of Croesus, on account of +the munificent benefactions which he had made to the oracle; but he +had been unable to effect it: the decrees of Fate were inexorable. All +that the oracle could do was to postpone--as it had done, it said, for +three years--the execution of the sentence, and to give Croesus +warning of the evil that was impending. This had been done by +announcing to him that his crossing the Halys would cause the +destruction of a mighty empire, meaning that of Lydia, and also by +informing him that when he should find a mule upon the throne of Media +he must expect to lose his own. Cyrus, who was descended, on the +father's side, from the Persian stock, and on the mother's from that +of Media, was the hybrid sovereign represented by the mule. + +When this answer was reported to Croesus, it is said that he was +satisfied with the explanations, and admitted that the oracle was +right, and that he himself had been unreasonable and wrong. However +this may be, it is certain that, among mankind at large, since +Croesus's day, there has been a great disposition to overlook +whatever of criminality there may have been in the falsehood and +imposture of the oracle, through admiration of the adroitness and +dexterity which its ministers evinced in saving themselves from +exposure. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON. + +B.C. 544-538 + +Babylon.--The River Euphrates.--Canals.--Curious boats.--Their mode +of construction.--Primitive navigation.--Return of the boatmen.--Extent +of Babylon.--Parks, gardens, palaces, etc.--The walls of +Babylon.--Marvelous accounts.--The ditches.--Streets and gates.--Palace +of the king.--Temple of Belus.--The bridge.--Sculptures.--The hanging +gardens.--Construction of the gardens.--The platform and +terraces.--Engine for raising water.--Floral beauties.--The works of +Nitocris.--Her canals and levees.--The bridge over the Euphrates.--The +tomb of the queen.--Cyrus plans an attack upon Babylon.--Government of +Lydia.--Cyrus returns eastward.--Revolt of the Lydians.--Detachment of +Mazares.--Flight of Pactyas.--Pactyas at Cyme.--The people consult the +oracle.--Reply of the oracle.--Aristodicus and the birds' +nests.--Capture of Pactyas.--Situation of Belshazzar.--Belshazzar's +feeling of security.--Approach of Cyrus.--Cyrus draws off the water +from the river.--The city captured. + + +In his advance toward the dominions of Croesus in Asia Minor, Cyrus +had passed to the northward of the great and celebrated city of +Babylon. Babylon was on the Euphrates, toward the southern part of +Asia. It was the capital of a large and very fertile region, which +extended on both sides of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf. The +limits of the country, however, which was subject to Babylon, varied +very much at different times, as they were extended or contracted by +revolutions and wars. + +The River Euphrates was the great source of fertility for the whole +region through which it flowed. The country watered by this river was +very densely populated, and the inhabitants were industrious and +peaceable, cultivating their land, and living quietly and happily on +its fruits. The surface was intersected with canals, which the people +had made for conveying the water of the river over the land for the +purpose of irrigating it. Some of these canals were navigable. There +was one great trunk which passed from the Euphrates to the Tigris, +supplying many minor canals by the way, that was navigable for vessels +of considerable burden. + +The traffic of the country was, however, mainly conducted by means of +boats of moderate size, the construction of which seemed to Herodotus +very curious and remarkable. The city was enormously large, and +required immense supplies of food, which were brought down in these +boats from the agricultural country above. The boats were made in +the following manner: first a frame was built, of the shape of the +intended boat, broad and shallow, and with the stem and stern of the +same form. This frame was made of willows, like a basket, and, when +finished, was covered with a sheathing of skins. A layer of reeds was +then spread over the bottom of the boat to protect the frame, and to +distribute evenly the pressure of the cargo. The boat, thus finished, +was laden with the produce of the country, and was then floated down +the river to Babylon. In this navigation the boatmen were careful to +protect the leather sheathing from injury by avoiding all contact with +rocks, or even with the gravel of the shores. They kept their craft in +the middle of the stream by means of two oars, or, rather, an oar and +a paddle, which were worked, the first at the bows, and the second at +the stern. The advance of the boat was in some measure accelerated by +these boatmen, though their main function was to steer their vessel by +keeping it out of eddies and away from projecting points of land, and +directing its course to those parts of the stream where the current +was swiftest, and where it would consequently be borne forward most +rapidly to its destination. + +These boats were generally of very considerable size, and they +carried, in addition to their cargo and crew, one or more beasts +of burden--generally asses or mules. These animals were allowed +the pleasure, if any pleasure it was to them, of sailing thus idly +down the stream, for the sake of having them at hand at the end of +the voyage, to carry back again, up the country, the skins, which +constituted the most valuable portion of the craft they sailed in. It +was found that these skins, if carefully preserved, could be easily +transported up the river, and would answer the purpose of a second +voyage. Accordingly, when the boats arrived at Babylon, the cargo was +sold, the boats were broken up, the skins were folded into packs, and +in this form the mules carried them up the river again, the boatmen +driving the mules as they walked by their side. + +Babylon was a city of immense extent and magnitude. In fact, the +accounts given of the space which it covered have often been +considered incredible. These accounts make the space which was +included within the walls four or five times as large as London. A +great deal of this space was, however, occupied by parks and gardens +connected with the royal palaces, and by open squares. Then, besides, +the houses occupied by the common people in the ancient cities were of +fewer stories in height, and consequently more extended on the ground, +than those built in modern times. In fact, it is probable that, in +many instances, they were mere ranges of huts and hovels, as is the +case, indeed, to a considerable extent, in Oriental cities, at the +present day, so that it is not at all impossible that even so large an +area as four or five times the size of London may have been included +within the fortifications of the city. + +In respect to the walls of the city, very extraordinary and apparently +contradictory accounts are given by the various ancient authors who +described them. Some make them seventy-five and others two or three +hundred feet high. There have been many discussions in respect to the +comparative credibility of these several statements, and some +ingenious attempts have been made to reconcile them. It is not, +however, at all surprising that there should be such a diversity in +the dimensions given, for the walling of an ancient city was seldom of +the same height in all places. The structure necessarily varied +according to the nature of the ground, being high wherever the ground +without was such as to give the enemy an advantage in an attack, and +lower in other situations, where the conformation of the surface was +such as to afford, of itself, a partial protection. It is not, +perhaps, impossible that, at some particular points--as, for example, +across glens and ravines, or along steep declivities--the walls of +Babylon may have been raised even to the very extraordinary height +which Herodotus ascribes to them. + +The walls were made of bricks, and the bricks were formed of clay and +earth, which was dug from a trench made outside of the lines. This +trench served the purpose of a ditch, to strengthen the fortification +when the wall was completed. The water from the river, and from +streams flowing toward the river, was admitted to these ditches on +every side, and kept them always full. + +The sides of these ditches were lined with bricks too, which were +made, like those of the walls, from the earth obtained from the +excavations. They used for all this masonry a cement made from a +species of bitumen, which was found in great quantities floating down +one of the rivers which flowed into the Euphrates, in the neighborhood +of Babylon. + +The River Euphrates itself flowed through the city. There was a +breast-work or low wall along the banks of it on either side, with +openings at the terminations of the streets leading to the water, and +flights of steps to go down. These openings were secured by gates of +brass, which, when closed, would prevent an enemy from gaining access +to the city from the river. The great streets, which terminated thus +at the river on one side, extended to the walls of the city on the +other, and they were crossed by other streets at right angles to them. +In the outer walls of the city, at the extremities of all these +streets, were massive gates of brass, with hinges and frames of the +same metal. There were a hundred of these gates in all. They were +guarded by watch-towers on the walls above. The watch-towers were +built on both the inner and outer faces of the wall, and the wall +itself was so broad that there was room between these watch-towers for +a chariot and four to drive and turn. + +The river, of course, divided the city into two parts. The king's +palace was in the center of one of these divisions, within a vast +circular inclosure, which contained the palace buildings, together +with the spacious courts, and parks, and gardens pertaining to them. +In the center of the other division was a corresponding inclosure, +which contained the great temple of Belus. Here there was a very lofty +tower, divided into eight separate towers, one above another, with a +winding staircase to ascend to the summit. In the upper story was a +sort of chapel, with a couch, and a table, and other furniture for use +in the sacred ceremonies, all of gold. Above this, on the highest +platform of all, was a grand observatory, where the Babylonian +astrologers made their celestial observations. + +There was a bridge across the river, connecting one section of the +city with the other, and it is said that there was a subterranean +passage under the river also, which was used as a private +communication between two public edifices--palaces or citadels--which +were situated near the extremities of the bridge. All these +constructions were of the most grand and imposing character. In +addition to the architectural magnificence of the buildings, the gates +and walls were embellished with a great variety of sculptures: images +of animals, of every form and in every attitude; and men, single and +in groups, models of great sovereigns, and representations of hunting +scenes, battle scenes, and great events in the Babylonian history. + +The most remarkable, however, of all the wonders of Babylon--though +perhaps not built till after Cyrus's time--were what were called the +hanging gardens. Although called the hanging gardens, they were not +suspended in any manner, as the name might denote, but were supported +upon arches and walls. The arches and walls sustained a succession of +terraces, rising one above another, with broad flights of steps for +ascending to them, and on these terraces the gardens were made. The +upper terrace, or platform, was several hundred feet from the ground; +so high, that it was necessary to build arches upon arches within, in +order to attain the requisite elevation. The lateral thrust of these +arches was sustained by a wall twenty-five feet in thickness, which +surrounded the garden on all sides, and rose as high as the lowermost +tier of arches, upon which would, of course, be concentrated the +pressure and weight of all the pile. The whole structure thus formed a +sort of artificial hill, square in form, and rising, in a succession +of terraces, to a broad and level area upon the top. The extent of +this grand square upon the summit was four hundred feet upon each +side. + +The surface which served as the foundation for the gardens that +adorned these successive terraces and the area above was formed in the +following manner: Over the masonry of the arches there was laid a +pavement of broad flat stones, sixteen feet long and four feet wide. +Over these there was placed a stratum of reeds, laid in bitumen, and +above them another flooring of bricks, cemented closely together, so +as to be impervious to water. To make the security complete in this +respect, the upper surface of this brick flooring was covered with +sheets of lead, overlapping each other in such a manner as to convey +all the water which might percolate through the mold away to the sides +of the garden. The earth and mold were placed upon this surface, thus +prepared, and the stratum was so deep as to allow large trees to take +root and grow in it. There was an engine constructed in the middle of +the upper terrace, by which water could be drawn up from the river, +and distributed over every part of the vast pile. + +The gardens, thus completed, were filled to profusion with every +species of tree, and plant, and vine, which could produce fruit +or flowers to enrich or adorn such a scene. Every country in +communication with Babylon was made to contribute something to +increase the endless variety of floral beauty which was here literally +enthroned. Gardeners of great experience and skill were constantly +employed in cultivating the parterres, pruning the fruit-trees and +the vines, preserving the walks, and introducing new varieties of +vegetation. In a word, the hanging gardens of Babylon became one of +the wonders of the world. + +The country in the neighborhood of Babylon, extending from the river +on either hand was in general level and low, and subject to +inundations. One of the sovereigns of the country, a queen named +Nitocris, had formed the grand design of constructing an immense lake, +to take off the superfluous water in case of a flood, and thus +prevent an overflow. She also opened a great number of lateral and +winding channels for the river, wherever the natural disposition of +the surface afforded facilities for doing so, and the earth which was +taken out in the course of these excavations was employed in raising +the banks by artificial terraces, such as are made to confine the +Mississippi at New Orleans, and are there called _levees_.[B] The +object of Nitocris in these measures was two-fold. She wished, in the +first place, to open all practicable channels for the flow of the +water, and then to confine the current within the channels thus made. +She also wished to make the navigation of the stream as intricate and +complicated as possible, so that, while the natives of the country +might easily find their way, in boats, to the capital, a foreign +enemy, if he should make the attempt, might be confused and lost. These +were the rivers of Babylon on the banks of which the captive Jews sat +down and wept when they remembered Zion. + +[Footnote B: From the French word _levée_, raised.] + +This queen Nitocris seems to have been quite distinguished for her +engineering and architectural plans. It was she that built the bridge +across the Euphrates, within the city; and as there was a feeling of +jealousy and ill will, as usual in such a case, between the two +divisions of the town which the river formed, she caused the bridge to +be constructed with a movable platform or draw, by means of which the +communication might be cut off at pleasure. This draw was generally up +at night and down by day. + +Herodotus relates a curious anecdote of this queen, which, if true, +evinces in another way the peculiar originality of mind and the +ingenuity which characterized all her operations. She caused her tomb +to be built, before her death, over one of the principal gates of the +city. Upon the façade of this monument was a very conspicuous +inscription to this effect: "If any one of the sovereigns, my +successors, shall be in extreme want of money, let him open my tomb +and take what he may think proper; but let him not resort to this +resource unless the urgency is extreme." + +The tomb remained for some time after the queen's death quite +undisturbed. In fact, the people of the city avoided this gate +altogether, on account of the dead body deposited above it, and the +spot became well-nigh deserted. At length, in process of time, a +subsequent sovereign, being in want of money, ventured to open the +tomb. He found, however, no money within. The gloomy vault contained +nothing but the dead body of the queen, and a label with this +inscription: "If your avarice were not as insatiable as it is base, +you would not have intruded on the repose of the dead." + +It was not surprising that Cyrus, having been so successful in his +enterprises thus far, should now begin to turn his thoughts toward +this great Babylonian empire, and to feel a desire to bring it under +his sway. The first thing, however, was to confirm and secure his +Lydian conquests. He spent some time, therefore, in organizing and +arranging, at Sardis, the affairs of the new government which he +was to substitute for that of Croesus there. He designated certain +portions of his army to be left for garrisons in the conquered cities. +He appointed Persian officers, of course, to command these forces; +but, as he wished to conciliate the Lydians, he appointed many of the +municipal and civil officers of the country from among them. There +would appear to be no danger in doing this, as, by giving the command +of the army to Persians, he retained all the real power directly in +his own hands. + +One of these civil officers, the most important, in fact, of all, was +the grand treasurer. To him Cyrus committed the charge of the stores +of gold and silver which came into his possession at Sardis, and of +the revenues which were afterward to accrue. Cyrus appointed a Lydian +named Pactyas to this trust, hoping by such measures to conciliate the +people of the country, and to make them more ready to submit to his +sway. Things being thus arranged, Cyrus, taking Croesus with him, +set out with the main army to return toward the East. + +As soon as he had left Lydia, Pactyas excited the Lydians to revolt. +The name of the commander-in-chief of the military forces which Cyrus +had left was Tabalus. Pactyas abandoned the city and retired toward +the coast where he contrived to raise a large army, formed partly of +Lydians and partly of bodies of foreign troops, which he was enabled +to hire by means of the treasures which Cyrus had put under his +charge. He then advanced to Sardis, took possession of the town, and +shut up Tabalus, with his Persian troops, in the citadel. + +When the tidings of these events came to Cyrus, he was very much +incensed, and determined to destroy the city. Croesus, however, +interceded very earnestly in its behalf. He recommended that Cyrus, +instead of burning Sardis, should send a sufficient force to disarm +the population, and that he should then enact such laws and make such +arrangements as should turn the minds of the people to habits of +luxury and pleasure. "By doing this," said Croesus, "the people +will, in a short time, become so enervated and so effeminate that you +will have nothing to fear from them." + +Cyrus decided on adopting this plan. He dispatched a Median named +Mazares, an officer of his army, at the head of a strong force, with +orders to go back to Sardis, to deliver Tabalus from his danger, to +seize and put to death all the leaders in the Lydian rebellion +excepting Pactyas. Pactyas was to be saved alive, and sent a prisoner +to Cyrus in Persia. + +Pactyas did not wait for the arrival of Mazares. As soon as he heard +of his approach, he abandoned the ground, and fled northwardly to the +city of Cyme, and sought refuge there. When Mazares had reached Sardis +and re-established the government of Cyrus there, he sent messengers +to Cyme, demanding the surrender of the fugitive. + +The people of Cyme were uncertain whether they ought to comply. They +said that they must first consult an oracle. There was a very ancient +and celebrated oracle near Miletus. They sent messengers to this +oracle, demanding to know whether it were according to the will of +the gods or not that the fugitive should be surrendered. The answer +brought back was, that they might surrender him. + +They were accordingly making arrangements for doing this, when one of +the citizens, a very prominent and influential man, named Aristodicus, +expressed himself not satisfied with the reply. He did not think it +possible, he said, that the oracle could really counsel them to +deliver up a helpless fugitive to his enemies. The messengers must +have misunderstood or misreported the answer which they had received. +He finally persuaded his countrymen to send a second embassy: he +himself was placed at the head of it. On their arrival, Aristodicus +addressed the oracle as follows: + +"To avoid a cruel death from the Persians, Pactyas, a Lydian, fled to +us for refuge. The Persians demanded that we should surrender him. +Much as we are afraid of their power, we are still more afraid to +deliver up a helpless suppliant for protection without clear and +decided directions from you." + +The embassy received to this demand the same reply as before. + +Still Aristodicus was not satisfied; and, as if by way of bringing +home to the oracle somewhat more forcibly a sense of the true +character of such an action as it seemed to recommend, he began to +make a circuit in the grove which was around the temple in which the +oracle resided, and to rob and destroy the nests which the birds had +built there, allured, apparently, by the sacred repose and quietude of +the scene. This had the desired effect. A solemn voice was heard from +the interior of the temple, saying, in a warning tone, + +"Impious man! how dost thou dare to molest those who have placed +themselves under my protection?" + +To this Aristodicus replied by asking the oracle how it was that it +watched over and guarded those who sought its own protection, while it +directed the people of Cyme to abandon and betray suppliants for +theirs. To this the oracle answered, + +"I direct them to do it, in order that such impious men may the sooner +bring down upon their heads the judgments of heaven for having dared +to entertain even the thought of delivering up a helpless fugitive." + +When this answer was reported to the people of Cyme, they did not dare +to give Pactyas up, nor, on the other hand, did they dare to incur +the enmity of the Persians by retaining and protecting him. They +accordingly sent him secretly away. The emissaries of Mazares, +however, followed him. They kept constantly on his track, demanding +him successively of every city where the hapless fugitive sought +refuge, until, at length, partly by threats and partly by a reward, +they induced a certain city to surrender him. Mazares sent him, a +prisoner, to Cyrus. Soon after this Mazares himself died, and Harpagus +was appointed governor of Lydia in his stead. + +In the mean time, Cyrus went on with his conquests in the heart of +Asia, and at length, in the course of a few years, he had completed +his arrangements and preparations for the attack on Babylon. He +advanced at the head of a large force to the vicinity of the city. The +King of Babylon, whose name was Belshazzar, withdrew within the walls, +shut the gates, and felt perfectly secure. A simple wall was in those +days a very effectual protection against any armed force whatever, if +it was only high enough not to be scaled, and thick enough to resist +the blows of a battering ram. The artillery of modern times would have +speedily made a fatal breach in such structures; but there was nothing +but the simple force of man, applied through brazen-headed beams of +wood, in those days, and Belshazzar knew well that his walls would bid +all such modes of demolition a complete defiance. He stationed his +soldiers, therefore, on the walls, and his sentinels in the watch +towers, while he himself, and all the nobles of his court, feeling +perfectly secure in their impregnable condition, and being abundantly +supplied with all the means that the whole empire could furnish, both +for sustenance and enjoyment, gave themselves up, in their spacious +palaces and gardens, to gayety, festivity, and pleasure. + +Cyrus advanced to the city. He stationed one large detachment of his +troops at the opening in the main walls where the river entered into +the city, and another one below, where it issued from it. These +detachments were ordered to march into the city by the bed of the +river, as soon as they should observe the water subsiding. He then +employed a vast force of laborers to open new channels, and to widen +and deepen those which had existed before, for the purpose of drawing +off the waters from their usual bed. When these passages were thus +prepared, the water was let into them one night, at a time previously +designated, and it soon ceased to flow through the city. The +detachments of soldiers marched in over the bed of the stream, +carrying with them vast numbers of ladders. With these they easily +scaled the low walls which lined the banks of the river, and +Belshazzar was thunderstruck with the announcement made to him in the +midst of one of his feasts that the Persians were in complete and full +possession of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. + +B.C. 608 + +The Jewish captivity.--Jeremiah and the book of Chronicles.--Incursions +of Nebuchadnezzar.--Denunciations of Jeremiah.--Predictions of +Jeremiah.--Exasperation of the priests and people.--Defense of +Jeremiah.--He is liberated.--Symbolic method of teaching.--The wooden +yoke and the iron yoke.--The title deeds of Jeremiah's estate.--The +deeds deposited.--Baruch writes Jeremiah's prophecies.--He reads them +to the people.--Baruch summoned before the council.--The roll sent +to the king.--The roll destroyed.--Jeremiah attempts to leave the +city.--The king sends for Jeremiah.--He is imprisoned.--Jeremiah cast +into a dungeon.--The king orders him to be taken up.--Jerusalem +besieged by the Babylonians.--Capture of the king.--Captivity of the +Jews.--The prophet Daniel.--Cyrus takes possession of Babylon, and +allows the Jews to return.--Assembling of the Jews.--The number +that returned.--Arrival of the caravan at Jerusalem.--Building the +Temple.--Emotions of the old men.--Rejoicings of the young men. + + +The period of the invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus, and the taking of +the city, was during the time while the Jews were in captivity there. +Cyrus was their deliverer. It results from this circumstance that the +name of Cyrus is connected with sacred history more than that of any +other great conqueror of ancient times. + +It was a common custom in the early ages of the world for powerful +sovereigns to take the people of a conquered country captive, and make +them slaves. They employed them, to some extent, as personal household +servants, but more generally as agricultural laborers, to till the +lands. + +An account of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon is given briefly +in the closing chapters of the second book of Chronicles, though many +of the attendant circumstances are more fully detailed in the book +of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who lived in the time of the +captivity. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made repeated +incursions into the land of Judea, sometimes carrying away the +reigning monarch, sometimes deposing him and appointing another +sovereign in his stead, sometimes assessing a tax or tribute upon the +land, and sometimes plundering the city, and carrying away all the +gold and silver that he could find. Thus the kings and the people were +kept in a continual state of anxiety and terror for many years, +exposed incessantly to the inroads of this nation of robbers and +plunderers, that had, so unfortunately for them, found their way +across their frontiers. King Zedekiah was the last of this oppressed +and unhappy line of Jewish kings. + +The prophet Jeremiah was accustomed to denounce the sins of the Jewish +nation, by which these terrible calamities had been brought upon them, +with great courage, and with an eloquence solemn and sublime. He +declared that the miseries which the people suffered were the special +judgments of Heaven, and he proclaimed repeatedly and openly, and in +the most public places of the city, still heavier calamities which he +said were impending. The people were troubled and distressed at these +prophetic warnings, and some of them were deeply incensed against +Jeremiah for uttering them. Finally, on one occasion, he took his +stand in one of the public courts of the Temple, and, addressing the +concourse of priests and people that were there, he declared that, +unless the nation repented of their sins and turned to God, the whole +city should be overwhelmed. Even the Temple itself, the sacred house +of God, should be destroyed, and the very site abandoned. + +The priests and the people who heard this denunciation were greatly +exasperated. They seized Jeremiah, and brought him before a great +judicial assembly for trial. The judges asked him why he uttered such +predictions, declaring that by doing so he acted like an enemy to his +country and a traitor, and that he deserved to die. The excitement was +very great against him, and the populace could hardly be restrained +from open violence. In the midst of this scene Jeremiah was calm and +unmoved, and replied to their accusations as follows: + +"Every thing which I have said against this city and this house, I +have said by the direction of the Lord Jehovah. Instead of resenting +it, and being angry with me for delivering my message, it becomes you +to look at your sins, and repent of them, and forsake them. It may be +that by so doing God will have mercy upon you, and will avert the +calamities which otherwise will most certainly come. As for myself, +here I am in your hands. Yon can deal with me just as you think best. +Yon can kill me if you will, but you may be assured that if you do so, +you will bring the guilt and the consequences of shedding innocent +blood upon yourselves and upon this city. I have said nothing and +foretold nothing but by commandment of the Lord."[C] + +[Footnote C: Jeremiah, xxvi., 12-15.] + +The speech produced, as might have been expected, a great division +among the hearers. Some were more angry than ever, and were eager to +put the prophet to death. Others defended him, and insisted that he +should not die. The latter, for the time, prevailed. Jeremiah was set +at liberty, and continued his earnest expostulations with the people +on account of their sins, and his terrible annunciations of the +impending ruin of the city just as before. + +These unwelcome truths being so painful for the people to hear, other +prophets soon began to appear to utter contrary predictions, for the +sake, doubtless, of the popularity which they should themselves +acquire by their promises of returning peace and prosperity. The name +of one of these false prophets was Hananiah. On one occasion, +Jeremiah, in order to present and enforce what he had to say more +effectually on the minds of the people by means of a visible symbol, +made a small wooden yoke, by divine direction, and placed it upon +his neck, as a token of the bondage which his predictions were +threatening. Hananiah took this yoke from his neck and broke it, +saying that, as he had thus broken Jeremiah's wooden yoke, so God +would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from all nations within two +years; and then, even those of the Jews who had already been taken +captive to Babylon should return again in peace. Jeremiah replied that +Hananiah's predictions were false, and that, though the wooden yoke +was broken, God would make for Nebuchadnezzar a yoke of iron, with +which he should bend the Jewish nation in a bondage more cruel than +ever. Still, Jeremiah himself predicted that after seventy years from +the time when the last great captivity should come, the Jews should +all be restored again to their native land. + +He expressed this certain restoration of the Jews, on one occasion, by +a sort of symbol, by means of which he made a much stronger impression +on the minds of the people than could have been done by simple words. +There was a piece of land in the country of Benjamin, one of the +provinces of Judea, which belonged to the family of Jeremiah, and +it was held in such a way that, by paying a certain sum of money, +Jeremiah himself might possess it, the right of redemption being in +him. Jeremiah was in prison at this time. His uncle's son came into +the court of the prison, and proposed to him to purchase the land. +Jeremiah did so in the most public and formal manner. The title deeds +were drawn up and subscribed, witnesses were summoned, the money +weighed and paid over, the whole transaction being regularly completed +according to the forms and usages then common for the conveyance of +landed property. When all was finished, Jeremiah gave the papers into +the hands of his scribe, directing him to put them safely away and +preserve them with care, for after a certain period the country of +Judea would again be restored to the peaceable possession of the Jews, +and such titles to land would possess once more their full and +original value. + +On one occasion, when Jeremiah's personal liberty was restricted so +that he could not utter publicly, himself, his prophetical warnings, +he employed Baruch, his scribe, to write them from his dictation, with +a view of reading them to the people from some public and frequented +part of the city. The prophecy thus dictated was inscribed upon a roll +of parchment. Baruch waited, when he had completed the writing, until +a favorable opportunity occurred for reading it, which was on the +occasion of a great festival that was held at Jerusalem, and which +brought the inhabitants of the land together from all parts of Judea. +On the day of the festival, Baruch took the roll in his hand, and +stationed himself at a very public place, at the entrance of one of +the great courts of the Temple; there, calling upon the people to hear +him, he began to read. A great concourse gathered around him, and all +listened to him with profound attention. One of the by-standers, +however, went down immediately into the city, to the king's palace, +and reported to the king's council, who were then assembled there, +that a great concourse was convened in one of the courts of the +Temple, and that Baruch was there reading to them a discourse or +prophecy which had been written by Jeremiah. The members of the +council sent a summons to Baruch to come immediately to them, and +to bring his writing with him. + +When Baruch arrived, they directed him to read what he had written. +Baruch accordingly read it. They asked him when and how that discourse +was written. Baruch replied that he had written it, word by word, from +the dictation of Jeremiah. The officers informed him that they should +be obliged to report the circumstances to the king, and they counseled +Baruch to go to Jeremiah and recommend to him to conceal himself, lest +the king, in his anger, should do him some sudden and violent +injury.[D] + +[Footnote D: See the account of these transactions in the 36th chapter +of Jeremiah.] + +The officers then, leaving the roll in one of their own apartments, +went to the king, and reported the facts to him. He sent one of his +attendants, named Jehudi, to bring the roll. When it came, the king +directed Jehudi to read it. Jehudi did so, standing by a fire which had +been made in the apartment, for it was bitter cold. + +After Jehudi had read a few pages from the roll, finding that it +contained a repetition of the same denunciations and warnings by which +the king had often been displeased before, he took a knife and began +to cut the parchment into pieces, and to throw it on the fire. Some +other persons who were standing by interfered, and earnestly begged +the king not to allow the roll to be burned. But the king did not +interfere. He permitted Jehudi to destroy the parchment altogether, +and then sent officers to take Jeremiah and Baruch, and bring them to +him but they were nowhere to be found. + +The prophet, on one occasion, was reduced to extreme distress by the +persecutions which his faithfulness, and the incessant urgency of his +warnings and expostulations had brought upon him. It was at a time +when the Chaldean armies had been driven away from Jerusalem for a +short period by the Egyptians, as one vulture drives away another from +its prey. Jeremiah determined to avail himself of the opportunity to +go to the province of Benjamin, to visit his friends and family there. +He was intercepted, however, at one of the gates, on his way, and +accused of a design to make his escape from the city, and go over to +the Chaldeans. The prophet earnestly denied this charge. They paid no +regard to his declarations, but sent him back to Jerusalem, to the +officers of the king's government, who confined him in a house which +they used as a prison. + +After he had remained in this place of confinement for several days, +the king sent and took him from it, and brought him to the palace. The +king inquired whether he had any prophecy to utter from the Lord. +Jeremiah replied that the word of the Lord was, that the Chaldeans +should certainly return again, and that Zedekiah himself should fall +into their hands, and be carried captive to Babylon. While he thus +persisted so strenuously in the declarations which he had made so +often before, he demanded of the king that he should not be sent back +again to the house of imprisonment from which he had been rescued. The +king said he would not send him back, and he accordingly directed, +instead, that he should be taken to the court of the public prison, +where his confinement would be less rigorous, and there he was to be +supplied daily with food, so long, as the king expressed it, as there +should be any food remaining in the city. + +But Jeremiah's enemies were not at rest. They came again, after a +time, to the king, and represented to him that the prophet, by his +gloomy and terrible predictions, discouraged and depressed the hearts +of the people, and weakened their hands; that he ought, accordingly, +to be regarded as a public enemy; and they begged the king to proceed +decidedly against him. The king replied that he would give him into +their hands, and they might do with him what they pleased. + +There was a dungeon in the prison, the only access to which was from +above. Prisoners were let down into it with ropes, and left there to +die of hunger. The bottom of it was wet and miry, and the prophet, +when let down into its gloomy depths, sank into the deep mire. Here he +would soon have died of hunger and misery; but the king, feeling some +misgivings in regard to what he had done, lest it might really be a +true prophet of God that he had thus delivered into the hands of his +enemies, inquired what the people had done with their prisoner; and +when he learned that he had been thus, as it were, buried alive, he +immediately sent officers with orders to take him out of the dungeon. +The officers went to the dungeon. They opened the mouth of it. They +had brought ropes with them, to be used for drawing the unhappy +prisoner up, and cloths, also, which he was to fold together and place +under his arms, where the ropes were to pass. These ropes and cloths +they let down into the dungeon, and called upon Jeremiah to place them +properly around his body. Thus they drew him safely up out of the +dismal den. + +These cruel persecutions of the faithful prophet were all unavailing +either to silence his voice or to avert the calamities which his +warnings portended. At the appointed time, the judgments which had +been so long predicted came in all their terrible reality. The +Babylonians invaded the land in great force, and encamped about the +city. The siege continued for two years. At the end of that time the +famine became insupportable. Zedekiah, the king, determined to make a +sortie, with as strong a force as he could command, secretly, at +night, in hopes to escape with his own life, and intending to leave +the city to its fate. He succeeded in passing out through the city +gates with his band of followers, and in actually passing the +Babylonian lines; but he had not gone far before his escape was +discovered. He was pursued and taken. The city was then stormed, and, +as usual in such cases, it was given up to plunder and destruction. +Vast numbers of the inhabitants were killed; many more were taken +captive; the principal buildings, both public and private, were +burned; the walls were broken down, and all the public treasures of +the Jews, the gold and silver vessels of the Temple, and a vast +quantity of private plunder, were carried away to Babylon by the +conquerors. All this was seventy years before the conquest of Babylon +by Cyrus. + +[Illustration: RAISING JEREMIAH FROM THE DUNGEON.] + +Of course, during the time of this captivity, a very considerable +portion of the inhabitants of Judea remained in their native land. The +deportation of a whole people to a foreign land is impossible. A vast +number, however, of the inhabitants of the country were carried away, +and they remained, for two generations, in a miserable bondage. Some +of them were employed as agricultural laborers in the rural districts +of Babylon; others remained in the city, and were engaged in servile +labors there. The prophet Daniel lived in the palaces of the king. He +was summoned, as the reader will recollect, to Belshazzar's feast, on +the night when Cyrus forced his way into the city, to interpret the +mysterious writing on the wall, by which the fall of the Babylonian +monarchy was announced in so terrible a manner. + +One year after Cyrus had conquered Babylon, he issued an edict +authorizing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the city +and the Temple. This event had been long before predicted by the +prophets, as the result which God had determined upon for purposes of +his own. We should not naturally have expected that such a conqueror +as Cyrus would feel any real and honest interest in promoting the +designs of God; but still, in the proclamation which he issued +authorizing the Jews to return, he acknowledged the supreme divinity +of Jehovah, and says that he was charged by him with the work of +rebuilding his Temple, and restoring his worship at its ancient seat +on Mount Zion. It has, however, been supposed by some scholars, who +have examined attentively all the circumstances connected with these +transactions, that so far as Cyrus was influenced by political +considerations in ordering the return of the Jews, his design was to +re-establish that nation as a barrier between his dominions and those +of the Egyptians. The Egyptians and the Chaldeans had long been deadly +enemies, and now that Cyrus had become master of the Chaldean realms, +he would, of course, in assuming their territories and their power, be +obliged to defend himself against their foes. + +Whatever may have been the motives of Cyrus, he decided to allow +the Hebrew captives to return, and he issued a proclamation to that +effect. As seventy years had elapsed since the captivity commenced, +about two generations had passed away, and there could have been very +few then living who had ever seen the land of their fathers. The Jews +were, however, all eager to return. They collected in a vast assembly, +with all the treasures which they were allowed to take, and the stores +of provisions and baggage, and with horses, and mules, and other +beasts of burden to transport them. When assembled for the march, it +was found that the number, of which a very exact census was taken, was +forty-nine thousand six hundred and ninety-seven. + +They had also with them seven or eight hundred horses, about two +hundred and fifty mules, and about five hundred camels. The chief +part, however, of their baggage and stores was borne by asses, of +which there were nearly seven thousand in the train. The march of +this peaceful multitude of families--men, women, and children +together--burdened as they went, not with arms and ammunition for +conquest and destruction, but with tools and implements for honest +industry, and stores of provisions and utensils for the peaceful +purposes of social life, as it was, in its bearings and results, one +of the grandest events of history, so it must have presented, in its +progress, one of the most extraordinary spectacles that the world has +ever seen. + +The grand caravan pursued its long and toilsome march from Babylon +to Jerusalem without molestation. All arrived safely, and the people +immediately commenced the work of repairing the walls of the city and +rebuilding the Temple. When, at length, the foundations of the Temple +were laid, a great celebration was held to commemorate the event. This +celebration exhibited a remarkable scene of mingled rejoicing and +mourning. The younger part of the population, who had never seen +Jerusalem in its former grandeur, felt only exhilaration and joy at +their re-establishment in the city of their fathers. The work of +raising the edifice, whose foundations they had laid, was to them +simply a new enterprise, and they looked forward to the work of +carrying it on with pride and pleasure. The old men, however, who +remembered the former Temple, were filled with mournful recollections +of days of prosperity and peace in their childhood and of the +magnificence of the former Temple, which they could now never hope to +see realized again. It was customary in those days, to express sorrow +and grief by exclamations and outcries, as gladness and joy are +expressed audibly now. Accordingly, on this occasion, the cries of +grief and of bitter regret at the thought of losses which could now +never be retrieved, were mingled with the shouts of rejoicing and +triumph raised by the ardent and young, who knew nothing of the past, +but looked forward with hope and happiness to the future. + +The Jews encountered various hinderances, and met with much opposition +in their attempts to reconstruct their ancient city, and to +re-establish the Mosaic ritual there. We must, however, now return to +the history of Cyrus, referring the reader for a narrative of the +circumstances connected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the very +minute account given in the sacred books of Ezra and Nehemiah. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE STORY OF PANTHEA. + +Xenophon's romantic tales.--Panthea a Susian captive.--Valuable +spoil.--Its division.--Share of Cyrus.--Panthea given to +Cyrus.--Araspes.--Abradates.--Account of Panthea's capture.--Her +great loveliness.--Attempts at consolation.--Panthea's renewed +grief.--Cyrus declines to see Panthea.--His reasons.--Araspes's +self-confidence.--Panthea's patience and gentleness.--Araspes's +kindness to Panthea.--His emotions master him.--Araspes in +love.--Progress of the army.--Araspes confesses his love.--Panthea +offended.--Panthea appeals to Cyrus.--Cyrus reproves Araspes.--Cyrus's +generosity.--Araspes's continued distress.--Plan of Cyrus.--Araspes +pretends to desert.--Panthea proposes to send for her husband.--Cyrus +consents.--Joyful meeting of Panthea and her husband.--The armed +chariots.--Abradates's eight-horse chariot.--Panthea's presents for +her husband.--Imposing spectacle.--Panthea's preparations.--Panthea +offers her presents.--Abradates's pleasure.--Abradates departs for +the field.--The farewell.--The order of battle.--Appearance of +Abradates.--The charge.--Terrible havoc made by the chariots.--The +great victory.--The council of war.--Abradates slain.--Panthea's +grief.--Cyrus's kindness to Panthea.--She is inconsolable.--Panthea +kills herself on the dead body of her husband. + + +In the preceding chapters of this work, we have followed mainly the +authority of Herodotus, except, indeed, in the account of the visit +of Cyrus to his grandfather in his childhood, which is taken from +Xenophon. We shall, in this chapter, relate the story of Panthea, +which is also one of Xenophon's tales. We give it as a specimen of +the romantic narratives in which Xenophon's history abounds, and on +account of the many illustrations of an ancient manners and customs +which it contains, leaving it for each reader to decide for himself +what weight he will attach to its claims to be regarded as veritable +history. We relate the story here in our own language, but as to the +facts, we follow faithfully the course of Xenophon's narration. + +Panthea was a Susian captive. She was taken, together with a great +many other captives and much plunder, after one of the great battles +which Cyrus fought with the Assyrians. Her husband was an Assyrian +general, though he himself was not captured at this time with his +wife. The spoil which came into possession of the army on the occasion +of the battle in which Panthea was taken was of great value. There +were beautiful and costly suits of arms, rich tents made of splendid +materials and highly ornamented, large sums of money, vessels of +silver and gold, and slaves--some prized for their beauty, and others +for certain accomplishments which were highly valued in those days. +Cyrus appointed a sort of commission to divide this spoil. He pursued +always a very generous policy on all these occasions, showing no +desire to secure such treasures to himself, but distributing them with +profuse liberality among his officers and soldiers. + +The commissioners whom he appointed in this case divided the spoil +among the various generals of the army, and among the different bodies +of soldiery, with great impartiality. Among the prizes assigned to +Cyrus were two singing women of great fame, and this Susian lady. +Cyrus thanked the distributors for the share of booty which they had +thus assigned to him, but said that if any of his friends wished for +either of these captives, they could have them. An officer asked for +one of the singers. Cyrus gave her to him immediately, saying, "I +consider myself more obliged to you for asking her, than you are to me +for giving her to you." As for the Susian lady, Cyrus had not yet seen +her, but he called one of his most intimate and confidential friends +to him, and requested him to take her under his charge. + +The name of this officer was Araspes. He was a Mede, and he had been +Cyrus's particular friend and playmate when he was a boy, visiting his +grandfather in Media. The reader will perhaps recollect that he is +mentioned toward the close of our account of that visit, as the +special favorite to whom Cyrus presented his robe or mantle when he +took leave of his friends in returning to his native land. + +Araspes, when he received this charge, asked Cyrus whether he had +himself seen the lady. Cyrus replied that he had not. Araspes then +proceeded to give an account of her. The name of her husband was +Abradates, and he was the king of Susa, as they termed him. The reason +why he was not taken prisoner at the same time with his wife was, that +when the battle was fought and the Assyrian camp captured, he was +absent, having gone away on an embassage to another nation. This +circumstance shows that Abradates, though called a king, could hardly +have been a sovereign and independent prince, but rather a governor or +viceroy--those words expressing to our minds more truly the station of +such a sort of king as could be sent on an embassy. + +Araspes went on to say that, at the time of their making the capture, +he, with some others, went into Panthea's tent, where they found her +and her attendant ladies sitting on the ground, with veils over their +faces, patiently awaiting their doom. Notwithstanding the concealment +produced by the attitudes and dress of these ladies, there was +something about the air and figure of Panthea which showed at once +that she was the queen. The leader of Araspes's party asked them all +to rise. They did so, and then the superiority of Panthea was still +more apparent than before. There was an extraordinary grace and beauty +in her attitude and in all her motions. She stood in a dejected +posture, and her countenance was sad, though inexpressibly lovely. She +endeavored to appear calm and composed, though the tears had evidently +been falling from her eyes. + +The soldiers pitied her in her distress, and the leader of the party +attempted to console her, as Araspes said, by telling her that she had +nothing to fear; that they were aware that her husband was a most +worthy and excellent man; and although, by this capture, she was lost +to him, she would have no cause to regret the event, for she would be +reserved for a new husband not at all inferior to her former one +either in person, in understanding, in rank, or in power. + +These well-meant attempts at consolation did not appear to have the +good effect desired. They only awakened Panthea's grief and suffering +anew. The tears began to fall again faster than before. Her grief soon +became more and more uncontrollable. She sobbed and cried aloud, and +began to wring her hands and tear her mantle--the customary Oriental +expression of inconsolable sorrow and despair. Araspes said that in +these gesticulations her neck, and hands, and a part of her face +appeared, and that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever +beheld. He wished Cyrus to see her. + +Cyrus said, "No; he would not see her by any means." Araspes asked him +why. He said that there would be danger that he should forget his duty +to the army, and lose his interest in the great military enterprise in +which he was engaged, if he should allow himself to become captivated +by the charms of such a lady, as he very probably would be if he were +now to visit her. Araspes said in reply that Cyrus might at least see +her; as to becoming captivated with her, and devoting himself to her +to such a degree as to neglect his other duties, he could certainly +control himself in respect to that danger. Cyrus said that it was not +certain that he could so control himself; and then there followed a +long discussion between Cyrus and Araspes, in which Araspes maintained +that every man had the command of his own heart and affections, and +that, with proper determination and energy, he could direct the +channels in which they should run, and confine them within such limits +and bounds as he pleased. Cyrus, on the other hand, maintained that +human passions were stronger than the human will; that no one could +rely on the strength of his resolutions to control the impulses of the +heart once strongly excited, and that a man's only safety was in +controlling the circumstances which tended to excite them. This was +specially true, he said, in respect to the passion of love. The +experience of mankind, he said, had shown that no strength of moral +principle, no firmness of purpose, no fixedness of resolution, no +degree of suffering, no fear of shame, was sufficient to control, in +the hearts of men, the impetuosity of the passion of love, when it was +once fairly awakened. In a word, Araspes advocated, on the subject of +love, a sort of new school philosophy, while that of Cyrus leaned very +seriously toward the old. + +In conclusion, Cyrus jocosely counseled Araspes to beware lest he +should prove that love was stronger than the will by becoming himself +enamored of the beautiful Susian queen. Araspes said that Cyrus need +not fear; there was no danger. He must be a miserable wretch indeed, +he said, who could not summon within him sufficient resolution and +energy to control his own passions and desires. As for himself, he was +sure that he was safe. + +As usual with those who are self-confident and boastful, Araspes +failed when the time of trial came. He took charge of the royal +captive whom Cyrus committed to him with a very firm resolution to be +faithful to his trust. He pitied the unhappy queen's misfortunes, and +admired the heroic patience and gentleness of spirit with which she +bore them. The beauty of her countenance, and her thousand personal +charms, which were all heightened by the expression of sadness and +sorrow which they bore, touched his heart. It gave him pleasure to +grant her every indulgence consistent with her condition of captivity, +and to do every thing in his power to promote her welfare. She was +very grateful for these favors, and the few brief words and looks of +kindness with which she returned them repaid him for his efforts to +please her a thousand-fold. He saw her, too, in her tent, in the +presence of her maidens, at all times; and as she looked upon him +as only her custodian and guard, and as, too, her mind was wholly +occupied by the thoughts of her absent husband and her hopeless grief, +her actions were entirely free and unconstrained in his presence. This +made her only the more attractive; every attitude and movement seemed +to possess, in Araspes's mind, an inexpressible charm. In a word, the +result was what Cyrus had predicted. Araspes became wholly absorbed in +the interest which was awakened in him by the charms of the beautiful +captive. He made many resolutions, but they were of no avail. While he +was away from her, he felt strong in his determination to yield to +these feelings no more; but as soon as he came into her presence, +all these resolutions melted wholly away, and he yielded his heart +entirely to the control of emotions which, however vincible they might +appear at a distance, were found, when the time of trial came, to +possess a certain mysterious and magic power, which made it most +delightful for the heart to yield before them in the contest, and +utterly impossible to stand firm and resist. In a word, when seen at a +distance, love appeared to him an enemy which he was ready to brave, +and was sure that he could overcome; but when near, it transformed +itself into the guise of a friend, and he accordingly threw down the +arms with which he had intended to combat it, and gave himself up to +it in a delirium of pleasure. + +Things continued in this state for some time. The army advanced from +post to post, and from encampment to encampment, taking the captives +in their train. New cities were taken, new provinces overrun, and new +plans for future conquests were formed. At last a case occurred in +which Cyrus wished to send some one as a spy into a distant enemy's +country. The circumstances were such that it was necessary that a +person of considerable intelligence and rank should go, as Cyrus +wished the messenger whom he should send to make his way to the court +of the sovereign, and become personally acquainted with the leading +men of the state, and to examine the general resources of the kingdom. +It was a very different case from that of an ordinary spy, who was +to go into a neighboring camp merely to report the numbers and +disposition of an organized army. Cyrus was uncertain whom he should +send on such an embassy. + +In the mean time, Araspes had ventured to express to Panthea his love +for her. She was offended. In the first place, she was faithful to her +husband, and did not wish to receive such addresses from any person. +Then, besides, she considered Araspes, having been placed in charge of +her by Cyrus, his master, only for the purpose of keeping her safely, +as guilty of a betrayal of his trust in having dared to cherish and +express sentiments of affection for her himself. She, however, forbore +to reproach him, or to complain of him to Cyrus. She simply repelled +the advances that he made, supposing that, if she did this with +firmness and decision, Araspes would feel rebuked and would say no +more. It did not, however, produce this effect. Araspes continued to +importune her with declarations of love, and at length she felt +compelled to appeal to Cyrus. + +Cyrus, instead of being incensed at what might have been considered a +betrayal of trust on the part of Araspes, only laughed at the failure +and fall in which all his favorite's promises and boastings had ended. +He sent a messenger to Araspes to caution him in regard to his +conduct, telling him that he ought to respect the feelings of such a +woman as Panthea had proved herself to be. The messenger whom Cyrus +sent was not content with delivering his message as Cyrus had dictated +it. He made it much more stern and severe. In fact, he reproached the +lover, in a very harsh and bitter manner, for indulging such a +passion. He told him that he had betrayed a sacred trust reposed in +him, and acted in a manner at once impious and unjust. Araspes +was overwhelmed with remorse and anguish, and with fear of the +consequences which might ensue, as men are when the time arrives for +being called to account for transgressions which, while they were +committing them, gave them little concern. + +When Cyrus heard how much Araspes had been distressed by the message +of reproof which he had received, and by his fears of punishment, he +sent for him. Araspes came. Cyrus told him that he had no occasion to +be alarmed. "I do not wonder," said he, "at the result which has +happened. We all know how difficult it is to resist the influence +which is exerted upon our minds by the charms of a beautiful woman, +when we are thrown into circumstances of familiar intercourse with +her. Whatever of wrong there has been ought to be considered as more +my fault than yours. I was wrong in placing you in such circumstances +of temptation, by giving you so beautiful a woman in charge." + +Araspes was very much struck with the generosity of Cyrus, in thus +endeavoring to soothe his anxiety and remorse, and taking upon himself +the responsibility and the blame. He thanked Cyrus very earnestly for +his kindness; but he said that, notwithstanding his sovereign's +willingness to forgive him, he felt still oppressed with grief and +concern, for the knowledge of his fault had been spread abroad in the +army; his enemies were rejoicing over him, and were predicting his +disgrace and ruin; and some persons had even advised him to make his +escape, by absconding before any worse calamity should befall him. + +"If this is so," said Cyrus, "it puts it in your power to render me a +very essential service." Cyrus then explained to Araspes the necessity +that he was under of finding some confidential agent to go on a secret +mission into the enemy's country, and the importance that the +messenger should go under such circumstances as not to be suspected +of being Cyrus's friend in disguise. "You can pretend to abscond," +said he; "it will be immediately said that you fled for fear of my +displeasure. I will pretend to send in pursuit of you. The news of +your evasion will spread rapidly, and will be carried, doubtless, into +the enemy's country; so that, when you arrive there, they will be +prepared to welcome you as a deserter from my cause, and a refugee." + +This plan was agreed upon, and Araspes prepared for his departure. +Cyrus gave him his instructions, and they concerted together the +information--fictitious, of course--which he was to communicate to the +enemy in respect to Cyrus's situation and designs. When all was ready +for his departure, Cyrus asked him how it was that he was so willing +to separate himself thus from the beautiful Panthea. He said in reply, +that when he was absent from Panthea, he was capable of easily +forming any determination, and of pursuing any line of conduct that +his duty required, while yet, in her presence, he found his love for +her, and the impetuous feelings to which it gave rise, wholly and +absolutely uncontrollable. + +As soon as Araspes was gone, Panthea, who supposed that he had really +fled for fear of the indignation of the king, in consequence of his +unfaithfulness to his trust, sent to Cyrus a message, expressing her +regret at the unworthy conduct and the flight of Araspes, and saying +that she could, and gladly would, if he consented, repair the loss +which the desertion of Araspes occasioned by sending for her own +husband. He was, she said, dissatisfied with the government under +which he lived, having been cruelly and tyrannically treated by the +prince. "If you will allow me to send for him," she added, "I am sure +he will come and join your army; and I assure you that you will find +him a much more faithful and devoted servant than Araspes has been." + +Cyrus consented to this proposal, and Panthea sent for Abradates. +Abradates came at the head of two thousand horse, which formed a very +important addition to the forces under Cyrus's command. The meeting +between Panthea and her husband was joyful in the extreme. When +Abradates learned from his wife how honorable and kind had been the +treatment which Cyrus had rendered to her, he was overwhelmed with a +sense of gratitude, and he declared that he would do the utmost in his +power to requite the obligations he was under. + +Abradates entered at once, with great ardor and zeal, into plans for +making the force which he had brought as efficient as possible in the +service of Cyrus. He observed that Cyrus was interested, at that time, +in attempting to build and equip a corps of armed chariots, such as +were often used in fields of battle in those days. This was a very +expensive sort of force, corresponding, in that respect, with the +artillery used in modern times. The carriages were heavy and strong, +and were drawn generally by two horses. They had short, scythe-like +blades of steel projecting from the axle-trees on each side, by which +the ranks of the enemy were mowed down when the carriages were driven +among them. The chariots were made to contain, besides the driver of +the horses, one or more warriors, each armed in the completest manner. +These warriors stood on the floor of the vehicle, and fought with +javelins and spears. The great plains which abound in the interior +countries of Asia were very favorable for this species of warfare. + +[Illustration: THE WAR CHARIOT OF ABRADATES.] + +Abradates immediately fitted up for Cyrus a hundred such chariots at +his own expense, and provided horses to draw them from his own troop. +He made one chariot much larger than the rest, for himself, as he +intended to take command of this corps of chariots in person. His own +chariot was to be drawn by eight horses. His wife Panthea was very +much interested in these preparations. She wished to do something +herself toward the outfit. She accordingly furnished, from her own +private treasures, a helmet, a corslet, and arm-pieces of gold. These +articles formed a suit of armor sufficient to cover all that part of +the body which would be exposed in standing in the chariot. She also +provided breast-pieces and side-pieces of brass for the horses. The +whole chariot, thus equipped, with its eight horses in their gay +trappings and resplendent armor, and with Abradates standing within +it, clothed in his panoply of gold, presented, as it drove, in the +sight of the whole army, around the plain of the encampment, a most +imposing spectacle. It was a worthy leader, as the spectators +thought, to head the formidable column of a hundred similar engines +which were to follow in its train. If we imagine the havoc which a +hundred scythe-armed carriages would produce when driven, with +headlong fury, into dense masses of men, on a vast open plain, we +shall have some idea of one item of the horrors of ancient war. + +The full splendor of Abradates's equipments were not, however, +displayed at first, for Panthea kept what she had done a secret for a +time, intending to reserve her contribution for a parting present to +her husband when the period should arrive for going into battle. She +had accordingly taken the measure for her work by stealth, from the +armor which Abradates was accustomed to wear, and had caused the +artificers to make the golden pieces with the utmost secrecy. Besides +the substantial defenses of gold which she provided, she added various +other articles for ornament and decoration. There was a purple robe, +a crest for the helmet, which was of a violet color, plumes, and +likewise bracelets for the wrists. Panthea kept all these things +herself until the day arrived when her husband was going into battle +for the first time with his train, and then, when he went into his +tent to prepare himself to ascend his chariot, she brought them to +him. + +Abradates was astonished when he saw them. He soon understood how they +had been provided, and he exclaimed, with a heart full of surprise and +pleasure, "And so, to provide me with this splendid armor and dress, +you have been depriving yourself of all your finest and most beautiful +ornaments!" + +"No," said Panthea, "you are yourself my finest ornament, if you +appear in other people's eyes as you do in mine, and I have not +deprived myself of you." + +The appearance which Abradates made in other people's eyes was +certainly very splendid on this occasion. There were many spectators +present to see him mount his chariot and drive away; but so great was +their admiration of Panthea's affection and regard for her husband, +and so much impressed were they with her beauty, that the great +chariot, the resplendent horses, and the grand warrior with his armor +of gold, which the magnificent equipage was intended to convey, were, +all together, scarcely able to draw away the eyes of the spectators +from her. She stood, for a while, by the side of the chariot, +addressing her husband in an under tone, reminding him of the +obligations which they were under to Cyrus for his generous and noble +treatment of her, and urging him, now that he was going to be put to +the test, to redeem the promise which she had made in his name, that +Cyrus would find him faithful, brave, and true. + +The driver then closed the door by which Abradates had mounted, so +that Panthea was separated from her husband, though she could still +see him as he stood in his place. She gazed upon him with a +countenance full of affection and solicitude. She kissed the margin of +the chariot as it began to move away. She walked along after it as it +went, as if, after all, she could not bear the separation. Abradates +turned, and when he saw her coming on after the carriage, he said, +waving his hand for a parting salutation, "Farewell, Panthea; go back +now to your tent, and do not be anxious about me. Farewell." Panthea +turned--her attendants came and took her away--the spectators all +turned, too, to follow her with their eyes, and no one paid any regard +to the chariot or to Abradates until she was gone. + +On the field of battle, before the engagement commenced, Cyrus, in +passing along the lines, paused, when he came to the chariots of +Abradates, to examine the arrangements which had been made for them, +and to converse a moment with the chief. He saw that the chariots were +drawn up in a part of the field where there was opposed to them a very +formidable array of Egyptian soldiers. The Egyptians in this war were +allies of the enemy. Abradates, leaving his chariot in the charge of +his driver, descended and came to Cyrus, and remained in conversation +with him for a few moments, to receive his last orders. Cyrus directed +him to remain where he was, and not to attack the enemy until he +received a certain signal. At length the two chieftains separated; +Abradates returned to his chariot, and Cyrus moved on. Abradates then +moved slowly along his lines, to encourage and animate his men, and to +give them the last directions in respect to the charge which they were +about to make on the enemy when the signal should be given. All eyes +were turned to the magnificent spectacle which his equipage presented +as it advanced toward them; the chariot, moving slowly along the line, +the tall and highly-decorated form of its commander rising in the +center of it, while the eight horses, animated by the sound of the +trumpets, and by the various excitements of the scene, stepped +proudly, their brazen armor clanking as they came. + +When, at length, the signal was given, Abradates, calling on the other +chariots to follow, put his horses to their speed, and the whole line +rushed impetuously on to the attack of the Egyptians. War horses, +properly trained to their work, will fight with their hoofs with +almost as much reckless determination as men will with spears. They +rush madly on to encounter whatever opposition there may be before +them, and strike down and leap over whatever comes in their way, as if +they fully understood the nature of the work that their riders or +drivers were wishing them to do. Cyrus, as he passed along from one +part of the battle field to another, saw the horses of Abradates's +line dashing thus impetuously into the thickest ranks of the enemy. +The men, on every side, were beaten down by the horses' hoofs, or +over-turned by the wheels, or cut down by the scythes; and they who +here and there escaped these dangers, became the aim of the soldiers +who stood in the chariots, and were transfixed with their spears. The +heavy wheels rolled and jolted mercilessly over the bodies of the +wounded and the fallen, while the scythes caught hold of and cut +through every thing that came in their way--whether the shafts of +javelins and spears, or the limbs and bodies of men--and tore every +thing to pieces in their terrible career. As Cyrus rode rapidly by, he +saw Abradates in the midst of this scene, driving on in his chariot, +and shouting to his men in a phrensy of excitement and triumph. + +The battle in which these events occurred was one of the greatest and +most important which Cyrus fought. He gained the victory. His enemies +were every where routed and driven from the field. When the contest +was at length decided, the army desisted from the slaughter and +encamped for the night. On the following day, the generals assembled +at the tent of Cyrus to discuss the arrangements which were to be made +in respect to the disposition of the captives and of the spoil, and to +the future movements of the army. Abradates was not there. For a time, +Cyrus, in the excitement and confusion of the scene did not observe +his absence. At length he inquired for him. A soldier present told +him that he had been killed from his chariot in the midst of the +Egyptians, and that his wife was at that moment attending to the +interment of the body, on the banks of a river which flowed near the +field of battle. Cyrus, on hearing this, uttered a loud exclamation of +astonishment and sorrow. He dropped the business in which he had been +engaged with his council, mounted his horse, commanded attendants to +follow him with every thing that could be necessary on such an +occasion, and then, asking those who knew to lead the way, he drove +off to find Panthea. + +When he arrived at the spot, the dead body of Abradates was lying upon +the ground, while Panthea sat by its side, holding the head in her +lap, overwhelmed herself with unutterable sorrow. Cyrus leaped from +his horse, knelt down by the side of the corpse, saying, at the same +time, "Alas! thou brave and faithful soul, and art thou gone?" + +At the same time, he took hold of the hand of Abradates; but, as he +attempted to raise it, the arm came away from the body. It had been +cut off by an Egyptian sword. Cyrus was himself shocked at the +spectacle, and Panthea's grief broke forth anew. She cried out with +bitter anguish, replaced the arm in the position in which she had +arranged it before, and told Cyrus that the rest of the body was in +the same condition. Whenever she attempted to speak, her sobs and +tears almost prevented her utterance. She bitterly reproached herself +for having been, perhaps, the cause of her husband's death, by urging +him, as she had done, to fidelity and courage when he went into +battle. "And now," she said, "he is dead, while I, who urged him +forward into the danger, am still alive." + +Cyrus said what he could to console Panthea's grief; but he found it +utterly inconsolable. He gave directions for furnishing her with every +thing which she could need, and promised her that he would make ample +arrangements for providing for her in future. "You shall be treated," +he said, "while you remain with me, in the most honorable manner; or +if you have any friends whom you wish to join, you shall be sent to +them safely whenever you please." + +Panthea thanked him for his kindness. She had a friend, she said, whom +she wished to join, and she would let him know in due time who it was. +In the mean time, she wished that Cyrus would leave her alone, for a +while, with her servants, and her waiting-maid, and the dead body of +her husband. Cyrus accordingly withdrew. As soon as he had gone, +Panthea sent away the servants also, retaining the waiting-maid +alone. The waiting-maid began to be anxious and concerned at +witnessing these mysterious arrangements, as if they portended some +new calamity. She wondered what her mistress was going to do. Her +doubts were dispelled by seeing Panthea produce a sword, which she had +kept concealed hitherto beneath her robe. Her maid begged her, with +much earnestness and many tears, not to destroy herself; but Panthea +was immovable. She said she could not live any longer. She directed +the maid to envelop her body, as soon as she was dead, in the same +mantle with her husband, and to have them both deposited together in +the same grave; and before her stupefied attendant could do any thing +to save her, she sat down by the side of her husband's body, laid her +head upon his breast, and in that position gave herself the fatal +wound. In a few minutes she ceased to breathe. + + * * * * * + +Cyrus expressed his respect for the memory of Abradates and Panthea by +erecting a lofty monument over their common grave. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CONVERSATIONS. + +General character of Xenophon's history.--Dialogues and +conversations.--Ancient mode of discussion.--Cyrus's games.--Grand +procession.--The races.--The Sacian.--His success.--Mode of finding +a worthy man.--Pheraulas wounded.--Pheraulas pursues his course.--He +receives the Sacian's horse.--Sumptuous entertainment.--Pheraulas +and the Sacian.--Riches a source of disquiet and care.--Argument of +Pheraulas.--Remark of the Sacian.--Reply of Pheraulas.--Singular +proposal of Pheraulas.--The Sacian accepts it.--The plan carried into +effect.--The happy result.--Cyrus's dinner party.--Conversation +about soldiers.--The discontented soldier.--His repeated +misfortunes.--Amusement of the party.--The awkward squad.--Merriment +of the company.--The file-leader and the letters.--Remark of +Cyrus.--Animadversion version of Aglaitadas.--Aglaitadas's argument +for melancholy.--Defense of the officers.--General character of +Xenophon's Cyropædia. + + +We have given the story of Panthea, as contained in the preceding +chapter, in our own language, it is true, but without any intentional +addition or embellishment whatever. Each reader will judge for himself +whether such a narrative, written for the entertainment of vast +assemblies at public games and celebrations, is most properly to be +regarded as an invention of romance, or as a simple record of +veritable history. + +A great many extraordinary and dramatic incidents and adventures, +similar in general character to the story of Panthea, are interwoven +with the narrative in Xenophon's history. There are also, besides +these, many long and minute details of dialogues and conversations, +which, if they had really occurred, would have required a very high +degree of skill in stenography to produce such reports of them +as Xenophon has given. The incidents, too, out of which these +conversations grew, are worthy of attention, as we can often judge, +by the nature and character of an incident described, whether it is +one which it is probable might actually occur in real life, or only an +invention intended to furnish an opportunity and a pretext for the +inculcation of the sentiments, or the expression of the views of the +different speakers. It was the custom in ancient days, much more than +it is now, to attempt to add to the point and spirit of a discussion, +by presenting the various views which the subject naturally elicited +in the form of a conversation arising out of circumstances invented +to sustain it. The incident in such cases was, of course, a fiction, +contrived to furnish points of attachment for the dialogue--a sort of +trellis, constructed artificially to support the vine. + +We shall present in this chapter some specimens of these +conversations, which will give the reader a much more distinct idea +of the nature of them than any general description can convey. + +At one time in the course of Cyrus's career, just after he had +obtained some great victory, and was celebrating his triumphs, in the +midst of his armies, with spectacles and games, he instituted a series +of races, in which the various nations that were represented in his +army furnished their several champions as competitors The army marched +out from the city which Cyrus had captured, and where he was then +residing, in a procession of the most imposing magnificence. Animals +intended to be offered in sacrifice, caparisoned in trappings of gold, +horsemen most sumptuously equipped, chariots of war splendidly built +and adorned, and banners and trophies of every kind, were conspicuous +in the train. When the vast procession reached the race-ground, the +immense concourse was formed in ranks around it, and the racing went +on. + +When it came to the turn of the Sacian nation to enter the course, +a private man, of no apparent importance in respect to his rank or +standing, came forward as the champion; though the man appeared +insignificant, his horse was as fleet as the wind. He flew around the +arena with astonishing speed, and came in at the goal while his +competitor was still midway of the course. Every body was astonished +at this performance. Cyrus asked the Sacian whether he would be +willing to sell that horse, if he could receive a kingdom in exchange +for it--kingdoms being the coin with which such sovereigns as Cyrus +made their purchases. The Sacian replied that he would not sell his +horse for any kingdom, but that he would readily give him away to +oblige a worthy man. + +"Come with me," said Cyrus, "and I will show you where you may throw +blindfold, and not miss a worthy man." + +So saying, Cyrus conducted the Sacian to a part of the field where a +number of his officers and attendants were moving to and fro, mounted +upon their horses, or seated in their chariots of war. The Sacian took +up a hard clod of earth from a bank as he walked along. At length they +were in the midst of the group. + +"Throw!" said Cyrus. + +The Sacian shut his eyes and threw. + +It happened that, just at that instant, an officer named Pheraulas +was riding by. He was conveying some orders which Cyrus had given him +to another part of the field. Pheraulas had been originally a man of +humble life, but he had been advanced by Cyrus to a high position on +account of the great fidelity and zeal which he had evinced in the +performance of his duty. The clod which the Sacian threw struck +Pheraulas in the mouth, and wounded him severely. Now it is the part +of a good soldier to stand at his post or to press on, in obedience +to his orders, as long as any physical capacity remains; and +Pheraulas, true to his military obligation, rode on without even +turning to see whence and from what cause so unexpected and violent +an assault had proceeded. + +The Sacian opened his eyes, looked around, and coolly asked who it was +that he had hit. Cyrus pointed to the horseman who was riding rapidly +away, saying, "That is the man, who is riding so fast past those +chariots yonder. You hit _him_." + +"Why did he not turn back, then?" asked the Sacian. + +"It is strange that he did not," said Cyrus; "he must be some madman." + +The Sacian went in pursuit of him. He found Pheraulas with his face +covered with blood and dirt, and asked him if he had received a blow. +"I have," said Pheraulas, "as you see." "Then," said the Sacian, "I +make you a present of my horse." Pheraulas asked an explanation. The +Sacian accordingly gave him an account of what had taken place between +himself and Cyrus, and said, in the end, that he gladly gave him his +horse, as he, Pheraulas, had so decisively proved himself to be a most +worthy man. + +Pheraulas accepted the present, with many thanks, and he and the +Sacian became thereafter very strong friends. + +Some time after this, Pheraulas invited the Sacian to an +entertainment, and when the hour arrived, he set before his friend and +the other guests a most sumptuous feast, which was served in vessels +of gold and silver, and in an apartment furnished with carpets, and +canopies, and couches of the most gorgeous and splendid description. +The Sacian was much impressed with this magnificence, and he asked +Pheraulas whether he had been a rich man at home, that is, before he +had joined Cyrus's army. Pheraulas replied that he was not then rich. +His father, he said, was a farmer, and he himself had been accustomed +in early life to till the ground with the other laborers on his +father's farm. All the wealth and luxury which he now enjoyed had been +bestowed upon him, he said, by Cyrus. + +"How fortunate you are!" said the Sacian; "and it must be that you +enjoy your present riches all the more highly on account of having +experienced in early life the inconveniences and ills of poverty. The +pleasure must be more intense in having desires which have long been +felt gratified at last than if the objects which they rested upon had +been always in one's possession." + +"You imagine, I suppose," replied Pheraulas, "that I am a great deal +happier in consequence of all this wealth and splendor; but it is not +so. As to the real enjoyments of which our natures are capable, I can +not receive more now than I could before. I can not eat any more, +drink any more, or sleep any more, or do any of these things with any +more pleasure than when I was poor. All that I gain by this abundance +is, that I have more to watch, more to guard, more to take care of. I +have many servants, for whose wants I have to provide, and who are a +constant source of solicitude to me. One calls for food, another for +clothes, and a third is sick, and I must see that he has a physician. +My other possessions, too, are a constant care. A man comes in, one +day, and brings me sheep that have been torn by the wolves; and, on +another day, tells me of oxen that have fallen from a precipice, or of +a distemper which has broken out among the flocks or herds. My wealth, +therefore, brings me only an increase of anxiety and trouble, without +any addition to my joys." + +"But those things," said the Sacian, "which you name, must be unusual +and extraordinary occurrences. When all things are going on +prosperously and well with you, and you can look around on all your +possessions and feel that they are yours, then certainly you must be +happier than I am." + +"It is true," said Pheraulas, "that there is a pleasure in the +possession of wealth, but that pleasure is not great enough to balance +the suffering which the calamities and losses inevitably connected +with it occasion. That the suffering occasioned by losing our +possessions is greater than the pleasure of retaining them, is proved +by the fact that the pain of a loss is so exciting to the mind that it +often deprives men of sleep, while they enjoy the most calm and quiet +repose so long as their possessions are retained, which proves that +the pleasure does not move them so deeply. They are kept awake by the +vexation and chagrin on the one hand, but they are never kept awake by +the satisfaction on the other." + +"That is true," replied the Sacian. "Men are not kept awake by the +mere continuing to possess their wealth, but they very often are by +the original acquisition of it." + +"Yes, indeed," replied Pheraulas; "and if the enjoyment of _being_ +rich could always continue as great as that of first becoming so, the +rich would, I admit, be very happy men; but it is not, and can not be +so. They who possess much, must lose, and expend, and give much; and +this necessity brings more of pain than the possessions themselves can +give of pleasure." + +The Sacian was not convinced. The giving and expending, he maintained, +would be to him, in itself, a source of pleasure. He should like to +have much, for the very purpose of being able to expend much. Finally, +Pheraulas proposed to the Sacian, since he seemed to think that riches +would afford him so much pleasure, and as he himself, Pheraulas, found +the possession of them only a source of trouble and care, that he +would convey all his wealth to the Sacian, he himself to receive only +an ordinary maintenance from it. + +"You are in jest," said the Sacian. + +"No," said Pheraulas, "I am in earnest." And he renewed his +proposition, and pressed the Sacian urgently to accept of it. + +The Sacian then said that nothing could give him greater pleasure than +such an arrangement. He expressed great gratitude for so generous an +offer, and promised that, if he received the property, he would +furnish Pheraulas with most ample and abundant supplies for all his +wants, and would relieve him entirely of all responsibility and care. +He promised, moreover, to obtain from Cyrus permission that Pheraulas +should thereafter be excused from the duties of military service, and +from all the toils, privations, and hardships of war, so that he might +thenceforth lead a life of quiet, luxury, and ease, and thus live in +the enjoyment of all the benefits which wealth could procure, without +its anxieties and cares. + +The plan, thus arranged, was carried into effect. Pheraulas divested +himself of his possessions, conveying them all to the Sacian. Both +parties were extremely pleased with the operation of the scheme, and +they lived thus together for a long time. Whatever Pheraulas acquired +in any way, he always brought to the Sacian, and the Sacian, by +accepting it, relieved Pheraulas of all responsibility and care. The +Sacian loved Pheraulas, as Xenophon says, in closing this narrative, +because he was thus continually bringing him gifts; and Pheraulas +loved the Sacian, because he was always willing to take the gifts +which were thus brought to him. + +Among the other conversations, whether real or imaginary, which +Xenophon records, he gives some specimens of those which took place at +festive entertainments in Cyrus's tent, on occasions when he invited +his officers to dine with him. He commenced the conversation, on one +of these occasions, by inquiring of some of the officers present +whether they did not think that the common soldiers were equal to the +officers themselves in intelligence, courage, and military skill, and +in all the other substantial qualities of a good soldier. + +"I know not how that may be," replied one of the officers. "How they +will prove when they come into action with the enemy, I can not tell; +but a more perverse and churlish set of fellows in camp, than these I +have got in my regiment, I never knew. The other day, for example, +when there had been a sacrifice, the meat of the victims was sent +around to be distributed to the soldiers. In our regiment, when the +steward came in with the first distribution, he began by me, and so +went round, as far as what he had brought would go. The next time he +came, he began at the other end. The supply failed before he had got +to the place where he had left off before, so that there was a man in +the middle that did not get any thing. This man immediately broke out +in loud and angry complaints, and declared that there was no equality +or fairness whatever in such a mode of division, unless they began +sometimes in the center of the line. + +"Upon this," continued the officer, "I called to the discontented man, +and invited him to come and sit by me, where he would have a better +chance for a good share. He did so. It happened that, at the next +distribution that was made, we were the last, and he fancied that only +the smallest pieces were left, so he began to complain more than +before. 'Oh, misery!' said he, 'that I should have to sit here!' 'Be +patient,' said I; 'pretty soon they will begin the distribution with +us, and then you will have the best chance of all.' And so it proved +for, at the next distribution, they began at us, and the man took his +share first; but when the second and third men took theirs, he fancied +that their pieces looked larger than his, and he reached forward and +put his piece back into the basket, intending to change it; but the +steward moved rapidly on, and he did not get another, so that he lost +his distribution altogether. He was then quite furious with rage and +vexation." + +Cyrus and all the company laughed very heartily at these mischances of +greediness and discontent; and then other stories, of a somewhat +similar character, were told by other guests. One officer said that a +few days previous he was drilling a part of his troops, and he had +before him on the plain what is called, in military language, a +_squad_ of men, whom he was teaching to march. When he gave the order +to advance, one, who was at the head of the file, marched forward with +great alacrity, but all the rest stood still. "I asked him," continued +the officer, "what he was doing. 'Marching,' said he, 'as you ordered +me to do.' 'It was not you alone that I ordered to march,' said I, +'but all.' So I sent him back to his place, and then gave the command +again. Upon this they all advanced promiscuously and in disorder +toward me, each one acting for himself, without regard to the others, +and leaving the file-leader, who ought to have been at the head, +altogether behind. The file-leader said, 'Keep back! keep back!' Upon +this the men were offended, and asked what they were to do about such +contradictory orders. 'One commands us to advance, and another to keep +back!' said they; 'how are we to know which to obey?'" + +Cyrus and his guests were so much amused at the awkwardness of these +recruits, and the ridiculous predicament in which the officer was +placed by it, that the narrative of the speaker was here interrupted +by universal and long-continued laughter. + +"Finally," continued the officer, "I sent the men all back to their +places, and explained to them that, when a command was given, they +were not to obey it in confusion and unseemly haste, but regularly and +in order, each one following the man who stood before him. 'You must +regulate your proceeding,' said I, 'by the action of the file-leader; +when he advances, you must advance, following him in a line, and +governing your movements in all respects by his.' + +"Just at this moment," continued the officer, "a man came to me for a +letter which was to go to Persia, and which I had left in my tent. I +directed the file-leader to run to my tent and bring the letter to me. +He immediately set off, and the rest, obeying literally the directions +which I had just been giving them, all followed, running behind him +in a line like a troop of savages, so that I had the whole squad of +twenty men running in a body off the field to fetch a letter!" + +When the general hilarity which these recitals occasioned had a little +subsided, Cyrus said he thought that they could not complain of the +character of the soldiers whom they had to command, for they were +certainly, according to these accounts, sufficiently ready to obey the +orders they received. Upon this, a certain one of the guests who was +present, named Aglaitadas, a gloomy and austere-looking man, who had +not joined at all in the merriment which the conversation had caused, +asked Cyrus if he believed those stories to be true. + +"Why?" asked Cyrus; "what do _you_ think of them?" + +"_I_ think," said Aglaitadas, "that these officers invented them to +make the company laugh. It is evident that they were not telling the +truth, since they related the stories in such a vain and arrogant +way." + +"Arrogant!" said Cyrus; "you ought not to call them arrogant; for, +even if they invented their narrations, it was not to gain any selfish +ends of their own, but only to amuse us and promote our enjoyment. +Such persons should be called polite and agreeable rather than +arrogant." + +"If, Aglaitadas," said one of the officers who had related the +anecdotes, "we had told you melancholy stories to make you gloomy and +wretched, you might have been justly displeased; but you certainly +ought not to complain of us for making you merry." + +"Yes," said Aglaitadas, "I think I may. To make a man laugh is a very +insignificant and useless thing. It is far better to make him weep. +Such thoughts and such conversation as makes us serious, thoughtful, +and sad, and even moves us to tears, are the most salutary and the +best." + +"Well," replied the officer, "if you will take my advice, you will +lay out all your powers of inspiring gloom, and melancholy, and of +bringing tears, upon our enemies, and bestow the mirth and laughter +upon us. There must be a prodigious deal of laughter in you, for none +ever comes out. You neither use nor expend it yourself, nor do you +afford it to your friends." + +"Then," said Aglaitadas, "why do you attempt to draw it from me?" + +"It is preposterous!" said another of the company; "for one could more +easily strike fire out of Aglaitadas than get a laugh from him!" + +Aglaitadas could not help smiling at this comparison; upon which +Cyrus, with an air of counterfeited gravity, reproved the person who +had spoken, saying that he had corrupted the most sober man in the +company by making him smile, and that to disturb such gravity as that +of Aglaitadas was carrying the spirit of mirth and merriment +altogether too far. + + * * * * * + +These specimens will suffice. They serve to give a more distinct idea +of the Cyropædia of Xenophon than any general description could +afford. The book is a drama, of which the principal elements are such +narratives as the story of Panthea, and such conversations as those +contained in this chapter, intermingled with long discussions on the +principles of government, and on the discipline and management of +armies. The principles and the sentiments which the work inculcates +and explains are now of little value, being no longer applicable to +the affairs of mankind in the altered circumstances of the present +day. The book, however, retains its rank among men on account of a +certain beautiful and simple magnificence characterizing the style and +language in which it is written, which, however, can not be +appreciated except by those who read the narrative in the original +tongue. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE DEATH OF CYRUS. + +B.C. 530 + +Progress of Cyrus's conquests.--The northern countries.--The +Scythians.--Their warlike character.--Cyrus's sons.--His queen.--Selfish +views of Cyrus.--Customs of the savages.--Cyrus arrives at the +Araxes.--Difficulties of crossing the river.--Embassage from +Tomyris.--Warning of Tomyris.--Cyrus calls a council of war.--Opinion +of the officers.--Dissent of Croesus.--Speech of Croesus.--His +advice to Cyrus.--Cyrus adopts the plan of Croesus.--His reply +to Tomyris.--Forebodings of Cyrus.--He appoints Cambyses +regent.--Hystaspes.--His son Darius.--Cyrus's dream.--Hystaspes's +commission.--Cyrus marches into the queen's country.--Success of the +stratagem.--Spargapizes taken prisoner.--Tomyris's concern for her +son's safety.--Her conciliatory message.--Mortification of +Spargapizes.--Cyrus gives him liberty within the camp.--Death of +Spargapizes.--Grief and rage of Tomyris.--The great battle.--Cyrus +is defeated and slain.--Tomyris's treatment of Cyrus's +body.--Reflections.--Hard-heartedness, selfishness, and cruelty +characterize the ambitious. + + +After having made the conquest of the Babylonian empire, Cyrus found +himself the sovereign of nearly all of Asia, so far as it was then +known. Beyond his dominions there lay, on every side, according to the +opinions which then prevailed, vast tracts of uninhabitable territory, +desolate and impassable. These wildernesses were rendered unfit for +man, sometimes by excessive heat, sometimes by excessive cold, +sometimes from being parched by perpetual drought, which produced bare +and desolate deserts, and sometimes by incessant rains, which drenched +the country and filled it with morasses and fens. On the north was the +great Caspian Sea, then almost wholly unexplored, and extending, as +the ancients believed, to the Polar Ocean. + +On the west side of the Caspian Sea were the Caucasian Mountains, +which were supposed, in those days, to be the highest on the globe. In +the neighborhood of these mountains there was a country, inhabited by +a wild and half-savage people, who were called Scythians. This was, in +fact, a sort of generic term, which was applied, in those days, to +almost all the aboriginal tribes beyond the confines of civilization. +The Scythians, however, if such they can properly be called, who lived +on the borders of the Caspian Sea, were not wholly uncivilized. They +possessed many of those mechanical arts which are the first to be +matured among warlike nations. They had no iron or steel, but they +were accustomed to work other metals, particularly gold and brass. +They tipped their spears and javelins with brass, and made brazen +plates for defensive armor, both for themselves and for their horses. +They made, also, many ornaments and decorations of gold. These they +attached to their helmets, their belts, and their banners. They were +very formidable in war, being, like all other northern nations, +perfectly desperate and reckless in battle. They were excellent +horsemen, and had an abundance of horses with which to exercise their +skill; so that their armies consisted, like those of the Cossacks of +modern times, of great bodies of cavalry. + +The various campaigns and conquests by which Cyrus obtained +possession of his extended dominions occupied an interval of about +thirty years. It was near the close of this interval, when he was, in +fact, advancing toward a late period of life, that he formed the plan +of penetrating into these northern regions, with a view of adding them +also to his domains. + +He had two sons, Cambyses and Smerdis. His wife is said to have been a +daughter of Astyages, and that he married her soon after his conquest +of the kingdom of Media, in order to reconcile the Medians more easily +to his sway, by making a Median princess their queen. Among the +western nations of Europe such a marriage would be abhorred, Astyages +having been Cyrus's grandfather; but among the Orientals, in those +days, alliances of this nature were not uncommon. It would seem that +this queen was not living at the time that the events occurred which +are to be related in this chapter. Her sons had grown up to maturity, +and were now princes of great distinction. + +One of the Scythian or northern nations to which we have referred were +called the Massagetæ. They formed a very extensive and powerful realm. +They were governed, at this time, by a queen named Tomyris. She was a +widow, past middle life. She had a son named Spargapizes, who had, +like the sons of Cyrus, attained maturity, and was the heir to the +throne. Spargapizes was, moreover, the commander-in-chief of the +armies of the queen. + +The first plan which Cyrus formed for the annexation of the realm of +the Massagetæ to his own dominions was by a matrimonial alliance. He +accordingly raised an army and commenced a movement toward the north, +sending, at the same time, embassadors before him into the country of +the Massagetæ, with offers of marriage to the queen. The queen knew +very well that it was her dominions, and not herself, that constituted +the great attraction for Cyrus, and, besides, she was of an age when +ambition is a stronger passion than love. She refused the offers, and +sent back word to Cyrus forbidding his approach. + +Cyrus, however, continued to move on. The boundary between his +dominions and those of the queen was at the River Araxes, a stream +flowing from west to east, through the central parts of Asia, toward +the Caspian Sea. As Cyrus advanced, he found the country growing more +and more wild and desolate. It was inhabited by savage tribes, who +lived on roots and herbs, and who were elevated very little, in any +respect, above the wild beasts that roamed in the forests around them. +They had one very singular custom, according to Herodotus. It seems +that there was a plant which grew among them, that bore a fruit, whose +fumes, when it was roasting on a fire, had an exhilarating effect, +like that produced by wine. These savages, therefore, Herodotus +says, were accustomed to assemble around a fire, in their convivial +festivities, and to throw some of this fruit in the midst of it. The +fumes emitted by the fruit would soon begin to intoxicate the whole +circle, when they would throw on more fruit, and become more and more +excited, until, at length, they would jump up, and dance about, and +sing, in a state of complete inebriation. + +Among such savages as these, and through the forests and wildernesses +in which they lived, Cyrus advanced till he reached the Araxes. Here, +after considering, for some time, by what means he could best pass +the river, he determined to build a floating bridge, by means of boats +and rafts obtained from the natives on the banks, or built for the +purpose. It would be obviously much easier to transport the army by +using these boats and rafts to _float_ the men across, instead of +constructing a bridge with them; but this would not have been safe, +for the transportation of the army by such a means would be gradual +and slow; and if the enemy were lurking in the neighborhood, and +should make an attack upon them in the midst of the operation, while +a part of the army were upon one bank and a part upon the other, and +another portion still, perhaps, in boats upon the stream, the defeat +and destruction of the whole would be almost inevitable. Cyrus planned +the formation of the bridge, therefore, as a means of transporting his +army in a body, and of landing them on the opposite bank in solid +columns, which could be formed into order of battle without any delay. + +While Cyrus was engaged in the work of constructing the bridge, +embassadors appeared, who said that they had been sent from Tomyris. +She had commissioned them, they said, to warn Cyrus to desist entirely +from his designs upon her kingdom, and to return to his own. This +would be the wisest course, too, Tomyris said, for himself, and she +counseled him, for his own welfare, to follow it. He could not foresee +the result, if he should invade her dominions and encounter her +armies. Fortune had favored him thus far, it was true, but fortune +might change, and he might find himself, before he was aware, at the +end of his victories. Still, she said, she had no expectation that he +would be disposed to listen to this warning and advice, and, on her +part, she had no objection to his persevering in his invasion. She did +not fear him. He need not put himself to the expense and trouble of +building a bridge across the Araxes. She would agree to withdraw all +her forces three days' march into her own country, so that he might +cross the river safely and at his leisure, and she would await him at +the place where she should have encamped; or, if he preferred it, she +would cross the river and meet him on his own side. In that case, he +must retire three days' march from the river, so as to afford her the +same opportunity to make the passage undisturbed which she had offered +him. She would then come over and march on to attack him. She gave +Cyrus his option which branch of this alternative to choose. + +Cyrus called a council of war to consider the question. He laid the +case before his officers and generals, and asked for their opinion. +They were unanimously agreed that it would be best for him to accede +to the last of the two proposals made to him, viz., to draw back +three days' journey toward his own dominions, and wait for Tomyris to +come and attack him there. + +There was, however, one person present at this consultation, though +not regularly a member of the council, who gave Cyrus different +advice. This was Croesus, the fallen king of Lydia. Ever since the +time of his captivity, he had been retained in the camp and in the +household of Cyrus, and had often accompanied him in his expeditions +and campaigns. Though a captive, he seems to have been a friend; at +least, the most friendly relations appeared to subsist between him and +his conqueror; and he often figures in history as a wise and honest +counselor to Cyrus, in the various emergencies in which he was placed. +He was present on this occasion, and he dissented from the opinion +which was expressed by the officers of the army. + +"I ought to apologize, perhaps," said he, "for presuming to offer any +counsel, captive as I am; but I have derived, in the school of +calamity and misfortune in which I have been taught, some advantages +for learning wisdom which you have never enjoyed. It seems to me that +it will be much better for you not to fall back, but to advance and +attack Tomyris in her own dominions; for, if you retire in this +manner, in the first place, the act itself is discreditable to you: it +is a retreat. Then, if, in the battle that follows, Tomyris conquers +you, she is already advanced three days' march into your dominions, +and she may go on, and, before you can take measures for raising +another army, make herself mistress of your empire. On the other hand, +if, in the battle, you conquer her, you will be then six days' march +back of the position which you would occupy if you were to advance +now. + +"I will propose," continued Croesus, "the following plan: Cross the +river according to Tomyris's offer, and advance the three days' +journey into her country. Leave a small part of your force there, with +a great abundance of your most valuable baggage and supplies--luxuries +of all kinds, and rich wines, and such articles as the enemy will most +value as plunder. Then fall back with the main body of your army +toward the river again, in a secret manner, and encamp in an +ambuscade. The enemy will attack your advanced detachment. They will +conquer them. They will seize the stores and supplies, and will +suppose that your whole army is vanquished. They will fall upon the +plunder in disorder, and the discipline of their army will be +overthrown. They will go to feasting upon the provisions and to +drinking the wines, and then, when they are in the midst of their +festivities and revelry, you can come back suddenly with the real +strength of your army, and wholly overwhelm them." + +Cyrus determined to adopt the plan which Croesus thus recommended. +He accordingly gave answer to the embassadors of Tomyris that he would +accede to the first of her proposals. If she would draw back from the +river three days' march, he would cross it with his army as soon as +practicable, and then come forward and attack her. The embassadors +received this message, and departed to deliver it to their queen. She +was faithful to her agreement, and drew her forces back to the place +proposed, and left them there, encamped under the command of her son. + +Cyrus seems to have felt some forebodings in respect to the manner in +which this expedition was to end. He was advanced in life, and not now +as well able as he once was to endure the privations and hardships of +such campaigns. Then, the incursion which he was to make was into a +remote, and wild, and dangerous country and he could not but be aware +that he might never return. Perhaps he may have had some compunctions +of conscience, too, at thus wantonly disturbing the peace and invading +the territories of an innocent neighbor, and his mind may have been +the less at ease on that account. At any rate, he resolved to settle +the affairs of his government before he set out, in order to secure +both the tranquillity of the country while he should be absent, and +the regular transmission of his power to his descendants in case he +should never return. + +Accordingly, in a very formal manner, and in the presence of all his +army, he delegated his power to Cambyses, his son, constituting him +regent of the realm during his absence. He committed Croesus to his +son's special care, charging him to pay him every attention and honor. +It was arranged that these persons, as well as a considerable portion +of the army, and a large number of attendants that had followed the +camp thus far, were not to accompany the expedition across the +river, but were to remain behind and return to the capital. These +arrangements being all thus finally made, Cyrus took leave of his son +and of Croesus, crossed the river with that part of the army which +was to proceed, and commenced his march. + +The uneasiness and anxiety which Cyrus seems to have felt in respect +to his future fate on this memorable march affected even his dreams. +It seems that there was among the officers of his army a certain +general named Hystaspes. He had a son named Darius, then a youth of +about twenty years of age, who had been left at home, in Persia, when +the army marched, not being old enough to accompany them. Cyrus +dreamed, one night, immediately after crossing the river, that he saw +this young Darius with wings on his shoulders, that extended, the one +over Asia and the other over Europe, thus overshadowing the world. +When Cyrus awoke and reflected upon his dream, it seemed to him to +portend that Darius might be aspiring to the government of his empire. +He considered it a warning intended to put him on his guard. + +When he awoke in the morning, he sent for Hystaspes, and related to +him his dream. "I am satisfied," said he, "that it denotes that your +son is forming ambitious and treasonable designs. Do you, therefore, +return home, and arrest him in this fatal course. Secure him, and let +him be ready to give me an account of his conduct when I shall +return." + +Hystaspes, having received this commission, left the army and +returned. The name of this Hystaspes acquired a historical immortality +in a very singular way, that is, by being always used as a part of the +appellation by which to designate his distinguished son. In after +years Darius did attain to a very extended power. He became Darius the +Great. As, however, there were several other Persian monarchs called +Darius, some of whom were nearly as great as this the first of the +name, the usage was gradually established of calling him Darius +Hystaspes; and thus the name of the father has become familiar to all +mankind, simply as a consequence and pendant to the celebrity of the +son. + +After sending off Hystaspes, Cyrus went on. He followed, in all +respects, the plan of Croesus. He marched his army into the country +of Tomyris, and advanced until he reached the point agreed upon. Here +he stationed a feeble portion of his army, with great stores of +provisions and wines, and abundance of such articles as would be +prized by the barbarians as booty. He then drew back with the main +body of his army toward the Araxes, and concealed his forces in a +hidden encampment. The result was as Croesus had anticipated. The +body which he had left was attacked by the troops of Tomyris, and +effectually routed. The provisions and stores fell into the hands of +the victors. They gave themselves up to the most unbounded joy, and +their whole camp was soon a universal scene of rioting and excess. +Even the commander, Spargapizes, Tomyris's son, became intoxicated +with the wine. + +While things were in this state, the main body of the army of Cyrus +returned suddenly and unexpectedly, and fell upon their now helpless +enemies with a force which entirely overwhelmed them. The booty was +recovered, large numbers of the enemy were slain, and others were +taken prisoners. Spargapizes himself was captured; his hands were +bound; he was taken into Cyrus's camp, and closely guarded. + +The result of this stratagem, triumphantly successful as it was, would +have settled the contest, and made Cyrus master of the whole realm, if +as he, at the time, supposed was the case, the main body of Tomyris's +forces had been engaged in this battle; but it seems that Tomyris had +learned, by reconnoiterers and spies, how large a force there was in +Cyrus's camp, and had only sent a detachment of her own troops to +attack them, not judging it necessary to call out the whole. Two +thirds of her army remained still uninjured. With this large force +she would undoubtedly have advanced without any delay to attack Cyrus +again, were it not for her maternal concern for the safety of her son. +He was in Cyrus's power, a helpless captive, and she did not know to +what cruelties he would be exposed if Cyrus were to be exasperated +against her. While her heart, therefore, was burning with resentment +and anger, and with an almost uncontrollable thirst for revenge, her +hand was restrained. She kept back her army, and sent to Cyrus a +conciliatory message. + +She said to Cyrus that he had no cause to be specially elated at +his victory; that it was only one third of her forces that had been +engaged, and that with the remainder she held him completely in her +power. She urged him, therefore, to be satisfied with the injury which +he had already inflicted upon her by destroying one third of her army, +and to liberate her son, retire from her dominions, and leave her in +peace. If he would do so, she would not molest him in his departure; +but if he would not, she swore by the sun, the great god which she +and her countrymen adored, that, insatiable as he was for blood, she +would give it to him till he had his fill. + +Of course Cyrus was not to be frightened by such threats as these. He +refused to deliver up the captive prince, or to withdraw from the +country, and both parties began to prepare again for war. + +Spargapizes was intoxicated when he was taken, and was unconscious of +the calamity which had befallen him. When at length he awoke from his +stupor, and learned the full extent of his misfortune, and of the +indelible disgrace which he had incurred, he was overwhelmed with +astonishment, disappointment, and shame. The more he reflected upon +his condition, the more hopeless it seemed. Even if his life were to +be spared, and if he were to recover his liberty, he never could +recover his honor. The ignominy of such a defeat and such a captivity, +he knew well, must be indelible. + +He begged Cyrus to loosen his bonds and allow him personal liberty +within the camp. Cyrus, pitying, perhaps, his misfortunes, and the +deep dejection and distress which they occasioned, acceded to this +request. Spargapizes watched an opportunity to seize a weapon when he +was not observed by his guards, and killed himself. + +His mother Tomyris, when she heard of his fate, was frantic with grief +and rage. She considered Cyrus as the wanton destroyer of the peace of +her kingdom and the murderer of her son, and she had now no longer any +reason for restraining her thirst for revenge. She immediately began +to concentrate her forces, and to summon all the additional troops +that she could obtain from every part of her kingdom. Cyrus, too, +began in earnest to strengthen his lines, and to prepare for the great +final struggle. + +At length the armies approached each other, and the battle began. The +attack was commenced by the archers on either side, who shot showers +of arrows at their opponents as they were advancing. When the arrows +were spent, the men fought hand to hand, with spears, and javelins, +and swords. The Persians fought desperately, for they fought for their +lives. They were in the heart of an enemy's country, with a broad +river behind them to cut off their retreat, and they were contending +with a wild and savage foe, whose natural barbarity was rendered still +more ferocious and terrible than ever by the exasperation which they +felt, in sympathy with their injured queen. For a long time it was +wholly uncertain which side would win the day. The advantage, here and +there along the lines, was in some places on one side, and in some +places on the other; but, though overpowered and beaten, the several +bands, whether of Persians or Scythians, would neither retreat +nor surrender, but the survivors, when their comrades had fallen, +continued to fight on till they were all slain. It was evident, at +last, that the Scythians were gaining the day. When night came on, the +Persian army was found to be almost wholly destroyed; the remnant +dispersed. When all was over, the Scythians, in exploring the field, +found the dead body of Cyrus among the other ghastly and mutilated +remains which covered the ground. They took it up with a ferocious and +exulting joy, and carried it to Tomyris. + +Tomyris treated it with every possible indignity. She cut and +mutilated the lifeless form; as if it could still feel the injuries +inflicted by her insane revenge. "Miserable wretch!" said she; "though +I am in the end your conqueror, you have ruined my peace and happiness +forever. You have murdered my son. But I promised you your fill of +blood, and you shall have it." So saying, she filled a can with +Persian blood, obtained, probably, by the execution of her captives, +and, cutting off the head of her victim from the body, she plunged it +in, exclaiming, "Drink there, insatiable monster, till your murderous +thirst is satisfied." + +This was the end of Cyrus. Cambyses, his son, whom he had appointed +regent during his absence, succeeded quietly to the government of his +vast dominions. + +In reflecting on this melancholy termination of this great conqueror's +history, our minds naturally revert to the scenes of his childhood, +and we wonder that so amiable, and gentle, and generous a boy should +become so selfish, and unfeeling, and overbearing as a man. But such +are the natural and inevitable effects of ambition and an inordinate +love of power. The history of a conqueror is always a tragical and +melancholy tale. He begins life with an exhibition of great and noble +qualities, which awaken in us, who read his history, the same +admiration that was felt for him, personally, by his friends and +countrymen while he lived, and on which the vast ascendency which he +acquired over the minds of his fellow-men, and which led to his power +and fame, was, in a great measure, founded. On the other hand, he ends +life neglected, hated, and abhorred. His ambition has been gratified, +but the gratification has brought with it no substantial peace or +happiness; on the contrary, it has filled his soul with uneasiness, +discontent, suspiciousness, and misery. The histories of heroes would +be far less painful in the perusal if we could reverse this moral +change of character, so as to have the cruelty, the selfishness, and +the oppression exhaust themselves in the comparatively unimportant +transactions of early life, and the spirit of kindness, generosity, +and beneficence blessing and beautifying its close. To be generous, +disinterested, and noble, seems to be necessary as the precursor of +great military success; and to be hard-hearted, selfish, and cruel is +the almost inevitable consequence of it. The exceptions to this rule, +though some of them are very splendid, are yet very few. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +1. 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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: Cyrus the Great + Makers of History + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: December 18, 2009 [EBook #30707] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CYRUS THE GREAT *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h2>Makers of History</h2> + +<h1>Cyrus the Great</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2> JACOB ABBOTT</h2> + +<p class="center">WITH ENGRAVINGS</p> + +<p class="gap"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 124px;"> +<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="124" height="150" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="smallgap"> </p> + +<p class="center">NEW YORK AND LONDON</p> + +<p class="center">HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p> + +<p class="center">1904 +</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p class="center">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand<br /> +eight hundred and fifty, by<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>,<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">of New York.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Copyright, 1878, by <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<p><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i003.jpg" class="jpg" width="500" height="293" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>One special object which the author of this series has had in view, in +the plan and method which he has followed in the preparation of the +successive volumes, has been to adapt them to the purposes of +text-books in schools. The study of a <i>general compend</i> of history, +such as is frequently used as a text-book, is highly useful, if it +comes in at the right stage of education, when the mind is +sufficiently matured, and has acquired sufficient preliminary +knowledge to understand and appreciate so condensed a generalization +as a summary of the whole history of a nation contained in an ordinary +volume must necessarily be. Without this degree of maturity of mind, +and this preparation, the study of such a work will be, as it too +frequently is, a mere mechanical committing to memory of names, and +dates, and phrases, which awaken no interest, communicate no ideas, +and impart no useful knowledge to the mind.</p> + +<p>A class of ordinary pupils, who have not yet become much acquainted +with history, would, accordingly, be more benefited by having their +attention concentrated, at first, on detached and separate topics, +such as those which form the subjects, respectively, of these volumes. +By studying thus fully the history of individual monarchs, or the +narratives of single events, they can go more fully into detail; they +conceive of the transactions described as realities; their reflecting +and reasoning powers are occupied on what they read; they take notice +of the motives of conduct, of the gradual development of character, +the good or ill desert of actions, and of the connection of causes and +consequences, both in respect to the influence of wisdom and virtue on +the one hand, and, on the other, of folly and crime. In a word, their +<i>minds</i> and <i>hearts</i> are occupied instead of merely their memories. +They reason, they sympathize, they pity, they approve, and they +condemn. They enjoy the real and true pleasure which constitutes the +charm of historical study for minds that are mature; and they acquire +a taste for truth instead of fiction, which will tend to direct their +reading into proper channels in all future years.</p> + +<p>The use of these works, therefore, as text-books in classes, has been +kept continually in mind in the preparation of them. The running index +on the tops of the pages is intended to serve instead of questions. +These captions can be used in their present form as <i>topics</i>, in +respect to which, when announced in the class, the pupils are to +repeat substantially what is said on the page; or, on the other hand, +questions in form, if that mode is preferred, can be readily framed +from them by the teacher. In all the volumes, a very regular system of +division is observed, which will greatly facilitate the assignment of +lessons.</p> + +<hr class="large" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr> +<td align="right">Chapter</td> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">Page</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">I.</td> +<td align="left">HERODOTUS AND XENOPHON</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#CYRUS_THE_GREAT">13</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">II.</td> +<td align="left">THE BIRTH OF CYRUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">37</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">III.</td> +<td align="left">THE VISIT TO MEDIA</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">68</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IV.</td> +<td align="left">CRŒSUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">101</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">V.</td> +<td align="left">ACCESSION OF CYRUS TO THE THRONE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">124</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VI.</td> +<td align="left">THE ORACLES</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">144</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VII.</td> +<td align="left">THE CONQUEST OF LYDIA</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">164</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">VIII.</td> +<td align="left">THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">187</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">IX.</td> +<td align="left">THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">207</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">X.</td> +<td align="left">THE STORY OF PANTHEA</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">226</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XI.</td> +<td align="left">CONVERSATIONS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">253</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right">XII.</td> +<td align="left">THE DEATH OF CYRUS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">270</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h2>ENGRAVINGS.</h2> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS"> + +<tr> +<td align="left"> </td> +<td align="right">Page</td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE EXPOSURE OF THE INFANT</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">CYRUS'S HUNTING</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE SIEGE OF SARDIS</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">RAISING JEREMIAH FROM THE DUNGEON</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> + +<tr> +<td align="left">THE WAR-CHARIOT OF ABRADATES</td> +<td align="right"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr></table></div> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CYRUS_THE_GREAT" id="CYRUS_THE_GREAT"></a>CYRUS THE GREAT.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<h2><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Herodotus and Xenophon.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 550-401</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Persian monarchy.<br />Singular principle of human nature.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">C</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">yrus</span> was the founder of the ancient Persian empire—a monarchy, +perhaps, the most wealthy and magnificent which the world has ever +seen. Of that strange and incomprehensible principle of human nature, +under the influence of which vast masses of men, notwithstanding the +universal instinct of aversion to control, combine, under certain +circumstances, by millions and millions, to maintain, for many +successive centuries, the representatives of some one great family in +a condition of exalted, and absolute, and utterly irresponsible +ascendency over themselves, while they toil for them, watch over them, +submit to endless and most humiliating privations in their behalf, and +commit, if commanded to do so, the most inexcusable and atrocious +crimes to sustain the demigods <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>they have thus made in their lofty +estate, we have, in the case of this Persian monarchy, one of the most +extraordinary exhibitions.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Grandeur of the Persian monarchy.<br />Its origin.</div> + +<p>The Persian monarchy appears, in fact, even as we look back upon it +from this remote distance both of space and of time, as a very vast +wave of human power and grandeur. It swelled up among the populations +of Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, about five +hundred years before Christ, and rolled on in undiminished magnitude +and glory for many centuries. It bore upon its crest the royal line of +Astyages and his successors. Cyrus was, however, the first of the +princes whom it held up conspicuously to the admiration of the world +and he rode so gracefully and gallantly on the lofty crest that +mankind have given him the credit of raising and sustaining the +magnificent billow on which he was borne. How far we are to consider +him as founding the monarchy, or the monarchy as raising and +illustrating him, will appear more fully in the course of this +narrative.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The republics of Greece.<br />Written characters Greek and Persian.<br />Preservation of the Greek language.</div> + +<p>Cotemporaneous with this Persian monarchy in the East, there +flourished in the West the small but very efficient and vigorous +republics of Greece. The Greeks had a written <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>character for their +language which could be easily and rapidly executed, while the +ordinary language of the Persians was scarcely written at all. There +was, it is true, in this latter nation, a certain learned character, +which was used by the priests for their mystic records, and also for +certain sacred books which constituted the only national archives. It +was, however, only slowly and with difficulty that this character +could be penned, and, when penned, it was unintelligible to the great +mass of the population. For this reason, among others, the Greeks +wrote narratives of the great events which occurred in their day, +which narratives they so embellished and adorned by the picturesque +lights and shades in which their genius enabled them to present the +scenes and characters described as to make them universally admired, +while the surrounding nations produced nothing but formal governmental +records, not worth to the community at large the toil and labor +necessary to decipher them and make them intelligible. Thus the Greek +writers became the historians, not only of their own republics, but +also of all the nations around them; and with such admirable genius +and power did they fulfill this function, that, while the records of +all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>other nations cotemporary with them have been almost entirely +neglected and forgotten, the language of the Greeks has been preserved +among mankind, with infinite labor and toil, by successive generations +of scholars, in every civilized nation, for two thousand years, solely +in order that men may continue to read these tales.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Herodotus and Xenophon.</div> + +<p>Two Greek historians have given us a narrative of the events connected +with the life of Cyrus—Herodotus and Xenophon. These writers disagree +very materially in the statements which they make, and modern readers +are divided in opinion on the question which to believe. In order to +present this question fairly to the minds of our readers, we must +commence this volume with some account of these two authorities, whose +guidance, conflicting as it is, furnishes all the light which we have +to follow.</p> + +<p>Herodotus was a philosopher and scholar. Xenophon was a great general. +The one spent his life in solitary study, or in visiting various +countries in the pursuit of knowledge; the other distinguished himself +in the command of armies, and in distant military expeditions, which +he conducted with great energy and skill. They were both, by birth, +men of wealth and high station, so that they occupied, from the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>beginning, conspicuous positions in society; and as they were both +energetic and enterprising in character, they were led, each, to a +very romantic and adventurous career, the one in his travels, the +other in his campaigns, so that their personal history and their +exploits attracted great attention even while they lived.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Birth of Herodotus.<br />Education of the Greeks.<br />How public affairs were discussed.<br />Literary entertainments.<br />Herodotus's early love of knowledge.</div> + +<p>Herodotus was born in the year 484 before Christ, which was about +fifty years after the death of the Cyrus whose history forms the +subject of this volume. He was born in the Grecian state of Caria, in +Asia Minor, and in the city of Halicarnassus. Caria, as may be seen +from the map at the commencement of this volume, was in the +southwestern part of Asia Minor, near the shores of the Ægean Sea. +Herodotus became a student at a very early age. It was the custom in +Greece, at that time, to give to young men of his rank a good +intellectual education. In other nations, the training of the young +men, in wealthy and powerful families, was confined almost exclusively +to the use of arms, to horsemanship, to athletic feats, and other such +accomplishments as would give them a manly and graceful personal +bearing, and enable them to excel in the various friendly contests of +the public games, as well as prepare <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>them to maintain their ground +against their enemies in personal combats on the field of battle. The +Greeks, without neglecting these things, taught their young men also +to read and to write, explained to them the structure and the +philosophy of language, and trained them to the study of the poets, +the orators, and the historians which their country had produced. Thus +a general taste for intellectual pursuits and pleasures was diffused +throughout the community. Public affairs were discussed, before large +audiences assembled for the purpose, by orators who felt a great pride +and pleasure in the exercise of the power which they had acquired of +persuading, convincing, or exciting the mighty masses that listened to +them; and at the great public celebrations which were customary in +those days, in addition to the wrestlings, the races, the games, and +the military spectacles, there were certain literary entertainments +provided, which constituted an essential part of the public pleasures. +Tragedies were acted, poems recited, odes and lyrics sung, and +narratives of martial enterprises and exploits, and geographical and +historical descriptions of neighboring nations, were read to vast +throngs of listeners, who, having been accustomed from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>infancy to +witness such performances, and to hear them applauded, had learned to +appreciate and enjoy them. Of course, these literary exhibitions would +make impressions, more or less strong, on different minds, as the +mental temperaments and characters of individuals varied. They seem to +have exerted a very powerful influence on the mind of Herodotus in his +early years. He was inspired, when very young, with a great zeal and +ardor for the attainment of knowledge; and as he advanced toward +maturity, he began to be ambitious of making new discoveries, with a +view of communicating to his countrymen, in these great public +assemblies, what he should thus acquire. Accordingly, as soon as he +arrived at a suitable age, he resolved to set out upon a tour into +foreign countries, and to bring back a report of what he should see +and hear.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Intercourse of nations.<br />Military expeditions.<br />Plan of Herodotus's tour.</div> + +<p>The intercourse of nations was, in those days, mainly carried on over +the waters of the Mediterranean Sea; and in times of peace, almost the +only mode of communication was by the ships and the caravans of the +merchants who traded from country to country, both by sea and on the +land. In fact, the knowledge which one country possessed of the +geography and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>manners and customs of another, was almost wholly +confined to the reports which these merchants circulated. When +military expeditions invaded a territory, the commanders, or the +writers who accompanied them, often wrote descriptions of the scenes +which they witnessed in their campaigns, and described briefly the +countries through which they passed. These cases were, however, +comparatively rare; and yet, when they occurred, they furnished +accounts better authenticated, and more to be relied upon, and +expressed, moreover, in a more systematic and regular form, than the +reports of the merchants, though the information which was derived +from both these sources combined was very insufficient, and tended to +excite more curiosity than it gratified. Herodotus, therefore, +conceived that, in thoroughly exploring the countries on the shores of +the Mediterranean and in the interior of Asia, examining their +geographical position, inquiring into their history, their +institutions, their manners, customs, and laws, and writing the +results for the entertainment and instruction of his countrymen, he +had an ample field before him for the exercise of all his powers.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Herodotus visits Egypt.</div> + +<p>He went first to Egypt. Egypt had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>until that time, closely shut +up from the rest of mankind by the jealousy and watchfulness of the +government. But now, on account of some recent political changes, +which will be hereafter more particularly alluded to, the way was +opened for travelers from other countries to come in. Herodotus was +the first to avail himself of this opportunity. He spent some time in +the country, and made himself minutely acquainted with its history, +its antiquities, its political and social condition at the time of his +visit, and with all the other points in respect to which he supposed +that his countrymen would wish to be informed. He took copious notes +of all that he saw. From Egypt he went westward into Libya, and thence +he traveled slowly along the whole southern shore of the Mediterranean +Sea as far as to the Straits of Gibraltar, noting, with great care, +every thing which presented itself to his own personal observation, +and availing himself of every possible source of information in +respect to all other points of importance for the object which he had +in view.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Libya and the Straits of Gibraltar.<br />Route of Herodotus in Asia.<br />His return to Greece.</div> + +<p>The Straits of Gibraltar were the ends of the earth toward the +westward in those ancient days, and our traveler accordingly, after +reaching <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>them, returned again to the eastward. He visited Tyre, and +the cities of Phœnicia, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean +Sea, and thence went still farther eastward to Assyria and Babylon. It +was here that he obtained the materials for what he has written in +respect to the Medes and Persians, and to the history of Cyrus. After +spending some time in these countries, he went on by land still +further to the eastward, into the heart of Asia. The country of +Scythia was considered as at "the end of the earth" in this direction. +Herodotus penetrated for some distance into the almost trackless wilds +of this remote land, until he found that he had gone as far from the +great center of light and power on the shores of the Ægean Sea as he +could expect the curiosity of his countrymen to follow him. He passed +thence round toward the north, and came down through the countries +north of the Danube into Greece, by way of the Epirus and Macedon. To +make such a journey as this was, in fact, in those days, almost to +explore the whole known world.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Doubts as to the extent of Herodotus's tour.<br />His history "adorned."<br />Herodotus's credibility questioned.<br />Sources of bias.</div> + +<p>It ought, however, here to be stated, that many modern scholars, who +have examined, with great care, the accounts which Herodotus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>has +given of what he saw and heard in his wanderings, doubt very seriously +whether his journeys were really as extended as he pretends. As his +object was to read what he was intending to write at great public +assemblies in Greece, he was, of course, under every possible +inducement to make his narrative as interesting as possible, and not +to detract at all from whatever there might be extraordinary either in +the extent of his wanderings or in the wonderfulness of the objects +and scenes which he saw, or in the romantic nature of the adventures +which he met with in his protracted tour. Cicero, in lauding him as a +writer, says that he was the first who evinced the power to <i>adorn</i> a +historical narrative. Between adorning and <i>embellishing</i>, the line is +not to be very distinctly marked; and Herodotus has often been accused +of having drawn more from his fancy than from any other source, in +respect to a large portion of what he relates and describes. Some do +not believe that he ever even entered half the countries which he +professes to have thoroughly explored, while others find, in the +minuteness of his specifications, something like conclusive proof that +he related only what he actually saw. In a word, the question of his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>credibility has been discussed by successive generations of scholars +ever since his day, and strong parties have been formed who have gone +to extremes in the opinions they have taken; so that, while some +confer upon him the title of the father of <i>history</i>, others say +it would be more in accordance with his merits to call him the father +of <i>lies</i>. In controversies like this, and, in fact, in all +controversies, it is more agreeable to the mass of mankind to take +sides strongly with one party or the other, and either to believe or +disbelieve one or the other fully and cordially. There is a class of +minds, however, more calm and better balanced than the rest, who can +deny themselves this pleasure, and who see that often, in the most +bitter and decided controversies, the truth lies between. By this +class of minds it has been generally supposed that the narratives of +Herodotus are substantially true, though in many cases highly colored +and embellished, or, as Cicero called it, adorned, as, in fact, they +inevitably must have been under the circumstances in which they were +written.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Samos.<br />Patmos.</div> + +<p>We can not follow minutely the circumstances of the subsequent life of +Herodotus. He became involved in some political disturbances <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>and +difficulties in his native state after his return, in consequence of +which he retired, partly a fugitive and partly an exile, to the island +of Samos, which is at a little distance from Caria, and not far from +the shore. Here he lived for some time in seclusion, occupied in +writing out his history. He divided it into nine books, to which, +respectively, the names of the nine Muses were afterward given, to +designate them. The island of Samos, where this great literary work +was performed, is very near to Patmos, where, a few hundred years +later, the Evangelist John, in a similar retirement, and in the use of +the same language and character, wrote the Book of Revelation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Olympiads.</div> + +<p>When a few of the first books of his history were completed, Herodotus +went with the manuscript to Olympia, at the great celebration of the +81st Olympiad. The Olympiads were periods recurring at intervals of +about four years. By means of them the Greeks reckoned their time. The +Olympiads were celebrated as they occurred, with games, shows, +spectacles, and parades, which were conducted on so magnificent a +scale that vast crowds were accustomed to assemble from every part of +Greece to witness and join in them. They were held at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>Olympia, a city +on the western side of Greece. Nothing now remains to mark the spot +but some acres of confused and unintelligible ruins.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Herodotus at Olympia.<br />History received with applause.</div> + +<p>The personal fame of Herodotus and of his travels had preceded him, +and when he arrived at Olympia he found the curiosity and eagerness of +the people to listen to his narratives extreme. He read copious +extracts from his accounts, so far as he had written them, to the vast +assemblies which convened to hear him, and they were received with +unbounded applause; and inasmuch as these assemblies comprised nearly +all the statesmen, the generals, the philosophers, and the scholars of +Greece, applause expressed by them became at once universal renown. +Herodotus was greatly gratified at the interest which his countrymen +took in his narratives, and he determined thenceforth to devote his +time assiduously to the continuation and completion of his work.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Herodotus at Athens.</div> + +<p>It was twelve years, however, before his plan was finally +accomplished. He then repaired to Athens, at the time of a grand +festive celebration which was held in that city, and there he appeared +in public again, and read extended portions of the additional books +that he had written. The admiration and applause which his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>work now +elicited was even greater than before. In deciding upon the passages +to be read, Herodotus selected such as would be most likely to excite +the interest of his Grecian hearers, and many of them were glowing +accounts of Grecian exploits in former wars which had been waged in +the countries which he had visited. To expect that, under such +circumstances, Herodotus should have made his history wholly +impartial, would be to suppose the historian not human.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His literary fame.</div> + +<p>The Athenians were greatly pleased with the narratives which Herodotus +thus read to them of their own and of their ancestors' exploits. They +considered him a national benefactor for having made such a record of +their deeds, and, in addition to the unbounded applause which they +bestowed upon him, they made him a public grant of a large sum of +money. During the remainder of his life Herodotus continued to enjoy +the high degree of literary renown which his writings had acquired for +him—a renown which has since been extended and increased, rather than +diminished, by the lapse of time.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Birth of Xenophon.<br />Cyrus the Younger.</div> + +<p>As for Xenophon, the other great historian of Cyrus, it has already +been said that he was a military commander, and his life was +accordingly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>spent in a very different manner from that of his great +competitor for historic fame. He was born at Athens, about thirty +years after the birth of Herodotus, so that he was but a child while +Herodotus was in the midst of his career. When he was about twenty-two +years of age, he joined a celebrated military expedition which was +formed in Greece, for the purpose of proceeding to Asia Minor to enter +into the service of the governor of that country. The name of this +governor was Cyrus; and to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, whose +history is to form the subject of this volume, and who lived about one +hundred and fifty years before him, he is commonly called Cyrus the +Younger.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ambition of Cyrus.<br />He attempts to assassinate his brother.<br />Rebellion of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>This expedition was headed by a Grecian general named Clearchus. The +soldiers and the subordinate officers of the expedition did not know +for what special service it was designed, as Cyrus had a treasonable +and guilty object in view, and he kept it accordingly concealed, even +from the agents who were to aid him in the execution of it. His plan +was to make war upon and dethrone his brother Artaxerxes, then king of +Persia, and consequently his sovereign. Cyrus was a very young man, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>but he was a man of a very energetic and accomplished character, and +of unbounded ambition. When his father died, it was arranged that +Artaxerxes, the older son, should succeed him. Cyrus was extremely +unwilling to submit to this supremacy of his brother. His mother was +an artful and unprincipled woman, and Cyrus, being the youngest of her +children, was her favorite. She encouraged him in his ambitious +designs; and so desperate was Cyrus himself in his determination to +accomplish them, that it is said he attempted to assassinate his +brother on the day of his coronation. His attempt was discovered, and +it failed. His brother, however, instead of punishing him for the +treason, had the generosity to pardon him, and sent him to his +government in Asia Minor. Cyrus immediately turned all his thoughts to +the plan of raising an army and making war upon his brother, in order +to gain forcible possession of his throne. That he might have a +plausible pretext for making the necessary military preparations, he +pretended to have a quarrel with one of his neighbors, and wrote, +hypocritically, many letters to the king, affecting solicitude for his +safety, and asking aid. The king was thus deceived, and made no +preparations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>to resist the force which Cyrus was assembling, not +having the remotest suspicion that its destiny was Babylon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Greek auxiliaries.</div> + +<p>The auxiliary army which came from Greece to enter into Cyrus's +service under these circumstances, consisted of about thirteen +thousand men. He had, it was said, a hundred thousand men besides; but +so celebrated were the Greeks in those days for their courage, their +discipline, their powers of endurance, and their indomitable tenacity +and energy, that Cyrus very properly considered this corps as the +flower of his army. Xenophon was one of the younger Grecian generals. +The army crossed the Hellespont, and entered Asia Minor, and, passing +across the country, reached at last the famous pass of Cilicia, in the +southwestern part of the country—a narrow defile between the +mountains and the sea, which opens the only passage in that quarter +toward the Persian regions beyond. Here the suspicions which the +Greeks had been for some time inclined to feel, that they were going +to make war upon the Persian monarch himself, were confirmed, and they +refused to proceed. Their unwillingness, however, did not arise from +any compunctions of conscience about the guilt of treason, or the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>wickedness of helping an ungrateful and unprincipled wretch, whose +forfeited life had once been given to him by his brother, in making +war upon and destroying his benefactor. Soldiers have never, in any +age of the world, any thing to do with compunctions of conscience in +respect to the work which their commanders give them to perform. The +Greeks were perfectly willing to serve in this or in any other +undertaking; but, since it was rebellion and treason that was asked of +them, they considered it as specially hazardous, and so they concluded +that they were entitled to extra pay. Cyrus made no objection to this +demand; an arrangement was made accordingly, and the army went on.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Artaxerxes assembles his army.<br />The battle.<br />Cyrus slain.</div> + +<p>Artaxerxes assembled suddenly the whole force of his empire on the +plains of Babylon—an immense army, consisting, it is said, of over a +million of men. Such vast forces occupy, necessarily, a wide extent of +country, even when drawn up in battle array. So great, in fact, was +the extent occupied in this case, that the Greeks, who conquered all +that part of the king's forces which was directly opposed to them, +supposed, when night came, at the close of the day of battle, that +Cyrus had been every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>where victorious; and they were only undeceived +when, the next day, messengers came from the Persian camp to inform +them that Cyrus's whole force, excepting themselves, was defeated and +dispersed, and that Cyrus himself was slain, and to summon them to +surrender at once and unconditionally to the conquerors.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Murder of the Greek generals.<br />Critical situation of the Greeks.</div> + +<p>The Greeks refused to surrender. They formed themselves immediately +into a compact and solid body, fortified themselves as well as they +could in their position, and prepared for a desperate defense. There +were about ten thousand of them left, and the Persians seem to have +considered them too formidable to be attacked. The Persians entered +into negotiations with them, offering them certain terms on which they +would be allowed to return peaceably into Greece. These negotiations +were protracted from day to day for two or three weeks, the Persians +treacherously using toward them a friendly tone, and evincing a +disposition to treat them in a liberal and generous manner. This threw +the Greeks off their guard, and finally the Persians contrived to get +Clearchus and the leading Greek generals into their power at a feast, +and then they seized and murdered them, or, as they would perhaps term +it, <i>executed</i> them as rebels and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>traitors. When this was reported in +the Grecian camp, the whole army was thrown at first into the utmost +consternation. They found themselves two thousand miles from home, in +the heart of a hostile country, with an enemy nearly a hundred times +their own number close upon them, while they themselves were without +provisions, without horses, without money; and there were deep rivers, +and rugged mountains, and every other possible physical obstacle to be +surmounted, before they could reach their own frontiers. If they +surrendered to their enemies, a hopeless and most miserable slavery +was their inevitable doom.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Xenophon's proposal.<br />Retreat of the Ten Thousand.</div> + +<p>Under these circumstances, Xenophon, according to his own story, +called together the surviving officers in the camp, urged them not to +despair, and recommended that immediate measures should be taken for +commencing a march toward Greece. He proposed that they should elect +commanders to take the places of those who had been killed, and that, +under their new organization, they should immediately set out on their +return. These plans were adopted. He himself was chosen as the +commanding general, and under his guidance the whole force was +conducted safely through the countless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>difficulties and dangers which +beset their way, though they had to defend themselves, at every step +of their progress, from an enemy so vastly more numerous than they, +and which was hanging on their flanks and on their rear, and making +the most incessant efforts to surround and capture them. This retreat +occupied two hundred and fifteen days. It has always been considered +as one of the greatest military achievements that has ever been +performed. It is called in history the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. +Xenophon acquired by it a double immortality. He led the army, and +thus attained to a military renown which will never fade; and he +afterward wrote a narrative of the exploit, which has given him an +equally extended and permanent literary fame.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Xenophon's retirement.<br />Xenophon's writings.</div> + +<p>Some time after this, Xenophon returned again to Asia as a military +commander, and distinguished himself in other campaigns. He acquired a +large fortune, too, in these wars, and at length retired to a villa, +which he built and adorned magnificently, in the neighborhood of +Olympia, where Herodotus had acquired so extended a fame by reading +his histories. It was probably, in some degree, through the influence +of the success which had attended the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>labors of Herodotus in this +field, that Xenophon was induced to enter it. He devoted the later +years of his life to writing various historical memoirs, the two most +important of which that have come down to modern times are, first, the +narrative of his own expedition, under Cyrus the Younger, and, +secondly, a sort of romance or tale founded on the history of Cyrus +the Great. This last is called the Cyropædia; and it is from this +work, and from the history written by Herodotus, that nearly all our +knowledge of the great Persian monarch is derived.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Credibility of Herodotus and Xenophon.<br />Importance of the story.<br />Object of this work.</div> + +<p>The question how far the stories which Herodotus and Xenophon have +told us in relating the history of the great Persian king are true, is +of less importance than one would at first imagine; for the case is +one of those numerous instances in which the narrative itself, which +genius has written, has had far greater influence on mankind than the +events themselves exerted which the narrative professes to record. It +is now far more important for us to know what the story is which has +for eighteen hundred years been read and listened to by every +generation of men, than what the actual events were in which the tale +thus told had its origin. This consideration applies very extensively +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>history, and especially to ancient history. The events themselves +have long since ceased to be of any great interest or importance to +readers of the present day; but the <i>accounts</i>, whether they are +fictitious or real, partial or impartial, honestly true or embellished +and colored, since they have been so widely circulated in every age +and in every nation, and have impressed themselves so universally and +so permanently in the mind and memory of the whole human race, and +have penetrated into and colored the literature of every civilized +people, it becomes now necessary that every well-informed man should +understand. In a word, the real Cyrus is now a far less important +personage to mankind than the Cyrus of Herodotus and Xenophon, and it +is, accordingly, their story which the author proposes to relate in +this volume. The reader will understand, therefore, that the end and +aim of the work is not to guarantee an exact and certain account of +Cyrus as he actually lived and acted, but only to give a true and +faithful summary of the story which for the last two thousand years +has been in circulation respecting him among mankind.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Birth of Cyrus.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 599-588</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The three Asiatic empires.<br />Marriage of Cambyses.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">here</span> are records coming down to us from the very earliest times of +three several kingdoms situated in the heart of Asia-Assyria, Media, +and Persia, the two latter of which, at the period when they first +emerge indistinctly into view, were more or less connected with and +dependent upon the former. Astyages was the King of Media; Cambyses +was the name of the ruling prince or magistrate of Persia. Cambyses +married Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, and Cyrus was their son. In +recounting the circumstances of his birth, Herodotus relates, with all +seriousness, the following very extraordinary story:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Story of Mandane.<br />Dream of Astyages.</div> + +<p>While Mandane was a maiden, living at her father's palace and home in +Media, Astyages awoke one morning terrified by a dream. He had dreamed +of a great inundation, which overwhelmed and destroyed his capital, +and submerged a large part of his kingdom. The great rivers of that +country were liable to very destructive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>floods, and there would have +been nothing extraordinary or alarming in the king's imagination being +haunted, during his sleep, by the image of such a calamity, were it +not that, in this case, the deluge of water which produced such +disastrous results seemed to be, in some mysterious way, connected +with his daughter, so that the dream appeared to portend some great +calamity which was to originate in her. He thought it perhaps +indicated that after her marriage she should have a son who would +rebel against him and seize the supreme power, thus overwhelming his +kingdom as the inundation had done which he had seen in his dream.</p> + +<p>To guard against this imagined danger, Astyages determined that his +daughter should not be married in Media, but that she should be +provided with a husband in some foreign land, so as to be taken away +from Media altogether. He finally selected Cambyses, the king of +Persia, for her husband. Persia was at that time a comparatively small +and circumscribed dominion, and Cambyses, though he seems to have been +the supreme ruler of it, was very far beneath Astyages in rank and +power. The distance between the two countries was considerable, and +the institutions and customs of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>people of Persia were simple and +rude, little likely to awaken or encourage in the minds of their +princes any treasonable or ambitious designs. Astyages thought, +therefore, that in sending Mandane there to be the wife of the king, +he had taken effectual precautions to guard against the danger +portended by his dream.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages' second dream.<br />Its interpretation.</div> + +<p>Mandane was accordingly married, and conducted by her husband to her +new home. About a year afterward her father had another dream. He +dreamed that a vine proceeded from his daughter, and, growing rapidly +and luxuriantly while he was regarding it, extended itself over the +whole land. Now the vine being a symbol of beneficence and plenty, +Astyages might have considered this vision as an omen of good; still, +as it was good which was to be derived in some way from his daughter, +it naturally awakened his fears anew that he was doomed to find a +rival and competitor for the possession of his kingdom in Mandane's +son and heir. He called together his soothsayers, related his dream to +them, and asked for their interpretation. They decided that it meant +that Mandane would have a son who would one day become a king.</p> + +<p>Astyages was now seriously alarmed, and he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>sent for Mandane to come +home, ostensibly because he wished her to pay a visit to her father +and to her native land, but really for the purpose of having her in +his power, that he might destroy her child so soon as one should be +born.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Birth of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>Mandane came to Media, and was established by her father in a +residence near his palace, and such officers and domestics were put in +charge of her household as Astyages could rely upon to do whatever he +should command. Things being thus arranged, a few months passed away, +and then Mandane's child was born.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages determines to destroy him.</div> + +<p>Immediately on hearing of the event, Astyages sent for a certain +officer of his court, an unscrupulous and hardened man, who possessed, +as he supposed, enough of depraved and reckless resolution for the +commission of any crime, and addressed him as follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Harpagus.<br />The king's command to him.</div> + +<p>"I have sent for you, Harpagus, to commit to your charge a business of +very great importance. I confide fully in your principles of obedience +and fidelity, and depend upon your doing, yourself, with your own +hands, the work that I require. If you fail to do it, or if you +attempt to evade it by putting it off upon others, you will suffer +severely. I wish you to take Mandane's child to your own house and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>put him to death. You may accomplish the object in any mode you +please, and you may arrange the circumstances of the burial of the +body, or the disposal of it in any other way, as you think best; the +essential thing is, that you see to it, yourself, that the child is +killed."</p> + +<p>Harpagus replied that whatever the king might command it was his duty +to do, and that, as his master had never hitherto had occasion to +censure his conduct, he should not find him wanting now. Harpagus then +went to receive the infant. The attendants of Mandane had been ordered +to deliver it to him. Not at all suspecting the object for which the +child was thus taken away, but naturally supposing, on the other hand, +that it was for the purpose of some visit, they arrayed their +unconscious charge in the most highly-wrought and costly of the robes +which Mandane, his mother, had for many months been interested in +preparing for him, and then gave him up to the custody of Harpagus, +expecting, doubtless, that he would be very speedily returned to their +care.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Distress of Harpagus.<br />His consultation with his wife.</div> + +<p>Although Harpagus had expressed a ready willingness to obey the cruel +behest of the king at the time of receiving it, he manifested, as soon +as he received the child, an extreme degree <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>of anxiety and distress. +He immediately sent for a herdsman named Mitridates to come to him. In +the mean time, he took the child home to his house, and in a very +excited and agitated manner related to his wife what had passed. He +laid the child down in the apartment, leaving it neglected and alone, +while he conversed with his wife in a harried and anxious manner in +respect to the dreadful situation in which he found himself placed. +She asked him what he intended to do. He replied that he certainly +should not, himself, destroy the child. "It is the son of Mandane," +said he. "She is the king's daughter. If the king should die, Mandane +would succeed him, and then what terrible danger would impend over me +if she should know me to have been the slayer of her son!" Harpagus +said, moreover, that he did not dare absolutely to disobey the orders +of the king so far as to save the child's life, and that he had sent +for a herdsman, whose pastures extended to wild and desolate forests +and mountains—the gloomy haunts of wild beasts and birds of +prey—intending to give the child to him, with orders to carry it into +those solitudes and abandon it there. His name was Mitridates.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The herdsman.</div> + +<p>While they were speaking this herdsman <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>came in. He found Harpagus and +his wife talking thus together, with countenances expressive of +anxiety and distress, while the child, uneasy under the confinement +and inconveniences of its splendid dress, and terrified at the +strangeness of the scene and the circumstances around it, and perhaps, +moreover, experiencing some dawning and embryo emotions of resentment +at being laid down in neglect, cried aloud and incessantly. Harpagus +gave the astonished herdsman his charge. He, afraid, as Harpagus had +been in the presence of Astyages, to evince any hesitation in respect +to obeying the orders of his superior, whatever they might be, took up +the child and bore it away.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He conveys the child to his hut.<br />The herdsman's wife.</div> + +<p>He carried it to his hut. It so happened that his wife, whose name was +Spaco, had at that very time a new-born child, but it was dead. Her +dead son had, in fact, been born during the absence of Mitridates. He +had been extremely unwilling to leave his home at such a time, but the +summons of Harpagus must, he knew, be obeyed. His wife, too, not +knowing what could have occasioned so sudden and urgent a call, had to +bear, all the day, a burden of anxiety and solicitude in respect to +her husband, in addition to her disappointment and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>grief at the loss +of her child. Her anxiety and grief were changed for a little time +into astonishment and curiosity at seeing the beautiful babe, so +magnificently dressed, which her husband brought to her, and at +hearing his extraordinary story.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Conversation in the hut.</div> + +<p>He said that when he first entered the house of Harpagus and saw the +child lying there, and heard the directions which Harpagus gave him to +carry it into the mountains and leave it to die, he supposed that the +babe belonged to some of the domestics of the household, and that +Harpagus wished to have it destroyed in order to be relieved of a +burden. The richness, however, of the infant's dress, and the deep +anxiety and sorrow which was indicated by the countenances and by the +conversation of Harpagus and his wife, and which seemed altogether too +earnest to be excited by the concern which they would probably feel +for any servant's offspring, appeared at the time, he said, +inconsistent with that supposition, and perplexed and bewildered him. +He said, moreover, that in the end, Harpagus had sent a man with him a +part of the way when he left the house, and that this man had given +him a full explanation of the case. The child was the son of Mandane, +the daughter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>of the king, and he was to be destroyed by the orders of +Astyages himself, for fear that at some future period he might attempt +to usurp the throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Entreaties of the herdsman's wife to save the child's +life.</div> + +<p>They who know any thing of the feelings of a mother under the +circumstances in which Spaco was placed, can imagine with what +emotions she received the little sufferer, now nearly exhausted by +abstinence, fatigue, and fear, from her husband's hands, and the +heartfelt pleasure with which she drew him to her bosom, to comfort +and relieve him. In an hour she was, as it were, herself his mother, +and she began to plead hard with her husband for his life.</p> + +<p>Mitridates said that the child could not possibly be saved. Harpagus +had been most earnest and positive in his orders, and he was coming +himself to see that they had been executed. He would demand, +undoubtedly, to see the body of the child, to assure himself that it +was actually dead. Spaco, instead of being convinced by her husband's +reasoning, only became more and more earnest in her desires that the +child might be saved. She rose from her couch and clasped her +husband's knees, and begged him with the most earnest entreaties and +with many tears to grant her request. Her husband <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>was, however, +inexorable. He said that if he were to yield, and attempt to save the +child from its doom, Harpagus would most certainly know that his +orders had been disobeyed, and then their own lives would be +forfeited, and the child itself sacrificed after all, in the end.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Spaco substitutes her dead child for Cyrus.</div> + +<p>The thought then occurred to Spaco that her own dead child might be +substituted for the living one, and be exposed in the mountains in its +stead. She proposed this plan, and, after much anxious doubt and +hesitation, the herdsman consented to adopt it. They took off the +splendid robes which adorned the living child, and put them on the +corpse, each equally unconscious of the change. The little limbs of +the son of Mandane were then more simply clothed in the coarse and +scanty covering which belonged to the new character which he was now +to assume, and then the babe was restored to its place in Spaco's +bosom. Mitridates placed his own dead child, completely disguised as +it was by the royal robes it wore, in the little basket or cradle in +which the other had been brought, and, accompanied by an attendant, +whom he was to leave in the forest to keep watch over the body, he +went away to seek some wild and desolate solitude in which to leave it exposed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 47-8]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i043.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="291" alt="The Exposure of the Infant." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Exposure of the Infant.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">The artifice successful.<br />The body buried.</div> + +<p>Three days passed away, during which the attendant whom the herdsman +had left in the forest watched near the body to prevent its being +devoured by wild beasts or birds of prey, and at the end of that time +he brought it home. The herdsman then went to Harpagus to inform him +that the child was dead, and, in proof that it was really so, he said +that if Harpagus would come to his hut he could see the body. Harpagus +sent some messenger in whom he could confide to make the observation. +The herdsman exhibited the dead child to him, and he was satisfied. He +reported the result of his mission to Harpagus, and Harpagus then +ordered the body to be buried. The child of Mandane, whom we may call +Cyrus, since that was the name which he subsequently received, was +brought up in the herdsman's hut, and passed every where for Spaco's +child.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Remorse of Astyages.</div> + +<p>Harpagus, after receiving the report of his messenger, then informed +Astyages that his orders had been executed, and that the child was +dead. A trusty messenger, he said, whom he had sent for the purpose, +had seen the body. Although the king had been so earnest to have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>the +deed performed, he found that, after all, the knowledge that his +orders had been obeyed gave him very little satisfaction. The fears, +prompted by his selfishness and ambition, which had led him to commit +the crime, gave place, when it had been perpetrated, to remorse for +his unnatural cruelty. Mandane mourned incessantly the death of her +innocent babe, and loaded her father with reproaches for having +destroyed it, which he found it very hard to bear. In the end, he +repented bitterly of what he had done.</p> + +<p>The secret of the child's preservation remained concealed for about +ten years. It was then discovered in the following manner:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Boyhood of Cyrus.<br />Cyrus a king among the boys.</div> + +<p>Cyrus, like Alexander, Cæsar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon, and +other commanding minds, who obtained a great ascendancy over masses of +men in their maturer years, evinced his dawning superiority at a very +early period of his boyhood. He took the lead of his playmates in +their sports, and made them submit to his regulations and decisions. +Not only did the peasants' boys in the little hamlet where his reputed +father lived thus yield the precedence to him, but sometimes, when the +sons of men of rank and station came out from the city <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>to join them +in their plays, even then Cyrus was the acknowledged head. One day the +son of an officer of King Astyages's court—his father's name was +Artembaris—came out, with other boys from the city, to join these +village boys in their sports. They were playing <i>king</i>. Cyrus was the +king. Herodotus says that the other boys <i>chose</i> him as such. It was, +however, probably such a sort of choice as that by which kings and +emperors are made among men, a yielding more or less voluntary on the +part of the subjects to the resolute and determined energy with which +the aspirant places himself upon the throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A quarrel.</div> + +<p>During the progress of the play, a quarrel arose between Cyrus and the +son of Artembaris. The latter would not obey, and Cyrus beat him. He +went home and complained bitterly to his father. The father went to +Astyages to protest against such an indignity offered to his son by a +peasant boy, and demanded that the little tyrant should be punished. +Probably far the larger portion of intelligent readers of history +consider the whole story as a romance; but if we look upon it as in +any respect true, we must conclude that the Median monarchy must have +been, at that time, in a very rude <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>and simple condition indeed, to +allow of the submission of such a question as this to the personal +adjudication of the reigning king.</p> + +<p>However this may be, Herodotus states that Artembaris went to the +palace of Astyages, taking his son with him, to offer proofs of the +violence of which the herdsman's son had been guilty, by showing the +contusions and bruises that had been produced by the blows. "Is this +the treatment," he asked, indignantly, of the king, when he had +completed his statement, "that my boy is to receive from the son of +one of your slaves?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus summoned into the presence of Astyages.</div> + +<p>Astyages seemed to be convinced that Artembaris had just cause to +complain, and he sent for Mitridates and his son to come to him in the +city. When they arrived, Cyrus advanced into the presence of the king +with that courageous and manly bearing which romance writers are so +fond of ascribing to boys of noble birth, whatever may have been the +circumstances of their early training. Astyages was much struck with +his appearance and air. He, however, sternly laid to his charge the +accusation which Artembaris had brought against him. Pointing to +Artembaris's son, all bruised and swollen as he was, he asked, "Is +that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>way that you, a mere herdsman's boy, dare to treat the son +of one of my nobles?"</p> + +<p>The little prince looked up into his stern judge's face with an +undaunted expression of countenance, which, considering the +circumstances of the case, and the smallness of the scale on which +this embryo heroism was represented, was partly ludicrous and partly +sublime.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's defense.</div> + +<p>"My lord," said he, "what I have done I am able to justify. I did +punish this boy, and I had a right to do so. I was king, and he was my +subject, and he would not obey me. If you think that for this I +deserve punishment myself, here I am; I am ready to suffer it."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astonishment of Astyages.</div> + +<p>If Astyages had been struck with the appearance and manner of Cyrus at +the commencement of the interview, his admiration was awakened far +more strongly now, at hearing such words, uttered, too, in so exalted +a tone, from such a child. He remained a long time silent. At last he +told Artembaris and his son that they might retire. He would take the +affair, he said, into his own hands, and dispose of it in a just and +proper manner. Astyages then took the herdsman aside, and asked him, +in an earnest tone, whose boy that was, and where he had obtained him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The discovery.</div> + +<p>Mitridates was terrified. He replied, however, that the boy was his +own son, and that his mother was still living at home, in the hut +where they all resided. There seems to have been something, however, +in his appearance and manner, while making these assertions, which led +Astyages not to believe what he said. He was convinced that there was +some unexplained mystery in respect to the origin of the boy, which +the herdsman was willfully withholding. He assumed a displeased and +threatening air, and ordered in his guards to take Mitridates into +custody. The terrified herdsman then said that he would explain all, +and he accordingly related honestly the whole story.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mingled feelings of Astyages.<br />Inhuman monsters.</div> + +<p>Astyages was greatly rejoiced to find that the child was alive. One +would suppose it to be almost inconsistent with this feeling that he +should be angry with Harpagus for not having destroyed it. It would +seem, in fact, that Harpagus was not amenable to serious censure, in +any view of the subject, for he had taken what he had a right to +consider very effectual measures for carrying the orders of the king +into faithful execution. But Astyages seems to have been one of those +inhuman monsters which the possession and long-continued exercise of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>despotic power have so often made, who take a calm, quiet, and +deliberate satisfaction in torturing to death any wretched victim whom +they can have any pretext for destroying, especially if they can +invent some new means of torment to give a fresh piquancy to their +pleasure. These monsters do not act from passion. Men are sometimes +inclined to palliate great cruelties and crimes which are perpetrated +under the influence of sudden anger, or from the terrible impulse of +those impetuous and uncontrollable emotions of the human soul which, +when once excited, seem to make men insane; but the crimes of a tyrant +are not of this kind. They are the calm, deliberate, and sometimes +carefully economized gratifications of a nature essentially malign.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages determines to punish Harpagus.</div> + +<p>When, therefore, Astyages learned that Harpagus had failed of +literally obeying his command to destroy, with his own hand, the +infant which had been given him, although he was pleased with the +consequences which had resulted from it, he immediately perceived that +there was another pleasure besides that he was to derive from the +transaction, namely, that of gratifying his own imperious and +ungovernable will by taking vengeance on him who had failed, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>even in +so slight a degree, of fulfilling its dictates. In a word, he was glad +that the child was saved, but he did not consider that that was any +reason why he should not have the pleasure of punishing the man who +saved him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Interview between Artyages and Harpagus.<br />Explanation of Harpagus.</div> + +<p>Thus, far from being transported by any sudden and violent feeling of +resentment to an inconsiderate act of revenge, Astyages began, calmly +and coolly, and with a deliberate malignity more worthy of a demon +than of a man, to consider how he could best accomplish the purpose he +had in view. When, at length, his plan was formed, he sent for +Harpagus to come to him. Harpagus came. The king began the +conversation by asking Harpagus what method he had employed for +destroying the child of Mandane, which he, the king, had delivered to +him some years before. Harpagus replied by stating the exact truth. He +said that, as soon as he had received the infant, he began immediately +to consider by what means he could effect its destruction without +involving himself in the guilt of murder; that, finally, he had +determined upon employing the herdsman Mitridates to expose it in the +forest till it should perish of hunger and cold; and, in order to be +sure that the king's behest was fully <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>obeyed, he charged the +herdsman, he said, to keep strict watch near the child till it was +dead, and then to bring home the body. He had then sent a confidential +messenger from his own household to see the body and provide for its +interment. He solemnly assured the king, in conclusion, that this was +the real truth, and that the child was actually destroyed in the +manner he had described.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Dissimulation of Astyages.<br />He proposes an entertainment.</div> + +<p>The king then, with an appearance of great satisfaction and pleasure, +informed Harpagus that the child had not been destroyed after all, and +he related to him the circumstances of its having been exchanged for +the dead child of Spaco, and brought up in the herdsman's hut. He +informed him, too, of the singular manner in which the fact that the +infant had been preserved, and was still alive, had been discovered. +He told Harpagus, moreover, that he was greatly rejoiced at this +discovery. "After he was dead, as I supposed," said he, "I bitterly +repented of having given orders to destroy him. I could not bear my +daughter's grief, or the reproaches which she incessantly uttered +against me. But the child is alive, and all is well; and I am going to +give a grand entertainment as a festival of rejoicing on the +occasion."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Astyages invites Harpagus to a grand entertainment.</div> + +<p>Astyages then requested Harpagus to send his son, who was about +thirteen years of age, to the palace, to be a companion to Cyrus, and, +inviting him very specially to come to the entertainment, he dismissed +him with many marks of attention and honor. Harpagus went home, +trembling at the thought of the imminent danger which he had incurred, +and of the narrow escape by which he had been saved from it. He called +his son, directed him to prepare himself to go to the king, and +dismissed him with many charges in respect to his behavior, both +toward the king and toward Cyrus. He related to his wife the +conversation which had taken place between himself and Astyages, and +she rejoiced with him in the apparently happy issue of an affair which +might well have been expected to have been their ruin.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Horrible revenge.</div> + +<p>The sequel of the story is too horrible to be told, and yet too +essential to a right understanding of the influences and effects +produced on human nature by the possession and exercise of despotic +and irresponsible power to be omitted. Harpagus came to the festival. +It was a grand entertainment. Harpagus was placed in a conspicuous +position at the table. A great variety of dishes were brought in and +set before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>the different guests, and were eaten without question. +Toward the close of the feast, Astyages asked Harpagus what he thought +of his fare. Harpagus, half terrified with some mysterious +presentiment of danger, expressed himself well pleased with it. +Astyages then told him there was plenty more of the same kind, and +ordered the attendants to bring the basket in. They came accordingly, +and uncovered a basket before the wretched guest, which contained, as +he saw when he looked into it, the head, and hands, and feet of his +son. Astyages asked him to help himself to whatever part he liked!</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Action of Harpagus.</div> + +<p>The most astonishing part of the story is yet to be told. It relates +to the action of Harpagus in such an emergency. He looked as composed +and placid as if nothing unusual had occurred. The king asked him if +he knew what he had been eating. He said that he did; and that +whatever was agreeable to the will of the king was always pleasing to +him!!</p> + +<p>It is hard to say whether despotic power exerts its worst and most +direful influences on those who wield it, or on those who have it to +bear; on its masters, or on its slaves.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages becomes uneasy.</div> + +<p>After the first feelings of pleasure which Astyages <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>experienced in +being relieved from the sense of guilt which oppressed his mind so +long as he supposed that his orders for the murder of his infant +grandchild had been obeyed, his former uneasiness lest the child +should in future years become his rival and competitor for the +possession of the Median throne, which had been the motive originally +instigating him to the commission of the crime, returned in some +measure again, and he began to consider whether it was not incumbent +on him to take some measures to guard against such a result. The end +of his deliberations was, that he concluded to send for the magi, or +soothsayers, as he had done in the case of his dream, and obtain their +judgment on the affair in the new aspect which it had now assumed.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The magi again consulted.<br />Advice of the magi.</div> + +<p>When the magi had heard the king's narrative of the circumstances +under which the discovery of the child's preservation had been made, +through complaints which had been preferred against him on account of +the manner in which he had exercised the prerogatives of a king among +his playmates, they decided at once that Astyages had no cause for any +further apprehensions in respect to the dreams which had disturbed him +previous to his grandchild's birth. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>"He has been a king," they said, +"and the danger is over. It is true that he has been a monarch only in +play, but that is enough to satisfy and fulfill the presages of the +vision. Occurrences very slight and trifling in themselves are often +found to accomplish what seemed of very serious magnitude and moment, +as portended. Your grandchild has been a king, and he will never reign +again. You have, therefore, no further cause to fear, and may send him +to his parents in Persia with perfect safety."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages adopts it.</div> + +<p>The king determined to adopt this advice. He ordered the soothsayers, +however, not to remit their assiduity and vigilance, and if any signs +or omens should appear to indicate approaching danger, he charged them +to give him immediate warning. This they faithfully promised to do. +They felt, they said, a personal interest in doing it; for Cyrus being +a Persian prince, his accession to the Median throne would involve the +subjection of the Medes to the Persian dominion, a result which they +wished in every account to avoid. So, promising to watch vigilantly +for every indication of danger, they left the presence of the king. +The king then sent for Cyrus.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Cyrus sets out for Persia.</div> + +<p>It seems that Cyrus, though astonished at the great and mysterious +changes which had taken place in his condition, was still ignorant of +his true history. Astyages now told him that he was to go into Persia. +"You will rejoin there," said he, "your true parents, who, you will +find, are of very different rank in life from the herdsman whom you +have lived with thus far. You will make the journey under the charge +and escort of persons that I have appointed for the purpose. They will +explain to you, on the way, the mystery in which your parentage and +birth seems to you at present enveloped. You will find that I was +induced many years ago, by the influence of an untoward dream, to +treat you injuriously. But all has ended well, and you can now go in +peace to your proper home."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His parents' joy.</div> + +<p>As soon as the preparations for the journey could be made, Cyrus set +out, under the care of the party appointed to conduct him, and went to +Persia. His parents were at first dumb with astonishment, and were +then overwhelmed with gladness and joy at seeing their much-loved and +long-lost babe reappear, as if from the dead, in the form of this tall +and handsome boy, with health, intelligence, and happiness beaming in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>his countenance. They overwhelmed him with caresses, and the heart of +Mandane, especially, was filled with pride and pleasure.</p> + +<p>As soon as Cyrus became somewhat settled in his new home, his parents +began to make arrangements for giving him as complete an education as +the means and opportunities of those days afforded.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Life at Cambyses's court.<br />Instruction of the young men.</div> + +<p>Xenophon, in his narrative of the early life of Cyrus, gives a minute, +and, in some respects, quite an extraordinary account of the mode of +life led in Cambyses's court. The sons of all the nobles and officers +of the court were educated together, within the precincts of the royal +palaces, or, rather, they spent their time together there, occupied in +various pursuits and avocations, which were intended to train them for +the duties of future life, though there was very little of what would +be considered, in modern times, as education. They were not generally +taught to read, nor could they, in fact, since there were no books, +have used that art if they had acquired it. The only intellectual +instruction which they seem to have received was what was called +learning justice. The boys had certain teachers, who explained to +them, more or less formally, the general principles of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>right and +wrong, the injunctions and prohibitions of the laws, and the +obligations resulting from them, and the rules by which controversies +between man and man, arising in the various relations of life, should +be settled. The boys were also trained to apply these principles and +rules to the cases which occurred among themselves, each acting as +judge in turn, to discuss and decide the questions that arose from +time to time, either from real transactions as they occurred, or from +hypothetical cases invented to put their powers to the test. To +stimulate the exercise of their powers, they were rewarded when they +decided right, and punished when they decided wrong. Cyrus himself was +punished on one occasion for a wrong decision, under the following +circumstances:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus a judge.<br />His decision in that capacity.<br />Cyrus punished.</div> + +<p>A bigger boy took away the coat of a smaller boy than himself, because +it was larger than his own, and gave him his own smaller coat instead. +The smaller boy complained of the wrong, and the case was referred to +Cyrus for his adjudication. After hearing the case, Cyrus decided that +each boy should keep the coat that fitted him. The teacher condemned +this as a very unjust decision. "When you are called upon," said he, +"to consider a question <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>of what fits best, then you should determine +as you have done in this case; but when you are appointed to decide +whose each coat is, and to adjudge it to the proper owner, then you +are to consider what constitutes right possession, and whether he who +takes a thing by force from one who is weaker than himself, should +have it, or whether he who made it or purchased it should be protected +in his property. You have decided against law, and in favor of +violence and wrong." Cyrus's sentence was thus condemned, and he was +punished for not reasoning more soundly.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Manly exercises.<br />Hunting excursions.</div> + +<p>The boys at this Persian court were trained to many manly exercises. +They were taught to wrestle and to run. They were instructed in the +use of such arms as were employed in those times, and rendered +dexterous in the use of them by daily exercises. They were taught to +put their skill in practice, too, in hunting excursions, which they +took, by turns, with the king, in the neighboring forest and +mountains. On these occasions, they were armed with a bow, and a +quiver of arrows, a shield, a small sword or dagger which was worn at +the side in a sort of scabbard, and two javelins. One of these was +intended to be thrown, the other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>to be retained in the hand, for use +in close combat, in case the wild beast, in his desperation, should +advance to a personal re-encounter. These hunting expeditions were +considered extremely important as a part of the system of youthful +training. They were often long and fatiguing. The young men became +inured, by means of them, to toil, and privation, and exposure. They +had to make long marches, to encounter great dangers, to engage in +desperate conflicts, and to submit sometimes to the inconveniences of +hunger and thirst, as well as exposure to the extremes of heat and +cold, and to the violence of storms. All this was considered as +precisely the right sort of discipline to make them good soldiers in +their future martial campaigns.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Personal appearance of Cyrus.<br />Disposition and character of Cyrus.<br />A universal favorite.</div> + +<p>Cyrus was not, himself, at this time, old enough to take a very active +part in these severer services, as they belonged to a somewhat +advanced stage of Persian education, and he was yet not quite twelve +years old. He was a very beautiful boy, tall and graceful in form and +his countenance was striking and expressive. He was very frank and +open in his disposition and character, speaking honestly, and without +fear, the sentiments of his heart, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>any presence and on all +occasions. He was extremely kind hearted, and amiable, too, in his +disposition, averse to saying or doing any thing which could give pain +to those around him. In fact, the openness and cordiality of his +address and manners, and the unaffected ingenuousness and sincerity +which characterized his disposition, made him a universal favorite. +His frankness, his childish simplicity, his vivacity, his personal +grace and beauty, and his generous and self-sacrificing spirit, +rendered him the object of general admiration throughout the court, +and filled Mandane's heart with maternal gladness and pride.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Visit to Media.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 587-584</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Astyages sends for Cyrus.<br />Cyrus goes to Media.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">W</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">hen</span> Cyrus was about twelve years old, if the narrative which Xenophon +gives of his history is true, he was invited by his grandfather +Astyages to make a visit to Media. As he was about ten years of age, +according to Herodotus, when he was restored to his parents, he could +have been residing only two years in Persia when he received this +invitation. During this period, Astyages had received, through Mandane +and others, very glowing descriptions of the intelligence and vivacity +of the young prince, and he naturally felt a desire to see him once +more. In fact, Cyrus's personal attractiveness and beauty, joined to a +certain frank and noble generosity of spirit which he seems to have +manifested in his earliest years, made him a universal favorite at +home, and the reports of these qualities, and of the various sayings +and doings on Cyrus's part, by which his disposition and character +were revealed, awakened strongly in the mind of Astyages that kind <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>of +interest which a grandfather is always very prone to feel in a +handsome and precocious grandchild.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's reception.<br />His astonishment.<br />Sympathy with childhood.<br />Pleasures of old age.</div> + +<p>As Cyrus had been sent to Persia as soon as his true rank had been +discovered, he had had no opportunities of seeing the splendor of +royal life in Media, and the manners and habits of the Persians were +very plain and simple. Cyrus was accordingly very much impressed with +the magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced when he +arrived in Media, and with the gayeties and luxuries, the pomp and +display, and the spectacles and parades in which the Median court +abounded. Astyages himself took great pleasure in witnessing and +increasing his little grandson's admiration for these wonders. It is +one of the most extraordinary and beautiful of the provisions which +God has made for securing the continuance of human happiness to the +very end of life, that we can renew, through sympathy with children, +the pleasures which, for ourselves alone, had long since, through +repetition and satiety, lost their charm. The rides, the walks, the +flowers gathered by the road-side, the rambles among pebbles on the +beach, the songs, the games, and even the little picture-book of +childish tales <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>which have utterly and entirely lost their power to +affect the mind even of middle life, directly and alone, regain their +magic influence, and call up vividly all the old emotions, even to the +heart of decrepit age, when it seeks these enjoyments in companionship +and sympathy with children or grandchildren beloved. By giving to us +this capacity for renewing our own sensitiveness to the impressions of +pleasure through sympathy with childhood, God has provided a true and +effectual remedy for the satiety and insensibility of age. Let any one +who is in the decline of years, whose time passes but heavily away, +and who supposes that nothing can awaken interest in his mind or give +him pleasure, make the experiment of taking children to a ride or to a +concert, or to see a menagerie or a museum, and he will find that +there is a way by which he can again enjoy very highly the pleasures +which he had supposed were for him forever exhausted and gone.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Character of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>This was the result, at all events, in the case of Astyages and Cyrus. +The monarch took a new pleasure in the luxuries and splendors which +had long since lost their charm for him, in observing their influence +and effect upon the mind of his little grandson. Cyrus, as we have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>already said, was very frank and open in his disposition, and spoke +with the utmost freedom of every thing that he saw. He was, of course, +a privileged person, and could always say what the feeling of the +moment and his own childish conceptions prompted, without danger. He +had, however, according to the account which Xenophon gives, a great +deal of good sense, as well as of sprightliness and brilliancy; so +that, while his remarks, through their originality and point, +attracted every one's attention, there was a native politeness and +sense of propriety which restrained him from saying any thing to give +pain. Even when he disapproved of and condemned what he saw in the +arrangements of his grandfather's court or household, he did it in +such a manner—so ingenuous, good-natured, and unassuming, that it +amused all and offended none.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">First interview with his grandfather.<br />Dress of the king.</div> + +<p>In fact, on the very first interview which Astyages had with Cyrus, an +instance of the boy's readiness and tact occurred, which impressed his +grandfather very much in his favor. The Persians, as has been already +remarked, were accustomed to dress very plainly, while, on the other +hand, at the Median court the superior officers, and especially the +king, were always very splendidly adorned. Accordingly, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>Cyrus +was introduced into his grandfather's presence, he was quite dazzled +with the display. The king wore a purple robe, very richly adorned, +with a belt and collars, which were embroidered highly, and set with +precious stones. He had bracelets, too, upon his wrists, of the most +costly character. He wore flowing locks of artificial hair, and his +face was painted, after the Median manner. Cyrus gazed upon this gay +spectacle for a few moments in silence, and then exclaimed, "Why, +mother! what a handsome man my grandfather is!"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's considerate reply.</div> + +<p>Such an exclamation, of course, made great amusement both for the king +himself and for the others who were present; and at length Mandane, +somewhat indiscreetly, it must be confessed, asked Cyrus which of the +two he thought the handsomest, his father or his grandfather. Cyrus +escaped from the danger of deciding such a formidable question by +saying that his father was the handsomest man in Persia, but his +grandfather was the handsomest of all the Medes he had ever seen. +Astyages was even more pleased by this proof of his grandson's +adroitness and good sense than he had been with the compliment which +the boy had paid to him; and thenceforward Cyrus became <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>an +established favorite, and did and said, in his grandfather's presence, +almost whatever he pleased.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Habits of Cyrus.<br />Horsemanship among the Persians.<br />Cyrus learns to ride.<br />His delights.<br />Amusements with the boys.</div> + +<p>When the first childish feelings of excitement and curiosity had +subsided, Cyrus seemed to attach very little value to the fine clothes +and gay trappings with which his grandfather was disposed to adorn +him, and to all the other external marks of parade and display, which +were generally so much prized among the Medes. He was much more +inclined to continue in his former habits of plain dress and frugal +means than to imitate Median ostentation and luxury. There was one +pleasure, however, to be found in Media, which in Persia he had never +enjoyed, that he prized very highly. That was the pleasure of learning +to ride on horseback. The Persians, it seems, either because their +country was a rough and mountainous region, or for some other cause, +were very little accustomed to ride. They had very few horses, and +there were no bodies of cavalry in their armies. The young men, +therefore, were not trained to the art of horsemanship. Even in their +hunting excursions they went always on foot, and were accustomed to +make long marches through the forests and among the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>mountains in this +manner, loaded heavily, too, all the time, with the burden of arms and +provisions which they were obliged to carry. It was, therefore, a new +pleasure to Cyrus to mount a horse. Horsemanship was a great art among +the Medes. Their horses were beautiful and fleet, and splendidly +caparisoned. Astyages provided for Cyrus the best animals which could +be procured, and the boy was very proud and happy in exercising +himself in the new accomplishment which he thus had the opportunity to +acquire. To ride is always a great source of pleasure to boys; but in +that period of the world, when physical strength was so much more +important and more highly valued than at present, horsemanship was a +vastly greater source of gratification than it is now. Cyrus felt that +he had, at a single leap, quadrupled his power, and thus risen at once +to a far higher rank in the scale of being than he had occupied +before; for, as soon as he had once learned to be at home in the +saddle, and to subject the spirit and the power of his horse to his +own will, the courage, the strength, and the speed of the animal +became, in fact, almost personal acquisitions of his own. He felt, +accordingly, when he was galloping over the plains, or pursuing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>deer +in the park, or running over the racecourse with his companions, as if +it was some newly-acquired strength and speed of his own that he was +exercising, and which, by some magic power, was attended by no +toilsome exertion, and followed by no fatigue.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The cup-bearer.</div> + +<p>The various officers and servants in Astyages's household, as well as +Astyages himself, soon began to feel a strong interest in the young +prince. Each took a pleasure in explaining to him what pertained to +their several departments, and in teaching him whatever he desired to +learn. The attendant highest in rank in such a household was the +cup-bearer. He had the charge of the tables and the wine, and all the +general arrangements of the palace seem to have been under his +direction. The cup-bearer in Astyages's court was a Sacian. He was, +however, less a friend to Cyrus than the rest. There was nothing +within the range of his official duties that he could teach the boy; +and Cyrus did not like his wine. Besides, when Astyages was engaged, +it was the cup-bearer's duty to guard him from interruption, and at +such times he often had occasion to restrain the young prince from the +liberty of entering his grandfather's apartments as often as he +pleased.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The entertainment.<br />Cyrus's conversation.</div> + +<p>At one of the entertainments which Astyages gave in his palace, Cyrus +and Mandane were invited; and Astyages, in order to gratify the young +prince as highly as possible, set before him a great variety of +dishes—meats, and sauces, and delicacies of every kind—all served in +costly vessels, and with great parade and ceremony. He supposed that +Cyrus would have been enraptured with the luxury and splendor of the +entertainment. He did not, however, seem much pleased. Astyages asked +him the reason, and whether the feast which he saw before him was not +a much finer one than he had been accustomed to see in Persia. Cyrus +said, in reply, that it seemed to him to be very troublesome to have +to eat a little of so many separate things. In Persia they managed, he +thought, a great deal better. "And how do you manage in Persia?" asked +Astyages. "Why, in Persia," replied Cyrus, "we have plain bread and +meat, and eat it when we are hungry; so we get health and strength, +and have very little trouble." Astyages laughed at this simplicity, +and told Cyrus that he might, if he preferred it, live on plain bread +and meat while he remained in Media, and then he would return to +Persia in as good health as he came.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Cyrus and the Sacian cup-bearer.<br />Cyrus slights him.</div> + +<p>Cyrus was satisfied; he, however, asked his grandfather if he would +give him all those things which had been set before him, to dispose of +as he thought proper; and on his grandfather's assenting, he began to +call the various attendants up to the table, and to distribute the +costly dishes to them, in return, as he said, for their various +kindnesses to him. "This," said he to one, "is for you, because you +take pains to teach me to ride; this," to another, "for you, because +you gave me a javelin; this to you, because you serve my grandfather +well and faithfully; and this to you, because you honor my mother." +Thus he went on until he had distributed all that he had received, +though he omitted, as it seemed designedly, to give any thing to the +Sacian cup-bearer. This Sacian being an officer of high rank, of tall +and handsome figure, and beautifully dressed, was the most conspicuous +attendant at the feast, and could not, therefore, have been +accidentally passed by. Astyages accordingly asked Cyrus why he had +not given any thing to the Sacian—the servant whom, as he said, he +liked better than all the others.</p> + +<p>"And what is the reason," asked Cyrus, in reply, "that this Sacian is +such a favorite with you?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>"Have you not observed," replied Astyages, "how gracefully and +elegantly he pours out the wine for me, and then hands me the cup?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Accomplishments of the cup-bearer.<br />Cyrus mimics him.<br />Cyrus declines to taste the wine.</div> + +<p>The Sacian was, in fact, uncommonly accomplished in respect to the +personal grace and dexterity for which cup-bearers in those days were +most highly valued, and which constitute, in fact, so essential a part +of the qualifications of a master of ceremonies at a royal court in +every age. Cyrus, however, instead of yielding to this argument, said, +in reply, that he could come into the room and pour out the wine as +well as the Sacian could do it, and he asked his grandfather to allow +him to try. Astyages consented. Cyrus then took the goblet of wine, +and went out. In a moment he came in again, stepping grandly, as he +entered, in mimicry of the Sacian, and with a countenance of assumed +gravity and self-importance, which imitated so well the air and manner +of the cup-bearer as greatly to amuse the whole company assembled. +Cyrus advanced thus toward the king and presented him with the cup, +imitating, with the grace and dexterity natural to childhood, all the +ceremonies which he had seen the cup-bearer himself perform, except +that of tasting the wine. The king and Mandane laughed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>heartily. +Cyrus then, throwing off his assumed character, jumped up into his +grandfather's lap and kissed him, and turning to the cup-bearer, he +said, "Now, Sacian, you are ruined. I shall get my grandfather to +appoint me in your place. I can hand the wine as well as you, and +without tasting it myself at all."</p> + +<p>"But why did you not taste it?" asked Astyages; "you should have +performed that part of the duty as well as the rest."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Duties of a cup-bearer.</div> + +<p>It was, in fact, a very essential part of the duty of a cup-bearer to +taste the wine that he offered before presenting it to the king. He +did this, however, not by putting the cup to his lips, but by pouring +out a little of it into the palm of his hand. This custom was adopted +by these ancient despots to guard against the danger of being +poisoned; for such a danger would of course be very much diminished by +requiring the officer who had the custody of the wine, and without +whose knowledge no foreign substance could well be introduced into it, +always to drink a portion of it himself immediately before tendering +it to the king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's reason for not tasting the wine.<br />His description of a feast.</div> + +<p>To Astyages's question why he had not tasted the wine, Cyrus replied +that he was afraid it was poisoned. "What led you to imagine that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>it +was poisoned?" asked his grandfather. "Because," said Cyrus, "it was +poisoned the other day, when you made a feast for your friends, on +your birth-day. I knew by the effects. It made you all crazy. The +things that you do not allow us boys to do, you did yourselves, for +you were very rude and noisy; you all bawled together, so that nobody +could hear or understand what any other person said. Presently you +went to singing in a very ridiculous manner, and when a singer ended +his song, you applauded him, and declared that he had sung admirably, +though nobody had paid attention. You went to telling stories, too, +each one of his own accord, without succeeding in making any body +listen to him. Finally, you got up and began to dance, but it was out +of all rule and measure; you could not even stand erect and steadily. +Then, you all seemed to forget who and what you were. The guests paid +no regard to you as their king, but treated you in a very familiar and +disrespectful manner, and you treated them in the same way; so I +thought that the wine that produced these effects must have been +poisoned."</p> + +<p>Of course, Cyrus did not seriously mean that he thought the wine had +been actually poisoned. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>He was old enough to understand its nature +and effects. He undoubtedly intended his reply as a playful satire +upon the intemperate excesses of his grandfather's court.</p> + +<p>"But have not you ever seen such things before?" asked Astyages. "Does +not your father ever drink wine until it makes him merry?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's dislike of the cup-bearer.</div> + +<p>"No," replied Cyrus, "indeed he does not. He drinks only when he is +thirsty, and then only enough for his thirst, and so he is not +harmed." He then added, in a contemptuous tone, "He has no Sacian +cup-bearer, you may depend, about <i>him</i>."</p> + +<p>"What is the reason, my son," here asked Mandane, "why you dislike +this Sacian so much?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His reason for it.</div> + +<p>"Why, every time that I want to come and see my grandfather," replied +Cyrus, "this teazing man always stops me, and will not let me come in. +I wish, grandfather, you would let me have the rule over him just for +three days."</p> + +<p>"Why, what would you do to him?" asked Astyages.</p> + +<p>"I would treat him as he treats me now," replied Cyrus. "I would stand +at the door, as he does when I want to come in, and when he was coming +for his dinner, I would stop him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>and say, 'You can not come in now; +he is busy with some men.'"</p> + +<p>In saying this, Cyrus imitated, in a very ludicrous manner, the +gravity and dignity of the Sacian's air and manner.</p> + +<p>"Then," he continued, "when he came to supper, I would say, 'He is +bathing now; you must come some other time;' or else, 'He is going to +sleep, and you will disturb him.' So I would torment him all the time, +as he now torments me, in keeping me out when I want to come and see +you."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Amusement of the guests.<br />Cyrus becomes a greater favorite than ever.</div> + +<p>Such conversation as this, half playful, half earnest, of course +amused Astyages and Mandane very much, as well as all the other +listeners. There is a certain charm in the simplicity and confiding +frankness of childhood, when it is honest and sincere, which in +Cyrus's case was heightened by his personal grace and beauty. He +became, in fact, more and more a favorite the longer he remained. At +length, the indulgence and the attentions which he received began to +produce, in some degree, their usual injurious effects. Cyrus became +too talkative, and sometimes he appeared a little vain. Still, there +was so much true kindness of heart, such consideration for the +feelings of others, and so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>respectful a regard for his grandfather, +his mother, and his uncle,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> that his faults were overlooked, and he +was the life and soul of the company in all the social gatherings +which took place in the palaces of the king.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mandane proposes to return to Persia.</div> + +<p>At length the time arrived for Mandane to return to Persia. Astyages +proposed that she should leave Cyrus in Media, to be educated there +under his grandfather's charge. Mandane replied that she was willing +to gratify her father in every thing, but she thought it would be very +hard to leave Cyrus behind, unless he was willing, of his own accord, +to stay. Astyages then proposed the subject to Cyrus himself. "If you +will stay," said he, "the Sacian shall no longer have power to keep +you from coming in to see me; you shall come whenever you choose. +Then, besides, you shall have the use of all my horses, and of as many +more as you please, and when you go home at last you shall take as +many as you wish with you. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>Then you may have all the animals in the +park to hunt. You can pursue them on horseback, and shoot them with +bows and arrows, or kill them with javelins, as men do with wild +beasts in the woods. I will provide boys of your own age to play with +you, and to ride and hunt with you, and will have all sorts of arms +made of suitable size for you to use; and if there is any thing else +that you should want at any time, you will only have to ask me for it, +and I will immediately provide it."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus consents to remain.<br />Fears of Mandane.</div> + +<p>The pleasure of riding and of hunting in the park was very captivating +to Cyrus's mind, and he consented to stay. He represented to his +mother that it would be of great advantage to him, on his final return +to Persia, to be a skillful and powerful horseman, as that would at +once give him the superiority over all the Persian youths, for they +were very little accustomed to ride. His mother had some fears lest, +by too long a residence in the Median court, her son should acquire +the luxurious habits, and proud and haughty manners, which would be +constantly before him in his grandfather's example; but Cyrus said +that his grandfather, being imperious himself, required all around him +to be submissive, and that Mandane need <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>not fear but that he would +return at last as dutiful and docile as ever. It was decided, +therefore, that Cyrus should stay, while his mother, bidding her child +and her father farewell, went back to Persia.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Departure of Mandane.<br />Rapid progress of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>After his mother was gone, Cyrus endeared himself very strongly to all +persons at his grandfather's court by the nobleness and generosity of +character which he evinced, more and more, as his mind was gradually +developed. He applied himself with great diligence to acquiring the +various accomplishments and arts then most highly prized, such as +leaping, vaulting, racing, riding, throwing the javelin, and drawing +the bow. In the friendly contests which took place among the boys, to +test their comparative excellence in these exercises, Cyrus would +challenge those whom he knew to be superior to himself, and allow them +to enjoy the pleasure of victory, while he was satisfied, himself, +with the superior stimulus to exertion which he derived from coming +thus into comparison with attainments higher than his own. He pressed +forward boldly and ardently, undertaking every thing which promised to +be, by any possibility, within his power; and, far from being +disconcerted and discouraged at his mistakes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>and failures, he always +joined merrily in the laugh which they occasioned, and renewed his +attempts with as much ardor and alacrity as before. Thus he made great +and rapid progress, and learned first to equal and then to surpass one +after another of his companions, and all without exciting any jealousy +or envy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hunting in the park.<br />Game becomes scarce.</div> + +<p>It was a great amusement both to him and to the other boys, his +playmates, to hunt the animals in the park, especially the deer. The +park was a somewhat extensive domain, but the animals were soon very +much diminished by the slaughter which the boys made among them. +Astyages endeavored to supply their places by procuring more. At +length, however, all the sources of supply that were conveniently at +hand were exhausted; and Cyrus, then finding that his grandfather was +put to no little trouble to obtain tame animals for his park, +proposed, one day, that he should be allowed to go out into the +forests, to hunt the wild beasts with the men. "There are animals +enough there, grandfather," said Cyrus, "and I shall consider them all +just as if you had procured them expressly for me."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Development of Cyrus's powers, both of body and mind.</div> + +<p>In fact, by this time Cyrus had grown up to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>a tall and handsome +young man, with strength and vigor sufficient, under favorable +circumstances, to endure the fatigues and exposures of real hunting. +As his person had become developed, his mind and manners, too, had +undergone a change. The gayety, the thoughtfulness, the +self-confidence, and talkative vivacity of his childhood had +disappeared, and he was fast becoming reserved, sedate, deliberate, +and cautious. He no longer entertained his grandfather's company by +his mimicry, his repartees, and his childish wit. He was silent; he +observed, he listened, he shrank from publicity, and spoke, when he +spoke at all, in subdued and gentle tones. Instead of crowding forward +eagerly into his grandfather's presence on all occasions, seasonable +and unseasonable, as he had done before, he now became, of his own +accord, very much afraid of occasioning trouble or interruption. He +did not any longer need a Sacian to restrain him, but became, as +Xenophon expresses it, a Sacian to himself, taking great care not to +go into his grandfather's apartments without previously ascertaining +that the king was disengaged; so that he and the Sacian now became +very great friends.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hunting wild beasts.<br />Cyrus's conversation with his attendants.</div> + +<p>This being the state of the case, Astyages <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>consented that Cyrus +should go out with his son Cyaxares into the forests to hunt at the +next opportunity. The party set out, when the time arrived, on +horseback, the hearts of Cyrus and his companions bounding, when they +mounted their steeds, with feelings of elation and pride. There were +certain attendants and guards appointed to keep near to Cyrus, and to +help him in the rough and rocky parts of the country, and to protect +him from the dangers to which, if left alone, he would doubtless have +been exposed. Cyrus talked with these attendants, as they rode along, +of the mode of hunting, of the difficulties of hunting, the characters +and the habits of the various wild beasts, and of the dangers to be +shunned. His attendants told him that the dangerous beasts were bears, +lions, tigers, boars, and leopards; that such animals as these often +attacked and killed men, and that he must avoid them; but that stags, +wild goats, wild sheep, and wild asses were harmless, and that he +could hunt such animals as they as much as he pleased. They told him, +moreover, that steep, rocky, and broken ground was more dangerous to +the huntsman than any beasts, however ferocious; for riders, off their +guard, driving impetuously over such ways, were often thrown from their horses, or fell with them over precipices or into +chasms, and were killed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 89-90]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i084.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="298" alt="Cyrus's Hunting." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Cyrus's Hunting.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pursuit of a stag.<br />Cyrus's danger.<br />Cyrus's recklessness.</div> + +<p>Cyrus listened very attentively to these instructions, with every +disposition to give heed to them; but when he came to the trial, he +found that the ardor and impetuosity of the chase drove all +considerations of prudence wholly from his mind. When the men got into +the forest, those that were with Cyrus roused a stag, and all set off +eagerly in pursuit, Cyrus at the head. Away went the stag over rough +and dangerous ground. The rest of the party turned aside, or followed +cautiously, while Cyrus urged his horse forward in the wildest +excitement, thinking of nothing, and seeing nothing but the stag +bounding before him. The horse came to a chasm which he was obliged to +leap. But the distance was too great; he came down upon his knees, +threw Cyrus violently forward almost over his head, and then, with a +bound and a scramble, recovered his feet and went on. Cyrus clung +tenaciously to the horse's mane, and at length succeeded in getting +back to the saddle, though, for a moment his life was in the most +imminent danger. His attendants were extremely terrified, though he +himself seemed to experience no feeling but the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>pleasurable +excitement of the chase; for, as soon as the obstacle was cleared, he +pressed on with new impetuosity after the stag, overtook him, and +killed him with his javelin. Then, alighting from his horse, he stood +by the side of his victim, to wait the coming up of the party, his +countenance beaming with an expression of triumph and delight.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He is reproved by his companions.<br />Cyrus kills a wild boar.</div> + +<p>His attendants, however, on their arrival, instead of applauding his +exploit, or seeming to share his pleasure, sharply reproved him for +his recklessness and daring. He had entirely disregarded their +instructions, and they threatened to report him to his grandfather. +Cyrus looked perplexed and uneasy. The excitement and the pleasure of +victory and success were struggling in his mind against his dread of +his grandfather's displeasure. Just at this instant he heard a new +halloo. Another party in the neighborhood had roused fresh game. All +Cyrus's returning sense of duty was blown at once to the winds. He +sprang to his horse with a shout of wild enthusiasm, and rode off +toward the scene of action. The game which had been started, a furious +wild boar, just then issued from a thicket directly before him. Cyrus, +instead of shunning the danger, as he ought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>have done, in +obedience to the orders of those to whom his grandfather had intrusted +him, dashed on to meet the boar at full speed, and aimed so true a +thrust with his javelin against the beast as to transfix him in the +forehead. The boar fell, and lay upon the ground in dying struggles, +while Cyrus's heart was filled with joy and triumph even greater than +before.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He is again reproved.</div> + +<p>When Cyaxares came up, he reproved Cyrus anew for running such risks. +Cyrus received the reproaches meekly, and then asked Cyaxares to give +him the two animals that he had killed; he wanted to carry them home +to his grandfather.</p> + +<p>"By no means," said Cyaxares, "your grandfather would be very much +displeased to know what you had done. He would not only condemn you +for acting thus, but he would reprove us too, severely, for allowing +you to do so."</p> + +<p>"Let him punish me," said Cyrus, "if he wishes, after I have shown him +the stag and the boar, and you may punish me too, if you think best; +but do let me show them to him."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus carries his game home.</div> + +<p>Cyaxares consented, and Cyrus made arrangements to have the bodies of +the beasts and the bloody javelins carried home. Cyrus then presented +the carcasses to his grandfather, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>saying that it was some game which +he had taken for him. The javelins he did not exhibit directly, but he +laid them down in a place where his grandfather would see them. +Astyages thanked him for his presents, but he said he had no such need +of presents of game as to wish his grandson to expose himself to such +imminent dangers to take it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Distributes it among his companions.</div> + +<p>"Well, grandfather," said Cyrus, "if you do not want the meat, give it +to me, and I will divide it among my friends." Astyages agreed to +this, and Cyrus divided his booty among his companions, the boys, who +had before hunted with him in the park. They, of course, took their +several portions home, each one carrying with his share of the gift a +glowing account of the valor and prowess of the giver. It was not +generosity which led Cyrus thus to give away the fruits of his toil, +but a desire to widen and extend his fame.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Another hunting party.</div> + +<p>When Cyrus was about fifteen or sixteen years old, his uncle Cyaxares +was married, and in celebrating his nuptials, he formed a great +hunting party, to go to the frontiers between Media and Assyria to +hunt there, where it was said that game of all kinds was very +plentiful, as it usually was, in fact, in those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>days, in the +neighborhood of disturbed and unsettled frontiers. The very causes +which made such a region as this a safe and frequented haunt for wild +beasts, made it unsafe for men, and Cyaxares did not consider it +prudent to venture on his excursion without a considerable force to +attend him. His hunting party formed, therefore, quite a little army. +They set out from home with great pomp and ceremony, and proceeded to +the frontiers in regular organization and order, like a body of troops +on a march. There was a squadron of horsemen, who were to hunt the +beasts in the open parts of the forest, and a considerable detachment +of light-armed footmen also, who were to rouse the game, and drive +them out of their lurking places in the glens and thickets. Cyrus +accompanied this expedition.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">A plundering party.</div> + +<p>When Cyaxares reached the frontiers, he concluded, instead of +contenting himself and his party with hunting wild beasts, to make an +incursion for plunder into the Assyrian territory, that being, as +Zenophon expresses it, a more noble enterprise than the other. The +nobleness, it seems, consisted in the greater imminence of the danger, +in having to contend with armed men instead of ferocious brutes, and +in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>the higher value of the prizes which they would obtain in case of +success. The idea of there being any injustice or wrong in this wanton +and unprovoked aggression upon the territories of a neighboring nation +seems not to have entered the mind either of the royal robber himself +or of his historian.</p> + +<p>Cyrus distinguished himself very conspicuously in this expedition, as +he had done in the hunting excursion before; and when, at length, this +nuptial party returned home, loaded with booty, the tidings of Cyrus's +exploits went to Persia. Cambyses thought that if his son was +beginning to take part, as a soldier, in military campaigns, it was +time for him to be recalled. He accordingly sent for him, and Cyrus +began to make preparations for his return.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus departs for Media.<br />Parting presents.</div> + +<p>The day of his departure was a day of great sadness and sorrow among +all his companions in Media, and, in fact, among all the members of +his grandfather's household. They accompanied him for some distance on +his way, and took leave of him, at last, with much regret and many +tears. Cyrus distributed among them, as they left him, the various +articles of value which he possessed, such as his arms, and ornaments +of various kinds, and costly articles <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>of dress. He gave his Median +robe, at last, to a certain youth whom he said he loved the best of +all. The name of this special favorite was Araspes. As these his +friends parted from him, Cyrus took his leave of them, one by one, as +they returned, with many proofs of his affection for them, and with a +very sad and heavy heart.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The presents returned.<br />Cyrus sends them back again.</div> + +<p>The boys and young men who had received these presents took them home, +but they were so valuable, that they or their parents, supposing that +they were given under a momentary impulse of feeling, and that they +ought to be returned, sent them all to Astyages. Astyages sent them to +Persia, to be restored to Cyrus. Cyrus sent them all back again to his +grandfather, with a request that he would distribute them again to +those to whom Cyrus had originally given them, "which," said he, +"grandfather, you must do, if you wish me ever to come to Media again +with pleasure and not with shame."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Character of Xenophon's narrative.<br />Its trustworthiness.<br />Character of Cyrus as given by Xenophon.</div> + +<p>Such is the story which Xenophon gives of Cyrus's visit to Media, and +in its romantic and incredible details it is a specimen of the whole +narrative which this author has given of his hero's life. It is not, +at the present day, supposed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>that these, and the many similar stories +with which Xenophon's books are filled, are true history. It is not +even thought that Xenophon really intended to offer his narrative as +history, but rather as an historical romance—a fiction founded on +fact, written to amuse the warriors of his times, and to serve as a +vehicle for inculcating such principles of philosophy, of morals, and +of military science as seemed to him worthy of the attention of his +countrymen. The story has no air of reality about it from beginning to +end, but only a sort of poetical fitness of one part to another, much +more like the contrived coincidences of a romance writer than like the +real events and transactions of actual life. A very large portion of +the work consists of long discourses on military, moral, and often +metaphysical philosophy, made by generals in council, or commanders in +conversation with each other when going into battle. The occurrences +and incidents out of which these conversations arise always take place +just as they are wanted and arrange themselves in a manner to produce +the highest dramatic effect; like the stag, the broken ground, and the +wild boar in Cyrus's hunting, which came, one after another, to +furnish the hero with poetical occasions for displaying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>his juvenile +bravery, and to produce the most picturesque and poetical grouping of +incidents and events. Xenophon too, like other writers of romances, +makes his hero a model of military virtue and magnanimity, according +to the ideas of the times. He displays superhuman sagacity in +circumventing his foes, he performs prodigies of valor, he forms the +most sentimental attachments, and receives with a romantic confidence +the adhesions of men who come over to his side from the enemy, and +who, being traitors to old friends, would seem to be only worthy of +suspicion and distrust in being received by new ones. Every thing, +however, results well; all whom he confides in prove worthy; all whom +he distrusts prove base. All his friends are generous and noble, and +all his enemies treacherous and cruel. Every prediction which he makes +is verified, and all his enterprises succeed; or if, in any respect, +there occurs a partial failure, the incident is always of such a +character as to heighten the impression which is made by the final and +triumphant success.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Herodotus more trustworthy than Xenophon.</div> + +<p>Such being the character of Xenophon's tale, or rather drama, we shall +content ourselves, after giving this specimen of it, with adding, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>in +some subsequent chapters, a few other scenes and incidents drawn from +his narrative. In the mean time, in relating the great leading events +of Cyrus's life, we shall take Herodotus for our guide, by following +his more sober, and, probably, more trustworthy record.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Crœsus.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 718-545</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The wealth of Crœsus.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> scene of our narrative must now be changed, for a time, from +Persia and Media, in the East, to Asia Minor, in the West, where the +great Crœsus, originally King of Lydia, was at this time gradually +extending his empire along the shores of the Ægean Sea. The name of +Crœsus is associated in the minds of men with the idea of boundless +wealth, the phrase "as rich as Crœsus" having been a common proverb +in all the modern languages of Europe for many centuries. It was to +this Crœsus, king of Lydia, whose story we are about to relate, +that the proverb alludes.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Mermnadæ.<br />Origin of the Mermnadean dynasty.</div> + +<p>The country of Lydia, over which this famous sovereign originally +ruled, was in the western part of Asia Minor, bordering on the Ægean +Sea. Crœsus himself belonged to a dynasty, or race of kings, called +the Mermnadæ. The founder of this line was Gyges, who displaced the +dynasty which preceded him and established his own by a revolution +effected in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>a very remarkable manner. The circumstances were as +follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Candaules and Gyges.<br />Infamous proposal of Candaules.<br />Remonstrance of Gyges.</div> + +<p>The name of the last monarch of the old dynasty—the one, namely, whom +Gyges displaced—was Candaules. Gyges was a household servant in +Candaules's family—a sort of slave, in fact, and yet, as such slaves +often were in those rude days, a personal favorite and boon companion +of his master. Candaules was a dissolute and unprincipled tyrant. He +had, however, a very beautiful and modest wife, whose name was Nyssia. +Candaules was very proud of the beauty of his queen, and was always +extolling it, though, as the event proved, he could not have felt for +her any true and honest affection. In some of his revels with Gyges, +when he was boasting of Nyssia's charms, he said that the beauty of +her form and figure, when unrobed, was even more exquisite than that +of her features; and, finally, the monster, growing more and more +excited, and having rendered himself still more of a brute than he was +by nature by the influence of wine, declared that Gyges should see for +himself. He would conceal him, he said, in the queen's bed-chamber, +while she was undressing for the night. Gyges remonstrated very +earnestly against this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>proposal. It would be doing the innocent +queen, he said, a great wrong. He assured the king, too, that he +believed fully all that he said about Nyssia's beauty, without +applying such a test, and he begged him not to insist upon a proposal +with which it would be criminal to comply.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Nyssia's suppressed indignation.</div> + +<p>The king, however, did insist upon it, and Gyges was compelled to +yield. Whatever is offered as a favor by a half-intoxicated despot to +an humble inferior, it would be death to refuse. Gyges allowed himself +to be placed behind a half-opened door of the king's apartment, when +the king retired to it for the night. There he was to remain while the +queen began to unrobe herself for retiring, with a strict injunction +to withdraw at a certain time which the king designated, and with the +utmost caution, so as to prevent being observed by the queen. Gyges +did as he was ordered. The beautiful queen laid aside her garments and +made her toilet for the night with all the quiet composure and +confidence which a woman might be expected to feel while in so sacred +and inviolable a sanctuary, and in the presence and under the +guardianship of her husband. Just as she was about to retire to rest, +some movement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>alarmed her. It was Gyges going away. She saw him. She +instantly understood the case. She was overwhelmed with indignation +and shame. She, however, suppressed and concealed her emotions; she +spoke to Candaules in her usual tone of voice, and he, on his part, +secretly rejoiced in the adroit and successful manner in which his +little contrivance had been carried into execution.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">She sends for Gyges.</div> + +<p>The next morning Nyssia sent, by some of her confidential messengers, +for Gyges to come to her. He came, with some forebodings, perhaps, but +without any direct reason for believing that what he had done had been +discovered. Nyssia, however, informed him that she knew all, and that +either he or her husband must die. Gyges earnestly remonstrated +against this decision, and supplicated forgiveness. He explained the +circumstances under which the act had been performed, which seemed, at +least so far as he was concerned, to palliate the deed. The queen was, +however, fixed and decided. It was wholly inconsistent with her ideas +of womanly delicacy that there should be two living men who had both +been admitted to her bed-chamber. "The king," she said, "by what he +has done, has forfeited his claims to me and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>resigned me to you. If +you will kill him, seize his kingdom, and make me your wife, all shall +be well; otherwise you must prepare to die."</p> + +<p>From this hard alternative, Gyges chose to assassinate the king, and +to make the lovely object before him his own. The excitement of +indignation and resentment which glowed upon her cheek, and with which +her bosom was heaving, made her more beautiful than ever.</p> + +<p>"How shall our purpose be accomplished?" asked Gyges. "The deed," she +replied, "shall be perpetrated in the very place which was the scene +of the dishonor done to me. I will admit you into our bed-chamber in +my turn, and you shall kill Candaules in his bed."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Candaules is assassinated.<br />Gyges succeeds.</div> + +<p>When night came, Nyssia stationed Gyges again behind the same door +where the king had placed him. He had a dagger in his hand. He waited +there till Candaules was asleep. Then at a signal given him by the +queen, he entered, and stabbed the husband in his bed. He married +Nyssia, and possessed himself of the kingdom. After this, he and his +successors reigned for many years over the kingdom of Lydia, +constituting the dynasty of the Mermnadæ, from which, in process of +time, King Crœsus descended.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Lydian power extended.<br /> +The wars of Alyattes.<br />Destruction of Minerva's temple.</div> + +<p>The successive sovereigns of this dynasty gradually extended the +Lydian power over the countries around them. The name of Crœsus's +father, who was the monarch that immediately preceded him, was +Alyattes. Alyattes waged war toward the southward, into the +territories of the city of Miletus. He made annual incursions into the +country of the Milesians for plunder, always taking care, however, +while he seized all the movable property that he could find, to leave +the villages and towns, and all the hamlets of the laborers without +injury. The reason for this was, that he did not wish to drive away +the population, but to encourage them to remain and cultivate their +lands, so that there might be new flocks and herds, and new stores of +corn, and fruit, and wine, for him to plunder from in succeeding +years. At last, on one of these marauding excursions, some fires which +were accidentally set in a field spread into a neighboring town, and +destroyed, among other buildings, a temple consecrated to Minerva. +After this, Alyattes found himself quite unsuccessful in all his +expeditions and campaigns. He sent to a famous oracle to ask the +reason.</p> + +<p>"You can expect no more success," replied <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>the oracle, "until you +rebuild the temple that you have destroyed."</p> + +<p>But how could he rebuild the temple? The site was in the enemy's +country. His men could not build an edifice and defend themselves, at +the same time, from the attacks of their foes. He concluded to demand +a truce of the Milesians until the reconstruction should be completed, +and he sent embassadors to Miletus, accordingly, to make the proposal.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Stratagem of Thrasybulus<br />Success of the stratagem.<br />A treaty of peace concluded.</div> + +<p>The proposition for a truce resulted in a permanent peace, by means of +a very singular stratagem which Thrasybulus, the king of Miletus, +practiced upon Alyattes. It seems that Alyattes supposed that +Thrasybulus had been reduced to great distress by the loss and +destruction of provisions and stores in various parts of the country, +and that he would soon be forced to yield up his kingdom. This was, in +fact, the case; but Thrasybulus determined to disguise his real +condition, and to destroy, by an artifice, all the hopes which +Alyattes had formed from the supposed scarcity in the city. When the +herald whom Alyattes sent to Miletus was about to arrive, Thrasybulus +collected all the corn, and grain, and other provisions which he could +command, and had them heaped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>up in a public part of the city, where +the herald was to be received, so as to present indications of the +most ample abundance of food. He collected a large body of his +soldiers, too, and gave them leave to feast themselves without +restriction on what he had thus gathered. Accordingly, when the herald +came in to deliver his message, he found the whole city given up to +feasting and revelry, and he saw stores of provisions at hand, which +were in process of being distributed and consumed with the most +prodigal profusion. The herald reported this state of things to +Alyattes. Alyattes then gave up all hopes of reducing Miletus by +famine, and made a permanent peace, binding himself to its +stipulations by a very solemn treaty. To celebrate the event, too, he +built two temples to Minerva instead of one.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Story of Arion and the dolphin.</div> + +<p>A story is related by Herodotus of a remarkable escape made by Arion +at sea, which occurred during the reign of Alyattes, the father of +Crœsus. We will give the story as Herodotus relates it, leaving the +reader to judge for himself whether such tales were probably true, or +were only introduced by Herodotus into his narrative to make his +histories more entertaining to the Grecian assemblies to whom he read +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>them. Arion was a celebrated singer. He had been making a tour in +Sicily and in the southern part of Italy, where he had acquired +considerable wealth, and he was now returning to Corinth. He embarked +at Tarentum, which is a city in the southern part of Italy, in a +Corinthian vessel, and put to sea. When the sailors found that they +had him in their power, they determined to rob and murder him. They +accordingly seized his gold and silver, and then told him that he +might either kill himself or jump overboard into the sea. One or the +other he must do. If he would kill himself on board the vessel, they +would give him decent burial when they reached the shore.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The alternative.<br />Arion leaps into the sea.<br />He is preserved by a dolphin.</div> + +<p>Arion seemed at first at a loss how to decide in so hard an +alternative. At length he told the sailors that he would throw himself +into the sea, but he asked permission to sing them one of his songs +before he took the fatal plunge. They consented. He accordingly went +into the cabin, and spent some time in dressing himself magnificently +in the splendid and richly-ornamented robes in which he had been +accustomed to appear upon the stage. At length he reappeared, and took +his position on the side of the ship, with his harp in his hand. He +sang <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>his song, accompanying himself upon the harp, and then, when he +had finished his performance, he leaped into the sea. The seamen +divided their plunder and pursued their voyage. Arion, however, +instead of being drowned, was taken up by a dolphin that had been +charmed by his song, and was borne by him to Tænarus, which is the +promontory formed by the southern extremity of the Peloponnesus. There +Arion landed in safety. From Tænarus he proceeded to Corinth, wearing +the same dress in which he had plunged into the sea. On his arrival, +he complained to the king of the crime which the sailors had +committed, and narrated his wonderful escape. The king did not believe +him, but put him in prison to wait until the ship should arrive. When +at last the vessel came, the king summoned the sailors into his +presence, and asked them if they knew any thing of Arion. Arion +himself had been previously placed in an adjoining room, ready to be +called in as soon as his presence was required. The mariners answered +to the question which the king put to them, that they had seen Arion +in Tarentum, and that they had left him there. Arion was then himself +called in. His sudden appearance, clothed as he was in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>same dress +in which the mariners had seen him leap into the sea, so terrified the +conscience-stricken criminals, that they confessed their guilt, and +were all punished by the king. A marble statue, representing a man +seated upon a dolphin, was erected at Tænarus to commemorate this +event, where it remained for centuries afterward, a monument of the +wonder which Arion had achieved.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Alyattes.<br />Succession of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>At length Alyattes died and Crœsus succeeded him. Crœsus +extended still further the power and fame of the Lydian empire, and +was for a time very successful in all his military schemes. By looking +upon the map, the reader will see that the Ægean Sea, along the coasts +of Asia Minor, is studded with islands. These islands were in those +days very fertile and beautiful, and were densely inhabited by a +commercial and maritime people, who possessed a multitude of ships, +and were very powerful in all the adjacent seas. Of course their land +forces were very few, whether of horse or of foot, as the habits and +manners of such a sea-going people were all foreign to modes of +warfare required in land campaigns. On the sea, however, these +islanders were supreme.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Plans of Crœsus for subjugating the islands.</div> + +<p>Crœsus formed a scheme for attacking these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>islands and bringing +them under his sway, and he began to make preparations for building +and equipping a fleet for this purpose, though, of course, his +subjects were as unused to the sea as the nautical islanders were to +military operations on the land. While he was making these +preparations, a certain philosopher was visiting at his court: he was +one of the seven wise men of Greece, who had recently come from the +Peloponnesus. Crœsus asked him if there was any news from that +country. "I heard," said the philosopher, "that the inhabitants of the +islands were preparing to invade your dominions with a squadron of ten +thousand horse." Crœsus, who supposed that the philosopher was +serious, appeared greatly pleased and elated at the prospect of his +sea-faring enemies attempting to meet him as a body of cavalry. "No +doubt," said the philosopher, after a little pause, "you would be +pleased to have those sailors attempt to contend with you on +horseback; but do you not suppose that they will be equally pleased at +the prospect of encountering Lydian landsmen on the ocean?"</p> + +<p>Crœsus perceived the absurdity of his plan, and abandoned the +attempt to execute it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The golden sands of the Pactolus.<br />The story of Midas.</div> + +<p>Crœsus acquired the enormous wealth for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>which he was so celebrated +from the golden sands of the River Pactolus, which flowed through his +kingdom. The river brought the particles of gold, in grains, and +globules, and flakes, from the mountains above, and the servants and +slaves of Crœsus washed the sands, and thus separated the heavier +deposit of the metal. In respect to the origin of the gold, however, +the people who lived upon the banks of the river had a different +explanation from the simple one that the waters brought down the +treasure from the mountain ravines. They had a story that, ages +before, a certain king, named Midas, rendered some service to a god, +who, in his turn, offered to grant him any favor that he might ask. +Midas asked that the power might be granted him to turn whatever he +touched into gold. The power was bestowed, and Midas, after changing +various objects around him into gold until he was satisfied, began to +find his new acquisition a source of great inconvenience and danger. +His clothes, his food, and even his drink, were changed to gold when +he touched them. He found that he was about to starve in the midst of +a world of treasure, and he implored the god to take back the fatal +gift. The god directed him to go and bathe in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Pactolus, and he +should be restored to his former condition. Midas did so, and was +saved, but not without transforming a great portion of the sands of +the stream into gold during the process of his restoration.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Wealth and renown of Crœsus.<br />Visit of Solon.<br />Crœsus and Solon.</div> + +<p>Crœsus thus attained quite speedily to a very high degree of +wealth, prosperity, and renown. His dominions were widely extended; +his palaces were full of treasures; his court was a scene of +unexampled magnificence and splendor. While in the enjoyment of all +this grandeur, he was visited by Solon, the celebrated Grecian +law-giver, who was traveling in that part of the world to observe the +institutions and customs of different states. Crœsus received Solon +with great distinction, and showed him all his treasures. At last he +one day said to him, "You have traveled, Solon, over many countries, +and have studied, with a great deal of attention and care, all that +you have seen. I have heard great commendations of your wisdom, and I +should like very much to know who, of all the persons you have ever +known, has seemed to you most fortunate and happy."</p> + +<p>The king had no doubt that the answer would be that he himself was the +one.</p> + +<p>"I think," replied Solon, after a pause, "that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Tellus, an Athenian +citizen, was the most fortunate and happy man I have ever known."</p> + +<p>"Tellus, an Athenian!" repeated Crœsus, surprised. "What was there +in his case which you consider so remarkable?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">What constitutes happiness.</div> + +<p>"He was a peaceful and quiet citizen of Athens," said Solon. "He lived +happily with his family, under a most excellent government, enjoying +for many years all the pleasures of domestic life. He had several +amiable and virtuous children, who all grew up to maturity, and loved +and honored their parents as long as they lived. At length, when his +life was drawing toward its natural termination, a war broke out with +a neighboring nation, and Tellus went with the army to defend his +country. He aided very essentially in the defeat of the enemy, but +fell, at last, on the field of battle. His countrymen greatly lamented +his death. They buried him publicly where he fell, with every +circumstance of honor."</p> + +<p>Solon was proceeding to recount the domestic and social virtues of +Tellus, and the peaceful happiness which he enjoyed as the result of +them, when Crœsus interrupted him to ask who, next to Tellus, he +considered the most fortunate and happy man.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Cleobis and Bito.</div> + +<p>Solon, after a little farther reflection, mentioned two brothers, +Cleobis and Bito, private persons among the Greeks, who were +celebrated for their great personal strength, and also for their +devoted attachment to their mother. He related to Crœsus a story of +a feat they performed on one occasion, when their mother, at the +celebration of some public festival, was going some miles to a temple, +in a car to be drawn by oxen. There happened to be some delay in +bringing the oxen, while the mother was waiting in the car. As the +oxen did not come, the young men took hold of the pole of the car +themselves, and walked off at their ease with the load, amid the +acclamations of the spectators, while their mother's heart was filled +with exultation and pride.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crœsus displeased with Solon.</div> + +<p>Crœsus here interrupted the philosopher again, and expressed his +surprise that he should place private men, like those whom he had +named, who possessed no wealth, or prominence, or power, before a +monarch like him, occupying a station of such high authority and +renown, and possessing such boundless treasures.</p> + +<p>"Crœsus," replied Solon, "I see you now, indeed, at the height of +human power and grandeur. You reign supreme over many nations, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>and +you are in the enjoyment of unbounded affluence, and every species of +luxury and splendor. I can not, however, decide whether I am to +consider you a fortunate and happy man, until I know how all this is +to end. If we consider seventy years as the allotted period of life, +you have a large portion of your existence yet to come, and we can not +with certainty pronounce any man happy till his life is ended."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Solon treated with neglect.</div> + +<p>This conversation with Solon made a deep impression upon Crœsus's +mind, as was afterward proved in a remarkable manner; but the +impression was not a pleasant or a salutary one. The king, however, +suppressed for the time the resentment which the presentation of these +unwelcome truths awakened within him, though he treated Solon +afterward with indifference and neglect, so that the philosopher soon +found it best to withdraw.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The two sons of Crœsus.<br />The king's dream.</div> + +<p>Crœsus had two sons. One was deaf and dumb. The other was a young +man of uncommon promise, and, of course, as he only could succeed his +father in the government of the kingdom, he was naturally an object of +the king's particular attention and care. His name was Atys. He was +unmarried. He was, however, old enough to have the command of a +considerable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>body of troops, and he had often distinguished himself +in the Lydian campaigns. One night the king had a dream about Atys +which greatly alarmed him. He dreamed that his son was destined to die +of a wound received from the point of an iron spear. The king was made +very uneasy by this ominous dream. He determined at once to take every +precaution in his power to avert the threatened danger. He immediately +detached Atys from his command in the army, and made provision for his +marriage. He then very carefully collected all the darts, javelins, +and every other iron-pointed weapon that he could find about the +palace, and caused them to be deposited carefully in a secure place, +where there could be no danger even of an accidental injury from them.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Arrival of Adrastus.</div> + +<p>About that time there appeared at the court of Crœsus a stranger +from Phrygia, a neighboring state, who presented himself at the palace +and asked for protection. He was a prince of the royal family of +Phrygia, and his name was Adrastus. He had had the misfortune, by some +unhappy accident, to kill his brother; his father, in consequence of +it, had banished him from his native land, and he was now homeless, +friendless, and destitute.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p><p>Crœsus received him kindly. "Your family have always been my +friends," said he, "and I am glad of the opportunity to make some +return by extending my protection to any member of it suffering +misfortune. You shall reside in my palace, and all your wants shall be +supplied. Come in, and forget the calamity which has befallen you, +instead of distressing yourself with it as if it had been a crime."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The wild boar.<br />Precautions of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>Thus Crœsus received the unfortunate Adrastus into his household. +After the prince had been domiciliated in his new home for some time, +messengers came from Mysia, a neighboring state, saying that a wild +boar of enormous size and unusual ferocity had come down from the +mountains, and was lurking in the cultivated country, in thickets and +glens, from which, at night, he made great havoc among the flocks and +herds, and asking that Crœsus would send his son, with a band of +hunters and a pack of dogs, to help them destroy the common enemy. +Crœsus consented immediately to send the dogs and the men, but he +said that he could not send his son. "My son," he added, "has been +lately married, and his time and attention are employed about other +things."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Remonstrance of Atys.</div> + +<p>When, however, Atys himself heard of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>reply, he remonstrated very +earnestly against it, and begged his father to allow him to go. "What +will the world think of me," said he "if I shut myself up to these +effeminate pursuits and enjoyments, and shun those dangers and toils +which other men consider it their highest honor to share? What will my +fellow-citizens think of me, and how shall I appear in the eyes of my +wife? She will despise me."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Explanation of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>Crœsus then explained to his son the reason why he had been so +careful to avoid exposing him to danger. He related to him the dream +which had alarmed him. "It is on that account," said he, "that I am so +anxious about you. You are, in fact, my only son, for your speechless +brother can never be my heir."</p> + +<p>Atys said, in reply, that he was not surprised, under those +circumstances, at his father's anxiety; but he maintained that this +was a case to which his caution could not properly apply.</p> + +<p>"You dreamed," he said, "that I should be killed by a weapon pointed +with iron; but a boar has no such weapon. If the dream had portended +that I was to perish by a tusk or a tooth, you might reasonably have +restrained me from going to hunt a wild beast; but iron-pointed +instruments are the weapons of men, and we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>are not going, in this +expedition, to contend with men."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Atys joins the expedition.</div> + +<p>The king, partly convinced, perhaps, by the arguments which Atys +offered, and partly overborne by the urgency of his request, finally +consented to his request and allowed him to go. He consigned him, +however, to the special care of Adrastus, who was likewise to +accompany the expedition, charging Adrastus to keep constantly by his +side, and to watch over him with the utmost vigilance and fidelity.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He is killed by Adrastus.</div> + +<p>The band of huntsmen was organized, the dogs prepared, and the train +departed. Very soon afterward, a messenger came back from the hunting +ground, breathless, and with a countenance of extreme concern and +terror, bringing the dreadful tidings that Atys was dead. Adrastus +himself had killed him. In the ardor of the chase, while the huntsmen +had surrounded the boar, and were each intent on his own personal +danger while in close combat with such a monster, and all were hurling +darts and javelins at their ferocious foe, the spear of Adrastus +missed its aim, and entered the body of the unhappy prince. He bled to +death on the spot.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Anguish of Adrastus.</div> + +<p>Soon after the messenger had made known <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>these terrible tidings, the +hunting train, transformed now into a funeral procession, appeared, +bearing the dead body of the king's son, and followed by the wretched +Adrastus himself, who was wringing his hands, and crying out +incessantly in accents and exclamations of despair. He begged the king +to kill him at once, over the body of his son, and thus put an end to +the unutterable agony that he endured. This second calamity was more, +he said, than he could bear. He had killed before his own brother, and +now he had murdered the son of his greatest benefactor and friend.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Burial of Atys.<br />Adrastus kills himself.</div> + +<p>Crœsus, though overwhelmed with anguish, was disarmed of all +resentment at witnessing Adrastus's suffering. He endeavored to soothe +and quiet the agitation which the unhappy man endured, but it was in +vain. Adrastus could not be calmed. Crœsus then ordered the body of +his son to be buried with proper honors. The funeral services were +performed with great and solemn ceremonies, and when the body was +interred, the household of Crœsus returned to the palace, which was +now, in spite of all its splendor, shrouded in gloom. That night—at +midnight—Adrastus, finding his mental anguish insupportable retired +from his apartment to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>the place where Atys had been buried, and +killed himself over the grave.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="sidenote">Grief of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>Solon was wise in saying that he could not tell whether wealth and +grandeur were to be accounted as happiness till he saw how they would +end. Crœsus was plunged into inconsolable grief, and into extreme +dejection and misery for a period of two years, in consequence of this +calamity, and yet this calamity was only the beginning of the end.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Accession of Cyrus to the Throne.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 560</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Change in the character of Cyrus.<br />His ambition.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">W</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">hile</span> Crœsus had thus, on his side of the River Halys—which was +the stream that marked the boundary between the Lydian empire on the +west and the Persian and Assyrian dominions on the east—been employed +in building up his grand structure of outward magnificence and +splendor, and in contending, within, against an overwhelming tide of +domestic misery and woe, great changes had taken place in the +situation and prospects of Cyrus. From being an artless and +generous-minded child, he had become a calculating, ambitious, and +aspiring man, and he was preparing to take his part in the great +public contests and struggles of the day, with the same eagerness for +self-aggrandizement, and the same unconcern for the welfare and +happiness of others, which always characterizes the spirit of ambition +and love of power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Capriciousness of Astyages.</div> + +<p>Although it is by no means certain that what Xenophon relates of his +visit to his grandfather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>Astyages is meant for a true narrative of +facts, it is not at all improbable that such a visit might have been +made, and that occurrences, somewhat similar, at least, to those which +his narrative records, may have taken place. It may seem strange to +the reader that a man who should, at one time, wish to put his +grandchild to death, should, at another, be disposed to treat him with +such a profusion of kindness and attention. There is nothing, however, +really extraordinary in this. Nothing is more fluctuating than the +caprice of a despot. Man, accustomed from infancy to govern those +around him by his own impetuous will, never learns self-control. He +gives himself up to the dominion of the passing animal emotions of the +hour. It may be jealousy, it may be revenge, it may be parental +fondness, it may be hate, it may be love—whatever the feeling is that +the various incidents of life, as they occur, or the influences, +irritating or exhilarating, which are produced by food or wine, awaken +in his mind, he follows its impulse blindly and without reserve. He +loads a favorite with kindness and caresses at one hour, and directs +his assassination the next. He imagines that his infant grandchild is +to become his rival, and he deliberately orders <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>him to be left in a +gloomy forest alone, to die of cold and hunger. When the imaginary +danger has passed away, he seeks amusement in making the same +grandchild his plaything, and overwhelms him with favors bestowed +solely for the gratification of the giver, under the influence of an +affection almost as purely animal as that of a lioness for her young.</p> + +<p>Favors of such a sort can awaken no permanent gratitude in any heart, +and thus it is quite possible that Cyrus might have evinced, during +the simple and guileless days of his childhood, a deep veneration and +affection for his grandfather, and yet, in subsequent years, when he +had arrived at full maturity, have learned to regard him simply in the +light of a great political potentate, as likely as any other potentate +around him to become his rival or his enemy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus makes great progress in mental and personal +accomplishments.</div> + +<p>This was, at all events, the result. Cyrus, on his return to Persia, +grew rapidly in strength and stature, and soon became highly +distinguished for his personal grace, his winning manners, and for the +various martial accomplishments which he had acquired in Media, and in +which he excelled almost all his companions. He gained, as such +princes always do, a vast ascendency over the minds of all around +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>him. As he advanced toward maturity, his mind passed from its +interest in games, and hunting, and athletic sports, to plans of war, +of conquest, and of extended dominion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Harpagus's plans for revenge.<br />Suspicions of Astyages.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Harpagus, though he had, at the time when he endured +the horrid punishment which Astyages inflicted upon him, expressed no +resentment, still he had secretly felt an extreme indignation and +anger, and he had now, for fifteen years, been nourishing covert +schemes and plans for revenge. He remained all this time in the court +of Astyages, and was apparently his friend. He was, however, in heart +a most bitter and implacable enemy. He was looking continually for a +plan or prospect which should promise some hope of affording him his +long-desired revenge. His eyes were naturally turned toward Cyrus. He +kept up a communication with him so far as it was possible, for +Astyages watched very closely what passed between the two countries, +being always suspicious of plots against his government and crown. +Harpagus, however, contrived to evade this vigilance in some degree. +He made continual reports to Cyrus of the tyranny and misgovernment of +Astyages, and of the defenselessness of the realm of Media, and he +endeavored <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>to stimulate his rising ambition to the desire of one day +possessing for himself both the Median and Persian throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Condition of Persia.</div> + +<p>In fact, Persia was not then independent of Media. It was more or less +connected with the government of Astyages, so that Cambyses, the chief +ruler of Persia, Cyrus's father, is called sometimes a king and +sometimes a <i>satrap</i>, which last title is equivalent to that of +viceroy or governor general. Whatever his true and proper title may +have been, Persia was a Median dependency, and Cyrus, therefore, in +forming plans for gaining possession of the Median throne, would +consider himself as rather endeavoring to rise to the supreme command +in his own native country, than as projecting any scheme for foreign +conquest.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Discontent in Media.<br />Proceedings of Harpagus.</div> + +<p>Harpagus, too, looked upon the subject in the same light. Accordingly, +in pushing forward his plots toward their execution, he operated in +Media as well as Persia, He ascertained, by diligent and sagacious, +but by very covert inquiries, who were discontented and ill at ease +under the dominion of Astyages, and by sympathizing with and +encouraging them, he increased their discontent and insubmission. +Whenever Astyages, in the exercise of his tyranny <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>inflicted an injury +upon a powerful subject, Harpagus espoused the cause of the injured +man, condemned, with him, the intolerable oppression of the king, and +thus fixed and perpetuated his enmity. At the same time, he took pains +to collect and to disseminate among the Medes all the information +which he could obtain favorable to Cyrus, in respect to his talents, +his character, and his just and generous spirit, so that, at length, +the ascendency of Astyages, through the instrumentality of these +measures, was very extensively undermined, and the way was rapidly +becoming prepared for Cyrus's accession to power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His deportment toward Astyages.</div> + +<p>During all this time, moreover, Harpagus was personally very +deferential and obsequious to Astyages, and professed an unbounded +devotedness to his interests. He maintained a high rank at court and +in the army, and Astyages relied upon him as one of the most obedient +and submissive of his servants, without entertaining any suspicion +whatever of his true designs.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Co-operation in Media.</div> + +<p>At length a favorable occasion arose, as Harpagus thought, for the +execution of his plans. It was at a time when Astyages had been guilty +of some unusual acts of tyranny and oppression, by which he had +produced extensive dissatisfaction <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>among his people. Harpagus +communicated, very cautiously, to the principal men around him, the +designs that he had long been forming for deposing Astyages and +elevating Cyrus in his place. He found them favorably inclined to the +plan. The way being thus prepared, the next thing was to contrive some +secret way of communicating with Cyrus. As the proposal which he was +going to make was that Cyrus should come into Media with as great a +force as he could command, and head an insurrection against the +government of Astyages, it would, of course, be death to him to have +it discovered. He did not dare to trust the message to any living +messenger, for fear of betrayal; nor was it safe to send a letter by +any ordinary mode of transmission, lest the letter should be +intercepted by some of Astyages's spies, and thus the whole plot be +discovered. He finally adopted the following very extraordinary plan:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 131-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i125.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="301" alt="The Secret Correspondence." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Secret Correspondence.</span> +</div> + +<div class="sidenote2">Harpagus writes to Cyrus.<br />Harpagus's singular method of conveying his letter to +Cyrus.</div> + +<p>He wrote a letter to Cyrus, and then taking a hare, which some of his +huntsmen had caught for him, he opened the body and concealed the +letter within. He then sewed up the skin again in the most careful +manner, so that no signs of the incision should remain. He delivered +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> this hare, together with some nets and other hunting apparatus, to +certain trustworthy servants, on whom he thought he could rely, +charging them to deliver the hare into Cyrus's own hands, and to say +that it came from Harpagus, and that it was the request of Harpagus +that Cyrus should open it himself and alone. Harpagus concluded that +this mode of making the communication was safe; for, in case the +persons to whom the hare was intrusted were to be seen by any of the +spies or other persons employed by Astyages on the frontiers, they +would consider them as hunters returning from the chase with their +game, and would never think of examining the body of a hare, in the +hands of such a party, in search after a clandestine correspondence.</p> + +<p>The plan was perfectly successful. The men passed into Persia without +any suspicion. They delivered the hare to Cyrus, with their message. +He opened the hare, and found the letter. It was in substance as +follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Contents of Harpagus's letter.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is plain, Cyrus, that you are a favorite of Heaven, and +that you are destined to a great and glorious career. You +could not otherwise have escaped, in so miraculous a manner, +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>snares set for you in your infancy. Astyages meditated +your death, and he took such measures to effect it as would +seem to have made your destruction sure. You were saved by +the special interposition of Heaven. Yon are aware by what +extraordinary incidents you were preserved and discovered, +and what great and unusual prosperity has since attended +you. You know, too, what cruel punishments Astyages +inflicted upon me, for my humanity in saving you. The time +has now come for retribution. From this time the authority +and the dominions of Astyages may be yours. Persuade the +Persians to revolt. Put yourself at the head of an army, and +march into Media. I shall probably myself be appointed to +command the army sent out to oppose you. If so, we will join +our forces when we meet, and I will enter your service. I +have conferred with the leading nobles in Media, and they +are all ready to espouse your cause. You may rely upon +finding every thing thus prepared for you here; come, +therefore, without any delay."</p></div> + +<div class="sidenote">Excitement of Cyrus.<br />Cyrus accedes to Harpagus's plan.</div> + +<p>Cyrus was thrown into a fever of excitement and agitation on reading +this letter. He determined to accede to Harpagus's proposal. He +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>revolved in his mind for some time the measures by which he could +raise the necessary force. Of course he could not openly announce his +plan and enlist an army to effect it, for any avowed and public +movement of that kind would be immediately made known to Astyages, +who, by being thus forewarned of his enemies' designs, might take +effectual measures to circumvent them. He determined to resort to +deceit, or, as he called it, stratagem; nor did he probably have any +distinct perception of the wrongfulness of such a mode of proceeding. +The demon of war upholds and justifies falsehood and treachery, in all +its forms, on the part of his votaries. He always applauds a forgery, +a false pretense, or a lie: he calls it a stratagem.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">How to raise an army.<br />The day of toil.</div> + +<p>Cyrus had a letter prepared, in the form of a commission from +Astyages, appointing him commander of a body of Persian forces to be +raised for the service of the king. Cyrus read the fabricated document +in the public assembly of the Persians, and called upon all the +warriors to join him. When they were organized, he ordered them to +assemble on a certain day, at a place that he named, each one provided +with a woodman's ax. When they were thus mustered, he marched them +into a forest, and set <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>them at work to clear a piece of ground. The +army toiled all day, felling the trees, and piling them up to be +burned. They cleared in this way, as Herodotus states, a piece of +ground eighteen or twenty furlongs in extent. Cyrus kept them thus +engaged in severe and incessant toil all the day, giving them, too, +only coarse food and little rest. At night he dismissed them, +commanding them to assemble again the second day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The day of festivity.</div> + +<p>On the second day, when they came together, they found a great banquet +prepared for them, and Cyrus directed them to devote the day to +feasting and making merry. There was an abundance of meats of all +kinds, and rich wines in great profusion. The soldiers gave themselves +up for the whole day to merriment and revelry. The toils and the hard +fare of the day before had prepared them very effectually to enjoy the +rest and the luxuries of this festival. They spent the hours in +feasting about their camp-fires and reclining on the grass, where they +amused themselves and one another by relating tales, or joining in +merry songs and dances. At last, in the evening, Cyrus called them +together, and asked them which day they had liked the best. They +replied that there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>was nothing at all to like in the one, and nothing +to be disliked in the other. They had had, on the first day, hard work +and bad fare, and on the second, uninterrupted ease and the most +luxurious pleasures.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Speech of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>"It is indeed so," said Cyrus, "and you have your destiny in your own +hands to make your lives pass like either of these days, just as you +choose. If you will follow me, you will enjoy ease, abundance, and +luxury. If you refuse, you must remain as you are, and toil on as you +do now, and endure your present privations and hardships to the end of +your days." He then explained to them his designs. He told them that +although Media was a great and powerful kingdom, still that they were +as good soldiers as the Medes, and with the arrangements and +preparations which he had made, they were sure of victory.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ardor of the soldiers.</div> + +<p>The soldiers received this proposal with great enthusiasm and joy. +They declared themselves ready to follow Cyrus wherever he should lead +them, and the whole body immediately commenced making preparations for +the expedition. Astyages was, of course, soon informed of these +proceedings. He sent an order to Cyrus, summoning him immediately into +his presence. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>Cyrus sent back word, in reply, that Astyages would +probably see him sooner than he wished, and went on vigorously with +his preparations. When all was ready, the army marched, and, crossing +the frontiers, they entered into Media.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defection of Harpagus.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Astyages had collected a large force, and, as had +been anticipated by the conspirators, he put it under the command of +Harpagus. Harpagus made known his design of going over to Cyrus as +soon as he should meet him, to as large a portion of the army as he +thought it prudent to admit to his confidence; the rest knew nothing +of the plan; and thus the Median army advanced to meet the invaders, a +part of the troops with minds intent on resolutely meeting and +repelling their enemies, while the rest were secretly preparing to go +over at once to their side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The battle.</div> + +<p>When the battle was joined, the honest part of the Median army fought +valiantly at first, but soon, thunderstruck and utterly confounded at +seeing themselves abandoned and betrayed by a large body of their +comrades, they were easily overpowered by the triumphant Persians. +Some were taken prisoners; some fled back to Astyages; and others, +following the example of the deserters, went over to Cyrus's camp and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>swelled the numbers of his train. Cyrus, thus re-enforced by the +accessions he had received, and encouraged by the flight or dispersion +of all who still wished to oppose him, began to advance toward the +capital.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Rage of Astyages.<br />His vengeance on the magi.</div> + +<p>Astyages, when he heard of the defection of Harpagus and of the +discomfiture of his army, was thrown into a perfect phrensy of rage +and hate. The long-dreaded prediction of his dream seemed now about to +be fulfilled, and the magi, who had taught him that when Cyrus had +once been made king of the boys in sport, there was no longer any +danger of his aspiring to regal power, had proved themselves false. +They had either intentionally deceived him, or they were ignorant +themselves, and in that case they were worthless impostors. Although +the danger from Cyrus's approach was imminent in the extreme, Astyages +could not take any measures for guarding against it until he had first +gratified the despotic cruelty of his nature by taking vengeance on +these false pretenders. He directed to have them all seized and +brought before him, and then, having upbraided them with bitter +reproaches for their false predictions, he ordered them all to be +crucified.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defeat and capture of Astyages.</div> + +<p>He then adopted the most decisive measures <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>for raising an army. He +ordered every man capable of bearing arms to come forward, and then, +putting himself at the head of the immense force which he had thus +raised, he advanced to meet his enemy. He supposed, no doubt, that he +was sure of victory; but he under-rated the power which the +discipline, the resolution, the concentration, and the terrible energy +of Cyrus's troops gave to their formidable array. He was defeated. His +army was totally cut to pieces, and he himself was taken prisoner.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Interview with Harpagus.</div> + +<p>Harpagus was present when he was taken, and he exulted in revengeful +triumph over the fallen tyrant's ruin. Astyages was filled with rage +and despair. Harpagus asked him what he thought now of the supper in +which he had compelled a father to feed on the flesh of his child. +Astyages, in reply, asked Harpagus whether he thought that the success +of Cyrus was owing to what he had done. Harpagus replied that it was, +and exultingly explained to Astyages the plots he had formed, and the +preparations which he had made for Cyrus's invasion, so that Astyages +might see that his destruction had been effected by Harpagus alone, in +terrible retribution for the atrocious crime which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>he had committed +so many years before, and for which the vengeance of the sufferer had +slumbered, during the long interval, only to be more complete and +overwhelming at last.</p> + +<p>Astyages told Harpagus that he was a miserable wretch, the most +foolish and most wicked of mankind. He was the most foolish, for +having plotted to put power into another's hands which it would have +been just as easy for him to have secured and retained in his own; and +he was the most wicked, for having betrayed his country, and delivered +it over to a foreign power, merely to gratify his own private revenge.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus King of Media and Persia.<br />Confinement of Astyages.<br />Acquiescence of the Medes.</div> + +<p>The result of this battle was the complete overthrow of the power and +kingdom of Astyages, and the establishment of Cyrus on the throne of +the united kingdom of Media and Persia. Cyrus treated his grandfather +with kindness after his victory over him. He kept him confined, it is +true, but it was probably that indirect and qualified sort of +confinement which is all that is usually enforced in the case of +princes and kings. In such cases, some extensive and often sumptuous +residence is assigned to the illustrious prisoner, with grounds +sufficiently extensive to afford every necessary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>range for recreation +and exercise, and with bodies of troops for keepers, which have much +more the form and appearance of military guards of honor attending on +a prince, than of jailers confining a prisoner. It was probably in +such an imprisonment as this that Astyages passed the remainder of his +days. The people, having been wearied with his despotic tyranny, +rejoiced in his downfall, and acquiesced very readily in the milder +and more equitable government of Cyrus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Death of Astyages.</div> + +<p>Astyages came to his death many years afterward, in a somewhat +remarkable manner. Cyrus sent for him to come into Persia, where he +was himself then residing. The officer who had Astyages in charge, +conducted him, on the way, into a desolate wilderness, where he +perished of fatigue, exposure, and hunger. It was supposed that this +was done in obedience to secret orders from Cyrus, who perhaps found +the charge of such a prisoner a burden. The officer, however, was +cruelly punished for the act; but even this may have been only for +appearances, to divert the minds of men from all suspicion that Cyrus +could himself have been an accomplice in such a crime.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Suddenness of Cyrus's elevation.</div> + +<p>The whole revolution which has been described <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>in this chapter, from +its first inception to its final accomplishment, was effected in a +very short period of time, and Cyrus thus found himself very +unexpectedly and suddenly elevated to a throne.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Harpagus.</div> + +<p>Harpagus continued in his service, and became subsequently one of his +most celebrated generals.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Oracles.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 547</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Plans of Crœsus.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">s</span> soon as Cyrus had become established on his throne as King of the +Medes and Persians, his influence and power began to extend westward +toward the confines of the empire of Crœsus, king of Lydia. +Crœsus was aroused from the dejection and stupor into which the +death of his son had plunged him, as related in a former chapter, by +this threatening danger. He began to consider very earnestly what he +could do to avert it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The River Halys.</div> + +<p>The River Halys, a great river of Asia Minor, which flows northward +into the Black Sea, was the eastern boundary of the Lydian empire. +Crœsus began to entertain the design of raising an army and +crossing the Halys, to invade the empire of Cyrus, thinking that that +would perhaps be safer policy than to wait for Cyrus to cross the +Halys, and bring the war upon him. Still, the enterprise of invading +Persia was a vast undertaking, and the responsibility great of being +the aggressor in the contest. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>After carefully considering the subject +in all its aspects, Crœsus found himself still perplexed and +undecided.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Nature of the oracles.</div> + +<p>The Greeks had a method of looking into futurity, and of ascertaining, +as they imagined, by supernatural means, the course of future events, +which was peculiar to that people; at least no other nation seems ever +to have practiced it in the precise form which prevailed among them. +It was by means of the oracles. There were four or five localities in +the Grecian countries which possessed, as the people thought, the +property of inspiring persons who visited them, or of giving to some +natural object certain supernatural powers by which future events +could be foretold. The three most important of these oracles were +situated respectively at Delphi, at Dodona, and at the Oasis of +Jupiter Ammon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Situation of Delphi.<br />The gaseous vapor.<br />The priestess.<br />The sacred tripod.</div> + +<p>Delphi was a small town built in a sort of valley, shaped like an +amphitheater, on the southern side of Mount Parnassus. Mount Parnassus +is north of the Peloponnesus, not very far from the shores of the Gulf +of Corinth. Delphi was in a picturesque and romantic situation, with +the mountain behind it, and steep, precipitous rocks descending to the +level country <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>before. These precipices answered instead of walls to +defend the temple and the town. In very early times a cavern or +fissure in the rocks was discovered at Delphi, from which there issued +a stream of gaseous vapor, which produced strange effects on those who +inhaled it. It was supposed to inspire them. People resorted to the +place to obtain the benefit of these inspirations, and of the +knowledge which they imagined they could obtain by means of them. +Finally, a temple was built, and a priestess resided constantly in it, +to inhale the vapor and give the responses. When she gave her answers +to those who came to consult the oracle, she sat upon a sort of +three-legged stool, which was called the sacred tripod. These stools +were greatly celebrated as a very important part of the sacred +apparatus of the place. This oracle became at last so renowned, that +the greatest potentates, and even kings, came from great distances to +consult it, and they made very rich and costly presents at the shrine +when they came. These presents, it was supposed, tended to induce the +god who presided over the oracle to give to those who made them +favorable and auspicious replies. The deity that dictated the +predictions of this oracle was Apollo.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>There was another circumstance, besides the existence of the cave, +which signalized the locality where this oracle was situated. The +people believed that this spot was the exact center of the earth, +which of course they considered as one vast plain. There was an +ancient story that Jupiter, in order to determine the central point of +creation, liberated two eagles at the same time, in opposite quarters +of the heavens, that they might fly toward one another, and so mark +the middle point by the place of their meeting. They met at Delphi.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The oracle of Dodona.<br />The two black doves.</div> + +<p>Another of the most celebrated oracles was at Dodona. Dodona was +northwest of Delphi, in the Epirus, which was a country in the western +part of what is now Turkey in Europe, and on the shores of the +Adriatic Sea. The origin of the oracle at Dodona was, as the +priestesses there told Herodotus, as follows: In very ancient times, +two black doves were set at liberty in Thebes, which was a very +venerable and sacred city of Egypt. One flew toward the north and the +other toward the west. The former crossed the Mediterranean, and then +continued its flight over the Peloponnesus, and over all the southern +provinces of Greece, until it reached Dodona. There it alighted on a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>beech-tree, and said, in a human voice, that that spot was divinely +appointed for the seat of a sacred oracle. The other dove flew to the +Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The priestesses of Dodona.<br />Manner of obtaining responses.</div> + +<p>There were three priestesses at Dodona in the days of Herodotus. Their +names were Promenea, Timarete, and Nicandre. The answers of the oracle +were, for a time, obtained by the priestesses from some appearances +which they observed in the sacred beech on which the dove alighted, +when the tree was agitated by the wind. In later times, however, the +responses were obtained in a still more singular manner. Then was a +brazen statue of a man, holding a whip in his hand. The whip had three +lashes, which were formed of brazen chains. At the end of each chain +was an <i>astragalus</i>, as it was called, which was a row of little knots +or knobs, such as were commonly appended to the lashes of whips used +in those days for scourging criminals.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The great brazen caldron.</div> + +<p>These heavy lashes hung suspended in the hand of the statue over a +great brazen caldron, in such a manner that the wind would impel them, +from time to time, against its sides, causing the caldron to ring and +resound like a gong. There was, however, something in this resonance +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>supernatural and divine; for, though it was not loud, it was very +long continued, when once the margin of the caldron was touched, +however gently, by the lashes. In fact, it was commonly said that if +touched in the morning, it would be night before the reverberations +would have died entirely away. Such a belief could be very easily +sustained among the common people; for a large, open-mouthed vessel +like the Dodona caldron, with thin sides formed of sonorous metal, +might be kept in a state of continual vibration by the wind alone.</p> + +<p>They who wished to consult this oracle came with rich presents both +for the priestesses and for the shrine, and when they had made the +offerings, and performed the preliminary ceremonies required, they +propounded their questions to the priestesses, who obtained the +replies by interpreting, according to certain rules which they had +formed, the sounds emitted by the mysterious gong.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.<br />Discovery of the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.</div> + +<p>The second black dove which took its flight from Thebes alighted, as +we have already said, in the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. This oasis was a +small fertile spot in the midst of the deserts of Africa, west of +Egypt, about a hundred miles from the Nile, and somewhat nearer than +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>that to the Mediterranean Sea. It was first discovered in the +following manner: A certain king was marching across the deserts, and +his army, having exhausted their supplies of water, were on the point +of perishing with thirst, when a ram mysteriously appeared, and took a +position before them as their guide. They followed him, and at length +came suddenly upon a green and fertile valley, many miles in length. +The ram conducted them into this valley, and then suddenly vanished, +and a copious fountain of water sprung up in the place where he had +stood. The king, in gratitude for this divine interposition, +consecrated the spot and built a temple upon it, which was called the +temple of Jupiter Ammon. The dove alighted here, and ever afterward +the oracles delivered by the priests of this temple were considered as +divinely inspired.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Other oracles.<br />Mode of consulting the oracle.</div> + +<p>These three were the most important oracles. There were, however, many +others of subordinate consequence, each of which had its own peculiar +ceremonies, all senseless and absurd. At one there was a sort of +oven-shaped cave in the rocks, the spot being inclosed by an +artificial wall. The cave was about six feet wide and eight feet deep. +The descent into it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>by a ladder. Previously to consulting this +oracle certain ceremonies were necessary, which it required several +days to perform. The applicant was to offer sacrifices to many +different deities, and to purify himself in various ways. He was then +conducted to a stream in the neighborhood of the oracle, where he was +to be anointed and washed. Then he drank a certain magical water, +called the water of forgetfulness, which made him forget all previous +sorrows and cares. Afterward he drank of another enchanted cup, which +contained the water of remembrance; this was to make him remember all +that should be communicated to him in the cave. He then descended the +ladder, and received within the cave the responses of the oracle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mystic ceremonies.</div> + +<p>At another of these oracles, which was situated in Attica, the magic +virtue was supposed to reside in a certain marble statue, carved in +honor of an ancient and celebrated prophet, and placed in a temple. +Whoever wished to consult this oracle must abstain from wine for three +days, and from food of every kind for twenty-four hours preceding the +application. He was then to offer a ram as a sacrifice; and afterward, +taking the skin of the ram from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>carcass, he was to spread it out +before the statue and lie down upon it to sleep. The answers of the +oracle came to him in his dreams.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crœsus puts the oracle to the test.</div> + +<p>But to return to Crœsus. He wished to ascertain, by consulting some +of these oracles, what the result of his proposed invasion of the +dominions of Cyrus would be, in case he should undertake it; and in +order to determine which of the various oracles were most worthy of +reliance, he conceived the plan of putting them all to a preliminary +test. He effected this object in the following manner:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Manner of doing it.</div> + +<p>He dispatched a number of messengers from Sardis, his capital, sending +one to each of the various oracles. He directed these messengers to +make their several journeys with all convenient dispatch; but, in +order to provide for any cases of accidental detention or delay, he +allowed them all one hundred days to reach their several places of +destination. On the hundredth day from the time of their leaving +Sardis, they were all to make applications to the oracles, and inquire +what Crœsus, king of Lydia, was doing at that time. Of course he +did not tell them what he should be doing; and as the oracles +themselves could not possibly know how he was employed by any human +powers, their answers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>would seem to test the validity of their claims +to powers divine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Return of the messengers.<br />The replies.</div> + +<p>Crœsus kept the reckoning of the days himself with great care, and +at the hour appointed on the hundredth day, he employed himself in +boiling the flesh of a turtle and of a lamb together in a brazen +vessel. The vessel was covered with a lid, which was also of brass. He +then awaited the return of the messengers. They came in due time, one +after another, bringing the replies which they had severally obtained. +The replies were all unsatisfactory, except that of the oracle at +Delphi. This answer was in verse, as, in fact, the responses of that +oracle always were. The priestess who sat upon the tripod was +accustomed to give the replies in an incoherent and half-intelligible +manner, as impostors are very apt to do in uttering prophecies, and +then the attendant priests and secretaries wrote them out in verse.</p> + +<p>The verse which the messenger brought back from the Delphic tripod was +in Greek; but some idea of its style, and the import of it, is +conveyed by the following imitation:</p> + +<div class="bbox centerbox"><p>"I number the sands, I measure the sea,<br /> +What's hidden to others is known to me.<br /> +The lamb and the turtle are simmering slow<br /> +With brass above them and brass below."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Crœsus decides in favor of Delphi.<br />His costly gifts.</div> + +<p>Of course, Crœsus decided that the Delphic oracle was the one that +he must rely upon for guidance in respect to his projected campaign. +And he now began to prepare to consult it in a manner corresponding +with the vast importance of the subject, and with his own boundless +wealth. He provided the most extraordinary and sumptuous presents. +Some of these treasures were to be deposited in the temple, as sacred +gifts, for permanent preservation there. Others were to be offered as +a burnt sacrifice in honor of the god. Among the latter, besides an +incredible number of living victims, he caused to be prepared a great +number of couches, magnificently decorated with silver and gold, and +goblets and other vessels of gold, and dresses of various kinds richly +embroidered, and numerous other articles, all intended to be used in +the ceremonies preliminary to his application to the oracle. When the +time arrived, a vast concourse of people assembled to witness the +spectacle. The animals were sacrificed, and the people feasted on the +flesh; and when these ceremonies were concluded, the couches, the +goblets, the utensils of every kind, the dresses—every thing, in +short, which had been used on the occasion, were heaped up into one +great sacrificial <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>pile, and set on fire. Every thing that was +combustible was consumed, while the gold was melted, and ran into +plates of great size, which were afterward taken out from the ashes. +Thus it was the workmanship only of these articles which was destroyed +and lost by the fire. The gold, in which the chief value consisted, +was saved. It was gold from the Pactolus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The silver tank.<br />The golden lion.</div> + +<p>Besides these articles, there were others made, far more magnificent +and costly, for the temple itself. There was a silver cistern or tank, +large enough to hold three thousand gallons of wine. This tank was to +be used by the inhabitants of Delphi in their great festivals. There +was also a smaller cistern, or immense goblet, as it might, perhaps, +more properly be called, which was made of gold. There were also many +other smaller presents, such as basins, vases, and statues, all of +silver and gold, and of the most costly workmanship. The gold, too, +which had been taken from the fire, was cast again, a part of it being +formed into the image of a lion, and the rest into large plates of +metal for the lion to stand upon. The image was then set up upon the +plates, within the precincts of the temple.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The bread-maker.<br />Her history.</div> + +<p>There was one piece of statuary which Crœsus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>presented to the +oracle at Delphi, which was, in some respects, more extraordinary than +any of the rest. It was called the bread-maker. It was an image +representing a woman, a servant in the household of Crœsus, whose +business it was to bake the bread. The reason that induced Crœsus +to honor this bread-maker with a statue of gold was, that on one +occasion during his childhood she had saved his life. The mother of +Crœsus died when he was young, and his father married a second +time. The second wife wished to have some one of her children, instead +of Crœsus, succeed to her husband's throne. In order, therefore, to +remove Crœsus out of the way, she prepared some poison and gave it +to the bread-maker, instructing her to put it into the bread which +Crœsus was to eat. The bread-maker received the poison and promised +to obey. But, instead of doing so, she revealed the intended murder to +Crœsus, and gave the poison to the queen's own children. In +gratitude for this fidelity to him, Crœsus, when he came to the +throne, caused this statue to be made, and now he placed it at Delphi, +where he supposed it would forever remain. The memory of his faithful +servant was indeed immortalized by the measure, though the statue +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>itself, as well as all these other treasures, in process of time +disappeared. In fact, statues of brass or of marble generally make far +more durable monuments than statues of gold; and no structure or +object of art is likely to be very permanent among mankind unless the +workmanship is worth more than the material.</p> + +<p>Crœsus did not proceed himself to Delphi with these presents, but +sent them by the hands of trusty messengers, who were instructed to +perform the ceremonies required, to offer the gifts, and then to make +inquiries of the oracle in the following terms.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The oracle questioned.</div> + +<p>"Crœsus, the sovereign of Lydia and of various other kingdoms, in +return for the wisdom which has marked your former declarations, has +sent you these gifts. He now furthermore desires to know whether it is +safe for him to proceed against the Persians, and if so, whether it is +best for him to seek the assistance of any allies."</p> + +<p>The answer was as follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The response.</div> + +<p>"If Crœsus crosses the Halys, and prosecutes a war with Persia, a +mighty empire will be overthrown. It will be best for him to form an +alliance with the most powerful states of Greece."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Delight of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>Crœsus was extremely pleased with this response. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>He immediately +resolved on undertaking the expedition against Cyrus; and to express +his gratitude for so favorable an answer to his questions, he sent to +Delphi to inquire what was the number of inhabitants in the city, and, +when the answer was reported to him, he sent a present of a sum of +money to every one. The Delphians, in their turn, conferred special +privileges and honors upon the Lydians and upon Crœsus in respect +to their oracle, giving them the precedence in all future +consultations, and conferring upon them other marks of distinction and +honor.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Supplementary inquiry.</div> + +<p>At the time when Crœsus sent his present to the inhabitants of +Delphi, he took the opportunity to address another inquiry to the +oracle, which was, whether his power would ever decline. The oracle +replied in a couplet of Greek verse, similar in its style to the one +recorded on the previous occasion.</p> + +<p>It was as follows:</p> + +<div class="bbox centerbox2"><p>"Whene'er a mule shall mount upon the Median throne,<br /> +Then, and not till then, shall great Crœsus fear to lose his own."</p></div> + +<div class="sidenote">Crœsus's feeling of security.</div> + +<p>This answer pleased the king quite as much as the former one had done. +The allusion to the contingency of a mule's reigning in Media <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>he very +naturally regarded as only a rhetorical and mystical mode of +expressing an utter impossibility. Crœsus considered himself and +the continuance of his power as perfectly secure. He was fully +confirmed in his determination to organize his expedition without any +delay, and to proceed immediately to the proper measures for obtaining +the Grecian alliance and aid which the oracle had recommended. The +plans which he formed, and the events which resulted, will be +described in subsequent chapters.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Nature of the oracles.<br />Means by which the credit of the oracles was sustained.</div> + +<p>In respect to these Grecian oracles, it is proper here to state, that +there has been much discussion among scholars on the question how they +were enabled to maintain, for so long a period, so extended a credit +among a people as intellectual and well informed as the Greeks. It was +doubtless by means of a variety of contrivances and influences that +this end was attained. There is a natural love of the marvelous among +the humbler classes in all countries, which leads them to be very +ready to believe in what is mystic and supernatural; and they +accordingly exaggerate and color such real incidents as occur under +any strange or remarkable circumstances, and invest any unusual +phenomena which they witness with a miraculous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>or supernatural +interest. The cave at Delphi might really have emitted gases which +would produce quite striking effects upon those who inhaled them; and +how easy it would be for those who witnessed these effects to imagine +that some divine and miraculous powers must exist in the aërial +current which produced them. The priests and priestesses, who +inhabited the temples in which these oracles were contained, had, of +course, a strong interest in keeping up the belief of their reality in +the minds of the community; so were, in fact, all the inhabitants of +the cities which sprung up around them. They derived their support +from the visitors who frequented these places, and they contrived +various ways for drawing contributions, both of money and gifts, from +all who came. In one case there was a sacred stream near an oracle, +where persons, on permission from the priests, were allowed to bathe. +After the bathing, they were expected to throw pieces of money into +the stream. What afterward, in such cases, became of the money, it is +not difficult to imagine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Whether the priests were impostors.</div> + +<p>Nor is it necessary to suppose that all these priests and priestesses +were impostors. Having been trained up from infancy to believe that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>the inspirations were real, they would continue to look upon them as +such all their lives. Even at the present day we shall all, if we +closely scrutinize our mental habits, find ourselves continuing to +take for granted, in our maturer years, what we inconsiderately +imbibed or were erroneously taught in infancy, and that, often, in +cases where the most obvious dictates of reason, or even the plain +testimony of our senses, might show us that our notions are false. The +priests and priestesses, therefore, who imposed on the rest of +mankind, may have been as honestly and as deep in the delusion +themselves as any of their dupes.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Answers of the oracles.</div> + +<p>The answers of the oracles were generally vague and indefinite, and +susceptible of almost any interpretation, according to the result. +Whenever the event corresponded with the prediction, or could be made +to correspond with it by the ingenuity of the commentators, the story +of the coincidence would, of course, be every where spread abroad, +becoming more striking and more exact at each repetition. Where there +was a failure, it would not be direct and absolute, on account of the +vagueness and indefiniteness of the response, and there would +therefore be no interest felt in hearing or in circulating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>the story. +The cases, thus, which would tend to establish the truth of the +oracle, would be universally known and remembered, while those of a +contrary bearing would be speedily forgotten.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Collusion between the priests and those who consulted the +oracle.</div> + +<p>There is no doubt, however, that in many cases the responses were +given in collusion with the one who consulted the oracle, for the +purpose of deceiving others. For example, let us suppose that +Crœsus wished to establish strongly the credibility of the Delphic +oracle in the minds of his countrymen, in order to encourage them to +enlist in his armies, and to engage in the enterprise which he was +contemplating against Cyrus with resolution and confidence; it would +have been easy for him to have let the priestess at Delphi know what +he was doing on the day when he sent to inquire, and thus himself to +have directed her answer. Then, when his messengers returned, he would +appeal to the answer as proof of the reality of the inspiration which +seemed to furnish it. Alexander the Great certainly did, in this way, +act in collusion with the priests at the temple of Jupiter Ammon.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="sidenote">Is there any revelation truly divine?</div> + +<p>The fact that there have been so many and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>such successful cases of +falsehood and imposture among mankind in respect to revelations from +Heaven, is no indication, as some superficially suppose, that no +revelation is true, but is, on the other hand, strong evidence to the +contrary. The Author of human existence has given no instincts in +vain; and the universal tendency of mankind to believe in the +supernatural, to look into an unseen world, to seek, and to imagine +that they find, revelations from Heaven, and to expect a continuance +of existence after this earthly life is over, is the strongest +possible natural evidence that there is an unseen world; that man may +have true communications with it; that a personal deity reigns, who +approves and disapproves of human conduct, and that there is a future +state of being. In this point of view, the absurd oracles of Greece, +and the universal credence which they obtained, constitute strong +evidence that there is somewhere to be found inspiration and prophecy +really divine.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Conquest of Lydia.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 546</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Reasons which induced Crœsus to invade Media.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">here</span> were, in fact, three inducements which combined their influence +on the mind of Crœsus, in leading him to cross the Halys, and +invade the dominions of the Medes and Persians: first, he was +ambitious to extend his own empire; secondly, he feared that if he did +not attack Cyrus, Cyrus would himself cross the Halys and attack him; +and, thirdly, he felt under some obligation to consider himself the +ally of Astyages, and thus bound to espouse his cause, and to aid him +in putting down, if possible, the usurpation of Cyrus, and in +recovering his throne. He felt under this obligation because Astyages +was his brother-in-law; for the latter had married, many years before, +a daughter of Alyattes, who was the father of Crœsus. This, as +Crœsus thought, gave him a just title to interfere between the +dethroned king and the rebel who had dethroned him. Under the +influence of all these reasons combined, and encouraged by the +responses of the oracle, he determined on attempting the invasion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The Lacedæmonians.</div> + +<p>The first measure which he adopted was to form an alliance with the +most powerful of the states of Greece, as he had been directed to do +by the oracle. After much inquiry and consideration, he concluded that +the Lacedæmonian state was the most powerful. Their chief city was +Sparta, in the Peloponnesus. They were a warlike, stern, and +indomitable race of men, capable of bearing every possible hardship, +and of enduring every degree of fatigue and toil, and they desired +nothing but military glory for their reward. This was a species of +wages which it was very easy to pay; much more easy to furnish than +coin, even for Crœsus, notwithstanding the abundant supplies of +gold which he was accustomed to obtain from the sands of the Pactolus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Embassadors to Sparta.</div> + +<p>Crœsus sent embassadors to Sparta to inform the people of the plans +which he contemplated, and to ask their aid. He had been instructed, +he said, by the oracle at Delphi, to seek the alliance of the most +powerful of the states of Greece, and he accordingly made application +to them. They were gratified with the compliment implied in selecting +them, and acceded readily to his proposal. Besides, they were already +on very friendly terms with Crœsus; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>for, some years before, they +had sent to him to procure some gold for a statue which they had +occasion to erect, offering to give an equivalent for the value of it +in such productions as their country afforded. Crœsus supplied them +with the gold that they needed, but generously refused to receive any +return.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations of Crœsus.<br />The counsel of Sardaris.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Crœsus went on, energetically, at Sardis, making +the preparations for his campaign. One of his counselors, whose name +was Sardaris, ventured, one day, strongly to dissuade him from +undertaking the expedition. "You have nothing to gain by it," said he, +"if you succeed, and every thing to lose if you fail. Consider what +sort of people these Persians are whom you are going to combat. They +live in the most rude and simple manner, without luxuries, without +pleasures, without wealth. If you conquer their country, you will find +nothing in it worth bringing away. On the other hand, if they conquer +you, they will come like a vast band of plunderers into Lydia, where +there is every thing to tempt and reward them. I counsel you to leave +them alone, and to remain on this side the Halys, thankful if Cyrus +will be contented to remain on the other."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p><p>But Crœsus was not in a mood of mind to be persuaded by such +reasoning.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The army begins to march.<br />Thales the Milesian.</div> + +<p>When all things were ready, the army commenced its march and moved +eastward, through one province of Asia Minor after another, until they +reached the Halys. This river is a considerable stream, which rises in +the interior of the country, and flows northward into the Euxine Sea. +The army encamped on the banks of it, and some plan was to be formed +for crossing the stream. In accomplishing this object, Crœsus was +aided by a very celebrated engineer who accompanied his army, named +Thales. Thales was a native of Miletus, and is generally called in +history, Thales the Milesian. He was a very able mathematician and +calculator, and many accounts remain of the discoveries and +performances by which he acquired his renown.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mathematical skill of Thales.</div> + +<p>For example, in the course of his travels, he at one time visited +Egypt, and while there, he contrived a very simple way of measuring +the height of the pyramids. He set up a pole on the plain in an +upright position, and then measured the pole and also its shadow. He +also measured the length of the shadow of the pyramid. He then +calculated the height of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>pyramid by this proportion: as the +length of shadow of the pole is to that of the pole itself, so is the +length of the shadow of the pyramid to its height.</p> + +<p>Thales was an astronomer as well as a philosopher and engineer. He +learned more exactly the true length of the year than it had been +known before; and he also made some calculations of eclipses, at least +so far as to predict the year in which they would happen. One eclipse +which he predicted happened to occur on the day of a great battle +between two contending armies. It was cloudy, so that the combatants +could not see the sun. This circumstance, however, which concealed the +eclipse itself, only made the darkness which was caused by it the more +intense. The armies were much terrified at this sudden cessation of +the light of day, and supposed it to be a warning from heaven that +they should desist from the combat.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His theorems.</div> + +<p>Thales the Milesian was the author of several of the geometrical +theorems and demonstrations now included in the Elements of Euclid. +The celebrated fifth proposition of the first book, so famous among +all the modern nations of Europe as the great stumbling block in the +way of beginners in the study of geometry, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>was his. The discovery of +the truth expressed in this proposition, and of the complicated +demonstration which establishes it, was certainly a much greater +mathematical performance than the measuring of the altitude of the +pyramids by their shadow.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Ingenious plan of Thales for crossing the Halys.</div> + +<p>But to return to Crœsus. Thales undertook the work of transporting +the army across the river. He examined the banks, and found, at +length, a spot where the land was low and level for some distance from +the stream. He caused the army to be brought up to the river at this +point, and to be encamped there, as near to the bank as possible, and +in as compact a form. He then employed a vast number of laborers to +cut a new channel for the waters, behind the army, leading out from +the river above, and rejoining it again at a little distance below. +When this channel was finished, he turned the river into its new +course, and then the army passed without difficulty over the former +bed of the stream.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Advance of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>The Halys being thus passed, Crœsus moved on in the direction of +Media. But he soon found that he had not far to go to find his enemy. +Cyrus had heard of his plans through deserters and spies, and he had +for some time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>been advancing to meet him. One after the other of the +nations through whose dominions he had passed, he had subjected to his +sway, or, at least, brought under his influence by treaties and +alliances, and had received from them all re-enforcements to swell the +numbers of his army. One nation only remained—the Babylonians. They +were on the side of Crœsus. They were jealous of the growing power +of the Medes and Persians, and had made a league with Crœsus, +promising to aid him in the war. The other nations of the East were in +alliance with Cyrus, and he was slowly moving on, at the head of an +immense combined force, toward the Halys, at the very time when +Crœsus was crossing the stream.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Preparations for battle.</div> + +<p>The scouts, therefore, that preceded the army of Crœsus on its +march, soon began to fall back into the camp, with intelligence that +there was a large armed force coming on to meet them, the advancing +columns filling all the roads, and threatening to overwhelm them. The +scouts from the army of Cyrus carried back similar intelligence to +him. The two armies accordingly halted and began to prepare for +battle. The place of their meeting was called Pteria. It was in the +province of Cappadocia, and toward the eastern part of Asia Minor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Great battle at Pteria.<br />Undecisive result.</div> + +<p>A great battle was fought at Pteria. It was continued all day, and +remained undecided when the sun went down. The combatants separated +when it became dark, and each withdrew from the field. Each king +found, it seems, that his antagonist was more formidable than he had +imagined, and on the morning after the battle they both seemed +inclined to remain in their respective encampments, without evincing +any disposition to renew the contest.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crœsus returns to Sardis.</div> + +<p>Crœsus, in fact, seems to have considered that he was fortunate in +having so far repulsed the formidable invasion which Cyrus had been +intending for him. He considered Cyrus's army as repulsed, since they +had withdrawn from the field, and showed no disposition to return to +it. He had no doubt that Cyrus would now go back to Media again, +having found how well prepared Crœsus had been to receive him. For +himself, he concluded that he ought to be satisfied with the advantage +which he had already gained, as the result of one campaign, and return +again to Sardis to recruit his army, the force of which had been +considerably impaired by the battle, and so postpone the grand +invasion till the next season. He accordingly set out on his return. +He dispatched messengers, at the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>time, to Babylon, to Sparta, to +Egypt, and to other countries with which he was in alliance, informing +these various nations of the great battle of Pteria and its results, +and asking them to send him, early in the following spring, all the +re-enforcements that they could command, to join him in the grand +campaign which he was going to make the next season.</p> + +<p>He continued his march homeward without any interruption, sending off, +from time to time, as he was moving through his own dominions, such +portions of his troops as desired to return to their homes, enjoining +upon them to come back to him in the spring. By this temporary +disbanding of a portion of his army, he saved the expense of +maintaining them through the winter.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus follows him.</div> + +<p>Very soon after Crœsus arrived at Sardis, the whole country in the +neighborhood of the capital was thrown into a state of universal alarm +by the news that Cyrus was close at hand. It seems that Cyrus had +remained in the vicinity of Pteria long enough to allow Crœsus to +return, and to give him time to dismiss his troops and establish +himself securely in the city. He then suddenly resumed his march, and +came on toward Sardis with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>utmost possible dispatch. Crœsus, +in fact, had no announcement of his approach until he heard of his +arrival.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Confusion and alarm at Sardis.</div> + +<p>All was now confusion and alarm, both within and without the city. +Crœsus hastily collected all the forces that he could command. He +sent immediately to the neighboring cities, summoning all the troops +in them to hasten to the capital. He enrolled all the inhabitants of +the city that were capable of bearing arms. By these means he +collected, in a very short time, quite a formidable force, which he +drew up, in battle array, on a great plain not far from the city, and +there waited, with much anxiety and solicitude, for Cyrus to come on.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Lydian cavalry.<br />Nature of cavalry.<br />Manner of receiving a cavalry charge.</div> + +<p>The Lydian army was superior to that of Cyrus in cavalry, and as the +place where the battle was to be fought was a plain, which was the +kind of ground most favorable for the operations of that species of +force, Cyrus felt some solicitude in respect to the impression which +might be made by it on his army. Nothing is more terrible than the +onset of a squadron of horse when charging an enemy upon the field of +battle. They come in vast bodies, sometimes consisting of many +thousands, with the speed of the wind, the men flourishing their +sabers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>and rending the air with the most unearthly cries, those in +advance being driven irresistibly on by the weight and impetus of the +masses behind. The dreadful torrent bears down and overwhelms every +thing that attempts to resist its way. They trample one another and +their enemies together promiscuously in the dust; the foremost of the +column press on with the utmost fury, afraid quite as much of the +headlong torrent of friends coming on behind them, as of the line of +fixed and motionless enemies who stand ready to receive them before. +These enemies, stationed to withstand the charge, arrange themselves +in triple or quadruple rows, with the shafts of their spears planted +against the ground, and the points directed forward and upward to +receive the advancing horsemen. These spears transfix and kill the +foremost horses; but those that come on behind, leaping and plunging +over their fallen companions, soon break through the lines and put +their enemies to flight, in a scene of indescribable havoc and +confusion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The camels.<br />Cyrus opposes them to the cavalry.</div> + +<p>Crœsus had large bodies of horse, while Cyrus had no efficient +troops to oppose them. He had a great number of camels in the rear of +his army, which had been employed as beasts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>of burden to transport +the baggage and stores of the army on their march. Cyrus concluded to +make the experiment of opposing these camels to the cavalry. It is +frequently said by the ancient historians that the horse has a natural +antipathy to the camel, and can not bear either the smell or the sight +of one, though this is not found to be the case at the present day. +However the fact might have been in this respect, Cyrus determined to +arrange the camels in his front as he advanced into battle. He +accordingly ordered the baggage to be removed, and, releasing their +ordinary drivers from the charge of them, he assigned each one to the +care of a soldier, who was to mount him, armed with a spear. Even if +the supposed antipathy of the horse for the camel did not take effect, +Cyrus thought that their large and heavy bodies, defended by the +spears of their riders, would afford the most effectual means of +resistance against the shock of the Lydian squadrons that he was now +able to command.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The battle fought.<br />Cyrus victorious.</div> + +<p>The battle commenced, and the squadrons of horse came on. But, as soon +as they came near the camels, it happened that, either from the +influence of the antipathy above referred to, or from alarm at the +novelty of the spectacle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>of such huge and misshapen beasts, or else +because of the substantial resistance which the camels and the spears +of their riders made to the shock of their charge, the horses were +soon thrown into confusion and put to flight. In fact, a general panic +seized them, and they became totally unmanageable. Some threw their +riders; others, seized with a sort of phrensy, became entirely +independent of control. They turned, and trampled the foot soldiers of +their own army under foot, and threw the whole body into disorder. The +consequence was, that the army of Crœsus was wholly defeated; they +fled in confusion, and crowded in vast throngs through the gates into +the city, and fortified themselves there.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Situation of Sardis.</div> + +<p>Cyrus advanced to the city, invested it closely on all sides, and +commenced a siege. But the appearances were not very encouraging. The +walls were lofty, thick, and strong, and the numbers within the city +were amply sufficient to guard them. Nor was the prospect much more +promising of being soon able to reduce the city by famine. The wealth +of Crœsus had enabled him to lay up almost inexhaustible stores of +food and clothing, as well as treasures of silver and gold. He hoped, +therefore, to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>able to hold out against the besiegers until help +should come from some of his allies. He had sent messengers to them, +asking them to come to his rescue without any delay, before he was +shut up in the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Its walls.<br />An ancient legend.</div> + +<p>The city of Sardis was built in a position naturally strong, and one +part of the wall passed over rocky precipices which were considered +entirely impassable. There was a sort of glen or rocky gorge in this +quarter, outside of the walls, down which dead bodies were thrown on +one occasion subsequently, at a time when the city was besieged, and +beasts and birds of prey fed upon them there undisturbed, so lonely +was the place and so desolate. In fact, the walls that crowned these +precipices were considered absolutely inaccessible, and were very +slightly built and very feebly guarded. There was an ancient legend +that, a long time before, when a certain Males was king of Lydia, one +of his wives had a son in the form of a lion, whom they called Leon, +and an oracle declared that if this Leon were carried around the walls +of the city, it would be rendered impregnable, and should never be +taken. They carried Leon, therefore, around, so far as the regular +walls extended. When they came to this precipice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>of rocks, they +returned, considering that this part of the city was impregnable +without any such ceremony. A spur or eminence from the mountain of +Tmolus, which was behind the city, projected into it at this point, +and there was a strong citadel built upon its summit.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus besieges the city.<br />The reconnoissance.<br />The walls scaled.</div> + +<p>Cyrus continued the siege fourteen days, and then he determined that +he must, in some way or other, find the means of carrying it by +assault, and to do this he must find some place to scale the walls. He +accordingly sent a party of horsemen around to explore every part, +offering them a large reward if they would find any place where an +entrance could be effected. The horsemen made the circuit, and +reported that their search had been in vain. At length a certain +soldier, named Hyræades, after studying for some time the precipices +on the side which had been deemed inaccessible, saw a sentinel, who +was stationed on the walls above, leave his post and come climbing +down the rocks for some distance to get his helmet, which had +accidentally dropped down. Hyræades watched him both as he descended +and as he returned. He reflected on this discovery, communicated it to +others, and the practicability of scaling the rock and the walls at +that point was discussed. In the end, the attempt was made and was successful. Hyræades went up +first, followed by a few daring spirits who were ambitious of the +glory of the exploit. They were not at first observed from above. The +way being thus shown, great numbers followed on, and so large a force +succeeded in thus gaining an entrance that the city was taken.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179-80]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i172.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="294" alt="The Siege of Sardis." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The Siege of Sardis.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Storming of the city.<br />Crœsus made prisoner.</div> + +<p>In the dreadful confusion and din of the storming of the city, +Crœsus himself had a very narrow escape from death. He was saved by +the miraculous speaking of his deaf and dumb son—at least such is the +story. Cyrus had given positive orders to his soldiers, both before +the great battle on the plain and during the siege, that, though they +might slay whomever else they pleased, they must not harm Crœsus, +but must take him alive. During the time of the storming of the town, +when the streets were filled with infuriated soldiers, those on the +one side wild with the excitement of triumph, and those on the other +maddened with rage and despair, a party, rushing along, overtook +Crœsus and his helpless son, whom the unhappy father, it seems, was +making a desperate effort to save. The Persian soldiers were about to +transfix Crœsus with their spears, when the son, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>had never +spoken before, called out, "It is Crœsus; do not kill him." The +soldiers were arrested by the words, and saved the monarch's life. +They made him prisoner, and bore him away to Cyrus.</p> + +<p>Crœsus had sent, a long time before, to inquire of the Delphic +oracle by what means the power of speech could be restored to his son. +The answer was, that that was a boon which he had better not ask; for +the day on which he should hear his son speak for the first time, +would be the darkest and most unhappy day of his life.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The funeral pile.<br />Anguish and despair of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>Cyrus had not ordered his soldiers to spare the life of Crœsus in +battle from any sentiment of humanity toward him, but because he +wished to have his case reserved for his own decision. When Crœsus +was brought to him a captive, he ordered him to be put in chains, and +carefully guarded. As soon as some degree of order was restored in the +city, a large funeral pile was erected, by his directions, in a public +square, and Crœsus was brought to the spot. Fourteen Lydian young +men, the sons, probably, of the most prominent men in the state, were +with him. The pile was large enough for them all, and they were placed +upon it. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>They were all laid upon the wood. Crœsus raised himself +and looked around, surveying with extreme consternation and horror the +preparations which were making for lighting the pile. His heart sank +within him as he thought of the dreadful fate that was before him. The +spectators stood by in solemn silence, awaiting the end. Crœsus +broke this awful pause by crying out, in a tone of anguish and +despair,</p> + +<p>"Oh Solon! Solon! Solon!"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The saying of Solon.<br />Crœsus is saved.</div> + +<p>The officers who had charge of the execution asked him what he meant. +Cyrus, too, who was himself personally superintending the scene, asked +for an explanation. Crœsus was, for a time, too much agitated and +distracted to reply. There were difficulties in respect to language, +too, which embarrassed the conversation, as the two kings could speak +to each other only through an interpreter. At length Crœsus gave an +account of his interview with Solon, and of the sentiment which the +philosopher had expressed, that no one could decide whether a man was +truly prosperous and happy till it was determined how his life was to +end. Cyrus was greatly interested in this narrative; but, in the mean +time, the interpreting of the conversation had been slow, a +considerable period had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>elapsed, and the officers had lighted the +fire. The pile had been made extremely combustible, and the fire was +rapidly making its way through the whole mass. Cyrus eagerly ordered +it to be extinguished. The efforts which the soldiers made for this +purpose seemed, at first, likely to be fruitless; but they were aided +very soon by a sudden shower of rain, which, coming down from the +mountains, began, just at this time, to fall; and thus the flames were +extinguished, and Crœsus and the captives saved.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He becomes Cyrus's friend.</div> + +<p>Cyrus immediately, with a fickleness very common among great monarchs +in the treatment of both enemies and favorites, began to consider +Crœsus as his friend. He ordered him to be unbound, brought him +near his person, and treated him with great consideration and honor.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Crœsus sends his fetters to the oracle at Delphi.</div> + +<p>Crœsus remained after this for a long time with Cyrus, and +accompanied him in his subsequent campaigns. He was very much incensed +at the oracle at Delphi for having deceived him by its false responses +and predictions, and thus led him into the terrible snare into which +he had fallen. He procured the fetters with which he had been chained +when placed upon the pile, and sent them to Delphi <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>with orders that +they should be thrown down upon the threshold of the temple—the +visible symbol of his captivity and ruin—as a reproach to the oracle +for having deluded him and caused his destruction. In doing this, the +messengers were to ask the oracle whether imposition like that which +had been practiced on Crœsus was the kind of gratitude it evinced +to one who had enriched it by such a profusion of offerings and gifts.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Explanations of the priests.</div> + +<p>To this the priests of the oracle said in reply, that the destruction +of the Lydian dynasty had long been decreed by the Fates, in +retribution for the guilt of Gyges, the founder of the line. He had +murdered his master, and usurped the throne, without any title to it +whatever. The judgments of Heaven had been denounced upon Gyges for +this crime, to fall on himself or on some of his descendants. The +Pythian Apollo at Delphi had done all in his power to postpone the +falling of the blow until after the death of Crœsus, on account of +the munificent benefactions which he had made to the oracle; but he +had been unable to effect it: the decrees of Fate were inexorable. All +that the oracle could do was to postpone—as it had done, it said, for +three years—the execution of the sentence, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>to give Crœsus +warning of the evil that was impending. This had been done by +announcing to him that his crossing the Halys would cause the +destruction of a mighty empire, meaning that of Lydia, and also by +informing him that when he should find a mule upon the throne of Media +he must expect to lose his own. Cyrus, who was descended, on the +father's side, from the Persian stock, and on the mother's from that +of Media, was the hybrid sovereign represented by the mule.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Their adroitness and dexterity.</div> + +<p>When this answer was reported to Crœsus, it is said that he was +satisfied with the explanations, and admitted that the oracle was +right, and that he himself had been unreasonable and wrong. However +this may be, it is certain that, among mankind at large, since +Crœsus's day, there has been a great disposition to overlook +whatever of criminality there may have been in the falsehood and +imposture of the oracle, through admiration of the adroitness and +dexterity which its ministers evinced in saving themselves from +exposure.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Conquest of Babylon.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 544-538</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Babylon.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> his advance toward the dominions of Crœsus in Asia Minor, Cyrus +had passed to the northward of the great and celebrated city of +Babylon. Babylon was on the Euphrates, toward the southern part of +Asia. It was the capital of a large and very fertile region, which +extended on both sides of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf. The +limits of the country, however, which was subject to Babylon, varied +very much at different times, as they were extended or contracted by +revolutions and wars.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The River Euphrates.<br />Canals.</div> + +<p>The River Euphrates was the great source of fertility for the whole +region through which it flowed. The country watered by this river was +very densely populated, and the inhabitants were industrious and +peaceable, cultivating their land, and living quietly and happily on +its fruits. The surface was intersected with canals, which the people +had made for conveying the water of the river over the land for the +purpose of irrigating it. Some of these canals were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>navigable. There +was one great trunk which passed from the Euphrates to the Tigris, +supplying many minor canals by the way, that was navigable for vessels +of considerable burden.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Curious boats.<br />Their mode of construction.<br />Primitive navigation.</div> + +<p>The traffic of the country was, however, mainly conducted by means of +boats of moderate size, the construction of which seemed to Herodotus +very curious and remarkable. The city was enormously large, and +required immense supplies of food, which were brought down in these +boats from the agricultural country above. The boats were made in the +following manner: first a frame was built, of the shape of the +intended boat, broad and shallow, and with the stem and stern of the +same form. This frame was made of willows, like a basket, and, when +finished, was covered with a sheathing of skins. A layer of reeds was +then spread over the bottom of the boat to protect the frame, and to +distribute evenly the pressure of the cargo. The boat, thus finished, +was laden with the produce of the country, and was then floated down +the river to Babylon. In this navigation the boatmen were careful to +protect the leather sheathing from injury by avoiding all contact with +rocks, or even with the gravel of the shores. They kept their craft in +the middle of the stream <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>by means of two oars, or, rather, an oar and +a paddle, which were worked, the first at the bows, and the second at +the stern. The advance of the boat was in some measure accelerated by +these boatmen, though their main function was to steer their vessel by +keeping it out of eddies and away from projecting points of land, and +directing its course to those parts of the stream where the current +was swiftest, and where it would consequently be borne forward most +rapidly to its destination.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Return of the boatmen.</div> + +<p>These boats were generally of very considerable size, and they +carried, in addition to their cargo and crew, one or more beasts of +burden—generally asses or mules. These animals were allowed the +pleasure, if any pleasure it was to them, of sailing thus idly down +the stream, for the sake of having them at hand at the end of the +voyage, to carry back again, up the country, the skins, which +constituted the most valuable portion of the craft they sailed in. It +was found that these skins, if carefully preserved, could be easily +transported up the river, and would answer the purpose of a second +voyage. Accordingly, when the boats arrived at Babylon, the cargo was +sold, the boats were broken up, the skins were folded into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>packs, and +in this form the mules carried them up the river again, the boatmen +driving the mules as they walked by their side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Extent of Babylon.<br />Parks, gardens, palaces, etc.</div> + +<p>Babylon was a city of immense extent and magnitude. In fact, the +accounts given of the space which it covered have often been +considered incredible. These accounts make the space which was +included within the walls four or five times as large as London. A +great deal of this space was, however, occupied by parks and gardens +connected with the royal palaces, and by open squares. Then, besides, +the houses occupied by the common people in the ancient cities were of +fewer stories in height, and consequently more extended on the ground, +than those built in modern times. In fact, it is probable that, in +many instances, they were mere ranges of huts and hovels, as is the +case, indeed, to a considerable extent, in Oriental cities, at the +present day, so that it is not at all impossible that even so large an +area as four or five times the size of London may have been included +within the fortifications of the city.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The walls of Babylon.<br />Marvelous accounts.</div> + +<p>In respect to the walls of the city, very extraordinary and apparently +contradictory accounts are given by the various ancient authors who +described them. Some make them seventy-five <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>and others two or three +hundred feet high. There have been many discussions in respect to the +comparative credibility of these several statements, and some +ingenious attempts have been made to reconcile them. It is not, +however, at all surprising that there should be such a diversity in +the dimensions given, for the walling of an ancient city was seldom of +the same height in all places. The structure necessarily varied +according to the nature of the ground, being high wherever the ground +without was such as to give the enemy an advantage in an attack, and +lower in other situations, where the conformation of the surface was +such as to afford, of itself, a partial protection. It is not, +perhaps, impossible that, at some particular points—as, for example, +across glens and ravines, or along steep declivities—the walls of +Babylon may have been raised even to the very extraordinary height +which Herodotus ascribes to them.</p> + +<p>The walls were made of bricks, and the bricks were formed of clay and +earth, which was dug from a trench made outside of the lines. This +trench served the purpose of a ditch, to strengthen the fortification +when the wall was completed. The water from the river, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>from +streams flowing toward the river, was admitted to these ditches on +every side, and kept them always full.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The ditches.</div> + +<p>The sides of these ditches were lined with bricks too, which were +made, like those of the walls, from the earth obtained from the +excavations. They used for all this masonry a cement made from a +species of bitumen, which was found in great quantities floating down +one of the rivers which flowed into the Euphrates, in the neighborhood +of Babylon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Streets and gates.</div> + +<p>The River Euphrates itself flowed through the city. There was a +breast-work or low wall along the banks of it on either side, with +openings at the terminations of the streets leading to the water, and +flights of steps to go down. These openings were secured by gates of +brass, which, when closed, would prevent an enemy from gaining access +to the city from the river. The great streets, which terminated thus +at the river on one side, extended to the walls of the city on the +other, and they were crossed by other streets at right angles to them. +In the outer walls of the city, at the extremities of all these +streets, were massive gates of brass, with hinges and frames of the +same metal. There were a hundred of these gates in all. They were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>guarded by watch-towers on the walls above. The watch-towers were +built on both the inner and outer faces of the wall, and the wall +itself was so broad that there was room between these watch-towers for +a chariot and four to drive and turn.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Palace of the king.<br />Temple of Belus.</div> + +<p>The river, of course, divided the city into two parts. The king's +palace was in the center of one of these divisions, within a vast +circular inclosure, which contained the palace buildings, together +with the spacious courts, and parks, and gardens pertaining to them. +In the center of the other division was a corresponding inclosure, +which contained the great temple of Belus. Here there was a very lofty +tower, divided into eight separate towers, one above another, with a +winding staircase to ascend to the summit. In the upper story was a +sort of chapel, with a couch, and a table, and other furniture for use +in the sacred ceremonies, all of gold. Above this, on the highest +platform of all, was a grand observatory, where the Babylonian +astrologers made their celestial observations.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The bridge.<br />Sculptures.</div> + +<p>There was a bridge across the river, connecting one section of the +city with the other, and it is said that there was a subterranean +passage under the river also, which was used as a private +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>communication between two public edifices—palaces or citadels—which +were situated near the extremities of the bridge. All these +constructions were of the most grand and imposing character. In +addition to the architectural magnificence of the buildings, the gates +and walls were embellished with a great variety of sculptures: images +of animals, of every form and in every attitude; and men, single and +in groups, models of great sovereigns, and representations of hunting +scenes, battle scenes, and great events in the Babylonian history.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The hanging gardens.<br />Construction of the gardens.</div> + +<p>The most remarkable, however, of all the wonders of Babylon—though +perhaps not built till after Cyrus's time—were what were called the +hanging gardens. Although called the hanging gardens, they were not +suspended in any manner, as the name might denote, but were supported +upon arches and walls. The arches and walls sustained a succession of +terraces, rising one above another, with broad flights of steps for +ascending to them, and on these terraces the gardens were made. The +upper terrace, or platform, was several hundred feet from the ground; +so high, that it was necessary to build arches upon arches within, in +order to attain the requisite elevation. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>lateral thrust of these +arches was sustained by a wall twenty-five feet in thickness, which +surrounded the garden on all sides, and rose as high as the lowermost +tier of arches, upon which would, of course, be concentrated the +pressure and weight of all the pile. The whole structure thus formed a +sort of artificial hill, square in form, and rising, in a succession +of terraces, to a broad and level area upon the top. The extent of +this grand square upon the summit was four hundred feet upon each +side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The platform and terraces.<br />Engine for raising water.</div> + +<p>The surface which served as the foundation for the gardens that +adorned these successive terraces and the area above was formed in the +following manner: Over the masonry of the arches there was laid a +pavement of broad flat stones, sixteen feet long and four feet wide. +Over these there was placed a stratum of reeds, laid in bitumen, and +above them another flooring of bricks, cemented closely together, so +as to be impervious to water. To make the security complete in this +respect, the upper surface of this brick flooring was covered with +sheets of lead, overlapping each other in such a manner as to convey +all the water which might percolate through the mold away to the sides +of the garden. The earth and mold were placed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>upon this surface, thus +prepared, and the stratum was so deep as to allow large trees to take +root and grow in it. There was an engine constructed in the middle of +the upper terrace, by which water could be drawn up from the river, +and distributed over every part of the vast pile.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Floral beauties.</div> + +<p>The gardens, thus completed, were filled to profusion with every +species of tree, and plant, and vine, which could produce fruit or +flowers to enrich or adorn such a scene. Every country in +communication with Babylon was made to contribute something to +increase the endless variety of floral beauty which was here literally +enthroned. Gardeners of great experience and skill were constantly +employed in cultivating the parterres, pruning the fruit-trees and the +vines, preserving the walks, and introducing new varieties of +vegetation. In a word, the hanging gardens of Babylon became one of +the wonders of the world.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The works of Nitocris.<br />Her canals and levees.</div> + +<p>The country in the neighborhood of Babylon, extending from the river +on either hand was in general level and low, and subject to +inundations. One of the sovereigns of the country, a queen named +Nitocris, had formed the grand design of constructing an immense lake, +to take off the superfluous water in case of a flood, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>thus +prevent an overflow. She also opened a great number of lateral and +winding channels for the river, wherever the natural disposition of +the surface afforded facilities for doing so, and the earth which was +taken out in the course of these excavations was employed in raising +the banks by artificial terraces, such as are made to confine the +Mississippi at New Orleans, and are there called <i>levees</i>.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> The +object of Nitocris in these measures was two-fold. She wished, in the +first place, to open all practicable channels for the flow of the +water, and then to confine the current within the channels thus made. +She also wished to make the navigation of the stream as intricate and +complicated as possible, so that, while the natives of the country +might easily find their way, in boats, to the capital, a foreign +enemy, if he should make the attempt, might be confused and lost. These +were the rivers of Babylon on the banks of which the captive Jews sat +down and wept when they remembered Zion.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The bridge over the Euphrates.</div> + +<p>This queen Nitocris seems to have been quite distinguished for her +engineering and architectural plans. It was she that built the bridge +across the Euphrates, within the city; and as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>there was a feeling of +jealousy and ill will, as usual in such a case, between the two +divisions of the town which the river formed, she caused the bridge to +be constructed with a movable platform or draw, by means of which the +communication might be cut off at pleasure. This draw was generally up +at night and down by day.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The tomb of the queen.</div> + +<p>Herodotus relates a curious anecdote of this queen, which, if true, +evinces in another way the peculiar originality of mind and the +ingenuity which characterized all her operations. She caused her tomb +to be built, before her death, over one of the principal gates of the +city. Upon the façade of this monument was a very conspicuous +inscription to this effect: "If any one of the sovereigns, my +successors, shall be in extreme want of money, let him open my tomb +and take what he may think proper; but let him not resort to this +resource unless the urgency is extreme."</p> + +<p>The tomb remained for some time after the queen's death quite +undisturbed. In fact, the people of the city avoided this gate +altogether, on account of the dead body deposited above it, and the +spot became well-nigh deserted. At length, in process of time, a +subsequent sovereign, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>being in want of money, ventured to open the +tomb. He found, however, no money within. The gloomy vault contained +nothing but the dead body of the queen, and a label with this +inscription: "If your avarice were not as insatiable as it is base, +you would not have intruded on the repose of the dead."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus plans an attack upon Babylon.<br />Government of Lydia.</div> + +<p>It was not surprising that Cyrus, having been so successful in his +enterprises thus far, should now begin to turn his thoughts toward +this great Babylonian empire, and to feel a desire to bring it under +his sway. The first thing, however, was to confirm and secure his +Lydian conquests. He spent some time, therefore, in organizing and +arranging, at Sardis, the affairs of the new government which he was +to substitute for that of Crœsus there. He designated certain +portions of his army to be left for garrisons in the conquered cities. +He appointed Persian officers, of course, to command these forces; +but, as he wished to conciliate the Lydians, he appointed many of the +municipal and civil officers of the country from among them. There +would appear to be no danger in doing this, as, by giving the command +of the army to Persians, he retained all the real power directly in +his own hands.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Cyrus returns eastward.</div> + +<p>One of these civil officers, the most important, in fact, of all, was +the grand treasurer. To him Cyrus committed the charge of the stores +of gold and silver which came into his possession at Sardis, and of +the revenues which were afterward to accrue. Cyrus appointed a Lydian +named Pactyas to this trust, hoping by such measures to conciliate the +people of the country, and to make them more ready to submit to his +sway. Things being thus arranged, Cyrus, taking Crœsus with him, +set out with the main army to return toward the East.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Revolt of the Lydians.</div> + +<p>As soon as he had left Lydia, Pactyas excited the Lydians to revolt. +The name of the commander-in-chief of the military forces which Cyrus +had left was Tabalus. Pactyas abandoned the city and retired toward +the coast where he contrived to raise a large army, formed partly of +Lydians and partly of bodies of foreign troops, which he was enabled +to hire by means of the treasures which Cyrus had put under his +charge. He then advanced to Sardis, took possession of the town, and +shut up Tabalus, with his Persian troops, in the citadel.</p> + +<p>When the tidings of these events came to Cyrus, he was very much +incensed, and determined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>to destroy the city. Crœsus, however, +interceded very earnestly in its behalf. He recommended that Cyrus, +instead of burning Sardis, should send a sufficient force to disarm +the population, and that he should then enact such laws and make such +arrangements as should turn the minds of the people to habits of +luxury and pleasure. "By doing this," said Crœsus, "the people +will, in a short time, become so enervated and so effeminate that you +will have nothing to fear from them."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Detachment of Mazares.</div> + +<p>Cyrus decided on adopting this plan. He dispatched a Median named +Mazares, an officer of his army, at the head of a strong force, with +orders to go back to Sardis, to deliver Tabalus from his danger, to +seize and put to death all the leaders in the Lydian rebellion +excepting Pactyas. Pactyas was to be saved alive, and sent a prisoner +to Cyrus in Persia.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Flight of Pactyas.<br />Pactyas at Cyme.</div> + +<p>Pactyas did not wait for the arrival of Mazares. As soon as he heard +of his approach, he abandoned the ground, and fled northwardly to the +city of Cyme, and sought refuge there. When Mazares had reached Sardis +and re-established the government of Cyrus there, he sent messengers +to Cyme, demanding the surrender of the fugitive.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The people consult the oracle.<br />Reply of the oracle.</div> + +<p>The people of Cyme were uncertain whether they ought to comply. They +said that they must first consult an oracle. There was a very ancient +and celebrated oracle near Miletus. They sent messengers to this +oracle, demanding to know whether it were according to the will of the +gods or not that the fugitive should be surrendered. The answer +brought back was, that they might surrender him.</p> + +<p>They were accordingly making arrangements for doing this, when one of +the citizens, a very prominent and influential man, named Aristodicus, +expressed himself not satisfied with the reply. He did not think it +possible, he said, that the oracle could really counsel them to +deliver up a helpless fugitive to his enemies. The messengers must +have misunderstood or misreported the answer which they had received. +He finally persuaded his countrymen to send a second embassy: he +himself was placed at the head of it. On their arrival, Aristodicus +addressed the oracle as follows:</p> + +<p>"To avoid a cruel death from the Persians, Pactyas, a Lydian, fled to +us for refuge. The Persians demanded that we should surrender him. +Much as we are afraid of their power, we are still more afraid to +deliver up a helpless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>suppliant for protection without clear and +decided directions from you."</p> + +<p>The embassy received to this demand the same reply as before.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Aristodicus and the birds' nests.</div> + +<p>Still Aristodicus was not satisfied; and, as if by way of bringing +home to the oracle somewhat more forcibly a sense of the true +character of such an action as it seemed to recommend, he began to +make a circuit in the grove which was around the temple in which the +oracle resided, and to rob and destroy the nests which the birds had +built there, allured, apparently, by the sacred repose and quietude of +the scene. This had the desired effect. A solemn voice was heard from +the interior of the temple, saying, in a warning tone,</p> + +<p>"Impious man! how dost thou dare to molest those who have placed +themselves under my protection?"</p> + +<p>To this Aristodicus replied by asking the oracle how it was that it +watched over and guarded those who sought its own protection, while it +directed the people of Cyme to abandon and betray suppliants for +theirs. To this the oracle answered,</p> + +<p>"I direct them to do it, in order that such impious men may the sooner +bring down upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>their heads the judgments of heaven for having dared +to entertain even the thought of delivering up a helpless fugitive."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Capture of Pactyas.</div> + +<p>When this answer was reported to the people of Cyme, they did not dare +to give Pactyas up, nor, on the other hand, did they dare to incur the +enmity of the Persians by retaining and protecting him. They +accordingly sent him secretly away. The emissaries of Mazares, +however, followed him. They kept constantly on his track, demanding +him successively of every city where the hapless fugitive sought +refuge, until, at length, partly by threats and partly by a reward, +they induced a certain city to surrender him. Mazares sent him, a +prisoner, to Cyrus. Soon after this Mazares himself died, and Harpagus +was appointed governor of Lydia in his stead.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Situation of Belshazzar.<br />Belshazzar's feeling of security.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Cyrus went on with his conquests in the heart of +Asia, and at length, in the course of a few years, he had completed +his arrangements and preparations for the attack on Babylon. He +advanced at the head of a large force to the vicinity of the city. The +King of Babylon, whose name was Belshazzar, withdrew within the walls, +shut the gates, and felt perfectly secure. A simple wall <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>was in those +days a very effectual protection against any armed force whatever, if +it was only high enough not to be scaled, and thick enough to resist +the blows of a battering ram. The artillery of modern times would have +speedily made a fatal breach in such structures; but there was nothing +but the simple force of man, applied through brazen-headed beams of +wood, in those days, and Belshazzar knew well that his walls would bid +all such modes of demolition a complete defiance. He stationed his +soldiers, therefore, on the walls, and his sentinels in the watch +towers, while he himself, and all the nobles of his court, feeling +perfectly secure in their impregnable condition, and being abundantly +supplied with all the means that the whole empire could furnish, both +for sustenance and enjoyment, gave themselves up, in their spacious +palaces and gardens, to gayety, festivity, and pleasure.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Approach of Cyrus.<br />Cyrus draws off the water from the river.<br />The city captured.</div> + +<p>Cyrus advanced to the city. He stationed one large detachment of his +troops at the opening in the main walls where the river entered into +the city, and another one below, where it issued from it. These +detachments were ordered to march into the city by the bed of the +river, as soon as they should observe the water <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>subsiding. He then +employed a vast force of laborers to open new channels, and to widen +and deepen those which had existed before, for the purpose of drawing +off the waters from their usual bed. When these passages were thus +prepared, the water was let into them one night, at a time previously +designated, and it soon ceased to flow through the city. The +detachments of soldiers marched in over the bed of the stream, +carrying with them vast numbers of ladders. With these they easily +scaled the low walls which lined the banks of the river, and +Belshazzar was thunderstruck with the announcement made to him in the +midst of one of his feasts that the Persians were in complete and full +possession of the city.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Restoration of the Jews.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 608</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Jewish captivity.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span> period of the invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus, and the taking of +the city, was during the time while the Jews were in captivity there. +Cyrus was their deliverer. It results from this circumstance that the +name of Cyrus is connected with sacred history more than that of any +other great conqueror of ancient times.</p> + +<p>It was a common custom in the early ages of the world for powerful +sovereigns to take the people of a conquered country captive, and make +them slaves. They employed them, to some extent, as personal household +servants, but more generally as agricultural laborers, to till the +lands.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Jeremiah and the book of Chronicles.<br />Incursions of Nebuchadnezzar.</div> + +<p>An account of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon is given briefly in +the closing chapters of the second book of Chronicles, though many of +the attendant circumstances are more fully detailed in the book of +Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who lived in the time of the +captivity. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>made repeated +incursions into the land of Judea, sometimes carrying away the +reigning monarch, sometimes deposing him and appointing another +sovereign in his stead, sometimes assessing a tax or tribute upon the +land, and sometimes plundering the city, and carrying away all the +gold and silver that he could find. Thus the kings and the people were +kept in a continual state of anxiety and terror for many years, +exposed incessantly to the inroads of this nation of robbers and +plunderers, that had, so unfortunately for them, found their way +across their frontiers. King Zedekiah was the last of this oppressed +and unhappy line of Jewish kings.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Denunciations of Jeremiah.<br />Predictions of Jeremiah.</div> + +<p>The prophet Jeremiah was accustomed to denounce the sins of the Jewish +nation, by which these terrible calamities had been brought upon them, +with great courage, and with an eloquence solemn and sublime. He +declared that the miseries which the people suffered were the special +judgments of Heaven, and he proclaimed repeatedly and openly, and in +the most public places of the city, still heavier calamities which he +said were impending. The people were troubled and distressed at these +prophetic warnings, and some of them were deeply incensed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>against +Jeremiah for uttering them. Finally, on one occasion, he took his +stand in one of the public courts of the Temple, and, addressing the +concourse of priests and people that were there, he declared that, +unless the nation repented of their sins and turned to God, the whole +city should be overwhelmed. Even the Temple itself, the sacred house +of God, should be destroyed, and the very site abandoned.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Exasperation of the priests and people.</div> + +<p>The priests and the people who heard this denunciation were greatly +exasperated. They seized Jeremiah, and brought him before a great +judicial assembly for trial. The judges asked him why he uttered such +predictions, declaring that by doing so he acted like an enemy to his +country and a traitor, and that he deserved to die. The excitement was +very great against him, and the populace could hardly be restrained +from open violence. In the midst of this scene Jeremiah was calm and +unmoved, and replied to their accusations as follows:</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defense of Jeremiah.</div> + +<p>"Every thing which I have said against this city and this house, I +have said by the direction of the Lord Jehovah. Instead of resenting +it, and being angry with me for delivering my message, it becomes you +to look at your sins, and repent of them, and forsake them. It may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>be +that by so doing God will have mercy upon you, and will avert the +calamities which otherwise will most certainly come. As for myself, +here I am in your hands. Yon can deal with me just as you think best. +Yon can kill me if you will, but you may be assured that if you do so, +you will bring the guilt and the consequences of shedding innocent +blood upon yourselves and upon this city. I have said nothing and +foretold nothing but by commandment of the Lord."<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">He is liberated.</div> + +<p>The speech produced, as might have been expected, a great division +among the hearers. Some were more angry than ever, and were eager to +put the prophet to death. Others defended him, and insisted that he +should not die. The latter, for the time, prevailed. Jeremiah was set +at liberty, and continued his earnest expostulations with the people +on account of their sins, and his terrible annunciations of the +impending ruin of the city just as before.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Symbolic method of teaching.<br />The wooden yoke and the iron yoke.</div> + +<p>These unwelcome truths being so painful for the people to hear, other +prophets soon began to appear to utter contrary predictions, for the +sake, doubtless, of the popularity which they should themselves +acquire by their promises of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>returning peace and prosperity. The name +of one of these false prophets was Hananiah. On one occasion, +Jeremiah, in order to present and enforce what he had to say more +effectually on the minds of the people by means of a visible symbol, +made a small wooden yoke, by divine direction, and placed it upon his +neck, as a token of the bondage which his predictions were +threatening. Hananiah took this yoke from his neck and broke it, +saying that, as he had thus broken Jeremiah's wooden yoke, so God +would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from all nations within two +years; and then, even those of the Jews who had already been taken +captive to Babylon should return again in peace. Jeremiah replied that +Hananiah's predictions were false, and that, though the wooden yoke +was broken, God would make for Nebuchadnezzar a yoke of iron, with +which he should bend the Jewish nation in a bondage more cruel than +ever. Still, Jeremiah himself predicted that after seventy years from +the time when the last great captivity should come, the Jews should +all be restored again to their native land.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The title deeds of Jeremiah's estate.<br />The deeds deposited.</div> + +<p>He expressed this certain restoration of the Jews, on one occasion, by +a sort of symbol, by means of which he made a much stronger impression +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>on the minds of the people than could have been done by simple words. +There was a piece of land in the country of Benjamin, one of the +provinces of Judea, which belonged to the family of Jeremiah, and it +was held in such a way that, by paying a certain sum of money, +Jeremiah himself might possess it, the right of redemption being in +him. Jeremiah was in prison at this time. His uncle's son came into +the court of the prison, and proposed to him to purchase the land. +Jeremiah did so in the most public and formal manner. The title deeds +were drawn up and subscribed, witnesses were summoned, the money +weighed and paid over, the whole transaction being regularly completed +according to the forms and usages then common for the conveyance of +landed property. When all was finished, Jeremiah gave the papers into +the hands of his scribe, directing him to put them safely away and +preserve them with care, for after a certain period the country of +Judea would again be restored to the peaceable possession of the Jews, +and such titles to land would possess once more their full and +original value.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Baruch writes Jeremiah's prophecies.<br />He reads them to the people.<br />Baruch summoned before the council.</div> + +<p>On one occasion, when Jeremiah's personal liberty was restricted so +that he could not utter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>publicly, himself, his prophetical warnings, +he employed Baruch, his scribe, to write them from his dictation, with +a view of reading them to the people from some public and frequented +part of the city. The prophecy thus dictated was inscribed upon a roll +of parchment. Baruch waited, when he had completed the writing, until +a favorable opportunity occurred for reading it, which was on the +occasion of a great festival that was held at Jerusalem, and which +brought the inhabitants of the land together from all parts of Judea. +On the day of the festival, Baruch took the roll in his hand, and +stationed himself at a very public place, at the entrance of one of +the great courts of the Temple; there, calling upon the people to hear +him, he began to read. A great concourse gathered around him, and all +listened to him with profound attention. One of the by-standers, +however, went down immediately into the city, to the king's palace, +and reported to the king's council, who were then assembled there, +that a great concourse was convened in one of the courts of the +Temple, and that Baruch was there reading to them a discourse or +prophecy which had been written by Jeremiah. The members of the +council sent a summons to Baruch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>to come immediately to them, and to +bring his writing with him.</p> + +<p>When Baruch arrived, they directed him to read what he had written. +Baruch accordingly read it. They asked him when and how that discourse +was written. Baruch replied that he had written it, word by word, from +the dictation of Jeremiah. The officers informed him that they should +be obliged to report the circumstances to the king, and they counseled +Baruch to go to Jeremiah and recommend to him to conceal himself, lest +the king, in his anger, should do him some sudden and violent +injury.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> + +<div class="sidenote">The roll sent to the king.</div> + +<p>The officers then, leaving the roll in one of their own apartments, +went to the king, and reported the facts to him. He sent one of his +attendants, named Jehudi, to bring the roll. When it came, the king +directed Jehudi to read it. Jehudi did so, standing by a fire which had +been made in the apartment, for it was bitter cold.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The roll destroyed.</div> + +<p>After Jehudi had read a few pages from the roll, finding that it +contained a repetition of the same denunciations and warnings by which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>the king had often been displeased before, he took a knife and began +to cut the parchment into pieces, and to throw it on the fire. Some +other persons who were standing by interfered, and earnestly begged +the king not to allow the roll to be burned. But the king did not +interfere. He permitted Jehudi to destroy the parchment altogether, +and then sent officers to take Jeremiah and Baruch, and bring them to +him but they were nowhere to be found.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Jeremiah attempts to leave the city.</div> + +<p>The prophet, on one occasion, was reduced to extreme distress by the +persecutions which his faithfulness, and the incessant urgency of his +warnings and expostulations had brought upon him. It was at a time +when the Chaldean armies had been driven away from Jerusalem for a +short period by the Egyptians, as one vulture drives away another from +its prey. Jeremiah determined to avail himself of the opportunity to +go to the province of Benjamin, to visit his friends and family there. +He was intercepted, however, at one of the gates, on his way, and +accused of a design to make his escape from the city, and go over to +the Chaldeans. The prophet earnestly denied this charge. They paid no +regard to his declarations, but sent him back to Jerusalem, to the +officers of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>the king's government, who confined him in a house which +they used as a prison.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The king sends for Jeremiah.<br />He is imprisoned.</div> + +<p>After he had remained in this place of confinement for several days, +the king sent and took him from it, and brought him to the palace. The +king inquired whether he had any prophecy to utter from the Lord. +Jeremiah replied that the word of the Lord was, that the Chaldeans +should certainly return again, and that Zedekiah himself should fall +into their hands, and be carried captive to Babylon. While he thus +persisted so strenuously in the declarations which he had made so +often before, he demanded of the king that he should not be sent back +again to the house of imprisonment from which he had been rescued. The +king said he would not send him back, and he accordingly directed, +instead, that he should be taken to the court of the public prison, +where his confinement would be less rigorous, and there he was to be +supplied daily with food, so long, as the king expressed it, as there +should be any food remaining in the city.</p> + +<p>But Jeremiah's enemies were not at rest. They came again, after a +time, to the king, and represented to him that the prophet, by his +gloomy and terrible predictions, discouraged and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>depressed the hearts +of the people, and weakened their hands; that he ought, accordingly, +to be regarded as a public enemy; and they begged the king to proceed +decidedly against him. The king replied that he would give him into +their hands, and they might do with him what they pleased.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Jeremiah cast into a dungeon.<br />The king orders him to be taken up.</div> + +<p>There was a dungeon in the prison, the only access to which was from +above. Prisoners were let down into it with ropes, and left there to +die of hunger. The bottom of it was wet and miry, and the prophet, +when let down into its gloomy depths, sank into the deep mire. Here he +would soon have died of hunger and misery; but the king, feeling some +misgivings in regard to what he had done, lest it might really be a +true prophet of God that he had thus delivered into the hands of his +enemies, inquired what the people had done with their prisoner; and +when he learned that he had been thus, as it were, buried alive, he +immediately sent officers with orders to take him out of the dungeon. +The officers went to the dungeon. They opened the mouth of it. They +had brought ropes with them, to be used for drawing the unhappy +prisoner up, and cloths, also, which he was to fold together and place +under his arms, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>where the ropes were to pass. These ropes and cloths +they let down into the dungeon, and called upon Jeremiah to place them +properly around his body. Thus they drew him safely up out of the +dismal den.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Jerusalem besieged by the Babylonians.<br />Capture of the king.</div> + +<p>These cruel persecutions of the faithful prophet were all unavailing +either to silence his voice or to avert the calamities which his +warnings portended. At the appointed time, the judgments which had +been so long predicted came in all their terrible reality. The +Babylonians invaded the land in great force, and encamped about the +city. The siege continued for two years. At the end of that time the +famine became insupportable. Zedekiah, the king, determined to make a +sortie, with as strong a force as he could command, secretly, at +night, in hopes to escape with his own life, and intending to leave +the city to its fate. He succeeded in passing out through the city +gates with his band of followers, and in actually passing the +Babylonian lines; but he had not gone far before his escape was +discovered. He was pursued and taken. The city was then stormed, and, +as usual in such cases, it was given up to plunder and destruction. +Vast numbers of the inhabitants were killed; many more were taken +captive; the principal buildings, both public and private, were +burned; the walls were broken down, and all the public treasures of +the Jews, the gold and silver vessels of the Temple, and a vast +quantity of private plunder, were carried away to Babylon by the +conquerors. All this was seventy years before the conquest of Babylon +by Cyrus.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219-20]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i211.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="298" alt="Raising Jeremiah From the Dungeon." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Raising Jeremiah From the Dungeon.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">Captivity of the Jews.<br />The prophet Daniel.</div> + +<p>Of course, during the time of this captivity, a very considerable +portion of the inhabitants of Judea remained in their native land. The +deportation of a whole people to a foreign land is impossible. A vast +number, however, of the inhabitants of the country were carried away, +and they remained, for two generations, in a miserable bondage. Some +of them were employed as agricultural laborers in the rural districts +of Babylon; others remained in the city, and were engaged in servile +labors there. The prophet Daniel lived in the palaces of the king. He +was summoned, as the reader will recollect, to Belshazzar's feast, on +the night when Cyrus forced his way into the city, to interpret the +mysterious writing on the wall, by which the fall of the Babylonian +monarchy was announced in so terrible a manner.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus takes possession of Babylon, and allows the Jews to +return.</div> + +<p>One year after Cyrus had conquered Babylon, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>he issued an edict +authorizing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the city +and the Temple. This event had been long before predicted by the +prophets, as the result which God had determined upon for purposes of +his own. We should not naturally have expected that such a conqueror +as Cyrus would feel any real and honest interest in promoting the +designs of God; but still, in the proclamation which he issued +authorizing the Jews to return, he acknowledged the supreme divinity +of Jehovah, and says that he was charged by him with the work of +rebuilding his Temple, and restoring his worship at its ancient seat +on Mount Zion. It has, however, been supposed by some scholars, who +have examined attentively all the circumstances connected with these +transactions, that so far as Cyrus was influenced by political +considerations in ordering the return of the Jews, his design was to +re-establish that nation as a barrier between his dominions and those +of the Egyptians. The Egyptians and the Chaldeans had long been deadly +enemies, and now that Cyrus had become master of the Chaldean realms, +he would, of course, in assuming their territories and their power, be +obliged to defend himself against their foes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Assembling of the Jews.<br />The number that returned.</div> + +<p>Whatever may have been the motives of Cyrus, he decided to allow the +Hebrew captives to return, and he issued a proclamation to that +effect. As seventy years had elapsed since the captivity commenced, +about two generations had passed away, and there could have been very +few then living who had ever seen the land of their fathers. The Jews +were, however, all eager to return. They collected in a vast assembly, +with all the treasures which they were allowed to take, and the stores +of provisions and baggage, and with horses, and mules, and other +beasts of burden to transport them. When assembled for the march, it +was found that the number, of which a very exact census was taken, was +forty-nine thousand six hundred and ninety-seven.</p> + +<p>They had also with them seven or eight hundred horses, about two +hundred and fifty mules, and about five hundred camels. The chief +part, however, of their baggage and stores was borne by asses, of +which there were nearly seven thousand in the train. The march of this +peaceful multitude of families—men, women, and children +together—burdened as they went, not with arms and ammunition for +conquest and destruction, but with tools and implements for honest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>industry, and stores of provisions and utensils for the peaceful +purposes of social life, as it was, in its bearings and results, one +of the grandest events of history, so it must have presented, in its +progress, one of the most extraordinary spectacles that the world has +ever seen.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Arrival of the caravan at Jerusalem.<br />Building the Temple.<br />Emotions of the old men.<br />Rejoicings of the young men.</div> + +<p>The grand caravan pursued its long and toilsome march from Babylon to +Jerusalem without molestation. All arrived safely, and the people +immediately commenced the work of repairing the walls of the city and +rebuilding the Temple. When, at length, the foundations of the Temple +were laid, a great celebration was held to commemorate the event. This +celebration exhibited a remarkable scene of mingled rejoicing and +mourning. The younger part of the population, who had never seen +Jerusalem in its former grandeur, felt only exhilaration and joy at +their re-establishment in the city of their fathers. The work of +raising the edifice, whose foundations they had laid, was to them +simply a new enterprise, and they looked forward to the work of +carrying it on with pride and pleasure. The old men, however, who +remembered the former Temple, were filled with mournful recollections +of days of prosperity and peace in their childhood and of the +magnificence of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>former Temple, which they could now never hope to +see realized again. It was customary in those days, to express sorrow +and grief by exclamations and outcries, as gladness and joy are +expressed audibly now. Accordingly, on this occasion, the cries of +grief and of bitter regret at the thought of losses which could now +never be retrieved, were mingled with the shouts of rejoicing and +triumph raised by the ardent and young, who knew nothing of the past, +but looked forward with hope and happiness to the future.</p> + +<p>The Jews encountered various hinderances, and met with much opposition +in their attempts to reconstruct their ancient city, and to +re-establish the Mosaic ritual there. We must, however, now return to +the history of Cyrus, referring the reader for a narrative of the +circumstances connected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the very +minute account given in the sacred books of Ezra and Nehemiah.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Story of Panthea.</span></h2> + +<div class="sidenote">Xenophon's romantic tales.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">n</span> the preceding chapters of this work, we have followed mainly the +authority of Herodotus, except, indeed, in the account of the visit of +Cyrus to his grandfather in his childhood, which is taken from +Xenophon. We shall, in this chapter, relate the story of Panthea, +which is also one of Xenophon's tales. We give it as a specimen of the +romantic narratives in which Xenophon's history abounds, and on +account of the many illustrations of an ancient manners and customs +which it contains, leaving it for each reader to decide for himself +what weight he will attach to its claims to be regarded as veritable +history. We relate the story here in our own language, but as to the +facts, we follow faithfully the course of Xenophon's narration.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea a Susian captive.<br />Valuable spoil.<br />Its division.</div> + +<p>Panthea was a Susian captive. She was taken, together with a great +many other captives and much plunder, after one of the great battles +which Cyrus fought with the Assyrians. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>Her husband was an Assyrian +general, though he himself was not captured at this time with his +wife. The spoil which came into possession of the army on the occasion +of the battle in which Panthea was taken was of great value. There +were beautiful and costly suits of arms, rich tents made of splendid +materials and highly ornamented, large sums of money, vessels of +silver and gold, and slaves—some prized for their beauty, and others +for certain accomplishments which were highly valued in those days. +Cyrus appointed a sort of commission to divide this spoil. He pursued +always a very generous policy on all these occasions, showing no +desire to secure such treasures to himself, but distributing them with +profuse liberality among his officers and soldiers.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Share of Cyrus.<br />Panthea given to Cyrus.</div> + +<p>The commissioners whom he appointed in this case divided the spoil +among the various generals of the army, and among the different bodies +of soldiery, with great impartiality. Among the prizes assigned to +Cyrus were two singing women of great fame, and this Susian lady. +Cyrus thanked the distributors for the share of booty which they had +thus assigned to him, but said that if any of his friends wished for +either of these captives, they could have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>them. An officer asked for +one of the singers. Cyrus gave her to him immediately, saying, "I +consider myself more obliged to you for asking her, than you are to me +for giving her to you." As for the Susian lady, Cyrus had not yet seen +her, but he called one of his most intimate and confidential friends +to him, and requested him to take her under his charge.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Araspes.</div> + +<p>The name of this officer was Araspes. He was a Mede, and he had been +Cyrus's particular friend and playmate when he was a boy, visiting his +grandfather in Media. The reader will perhaps recollect that he is +mentioned toward the close of our account of that visit, as the +special favorite to whom Cyrus presented his robe or mantle when he +took leave of his friends in returning to his native land.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Abradates.</div> + +<p>Araspes, when he received this charge, asked Cyrus whether he had +himself seen the lady. Cyrus replied that he had not. Araspes then +proceeded to give an account of her. The name of her husband was +Abradates, and he was the king of Susa, as they termed him. The reason +why he was not taken prisoner at the same time with his wife was, that +when the battle was fought and the Assyrian camp captured, he was +absent, having gone away on an embassage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>to another nation. This +circumstance shows that Abradates, though called a king, could hardly +have been a sovereign and independent prince, but rather a governor or +viceroy—those words expressing to our minds more truly the station of +such a sort of king as could be sent on an embassy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Account of Panthea's capture.<br />Her great loveliness.</div> + +<p>Araspes went on to say that, at the time of their making the capture, +he, with some others, went into Panthea's tent, where they found her +and her attendant ladies sitting on the ground, with veils over their +faces, patiently awaiting their doom. Notwithstanding the concealment +produced by the attitudes and dress of these ladies, there was +something about the air and figure of Panthea which showed at once +that she was the queen. The leader of Araspes's party asked them all +to rise. They did so, and then the superiority of Panthea was still +more apparent than before. There was an extraordinary grace and beauty +in her attitude and in all her motions. She stood in a dejected +posture, and her countenance was sad, though inexpressibly lovely. She +endeavored to appear calm and composed, though the tears had evidently +been falling from her eyes.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Attempts at consolation.</div> + +<p>The soldiers pitied her in her distress, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>the leader of the party +attempted to console her, as Araspes said, by telling her that she had +nothing to fear; that they were aware that her husband was a most +worthy and excellent man; and although, by this capture, she was lost +to him, she would have no cause to regret the event, for she would be +reserved for a new husband not at all inferior to her former one +either in person, in understanding, in rank, or in power.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea's renewed grief.</div> + +<p>These well-meant attempts at consolation did not appear to have the +good effect desired. They only awakened Panthea's grief and suffering +anew. The tears began to fall again faster than before. Her grief soon +became more and more uncontrollable. She sobbed and cried aloud, and +began to wring her hands and tear her mantle—the customary Oriental +expression of inconsolable sorrow and despair. Araspes said that in +these gesticulations her neck, and hands, and a part of her face +appeared, and that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever +beheld. He wished Cyrus to see her.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus declines to see Panthea.<br />His reasons.</div> + +<p>Cyrus said, "No; he would not see her by any means." Araspes asked him +why. He said that there would be danger that he should forget his duty +to the army, and lose his interest in the great military enterprise in +which he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>was engaged, if he should allow himself to become captivated +by the charms of such a lady, as he very probably would be if he were +now to visit her. Araspes said in reply that Cyrus might at least see +her; as to becoming captivated with her, and devoting himself to her +to such a degree as to neglect his other duties, he could certainly +control himself in respect to that danger. Cyrus said that it was not +certain that he could so control himself; and then there followed a +long discussion between Cyrus and Araspes, in which Araspes maintained +that every man had the command of his own heart and affections, and +that, with proper determination and energy, he could direct the +channels in which they should run, and confine them within such limits +and bounds as he pleased. Cyrus, on the other hand, maintained that +human passions were stronger than the human will; that no one could +rely on the strength of his resolutions to control the impulses of the +heart once strongly excited, and that a man's only safety was in +controlling the circumstances which tended to excite them. This was +specially true, he said, in respect to the passion of love. The +experience of mankind, he said, had shown that no strength of moral +principle, no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>firmness of purpose, no fixedness of resolution, no +degree of suffering, no fear of shame, was sufficient to control, in +the hearts of men, the impetuosity of the passion of love, when it was +once fairly awakened. In a word, Araspes advocated, on the subject of +love, a sort of new school philosophy, while that of Cyrus leaned very +seriously toward the old.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Araspes's self-confidence.</div> + +<p>In conclusion, Cyrus jocosely counseled Araspes to beware lest he +should prove that love was stronger than the will by becoming himself +enamored of the beautiful Susian queen. Araspes said that Cyrus need +not fear; there was no danger. He must be a miserable wretch indeed, +he said, who could not summon within him sufficient resolution and +energy to control his own passions and desires. As for himself, he was +sure that he was safe.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea's patience and gentleness.<br />Araspes's kindness to Panthea.<br />His emotions master him.<br />Araspes in love.</div> + +<p>As usual with those who are self-confident and boastful, Araspes +failed when the time of trial came. He took charge of the royal +captive whom Cyrus committed to him with a very firm resolution to be +faithful to his trust. He pitied the unhappy queen's misfortunes, and +admired the heroic patience and gentleness of spirit with which she +bore them. The beauty of her countenance, and her thousand personal +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>charms, which were all heightened by the expression of sadness and +sorrow which they bore, touched his heart. It gave him pleasure to +grant her every indulgence consistent with her condition of captivity, +and to do every thing in his power to promote her welfare. She was +very grateful for these favors, and the few brief words and looks of +kindness with which she returned them repaid him for his efforts to +please her a thousand-fold. He saw her, too, in her tent, in the +presence of her maidens, at all times; and as she looked upon him as +only her custodian and guard, and as, too, her mind was wholly +occupied by the thoughts of her absent husband and her hopeless grief, +her actions were entirely free and unconstrained in his presence. This +made her only the more attractive; every attitude and movement seemed +to possess, in Araspes's mind, an inexpressible charm. In a word, the +result was what Cyrus had predicted. Araspes became wholly absorbed in +the interest which was awakened in him by the charms of the beautiful +captive. He made many resolutions, but they were of no avail. While he +was away from her, he felt strong in his determination to yield to +these feelings no more; but as soon as he came into her presence, all +these resolutions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>melted wholly away, and he yielded his heart +entirely to the control of emotions which, however vincible they might +appear at a distance, were found, when the time of trial came, to +possess a certain mysterious and magic power, which made it most +delightful for the heart to yield before them in the contest, and +utterly impossible to stand firm and resist. In a word, when seen at a +distance, love appeared to him an enemy which he was ready to brave, +and was sure that he could overcome; but when near, it transformed +itself into the guise of a friend, and he accordingly threw down the +arms with which he had intended to combat it, and gave himself up to +it in a delirium of pleasure.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Progress of the army.</div> + +<p>Things continued in this state for some time. The army advanced from +post to post, and from encampment to encampment, taking the captives +in their train. New cities were taken, new provinces overrun, and new +plans for future conquests were formed. At last a case occurred in +which Cyrus wished to send some one as a spy into a distant enemy's +country. The circumstances were such that it was necessary that a +person of considerable intelligence and rank should go, as Cyrus +wished the messenger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>whom he should send to make his way to the court +of the sovereign, and become personally acquainted with the leading +men of the state, and to examine the general resources of the kingdom. +It was a very different case from that of an ordinary spy, who was to +go into a neighboring camp merely to report the numbers and +disposition of an organized army. Cyrus was uncertain whom he should +send on such an embassy.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Araspes confesses his love.<br />Panthea offended.<br />Panthea appeals to Cyrus.</div> + +<p>In the mean time, Araspes had ventured to express to Panthea his love +for her. She was offended. In the first place, she was faithful to her +husband, and did not wish to receive such addresses from any person. +Then, besides, she considered Araspes, having been placed in charge of +her by Cyrus, his master, only for the purpose of keeping her safely, +as guilty of a betrayal of his trust in having dared to cherish and +express sentiments of affection for her himself. She, however, forbore +to reproach him, or to complain of him to Cyrus. She simply repelled +the advances that he made, supposing that, if she did this with +firmness and decision, Araspes would feel rebuked and would say no +more. It did not, however, produce this effect. Araspes continued to +importune her with declarations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>of love, and at length she felt +compelled to appeal to Cyrus.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus reproves Araspes.</div> + +<p>Cyrus, instead of being incensed at what might have been considered a +betrayal of trust on the part of Araspes, only laughed at the failure +and fall in which all his favorite's promises and boastings had ended. +He sent a messenger to Araspes to caution him in regard to his +conduct, telling him that he ought to respect the feelings of such a +woman as Panthea had proved herself to be. The messenger whom Cyrus +sent was not content with delivering his message as Cyrus had dictated +it. He made it much more stern and severe. In fact, he reproached the +lover, in a very harsh and bitter manner, for indulging such a +passion. He told him that he had betrayed a sacred trust reposed in +him, and acted in a manner at once impious and unjust. Araspes was +overwhelmed with remorse and anguish, and with fear of the +consequences which might ensue, as men are when the time arrives for +being called to account for transgressions which, while they were +committing them, gave them little concern.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's generosity.</div> + +<p>When Cyrus heard how much Araspes had been distressed by the message +of reproof which he had received, and by his fears of punishment, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>he +sent for him. Araspes came. Cyrus told him that he had no occasion to +be alarmed. "I do not wonder," said he, "at the result which has +happened. We all know how difficult it is to resist the influence +which is exerted upon our minds by the charms of a beautiful woman, +when we are thrown into circumstances of familiar intercourse with +her. Whatever of wrong there has been ought to be considered as more +my fault than yours. I was wrong in placing you in such circumstances +of temptation, by giving you so beautiful a woman in charge."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Araspes's continued distress.</div> + +<p>Araspes was very much struck with the generosity of Cyrus, in thus +endeavoring to soothe his anxiety and remorse, and taking upon himself +the responsibility and the blame. He thanked Cyrus very earnestly for +his kindness; but he said that, notwithstanding his sovereign's +willingness to forgive him, he felt still oppressed with grief and +concern, for the knowledge of his fault had been spread abroad in the +army; his enemies were rejoicing over him, and were predicting his +disgrace and ruin; and some persons had even advised him to make his +escape, by absconding before any worse calamity should befall him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Plan of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>"If this is so," said Cyrus, "it puts it in your power to render me a +very essential service." Cyrus then explained to Araspes the necessity +that he was under of finding some confidential agent to go on a secret +mission into the enemy's country, and the importance that the +messenger should go under such circumstances as not to be suspected of +being Cyrus's friend in disguise. "You can pretend to abscond," said +he; "it will be immediately said that you fled for fear of my +displeasure. I will pretend to send in pursuit of you. The news of +your evasion will spread rapidly, and will be carried, doubtless, into +the enemy's country; so that, when you arrive there, they will be +prepared to welcome you as a deserter from my cause, and a refugee."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Araspes pretends to desert.</div> + +<p>This plan was agreed upon, and Araspes prepared for his departure. +Cyrus gave him his instructions, and they concerted together the +information—fictitious, of course—which he was to communicate to the +enemy in respect to Cyrus's situation and designs. When all was ready +for his departure, Cyrus asked him how it was that he was so willing +to separate himself thus from the beautiful Panthea. He said in reply, +that when he was absent from Panthea, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>he was capable of easily +forming any determination, and of pursuing any line of conduct that +his duty required, while yet, in her presence, he found his love for +her, and the impetuous feelings to which it gave rise, wholly and +absolutely uncontrollable.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea proposes to send for her husband.</div> + +<p>As soon as Araspes was gone, Panthea, who supposed that he had really +fled for fear of the indignation of the king, in consequence of his +unfaithfulness to his trust, sent to Cyrus a message, expressing her +regret at the unworthy conduct and the flight of Araspes, and saying +that she could, and gladly would, if he consented, repair the loss +which the desertion of Araspes occasioned by sending for her own +husband. He was, she said, dissatisfied with the government under +which he lived, having been cruelly and tyrannically treated by the +prince. "If you will allow me to send for him," she added, "I am sure +he will come and join your army; and I assure you that you will find +him a much more faithful and devoted servant than Araspes has been."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus consents.<br />Joyful meeting of Panthea and her husband.</div> + +<p>Cyrus consented to this proposal, and Panthea sent for Abradates. +Abradates came at the head of two thousand horse, which formed a very +important addition to the forces under <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>Cyrus's command. The meeting +between Panthea and her husband was joyful in the extreme. When +Abradates learned from his wife how honorable and kind had been the +treatment which Cyrus had rendered to her, he was overwhelmed with a +sense of gratitude, and he declared that he would do the utmost in his +power to requite the obligations he was under.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The armed chariots.</div> + +<p>Abradates entered at once, with great ardor and zeal, into plans for +making the force which he had brought as efficient as possible in the +service of Cyrus. He observed that Cyrus was interested, at that time, +in attempting to build and equip a corps of armed chariots, such as +were often used in fields of battle in those days. This was a very +expensive sort of force, corresponding, in that respect, with the +artillery used in modern times. The carriages were heavy and strong, +and were drawn generally by two horses. They had short, scythe-like +blades of steel projecting from the axle-trees on each side, by which +the ranks of the enemy were mowed down when the carriages were driven +among them. The chariots were made to contain, besides the driver of +the horses, one or more warriors, each armed in the completest manner. +These warriors stood on the floor of the vehicle, and fought with javelins and spears. The great plains which abound in +the interior countries of Asia were very favorable for this species of +warfare.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 241-2]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/i232.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="300" alt="The War Chariot of Abradates." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The War Chariot of Abradates.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote">Abradates's eight-horse chariot.<br />Panthea's presents for her husband.<br />Imposing spectacle.</div> + +<p>Abradates immediately fitted up for Cyrus a hundred such chariots at +his own expense, and provided horses to draw them from his own troop. +He made one chariot much larger than the rest, for himself, as he +intended to take command of this corps of chariots in person. His own +chariot was to be drawn by eight horses. His wife Panthea was very +much interested in these preparations. She wished to do something +herself toward the outfit. She accordingly furnished, from her own +private treasures, a helmet, a corslet, and arm-pieces of gold. These +articles formed a suit of armor sufficient to cover all that part of +the body which would be exposed in standing in the chariot. She also +provided breast-pieces and side-pieces of brass for the horses. The +whole chariot, thus equipped, with its eight horses in their gay +trappings and resplendent armor, and with Abradates standing within +it, clothed in his panoply of gold, presented, as it drove, in the +sight of the whole army, around the plain of the encampment, a most +imposing spectacle. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>It was a worthy leader, as the spectators +thought, to head the formidable column of a hundred similar engines +which were to follow in its train. If we imagine the havoc which a +hundred scythe-armed carriages would produce when driven, with +headlong fury, into dense masses of men, on a vast open plain, we +shall have some idea of one item of the horrors of ancient war.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea's preparations.<br />Panthea offers her presents.</div> + +<p>The full splendor of Abradates's equipments were not, however, +displayed at first, for Panthea kept what she had done a secret for a +time, intending to reserve her contribution for a parting present to +her husband when the period should arrive for going into battle. She +had accordingly taken the measure for her work by stealth, from the +armor which Abradates was accustomed to wear, and had caused the +artificers to make the golden pieces with the utmost secrecy. Besides +the substantial defenses of gold which she provided, she added various +other articles for ornament and decoration. There was a purple robe, a +crest for the helmet, which was of a violet color, plumes, and +likewise bracelets for the wrists. Panthea kept all these things +herself until the day arrived when her husband was going into battle +for the first time with his train, and then, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>he went into his +tent to prepare himself to ascend his chariot, she brought them to +him.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Abradates's pleasure.</div> + +<p>Abradates was astonished when he saw them. He soon understood how they +had been provided, and he exclaimed, with a heart full of surprise and +pleasure, "And so, to provide me with this splendid armor and dress, +you have been depriving yourself of all your finest and most beautiful +ornaments!"</p> + +<p>"No," said Panthea, "you are yourself my finest ornament, if you +appear in other people's eyes as you do in mine, and I have not +deprived myself of you."</p> + +<p>The appearance which Abradates made in other people's eyes was +certainly very splendid on this occasion. There were many spectators +present to see him mount his chariot and drive away; but so great was +their admiration of Panthea's affection and regard for her husband, +and so much impressed were they with her beauty, that the great +chariot, the resplendent horses, and the grand warrior with his armor +of gold, which the magnificent equipage was intended to convey, were, +all together, scarcely able to draw away the eyes of the spectators +from her. She stood, for a while, by the side of the chariot, +addressing her husband in an under <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>tone, reminding him of the +obligations which they were under to Cyrus for his generous and noble +treatment of her, and urging him, now that he was going to be put to +the test, to redeem the promise which she had made in his name, that +Cyrus would find him faithful, brave, and true.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Abradates departs for the field.<br />The farewell.</div> + +<p>The driver then closed the door by which Abradates had mounted, so +that Panthea was separated from her husband, though she could still +see him as he stood in his place. She gazed upon him with a +countenance full of affection and solicitude. She kissed the margin of +the chariot as it began to move away. She walked along after it as it +went, as if, after all, she could not bear the separation. Abradates +turned, and when he saw her coming on after the carriage, he said, +waving his hand for a parting salutation, "Farewell, Panthea; go back +now to your tent, and do not be anxious about me. Farewell." Panthea +turned—her attendants came and took her away—the spectators all +turned, too, to follow her with their eyes, and no one paid any regard +to the chariot or to Abradates until she was gone.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The order of battle.<br />Appearance of Abradates.</div> + +<p>On the field of battle, before the engagement commenced, Cyrus, in +passing along the lines, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>paused, when he came to the chariots of +Abradates, to examine the arrangements which had been made for them, +and to converse a moment with the chief. He saw that the chariots were +drawn up in a part of the field where there was opposed to them a very +formidable array of Egyptian soldiers. The Egyptians in this war were +allies of the enemy. Abradates, leaving his chariot in the charge of +his driver, descended and came to Cyrus, and remained in conversation +with him for a few moments, to receive his last orders. Cyrus directed +him to remain where he was, and not to attack the enemy until he +received a certain signal. At length the two chieftains separated; +Abradates returned to his chariot, and Cyrus moved on. Abradates then +moved slowly along his lines, to encourage and animate his men, and to +give them the last directions in respect to the charge which they were +about to make on the enemy when the signal should be given. All eyes +were turned to the magnificent spectacle which his equipage presented +as it advanced toward them; the chariot, moving slowly along the line, +the tall and highly-decorated form of its commander rising in the +center of it, while the eight horses, animated by the sound of the +trumpets, and by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>the various excitements of the scene, stepped +proudly, their brazen armor clanking as they came.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The charge.<br />Terrible havoc made by the chariots.</div> + +<p>When, at length, the signal was given, Abradates, calling on the other +chariots to follow, put his horses to their speed, and the whole line +rushed impetuously on to the attack of the Egyptians. War horses, +properly trained to their work, will fight with their hoofs with +almost as much reckless determination as men will with spears. They +rush madly on to encounter whatever opposition there may be before +them, and strike down and leap over whatever comes in their way, as if +they fully understood the nature of the work that their riders or +drivers were wishing them to do. Cyrus, as he passed along from one +part of the battle field to another, saw the horses of Abradates's +line dashing thus impetuously into the thickest ranks of the enemy. +The men, on every side, were beaten down by the horses' hoofs, or +over-turned by the wheels, or cut down by the scythes; and they who +here and there escaped these dangers, became the aim of the soldiers +who stood in the chariots, and were transfixed with their spears. The +heavy wheels rolled and jolted mercilessly over the bodies of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>wounded and the fallen, while the scythes caught hold of and cut +through every thing that came in their way—whether the shafts of +javelins and spears, or the limbs and bodies of men—and tore every +thing to pieces in their terrible career. As Cyrus rode rapidly by, he +saw Abradates in the midst of this scene, driving on in his chariot, +and shouting to his men in a phrensy of excitement and triumph.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The great victory.<br />The council of war.<br />Abradates slain.</div> + +<p>The battle in which these events occurred was one of the greatest and +most important which Cyrus fought. He gained the victory. His enemies +were every where routed and driven from the field. When the contest +was at length decided, the army desisted from the slaughter and +encamped for the night. On the following day, the generals assembled +at the tent of Cyrus to discuss the arrangements which were to be made +in respect to the disposition of the captives and of the spoil, and to +the future movements of the army. Abradates was not there. For a time, +Cyrus, in the excitement and confusion of the scene did not observe +his absence. At length he inquired for him. A soldier present told him +that he had been killed from his chariot in the midst of the +Egyptians, and that his wife was at that moment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>attending to the +interment of the body, on the banks of a river which flowed near the +field of battle. Cyrus, on hearing this, uttered a loud exclamation of +astonishment and sorrow. He dropped the business in which he had been +engaged with his council, mounted his horse, commanded attendants to +follow him with every thing that could be necessary on such an +occasion, and then, asking those who knew to lead the way, he drove +off to find Panthea.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea's grief.</div> + +<p>When he arrived at the spot, the dead body of Abradates was lying upon +the ground, while Panthea sat by its side, holding the head in her +lap, overwhelmed herself with unutterable sorrow. Cyrus leaped from +his horse, knelt down by the side of the corpse, saying, at the same +time, "Alas! thou brave and faithful soul, and art thou gone?"</p> + +<p>At the same time, he took hold of the hand of Abradates; but, as he +attempted to raise it, the arm came away from the body. It had been +cut off by an Egyptian sword. Cyrus was himself shocked at the +spectacle, and Panthea's grief broke forth anew. She cried out with +bitter anguish, replaced the arm in the position in which she had +arranged it before, and told Cyrus that the rest of the body was in +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>same condition. Whenever she attempted to speak, her sobs and +tears almost prevented her utterance. She bitterly reproached herself +for having been, perhaps, the cause of her husband's death, by urging +him, as she had done, to fidelity and courage when he went into +battle. "And now," she said, "he is dead, while I, who urged him +forward into the danger, am still alive."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's kindness to Panthea.<br />She is inconsolable.</div> + +<p>Cyrus said what he could to console Panthea's grief; but he found it +utterly inconsolable. He gave directions for furnishing her with every +thing which she could need, and promised her that he would make ample +arrangements for providing for her in future. "You shall be treated," +he said, "while you remain with me, in the most honorable manner; or +if you have any friends whom you wish to join, you shall be sent to +them safely whenever you please."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Panthea kills herself on the dead body of her husband.</div> + +<p>Panthea thanked him for his kindness. She had a friend, she said, whom +she wished to join, and she would let him know in due time who it was. +In the mean time, she wished that Cyrus would leave her alone, for a +while, with her servants, and her waiting-maid, and the dead body of +her husband. Cyrus accordingly withdrew. As soon as he had gone, +Panthea <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>sent away the servants also, retaining the waiting-maid +alone. The waiting-maid began to be anxious and concerned at +witnessing these mysterious arrangements, as if they portended some +new calamity. She wondered what her mistress was going to do. Her +doubts were dispelled by seeing Panthea produce a sword, which she had +kept concealed hitherto beneath her robe. Her maid begged her, with +much earnestness and many tears, not to destroy herself; but Panthea +was immovable. She said she could not live any longer. She directed +the maid to envelop her body, as soon as she was dead, in the same +mantle with her husband, and to have them both deposited together in +the same grave; and before her stupefied attendant could do any thing +to save her, she sat down by the side of her husband's body, laid her +head upon his breast, and in that position gave herself the fatal +wound. In a few minutes she ceased to breathe.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<p>Cyrus expressed his respect for the memory of Abradates and Panthea by +erecting a lofty monument over their common grave.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Conversations.</span></h2> + +<div class="sidenote">General character of Xenophon's history.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">W</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">e</span> have given the story of Panthea, as contained in the preceding +chapter, in our own language, it is true, but without any intentional +addition or embellishment whatever. Each reader will judge for himself +whether such a narrative, written for the entertainment of vast +assemblies at public games and celebrations, is most properly to be +regarded as an invention of romance, or as a simple record of +veritable history.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Dialogues and conversations.<br />Ancient mode of discussion.</div> + +<p>A great many extraordinary and dramatic incidents and adventures, +similar in general character to the story of Panthea, are interwoven +with the narrative in Xenophon's history. There are also, besides +these, many long and minute details of dialogues and conversations, +which, if they had really occurred, would have required a very high +degree of skill in stenography to produce such reports of them as +Xenophon has given. The incidents, too, out of which these +conversations grew, are worthy of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>attention, as we can often judge, +by the nature and character of an incident described, whether it is +one which it is probable might actually occur in real life, or only an +invention intended to furnish an opportunity and a pretext for the +inculcation of the sentiments, or the expression of the views of the +different speakers. It was the custom in ancient days, much more than +it is now, to attempt to add to the point and spirit of a discussion, +by presenting the various views which the subject naturally elicited +in the form of a conversation arising out of circumstances invented to +sustain it. The incident in such cases was, of course, a fiction, +contrived to furnish points of attachment for the dialogue—a sort of +trellis, constructed artificially to support the vine.</p> + +<p>We shall present in this chapter some specimens of these +conversations, which will give the reader a much more distinct idea of +the nature of them than any general description can convey.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's games.<br />Grand procession.<br />The races.</div> + +<p>At one time in the course of Cyrus's career, just after he had +obtained some great victory, and was celebrating his triumphs, in the +midst of his armies, with spectacles and games, he instituted a series +of races, in which the various <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>nations that were represented in his +army furnished their several champions as competitors The army marched +out from the city which Cyrus had captured, and where he was then +residing, in a procession of the most imposing magnificence. Animals +intended to be offered in sacrifice, caparisoned in trappings of gold, +horsemen most sumptuously equipped, chariots of war splendidly built +and adorned, and banners and trophies of every kind, were conspicuous +in the train. When the vast procession reached the race-ground, the +immense concourse was formed in ranks around it, and the racing went +on.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Sacian.<br />His success.</div> + +<p>When it came to the turn of the Sacian nation to enter the course, a +private man, of no apparent importance in respect to his rank or +standing, came forward as the champion; though the man appeared +insignificant, his horse was as fleet as the wind. He flew around the +arena with astonishing speed, and came in at the goal while his +competitor was still midway of the course. Every body was astonished +at this performance. Cyrus asked the Sacian whether he would be +willing to sell that horse, if he could receive a kingdom in exchange +for it—kingdoms being the coin with which such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>sovereigns as Cyrus +made their purchases. The Sacian replied that he would not sell his +horse for any kingdom, but that he would readily give him away to +oblige a worthy man.</p> + +<p>"Come with me," said Cyrus, "and I will show you where you may throw +blindfold, and not miss a worthy man."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mode of finding a worthy man.</div> + +<p>So saying, Cyrus conducted the Sacian to a part of the field where a +number of his officers and attendants were moving to and fro, mounted +upon their horses, or seated in their chariots of war. The Sacian took +up a hard clod of earth from a bank as he walked along. At length they +were in the midst of the group.</p> + +<p>"Throw!" said Cyrus.</p> + +<p>The Sacian shut his eyes and threw.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Pheraulas wounded.<br />Pheraulas pursues his course.</div> + +<p>It happened that, just at that instant, an officer named Pheraulas was +riding by. He was conveying some orders which Cyrus had given him to +another part of the field. Pheraulas had been originally a man of +humble life, but he had been advanced by Cyrus to a high position on +account of the great fidelity and zeal which he had evinced in the +performance of his duty. The clod which the Sacian threw struck +Pheraulas in the mouth, and wounded him severely. Now it is the part +of a good soldier to stand at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>his post or to press on, in obedience +to his orders, as long as any physical capacity remains; and +Pheraulas, true to his military obligation, rode on without even +turning to see whence and from what cause so unexpected and violent an +assault had proceeded.</p> + +<p>The Sacian opened his eyes, looked around, and coolly asked who it was +that he had hit. Cyrus pointed to the horseman who was riding rapidly +away, saying, "That is the man, who is riding so fast past those +chariots yonder. You hit <i>him</i>."</p> + +<p>"Why did he not turn back, then?" asked the Sacian.</p> + +<p>"It is strange that he did not," said Cyrus; "he must be some madman."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He receives the Sacian's horse.</div> + +<p>The Sacian went in pursuit of him. He found Pheraulas with his face +covered with blood and dirt, and asked him if he had received a blow. +"I have," said Pheraulas, "as you see." "Then," said the Sacian, "I +make you a present of my horse." Pheraulas asked an explanation. The +Sacian accordingly gave him an account of what had taken place between +himself and Cyrus, and said, in the end, that he gladly gave him his +horse, as he, Pheraulas, had so decisively proved himself to be a most +worthy man.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p><p>Pheraulas accepted the present, with many thanks, and he and the +Sacian became thereafter very strong friends.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Sumptuous entertainment.<br />Pheraulas and the Sacian.</div> + +<p>Some time after this, Pheraulas invited the Sacian to an +entertainment, and when the hour arrived, he set before his friend and +the other guests a most sumptuous feast, which was served in vessels +of gold and silver, and in an apartment furnished with carpets, and +canopies, and couches of the most gorgeous and splendid description. +The Sacian was much impressed with this magnificence, and he asked +Pheraulas whether he had been a rich man at home, that is, before he +had joined Cyrus's army. Pheraulas replied that he was not then rich. +His father, he said, was a farmer, and he himself had been accustomed +in early life to till the ground with the other laborers on his +father's farm. All the wealth and luxury which he now enjoyed had been +bestowed upon him, he said, by Cyrus.</p> + +<p>"How fortunate you are!" said the Sacian; "and it must be that you +enjoy your present riches all the more highly on account of having +experienced in early life the inconveniences and ills of poverty. The +pleasure must be more intense in having desires which have long been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>felt gratified at last than if the objects which they rested upon had +been always in one's possession."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Riches a source of disquiet and care.<br />Argument of Pheraulas.</div> + +<p>"You imagine, I suppose," replied Pheraulas, "that I am a great deal +happier in consequence of all this wealth and splendor; but it is not +so. As to the real enjoyments of which our natures are capable, I can +not receive more now than I could before. I can not eat any more, +drink any more, or sleep any more, or do any of these things with any +more pleasure than when I was poor. All that I gain by this abundance +is, that I have more to watch, more to guard, more to take care of. I +have many servants, for whose wants I have to provide, and who are a +constant source of solicitude to me. One calls for food, another for +clothes, and a third is sick, and I must see that he has a physician. +My other possessions, too, are a constant care. A man comes in, one +day, and brings me sheep that have been torn by the wolves; and, on +another day, tells me of oxen that have fallen from a precipice, or of +a distemper which has broken out among the flocks or herds. My wealth, +therefore, brings me only an increase of anxiety and trouble, without +any addition to my joys."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Remark of the Sacian.</div> + +<p>"But those things," said the Sacian, "which you name, must be unusual +and extraordinary occurrences. When all things are going on +prosperously and well with you, and you can look around on all your +possessions and feel that they are yours, then certainly you must be +happier than I am."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Reply of Pheraulas.</div> + +<p>"It is true," said Pheraulas, "that there is a pleasure in the +possession of wealth, but that pleasure is not great enough to balance +the suffering which the calamities and losses inevitably connected +with it occasion. That the suffering occasioned by losing our +possessions is greater than the pleasure of retaining them, is proved +by the fact that the pain of a loss is so exciting to the mind that it +often deprives men of sleep, while they enjoy the most calm and quiet +repose so long as their possessions are retained, which proves that +the pleasure does not move them so deeply. They are kept awake by the +vexation and chagrin on the one hand, but they are never kept awake by +the satisfaction on the other."</p> + +<p>"That is true," replied the Sacian. "Men are not kept awake by the +mere continuing to possess their wealth, but they very often are by +the original acquisition of it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, indeed," replied Pheraulas; "and if the enjoyment of <i>being</i> +rich could always continue as great as that of first becoming so, the +rich would, I admit, be very happy men; but it is not, and can not be +so. They who possess much, must lose, and expend, and give much; and +this necessity brings more of pain than the possessions themselves can +give of pleasure."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Singular proposal of Pheraulas.</div> + +<p>The Sacian was not convinced. The giving and expending, he maintained, +would be to him, in itself, a source of pleasure. He should like to +have much, for the very purpose of being able to expend much. Finally, +Pheraulas proposed to the Sacian, since he seemed to think that riches +would afford him so much pleasure, and as he himself, Pheraulas, found +the possession of them only a source of trouble and care, that he +would convey all his wealth to the Sacian, he himself to receive only +an ordinary maintenance from it.</p> + +<p>"You are in jest," said the Sacian.</p> + +<p>"No," said Pheraulas, "I am in earnest." And he renewed his +proposition, and pressed the Sacian urgently to accept of it.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Sacian accepts it.</div> + +<p>The Sacian then said that nothing could give him greater pleasure than +such an arrangement. He expressed great gratitude for so generous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>an +offer, and promised that, if he received the property, he would +furnish Pheraulas with most ample and abundant supplies for all his +wants, and would relieve him entirely of all responsibility and care. +He promised, moreover, to obtain from Cyrus permission that Pheraulas +should thereafter be excused from the duties of military service, and +from all the toils, privations, and hardships of war, so that he might +thenceforth lead a life of quiet, luxury, and ease, and thus live in +the enjoyment of all the benefits which wealth could procure, without +its anxieties and cares.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The plan carried into effect.<br />The happy result.</div> + +<p>The plan, thus arranged, was carried into effect. Pheraulas divested +himself of his possessions, conveying them all to the Sacian. Both +parties were extremely pleased with the operation of the scheme, and +they lived thus together for a long time. Whatever Pheraulas acquired +in any way, he always brought to the Sacian, and the Sacian, by +accepting it, relieved Pheraulas of all responsibility and care. The +Sacian loved Pheraulas, as Xenophon says, in closing this narrative, +because he was thus continually bringing him gifts; and Pheraulas +loved the Sacian, because he was always willing to take the gifts +which were thus brought to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Cyrus's dinner party.</div> + +<p>Among the other conversations, whether real or imaginary, which +Xenophon records, he gives some specimens of those which took place at +festive entertainments in Cyrus's tent, on occasions when he invited +his officers to dine with him. He commenced the conversation, on one +of these occasions, by inquiring of some of the officers present +whether they did not think that the common soldiers were equal to the +officers themselves in intelligence, courage, and military skill, and +in all the other substantial qualities of a good soldier.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Conversation about soldiers.<br />The discontented soldier.</div> + +<p>"I know not how that may be," replied one of the officers. "How they +will prove when they come into action with the enemy, I can not tell; +but a more perverse and churlish set of fellows in camp, than these I +have got in my regiment, I never knew. The other day, for example, +when there had been a sacrifice, the meat of the victims was sent +around to be distributed to the soldiers. In our regiment, when the +steward came in with the first distribution, he began by me, and so +went round, as far as what he had brought would go. The next time he +came, he began at the other end. The supply failed before he had got +to the place where he had left off before, so that there was a man <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>in +the middle that did not get any thing. This man immediately broke out +in loud and angry complaints, and declared that there was no equality +or fairness whatever in such a mode of division, unless they began +sometimes in the center of the line.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His repeated misfortunes.</div> + +<p>"Upon this," continued the officer, "I called to the discontented man, +and invited him to come and sit by me, where he would have a better +chance for a good share. He did so. It happened that, at the next +distribution that was made, we were the last, and he fancied that only +the smallest pieces were left, so he began to complain more than +before. 'Oh, misery!' said he, 'that I should have to sit here!' 'Be +patient,' said I; 'pretty soon they will begin the distribution with +us, and then you will have the best chance of all.' And so it proved +for, at the next distribution, they began at us, and the man took his +share first; but when the second and third men took theirs, he fancied +that their pieces looked larger than his, and he reached forward and +put his piece back into the basket, intending to change it; but the +steward moved rapidly on, and he did not get another, so that he lost +his distribution altogether. He was then quite furious with rage and +vexation."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Amusement of the party.<br />The awkward squad.</div> + +<p>Cyrus and all the company laughed very heartily at these mischances of +greediness and discontent; and then other stories, of a somewhat +similar character, were told by other guests. One officer said that a +few days previous he was drilling a part of his troops, and he had +before him on the plain what is called, in military language, a +<i>squad</i> of men, whom he was teaching to march. When he gave the order +to advance, one, who was at the head of the file, marched forward with +great alacrity, but all the rest stood still. "I asked him," continued +the officer, "what he was doing. 'Marching,' said he, 'as you ordered +me to do.' 'It was not you alone that I ordered to march,' said I, +'but all.' So I sent him back to his place, and then gave the command +again. Upon this they all advanced promiscuously and in disorder +toward me, each one acting for himself, without regard to the others, +and leaving the file-leader, who ought to have been at the head, +altogether behind. The file-leader said, 'Keep back! keep back!' Upon +this the men were offended, and asked what they were to do about such +contradictory orders. 'One commands us to advance, and another to keep +back!' said they; 'how are we to know which to obey?'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Merriment of the company.</div> + +<p>Cyrus and his guests were so much amused at the awkwardness of these +recruits, and the ridiculous predicament in which the officer was +placed by it, that the narrative of the speaker was here interrupted +by universal and long-continued laughter.</p> + +<p>"Finally," continued the officer, "I sent the men all back to their +places, and explained to them that, when a command was given, they +were not to obey it in confusion and unseemly haste, but regularly and +in order, each one following the man who stood before him. 'You must +regulate your proceeding,' said I, 'by the action of the file-leader; +when he advances, you must advance, following him in a line, and +governing your movements in all respects by his.'</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The file-leader and the letters.</div> + +<p>"Just at this moment," continued the officer, "a man came to me for a +letter which was to go to Persia, and which I had left in my tent. I +directed the file-leader to run to my tent and bring the letter to me. +He immediately set off, and the rest, obeying literally the directions +which I had just been giving them, all followed, running behind him in +a line like a troop of savages, so that I had the whole squad of +twenty men running in a body off the field to fetch a letter!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Remark of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>When the general hilarity which these recitals occasioned had a little +subsided, Cyrus said he thought that they could not complain of the +character of the soldiers whom they had to command, for they were +certainly, according to these accounts, sufficiently ready to obey the +orders they received. Upon this, a certain one of the guests who was +present, named Aglaitadas, a gloomy and austere-looking man, who had +not joined at all in the merriment which the conversation had caused, +asked Cyrus if he believed those stories to be true.</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Cyrus; "what do <i>you</i> think of them?"</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Animadversion version of Aglaitadas.</div> + +<p>"<i>I</i> think," said Aglaitadas, "that these officers invented them to +make the company laugh. It is evident that they were not telling the +truth, since they related the stories in such a vain and arrogant +way."</p> + +<p>"Arrogant!" said Cyrus; "you ought not to call them arrogant; for, +even if they invented their narrations, it was not to gain any selfish +ends of their own, but only to amuse us and promote our enjoyment. +Such persons should be called polite and agreeable rather than +arrogant."</p> + +<p>"If, Aglaitadas," said one of the officers who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>had related the +anecdotes, "we had told you melancholy stories to make you gloomy and +wretched, you might have been justly displeased; but you certainly +ought not to complain of us for making you merry."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Aglaitadas's argument for melancholy.</div> + +<p>"Yes," said Aglaitadas, "I think I may. To make a man laugh is a very +insignificant and useless thing. It is far better to make him weep. +Such thoughts and such conversation as makes us serious, thoughtful, +and sad, and even moves us to tears, are the most salutary and the +best."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Defense of the officers.</div> + +<p>"Well," replied the officer, "if you will take my advice, you will lay +out all your powers of inspiring gloom, and melancholy, and of +bringing tears, upon our enemies, and bestow the mirth and laughter +upon us. There must be a prodigious deal of laughter in you, for none +ever comes out. You neither use nor expend it yourself, nor do you +afford it to your friends."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Aglaitadas, "why do you attempt to draw it from me?"</p> + +<p>"It is preposterous!" said another of the company; "for one could more +easily strike fire out of Aglaitadas than get a laugh from him!"</p> + +<p>Aglaitadas could not help smiling at this comparison; upon which +Cyrus, with an air <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>of counterfeited gravity, reproved the person who +had spoken, saying that he had corrupted the most sober man in the +company by making him smile, and that to disturb such gravity as that +of Aglaitadas was carrying the spirit of mirth and merriment +altogether too far.</p> + +<hr class="medium" /> + +<div class="sidenote">General character of Xenophon's Cyropædia.</div> + +<p>These specimens will suffice. They serve to give a more distinct idea +of the Cyropædia of Xenophon than any general description could +afford. The book is a drama, of which the principal elements are such +narratives as the story of Panthea, and such conversations as those +contained in this chapter, intermingled with long discussions on the +principles of government, and on the discipline and management of +armies. The principles and the sentiments which the work inculcates +and explains are now of little value, being no longer applicable to +the affairs of mankind in the altered circumstances of the present +day. The book, however, retains its rank among men on account of a +certain beautiful and simple magnificence characterizing the style and +language in which it is written, which, however, can not be +appreciated except by those who read the narrative in the original +tongue.</p> + +<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2> + +<h2><span class="smcap">The Death of Cyrus.</span></h2> + +<p class="center">B.C. 530</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Progress of Cyrus's conquests.</div> + +<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">fter</span> having made the conquest of the Babylonian empire, Cyrus found +himself the sovereign of nearly all of Asia, so far as it was then +known. Beyond his dominions there lay, on every side, according to the +opinions which then prevailed, vast tracts of uninhabitable territory, +desolate and impassable. These wildernesses were rendered unfit for +man, sometimes by excessive heat, sometimes by excessive cold, +sometimes from being parched by perpetual drought, which produced bare +and desolate deserts, and sometimes by incessant rains, which drenched +the country and filled it with morasses and fens. On the north was the +great Caspian Sea, then almost wholly unexplored, and extending, as +the ancients believed, to the Polar Ocean.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The northern countries.<br />The Scythians.<br />Their warlike character.</div> + +<p>On the west side of the Caspian Sea were the Caucasian Mountains, +which were supposed, in those days, to be the highest on the globe. In +the neighborhood of these mountains there was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>country, inhabited by +a wild and half-savage people, who were called Scythians. This was, in +fact, a sort of generic term, which was applied, in those days, to +almost all the aboriginal tribes beyond the confines of civilization. +The Scythians, however, if such they can properly be called, who lived +on the borders of the Caspian Sea, were not wholly uncivilized. They +possessed many of those mechanical arts which are the first to be +matured among warlike nations. They had no iron or steel, but they +were accustomed to work other metals, particularly gold and brass. +They tipped their spears and javelins with brass, and made brazen +plates for defensive armor, both for themselves and for their horses. +They made, also, many ornaments and decorations of gold. These they +attached to their helmets, their belts, and their banners. They were +very formidable in war, being, like all other northern nations, +perfectly desperate and reckless in battle. They were excellent +horsemen, and had an abundance of horses with which to exercise their +skill; so that their armies consisted, like those of the Cossacks of +modern times, of great bodies of cavalry.</p> + +<p>The various campaigns and conquests by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>which Cyrus obtained +possession of his extended dominions occupied an interval of about +thirty years. It was near the close of this interval, when he was, in +fact, advancing toward a late period of life, that he formed the plan +of penetrating into these northern regions, with a view of adding them +also to his domains.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus's sons.<br />His queen.</div> + +<p>He had two sons, Cambyses and Smerdis. His wife is said to have been a +daughter of Astyages, and that he married her soon after his conquest +of the kingdom of Media, in order to reconcile the Medians more easily +to his sway, by making a Median princess their queen. Among the +western nations of Europe such a marriage would be abhorred, Astyages +having been Cyrus's grandfather; but among the Orientals, in those +days, alliances of this nature were not uncommon. It would seem that +this queen was not living at the time that the events occurred which +are to be related in this chapter. Her sons had grown up to maturity, +and were now princes of great distinction.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The Massagetæ.<br />Queen Tomyris.<br />Spargapizes.</div> + +<p>One of the Scythian or northern nations to which we have referred were +called the Massagetæ. They formed a very extensive and powerful realm. +They were governed, at this time, by a queen named Tomyris. She was a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>widow, past middle life. She had a son named Spargapizes, who had, +like the sons of Cyrus, attained maturity, and was the heir to the +throne. Spargapizes was, moreover, the commander-in-chief of the +armies of the queen.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Selfish views of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>The first plan which Cyrus formed for the annexation of the realm of +the Massagetæ to his own dominions was by a matrimonial alliance. He +accordingly raised an army and commenced a movement toward the north, +sending, at the same time, embassadors before him into the country of +the Massagetæ, with offers of marriage to the queen. The queen knew +very well that it was her dominions, and not herself, that constituted +the great attraction for Cyrus, and, besides, she was of an age when +ambition is a stronger passion than love. She refused the offers, and +sent back word to Cyrus forbidding his approach.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Customs of the savages.</div> + +<p>Cyrus, however, continued to move on. The boundary between his +dominions and those of the queen was at the River Araxes, a stream +flowing from west to east, through the central parts of Asia, toward +the Caspian Sea. As Cyrus advanced, he found the country growing more +and more wild and desolate. It was inhabited by savage tribes, who +lived on roots and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>herbs, and who were elevated very little, in any +respect, above the wild beasts that roamed in the forests around them. +They had one very singular custom, according to Herodotus. It seems +that there was a plant which grew among them, that bore a fruit, whose +fumes, when it was roasting on a fire, had an exhilarating effect, +like that produced by wine. These savages, therefore, Herodotus says, +were accustomed to assemble around a fire, in their convivial +festivities, and to throw some of this fruit in the midst of it. The +fumes emitted by the fruit would soon begin to intoxicate the whole +circle, when they would throw on more fruit, and become more and more +excited, until, at length, they would jump up, and dance about, and +sing, in a state of complete inebriation.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus arrives at the Araxes.<br />Difficulties of crossing the river.</div> + +<p>Among such savages as these, and through the forests and wildernesses +in which they lived, Cyrus advanced till he reached the Araxes. Here, +after considering, for some time, by what means he could best pass the +river, he determined to build a floating bridge, by means of boats and +rafts obtained from the natives on the banks, or built for the +purpose. It would be obviously much easier to transport the army by +using these boats and rafts to <i>float</i> the men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>across, instead of +constructing a bridge with them; but this would not have been safe, +for the transportation of the army by such a means would be gradual +and slow; and if the enemy were lurking in the neighborhood, and +should make an attack upon them in the midst of the operation, while a +part of the army were upon one bank and a part upon the other, and +another portion still, perhaps, in boats upon the stream, the defeat +and destruction of the whole would be almost inevitable. Cyrus planned +the formation of the bridge, therefore, as a means of transporting his +army in a body, and of landing them on the opposite bank in solid +columns, which could be formed into order of battle without any delay.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Embassage from Tomyris.<br />Warning of Tomyris.</div> + +<p>While Cyrus was engaged in the work of constructing the bridge, +embassadors appeared, who said that they had been sent from Tomyris. +She had commissioned them, they said, to warn Cyrus to desist entirely +from his designs upon her kingdom, and to return to his own. This +would be the wisest course, too, Tomyris said, for himself, and she +counseled him, for his own welfare, to follow it. He could not foresee +the result, if he should invade her dominions and encounter her +armies. Fortune had favored <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>him thus far, it was true, but fortune +might change, and he might find himself, before he was aware, at the +end of his victories. Still, she said, she had no expectation that he +would be disposed to listen to this warning and advice, and, on her +part, she had no objection to his persevering in his invasion. She did +not fear him. He need not put himself to the expense and trouble of +building a bridge across the Araxes. She would agree to withdraw all +her forces three days' march into her own country, so that he might +cross the river safely and at his leisure, and she would await him at +the place where she should have encamped; or, if he preferred it, she +would cross the river and meet him on his own side. In that case, he +must retire three days' march from the river, so as to afford her the +same opportunity to make the passage undisturbed which she had offered +him. She would then come over and march on to attack him. She gave +Cyrus his option which branch of this alternative to choose.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus calls a council of war.<br />Opinion of the officers.</div> + +<p>Cyrus called a council of war to consider the question. He laid the +case before his officers and generals, and asked for their opinion. +They were unanimously agreed that it would be best for him to accede +to the last of the two proposals <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>made to him, viz., to draw back +three days' journey toward his own dominions, and wait for Tomyris to +come and attack him there.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Dissent of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>There was, however, one person present at this consultation, though +not regularly a member of the council, who gave Cyrus different +advice. This was Crœsus, the fallen king of Lydia. Ever since the +time of his captivity, he had been retained in the camp and in the +household of Cyrus, and had often accompanied him in his expeditions +and campaigns. Though a captive, he seems to have been a friend; at +least, the most friendly relations appeared to subsist between him and +his conqueror; and he often figures in history as a wise and honest +counselor to Cyrus, in the various emergencies in which he was placed. +He was present on this occasion, and he dissented from the opinion +which was expressed by the officers of the army.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Speech of Crœsus.</div> + +<p>"I ought to apologize, perhaps," said he, "for presuming to offer any +counsel, captive as I am; but I have derived, in the school of +calamity and misfortune in which I have been taught, some advantages +for learning wisdom which you have never enjoyed. It seems to me that +it will be much better for you not to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>fall back, but to advance and +attack Tomyris in her own dominions; for, if you retire in this +manner, in the first place, the act itself is discreditable to you: it +is a retreat. Then, if, in the battle that follows, Tomyris conquers +you, she is already advanced three days' march into your dominions, +and she may go on, and, before you can take measures for raising +another army, make herself mistress of your empire. On the other hand, +if, in the battle, you conquer her, you will be then six days' march +back of the position which you would occupy if you were to advance +now.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">His advice to Cyrus.</div> + +<p>"I will propose," continued Crœsus, "the following plan: Cross the +river according to Tomyris's offer, and advance the three days' +journey into her country. Leave a small part of your force there, with +a great abundance of your most valuable baggage and supplies—luxuries +of all kinds, and rich wines, and such articles as the enemy will most +value as plunder. Then fall back with the main body of your army +toward the river again, in a secret manner, and encamp in an +ambuscade. The enemy will attack your advanced detachment. They will +conquer them. They will seize the stores and supplies, and will +suppose that your whole army <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>is vanquished. They will fall upon the +plunder in disorder, and the discipline of their army will be +overthrown. They will go to feasting upon the provisions and to +drinking the wines, and then, when they are in the midst of their +festivities and revelry, you can come back suddenly with the real +strength of your army, and wholly overwhelm them."</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus adopts the plan of Crœsus.<br />His reply to Tomyris.</div> + +<p>Cyrus determined to adopt the plan which Crœsus thus recommended. +He accordingly gave answer to the embassadors of Tomyris that he would +accede to the first of her proposals. If she would draw back from the +river three days' march, he would cross it with his army as soon as +practicable, and then come forward and attack her. The embassadors +received this message, and departed to deliver it to their queen. She +was faithful to her agreement, and drew her forces back to the place +proposed, and left them there, encamped under the command of her son.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Forebodings of Cyrus.</div> + +<p>Cyrus seems to have felt some forebodings in respect to the manner in +which this expedition was to end. He was advanced in life, and not now +as well able as he once was to endure the privations and hardships of +such campaigns. Then, the incursion which he was to make was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>into a +remote, and wild, and dangerous country and he could not but be aware +that he might never return. Perhaps he may have had some compunctions +of conscience, too, at thus wantonly disturbing the peace and invading +the territories of an innocent neighbor, and his mind may have been +the less at ease on that account. At any rate, he resolved to settle +the affairs of his government before he set out, in order to secure +both the tranquillity of the country while he should be absent, and +the regular transmission of his power to his descendants in case he +should never return.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">He appoints Cambyses regent.</div> + +<p>Accordingly, in a very formal manner, and in the presence of all his +army, he delegated his power to Cambyses, his son, constituting him +regent of the realm during his absence. He committed Crœsus to his +son's special care, charging him to pay him every attention and honor. +It was arranged that these persons, as well as a considerable portion +of the army, and a large number of attendants that had followed the +camp thus far, were not to accompany the expedition across the river, +but were to remain behind and return to the capital. These +arrangements being all thus finally made, Cyrus took leave of his son +and of Crœsus, crossed the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>river with that part of the army which +was to proceed, and commenced his march.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hystaspes.<br />His son Darius.<br />Cyrus's dream.</div> + +<p>The uneasiness and anxiety which Cyrus seems to have felt in respect +to his future fate on this memorable march affected even his dreams. +It seems that there was among the officers of his army a certain +general named Hystaspes. He had a son named Darius, then a youth of +about twenty years of age, who had been left at home, in Persia, when +the army marched, not being old enough to accompany them. Cyrus +dreamed, one night, immediately after crossing the river, that he saw +this young Darius with wings on his shoulders, that extended, the one +over Asia and the other over Europe, thus overshadowing the world. +When Cyrus awoke and reflected upon his dream, it seemed to him to +portend that Darius might be aspiring to the government of his empire. +He considered it a warning intended to put him on his guard.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Hystaspes's commission.</div> + +<p>When he awoke in the morning, he sent for Hystaspes, and related to +him his dream. "I am satisfied," said he, "that it denotes that your +son is forming ambitious and treasonable designs. Do you, therefore, +return home, and arrest him in this fatal course. Secure him, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>and let +him be ready to give me an account of his conduct when I shall +return."</p> + +<p>Hystaspes, having received this commission, left the army and +returned. The name of this Hystaspes acquired a historical immortality +in a very singular way, that is, by being always used as a part of the +appellation by which to designate his distinguished son. In after +years Darius did attain to a very extended power. He became Darius the +Great. As, however, there were several other Persian monarchs called +Darius, some of whom were nearly as great as this the first of the +name, the usage was gradually established of calling him Darius +Hystaspes; and thus the name of the father has become familiar to all +mankind, simply as a consequence and pendant to the celebrity of the +son.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus marches into the queen's country.</div> + +<p>After sending off Hystaspes, Cyrus went on. He followed, in all +respects, the plan of Crœsus. He marched his army into the country +of Tomyris, and advanced until he reached the point agreed upon. Here +he stationed a feeble portion of his army, with great stores of +provisions and wines, and abundance of such articles as would be +prized by the barbarians as booty. He then drew back with the main +body of his army toward the Araxes, and concealed his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>forces in a +hidden encampment. The result was as Crœsus had anticipated. The +body which he had left was attacked by the troops of Tomyris, and +effectually routed. The provisions and stores fell into the hands of +the victors. They gave themselves up to the most unbounded joy, and +their whole camp was soon a universal scene of rioting and excess. +Even the commander, Spargapizes, Tomyris's son, became intoxicated +with the wine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Success of the stratagem.<br />Spargapizes taken prisoner.</div> + +<p>While things were in this state, the main body of the army of Cyrus +returned suddenly and unexpectedly, and fell upon their now helpless +enemies with a force which entirely overwhelmed them. The booty was +recovered, large numbers of the enemy were slain, and others were +taken prisoners. Spargapizes himself was captured; his hands were +bound; he was taken into Cyrus's camp, and closely guarded.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Tomyris's concern for her son's safety.</div> + +<p>The result of this stratagem, triumphantly successful as it was, would +have settled the contest, and made Cyrus master of the whole realm, if +as he, at the time, supposed was the case, the main body of Tomyris's +forces had been engaged in this battle; but it seems that Tomyris had +learned, by reconnoiterers and spies, how large a force there was in +Cyrus's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>camp, and had only sent a detachment of her own troops to +attack them, not judging it necessary to call out the whole. Two +thirds of her army remained still uninjured. With this large force she +would undoubtedly have advanced without any delay to attack Cyrus +again, were it not for her maternal concern for the safety of her son. +He was in Cyrus's power, a helpless captive, and she did not know to +what cruelties he would be exposed if Cyrus were to be exasperated +against her. While her heart, therefore, was burning with resentment +and anger, and with an almost uncontrollable thirst for revenge, her +hand was restrained. She kept back her army, and sent to Cyrus a +conciliatory message.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Her conciliatory message.</div> + +<p>She said to Cyrus that he had no cause to be specially elated at his +victory; that it was only one third of her forces that had been +engaged, and that with the remainder she held him completely in her +power. She urged him, therefore, to be satisfied with the injury which +he had already inflicted upon her by destroying one third of her army, +and to liberate her son, retire from her dominions, and leave her in +peace. If he would do so, she would not molest him in his departure; +but if he would not, she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>swore by the sun, the great god which she +and her countrymen adored, that, insatiable as he was for blood, she +would give it to him till he had his fill.</p> + +<p>Of course Cyrus was not to be frightened by such threats as these. He +refused to deliver up the captive prince, or to withdraw from the +country, and both parties began to prepare again for war.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Mortification of Spargapizes.</div> + +<p>Spargapizes was intoxicated when he was taken, and was unconscious of +the calamity which had befallen him. When at length he awoke from his +stupor, and learned the full extent of his misfortune, and of the +indelible disgrace which he had incurred, he was overwhelmed with +astonishment, disappointment, and shame. The more he reflected upon +his condition, the more hopeless it seemed. Even if his life were to +be spared, and if he were to recover his liberty, he never could +recover his honor. The ignominy of such a defeat and such a captivity, +he knew well, must be indelible.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Cyrus gives him liberty within the camp.<br />Death of Spargapizes.</div> + +<p>He begged Cyrus to loosen his bonds and allow him personal liberty +within the camp. Cyrus, pitying, perhaps, his misfortunes, and the +deep dejection and distress which they occasioned, acceded to this +request. Spargapizes watched <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>an opportunity to seize a weapon when he +was not observed by his guards, and killed himself.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Grief and rage of Tomyris.</div> + +<p>His mother Tomyris, when she heard of his fate, was frantic with grief +and rage. She considered Cyrus as the wanton destroyer of the peace of +her kingdom and the murderer of her son, and she had now no longer any +reason for restraining her thirst for revenge. She immediately began +to concentrate her forces, and to summon all the additional troops +that she could obtain from every part of her kingdom. Cyrus, too, +began in earnest to strengthen his lines, and to prepare for the great +final struggle.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">The great battle.<br />Cyrus is defeated and slain.</div> + +<p>At length the armies approached each other, and the battle began. The +attack was commenced by the archers on either side, who shot showers +of arrows at their opponents as they were advancing. When the arrows +were spent, the men fought hand to hand, with spears, and javelins, +and swords. The Persians fought desperately, for they fought for their +lives. They were in the heart of an enemy's country, with a broad +river behind them to cut off their retreat, and they were contending +with a wild and savage foe, whose natural barbarity was rendered still +more ferocious and terrible than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>ever by the exasperation which they +felt, in sympathy with their injured queen. For a long time it was +wholly uncertain which side would win the day. The advantage, here and +there along the lines, was in some places on one side, and in some +places on the other; but, though overpowered and beaten, the several +bands, whether of Persians or Scythians, would neither retreat nor +surrender, but the survivors, when their comrades had fallen, +continued to fight on till they were all slain. It was evident, at +last, that the Scythians were gaining the day. When night came on, the +Persian army was found to be almost wholly destroyed; the remnant +dispersed. When all was over, the Scythians, in exploring the field, +found the dead body of Cyrus among the other ghastly and mutilated +remains which covered the ground. They took it up with a ferocious and +exulting joy, and carried it to Tomyris.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Tomyris's treatment of Cyrus's body.</div> + +<p>Tomyris treated it with every possible indignity. She cut and +mutilated the lifeless form; as if it could still feel the injuries +inflicted by her insane revenge. "Miserable wretch!" said she; "though +I am in the end your conqueror, you have ruined my peace and happiness +forever. You have murdered my son. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>But I promised you your fill of +blood, and you shall have it." So saying, she filled a can with +Persian blood, obtained, probably, by the execution of her captives, +and, cutting off the head of her victim from the body, she plunged it +in, exclaiming, "Drink there, insatiable monster, till your murderous +thirst is satisfied."</p> + +<p>This was the end of Cyrus. Cambyses, his son, whom he had appointed +regent during his absence, succeeded quietly to the government of his +vast dominions.</p> + +<div class="sidenote">Reflections.<br />Hard-heartedness, selfishness, and cruelty characterize the +ambitious.</div> + +<p>In reflecting on this melancholy termination of this great conqueror's +history, our minds naturally revert to the scenes of his childhood, +and we wonder that so amiable, and gentle, and generous a boy should +become so selfish, and unfeeling, and overbearing as a man. But such +are the natural and inevitable effects of ambition and an inordinate +love of power. The history of a conqueror is always a tragical and +melancholy tale. He begins life with an exhibition of great and noble +qualities, which awaken in us, who read his history, the same +admiration that was felt for him, personally, by his friends and +countrymen while he lived, and on which the vast ascendency which he +acquired over the minds of his fellow-men, and which led <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>to his power +and fame, was, in a great measure, founded. On the other hand, he ends +life neglected, hated, and abhorred. His ambition has been gratified, +but the gratification has brought with it no substantial peace or +happiness; on the contrary, it has filled his soul with uneasiness, +discontent, suspiciousness, and misery. The histories of heroes would +be far less painful in the perusal if we could reverse this moral +change of character, so as to have the cruelty, the selfishness, and +the oppression exhaust themselves in the comparatively unimportant +transactions of early life, and the spirit of kindness, generosity, +and beneficence blessing and beautifying its close. To be generous, +disinterested, and noble, seems to be necessary as the precursor of +great military success; and to be hard-hearted, selfish, and cruel is +the almost inevitable consequence of it. The exceptions to this rule, +though some of them are very splendid, are yet very few.</p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> The uncle here referred to was Mandane's brother. His +name was Oyaxares. He was at this time a royal prince, the heir +apparent to the throne. He figures very conspicuously in the +subsequent portions of Xenophon's history as Astyages's successor on +the throne. Herodotus does not mention him at all, but makes Cyrus +himself the direct successor of Astyages.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> From the French word <i>levée</i>, raised.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Jeremiah, xxvi., 12-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> See the account of these transactions in the 36th chapter +of Jeremiah.</p></div> + +<hr class="large" /> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's Notes:</span></h3> +<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.</p> + +<p>2. The sidenotes used in this text were originally published as banners in the page headers, and have been moved to the relevant paragraph +for the reader's convenience.</p> + +<p>3. Page numbers have, in several places, been changed to accommodate the placement of illustrations.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cyrus the Great, by Jacob Abbott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CYRUS THE GREAT *** + +***** This file should be named 30707-h.htm or 30707-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/0/30707/ + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Cyrus the Great + Makers of History + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: December 18, 2009 [EBook #30707] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CYRUS THE GREAT *** + + + + +Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + Makers of History + + Cyrus the Great + + BY + + JACOB ABBOTT + + WITH ENGRAVINGS + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + + 1904 + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand + eight hundred and fifty, by + + HARPER & BROTHERS, + + in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District + of New York. + + Copyright, 1878, by JACOB ABBOTT. + + + + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +One special object which the author of this series has had in view, +in the plan and method which he has followed in the preparation of +the successive volumes, has been to adapt them to the purposes of +text-books in schools. The study of a _general compend_ of history, +such as is frequently used as a text-book, is highly useful, if +it comes in at the right stage of education, when the mind is +sufficiently matured, and has acquired sufficient preliminary +knowledge to understand and appreciate so condensed a generalization +as a summary of the whole history of a nation contained in an ordinary +volume must necessarily be. Without this degree of maturity of mind, +and this preparation, the study of such a work will be, as it too +frequently is, a mere mechanical committing to memory of names, and +dates, and phrases, which awaken no interest, communicate no ideas, +and impart no useful knowledge to the mind. + +A class of ordinary pupils, who have not yet become much acquainted +with history, would, accordingly, be more benefited by having their +attention concentrated, at first, on detached and separate topics, +such as those which form the subjects, respectively, of these volumes. +By studying thus fully the history of individual monarchs, or the +narratives of single events, they can go more fully into detail; they +conceive of the transactions described as realities; their reflecting +and reasoning powers are occupied on what they read; they take notice +of the motives of conduct, of the gradual development of character, +the good or ill desert of actions, and of the connection of causes and +consequences, both in respect to the influence of wisdom and virtue on +the one hand, and, on the other, of folly and crime. In a word, their +_minds_ and _hearts_ are occupied instead of merely their memories. +They reason, they sympathize, they pity, they approve, and they +condemn. They enjoy the real and true pleasure which constitutes the +charm of historical study for minds that are mature; and they acquire +a taste for truth instead of fiction, which will tend to direct their +reading into proper channels in all future years. + +The use of these works, therefore, as text-books in classes, has been +kept continually in mind in the preparation of them. The running index +on the tops of the pages is intended to serve instead of questions. +These captions can be used in their present form as _topics_, in +respect to which, when announced in the class, the pupils are to +repeat substantially what is said on the page; or, on the other hand, +questions in form, if that mode is preferred, can be readily framed +from them by the teacher. In all the volumes, a very regular system of +division is observed, which will greatly facilitate the assignment of +lessons. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Chapter Page + + I. HERODOTUS AND XENOPHON 13 + + II. THE BIRTH OF CYRUS 37 + + III. THE VISIT TO MEDIA 68 + + IV. CROESUS 101 + + V. ACCESSION OF CYRUS TO THE THRONE 124 + + VI. THE ORACLES 144 + + VII. THE CONQUEST OF LYDIA 164 + + VIII. THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON 187 + + IX. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS 207 + + X. THE STORY OF PANTHEA 226 + + XI. CONVERSATIONS 253 + + XII. THE DEATH OF CYRUS 270 + + + + +ENGRAVINGS. + + + Page + + MAP OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE _Frontispiece._ + + THE EXPOSURE OF THE INFANT 48 + + CYRUS'S HUNTING 90 + + THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE 132 + + THE SIEGE OF SARDIS 179 + + RAISING JEREMIAH FROM THE DUNGEON 219 + + THE WAR-CHARIOT OF ABRADATES 242 + + + + +CYRUS THE GREAT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HERODOTUS AND XENOPHON. + +B.C. 550-401 + +The Persian monarchy.--Singular principle of human nature.--Grandeur +of the Persian monarchy.--Its origin.--The republics of +Greece.--Written characters Greek and Persian.--Preservation +of the Greek language.--Herodotus and Xenophon.--Birth of +Herodotus.--Education of the Greeks.--How public affairs were +discussed.--Literary entertainments.--Herodotus's early love of +knowledge.--Intercourse of nations.--Military expeditions.--Plan +of Herodotus's tour.--Herodotus visits Egypt.--Libya and the +Straits of Gibraltar.--Route of Herodotus in Asia.--His return +to Greece.--Doubts as to the extent of Herodotus's tour.--His +history "adorned."--Herodotus's credibility questioned.--Sources of +bias.--Samos.--Patmos.--The Olympiads.--Herodotus at Olympia.--History +received with applause.--Herodotus at Athens.--His literary +fame.--Birth of Xenophon.--Cyrus the Younger.--Ambition of Cyrus.--He +attempts to assassinate his brother.--Rebellion of Cyrus.--The Greek +auxiliaries.--Artaxerxes assembles his army.--The battle.--Cyrus +slain.--Murder of the Greek generals.--Critical situation +of the Greeks.--Xenophon's proposal.--Retreat of the Ten +Thousand.--Xenophon's retirement.--Xenophon's writings.--Credibility +of Herodotus and Xenophon.--Importance of the story.--Object of this +work. + + +Cyrus was the founder of the ancient Persian empire--a monarchy, +perhaps, the most wealthy and magnificent which the world has ever +seen. Of that strange and incomprehensible principle of human nature, +under the influence of which vast masses of men, notwithstanding the +universal instinct of aversion to control, combine, under certain +circumstances, by millions and millions, to maintain, for many +successive centuries, the representatives of some one great family +in a condition of exalted, and absolute, and utterly irresponsible +ascendency over themselves, while they toil for them, watch over them, +submit to endless and most humiliating privations in their behalf, and +commit, if commanded to do so, the most inexcusable and atrocious +crimes to sustain the demigods they have thus made in their lofty +estate, we have, in the case of this Persian monarchy, one of the most +extraordinary exhibitions. + +The Persian monarchy appears, in fact, even as we look back upon it +from this remote distance both of space and of time, as a very vast +wave of human power and grandeur. It swelled up among the populations +of Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, about five +hundred years before Christ, and rolled on in undiminished magnitude +and glory for many centuries. It bore upon its crest the royal line +of Astyages and his successors. Cyrus was, however, the first of the +princes whom it held up conspicuously to the admiration of the world +and he rode so gracefully and gallantly on the lofty crest that +mankind have given him the credit of raising and sustaining the +magnificent billow on which he was borne. How far we are to consider +him as founding the monarchy, or the monarchy as raising and +illustrating him, will appear more fully in the course of this +narrative. + +Cotemporaneous with this Persian monarchy in the East, there +flourished in the West the small but very efficient and vigorous +republics of Greece. The Greeks had a written character for their +language which could be easily and rapidly executed, while the +ordinary language of the Persians was scarcely written at all. There +was, it is true, in this latter nation, a certain learned character, +which was used by the priests for their mystic records, and also for +certain sacred books which constituted the only national archives. It +was, however, only slowly and with difficulty that this character +could be penned, and, when penned, it was unintelligible to the great +mass of the population. For this reason, among others, the Greeks +wrote narratives of the great events which occurred in their day, +which narratives they so embellished and adorned by the picturesque +lights and shades in which their genius enabled them to present the +scenes and characters described as to make them universally admired, +while the surrounding nations produced nothing but formal governmental +records, not worth to the community at large the toil and labor +necessary to decipher them and make them intelligible. Thus the Greek +writers became the historians, not only of their own republics, but +also of all the nations around them; and with such admirable genius +and power did they fulfill this function, that, while the records of +all other nations cotemporary with them have been almost entirely +neglected and forgotten, the language of the Greeks has been preserved +among mankind, with infinite labor and toil, by successive generations +of scholars, in every civilized nation, for two thousand years, solely +in order that men may continue to read these tales. + +Two Greek historians have given us a narrative of the events connected +with the life of Cyrus--Herodotus and Xenophon. These writers disagree +very materially in the statements which they make, and modern readers +are divided in opinion on the question which to believe. In order to +present this question fairly to the minds of our readers, we must +commence this volume with some account of these two authorities, whose +guidance, conflicting as it is, furnishes all the light which we have +to follow. + +Herodotus was a philosopher and scholar. Xenophon was a great general. +The one spent his life in solitary study, or in visiting various +countries in the pursuit of knowledge; the other distinguished himself +in the command of armies, and in distant military expeditions, which +he conducted with great energy and skill. They were both, by birth, +men of wealth and high station, so that they occupied, from the +beginning, conspicuous positions in society; and as they were both +energetic and enterprising in character, they were led, each, to a +very romantic and adventurous career, the one in his travels, the +other in his campaigns, so that their personal history and their +exploits attracted great attention even while they lived. + +Herodotus was born in the year 484 before Christ, which was about +fifty years after the death of the Cyrus whose history forms the +subject of this volume. He was born in the Grecian state of Caria, +in Asia Minor, and in the city of Halicarnassus. Caria, as may be +seen from the map at the commencement of this volume, was in the +southwestern part of Asia Minor, near the shores of the AEgean Sea. +Herodotus became a student at a very early age. It was the custom +in Greece, at that time, to give to young men of his rank a good +intellectual education. In other nations, the training of the young +men, in wealthy and powerful families, was confined almost exclusively +to the use of arms, to horsemanship, to athletic feats, and other such +accomplishments as would give them a manly and graceful personal +bearing, and enable them to excel in the various friendly contests of +the public games, as well as prepare them to maintain their ground +against their enemies in personal combats on the field of battle. The +Greeks, without neglecting these things, taught their young men +also to read and to write, explained to them the structure and the +philosophy of language, and trained them to the study of the poets, +the orators, and the historians which their country had produced. Thus +a general taste for intellectual pursuits and pleasures was diffused +throughout the community. Public affairs were discussed, before large +audiences assembled for the purpose, by orators who felt a great pride +and pleasure in the exercise of the power which they had acquired of +persuading, convincing, or exciting the mighty masses that listened to +them; and at the great public celebrations which were customary in +those days, in addition to the wrestlings, the races, the games, and +the military spectacles, there were certain literary entertainments +provided, which constituted an essential part of the public pleasures. +Tragedies were acted, poems recited, odes and lyrics sung, and +narratives of martial enterprises and exploits, and geographical and +historical descriptions of neighboring nations, were read to vast +throngs of listeners, who, having been accustomed from infancy to +witness such performances, and to hear them applauded, had learned to +appreciate and enjoy them. Of course, these literary exhibitions would +make impressions, more or less strong, on different minds, as the +mental temperaments and characters of individuals varied. They seem to +have exerted a very powerful influence on the mind of Herodotus in his +early years. He was inspired, when very young, with a great zeal and +ardor for the attainment of knowledge; and as he advanced toward +maturity, he began to be ambitious of making new discoveries, with a +view of communicating to his countrymen, in these great public +assemblies, what he should thus acquire. Accordingly, as soon as he +arrived at a suitable age, he resolved to set out upon a tour into +foreign countries, and to bring back a report of what he should see +and hear. + +The intercourse of nations was, in those days, mainly carried on over +the waters of the Mediterranean Sea; and in times of peace, almost the +only mode of communication was by the ships and the caravans of the +merchants who traded from country to country, both by sea and on the +land. In fact, the knowledge which one country possessed of the +geography and the manners and customs of another, was almost wholly +confined to the reports which these merchants circulated. When +military expeditions invaded a territory, the commanders, or the +writers who accompanied them, often wrote descriptions of the scenes +which they witnessed in their campaigns, and described briefly the +countries through which they passed. These cases were, however, +comparatively rare; and yet, when they occurred, they furnished +accounts better authenticated, and more to be relied upon, and +expressed, moreover, in a more systematic and regular form, than the +reports of the merchants, though the information which was derived +from both these sources combined was very insufficient, and tended +to excite more curiosity than it gratified. Herodotus, therefore, +conceived that, in thoroughly exploring the countries on the shores +of the Mediterranean and in the interior of Asia, examining +their geographical position, inquiring into their history, their +institutions, their manners, customs, and laws, and writing the +results for the entertainment and instruction of his countrymen, he +had an ample field before him for the exercise of all his powers. + +He went first to Egypt. Egypt had been until that time, closely shut +up from the rest of mankind by the jealousy and watchfulness of the +government. But now, on account of some recent political changes, +which will be hereafter more particularly alluded to, the way was +opened for travelers from other countries to come in. Herodotus was +the first to avail himself of this opportunity. He spent some time in +the country, and made himself minutely acquainted with its history, +its antiquities, its political and social condition at the time of his +visit, and with all the other points in respect to which he supposed +that his countrymen would wish to be informed. He took copious notes +of all that he saw. From Egypt he went westward into Libya, and thence +he traveled slowly along the whole southern shore of the Mediterranean +Sea as far as to the Straits of Gibraltar, noting, with great care, +every thing which presented itself to his own personal observation, +and availing himself of every possible source of information in +respect to all other points of importance for the object which he had +in view. + +The Straits of Gibraltar were the ends of the earth toward the +westward in those ancient days, and our traveler accordingly, after +reaching them, returned again to the eastward. He visited Tyre, and +the cities of Phoenicia, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean +Sea, and thence went still farther eastward to Assyria and Babylon. +It was here that he obtained the materials for what he has written in +respect to the Medes and Persians, and to the history of Cyrus. After +spending some time in these countries, he went on by land still +further to the eastward, into the heart of Asia. The country of +Scythia was considered as at "the end of the earth" in this direction. +Herodotus penetrated for some distance into the almost trackless wilds +of this remote land, until he found that he had gone as far from the +great center of light and power on the shores of the AEgean Sea as he +could expect the curiosity of his countrymen to follow him. He passed +thence round toward the north, and came down through the countries +north of the Danube into Greece, by way of the Epirus and Macedon. To +make such a journey as this was, in fact, in those days, almost to +explore the whole known world. + +It ought, however, here to be stated, that many modern scholars, who +have examined, with great care, the accounts which Herodotus has +given of what he saw and heard in his wanderings, doubt very seriously +whether his journeys were really as extended as he pretends. As his +object was to read what he was intending to write at great public +assemblies in Greece, he was, of course, under every possible +inducement to make his narrative as interesting as possible, and not +to detract at all from whatever there might be extraordinary either in +the extent of his wanderings or in the wonderfulness of the objects +and scenes which he saw, or in the romantic nature of the adventures +which he met with in his protracted tour. Cicero, in lauding him as a +writer, says that he was the first who evinced the power to _adorn_ a +historical narrative. Between adorning and _embellishing_, the line is +not to be very distinctly marked; and Herodotus has often been accused +of having drawn more from his fancy than from any other source, in +respect to a large portion of what he relates and describes. Some do +not believe that he ever even entered half the countries which he +professes to have thoroughly explored, while others find, in the +minuteness of his specifications, something like conclusive proof that +he related only what he actually saw. In a word, the question of his +credibility has been discussed by successive generations of scholars +ever since his day, and strong parties have been formed who have gone +to extremes in the opinions they have taken; so that, while some +confer upon him the title of the father of _history_, others say +it would be more in accordance with his merits to call him the +father of _lies_. In controversies like this, and, in fact, in all +controversies, it is more agreeable to the mass of mankind to take +sides strongly with one party or the other, and either to believe or +disbelieve one or the other fully and cordially. There is a class of +minds, however, more calm and better balanced than the rest, who can +deny themselves this pleasure, and who see that often, in the most +bitter and decided controversies, the truth lies between. By this +class of minds it has been generally supposed that the narratives of +Herodotus are substantially true, though in many cases highly colored +and embellished, or, as Cicero called it, adorned, as, in fact, they +inevitably must have been under the circumstances in which they were +written. + +We can not follow minutely the circumstances of the subsequent life +of Herodotus. He became involved in some political disturbances and +difficulties in his native state after his return, in consequence of +which he retired, partly a fugitive and partly an exile, to the island +of Samos, which is at a little distance from Caria, and not far from +the shore. Here he lived for some time in seclusion, occupied in +writing out his history. He divided it into nine books, to which, +respectively, the names of the nine Muses were afterward given, to +designate them. The island of Samos, where this great literary work +was performed, is very near to Patmos, where, a few hundred years +later, the Evangelist John, in a similar retirement, and in the use +of the same language and character, wrote the Book of Revelation. + +When a few of the first books of his history were completed, Herodotus +went with the manuscript to Olympia, at the great celebration of the +81st Olympiad. The Olympiads were periods recurring at intervals of +about four years. By means of them the Greeks reckoned their time. +The Olympiads were celebrated as they occurred, with games, shows, +spectacles, and parades, which were conducted on so magnificent a +scale that vast crowds were accustomed to assemble from every part of +Greece to witness and join in them. They were held at Olympia, a city +on the western side of Greece. Nothing now remains to mark the spot +but some acres of confused and unintelligible ruins. + +The personal fame of Herodotus and of his travels had preceded him, +and when he arrived at Olympia he found the curiosity and eagerness +of the people to listen to his narratives extreme. He read copious +extracts from his accounts, so far as he had written them, to the vast +assemblies which convened to hear him, and they were received with +unbounded applause; and inasmuch as these assemblies comprised nearly +all the statesmen, the generals, the philosophers, and the scholars of +Greece, applause expressed by them became at once universal renown. +Herodotus was greatly gratified at the interest which his countrymen +took in his narratives, and he determined thenceforth to devote his +time assiduously to the continuation and completion of his work. + +It was twelve years, however, before his plan was finally +accomplished. He then repaired to Athens, at the time of a grand +festive celebration which was held in that city, and there he appeared +in public again, and read extended portions of the additional books +that he had written. The admiration and applause which his work now +elicited was even greater than before. In deciding upon the passages +to be read, Herodotus selected such as would be most likely to excite +the interest of his Grecian hearers, and many of them were glowing +accounts of Grecian exploits in former wars which had been waged in +the countries which he had visited. To expect that, under such +circumstances, Herodotus should have made his history wholly +impartial, would be to suppose the historian not human. + +The Athenians were greatly pleased with the narratives which Herodotus +thus read to them of their own and of their ancestors' exploits. They +considered him a national benefactor for having made such a record of +their deeds, and, in addition to the unbounded applause which they +bestowed upon him, they made him a public grant of a large sum of +money. During the remainder of his life Herodotus continued to enjoy +the high degree of literary renown which his writings had acquired for +him--a renown which has since been extended and increased, rather than +diminished, by the lapse of time. + +As for Xenophon, the other great historian of Cyrus, it has already +been said that he was a military commander, and his life was +accordingly spent in a very different manner from that of his great +competitor for historic fame. He was born at Athens, about thirty +years after the birth of Herodotus, so that he was but a child while +Herodotus was in the midst of his career. When he was about twenty-two +years of age, he joined a celebrated military expedition which was +formed in Greece, for the purpose of proceeding to Asia Minor to enter +into the service of the governor of that country. The name of this +governor was Cyrus; and to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, whose +history is to form the subject of this volume, and who lived about one +hundred and fifty years before him, he is commonly called Cyrus the +Younger. + +This expedition was headed by a Grecian general named Clearchus. The +soldiers and the subordinate officers of the expedition did not know +for what special service it was designed, as Cyrus had a treasonable +and guilty object in view, and he kept it accordingly concealed, even +from the agents who were to aid him in the execution of it. His plan +was to make war upon and dethrone his brother Artaxerxes, then king of +Persia, and consequently his sovereign. Cyrus was a very young man, +but he was a man of a very energetic and accomplished character, and +of unbounded ambition. When his father died, it was arranged that +Artaxerxes, the older son, should succeed him. Cyrus was extremely +unwilling to submit to this supremacy of his brother. His mother was +an artful and unprincipled woman, and Cyrus, being the youngest of +her children, was her favorite. She encouraged him in his ambitious +designs; and so desperate was Cyrus himself in his determination to +accomplish them, that it is said he attempted to assassinate his +brother on the day of his coronation. His attempt was discovered, and +it failed. His brother, however, instead of punishing him for the +treason, had the generosity to pardon him, and sent him to his +government in Asia Minor. Cyrus immediately turned all his thoughts to +the plan of raising an army and making war upon his brother, in order +to gain forcible possession of his throne. That he might have a +plausible pretext for making the necessary military preparations, he +pretended to have a quarrel with one of his neighbors, and wrote, +hypocritically, many letters to the king, affecting solicitude for +his safety, and asking aid. The king was thus deceived, and made no +preparations to resist the force which Cyrus was assembling, not +having the remotest suspicion that its destiny was Babylon. + +The auxiliary army which came from Greece to enter into Cyrus's +service under these circumstances, consisted of about thirteen +thousand men. He had, it was said, a hundred thousand men besides; but +so celebrated were the Greeks in those days for their courage, their +discipline, their powers of endurance, and their indomitable tenacity +and energy, that Cyrus very properly considered this corps as the +flower of his army. Xenophon was one of the younger Grecian generals. +The army crossed the Hellespont, and entered Asia Minor, and, passing +across the country, reached at last the famous pass of Cilicia, in +the southwestern part of the country--a narrow defile between the +mountains and the sea, which opens the only passage in that quarter +toward the Persian regions beyond. Here the suspicions which the +Greeks had been for some time inclined to feel, that they were going +to make war upon the Persian monarch himself, were confirmed, and they +refused to proceed. Their unwillingness, however, did not arise from +any compunctions of conscience about the guilt of treason, or the +wickedness of helping an ungrateful and unprincipled wretch, whose +forfeited life had once been given to him by his brother, in making +war upon and destroying his benefactor. Soldiers have never, in any +age of the world, any thing to do with compunctions of conscience in +respect to the work which their commanders give them to perform. +The Greeks were perfectly willing to serve in this or in any other +undertaking; but, since it was rebellion and treason that was asked of +them, they considered it as specially hazardous, and so they concluded +that they were entitled to extra pay. Cyrus made no objection to this +demand; an arrangement was made accordingly, and the army went on. + +Artaxerxes assembled suddenly the whole force of his empire on the +plains of Babylon--an immense army, consisting, it is said, of over a +million of men. Such vast forces occupy, necessarily, a wide extent of +country, even when drawn up in battle array. So great, in fact, was +the extent occupied in this case, that the Greeks, who conquered all +that part of the king's forces which was directly opposed to them, +supposed, when night came, at the close of the day of battle, that +Cyrus had been every where victorious; and they were only undeceived +when, the next day, messengers came from the Persian camp to inform +them that Cyrus's whole force, excepting themselves, was defeated and +dispersed, and that Cyrus himself was slain, and to summon them to +surrender at once and unconditionally to the conquerors. + +The Greeks refused to surrender. They formed themselves immediately +into a compact and solid body, fortified themselves as well as they +could in their position, and prepared for a desperate defense. There +were about ten thousand of them left, and the Persians seem to have +considered them too formidable to be attacked. The Persians entered +into negotiations with them, offering them certain terms on which they +would be allowed to return peaceably into Greece. These negotiations +were protracted from day to day for two or three weeks, the Persians +treacherously using toward them a friendly tone, and evincing a +disposition to treat them in a liberal and generous manner. This threw +the Greeks off their guard, and finally the Persians contrived to get +Clearchus and the leading Greek generals into their power at a feast, +and then they seized and murdered them, or, as they would perhaps term +it, _executed_ them as rebels and traitors. When this was reported in +the Grecian camp, the whole army was thrown at first into the utmost +consternation. They found themselves two thousand miles from home, in +the heart of a hostile country, with an enemy nearly a hundred times +their own number close upon them, while they themselves were without +provisions, without horses, without money; and there were deep rivers, +and rugged mountains, and every other possible physical obstacle to be +surmounted, before they could reach their own frontiers. If they +surrendered to their enemies, a hopeless and most miserable slavery +was their inevitable doom. + +Under these circumstances, Xenophon, according to his own story, +called together the surviving officers in the camp, urged them not to +despair, and recommended that immediate measures should be taken for +commencing a march toward Greece. He proposed that they should elect +commanders to take the places of those who had been killed, and that, +under their new organization, they should immediately set out on +their return. These plans were adopted. He himself was chosen as +the commanding general, and under his guidance the whole force was +conducted safely through the countless difficulties and dangers which +beset their way, though they had to defend themselves, at every step +of their progress, from an enemy so vastly more numerous than they, +and which was hanging on their flanks and on their rear, and making +the most incessant efforts to surround and capture them. This retreat +occupied two hundred and fifteen days. It has always been considered +as one of the greatest military achievements that has ever been +performed. It is called in history the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. +Xenophon acquired by it a double immortality. He led the army, and +thus attained to a military renown which will never fade; and he +afterward wrote a narrative of the exploit, which has given him an +equally extended and permanent literary fame. + +Some time after this, Xenophon returned again to Asia as a military +commander, and distinguished himself in other campaigns. He acquired a +large fortune, too, in these wars, and at length retired to a villa, +which he built and adorned magnificently, in the neighborhood of +Olympia, where Herodotus had acquired so extended a fame by reading +his histories. It was probably, in some degree, through the influence +of the success which had attended the labors of Herodotus in this +field, that Xenophon was induced to enter it. He devoted the later +years of his life to writing various historical memoirs, the two most +important of which that have come down to modern times are, first, +the narrative of his own expedition, under Cyrus the Younger, and, +secondly, a sort of romance or tale founded on the history of Cyrus +the Great. This last is called the Cyropaedia; and it is from this +work, and from the history written by Herodotus, that nearly all our +knowledge of the great Persian monarch is derived. + +The question how far the stories which Herodotus and Xenophon have +told us in relating the history of the great Persian king are true, is +of less importance than one would at first imagine; for the case is +one of those numerous instances in which the narrative itself, which +genius has written, has had far greater influence on mankind than the +events themselves exerted which the narrative professes to record. It +is now far more important for us to know what the story is which +has for eighteen hundred years been read and listened to by every +generation of men, than what the actual events were in which the tale +thus told had its origin. This consideration applies very extensively +to history, and especially to ancient history. The events themselves +have long since ceased to be of any great interest or importance to +readers of the present day; but the _accounts_, whether they are +fictitious or real, partial or impartial, honestly true or embellished +and colored, since they have been so widely circulated in every age +and in every nation, and have impressed themselves so universally and +so permanently in the mind and memory of the whole human race, and +have penetrated into and colored the literature of every civilized +people, it becomes now necessary that every well-informed man should +understand. In a word, the real Cyrus is now a far less important +personage to mankind than the Cyrus of Herodotus and Xenophon, and it +is, accordingly, their story which the author proposes to relate in +this volume. The reader will understand, therefore, that the end and +aim of the work is not to guarantee an exact and certain account of +Cyrus as he actually lived and acted, but only to give a true and +faithful summary of the story which for the last two thousand years +has been in circulation respecting him among mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BIRTH OF CYRUS. + +B.C. 599-588 + +The three Asiatic empires.--Marriage of Cambyses.--Story of +Mandane.--Dream of Astyages.--Astyages' second dream.--Its +interpretation.--Birth of Cyrus.--Astyages determines to destroy +him.--Harpagus.--The king's command to him.--Distress of Harpagus.--His +consultation with his wife.--The herdsman.--He conveys the child to +his hut.--The herdsman's wife.--Conversation in the hut.--Entreaties +of the herdsman's wife to save the child's life.--Spaco substitutes +her dead child for Cyrus.--The artifice successful.--The body +buried.--Remorse of Astyages.--Boyhood of Cyrus.--Cyrus a king +among the boys.--A quarrel.--Cyrus summoned into the presence +of Astyages.--Cyrus's defense.--Astonishment of Astyages.--The +discovery.--Mingled feelings of Astyages.--Inhuman monsters.--Astyages +determines to punish Harpagus.--Interview between Artyages and +Harpagus.--Explanation of Harpagus.--Dissimulation of Astyages.--He +proposes an entertainment.--Astyages invites Harpagus to a grand +entertainment.--Horrible revenge.--Action of Harpagus.--Astyages +becomes uneasy.--The magi again consulted.--Advice of the +magi.--Astyages adopts it.--Cyrus sets out for Persia.--His parents' +joy.--Life at Cambyses's court.--Instruction of the young men.--Cyrus +a judge.--His decision in that capacity.--Cyrus punished.--Manly +exercises.--Hunting excursions.--Personal appearance of +Cyrus.--Disposition and character of Cyrus.--A universal favorite. + + +There are records coming down to us from the very earliest times of +three several kingdoms situated in the heart of Asia-Assyria, Media, +and Persia, the two latter of which, at the period when they first +emerge indistinctly into view, were more or less connected with and +dependent upon the former. Astyages was the King of Media; Cambyses +was the name of the ruling prince or magistrate of Persia. Cambyses +married Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, and Cyrus was their son. In +recounting the circumstances of his birth, Herodotus relates, with all +seriousness, the following very extraordinary story: + +While Mandane was a maiden, living at her father's palace and home in +Media, Astyages awoke one morning terrified by a dream. He had dreamed +of a great inundation, which overwhelmed and destroyed his capital, +and submerged a large part of his kingdom. The great rivers of that +country were liable to very destructive floods, and there would have +been nothing extraordinary or alarming in the king's imagination being +haunted, during his sleep, by the image of such a calamity, were +it not that, in this case, the deluge of water which produced such +disastrous results seemed to be, in some mysterious way, connected +with his daughter, so that the dream appeared to portend some great +calamity which was to originate in her. He thought it perhaps +indicated that after her marriage she should have a son who would +rebel against him and seize the supreme power, thus overwhelming his +kingdom as the inundation had done which he had seen in his dream. + +To guard against this imagined danger, Astyages determined that his +daughter should not be married in Media, but that she should be +provided with a husband in some foreign land, so as to be taken away +from Media altogether. He finally selected Cambyses, the king of +Persia, for her husband. Persia was at that time a comparatively small +and circumscribed dominion, and Cambyses, though he seems to have been +the supreme ruler of it, was very far beneath Astyages in rank and +power. The distance between the two countries was considerable, and +the institutions and customs of the people of Persia were simple and +rude, little likely to awaken or encourage in the minds of their +princes any treasonable or ambitious designs. Astyages thought, +therefore, that in sending Mandane there to be the wife of the king, +he had taken effectual precautions to guard against the danger +portended by his dream. + +Mandane was accordingly married, and conducted by her husband to her +new home. About a year afterward her father had another dream. He +dreamed that a vine proceeded from his daughter, and, growing rapidly +and luxuriantly while he was regarding it, extended itself over the +whole land. Now the vine being a symbol of beneficence and plenty, +Astyages might have considered this vision as an omen of good; still, +as it was good which was to be derived in some way from his daughter, +it naturally awakened his fears anew that he was doomed to find a +rival and competitor for the possession of his kingdom in Mandane's +son and heir. He called together his soothsayers, related his dream to +them, and asked for their interpretation. They decided that it meant +that Mandane would have a son who would one day become a king. + +Astyages was now seriously alarmed, and he sent for Mandane to come +home, ostensibly because he wished her to pay a visit to her father +and to her native land, but really for the purpose of having her in +his power, that he might destroy her child so soon as one should be +born. + +Mandane came to Media, and was established by her father in a +residence near his palace, and such officers and domestics were put +in charge of her household as Astyages could rely upon to do whatever +he should command. Things being thus arranged, a few months passed +away, and then Mandane's child was born. + +Immediately on hearing of the event, Astyages sent for a certain +officer of his court, an unscrupulous and hardened man, who possessed, +as he supposed, enough of depraved and reckless resolution for the +commission of any crime, and addressed him as follows: + +"I have sent for you, Harpagus, to commit to your charge a business of +very great importance. I confide fully in your principles of obedience +and fidelity, and depend upon your doing, yourself, with your own +hands, the work that I require. If you fail to do it, or if you +attempt to evade it by putting it off upon others, you will suffer +severely. I wish you to take Mandane's child to your own house and +put him to death. You may accomplish the object in any mode you +please, and you may arrange the circumstances of the burial of the +body, or the disposal of it in any other way, as you think best; the +essential thing is, that you see to it, yourself, that the child is +killed." + +Harpagus replied that whatever the king might command it was his duty +to do, and that, as his master had never hitherto had occasion to +censure his conduct, he should not find him wanting now. Harpagus then +went to receive the infant. The attendants of Mandane had been ordered +to deliver it to him. Not at all suspecting the object for which the +child was thus taken away, but naturally supposing, on the other hand, +that it was for the purpose of some visit, they arrayed their +unconscious charge in the most highly-wrought and costly of the robes +which Mandane, his mother, had for many months been interested in +preparing for him, and then gave him up to the custody of Harpagus, +expecting, doubtless, that he would be very speedily returned to their +care. + +Although Harpagus had expressed a ready willingness to obey the cruel +behest of the king at the time of receiving it, he manifested, as soon +as he received the child, an extreme degree of anxiety and distress. +He immediately sent for a herdsman named Mitridates to come to him. In +the mean time, he took the child home to his house, and in a very +excited and agitated manner related to his wife what had passed. He +laid the child down in the apartment, leaving it neglected and alone, +while he conversed with his wife in a harried and anxious manner in +respect to the dreadful situation in which he found himself placed. +She asked him what he intended to do. He replied that he certainly +should not, himself, destroy the child. "It is the son of Mandane," +said he. "She is the king's daughter. If the king should die, Mandane +would succeed him, and then what terrible danger would impend over me +if she should know me to have been the slayer of her son!" Harpagus +said, moreover, that he did not dare absolutely to disobey the orders +of the king so far as to save the child's life, and that he had sent +for a herdsman, whose pastures extended to wild and desolate forests +and mountains--the gloomy haunts of wild beasts and birds of +prey--intending to give the child to him, with orders to carry it into +those solitudes and abandon it there. His name was Mitridates. + +While they were speaking this herdsman came in. He found Harpagus and +his wife talking thus together, with countenances expressive of +anxiety and distress, while the child, uneasy under the confinement +and inconveniences of its splendid dress, and terrified at the +strangeness of the scene and the circumstances around it, and perhaps, +moreover, experiencing some dawning and embryo emotions of resentment +at being laid down in neglect, cried aloud and incessantly. Harpagus +gave the astonished herdsman his charge. He, afraid, as Harpagus had +been in the presence of Astyages, to evince any hesitation in respect +to obeying the orders of his superior, whatever they might be, took up +the child and bore it away. + +He carried it to his hut. It so happened that his wife, whose name was +Spaco, had at that very time a new-born child, but it was dead. Her +dead son had, in fact, been born during the absence of Mitridates. He +had been extremely unwilling to leave his home at such a time, but the +summons of Harpagus must, he knew, be obeyed. His wife, too, not +knowing what could have occasioned so sudden and urgent a call, had to +bear, all the day, a burden of anxiety and solicitude in respect to +her husband, in addition to her disappointment and grief at the loss +of her child. Her anxiety and grief were changed for a little time +into astonishment and curiosity at seeing the beautiful babe, so +magnificently dressed, which her husband brought to her, and at +hearing his extraordinary story. + +He said that when he first entered the house of Harpagus and saw the +child lying there, and heard the directions which Harpagus gave him to +carry it into the mountains and leave it to die, he supposed that the +babe belonged to some of the domestics of the household, and that +Harpagus wished to have it destroyed in order to be relieved of a +burden. The richness, however, of the infant's dress, and the deep +anxiety and sorrow which was indicated by the countenances and by the +conversation of Harpagus and his wife, and which seemed altogether too +earnest to be excited by the concern which they would probably feel +for any servant's offspring, appeared at the time, he said, +inconsistent with that supposition, and perplexed and bewildered him. +He said, moreover, that in the end, Harpagus had sent a man with him a +part of the way when he left the house, and that this man had given +him a full explanation of the case. The child was the son of Mandane, +the daughter of the king, and he was to be destroyed by the orders of +Astyages himself, for fear that at some future period he might attempt +to usurp the throne. + +They who know any thing of the feelings of a mother under the +circumstances in which Spaco was placed, can imagine with what +emotions she received the little sufferer, now nearly exhausted by +abstinence, fatigue, and fear, from her husband's hands, and the +heartfelt pleasure with which she drew him to her bosom, to comfort +and relieve him. In an hour she was, as it were, herself his mother, +and she began to plead hard with her husband for his life. + +Mitridates said that the child could not possibly be saved. Harpagus +had been most earnest and positive in his orders, and he was coming +himself to see that they had been executed. He would demand, +undoubtedly, to see the body of the child, to assure himself that it +was actually dead. Spaco, instead of being convinced by her husband's +reasoning, only became more and more earnest in her desires that the +child might be saved. She rose from her couch and clasped her +husband's knees, and begged him with the most earnest entreaties and +with many tears to grant her request. Her husband was, however, +inexorable. He said that if he were to yield, and attempt to save +the child from its doom, Harpagus would most certainly know that +his orders had been disobeyed, and then their own lives would be +forfeited, and the child itself sacrificed after all, in the end. + +The thought then occurred to Spaco that her own dead child might be +substituted for the living one, and be exposed in the mountains in +its stead. She proposed this plan, and, after much anxious doubt and +hesitation, the herdsman consented to adopt it. They took off the +splendid robes which adorned the living child, and put them on the +corpse, each equally unconscious of the change. The little limbs of +the son of Mandane were then more simply clothed in the coarse and +scanty covering which belonged to the new character which he was now +to assume, and then the babe was restored to its place in Spaco's +bosom. Mitridates placed his own dead child, completely disguised as +it was by the royal robes it wore, in the little basket or cradle in +which the other had been brought, and, accompanied by an attendant, +whom he was to leave in the forest to keep watch over the body, he +went away to seek some wild and desolate solitude in which to leave +it exposed. + +[Illustration: THE EXPOSURE OF THE INFANT.] + +Three days passed away, during which the attendant whom the herdsman +had left in the forest watched near the body to prevent its being +devoured by wild beasts or birds of prey, and at the end of that time +he brought it home. The herdsman then went to Harpagus to inform him +that the child was dead, and, in proof that it was really so, he said +that if Harpagus would come to his hut he could see the body. Harpagus +sent some messenger in whom he could confide to make the observation. +The herdsman exhibited the dead child to him, and he was satisfied. He +reported the result of his mission to Harpagus, and Harpagus then +ordered the body to be buried. The child of Mandane, whom we may call +Cyrus, since that was the name which he subsequently received, was +brought up in the herdsman's hut, and passed every where for Spaco's +child. + +Harpagus, after receiving the report of his messenger, then informed +Astyages that his orders had been executed, and that the child was +dead. A trusty messenger, he said, whom he had sent for the purpose, +had seen the body. Although the king had been so earnest to have the +deed performed, he found that, after all, the knowledge that his +orders had been obeyed gave him very little satisfaction. The fears, +prompted by his selfishness and ambition, which had led him to commit +the crime, gave place, when it had been perpetrated, to remorse for +his unnatural cruelty. Mandane mourned incessantly the death of her +innocent babe, and loaded her father with reproaches for having +destroyed it, which he found it very hard to bear. In the end, he +repented bitterly of what he had done. + +The secret of the child's preservation remained concealed for about +ten years. It was then discovered in the following manner: + +Cyrus, like Alexander, Caesar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon, and +other commanding minds, who obtained a great ascendancy over masses of +men in their maturer years, evinced his dawning superiority at a very +early period of his boyhood. He took the lead of his playmates in +their sports, and made them submit to his regulations and decisions. +Not only did the peasants' boys in the little hamlet where his reputed +father lived thus yield the precedence to him, but sometimes, when the +sons of men of rank and station came out from the city to join them +in their plays, even then Cyrus was the acknowledged head. One day the +son of an officer of King Astyages's court--his father's name was +Artembaris--came out, with other boys from the city, to join these +village boys in their sports. They were playing _king_. Cyrus was the +king. Herodotus says that the other boys _chose_ him as such. It was, +however, probably such a sort of choice as that by which kings and +emperors are made among men, a yielding more or less voluntary on the +part of the subjects to the resolute and determined energy with which +the aspirant places himself upon the throne. + +During the progress of the play, a quarrel arose between Cyrus and the +son of Artembaris. The latter would not obey, and Cyrus beat him. He +went home and complained bitterly to his father. The father went to +Astyages to protest against such an indignity offered to his son by a +peasant boy, and demanded that the little tyrant should be punished. +Probably far the larger portion of intelligent readers of history +consider the whole story as a romance; but if we look upon it as in +any respect true, we must conclude that the Median monarchy must have +been, at that time, in a very rude and simple condition indeed, to +allow of the submission of such a question as this to the personal +adjudication of the reigning king. + +However this may be, Herodotus states that Artembaris went to the +palace of Astyages, taking his son with him, to offer proofs of the +violence of which the herdsman's son had been guilty, by showing the +contusions and bruises that had been produced by the blows. "Is this +the treatment," he asked, indignantly, of the king, when he had +completed his statement, "that my boy is to receive from the son of +one of your slaves?" + +Astyages seemed to be convinced that Artembaris had just cause to +complain, and he sent for Mitridates and his son to come to him in the +city. When they arrived, Cyrus advanced into the presence of the king +with that courageous and manly bearing which romance writers are so +fond of ascribing to boys of noble birth, whatever may have been the +circumstances of their early training. Astyages was much struck with +his appearance and air. He, however, sternly laid to his charge the +accusation which Artembaris had brought against him. Pointing to +Artembaris's son, all bruised and swollen as he was, he asked, "Is +that the way that you, a mere herdsman's boy, dare to treat the son +of one of my nobles?" + +The little prince looked up into his stern judge's face with an +undaunted expression of countenance, which, considering the +circumstances of the case, and the smallness of the scale on which +this embryo heroism was represented, was partly ludicrous and partly +sublime. + +"My lord," said he, "what I have done I am able to justify. I did +punish this boy, and I had a right to do so. I was king, and he was my +subject, and he would not obey me. If you think that for this I +deserve punishment myself, here I am; I am ready to suffer it." + +If Astyages had been struck with the appearance and manner of Cyrus +at the commencement of the interview, his admiration was awakened far +more strongly now, at hearing such words, uttered, too, in so exalted +a tone, from such a child. He remained a long time silent. At last he +told Artembaris and his son that they might retire. He would take the +affair, he said, into his own hands, and dispose of it in a just and +proper manner. Astyages then took the herdsman aside, and asked him, +in an earnest tone, whose boy that was, and where he had obtained him. + +Mitridates was terrified. He replied, however, that the boy was his +own son, and that his mother was still living at home, in the hut +where they all resided. There seems to have been something, however, +in his appearance and manner, while making these assertions, which led +Astyages not to believe what he said. He was convinced that there was +some unexplained mystery in respect to the origin of the boy, which +the herdsman was willfully withholding. He assumed a displeased and +threatening air, and ordered in his guards to take Mitridates into +custody. The terrified herdsman then said that he would explain all, +and he accordingly related honestly the whole story. + +Astyages was greatly rejoiced to find that the child was alive. One +would suppose it to be almost inconsistent with this feeling that he +should be angry with Harpagus for not having destroyed it. It would +seem, in fact, that Harpagus was not amenable to serious censure, in +any view of the subject, for he had taken what he had a right to +consider very effectual measures for carrying the orders of the king +into faithful execution. But Astyages seems to have been one of those +inhuman monsters which the possession and long-continued exercise of +despotic power have so often made, who take a calm, quiet, and +deliberate satisfaction in torturing to death any wretched victim whom +they can have any pretext for destroying, especially if they can +invent some new means of torment to give a fresh piquancy to their +pleasure. These monsters do not act from passion. Men are sometimes +inclined to palliate great cruelties and crimes which are perpetrated +under the influence of sudden anger, or from the terrible impulse of +those impetuous and uncontrollable emotions of the human soul which, +when once excited, seem to make men insane; but the crimes of a tyrant +are not of this kind. They are the calm, deliberate, and sometimes +carefully economized gratifications of a nature essentially malign. + +When, therefore, Astyages learned that Harpagus had failed of +literally obeying his command to destroy, with his own hand, the +infant which had been given him, although he was pleased with the +consequences which had resulted from it, he immediately perceived +that there was another pleasure besides that he was to derive from +the transaction, namely, that of gratifying his own imperious and +ungovernable will by taking vengeance on him who had failed, even in +so slight a degree, of fulfilling its dictates. In a word, he was glad +that the child was saved, but he did not consider that that was any +reason why he should not have the pleasure of punishing the man who +saved him. + +Thus, far from being transported by any sudden and violent feeling of +resentment to an inconsiderate act of revenge, Astyages began, calmly +and coolly, and with a deliberate malignity more worthy of a demon +than of a man, to consider how he could best accomplish the purpose +he had in view. When, at length, his plan was formed, he sent for +Harpagus to come to him. Harpagus came. The king began the +conversation by asking Harpagus what method he had employed for +destroying the child of Mandane, which he, the king, had delivered to +him some years before. Harpagus replied by stating the exact truth. He +said that, as soon as he had received the infant, he began immediately +to consider by what means he could effect its destruction without +involving himself in the guilt of murder; that, finally, he had +determined upon employing the herdsman Mitridates to expose it in the +forest till it should perish of hunger and cold; and, in order to be +sure that the king's behest was fully obeyed, he charged the +herdsman, he said, to keep strict watch near the child till it was +dead, and then to bring home the body. He had then sent a confidential +messenger from his own household to see the body and provide for its +interment. He solemnly assured the king, in conclusion, that this was +the real truth, and that the child was actually destroyed in the +manner he had described. + +The king then, with an appearance of great satisfaction and pleasure, +informed Harpagus that the child had not been destroyed after all, and +he related to him the circumstances of its having been exchanged for +the dead child of Spaco, and brought up in the herdsman's hut. He +informed him, too, of the singular manner in which the fact that the +infant had been preserved, and was still alive, had been discovered. +He told Harpagus, moreover, that he was greatly rejoiced at this +discovery. "After he was dead, as I supposed," said he, "I bitterly +repented of having given orders to destroy him. I could not bear my +daughter's grief, or the reproaches which she incessantly uttered +against me. But the child is alive, and all is well; and I am going to +give a grand entertainment as a festival of rejoicing on the +occasion." + +Astyages then requested Harpagus to send his son, who was about +thirteen years of age, to the palace, to be a companion to Cyrus, and, +inviting him very specially to come to the entertainment, he dismissed +him with many marks of attention and honor. Harpagus went home, +trembling at the thought of the imminent danger which he had incurred, +and of the narrow escape by which he had been saved from it. He called +his son, directed him to prepare himself to go to the king, and +dismissed him with many charges in respect to his behavior, both +toward the king and toward Cyrus. He related to his wife the +conversation which had taken place between himself and Astyages, and +she rejoiced with him in the apparently happy issue of an affair +which might well have been expected to have been their ruin. + +The sequel of the story is too horrible to be told, and yet too +essential to a right understanding of the influences and effects +produced on human nature by the possession and exercise of despotic +and irresponsible power to be omitted. Harpagus came to the festival. +It was a grand entertainment. Harpagus was placed in a conspicuous +position at the table. A great variety of dishes were brought in and +set before the different guests, and were eaten without question. +Toward the close of the feast, Astyages asked Harpagus what he thought +of his fare. Harpagus, half terrified with some mysterious +presentiment of danger, expressed himself well pleased with it. +Astyages then told him there was plenty more of the same kind, and +ordered the attendants to bring the basket in. They came accordingly, +and uncovered a basket before the wretched guest, which contained, as +he saw when he looked into it, the head, and hands, and feet of his +son. Astyages asked him to help himself to whatever part he liked! + +The most astonishing part of the story is yet to be told. It relates +to the action of Harpagus in such an emergency. He looked as composed +and placid as if nothing unusual had occurred. The king asked him if +he knew what he had been eating. He said that he did; and that +whatever was agreeable to the will of the king was always pleasing to +him!! + +It is hard to say whether despotic power exerts its worst and most +direful influences on those who wield it, or on those who have it to +bear; on its masters, or on its slaves. + +After the first feelings of pleasure which Astyages experienced in +being relieved from the sense of guilt which oppressed his mind so +long as he supposed that his orders for the murder of his infant +grandchild had been obeyed, his former uneasiness lest the child +should in future years become his rival and competitor for the +possession of the Median throne, which had been the motive originally +instigating him to the commission of the crime, returned in some +measure again, and he began to consider whether it was not incumbent +on him to take some measures to guard against such a result. The end +of his deliberations was, that he concluded to send for the magi, or +soothsayers, as he had done in the case of his dream, and obtain their +judgment on the affair in the new aspect which it had now assumed. + +When the magi had heard the king's narrative of the circumstances +under which the discovery of the child's preservation had been made, +through complaints which had been preferred against him on account of +the manner in which he had exercised the prerogatives of a king among +his playmates, they decided at once that Astyages had no cause for any +further apprehensions in respect to the dreams which had disturbed him +previous to his grandchild's birth. "He has been a king," they said, +"and the danger is over. It is true that he has been a monarch only in +play, but that is enough to satisfy and fulfill the presages of the +vision. Occurrences very slight and trifling in themselves are often +found to accomplish what seemed of very serious magnitude and moment, +as portended. Your grandchild has been a king, and he will never reign +again. You have, therefore, no further cause to fear, and may send him +to his parents in Persia with perfect safety." + +The king determined to adopt this advice. He ordered the soothsayers, +however, not to remit their assiduity and vigilance, and if any signs +or omens should appear to indicate approaching danger, he charged them +to give him immediate warning. This they faithfully promised to do. +They felt, they said, a personal interest in doing it; for Cyrus being +a Persian prince, his accession to the Median throne would involve the +subjection of the Medes to the Persian dominion, a result which they +wished in every account to avoid. So, promising to watch vigilantly +for every indication of danger, they left the presence of the king. +The king then sent for Cyrus. + +It seems that Cyrus, though astonished at the great and mysterious +changes which had taken place in his condition, was still ignorant of +his true history. Astyages now told him that he was to go into Persia. +"You will rejoin there," said he, "your true parents, who, you will +find, are of very different rank in life from the herdsman whom you +have lived with thus far. You will make the journey under the charge +and escort of persons that I have appointed for the purpose. They will +explain to you, on the way, the mystery in which your parentage and +birth seems to you at present enveloped. You will find that I was +induced many years ago, by the influence of an untoward dream, to +treat you injuriously. But all has ended well, and you can now go in +peace to your proper home." + +As soon as the preparations for the journey could be made, Cyrus set +out, under the care of the party appointed to conduct him, and went to +Persia. His parents were at first dumb with astonishment, and were +then overwhelmed with gladness and joy at seeing their much-loved and +long-lost babe reappear, as if from the dead, in the form of this tall +and handsome boy, with health, intelligence, and happiness beaming in +his countenance. They overwhelmed him with caresses, and the heart of +Mandane, especially, was filled with pride and pleasure. + +As soon as Cyrus became somewhat settled in his new home, his parents +began to make arrangements for giving him as complete an education as +the means and opportunities of those days afforded. + +Xenophon, in his narrative of the early life of Cyrus, gives a minute, +and, in some respects, quite an extraordinary account of the mode of +life led in Cambyses's court. The sons of all the nobles and officers +of the court were educated together, within the precincts of the royal +palaces, or, rather, they spent their time together there, occupied in +various pursuits and avocations, which were intended to train them for +the duties of future life, though there was very little of what would +be considered, in modern times, as education. They were not generally +taught to read, nor could they, in fact, since there were no books, +have used that art if they had acquired it. The only intellectual +instruction which they seem to have received was what was called +learning justice. The boys had certain teachers, who explained to +them, more or less formally, the general principles of right and +wrong, the injunctions and prohibitions of the laws, and the +obligations resulting from them, and the rules by which controversies +between man and man, arising in the various relations of life, should +be settled. The boys were also trained to apply these principles and +rules to the cases which occurred among themselves, each acting as +judge in turn, to discuss and decide the questions that arose from +time to time, either from real transactions as they occurred, or from +hypothetical cases invented to put their powers to the test. To +stimulate the exercise of their powers, they were rewarded when they +decided right, and punished when they decided wrong. Cyrus himself was +punished on one occasion for a wrong decision, under the following +circumstances: + +A bigger boy took away the coat of a smaller boy than himself, because +it was larger than his own, and gave him his own smaller coat instead. +The smaller boy complained of the wrong, and the case was referred to +Cyrus for his adjudication. After hearing the case, Cyrus decided that +each boy should keep the coat that fitted him. The teacher condemned +this as a very unjust decision. "When you are called upon," said he, +"to consider a question of what fits best, then you should determine +as you have done in this case; but when you are appointed to decide +whose each coat is, and to adjudge it to the proper owner, then you +are to consider what constitutes right possession, and whether he who +takes a thing by force from one who is weaker than himself, should +have it, or whether he who made it or purchased it should be protected +in his property. You have decided against law, and in favor of +violence and wrong." Cyrus's sentence was thus condemned, and he was +punished for not reasoning more soundly. + +The boys at this Persian court were trained to many manly exercises. +They were taught to wrestle and to run. They were instructed in the +use of such arms as were employed in those times, and rendered +dexterous in the use of them by daily exercises. They were taught to +put their skill in practice, too, in hunting excursions, which they +took, by turns, with the king, in the neighboring forest and +mountains. On these occasions, they were armed with a bow, and a +quiver of arrows, a shield, a small sword or dagger which was worn at +the side in a sort of scabbard, and two javelins. One of these was +intended to be thrown, the other to be retained in the hand, for use +in close combat, in case the wild beast, in his desperation, should +advance to a personal re-encounter. These hunting expeditions were +considered extremely important as a part of the system of youthful +training. They were often long and fatiguing. The young men became +inured, by means of them, to toil, and privation, and exposure. They +had to make long marches, to encounter great dangers, to engage in +desperate conflicts, and to submit sometimes to the inconveniences of +hunger and thirst, as well as exposure to the extremes of heat and +cold, and to the violence of storms. All this was considered as +precisely the right sort of discipline to make them good soldiers in +their future martial campaigns. + +Cyrus was not, himself, at this time, old enough to take a very active +part in these severer services, as they belonged to a somewhat +advanced stage of Persian education, and he was yet not quite twelve +years old. He was a very beautiful boy, tall and graceful in form and +his countenance was striking and expressive. He was very frank and +open in his disposition and character, speaking honestly, and without +fear, the sentiments of his heart, in any presence and on all +occasions. He was extremely kind hearted, and amiable, too, in his +disposition, averse to saying or doing any thing which could give pain +to those around him. In fact, the openness and cordiality of his +address and manners, and the unaffected ingenuousness and sincerity +which characterized his disposition, made him a universal favorite. +His frankness, his childish simplicity, his vivacity, his personal +grace and beauty, and his generous and self-sacrificing spirit, +rendered him the object of general admiration throughout the court, +and filled Mandane's heart with maternal gladness and pride. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE VISIT TO MEDIA. + +B.C. 587-584 + +Astyages sends for Cyrus.--Cyrus goes to Media.--Cyrus's +reception.--His astonishment.--Sympathy with childhood.--Pleasures +of old age.--Character of Cyrus.--First interview with his +grandfather.--Dress of the king.--Cyrus's considerate reply.--Habits +of Cyrus.--Horsemanship among the Persians.--Cyrus learns +to ride.--His delights.--Amusements with the boys.--The +cup-bearer.--The entertainment.--Cyrus's conversation.--Cyrus +and the Sacian cup-bearer.--Cyrus slights him.--Accomplishments of +the cup-bearer.--Cyrus mimics him.--Cyrus declines to taste the +wine.--Duties of a cup-bearer.--Cyrus's reason for not tasting the +wine.--His description of a feast.--Cyrus's dislike of the +cup-bearer.--His reason for it.--Amusement of the guests.--Cyrus +becomes a greater favorite than ever.--Mandane proposes to return +to Persia.--Cyrus consents to remain.--Fears of Mandane.--Departure +of Mandane.--Rapid progress of Cyrus.--Hunting in the park.--Game +becomes scarce.--Development of Cyrus's powers, both of body and +mind.--Hunting wild beasts.--Cyrus's conversation with his +attendants.--Pursuit of a stag.--Cyrus's danger.--Cyrus's +recklessness.--He is reproved by his companions.--Cyrus kills a +wild boar.--He is again reproved.--Cyrus carries his game +home.--Distributes it among his companions.--Another hunting +party.--A plundering party.--Cyrus departs for Media.--Parting +presents.--The presents returned.--Cyrus sends them +back again.--Character of Xenophon's narrative.--Its +trustworthiness.--Character of Cyrus as given by +Xenophon.--Herodotus more trustworthy than Xenophon. + + +When Cyrus was about twelve years old, if the narrative which Xenophon +gives of his history is true, he was invited by his grandfather +Astyages to make a visit to Media. As he was about ten years of age, +according to Herodotus, when he was restored to his parents, he could +have been residing only two years in Persia when he received this +invitation. During this period, Astyages had received, through Mandane +and others, very glowing descriptions of the intelligence and vivacity +of the young prince, and he naturally felt a desire to see him once +more. In fact, Cyrus's personal attractiveness and beauty, joined to a +certain frank and noble generosity of spirit which he seems to have +manifested in his earliest years, made him a universal favorite at +home, and the reports of these qualities, and of the various sayings +and doings on Cyrus's part, by which his disposition and character +were revealed, awakened strongly in the mind of Astyages that kind of +interest which a grandfather is always very prone to feel in a +handsome and precocious grandchild. + +As Cyrus had been sent to Persia as soon as his true rank had been +discovered, he had had no opportunities of seeing the splendor of +royal life in Media, and the manners and habits of the Persians were +very plain and simple. Cyrus was accordingly very much impressed with +the magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced when he +arrived in Media, and with the gayeties and luxuries, the pomp and +display, and the spectacles and parades in which the Median court +abounded. Astyages himself took great pleasure in witnessing and +increasing his little grandson's admiration for these wonders. It is +one of the most extraordinary and beautiful of the provisions which +God has made for securing the continuance of human happiness to the +very end of life, that we can renew, through sympathy with children, +the pleasures which, for ourselves alone, had long since, through +repetition and satiety, lost their charm. The rides, the walks, the +flowers gathered by the road-side, the rambles among pebbles on the +beach, the songs, the games, and even the little picture-book of +childish tales which have utterly and entirely lost their power to +affect the mind even of middle life, directly and alone, regain their +magic influence, and call up vividly all the old emotions, even to the +heart of decrepit age, when it seeks these enjoyments in companionship +and sympathy with children or grandchildren beloved. By giving to us +this capacity for renewing our own sensitiveness to the impressions of +pleasure through sympathy with childhood, God has provided a true and +effectual remedy for the satiety and insensibility of age. Let any one +who is in the decline of years, whose time passes but heavily away, +and who supposes that nothing can awaken interest in his mind or give +him pleasure, make the experiment of taking children to a ride or to a +concert, or to see a menagerie or a museum, and he will find that +there is a way by which he can again enjoy very highly the pleasures +which he had supposed were for him forever exhausted and gone. + +This was the result, at all events, in the case of Astyages and Cyrus. +The monarch took a new pleasure in the luxuries and splendors which +had long since lost their charm for him, in observing their influence +and effect upon the mind of his little grandson. Cyrus, as we have +already said, was very frank and open in his disposition, and spoke +with the utmost freedom of every thing that he saw. He was, of course, +a privileged person, and could always say what the feeling of the +moment and his own childish conceptions prompted, without danger. He +had, however, according to the account which Xenophon gives, a great +deal of good sense, as well as of sprightliness and brilliancy; +so that, while his remarks, through their originality and point, +attracted every one's attention, there was a native politeness and +sense of propriety which restrained him from saying any thing to give +pain. Even when he disapproved of and condemned what he saw in the +arrangements of his grandfather's court or household, he did it in +such a manner--so ingenuous, good-natured, and unassuming, that it +amused all and offended none. + +In fact, on the very first interview which Astyages had with Cyrus, an +instance of the boy's readiness and tact occurred, which impressed his +grandfather very much in his favor. The Persians, as has been already +remarked, were accustomed to dress very plainly, while, on the other +hand, at the Median court the superior officers, and especially the +king, were always very splendidly adorned. Accordingly, when Cyrus +was introduced into his grandfather's presence, he was quite dazzled +with the display. The king wore a purple robe, very richly adorned, +with a belt and collars, which were embroidered highly, and set with +precious stones. He had bracelets, too, upon his wrists, of the most +costly character. He wore flowing locks of artificial hair, and his +face was painted, after the Median manner. Cyrus gazed upon this gay +spectacle for a few moments in silence, and then exclaimed, "Why, +mother! what a handsome man my grandfather is!" + +Such an exclamation, of course, made great amusement both for the king +himself and for the others who were present; and at length Mandane, +somewhat indiscreetly, it must be confessed, asked Cyrus which of the +two he thought the handsomest, his father or his grandfather. Cyrus +escaped from the danger of deciding such a formidable question by +saying that his father was the handsomest man in Persia, but his +grandfather was the handsomest of all the Medes he had ever seen. +Astyages was even more pleased by this proof of his grandson's +adroitness and good sense than he had been with the compliment +which the boy had paid to him; and thenceforward Cyrus became an +established favorite, and did and said, in his grandfather's presence, +almost whatever he pleased. + +When the first childish feelings of excitement and curiosity had +subsided, Cyrus seemed to attach very little value to the fine clothes +and gay trappings with which his grandfather was disposed to adorn +him, and to all the other external marks of parade and display, which +were generally so much prized among the Medes. He was much more +inclined to continue in his former habits of plain dress and frugal +means than to imitate Median ostentation and luxury. There was one +pleasure, however, to be found in Media, which in Persia he had never +enjoyed, that he prized very highly. That was the pleasure of learning +to ride on horseback. The Persians, it seems, either because their +country was a rough and mountainous region, or for some other cause, +were very little accustomed to ride. They had very few horses, and +there were no bodies of cavalry in their armies. The young men, +therefore, were not trained to the art of horsemanship. Even in their +hunting excursions they went always on foot, and were accustomed to +make long marches through the forests and among the mountains in this +manner, loaded heavily, too, all the time, with the burden of arms and +provisions which they were obliged to carry. It was, therefore, a new +pleasure to Cyrus to mount a horse. Horsemanship was a great art among +the Medes. Their horses were beautiful and fleet, and splendidly +caparisoned. Astyages provided for Cyrus the best animals which could +be procured, and the boy was very proud and happy in exercising +himself in the new accomplishment which he thus had the opportunity to +acquire. To ride is always a great source of pleasure to boys; but in +that period of the world, when physical strength was so much more +important and more highly valued than at present, horsemanship was a +vastly greater source of gratification than it is now. Cyrus felt that +he had, at a single leap, quadrupled his power, and thus risen at once +to a far higher rank in the scale of being than he had occupied +before; for, as soon as he had once learned to be at home in the +saddle, and to subject the spirit and the power of his horse to his +own will, the courage, the strength, and the speed of the animal +became, in fact, almost personal acquisitions of his own. He felt, +accordingly, when he was galloping over the plains, or pursuing deer +in the park, or running over the racecourse with his companions, as +if it was some newly-acquired strength and speed of his own that he +was exercising, and which, by some magic power, was attended by no +toilsome exertion, and followed by no fatigue. + +The various officers and servants in Astyages's household, as well as +Astyages himself, soon began to feel a strong interest in the young +prince. Each took a pleasure in explaining to him what pertained to +their several departments, and in teaching him whatever he desired to +learn. The attendant highest in rank in such a household was the +cup-bearer. He had the charge of the tables and the wine, and all the +general arrangements of the palace seem to have been under his +direction. The cup-bearer in Astyages's court was a Sacian. He was, +however, less a friend to Cyrus than the rest. There was nothing +within the range of his official duties that he could teach the boy; +and Cyrus did not like his wine. Besides, when Astyages was engaged, +it was the cup-bearer's duty to guard him from interruption, and at +such times he often had occasion to restrain the young prince from the +liberty of entering his grandfather's apartments as often as he +pleased. + +At one of the entertainments which Astyages gave in his palace, Cyrus +and Mandane were invited; and Astyages, in order to gratify the young +prince as highly as possible, set before him a great variety of +dishes--meats, and sauces, and delicacies of every kind--all served in +costly vessels, and with great parade and ceremony. He supposed that +Cyrus would have been enraptured with the luxury and splendor of the +entertainment. He did not, however, seem much pleased. Astyages asked +him the reason, and whether the feast which he saw before him was not +a much finer one than he had been accustomed to see in Persia. Cyrus +said, in reply, that it seemed to him to be very troublesome to have +to eat a little of so many separate things. In Persia they managed, he +thought, a great deal better. "And how do you manage in Persia?" asked +Astyages. "Why, in Persia," replied Cyrus, "we have plain bread and +meat, and eat it when we are hungry; so we get health and strength, +and have very little trouble." Astyages laughed at this simplicity, +and told Cyrus that he might, if he preferred it, live on plain bread +and meat while he remained in Media, and then he would return to +Persia in as good health as he came. + +Cyrus was satisfied; he, however, asked his grandfather if he would +give him all those things which had been set before him, to dispose of +as he thought proper; and on his grandfather's assenting, he began to +call the various attendants up to the table, and to distribute the +costly dishes to them, in return, as he said, for their various +kindnesses to him. "This," said he to one, "is for you, because you +take pains to teach me to ride; this," to another, "for you, because +you gave me a javelin; this to you, because you serve my grandfather +well and faithfully; and this to you, because you honor my mother." +Thus he went on until he had distributed all that he had received, +though he omitted, as it seemed designedly, to give any thing to the +Sacian cup-bearer. This Sacian being an officer of high rank, of tall +and handsome figure, and beautifully dressed, was the most conspicuous +attendant at the feast, and could not, therefore, have been +accidentally passed by. Astyages accordingly asked Cyrus why he had +not given any thing to the Sacian--the servant whom, as he said, he +liked better than all the others. + +"And what is the reason," asked Cyrus, in reply, "that this Sacian is +such a favorite with you?" + +"Have you not observed," replied Astyages, "how gracefully and +elegantly he pours out the wine for me, and then hands me the cup?" + +The Sacian was, in fact, uncommonly accomplished in respect to the +personal grace and dexterity for which cup-bearers in those days were +most highly valued, and which constitute, in fact, so essential a part +of the qualifications of a master of ceremonies at a royal court in +every age. Cyrus, however, instead of yielding to this argument, said, +in reply, that he could come into the room and pour out the wine as +well as the Sacian could do it, and he asked his grandfather to allow +him to try. Astyages consented. Cyrus then took the goblet of wine, +and went out. In a moment he came in again, stepping grandly, as he +entered, in mimicry of the Sacian, and with a countenance of assumed +gravity and self-importance, which imitated so well the air and manner +of the cup-bearer as greatly to amuse the whole company assembled. +Cyrus advanced thus toward the king and presented him with the cup, +imitating, with the grace and dexterity natural to childhood, all the +ceremonies which he had seen the cup-bearer himself perform, except +that of tasting the wine. The king and Mandane laughed heartily. +Cyrus then, throwing off his assumed character, jumped up into his +grandfather's lap and kissed him, and turning to the cup-bearer, he +said, "Now, Sacian, you are ruined. I shall get my grandfather to +appoint me in your place. I can hand the wine as well as you, and +without tasting it myself at all." + +"But why did you not taste it?" asked Astyages; "you should have +performed that part of the duty as well as the rest." + +It was, in fact, a very essential part of the duty of a cup-bearer to +taste the wine that he offered before presenting it to the king. He +did this, however, not by putting the cup to his lips, but by pouring +out a little of it into the palm of his hand. This custom was adopted +by these ancient despots to guard against the danger of being +poisoned; for such a danger would of course be very much diminished by +requiring the officer who had the custody of the wine, and without +whose knowledge no foreign substance could well be introduced into it, +always to drink a portion of it himself immediately before tendering +it to the king. + +To Astyages's question why he had not tasted the wine, Cyrus replied +that he was afraid it was poisoned. "What led you to imagine that it +was poisoned?" asked his grandfather. "Because," said Cyrus, "it was +poisoned the other day, when you made a feast for your friends, on +your birth-day. I knew by the effects. It made you all crazy. The +things that you do not allow us boys to do, you did yourselves, for +you were very rude and noisy; you all bawled together, so that nobody +could hear or understand what any other person said. Presently you +went to singing in a very ridiculous manner, and when a singer ended +his song, you applauded him, and declared that he had sung admirably, +though nobody had paid attention. You went to telling stories, too, +each one of his own accord, without succeeding in making any body +listen to him. Finally, you got up and began to dance, but it was out +of all rule and measure; you could not even stand erect and steadily. +Then, you all seemed to forget who and what you were. The guests paid +no regard to you as their king, but treated you in a very familiar and +disrespectful manner, and you treated them in the same way; so I +thought that the wine that produced these effects must have been +poisoned." + +Of course, Cyrus did not seriously mean that he thought the wine had +been actually poisoned. He was old enough to understand its nature +and effects. He undoubtedly intended his reply as a playful satire +upon the intemperate excesses of his grandfather's court. + +"But have not you ever seen such things before?" asked Astyages. "Does +not your father ever drink wine until it makes him merry?" + +"No," replied Cyrus, "indeed he does not. He drinks only when he is +thirsty, and then only enough for his thirst, and so he is not +harmed." He then added, in a contemptuous tone, "He has no Sacian +cup-bearer, you may depend, about _him_." + +"What is the reason, my son," here asked Mandane, "why you dislike +this Sacian so much?" + +"Why, every time that I want to come and see my grandfather," replied +Cyrus, "this teazing man always stops me, and will not let me come in. +I wish, grandfather, you would let me have the rule over him just for +three days." + +"Why, what would you do to him?" asked Astyages. + +"I would treat him as he treats me now," replied Cyrus. "I would stand +at the door, as he does when I want to come in, and when he was coming +for his dinner, I would stop him and say, 'You can not come in now; +he is busy with some men.'" + +In saying this, Cyrus imitated, in a very ludicrous manner, the +gravity and dignity of the Sacian's air and manner. + +"Then," he continued, "when he came to supper, I would say, 'He is +bathing now; you must come some other time;' or else, 'He is going to +sleep, and you will disturb him.' So I would torment him all the time, +as he now torments me, in keeping me out when I want to come and see +you." + +Such conversation as this, half playful, half earnest, of course +amused Astyages and Mandane very much, as well as all the other +listeners. There is a certain charm in the simplicity and confiding +frankness of childhood, when it is honest and sincere, which in +Cyrus's case was heightened by his personal grace and beauty. He +became, in fact, more and more a favorite the longer he remained. At +length, the indulgence and the attentions which he received began to +produce, in some degree, their usual injurious effects. Cyrus became +too talkative, and sometimes he appeared a little vain. Still, there +was so much true kindness of heart, such consideration for the +feelings of others, and so respectful a regard for his grandfather, +his mother, and his uncle,[A] that his faults were overlooked, and he +was the life and soul of the company in all the social gatherings +which took place in the palaces of the king. + +[Footnote A: The uncle here referred to was Mandane's brother. His +name was Oyaxares. He was at this time a royal prince, the heir +apparent to the throne. He figures very conspicuously in the +subsequent portions of Xenophon's history as Astyages's successor on +the throne. Herodotus does not mention him at all, but makes Cyrus +himself the direct successor of Astyages.] + +At length the time arrived for Mandane to return to Persia. Astyages +proposed that she should leave Cyrus in Media, to be educated there +under his grandfather's charge. Mandane replied that she was willing +to gratify her father in every thing, but she thought it would be very +hard to leave Cyrus behind, unless he was willing, of his own accord, +to stay. Astyages then proposed the subject to Cyrus himself. "If you +will stay," said he, "the Sacian shall no longer have power to keep +you from coming in to see me; you shall come whenever you choose. +Then, besides, you shall have the use of all my horses, and of as many +more as you please, and when you go home at last you shall take as +many as you wish with you. Then you may have all the animals in the +park to hunt. You can pursue them on horseback, and shoot them with +bows and arrows, or kill them with javelins, as men do with wild +beasts in the woods. I will provide boys of your own age to play with +you, and to ride and hunt with you, and will have all sorts of arms +made of suitable size for you to use; and if there is any thing else +that you should want at any time, you will only have to ask me for it, +and I will immediately provide it." + +The pleasure of riding and of hunting in the park was very captivating +to Cyrus's mind, and he consented to stay. He represented to his +mother that it would be of great advantage to him, on his final return +to Persia, to be a skillful and powerful horseman, as that would at +once give him the superiority over all the Persian youths, for they +were very little accustomed to ride. His mother had some fears lest, +by too long a residence in the Median court, her son should acquire +the luxurious habits, and proud and haughty manners, which would be +constantly before him in his grandfather's example; but Cyrus said +that his grandfather, being imperious himself, required all around +him to be submissive, and that Mandane need not fear but that he +would return at last as dutiful and docile as ever. It was decided, +therefore, that Cyrus should stay, while his mother, bidding her child +and her father farewell, went back to Persia. + +After his mother was gone, Cyrus endeared himself very strongly to all +persons at his grandfather's court by the nobleness and generosity of +character which he evinced, more and more, as his mind was gradually +developed. He applied himself with great diligence to acquiring the +various accomplishments and arts then most highly prized, such as +leaping, vaulting, racing, riding, throwing the javelin, and drawing +the bow. In the friendly contests which took place among the boys, to +test their comparative excellence in these exercises, Cyrus would +challenge those whom he knew to be superior to himself, and allow them +to enjoy the pleasure of victory, while he was satisfied, himself, +with the superior stimulus to exertion which he derived from coming +thus into comparison with attainments higher than his own. He pressed +forward boldly and ardently, undertaking every thing which promised +to be, by any possibility, within his power; and, far from being +disconcerted and discouraged at his mistakes and failures, he always +joined merrily in the laugh which they occasioned, and renewed his +attempts with as much ardor and alacrity as before. Thus he made great +and rapid progress, and learned first to equal and then to surpass one +after another of his companions, and all without exciting any jealousy +or envy. + +It was a great amusement both to him and to the other boys, his +playmates, to hunt the animals in the park, especially the deer. The +park was a somewhat extensive domain, but the animals were soon very +much diminished by the slaughter which the boys made among them. +Astyages endeavored to supply their places by procuring more. At +length, however, all the sources of supply that were conveniently at +hand were exhausted; and Cyrus, then finding that his grandfather was +put to no little trouble to obtain tame animals for his park, +proposed, one day, that he should be allowed to go out into the +forests, to hunt the wild beasts with the men. "There are animals +enough there, grandfather," said Cyrus, "and I shall consider them all +just as if you had procured them expressly for me." + +In fact, by this time Cyrus had grown up to be a tall and handsome +young man, with strength and vigor sufficient, under favorable +circumstances, to endure the fatigues and exposures of real hunting. +As his person had become developed, his mind and manners, too, +had undergone a change. The gayety, the thoughtfulness, the +self-confidence, and talkative vivacity of his childhood had +disappeared, and he was fast becoming reserved, sedate, deliberate, +and cautious. He no longer entertained his grandfather's company by +his mimicry, his repartees, and his childish wit. He was silent; he +observed, he listened, he shrank from publicity, and spoke, when he +spoke at all, in subdued and gentle tones. Instead of crowding forward +eagerly into his grandfather's presence on all occasions, seasonable +and unseasonable, as he had done before, he now became, of his own +accord, very much afraid of occasioning trouble or interruption. He +did not any longer need a Sacian to restrain him, but became, as +Xenophon expresses it, a Sacian to himself, taking great care not to +go into his grandfather's apartments without previously ascertaining +that the king was disengaged; so that he and the Sacian now became +very great friends. + +This being the state of the case, Astyages consented that Cyrus +should go out with his son Cyaxares into the forests to hunt at the +next opportunity. The party set out, when the time arrived, on +horseback, the hearts of Cyrus and his companions bounding, when +they mounted their steeds, with feelings of elation and pride. There +were certain attendants and guards appointed to keep near to Cyrus, +and to help him in the rough and rocky parts of the country, and to +protect him from the dangers to which, if left alone, he would +doubtless have been exposed. Cyrus talked with these attendants, as +they rode along, of the mode of hunting, of the difficulties of +hunting, the characters and the habits of the various wild beasts, +and of the dangers to be shunned. His attendants told him that the +dangerous beasts were bears, lions, tigers, boars, and leopards; +that such animals as these often attacked and killed men, and that +he must avoid them; but that stags, wild goats, wild sheep, and wild +asses were harmless, and that he could hunt such animals as they as +much as he pleased. They told him, moreover, that steep, rocky, and +broken ground was more dangerous to the huntsman than any beasts, +however ferocious; for riders, off their guard, driving impetuously +over such ways, were often thrown from their horses, or fell with +them over precipices or into chasms, and were killed. + +[Illustration: CYRUS'S HUNTING.] + +Cyrus listened very attentively to these instructions, with every +disposition to give heed to them; but when he came to the trial, +he found that the ardor and impetuosity of the chase drove all +considerations of prudence wholly from his mind. When the men got into +the forest, those that were with Cyrus roused a stag, and all set off +eagerly in pursuit, Cyrus at the head. Away went the stag over rough +and dangerous ground. The rest of the party turned aside, or followed +cautiously, while Cyrus urged his horse forward in the wildest +excitement, thinking of nothing, and seeing nothing but the stag +bounding before him. The horse came to a chasm which he was obliged to +leap. But the distance was too great; he came down upon his knees, +threw Cyrus violently forward almost over his head, and then, with a +bound and a scramble, recovered his feet and went on. Cyrus clung +tenaciously to the horse's mane, and at length succeeded in getting +back to the saddle, though, for a moment his life was in the most +imminent danger. His attendants were extremely terrified, though he +himself seemed to experience no feeling but the pleasurable +excitement of the chase; for, as soon as the obstacle was cleared, he +pressed on with new impetuosity after the stag, overtook him, and +killed him with his javelin. Then, alighting from his horse, he stood +by the side of his victim, to wait the coming up of the party, his +countenance beaming with an expression of triumph and delight. + +His attendants, however, on their arrival, instead of applauding his +exploit, or seeming to share his pleasure, sharply reproved him for +his recklessness and daring. He had entirely disregarded their +instructions, and they threatened to report him to his grandfather. +Cyrus looked perplexed and uneasy. The excitement and the pleasure of +victory and success were struggling in his mind against his dread of +his grandfather's displeasure. Just at this instant he heard a new +halloo. Another party in the neighborhood had roused fresh game. All +Cyrus's returning sense of duty was blown at once to the winds. He +sprang to his horse with a shout of wild enthusiasm, and rode off +toward the scene of action. The game which had been started, a furious +wild boar, just then issued from a thicket directly before him. Cyrus, +instead of shunning the danger, as he ought to have done, in +obedience to the orders of those to whom his grandfather had intrusted +him, dashed on to meet the boar at full speed, and aimed so true a +thrust with his javelin against the beast as to transfix him in the +forehead. The boar fell, and lay upon the ground in dying struggles, +while Cyrus's heart was filled with joy and triumph even greater than +before. + +When Cyaxares came up, he reproved Cyrus anew for running such risks. +Cyrus received the reproaches meekly, and then asked Cyaxares to give +him the two animals that he had killed; he wanted to carry them home +to his grandfather. + +"By no means," said Cyaxares, "your grandfather would be very much +displeased to know what you had done. He would not only condemn you +for acting thus, but he would reprove us too, severely, for allowing +you to do so." + +"Let him punish me," said Cyrus, "if he wishes, after I have shown him +the stag and the boar, and you may punish me too, if you think best; +but do let me show them to him." + +Cyaxares consented, and Cyrus made arrangements to have the bodies of +the beasts and the bloody javelins carried home. Cyrus then presented +the carcasses to his grandfather, saying that it was some game which +he had taken for him. The javelins he did not exhibit directly, but +he laid them down in a place where his grandfather would see them. +Astyages thanked him for his presents, but he said he had no such need +of presents of game as to wish his grandson to expose himself to such +imminent dangers to take it. + +"Well, grandfather," said Cyrus, "if you do not want the meat, give it +to me, and I will divide it among my friends." Astyages agreed to +this, and Cyrus divided his booty among his companions, the boys, who +had before hunted with him in the park. They, of course, took their +several portions home, each one carrying with his share of the gift a +glowing account of the valor and prowess of the giver. It was not +generosity which led Cyrus thus to give away the fruits of his toil, +but a desire to widen and extend his fame. + +When Cyrus was about fifteen or sixteen years old, his uncle Cyaxares +was married, and in celebrating his nuptials, he formed a great +hunting party, to go to the frontiers between Media and Assyria to +hunt there, where it was said that game of all kinds was very +plentiful, as it usually was, in fact, in those days, in the +neighborhood of disturbed and unsettled frontiers. The very causes +which made such a region as this a safe and frequented haunt for wild +beasts, made it unsafe for men, and Cyaxares did not consider it +prudent to venture on his excursion without a considerable force to +attend him. His hunting party formed, therefore, quite a little army. +They set out from home with great pomp and ceremony, and proceeded to +the frontiers in regular organization and order, like a body of troops +on a march. There was a squadron of horsemen, who were to hunt the +beasts in the open parts of the forest, and a considerable detachment +of light-armed footmen also, who were to rouse the game, and drive +them out of their lurking places in the glens and thickets. Cyrus +accompanied this expedition. + +When Cyaxares reached the frontiers, he concluded, instead of +contenting himself and his party with hunting wild beasts, to make an +incursion for plunder into the Assyrian territory, that being, as +Zenophon expresses it, a more noble enterprise than the other. The +nobleness, it seems, consisted in the greater imminence of the danger, +in having to contend with armed men instead of ferocious brutes, and +in the higher value of the prizes which they would obtain in case of +success. The idea of there being any injustice or wrong in this wanton +and unprovoked aggression upon the territories of a neighboring nation +seems not to have entered the mind either of the royal robber himself +or of his historian. + +Cyrus distinguished himself very conspicuously in this expedition, +as he had done in the hunting excursion before; and when, at length, +this nuptial party returned home, loaded with booty, the tidings of +Cyrus's exploits went to Persia. Cambyses thought that if his son was +beginning to take part, as a soldier, in military campaigns, it was +time for him to be recalled. He accordingly sent for him, and Cyrus +began to make preparations for his return. + +The day of his departure was a day of great sadness and sorrow among +all his companions in Media, and, in fact, among all the members of +his grandfather's household. They accompanied him for some distance on +his way, and took leave of him, at last, with much regret and many +tears. Cyrus distributed among them, as they left him, the various +articles of value which he possessed, such as his arms, and ornaments +of various kinds, and costly articles of dress. He gave his Median +robe, at last, to a certain youth whom he said he loved the best of +all. The name of this special favorite was Araspes. As these his +friends parted from him, Cyrus took his leave of them, one by one, as +they returned, with many proofs of his affection for them, and with a +very sad and heavy heart. + +The boys and young men who had received these presents took them home, +but they were so valuable, that they or their parents, supposing that +they were given under a momentary impulse of feeling, and that they +ought to be returned, sent them all to Astyages. Astyages sent them to +Persia, to be restored to Cyrus. Cyrus sent them all back again to his +grandfather, with a request that he would distribute them again to +those to whom Cyrus had originally given them, "which," said he, +"grandfather, you must do, if you wish me ever to come to Media again +with pleasure and not with shame." + +Such is the story which Xenophon gives of Cyrus's visit to Media, and +in its romantic and incredible details it is a specimen of the whole +narrative which this author has given of his hero's life. It is not, +at the present day, supposed that these, and the many similar stories +with which Xenophon's books are filled, are true history. It is not +even thought that Xenophon really intended to offer his narrative as +history, but rather as an historical romance--a fiction founded on +fact, written to amuse the warriors of his times, and to serve as a +vehicle for inculcating such principles of philosophy, of morals, and +of military science as seemed to him worthy of the attention of his +countrymen. The story has no air of reality about it from beginning to +end, but only a sort of poetical fitness of one part to another, much +more like the contrived coincidences of a romance writer than like the +real events and transactions of actual life. A very large portion of +the work consists of long discourses on military, moral, and often +metaphysical philosophy, made by generals in council, or commanders in +conversation with each other when going into battle. The occurrences +and incidents out of which these conversations arise always take place +just as they are wanted and arrange themselves in a manner to produce +the highest dramatic effect; like the stag, the broken ground, and +the wild boar in Cyrus's hunting, which came, one after another, to +furnish the hero with poetical occasions for displaying his juvenile +bravery, and to produce the most picturesque and poetical grouping of +incidents and events. Xenophon too, like other writers of romances, +makes his hero a model of military virtue and magnanimity, according +to the ideas of the times. He displays superhuman sagacity in +circumventing his foes, he performs prodigies of valor, he forms the +most sentimental attachments, and receives with a romantic confidence +the adhesions of men who come over to his side from the enemy, and +who, being traitors to old friends, would seem to be only worthy of +suspicion and distrust in being received by new ones. Every thing, +however, results well; all whom he confides in prove worthy; all whom +he distrusts prove base. All his friends are generous and noble, and +all his enemies treacherous and cruel. Every prediction which he makes +is verified, and all his enterprises succeed; or if, in any respect, +there occurs a partial failure, the incident is always of such a +character as to heighten the impression which is made by the final and +triumphant success. + +Such being the character of Xenophon's tale, or rather drama, we shall +content ourselves, after giving this specimen of it, with adding, in +some subsequent chapters, a few other scenes and incidents drawn from +his narrative. In the mean time, in relating the great leading events +of Cyrus's life, we shall take Herodotus for our guide, by following +his more sober, and, probably, more trustworthy record. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CROESUS. + +B.C. 718-545 + +The wealth of Croesus.--The Mermnadae.--Origin of the Mermnadean +dynasty.--Candaules and Gyges.--Infamous proposal of +Candaules.--Remonstrance of Gyges.--Nyssia's suppressed +indignation.--She sends for Gyges.--Candaules is assassinated.--Gyges +succeeds.--The Lydian power extended.--The wars of +Alyattes.--Destruction of Minerva's temple.--Stratagem of +Thrasybulus--Success of the stratagem.--A treaty of peace +concluded.--Story of Arion and the dolphin.--The alternative.--Arion +leaps into the sea.--He is preserved by a dolphin.--Death of +Alyattes.--Succession of Croesus.--Plans of Croesus for subjugating +the islands.--The golden sands of the Pactolus.--The story of +Midas.--Wealth and renown of Croesus.--Visit of Solon.--Croesus and +Solon.--What constitutes happiness.--Cleobis and Bito.--Croesus +displeased with Solon.--Solon treated with neglect.--The two sons +of Croesus.--The king's dream.--Arrival of Adrastus.--The wild +boar.--Precautions of Croesus.--Remonstrance of Atys.--Explanation +of Croesus.--Atys joins the expedition.--He is killed by +Adrastus.--Anguish of Adrastus.--Burial of Atys.--Adrastus kills +himself.--Grief of Croesus. + + +The scene of our narrative must now be changed, for a time, from +Persia and Media, in the East, to Asia Minor, in the West, where the +great Croesus, originally King of Lydia, was at this time gradually +extending his empire along the shores of the AEgean Sea. The name of +Croesus is associated in the minds of men with the idea of boundless +wealth, the phrase "as rich as Croesus" having been a common proverb +in all the modern languages of Europe for many centuries. It was to +this Croesus, king of Lydia, whose story we are about to relate, +that the proverb alludes. + +The country of Lydia, over which this famous sovereign originally +ruled, was in the western part of Asia Minor, bordering on the AEgean +Sea. Croesus himself belonged to a dynasty, or race of kings, called +the Mermnadae. The founder of this line was Gyges, who displaced the +dynasty which preceded him and established his own by a revolution +effected in a very remarkable manner. The circumstances were as +follows: + +The name of the last monarch of the old dynasty--the one, namely, whom +Gyges displaced--was Candaules. Gyges was a household servant in +Candaules's family--a sort of slave, in fact, and yet, as such slaves +often were in those rude days, a personal favorite and boon companion +of his master. Candaules was a dissolute and unprincipled tyrant. He +had, however, a very beautiful and modest wife, whose name was Nyssia. +Candaules was very proud of the beauty of his queen, and was always +extolling it, though, as the event proved, he could not have felt for +her any true and honest affection. In some of his revels with Gyges, +when he was boasting of Nyssia's charms, he said that the beauty of +her form and figure, when unrobed, was even more exquisite than that +of her features; and, finally, the monster, growing more and more +excited, and having rendered himself still more of a brute than he was +by nature by the influence of wine, declared that Gyges should see for +himself. He would conceal him, he said, in the queen's bed-chamber, +while she was undressing for the night. Gyges remonstrated very +earnestly against this proposal. It would be doing the innocent +queen, he said, a great wrong. He assured the king, too, that he +believed fully all that he said about Nyssia's beauty, without +applying such a test, and he begged him not to insist upon a proposal +with which it would be criminal to comply. + +The king, however, did insist upon it, and Gyges was compelled to +yield. Whatever is offered as a favor by a half-intoxicated despot to +an humble inferior, it would be death to refuse. Gyges allowed himself +to be placed behind a half-opened door of the king's apartment, when +the king retired to it for the night. There he was to remain while the +queen began to unrobe herself for retiring, with a strict injunction +to withdraw at a certain time which the king designated, and with the +utmost caution, so as to prevent being observed by the queen. Gyges +did as he was ordered. The beautiful queen laid aside her garments +and made her toilet for the night with all the quiet composure and +confidence which a woman might be expected to feel while in so sacred +and inviolable a sanctuary, and in the presence and under the +guardianship of her husband. Just as she was about to retire to rest, +some movement alarmed her. It was Gyges going away. She saw him. She +instantly understood the case. She was overwhelmed with indignation +and shame. She, however, suppressed and concealed her emotions; she +spoke to Candaules in her usual tone of voice, and he, on his part, +secretly rejoiced in the adroit and successful manner in which his +little contrivance had been carried into execution. + +The next morning Nyssia sent, by some of her confidential messengers, +for Gyges to come to her. He came, with some forebodings, perhaps, but +without any direct reason for believing that what he had done had been +discovered. Nyssia, however, informed him that she knew all, and that +either he or her husband must die. Gyges earnestly remonstrated +against this decision, and supplicated forgiveness. He explained the +circumstances under which the act had been performed, which seemed, at +least so far as he was concerned, to palliate the deed. The queen was, +however, fixed and decided. It was wholly inconsistent with her ideas +of womanly delicacy that there should be two living men who had both +been admitted to her bed-chamber. "The king," she said, "by what he +has done, has forfeited his claims to me and resigned me to you. If +you will kill him, seize his kingdom, and make me your wife, all shall +be well; otherwise you must prepare to die." + +From this hard alternative, Gyges chose to assassinate the king, +and to make the lovely object before him his own. The excitement of +indignation and resentment which glowed upon her cheek, and with +which her bosom was heaving, made her more beautiful than ever. + +"How shall our purpose be accomplished?" asked Gyges. "The deed," she +replied, "shall be perpetrated in the very place which was the scene +of the dishonor done to me. I will admit you into our bed-chamber in +my turn, and you shall kill Candaules in his bed." + +When night came, Nyssia stationed Gyges again behind the same door +where the king had placed him. He had a dagger in his hand. He waited +there till Candaules was asleep. Then at a signal given him by the +queen, he entered, and stabbed the husband in his bed. He married +Nyssia, and possessed himself of the kingdom. After this, he and +his successors reigned for many years over the kingdom of Lydia, +constituting the dynasty of the Mermnadae, from which, in process of +time, King Croesus descended. + +The successive sovereigns of this dynasty gradually extended the +Lydian power over the countries around them. The name of Croesus's +father, who was the monarch that immediately preceded him, was +Alyattes. Alyattes waged war toward the southward, into the +territories of the city of Miletus. He made annual incursions into the +country of the Milesians for plunder, always taking care, however, +while he seized all the movable property that he could find, to leave +the villages and towns, and all the hamlets of the laborers without +injury. The reason for this was, that he did not wish to drive away +the population, but to encourage them to remain and cultivate their +lands, so that there might be new flocks and herds, and new stores of +corn, and fruit, and wine, for him to plunder from in succeeding +years. At last, on one of these marauding excursions, some fires which +were accidentally set in a field spread into a neighboring town, and +destroyed, among other buildings, a temple consecrated to Minerva. +After this, Alyattes found himself quite unsuccessful in all his +expeditions and campaigns. He sent to a famous oracle to ask the +reason. + +"You can expect no more success," replied the oracle, "until you +rebuild the temple that you have destroyed." + +But how could he rebuild the temple? The site was in the enemy's +country. His men could not build an edifice and defend themselves, at +the same time, from the attacks of their foes. He concluded to demand +a truce of the Milesians until the reconstruction should be completed, +and he sent embassadors to Miletus, accordingly, to make the proposal. + +The proposition for a truce resulted in a permanent peace, by means +of a very singular stratagem which Thrasybulus, the king of Miletus, +practiced upon Alyattes. It seems that Alyattes supposed that +Thrasybulus had been reduced to great distress by the loss and +destruction of provisions and stores in various parts of the country, +and that he would soon be forced to yield up his kingdom. This was, +in fact, the case; but Thrasybulus determined to disguise his real +condition, and to destroy, by an artifice, all the hopes which +Alyattes had formed from the supposed scarcity in the city. When the +herald whom Alyattes sent to Miletus was about to arrive, Thrasybulus +collected all the corn, and grain, and other provisions which he could +command, and had them heaped up in a public part of the city, where +the herald was to be received, so as to present indications of the +most ample abundance of food. He collected a large body of his +soldiers, too, and gave them leave to feast themselves without +restriction on what he had thus gathered. Accordingly, when the herald +came in to deliver his message, he found the whole city given up to +feasting and revelry, and he saw stores of provisions at hand, which +were in process of being distributed and consumed with the most +prodigal profusion. The herald reported this state of things to +Alyattes. Alyattes then gave up all hopes of reducing Miletus by +famine, and made a permanent peace, binding himself to its +stipulations by a very solemn treaty. To celebrate the event, too, he +built two temples to Minerva instead of one. + +A story is related by Herodotus of a remarkable escape made by Arion +at sea, which occurred during the reign of Alyattes, the father of +Croesus. We will give the story as Herodotus relates it, leaving the +reader to judge for himself whether such tales were probably true, or +were only introduced by Herodotus into his narrative to make his +histories more entertaining to the Grecian assemblies to whom he read +them. Arion was a celebrated singer. He had been making a tour in +Sicily and in the southern part of Italy, where he had acquired +considerable wealth, and he was now returning to Corinth. He embarked +at Tarentum, which is a city in the southern part of Italy, in a +Corinthian vessel, and put to sea. When the sailors found that they +had him in their power, they determined to rob and murder him. They +accordingly seized his gold and silver, and then told him that he +might either kill himself or jump overboard into the sea. One or the +other he must do. If he would kill himself on board the vessel, they +would give him decent burial when they reached the shore. + +Arion seemed at first at a loss how to decide in so hard an +alternative. At length he told the sailors that he would throw himself +into the sea, but he asked permission to sing them one of his songs +before he took the fatal plunge. They consented. He accordingly went +into the cabin, and spent some time in dressing himself magnificently +in the splendid and richly-ornamented robes in which he had been +accustomed to appear upon the stage. At length he reappeared, and took +his position on the side of the ship, with his harp in his hand. He +sang his song, accompanying himself upon the harp, and then, when he +had finished his performance, he leaped into the sea. The seamen +divided their plunder and pursued their voyage. Arion, however, +instead of being drowned, was taken up by a dolphin that had been +charmed by his song, and was borne by him to Taenarus, which is the +promontory formed by the southern extremity of the Peloponnesus. There +Arion landed in safety. From Taenarus he proceeded to Corinth, wearing +the same dress in which he had plunged into the sea. On his arrival, +he complained to the king of the crime which the sailors had +committed, and narrated his wonderful escape. The king did not believe +him, but put him in prison to wait until the ship should arrive. When +at last the vessel came, the king summoned the sailors into his +presence, and asked them if they knew any thing of Arion. Arion +himself had been previously placed in an adjoining room, ready to be +called in as soon as his presence was required. The mariners answered +to the question which the king put to them, that they had seen Arion +in Tarentum, and that they had left him there. Arion was then himself +called in. His sudden appearance, clothed as he was in the same dress +in which the mariners had seen him leap into the sea, so terrified the +conscience-stricken criminals, that they confessed their guilt, and +were all punished by the king. A marble statue, representing a man +seated upon a dolphin, was erected at Taenarus to commemorate this +event, where it remained for centuries afterward, a monument of the +wonder which Arion had achieved. + +At length Alyattes died and Croesus succeeded him. Croesus +extended still further the power and fame of the Lydian empire, and +was for a time very successful in all his military schemes. By looking +upon the map, the reader will see that the AEgean Sea, along the coasts +of Asia Minor, is studded with islands. These islands were in those +days very fertile and beautiful, and were densely inhabited by a +commercial and maritime people, who possessed a multitude of ships, +and were very powerful in all the adjacent seas. Of course their land +forces were very few, whether of horse or of foot, as the habits and +manners of such a sea-going people were all foreign to modes of +warfare required in land campaigns. On the sea, however, these +islanders were supreme. + +Croesus formed a scheme for attacking these islands and bringing +them under his sway, and he began to make preparations for building +and equipping a fleet for this purpose, though, of course, his +subjects were as unused to the sea as the nautical islanders were +to military operations on the land. While he was making these +preparations, a certain philosopher was visiting at his court: he +was one of the seven wise men of Greece, who had recently come from +the Peloponnesus. Croesus asked him if there was any news from that +country. "I heard," said the philosopher, "that the inhabitants of the +islands were preparing to invade your dominions with a squadron of ten +thousand horse." Croesus, who supposed that the philosopher was +serious, appeared greatly pleased and elated at the prospect of his +sea-faring enemies attempting to meet him as a body of cavalry. "No +doubt," said the philosopher, after a little pause, "you would be +pleased to have those sailors attempt to contend with you on +horseback; but do you not suppose that they will be equally pleased +at the prospect of encountering Lydian landsmen on the ocean?" + +Croesus perceived the absurdity of his plan, and abandoned the +attempt to execute it. + +Croesus acquired the enormous wealth for which he was so celebrated +from the golden sands of the River Pactolus, which flowed through his +kingdom. The river brought the particles of gold, in grains, and +globules, and flakes, from the mountains above, and the servants and +slaves of Croesus washed the sands, and thus separated the heavier +deposit of the metal. In respect to the origin of the gold, however, +the people who lived upon the banks of the river had a different +explanation from the simple one that the waters brought down the +treasure from the mountain ravines. They had a story that, ages +before, a certain king, named Midas, rendered some service to a god, +who, in his turn, offered to grant him any favor that he might ask. +Midas asked that the power might be granted him to turn whatever he +touched into gold. The power was bestowed, and Midas, after changing +various objects around him into gold until he was satisfied, began to +find his new acquisition a source of great inconvenience and danger. +His clothes, his food, and even his drink, were changed to gold when +he touched them. He found that he was about to starve in the midst of +a world of treasure, and he implored the god to take back the fatal +gift. The god directed him to go and bathe in the Pactolus, and he +should be restored to his former condition. Midas did so, and was +saved, but not without transforming a great portion of the sands of +the stream into gold during the process of his restoration. + +Croesus thus attained quite speedily to a very high degree of +wealth, prosperity, and renown. His dominions were widely extended; +his palaces were full of treasures; his court was a scene of +unexampled magnificence and splendor. While in the enjoyment of all +this grandeur, he was visited by Solon, the celebrated Grecian +law-giver, who was traveling in that part of the world to observe the +institutions and customs of different states. Croesus received Solon +with great distinction, and showed him all his treasures. At last he +one day said to him, "You have traveled, Solon, over many countries, +and have studied, with a great deal of attention and care, all that +you have seen. I have heard great commendations of your wisdom, and I +should like very much to know who, of all the persons you have ever +known, has seemed to you most fortunate and happy." + +The king had no doubt that the answer would be that he himself was the +one. + +"I think," replied Solon, after a pause, "that Tellus, an Athenian +citizen, was the most fortunate and happy man I have ever known." + +"Tellus, an Athenian!" repeated Croesus, surprised. "What was there +in his case which you consider so remarkable?" + +"He was a peaceful and quiet citizen of Athens," said Solon. "He lived +happily with his family, under a most excellent government, enjoying +for many years all the pleasures of domestic life. He had several +amiable and virtuous children, who all grew up to maturity, and loved +and honored their parents as long as they lived. At length, when his +life was drawing toward its natural termination, a war broke out with +a neighboring nation, and Tellus went with the army to defend his +country. He aided very essentially in the defeat of the enemy, but +fell, at last, on the field of battle. His countrymen greatly lamented +his death. They buried him publicly where he fell, with every +circumstance of honor." + +Solon was proceeding to recount the domestic and social virtues of +Tellus, and the peaceful happiness which he enjoyed as the result of +them, when Croesus interrupted him to ask who, next to Tellus, he +considered the most fortunate and happy man. + +Solon, after a little farther reflection, mentioned two brothers, +Cleobis and Bito, private persons among the Greeks, who were +celebrated for their great personal strength, and also for their +devoted attachment to their mother. He related to Croesus a story of +a feat they performed on one occasion, when their mother, at the +celebration of some public festival, was going some miles to a temple, +in a car to be drawn by oxen. There happened to be some delay in +bringing the oxen, while the mother was waiting in the car. As the +oxen did not come, the young men took hold of the pole of the car +themselves, and walked off at their ease with the load, amid the +acclamations of the spectators, while their mother's heart was filled +with exultation and pride. + +Croesus here interrupted the philosopher again, and expressed his +surprise that he should place private men, like those whom he had +named, who possessed no wealth, or prominence, or power, before a +monarch like him, occupying a station of such high authority and +renown, and possessing such boundless treasures. + +"Croesus," replied Solon, "I see you now, indeed, at the height of +human power and grandeur. You reign supreme over many nations, and +you are in the enjoyment of unbounded affluence, and every species +of luxury and splendor. I can not, however, decide whether I am to +consider you a fortunate and happy man, until I know how all this is +to end. If we consider seventy years as the allotted period of life, +you have a large portion of your existence yet to come, and we can not +with certainty pronounce any man happy till his life is ended." + +This conversation with Solon made a deep impression upon Croesus's +mind, as was afterward proved in a remarkable manner; but the +impression was not a pleasant or a salutary one. The king, however, +suppressed for the time the resentment which the presentation of +these unwelcome truths awakened within him, though he treated Solon +afterward with indifference and neglect, so that the philosopher soon +found it best to withdraw. + +Croesus had two sons. One was deaf and dumb. The other was a young +man of uncommon promise, and, of course, as he only could succeed his +father in the government of the kingdom, he was naturally an object of +the king's particular attention and care. His name was Atys. He was +unmarried. He was, however, old enough to have the command of a +considerable body of troops, and he had often distinguished himself +in the Lydian campaigns. One night the king had a dream about Atys +which greatly alarmed him. He dreamed that his son was destined to die +of a wound received from the point of an iron spear. The king was made +very uneasy by this ominous dream. He determined at once to take every +precaution in his power to avert the threatened danger. He immediately +detached Atys from his command in the army, and made provision for his +marriage. He then very carefully collected all the darts, javelins, +and every other iron-pointed weapon that he could find about the +palace, and caused them to be deposited carefully in a secure place, +where there could be no danger even of an accidental injury from them. + +About that time there appeared at the court of Croesus a stranger +from Phrygia, a neighboring state, who presented himself at the palace +and asked for protection. He was a prince of the royal family of +Phrygia, and his name was Adrastus. He had had the misfortune, by some +unhappy accident, to kill his brother; his father, in consequence of +it, had banished him from his native land, and he was now homeless, +friendless, and destitute. + +Croesus received him kindly. "Your family have always been my +friends," said he, "and I am glad of the opportunity to make some +return by extending my protection to any member of it suffering +misfortune. You shall reside in my palace, and all your wants shall be +supplied. Come in, and forget the calamity which has befallen you, +instead of distressing yourself with it as if it had been a crime." + +Thus Croesus received the unfortunate Adrastus into his household. +After the prince had been domiciliated in his new home for some time, +messengers came from Mysia, a neighboring state, saying that a wild +boar of enormous size and unusual ferocity had come down from the +mountains, and was lurking in the cultivated country, in thickets and +glens, from which, at night, he made great havoc among the flocks and +herds, and asking that Croesus would send his son, with a band of +hunters and a pack of dogs, to help them destroy the common enemy. +Croesus consented immediately to send the dogs and the men, but he +said that he could not send his son. "My son," he added, "has been +lately married, and his time and attention are employed about other +things." + +When, however, Atys himself heard of this reply, he remonstrated very +earnestly against it, and begged his father to allow him to go. "What +will the world think of me," said he "if I shut myself up to these +effeminate pursuits and enjoyments, and shun those dangers and toils +which other men consider it their highest honor to share? What will my +fellow-citizens think of me, and how shall I appear in the eyes of my +wife? She will despise me." + +Croesus then explained to his son the reason why he had been so +careful to avoid exposing him to danger. He related to him the dream +which had alarmed him. "It is on that account," said he, "that I am so +anxious about you. You are, in fact, my only son, for your speechless +brother can never be my heir." + +Atys said, in reply, that he was not surprised, under those +circumstances, at his father's anxiety; but he maintained that this +was a case to which his caution could not properly apply. + +"You dreamed," he said, "that I should be killed by a weapon pointed +with iron; but a boar has no such weapon. If the dream had portended +that I was to perish by a tusk or a tooth, you might reasonably have +restrained me from going to hunt a wild beast; but iron-pointed +instruments are the weapons of men, and we are not going, in this +expedition, to contend with men." + +The king, partly convinced, perhaps, by the arguments which Atys +offered, and partly overborne by the urgency of his request, finally +consented to his request and allowed him to go. He consigned him, +however, to the special care of Adrastus, who was likewise to +accompany the expedition, charging Adrastus to keep constantly by his +side, and to watch over him with the utmost vigilance and fidelity. + +The band of huntsmen was organized, the dogs prepared, and the train +departed. Very soon afterward, a messenger came back from the hunting +ground, breathless, and with a countenance of extreme concern and +terror, bringing the dreadful tidings that Atys was dead. Adrastus +himself had killed him. In the ardor of the chase, while the huntsmen +had surrounded the boar, and were each intent on his own personal +danger while in close combat with such a monster, and all were hurling +darts and javelins at their ferocious foe, the spear of Adrastus +missed its aim, and entered the body of the unhappy prince. He bled to +death on the spot. + +Soon after the messenger had made known these terrible tidings, the +hunting train, transformed now into a funeral procession, appeared, +bearing the dead body of the king's son, and followed by the wretched +Adrastus himself, who was wringing his hands, and crying out +incessantly in accents and exclamations of despair. He begged the king +to kill him at once, over the body of his son, and thus put an end to +the unutterable agony that he endured. This second calamity was more, +he said, than he could bear. He had killed before his own brother, and +now he had murdered the son of his greatest benefactor and friend. + +Croesus, though overwhelmed with anguish, was disarmed of all +resentment at witnessing Adrastus's suffering. He endeavored to soothe +and quiet the agitation which the unhappy man endured, but it was in +vain. Adrastus could not be calmed. Croesus then ordered the body of +his son to be buried with proper honors. The funeral services were +performed with great and solemn ceremonies, and when the body was +interred, the household of Croesus returned to the palace, which was +now, in spite of all its splendor, shrouded in gloom. That night--at +midnight--Adrastus, finding his mental anguish insupportable retired +from his apartment to the place where Atys had been buried, and +killed himself over the grave. + + * * * * * + +Solon was wise in saying that he could not tell whether wealth and +grandeur were to be accounted as happiness till he saw how they would +end. Croesus was plunged into inconsolable grief, and into extreme +dejection and misery for a period of two years, in consequence of this +calamity, and yet this calamity was only the beginning of the end. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACCESSION OF CYRUS TO THE THRONE. + +B.C. 560 + +Change in the character of Cyrus.--His ambition.--Capriciousness +of Astyages.--Cyrus makes great progress in mental and personal +accomplishments.--Harpagus's plans for revenge.--Suspicions of +Astyages.--Condition of Persia.--Discontent in Media.--Proceedings +of Harpagus.--His deportment toward Astyages.--Co-operation in +Media.--Harpagus writes to Cyrus.--Harpagus's singular method +of conveying his letter to Cyrus.--Contents of Harpagus's +letter.--Excitement of Cyrus.--Cyrus accedes to Harpagus's +plan.--How to raise an army.--The day of toil.--The day of +festivity.--Speech of Cyrus.--Ardor of the soldiers.--Defection of +Harpagus.--The battle.--Rage of Astyages.--His vengeance on the +magi.--Defeat and capture of Astyages.--Interview with Harpagus.--Cyrus +King of Media and Persia.--Confinement of Astyages.--Acquiescence +of the Medes.--Death of Astyages.--Suddenness of Cyrus's +elevation.--Harpagus. + + +While Croesus had thus, on his side of the River Halys--which was +the stream that marked the boundary between the Lydian empire on the +west and the Persian and Assyrian dominions on the east--been employed +in building up his grand structure of outward magnificence and +splendor, and in contending, within, against an overwhelming tide +of domestic misery and woe, great changes had taken place in the +situation and prospects of Cyrus. From being an artless and +generous-minded child, he had become a calculating, ambitious, and +aspiring man, and he was preparing to take his part in the great +public contests and struggles of the day, with the same eagerness for +self-aggrandizement, and the same unconcern for the welfare and +happiness of others, which always characterizes the spirit of ambition +and love of power. + +Although it is by no means certain that what Xenophon relates of his +visit to his grandfather Astyages is meant for a true narrative of +facts, it is not at all improbable that such a visit might have been +made, and that occurrences, somewhat similar, at least, to those which +his narrative records, may have taken place. It may seem strange to +the reader that a man who should, at one time, wish to put his +grandchild to death, should, at another, be disposed to treat him with +such a profusion of kindness and attention. There is nothing, however, +really extraordinary in this. Nothing is more fluctuating than the +caprice of a despot. Man, accustomed from infancy to govern those +around him by his own impetuous will, never learns self-control. He +gives himself up to the dominion of the passing animal emotions of the +hour. It may be jealousy, it may be revenge, it may be parental +fondness, it may be hate, it may be love--whatever the feeling is +that the various incidents of life, as they occur, or the influences, +irritating or exhilarating, which are produced by food or wine, awaken +in his mind, he follows its impulse blindly and without reserve. He +loads a favorite with kindness and caresses at one hour, and directs +his assassination the next. He imagines that his infant grandchild is +to become his rival, and he deliberately orders him to be left in a +gloomy forest alone, to die of cold and hunger. When the imaginary +danger has passed away, he seeks amusement in making the same +grandchild his plaything, and overwhelms him with favors bestowed +solely for the gratification of the giver, under the influence of an +affection almost as purely animal as that of a lioness for her young. + +Favors of such a sort can awaken no permanent gratitude in any heart, +and thus it is quite possible that Cyrus might have evinced, during +the simple and guileless days of his childhood, a deep veneration and +affection for his grandfather, and yet, in subsequent years, when he +had arrived at full maturity, have learned to regard him simply in the +light of a great political potentate, as likely as any other potentate +around him to become his rival or his enemy. + +This was, at all events, the result. Cyrus, on his return to Persia, +grew rapidly in strength and stature, and soon became highly +distinguished for his personal grace, his winning manners, and for +the various martial accomplishments which he had acquired in Media, +and in which he excelled almost all his companions. He gained, as +such princes always do, a vast ascendency over the minds of all +around him. As he advanced toward maturity, his mind passed from its +interest in games, and hunting, and athletic sports, to plans of war, +of conquest, and of extended dominion. + +In the mean time, Harpagus, though he had, at the time when he endured +the horrid punishment which Astyages inflicted upon him, expressed no +resentment, still he had secretly felt an extreme indignation and +anger, and he had now, for fifteen years, been nourishing covert +schemes and plans for revenge. He remained all this time in the court +of Astyages, and was apparently his friend. He was, however, in heart +a most bitter and implacable enemy. He was looking continually for a +plan or prospect which should promise some hope of affording him his +long-desired revenge. His eyes were naturally turned toward Cyrus. +He kept up a communication with him so far as it was possible, for +Astyages watched very closely what passed between the two countries, +being always suspicious of plots against his government and crown. +Harpagus, however, contrived to evade this vigilance in some degree. +He made continual reports to Cyrus of the tyranny and misgovernment of +Astyages, and of the defenselessness of the realm of Media, and he +endeavored to stimulate his rising ambition to the desire of one day +possessing for himself both the Median and Persian throne. + +In fact, Persia was not then independent of Media. It was more or less +connected with the government of Astyages, so that Cambyses, the chief +ruler of Persia, Cyrus's father, is called sometimes a king and +sometimes a _satrap_, which last title is equivalent to that of +viceroy or governor general. Whatever his true and proper title may +have been, Persia was a Median dependency, and Cyrus, therefore, in +forming plans for gaining possession of the Median throne, would +consider himself as rather endeavoring to rise to the supreme command +in his own native country, than as projecting any scheme for foreign +conquest. + +Harpagus, too, looked upon the subject in the same light. Accordingly, +in pushing forward his plots toward their execution, he operated in +Media as well as Persia, He ascertained, by diligent and sagacious, +but by very covert inquiries, who were discontented and ill at ease +under the dominion of Astyages, and by sympathizing with and +encouraging them, he increased their discontent and insubmission. +Whenever Astyages, in the exercise of his tyranny inflicted an injury +upon a powerful subject, Harpagus espoused the cause of the injured +man, condemned, with him, the intolerable oppression of the king, and +thus fixed and perpetuated his enmity. At the same time, he took pains +to collect and to disseminate among the Medes all the information +which he could obtain favorable to Cyrus, in respect to his talents, +his character, and his just and generous spirit, so that, at length, +the ascendency of Astyages, through the instrumentality of these +measures, was very extensively undermined, and the way was rapidly +becoming prepared for Cyrus's accession to power. + +During all this time, moreover, Harpagus was personally very +deferential and obsequious to Astyages, and professed an unbounded +devotedness to his interests. He maintained a high rank at court and +in the army, and Astyages relied upon him as one of the most obedient +and submissive of his servants, without entertaining any suspicion +whatever of his true designs. + +At length a favorable occasion arose, as Harpagus thought, for the +execution of his plans. It was at a time when Astyages had been guilty +of some unusual acts of tyranny and oppression, by which he had +produced extensive dissatisfaction among his people. Harpagus +communicated, very cautiously, to the principal men around him, the +designs that he had long been forming for deposing Astyages and +elevating Cyrus in his place. He found them favorably inclined to the +plan. The way being thus prepared, the next thing was to contrive some +secret way of communicating with Cyrus. As the proposal which he was +going to make was that Cyrus should come into Media with as great a +force as he could command, and head an insurrection against the +government of Astyages, it would, of course, be death to him to have +it discovered. He did not dare to trust the message to any living +messenger, for fear of betrayal; nor was it safe to send a letter +by any ordinary mode of transmission, lest the letter should be +intercepted by some of Astyages's spies, and thus the whole plot be +discovered. He finally adopted the following very extraordinary plan: + +[Illustration: THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE.] + +He wrote a letter to Cyrus, and then taking a hare, which some of his +huntsmen had caught for him, he opened the body and concealed the +letter within. He then sewed up the skin again in the most careful +manner, so that no signs of the incision should remain. He delivered +this hare, together with some nets and other hunting apparatus, to +certain trustworthy servants, on whom he thought he could rely, +charging them to deliver the hare into Cyrus's own hands, and to say +that it came from Harpagus, and that it was the request of Harpagus +that Cyrus should open it himself and alone. Harpagus concluded that +this mode of making the communication was safe; for, in case the +persons to whom the hare was intrusted were to be seen by any of the +spies or other persons employed by Astyages on the frontiers, they +would consider them as hunters returning from the chase with their +game, and would never think of examining the body of a hare, in the +hands of such a party, in search after a clandestine correspondence. + +The plan was perfectly successful. The men passed into Persia without +any suspicion. They delivered the hare to Cyrus, with their message. +He opened the hare, and found the letter. It was in substance as +follows: + + "It is plain, Cyrus, that you are a favorite of Heaven, and + that you are destined to a great and glorious career. You + could not otherwise have escaped, in so miraculous a manner, + the snares set for you in your infancy. Astyages meditated + your death, and he took such measures to effect it as would + seem to have made your destruction sure. You were saved by + the special interposition of Heaven. Yon are aware by what + extraordinary incidents you were preserved and discovered, + and what great and unusual prosperity has since attended + you. You know, too, what cruel punishments Astyages + inflicted upon me, for my humanity in saving you. The time + has now come for retribution. From this time the authority + and the dominions of Astyages may be yours. Persuade the + Persians to revolt. Put yourself at the head of an army, and + march into Media. I shall probably myself be appointed to + command the army sent out to oppose you. If so, we will join + our forces when we meet, and I will enter your service. I + have conferred with the leading nobles in Media, and they + are all ready to espouse your cause. You may rely upon + finding every thing thus prepared for you here; come, + therefore, without any delay." + +Cyrus was thrown into a fever of excitement and agitation on reading +this letter. He determined to accede to Harpagus's proposal. He +revolved in his mind for some time the measures by which he could +raise the necessary force. Of course he could not openly announce his +plan and enlist an army to effect it, for any avowed and public +movement of that kind would be immediately made known to Astyages, +who, by being thus forewarned of his enemies' designs, might take +effectual measures to circumvent them. He determined to resort to +deceit, or, as he called it, stratagem; nor did he probably have any +distinct perception of the wrongfulness of such a mode of proceeding. +The demon of war upholds and justifies falsehood and treachery, in all +its forms, on the part of his votaries. He always applauds a forgery, +a false pretense, or a lie: he calls it a stratagem. + +Cyrus had a letter prepared, in the form of a commission from +Astyages, appointing him commander of a body of Persian forces to be +raised for the service of the king. Cyrus read the fabricated document +in the public assembly of the Persians, and called upon all the +warriors to join him. When they were organized, he ordered them to +assemble on a certain day, at a place that he named, each one provided +with a woodman's ax. When they were thus mustered, he marched them +into a forest, and set them at work to clear a piece of ground. The +army toiled all day, felling the trees, and piling them up to be +burned. They cleared in this way, as Herodotus states, a piece of +ground eighteen or twenty furlongs in extent. Cyrus kept them thus +engaged in severe and incessant toil all the day, giving them, too, +only coarse food and little rest. At night he dismissed them, +commanding them to assemble again the second day. + +On the second day, when they came together, they found a great banquet +prepared for them, and Cyrus directed them to devote the day to +feasting and making merry. There was an abundance of meats of all +kinds, and rich wines in great profusion. The soldiers gave themselves +up for the whole day to merriment and revelry. The toils and the hard +fare of the day before had prepared them very effectually to enjoy the +rest and the luxuries of this festival. They spent the hours in +feasting about their camp-fires and reclining on the grass, where they +amused themselves and one another by relating tales, or joining in +merry songs and dances. At last, in the evening, Cyrus called them +together, and asked them which day they had liked the best. They +replied that there was nothing at all to like in the one, and nothing +to be disliked in the other. They had had, on the first day, hard work +and bad fare, and on the second, uninterrupted ease and the most +luxurious pleasures. + +"It is indeed so," said Cyrus, "and you have your destiny in your own +hands to make your lives pass like either of these days, just as you +choose. If you will follow me, you will enjoy ease, abundance, and +luxury. If you refuse, you must remain as you are, and toil on as you +do now, and endure your present privations and hardships to the end of +your days." He then explained to them his designs. He told them that +although Media was a great and powerful kingdom, still that they were +as good soldiers as the Medes, and with the arrangements and +preparations which he had made, they were sure of victory. + +The soldiers received this proposal with great enthusiasm and joy. +They declared themselves ready to follow Cyrus wherever he should lead +them, and the whole body immediately commenced making preparations for +the expedition. Astyages was, of course, soon informed of these +proceedings. He sent an order to Cyrus, summoning him immediately into +his presence. Cyrus sent back word, in reply, that Astyages would +probably see him sooner than he wished, and went on vigorously with +his preparations. When all was ready, the army marched, and, crossing +the frontiers, they entered into Media. + +In the mean time, Astyages had collected a large force, and, as had +been anticipated by the conspirators, he put it under the command of +Harpagus. Harpagus made known his design of going over to Cyrus as +soon as he should meet him, to as large a portion of the army as he +thought it prudent to admit to his confidence; the rest knew nothing +of the plan; and thus the Median army advanced to meet the invaders, a +part of the troops with minds intent on resolutely meeting and +repelling their enemies, while the rest were secretly preparing to go +over at once to their side. + +When the battle was joined, the honest part of the Median army fought +valiantly at first, but soon, thunderstruck and utterly confounded at +seeing themselves abandoned and betrayed by a large body of their +comrades, they were easily overpowered by the triumphant Persians. +Some were taken prisoners; some fled back to Astyages; and others, +following the example of the deserters, went over to Cyrus's camp and +swelled the numbers of his train. Cyrus, thus re-enforced by the +accessions he had received, and encouraged by the flight or dispersion +of all who still wished to oppose him, began to advance toward the +capital. + +Astyages, when he heard of the defection of Harpagus and of the +discomfiture of his army, was thrown into a perfect phrensy of rage +and hate. The long-dreaded prediction of his dream seemed now about to +be fulfilled, and the magi, who had taught him that when Cyrus had +once been made king of the boys in sport, there was no longer any +danger of his aspiring to regal power, had proved themselves false. +They had either intentionally deceived him, or they were ignorant +themselves, and in that case they were worthless impostors. Although +the danger from Cyrus's approach was imminent in the extreme, Astyages +could not take any measures for guarding against it until he had first +gratified the despotic cruelty of his nature by taking vengeance on +these false pretenders. He directed to have them all seized and +brought before him, and then, having upbraided them with bitter +reproaches for their false predictions, he ordered them all to be +crucified. + +He then adopted the most decisive measures for raising an army. He +ordered every man capable of bearing arms to come forward, and then, +putting himself at the head of the immense force which he had thus +raised, he advanced to meet his enemy. He supposed, no doubt, that +he was sure of victory; but he under-rated the power which the +discipline, the resolution, the concentration, and the terrible energy +of Cyrus's troops gave to their formidable array. He was defeated. His +army was totally cut to pieces, and he himself was taken prisoner. + +Harpagus was present when he was taken, and he exulted in revengeful +triumph over the fallen tyrant's ruin. Astyages was filled with rage +and despair. Harpagus asked him what he thought now of the supper in +which he had compelled a father to feed on the flesh of his child. +Astyages, in reply, asked Harpagus whether he thought that the success +of Cyrus was owing to what he had done. Harpagus replied that it was, +and exultingly explained to Astyages the plots he had formed, and the +preparations which he had made for Cyrus's invasion, so that Astyages +might see that his destruction had been effected by Harpagus alone, in +terrible retribution for the atrocious crime which he had committed +so many years before, and for which the vengeance of the sufferer had +slumbered, during the long interval, only to be more complete and +overwhelming at last. + +Astyages told Harpagus that he was a miserable wretch, the most +foolish and most wicked of mankind. He was the most foolish, for +having plotted to put power into another's hands which it would have +been just as easy for him to have secured and retained in his own; and +he was the most wicked, for having betrayed his country, and delivered +it over to a foreign power, merely to gratify his own private revenge. + +The result of this battle was the complete overthrow of the power and +kingdom of Astyages, and the establishment of Cyrus on the throne of +the united kingdom of Media and Persia. Cyrus treated his grandfather +with kindness after his victory over him. He kept him confined, it +is true, but it was probably that indirect and qualified sort of +confinement which is all that is usually enforced in the case of +princes and kings. In such cases, some extensive and often sumptuous +residence is assigned to the illustrious prisoner, with grounds +sufficiently extensive to afford every necessary range for recreation +and exercise, and with bodies of troops for keepers, which have much +more the form and appearance of military guards of honor attending on +a prince, than of jailers confining a prisoner. It was probably in +such an imprisonment as this that Astyages passed the remainder of his +days. The people, having been wearied with his despotic tyranny, +rejoiced in his downfall, and acquiesced very readily in the milder +and more equitable government of Cyrus. + +Astyages came to his death many years afterward, in a somewhat +remarkable manner. Cyrus sent for him to come into Persia, where he +was himself then residing. The officer who had Astyages in charge, +conducted him, on the way, into a desolate wilderness, where he +perished of fatigue, exposure, and hunger. It was supposed that this +was done in obedience to secret orders from Cyrus, who perhaps found +the charge of such a prisoner a burden. The officer, however, was +cruelly punished for the act; but even this may have been only for +appearances, to divert the minds of men from all suspicion that Cyrus +could himself have been an accomplice in such a crime. + +The whole revolution which has been described in this chapter, from +its first inception to its final accomplishment, was effected in a +very short period of time, and Cyrus thus found himself very +unexpectedly and suddenly elevated to a throne. + +Harpagus continued in his service, and became subsequently one of his +most celebrated generals. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ORACLES. + +B.C. 547 + +Plans of Croesus.--The River Halys.--Nature of the oracles.--Situation +of Delphi.--The gaseous vapor.--The priestess.--The sacred tripod.--The +oracle of Dodona.--The two black doves.--The priestesses of +Dodona.--Manner of obtaining responses.--The great brazen caldron.--The +Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Discovery of the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Other +oracles.--Mode of consulting the oracle.--Mystic ceremonies.--Croesus +puts the oracle to the test.--Manner of doing it.--Return of the +messengers.--The replies.--Croesus decides in favor of Delphi.--His +costly gifts.--The silver tank.--The golden lion.--The bread-maker.--Her +history.--The oracle questioned.--The response.--Delight of +Croesus.--Supplementary inquiry.--Croesus's feeling of security.--Nature +of the oracles.--Means by which the credit of the oracles was +sustained.--Whether the priests were impostors.--Answers of the +oracles.--Collusion between the priests and those who consulted the +oracle.--Is there any revelation truly divine? + + +As soon as Cyrus had become established on his throne as King of the +Medes and Persians, his influence and power began to extend westward +toward the confines of the empire of Croesus, king of Lydia. +Croesus was aroused from the dejection and stupor into which the +death of his son had plunged him, as related in a former chapter, by +this threatening danger. He began to consider very earnestly what he +could do to avert it. + +The River Halys, a great river of Asia Minor, which flows northward +into the Black Sea, was the eastern boundary of the Lydian empire. +Croesus began to entertain the design of raising an army and +crossing the Halys, to invade the empire of Cyrus, thinking that that +would perhaps be safer policy than to wait for Cyrus to cross the +Halys, and bring the war upon him. Still, the enterprise of invading +Persia was a vast undertaking, and the responsibility great of being +the aggressor in the contest. After carefully considering the subject +in all its aspects, Croesus found himself still perplexed and +undecided. + +The Greeks had a method of looking into futurity, and of ascertaining, +as they imagined, by supernatural means, the course of future events, +which was peculiar to that people; at least no other nation seems ever +to have practiced it in the precise form which prevailed among them. +It was by means of the oracles. There were four or five localities in +the Grecian countries which possessed, as the people thought, the +property of inspiring persons who visited them, or of giving to some +natural object certain supernatural powers by which future events +could be foretold. The three most important of these oracles were +situated respectively at Delphi, at Dodona, and at the Oasis of +Jupiter Ammon. + +Delphi was a small town built in a sort of valley, shaped like an +amphitheater, on the southern side of Mount Parnassus. Mount Parnassus +is north of the Peloponnesus, not very far from the shores of the Gulf +of Corinth. Delphi was in a picturesque and romantic situation, with +the mountain behind it, and steep, precipitous rocks descending to +the level country before. These precipices answered instead of walls +to defend the temple and the town. In very early times a cavern or +fissure in the rocks was discovered at Delphi, from which there issued +a stream of gaseous vapor, which produced strange effects on those who +inhaled it. It was supposed to inspire them. People resorted to the +place to obtain the benefit of these inspirations, and of the +knowledge which they imagined they could obtain by means of them. +Finally, a temple was built, and a priestess resided constantly in it, +to inhale the vapor and give the responses. When she gave her answers +to those who came to consult the oracle, she sat upon a sort of +three-legged stool, which was called the sacred tripod. These stools +were greatly celebrated as a very important part of the sacred +apparatus of the place. This oracle became at last so renowned, that +the greatest potentates, and even kings, came from great distances to +consult it, and they made very rich and costly presents at the shrine +when they came. These presents, it was supposed, tended to induce the +god who presided over the oracle to give to those who made them +favorable and auspicious replies. The deity that dictated the +predictions of this oracle was Apollo. + +There was another circumstance, besides the existence of the cave, +which signalized the locality where this oracle was situated. The +people believed that this spot was the exact center of the earth, +which of course they considered as one vast plain. There was an +ancient story that Jupiter, in order to determine the central point of +creation, liberated two eagles at the same time, in opposite quarters +of the heavens, that they might fly toward one another, and so mark +the middle point by the place of their meeting. They met at Delphi. + +Another of the most celebrated oracles was at Dodona. Dodona was +northwest of Delphi, in the Epirus, which was a country in the western +part of what is now Turkey in Europe, and on the shores of the +Adriatic Sea. The origin of the oracle at Dodona was, as the +priestesses there told Herodotus, as follows: In very ancient times, +two black doves were set at liberty in Thebes, which was a very +venerable and sacred city of Egypt. One flew toward the north and the +other toward the west. The former crossed the Mediterranean, and then +continued its flight over the Peloponnesus, and over all the southern +provinces of Greece, until it reached Dodona. There it alighted on a +beech-tree, and said, in a human voice, that that spot was divinely +appointed for the seat of a sacred oracle. The other dove flew to the +Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. + +There were three priestesses at Dodona in the days of Herodotus. Their +names were Promenea, Timarete, and Nicandre. The answers of the oracle +were, for a time, obtained by the priestesses from some appearances +which they observed in the sacred beech on which the dove alighted, +when the tree was agitated by the wind. In later times, however, the +responses were obtained in a still more singular manner. Then was a +brazen statue of a man, holding a whip in his hand. The whip had three +lashes, which were formed of brazen chains. At the end of each chain +was an _astragalus_, as it was called, which was a row of little knots +or knobs, such as were commonly appended to the lashes of whips used +in those days for scourging criminals. + +These heavy lashes hung suspended in the hand of the statue over a +great brazen caldron, in such a manner that the wind would impel them, +from time to time, against its sides, causing the caldron to ring and +resound like a gong. There was, however, something in this resonance +supernatural and divine; for, though it was not loud, it was very +long continued, when once the margin of the caldron was touched, +however gently, by the lashes. In fact, it was commonly said that if +touched in the morning, it would be night before the reverberations +would have died entirely away. Such a belief could be very easily +sustained among the common people; for a large, open-mouthed vessel +like the Dodona caldron, with thin sides formed of sonorous metal, +might be kept in a state of continual vibration by the wind alone. + +They who wished to consult this oracle came with rich presents both +for the priestesses and for the shrine, and when they had made the +offerings, and performed the preliminary ceremonies required, they +propounded their questions to the priestesses, who obtained the +replies by interpreting, according to certain rules which they had +formed, the sounds emitted by the mysterious gong. + +The second black dove which took its flight from Thebes alighted, as +we have already said, in the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. This oasis was +a small fertile spot in the midst of the deserts of Africa, west of +Egypt, about a hundred miles from the Nile, and somewhat nearer +than that to the Mediterranean Sea. It was first discovered in the +following manner: A certain king was marching across the deserts, and +his army, having exhausted their supplies of water, were on the point +of perishing with thirst, when a ram mysteriously appeared, and took a +position before them as their guide. They followed him, and at length +came suddenly upon a green and fertile valley, many miles in length. +The ram conducted them into this valley, and then suddenly vanished, +and a copious fountain of water sprung up in the place where he +had stood. The king, in gratitude for this divine interposition, +consecrated the spot and built a temple upon it, which was called the +temple of Jupiter Ammon. The dove alighted here, and ever afterward +the oracles delivered by the priests of this temple were considered as +divinely inspired. + +These three were the most important oracles. There were, however, many +others of subordinate consequence, each of which had its own peculiar +ceremonies, all senseless and absurd. At one there was a sort of +oven-shaped cave in the rocks, the spot being inclosed by an +artificial wall. The cave was about six feet wide and eight feet deep. +The descent into it was by a ladder. Previously to consulting this +oracle certain ceremonies were necessary, which it required several +days to perform. The applicant was to offer sacrifices to many +different deities, and to purify himself in various ways. He was then +conducted to a stream in the neighborhood of the oracle, where he +was to be anointed and washed. Then he drank a certain magical water, +called the water of forgetfulness, which made him forget all previous +sorrows and cares. Afterward he drank of another enchanted cup, which +contained the water of remembrance; this was to make him remember all +that should be communicated to him in the cave. He then descended the +ladder, and received within the cave the responses of the oracle. + +At another of these oracles, which was situated in Attica, the magic +virtue was supposed to reside in a certain marble statue, carved in +honor of an ancient and celebrated prophet, and placed in a temple. +Whoever wished to consult this oracle must abstain from wine for three +days, and from food of every kind for twenty-four hours preceding the +application. He was then to offer a ram as a sacrifice; and afterward, +taking the skin of the ram from the carcass, he was to spread it out +before the statue and lie down upon it to sleep. The answers of the +oracle came to him in his dreams. + +But to return to Croesus. He wished to ascertain, by consulting some +of these oracles, what the result of his proposed invasion of the +dominions of Cyrus would be, in case he should undertake it; and in +order to determine which of the various oracles were most worthy of +reliance, he conceived the plan of putting them all to a preliminary +test. He effected this object in the following manner: + +He dispatched a number of messengers from Sardis, his capital, sending +one to each of the various oracles. He directed these messengers to +make their several journeys with all convenient dispatch; but, in +order to provide for any cases of accidental detention or delay, he +allowed them all one hundred days to reach their several places of +destination. On the hundredth day from the time of their leaving +Sardis, they were all to make applications to the oracles, and inquire +what Croesus, king of Lydia, was doing at that time. Of course he +did not tell them what he should be doing; and as the oracles +themselves could not possibly know how he was employed by any human +powers, their answers would seem to test the validity of their claims +to powers divine. + +Croesus kept the reckoning of the days himself with great care, and +at the hour appointed on the hundredth day, he employed himself in +boiling the flesh of a turtle and of a lamb together in a brazen +vessel. The vessel was covered with a lid, which was also of brass. He +then awaited the return of the messengers. They came in due time, one +after another, bringing the replies which they had severally obtained. +The replies were all unsatisfactory, except that of the oracle at +Delphi. This answer was in verse, as, in fact, the responses of +that oracle always were. The priestess who sat upon the tripod was +accustomed to give the replies in an incoherent and half-intelligible +manner, as impostors are very apt to do in uttering prophecies, and +then the attendant priests and secretaries wrote them out in verse. + +The verse which the messenger brought back from the Delphic tripod was +in Greek; but some idea of its style, and the import of it, is +conveyed by the following imitation: + + "I number the sands, I measure the sea, + What's hidden to others is known to me. + The lamb and the turtle are simmering slow + With brass above them and brass below." + +Of course, Croesus decided that the Delphic oracle was the one that +he must rely upon for guidance in respect to his projected campaign. +And he now began to prepare to consult it in a manner corresponding +with the vast importance of the subject, and with his own boundless +wealth. He provided the most extraordinary and sumptuous presents. +Some of these treasures were to be deposited in the temple, as sacred +gifts, for permanent preservation there. Others were to be offered as +a burnt sacrifice in honor of the god. Among the latter, besides an +incredible number of living victims, he caused to be prepared a great +number of couches, magnificently decorated with silver and gold, and +goblets and other vessels of gold, and dresses of various kinds richly +embroidered, and numerous other articles, all intended to be used in +the ceremonies preliminary to his application to the oracle. When the +time arrived, a vast concourse of people assembled to witness the +spectacle. The animals were sacrificed, and the people feasted on the +flesh; and when these ceremonies were concluded, the couches, the +goblets, the utensils of every kind, the dresses--every thing, in +short, which had been used on the occasion, were heaped up into one +great sacrificial pile, and set on fire. Every thing that was +combustible was consumed, while the gold was melted, and ran into +plates of great size, which were afterward taken out from the ashes. +Thus it was the workmanship only of these articles which was destroyed +and lost by the fire. The gold, in which the chief value consisted, +was saved. It was gold from the Pactolus. + +Besides these articles, there were others made, far more magnificent +and costly, for the temple itself. There was a silver cistern or tank, +large enough to hold three thousand gallons of wine. This tank was to +be used by the inhabitants of Delphi in their great festivals. There +was also a smaller cistern, or immense goblet, as it might, perhaps, +more properly be called, which was made of gold. There were also many +other smaller presents, such as basins, vases, and statues, all of +silver and gold, and of the most costly workmanship. The gold, too, +which had been taken from the fire, was cast again, a part of it being +formed into the image of a lion, and the rest into large plates of +metal for the lion to stand upon. The image was then set up upon the +plates, within the precincts of the temple. + +There was one piece of statuary which Croesus presented to the +oracle at Delphi, which was, in some respects, more extraordinary than +any of the rest. It was called the bread-maker. It was an image +representing a woman, a servant in the household of Croesus, whose +business it was to bake the bread. The reason that induced Croesus +to honor this bread-maker with a statue of gold was, that on one +occasion during his childhood she had saved his life. The mother of +Croesus died when he was young, and his father married a second +time. The second wife wished to have some one of her children, instead +of Croesus, succeed to her husband's throne. In order, therefore, to +remove Croesus out of the way, she prepared some poison and gave it +to the bread-maker, instructing her to put it into the bread which +Croesus was to eat. The bread-maker received the poison and promised +to obey. But, instead of doing so, she revealed the intended murder to +Croesus, and gave the poison to the queen's own children. In +gratitude for this fidelity to him, Croesus, when he came to the +throne, caused this statue to be made, and now he placed it at Delphi, +where he supposed it would forever remain. The memory of his faithful +servant was indeed immortalized by the measure, though the statue +itself, as well as all these other treasures, in process of time +disappeared. In fact, statues of brass or of marble generally make far +more durable monuments than statues of gold; and no structure or +object of art is likely to be very permanent among mankind unless the +workmanship is worth more than the material. + +Croesus did not proceed himself to Delphi with these presents, but +sent them by the hands of trusty messengers, who were instructed to +perform the ceremonies required, to offer the gifts, and then to make +inquiries of the oracle in the following terms. + +"Croesus the sovereign of Lydia and of various other kingdoms, in +return for the wisdom which has marked your former declarations, has +sent you these gifts. He now furthermore desires to know whether it is +safe for him to proceed against the Persians, and if so, whether it is +best for him to seek the assistance of any allies." + +The answer was as follows: + +"If Croesus crosses the Halys, and prosecutes a war with Persia, a +mighty empire will be overthrown. It will be best for him to form an +alliance with the most powerful states of Greece." + +Croesus was extremely pleased with this response. He immediately +resolved on undertaking the expedition against Cyrus; and to express +his gratitude for so favorable an answer to his questions, he sent +to Delphi to inquire what was the number of inhabitants in the city, +and, when the answer was reported to him, he sent a present of a +sum of money to every one. The Delphians, in their turn, conferred +special privileges and honors upon the Lydians and upon Croesus in +respect to their oracle, giving them the precedence in all future +consultations, and conferring upon them other marks of distinction +and honor. + +At the time when Croesus sent his present to the inhabitants of +Delphi, he took the opportunity to address another inquiry to the +oracle, which was, whether his power would ever decline. The oracle +replied in a couplet of Greek verse, similar in its style to the one +recorded on the previous occasion. + +It was as follows: + + "Whene'er a mule shall mount upon the Median throne, + Then, and not till then, shall great Croesus fear to lose his own." + +This answer pleased the king quite as much as the former one had done. +The allusion to the contingency of a mule's reigning in Media he +very naturally regarded as only a rhetorical and mystical mode of +expressing an utter impossibility. Croesus considered himself and +the continuance of his power as perfectly secure. He was fully +confirmed in his determination to organize his expedition without any +delay, and to proceed immediately to the proper measures for obtaining +the Grecian alliance and aid which the oracle had recommended. The +plans which he formed, and the events which resulted, will be +described in subsequent chapters. + +In respect to these Grecian oracles, it is proper here to state, that +there has been much discussion among scholars on the question how they +were enabled to maintain, for so long a period, so extended a credit +among a people as intellectual and well informed as the Greeks. It was +doubtless by means of a variety of contrivances and influences that +this end was attained. There is a natural love of the marvelous among +the humbler classes in all countries, which leads them to be very +ready to believe in what is mystic and supernatural; and they +accordingly exaggerate and color such real incidents as occur under +any strange or remarkable circumstances, and invest any unusual +phenomena which they witness with a miraculous or supernatural +interest. The cave at Delphi might really have emitted gases which +would produce quite striking effects upon those who inhaled them; and +how easy it would be for those who witnessed these effects to imagine +that some divine and miraculous powers must exist in the aerial +current which produced them. The priests and priestesses, who +inhabited the temples in which these oracles were contained, had, of +course, a strong interest in keeping up the belief of their reality in +the minds of the community; so were, in fact, all the inhabitants of +the cities which sprung up around them. They derived their support +from the visitors who frequented these places, and they contrived +various ways for drawing contributions, both of money and gifts, from +all who came. In one case there was a sacred stream near an oracle, +where persons, on permission from the priests, were allowed to bathe. +After the bathing, they were expected to throw pieces of money into +the stream. What afterward, in such cases, became of the money, it is +not difficult to imagine. + +Nor is it necessary to suppose that all these priests and priestesses +were impostors. Having been trained up from infancy to believe that +the inspirations were real, they would continue to look upon them as +such all their lives. Even at the present day we shall all, if we +closely scrutinize our mental habits, find ourselves continuing to +take for granted, in our maturer years, what we inconsiderately +imbibed or were erroneously taught in infancy, and that, often, in +cases where the most obvious dictates of reason, or even the plain +testimony of our senses, might show us that our notions are false. The +priests and priestesses, therefore, who imposed on the rest of +mankind, may have been as honestly and as deep in the delusion +themselves as any of their dupes. + +The answers of the oracles were generally vague and indefinite, and +susceptible of almost any interpretation, according to the result. +Whenever the event corresponded with the prediction, or could be made +to correspond with it by the ingenuity of the commentators, the story +of the coincidence would, of course, be every where spread abroad, +becoming more striking and more exact at each repetition. Where there +was a failure, it would not be direct and absolute, on account of +the vagueness and indefiniteness of the response, and there would +therefore be no interest felt in hearing or in circulating the story. +The cases, thus, which would tend to establish the truth of the +oracle, would be universally known and remembered, while those of a +contrary bearing would be speedily forgotten. + +There is no doubt, however, that in many cases the responses were +given in collusion with the one who consulted the oracle, for the +purpose of deceiving others. For example, let us suppose that +Croesus wished to establish strongly the credibility of the Delphic +oracle in the minds of his countrymen, in order to encourage them to +enlist in his armies, and to engage in the enterprise which he was +contemplating against Cyrus with resolution and confidence; it would +have been easy for him to have let the priestess at Delphi know what +he was doing on the day when he sent to inquire, and thus himself to +have directed her answer. Then, when his messengers returned, he would +appeal to the answer as proof of the reality of the inspiration which +seemed to furnish it. Alexander the Great certainly did, in this way, +act in collusion with the priests at the temple of Jupiter Ammon. + + * * * * * + +The fact that there have been so many and such successful cases of +falsehood and imposture among mankind in respect to revelations from +Heaven, is no indication, as some superficially suppose, that no +revelation is true, but is, on the other hand, strong evidence to +the contrary. The Author of human existence has given no instincts +in vain; and the universal tendency of mankind to believe in the +supernatural, to look into an unseen world, to seek, and to imagine +that they find, revelations from Heaven, and to expect a continuance +of existence after this earthly life is over, is the strongest +possible natural evidence that there is an unseen world; that man may +have true communications with it; that a personal deity reigns, who +approves and disapproves of human conduct, and that there is a future +state of being. In this point of view, the absurd oracles of Greece, +and the universal credence which they obtained, constitute strong +evidence that there is somewhere to be found inspiration and prophecy +really divine. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE CONQUEST OF LYDIA. + +B.C. 546 + +Reasons which induced Croesus to invade Media.--The +Lacedaemonians.--Embassadors to Sparta.--Preparations of Croesus.--The +counsel of Sardaris.--The army begins to march.--Thales the +Milesian.--Mathematical skill of Thales.--His theorems.--Ingenious +plan of Thales for crossing the Halys.--Advance of Cyrus.--Preparations +for battle.--Great battle at Pteria.--Undecisive result.--Croesus +returns to Sardis.--Cyrus follows him.--Confusion and alarm at +Sardis.--The Lydian cavalry.--Nature of cavalry.--Manner of receiving +a cavalry charge.--The camels.--Cyrus opposes them to the cavalry.--The +battle fought.--Cyrus victorious.--Situation of Sardis.--Its walls.--An +ancient legend.--Cyrus besieges the city.--The reconnoissance.--The +walls scaled.--Storming of the city.--Croesus made prisoner.--The +funeral pile.--Anguish and despair of Croesus.--The saying of +Solon.--Croesus is saved.--He becomes Cyrus's friend.--Croesus +sends his fetters to the oracle at Delphi.--Explanations of the +priests.--Their adroitness and dexterity. + + +There were, in fact, three inducements which combined their influence +on the mind of Croesus, in leading him to cross the Halys, and +invade the dominions of the Medes and Persians: first, he was +ambitious to extend his own empire; secondly, he feared that if he did +not attack Cyrus, Cyrus would himself cross the Halys and attack him; +and, thirdly, he felt under some obligation to consider himself the +ally of Astyages, and thus bound to espouse his cause, and to aid him +in putting down, if possible, the usurpation of Cyrus, and in +recovering his throne. He felt under this obligation because Astyages +was his brother-in-law; for the latter had married, many years before, +a daughter of Alyattes, who was the father of Croesus. This, as +Croesus thought, gave him a just title to interfere between the +dethroned king and the rebel who had dethroned him. Under the +influence of all these reasons combined, and encouraged by the +responses of the oracle, he determined on attempting the invasion. + +The first measure which he adopted was to form an alliance with the +most powerful of the states of Greece, as he had been directed to do +by the oracle. After much inquiry and consideration, he concluded +that the Lacedaemonian state was the most powerful. Their chief city +was Sparta, in the Peloponnesus. They were a warlike, stern, and +indomitable race of men, capable of bearing every possible hardship, +and of enduring every degree of fatigue and toil, and they desired +nothing but military glory for their reward. This was a species of +wages which it was very easy to pay; much more easy to furnish than +coin, even for Croesus, notwithstanding the abundant supplies of +gold which he was accustomed to obtain from the sands of the Pactolus. + +Croesus sent embassadors to Sparta to inform the people of the plans +which he contemplated, and to ask their aid. He had been instructed, +he said, by the oracle at Delphi, to seek the alliance of the most +powerful of the states of Greece, and he accordingly made application +to them. They were gratified with the compliment implied in selecting +them, and acceded readily to his proposal. Besides, they were already +on very friendly terms with Croesus; for, some years before, they +had sent to him to procure some gold for a statue which they had +occasion to erect, offering to give an equivalent for the value of it +in such productions as their country afforded. Croesus supplied them +with the gold that they needed, but generously refused to receive any +return. + +In the mean time, Croesus went on, energetically, at Sardis, making +the preparations for his campaign. One of his counselors, whose name +was Sardaris, ventured, one day, strongly to dissuade him from +undertaking the expedition. "You have nothing to gain by it," said he, +"if you succeed, and every thing to lose if you fail. Consider what +sort of people these Persians are whom you are going to combat. They +live in the most rude and simple manner, without luxuries, without +pleasures, without wealth. If you conquer their country, you will find +nothing in it worth bringing away. On the other hand, if they conquer +you, they will come like a vast band of plunderers into Lydia, where +there is every thing to tempt and reward them. I counsel you to leave +them alone, and to remain on this side the Halys, thankful if Cyrus +will be contented to remain on the other." + +But Croesus was not in a mood of mind to be persuaded by such +reasoning. + +When all things were ready, the army commenced its march and moved +eastward, through one province of Asia Minor after another, until they +reached the Halys. This river is a considerable stream, which rises in +the interior of the country, and flows northward into the Euxine Sea. +The army encamped on the banks of it, and some plan was to be formed +for crossing the stream. In accomplishing this object, Croesus was +aided by a very celebrated engineer who accompanied his army, named +Thales. Thales was a native of Miletus, and is generally called in +history, Thales the Milesian. He was a very able mathematician and +calculator, and many accounts remain of the discoveries and +performances by which he acquired his renown. + +For example, in the course of his travels, he at one time visited +Egypt, and while there, he contrived a very simple way of measuring +the height of the pyramids. He set up a pole on the plain in an +upright position, and then measured the pole and also its shadow. He +also measured the length of the shadow of the pyramid. He then +calculated the height of the pyramid by this proportion: as the +length of shadow of the pole is to that of the pole itself, so is +the length of the shadow of the pyramid to its height. + +Thales was an astronomer as well as a philosopher and engineer. He +learned more exactly the true length of the year than it had been +known before; and he also made some calculations of eclipses, at least +so far as to predict the year in which they would happen. One eclipse +which he predicted happened to occur on the day of a great battle +between two contending armies. It was cloudy, so that the combatants +could not see the sun. This circumstance, however, which concealed the +eclipse itself, only made the darkness which was caused by it the more +intense. The armies were much terrified at this sudden cessation of +the light of day, and supposed it to be a warning from heaven that +they should desist from the combat. + +Thales the Milesian was the author of several of the geometrical +theorems and demonstrations now included in the Elements of Euclid. +The celebrated fifth proposition of the first book, so famous among +all the modern nations of Europe as the great stumbling block in the +way of beginners in the study of geometry, was his. The discovery of +the truth expressed in this proposition, and of the complicated +demonstration which establishes it, was certainly a much greater +mathematical performance than the measuring of the altitude of the +pyramids by their shadow. + +But to return to Croesus. Thales undertook the work of transporting +the army across the river. He examined the banks, and found, at +length, a spot where the land was low and level for some distance from +the stream. He caused the army to be brought up to the river at this +point, and to be encamped there, as near to the bank as possible, and +in as compact a form. He then employed a vast number of laborers to +cut a new channel for the waters, behind the army, leading out from +the river above, and rejoining it again at a little distance below. +When this channel was finished, he turned the river into its new +course, and then the army passed without difficulty over the former +bed of the stream. + +The Halys being thus passed, Croesus moved on in the direction of +Media. But he soon found that he had not far to go to find his enemy. +Cyrus had heard of his plans through deserters and spies, and he had +for some time been advancing to meet him. One after the other of the +nations through whose dominions he had passed, he had subjected to +his sway, or, at least, brought under his influence by treaties and +alliances, and had received from them all re-enforcements to swell +the numbers of his army. One nation only remained--the Babylonians. +They were on the side of Croesus. They were jealous of the growing +power of the Medes and Persians, and had made a league with Croesus, +promising to aid him in the war. The other nations of the East were in +alliance with Cyrus, and he was slowly moving on, at the head of an +immense combined force, toward the Halys, at the very time when +Croesus was crossing the stream. + +The scouts, therefore, that preceded the army of Croesus on its +march, soon began to fall back into the camp, with intelligence that +there was a large armed force coming on to meet them, the advancing +columns filling all the roads, and threatening to overwhelm them. The +scouts from the army of Cyrus carried back similar intelligence to +him. The two armies accordingly halted and began to prepare for +battle. The place of their meeting was called Pteria. It was in the +province of Cappadocia, and toward the eastern part of Asia Minor. + +A great battle was fought at Pteria. It was continued all day, and +remained undecided when the sun went down. The combatants separated +when it became dark, and each withdrew from the field. Each king +found, it seems, that his antagonist was more formidable than he had +imagined, and on the morning after the battle they both seemed +inclined to remain in their respective encampments, without evincing +any disposition to renew the contest. + +Croesus, in fact, seems to have considered that he was fortunate in +having so far repulsed the formidable invasion which Cyrus had been +intending for him. He considered Cyrus's army as repulsed, since they +had withdrawn from the field, and showed no disposition to return to +it. He had no doubt that Cyrus would now go back to Media again, +having found how well prepared Croesus had been to receive him. For +himself, he concluded that he ought to be satisfied with the advantage +which he had already gained, as the result of one campaign, and return +again to Sardis to recruit his army, the force of which had been +considerably impaired by the battle, and so postpone the grand +invasion till the next season. He accordingly set out on his return. +He dispatched messengers, at the same time, to Babylon, to Sparta, to +Egypt, and to other countries with which he was in alliance, informing +these various nations of the great battle of Pteria and its results, +and asking them to send him, early in the following spring, all the +re-enforcements that they could command, to join him in the grand +campaign which he was going to make the next season. + +He continued his march homeward without any interruption, sending off, +from time to time, as he was moving through his own dominions, such +portions of his troops as desired to return to their homes, enjoining +upon them to come back to him in the spring. By this temporary +disbanding of a portion of his army, he saved the expense of +maintaining them through the winter. + +Very soon after Croesus arrived at Sardis, the whole country in the +neighborhood of the capital was thrown into a state of universal alarm +by the news that Cyrus was close at hand. It seems that Cyrus had +remained in the vicinity of Pteria long enough to allow Croesus to +return, and to give him time to dismiss his troops and establish +himself securely in the city. He then suddenly resumed his march, and +came on toward Sardis with the utmost possible dispatch. Croesus, +in fact, had no announcement of his approach until he heard of his +arrival. + +All was now confusion and alarm, both within and without the city. +Croesus hastily collected all the forces that he could command. He +sent immediately to the neighboring cities, summoning all the troops +in them to hasten to the capital. He enrolled all the inhabitants of +the city that were capable of bearing arms. By these means he +collected, in a very short time, quite a formidable force, which he +drew up, in battle array, on a great plain not far from the city, and +there waited, with much anxiety and solicitude, for Cyrus to come on. + +The Lydian army was superior to that of Cyrus in cavalry, and as the +place where the battle was to be fought was a plain, which was the +kind of ground most favorable for the operations of that species of +force, Cyrus felt some solicitude in respect to the impression which +might be made by it on his army. Nothing is more terrible than the +onset of a squadron of horse when charging an enemy upon the field +of battle. They come in vast bodies, sometimes consisting of many +thousands, with the speed of the wind, the men flourishing their +sabers and rending the air with the most unearthly cries, those in +advance being driven irresistibly on by the weight and impetus of the +masses behind. The dreadful torrent bears down and overwhelms every +thing that attempts to resist its way. They trample one another and +their enemies together promiscuously in the dust; the foremost of the +column press on with the utmost fury, afraid quite as much of the +headlong torrent of friends coming on behind them, as of the line of +fixed and motionless enemies who stand ready to receive them before. +These enemies, stationed to withstand the charge, arrange themselves +in triple or quadruple rows, with the shafts of their spears planted +against the ground, and the points directed forward and upward to +receive the advancing horsemen. These spears transfix and kill the +foremost horses; but those that come on behind, leaping and plunging +over their fallen companions, soon break through the lines and put +their enemies to flight, in a scene of indescribable havoc and +confusion. + +Croesus had large bodies of horse, while Cyrus had no efficient +troops to oppose them. He had a great number of camels in the rear of +his army, which had been employed as beasts of burden to transport +the baggage and stores of the army on their march. Cyrus concluded to +make the experiment of opposing these camels to the cavalry. It is +frequently said by the ancient historians that the horse has a natural +antipathy to the camel, and can not bear either the smell or the sight +of one, though this is not found to be the case at the present day. +However the fact might have been in this respect, Cyrus determined +to arrange the camels in his front as he advanced into battle. He +accordingly ordered the baggage to be removed, and, releasing their +ordinary drivers from the charge of them, he assigned each one to the +care of a soldier, who was to mount him, armed with a spear. Even if +the supposed antipathy of the horse for the camel did not take effect, +Cyrus thought that their large and heavy bodies, defended by the +spears of their riders, would afford the most effectual means of +resistance against the shock of the Lydian squadrons that he was now +able to command. + +The battle commenced, and the squadrons of horse came on. But, as soon +as they came near the camels, it happened that, either from the +influence of the antipathy above referred to, or from alarm at the +novelty of the spectacle of such huge and misshapen beasts, or else +because of the substantial resistance which the camels and the spears +of their riders made to the shock of their charge, the horses were +soon thrown into confusion and put to flight. In fact, a general panic +seized them, and they became totally unmanageable. Some threw their +riders; others, seized with a sort of phrensy, became entirely +independent of control. They turned, and trampled the foot soldiers of +their own army under foot, and threw the whole body into disorder. The +consequence was, that the army of Croesus was wholly defeated; they +fled in confusion, and crowded in vast throngs through the gates into +the city, and fortified themselves there. + +Cyrus advanced to the city, invested it closely on all sides, and +commenced a siege. But the appearances were not very encouraging. The +walls were lofty, thick, and strong, and the numbers within the city +were amply sufficient to guard them. Nor was the prospect much more +promising of being soon able to reduce the city by famine. The wealth +of Croesus had enabled him to lay up almost inexhaustible stores of +food and clothing, as well as treasures of silver and gold. He hoped, +therefore, to be able to hold out against the besiegers until help +should come from some of his allies. He had sent messengers to them, +asking them to come to his rescue without any delay, before he was +shut up in the city. + +The city of Sardis was built in a position naturally strong, and one +part of the wall passed over rocky precipices which were considered +entirely impassable. There was a sort of glen or rocky gorge in this +quarter, outside of the walls, down which dead bodies were thrown on +one occasion subsequently, at a time when the city was besieged, and +beasts and birds of prey fed upon them there undisturbed, so lonely +was the place and so desolate. In fact, the walls that crowned these +precipices were considered absolutely inaccessible, and were very +slightly built and very feebly guarded. There was an ancient legend +that, a long time before, when a certain Males was king of Lydia, one +of his wives had a son in the form of a lion, whom they called Leon, +and an oracle declared that if this Leon were carried around the walls +of the city, it would be rendered impregnable, and should never be +taken. They carried Leon, therefore, around, so far as the regular +walls extended. When they came to this precipice of rocks, they +returned, considering that this part of the city was impregnable +without any such ceremony. A spur or eminence from the mountain of +Tmolus, which was behind the city, projected into it at this point, +and there was a strong citadel built upon its summit. + +[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF SARDIS.] + +Cyrus continued the siege fourteen days, and then he determined that +he must, in some way or other, find the means of carrying it by +assault, and to do this he must find some place to scale the walls. He +accordingly sent a party of horsemen around to explore every part, +offering them a large reward if they would find any place where an +entrance could be effected. The horsemen made the circuit, and +reported that their search had been in vain. At length a certain +soldier, named Hyraeades, after studying for some time the precipices +on the side which had been deemed inaccessible, saw a sentinel, who +was stationed on the walls above, leave his post and come climbing +down the rocks for some distance to get his helmet, which had +accidentally dropped down. Hyraeades watched him both as he descended +and as he returned. He reflected on this discovery, communicated it to +others, and the practicability of scaling the rock and the walls at +that point was discussed. In the end, the attempt was made and was +successful. Hyraeades went up first, followed by a few daring spirits +who were ambitious of the glory of the exploit. They were not at first +observed from above. The way being thus shown, great numbers followed +on, and so large a force succeeded in thus gaining an entrance that +the city was taken. + +In the dreadful confusion and din of the storming of the city, +Croesus himself had a very narrow escape from death. He was saved by +the miraculous speaking of his deaf and dumb son--at least such is the +story. Cyrus had given positive orders to his soldiers, both before +the great battle on the plain and during the siege, that, though they +might slay whomever else they pleased, they must not harm Croesus, +but must take him alive. During the time of the storming of the town, +when the streets were filled with infuriated soldiers, those on the +one side wild with the excitement of triumph, and those on the other +maddened with rage and despair, a party, rushing along, overtook +Croesus and his helpless son, whom the unhappy father, it seems, was +making a desperate effort to save. The Persian soldiers were about to +transfix Croesus with their spears, when the son, who had never +spoken before, called out, "It is Croesus; do not kill him." The +soldiers were arrested by the words, and saved the monarch's life. +They made him prisoner, and bore him away to Cyrus. + +Croesus had sent, a long time before, to inquire of the Delphic +oracle by what means the power of speech could be restored to his son. +The answer was, that that was a boon which he had better not ask; for +the day on which he should hear his son speak for the first time, +would be the darkest and most unhappy day of his life. + +Cyrus had not ordered his soldiers to spare the life of Croesus in +battle from any sentiment of humanity toward him, but because he +wished to have his case reserved for his own decision. When Croesus +was brought to him a captive, he ordered him to be put in chains, and +carefully guarded. As soon as some degree of order was restored in the +city, a large funeral pile was erected, by his directions, in a public +square, and Croesus was brought to the spot. Fourteen Lydian young +men, the sons, probably, of the most prominent men in the state, were +with him. The pile was large enough for them all, and they were placed +upon it. They were all laid upon the wood. Croesus raised himself +and looked around, surveying with extreme consternation and horror the +preparations which were making for lighting the pile. His heart sank +within him as he thought of the dreadful fate that was before him. The +spectators stood by in solemn silence, awaiting the end. Croesus +broke this awful pause by crying out, in a tone of anguish and +despair, + +"Oh Solon! Solon! Solon!" + +The officers who had charge of the execution asked him what he meant. +Cyrus, too, who was himself personally superintending the scene, asked +for an explanation. Croesus was, for a time, too much agitated and +distracted to reply. There were difficulties in respect to language, +too, which embarrassed the conversation, as the two kings could speak +to each other only through an interpreter. At length Croesus gave an +account of his interview with Solon, and of the sentiment which the +philosopher had expressed, that no one could decide whether a man was +truly prosperous and happy till it was determined how his life was +to end. Cyrus was greatly interested in this narrative; but, in the +mean time, the interpreting of the conversation had been slow, a +considerable period had elapsed, and the officers had lighted the +fire. The pile had been made extremely combustible, and the fire was +rapidly making its way through the whole mass. Cyrus eagerly ordered +it to be extinguished. The efforts which the soldiers made for this +purpose seemed, at first, likely to be fruitless; but they were aided +very soon by a sudden shower of rain, which, coming down from the +mountains, began, just at this time, to fall; and thus the flames were +extinguished, and Croesus and the captives saved. + +Cyrus immediately, with a fickleness very common among great monarchs +in the treatment of both enemies and favorites, began to consider +Croesus as his friend. He ordered him to be unbound, brought him +near his person, and treated him with great consideration and honor. + +Croesus remained after this for a long time with Cyrus, and +accompanied him in his subsequent campaigns. He was very much incensed +at the oracle at Delphi for having deceived him by its false responses +and predictions, and thus led him into the terrible snare into which +he had fallen. He procured the fetters with which he had been chained +when placed upon the pile, and sent them to Delphi with orders that +they should be thrown down upon the threshold of the temple--the +visible symbol of his captivity and ruin--as a reproach to the oracle +for having deluded him and caused his destruction. In doing this, the +messengers were to ask the oracle whether imposition like that which +had been practiced on Croesus was the kind of gratitude it evinced +to one who had enriched it by such a profusion of offerings and gifts. + +To this the priests of the oracle said in reply, that the destruction +of the Lydian dynasty had long been decreed by the Fates, in +retribution for the guilt of Gyges, the founder of the line. He had +murdered his master, and usurped the throne, without any title to it +whatever. The judgments of Heaven had been denounced upon Gyges for +this crime, to fall on himself or on some of his descendants. The +Pythian Apollo at Delphi had done all in his power to postpone the +falling of the blow until after the death of Croesus, on account of +the munificent benefactions which he had made to the oracle; but he +had been unable to effect it: the decrees of Fate were inexorable. All +that the oracle could do was to postpone--as it had done, it said, for +three years--the execution of the sentence, and to give Croesus +warning of the evil that was impending. This had been done by +announcing to him that his crossing the Halys would cause the +destruction of a mighty empire, meaning that of Lydia, and also by +informing him that when he should find a mule upon the throne of Media +he must expect to lose his own. Cyrus, who was descended, on the +father's side, from the Persian stock, and on the mother's from that +of Media, was the hybrid sovereign represented by the mule. + +When this answer was reported to Croesus, it is said that he was +satisfied with the explanations, and admitted that the oracle was +right, and that he himself had been unreasonable and wrong. However +this may be, it is certain that, among mankind at large, since +Croesus's day, there has been a great disposition to overlook +whatever of criminality there may have been in the falsehood and +imposture of the oracle, through admiration of the adroitness and +dexterity which its ministers evinced in saving themselves from +exposure. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE CONQUEST OF BABYLON. + +B.C. 544-538 + +Babylon.--The River Euphrates.--Canals.--Curious boats.--Their mode +of construction.--Primitive navigation.--Return of the boatmen.--Extent +of Babylon.--Parks, gardens, palaces, etc.--The walls of +Babylon.--Marvelous accounts.--The ditches.--Streets and gates.--Palace +of the king.--Temple of Belus.--The bridge.--Sculptures.--The hanging +gardens.--Construction of the gardens.--The platform and +terraces.--Engine for raising water.--Floral beauties.--The works of +Nitocris.--Her canals and levees.--The bridge over the Euphrates.--The +tomb of the queen.--Cyrus plans an attack upon Babylon.--Government of +Lydia.--Cyrus returns eastward.--Revolt of the Lydians.--Detachment of +Mazares.--Flight of Pactyas.--Pactyas at Cyme.--The people consult the +oracle.--Reply of the oracle.--Aristodicus and the birds' +nests.--Capture of Pactyas.--Situation of Belshazzar.--Belshazzar's +feeling of security.--Approach of Cyrus.--Cyrus draws off the water +from the river.--The city captured. + + +In his advance toward the dominions of Croesus in Asia Minor, Cyrus +had passed to the northward of the great and celebrated city of +Babylon. Babylon was on the Euphrates, toward the southern part of +Asia. It was the capital of a large and very fertile region, which +extended on both sides of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf. The +limits of the country, however, which was subject to Babylon, varied +very much at different times, as they were extended or contracted by +revolutions and wars. + +The River Euphrates was the great source of fertility for the whole +region through which it flowed. The country watered by this river was +very densely populated, and the inhabitants were industrious and +peaceable, cultivating their land, and living quietly and happily on +its fruits. The surface was intersected with canals, which the people +had made for conveying the water of the river over the land for the +purpose of irrigating it. Some of these canals were navigable. There +was one great trunk which passed from the Euphrates to the Tigris, +supplying many minor canals by the way, that was navigable for vessels +of considerable burden. + +The traffic of the country was, however, mainly conducted by means of +boats of moderate size, the construction of which seemed to Herodotus +very curious and remarkable. The city was enormously large, and +required immense supplies of food, which were brought down in these +boats from the agricultural country above. The boats were made in +the following manner: first a frame was built, of the shape of the +intended boat, broad and shallow, and with the stem and stern of the +same form. This frame was made of willows, like a basket, and, when +finished, was covered with a sheathing of skins. A layer of reeds was +then spread over the bottom of the boat to protect the frame, and to +distribute evenly the pressure of the cargo. The boat, thus finished, +was laden with the produce of the country, and was then floated down +the river to Babylon. In this navigation the boatmen were careful to +protect the leather sheathing from injury by avoiding all contact with +rocks, or even with the gravel of the shores. They kept their craft in +the middle of the stream by means of two oars, or, rather, an oar and +a paddle, which were worked, the first at the bows, and the second at +the stern. The advance of the boat was in some measure accelerated by +these boatmen, though their main function was to steer their vessel by +keeping it out of eddies and away from projecting points of land, and +directing its course to those parts of the stream where the current +was swiftest, and where it would consequently be borne forward most +rapidly to its destination. + +These boats were generally of very considerable size, and they +carried, in addition to their cargo and crew, one or more beasts +of burden--generally asses or mules. These animals were allowed +the pleasure, if any pleasure it was to them, of sailing thus idly +down the stream, for the sake of having them at hand at the end of +the voyage, to carry back again, up the country, the skins, which +constituted the most valuable portion of the craft they sailed in. It +was found that these skins, if carefully preserved, could be easily +transported up the river, and would answer the purpose of a second +voyage. Accordingly, when the boats arrived at Babylon, the cargo was +sold, the boats were broken up, the skins were folded into packs, and +in this form the mules carried them up the river again, the boatmen +driving the mules as they walked by their side. + +Babylon was a city of immense extent and magnitude. In fact, the +accounts given of the space which it covered have often been +considered incredible. These accounts make the space which was +included within the walls four or five times as large as London. A +great deal of this space was, however, occupied by parks and gardens +connected with the royal palaces, and by open squares. Then, besides, +the houses occupied by the common people in the ancient cities were of +fewer stories in height, and consequently more extended on the ground, +than those built in modern times. In fact, it is probable that, in +many instances, they were mere ranges of huts and hovels, as is the +case, indeed, to a considerable extent, in Oriental cities, at the +present day, so that it is not at all impossible that even so large an +area as four or five times the size of London may have been included +within the fortifications of the city. + +In respect to the walls of the city, very extraordinary and apparently +contradictory accounts are given by the various ancient authors who +described them. Some make them seventy-five and others two or three +hundred feet high. There have been many discussions in respect to the +comparative credibility of these several statements, and some +ingenious attempts have been made to reconcile them. It is not, +however, at all surprising that there should be such a diversity in +the dimensions given, for the walling of an ancient city was seldom of +the same height in all places. The structure necessarily varied +according to the nature of the ground, being high wherever the ground +without was such as to give the enemy an advantage in an attack, and +lower in other situations, where the conformation of the surface was +such as to afford, of itself, a partial protection. It is not, +perhaps, impossible that, at some particular points--as, for example, +across glens and ravines, or along steep declivities--the walls of +Babylon may have been raised even to the very extraordinary height +which Herodotus ascribes to them. + +The walls were made of bricks, and the bricks were formed of clay and +earth, which was dug from a trench made outside of the lines. This +trench served the purpose of a ditch, to strengthen the fortification +when the wall was completed. The water from the river, and from +streams flowing toward the river, was admitted to these ditches on +every side, and kept them always full. + +The sides of these ditches were lined with bricks too, which were +made, like those of the walls, from the earth obtained from the +excavations. They used for all this masonry a cement made from a +species of bitumen, which was found in great quantities floating down +one of the rivers which flowed into the Euphrates, in the neighborhood +of Babylon. + +The River Euphrates itself flowed through the city. There was a +breast-work or low wall along the banks of it on either side, with +openings at the terminations of the streets leading to the water, and +flights of steps to go down. These openings were secured by gates of +brass, which, when closed, would prevent an enemy from gaining access +to the city from the river. The great streets, which terminated thus +at the river on one side, extended to the walls of the city on the +other, and they were crossed by other streets at right angles to them. +In the outer walls of the city, at the extremities of all these +streets, were massive gates of brass, with hinges and frames of the +same metal. There were a hundred of these gates in all. They were +guarded by watch-towers on the walls above. The watch-towers were +built on both the inner and outer faces of the wall, and the wall +itself was so broad that there was room between these watch-towers for +a chariot and four to drive and turn. + +The river, of course, divided the city into two parts. The king's +palace was in the center of one of these divisions, within a vast +circular inclosure, which contained the palace buildings, together +with the spacious courts, and parks, and gardens pertaining to them. +In the center of the other division was a corresponding inclosure, +which contained the great temple of Belus. Here there was a very lofty +tower, divided into eight separate towers, one above another, with a +winding staircase to ascend to the summit. In the upper story was a +sort of chapel, with a couch, and a table, and other furniture for use +in the sacred ceremonies, all of gold. Above this, on the highest +platform of all, was a grand observatory, where the Babylonian +astrologers made their celestial observations. + +There was a bridge across the river, connecting one section of the +city with the other, and it is said that there was a subterranean +passage under the river also, which was used as a private +communication between two public edifices--palaces or citadels--which +were situated near the extremities of the bridge. All these +constructions were of the most grand and imposing character. In +addition to the architectural magnificence of the buildings, the gates +and walls were embellished with a great variety of sculptures: images +of animals, of every form and in every attitude; and men, single and +in groups, models of great sovereigns, and representations of hunting +scenes, battle scenes, and great events in the Babylonian history. + +The most remarkable, however, of all the wonders of Babylon--though +perhaps not built till after Cyrus's time--were what were called the +hanging gardens. Although called the hanging gardens, they were not +suspended in any manner, as the name might denote, but were supported +upon arches and walls. The arches and walls sustained a succession of +terraces, rising one above another, with broad flights of steps for +ascending to them, and on these terraces the gardens were made. The +upper terrace, or platform, was several hundred feet from the ground; +so high, that it was necessary to build arches upon arches within, in +order to attain the requisite elevation. The lateral thrust of these +arches was sustained by a wall twenty-five feet in thickness, which +surrounded the garden on all sides, and rose as high as the lowermost +tier of arches, upon which would, of course, be concentrated the +pressure and weight of all the pile. The whole structure thus formed a +sort of artificial hill, square in form, and rising, in a succession +of terraces, to a broad and level area upon the top. The extent of +this grand square upon the summit was four hundred feet upon each +side. + +The surface which served as the foundation for the gardens that +adorned these successive terraces and the area above was formed in the +following manner: Over the masonry of the arches there was laid a +pavement of broad flat stones, sixteen feet long and four feet wide. +Over these there was placed a stratum of reeds, laid in bitumen, and +above them another flooring of bricks, cemented closely together, so +as to be impervious to water. To make the security complete in this +respect, the upper surface of this brick flooring was covered with +sheets of lead, overlapping each other in such a manner as to convey +all the water which might percolate through the mold away to the sides +of the garden. The earth and mold were placed upon this surface, thus +prepared, and the stratum was so deep as to allow large trees to take +root and grow in it. There was an engine constructed in the middle of +the upper terrace, by which water could be drawn up from the river, +and distributed over every part of the vast pile. + +The gardens, thus completed, were filled to profusion with every +species of tree, and plant, and vine, which could produce fruit +or flowers to enrich or adorn such a scene. Every country in +communication with Babylon was made to contribute something to +increase the endless variety of floral beauty which was here literally +enthroned. Gardeners of great experience and skill were constantly +employed in cultivating the parterres, pruning the fruit-trees and +the vines, preserving the walks, and introducing new varieties of +vegetation. In a word, the hanging gardens of Babylon became one of +the wonders of the world. + +The country in the neighborhood of Babylon, extending from the river +on either hand was in general level and low, and subject to +inundations. One of the sovereigns of the country, a queen named +Nitocris, had formed the grand design of constructing an immense lake, +to take off the superfluous water in case of a flood, and thus +prevent an overflow. She also opened a great number of lateral and +winding channels for the river, wherever the natural disposition of +the surface afforded facilities for doing so, and the earth which was +taken out in the course of these excavations was employed in raising +the banks by artificial terraces, such as are made to confine the +Mississippi at New Orleans, and are there called _levees_.[B] The +object of Nitocris in these measures was two-fold. She wished, in the +first place, to open all practicable channels for the flow of the +water, and then to confine the current within the channels thus made. +She also wished to make the navigation of the stream as intricate and +complicated as possible, so that, while the natives of the country +might easily find their way, in boats, to the capital, a foreign +enemy, if he should make the attempt, might be confused and lost. These +were the rivers of Babylon on the banks of which the captive Jews sat +down and wept when they remembered Zion. + +[Footnote B: From the French word _levee_, raised.] + +This queen Nitocris seems to have been quite distinguished for her +engineering and architectural plans. It was she that built the bridge +across the Euphrates, within the city; and as there was a feeling of +jealousy and ill will, as usual in such a case, between the two +divisions of the town which the river formed, she caused the bridge to +be constructed with a movable platform or draw, by means of which the +communication might be cut off at pleasure. This draw was generally up +at night and down by day. + +Herodotus relates a curious anecdote of this queen, which, if true, +evinces in another way the peculiar originality of mind and the +ingenuity which characterized all her operations. She caused her tomb +to be built, before her death, over one of the principal gates of the +city. Upon the facade of this monument was a very conspicuous +inscription to this effect: "If any one of the sovereigns, my +successors, shall be in extreme want of money, let him open my tomb +and take what he may think proper; but let him not resort to this +resource unless the urgency is extreme." + +The tomb remained for some time after the queen's death quite +undisturbed. In fact, the people of the city avoided this gate +altogether, on account of the dead body deposited above it, and the +spot became well-nigh deserted. At length, in process of time, a +subsequent sovereign, being in want of money, ventured to open the +tomb. He found, however, no money within. The gloomy vault contained +nothing but the dead body of the queen, and a label with this +inscription: "If your avarice were not as insatiable as it is base, +you would not have intruded on the repose of the dead." + +It was not surprising that Cyrus, having been so successful in his +enterprises thus far, should now begin to turn his thoughts toward +this great Babylonian empire, and to feel a desire to bring it under +his sway. The first thing, however, was to confirm and secure his +Lydian conquests. He spent some time, therefore, in organizing and +arranging, at Sardis, the affairs of the new government which he +was to substitute for that of Croesus there. He designated certain +portions of his army to be left for garrisons in the conquered cities. +He appointed Persian officers, of course, to command these forces; +but, as he wished to conciliate the Lydians, he appointed many of the +municipal and civil officers of the country from among them. There +would appear to be no danger in doing this, as, by giving the command +of the army to Persians, he retained all the real power directly in +his own hands. + +One of these civil officers, the most important, in fact, of all, was +the grand treasurer. To him Cyrus committed the charge of the stores +of gold and silver which came into his possession at Sardis, and of +the revenues which were afterward to accrue. Cyrus appointed a Lydian +named Pactyas to this trust, hoping by such measures to conciliate the +people of the country, and to make them more ready to submit to his +sway. Things being thus arranged, Cyrus, taking Croesus with him, +set out with the main army to return toward the East. + +As soon as he had left Lydia, Pactyas excited the Lydians to revolt. +The name of the commander-in-chief of the military forces which Cyrus +had left was Tabalus. Pactyas abandoned the city and retired toward +the coast where he contrived to raise a large army, formed partly of +Lydians and partly of bodies of foreign troops, which he was enabled +to hire by means of the treasures which Cyrus had put under his +charge. He then advanced to Sardis, took possession of the town, and +shut up Tabalus, with his Persian troops, in the citadel. + +When the tidings of these events came to Cyrus, he was very much +incensed, and determined to destroy the city. Croesus, however, +interceded very earnestly in its behalf. He recommended that Cyrus, +instead of burning Sardis, should send a sufficient force to disarm +the population, and that he should then enact such laws and make such +arrangements as should turn the minds of the people to habits of +luxury and pleasure. "By doing this," said Croesus, "the people +will, in a short time, become so enervated and so effeminate that you +will have nothing to fear from them." + +Cyrus decided on adopting this plan. He dispatched a Median named +Mazares, an officer of his army, at the head of a strong force, with +orders to go back to Sardis, to deliver Tabalus from his danger, to +seize and put to death all the leaders in the Lydian rebellion +excepting Pactyas. Pactyas was to be saved alive, and sent a prisoner +to Cyrus in Persia. + +Pactyas did not wait for the arrival of Mazares. As soon as he heard +of his approach, he abandoned the ground, and fled northwardly to the +city of Cyme, and sought refuge there. When Mazares had reached Sardis +and re-established the government of Cyrus there, he sent messengers +to Cyme, demanding the surrender of the fugitive. + +The people of Cyme were uncertain whether they ought to comply. They +said that they must first consult an oracle. There was a very ancient +and celebrated oracle near Miletus. They sent messengers to this +oracle, demanding to know whether it were according to the will of +the gods or not that the fugitive should be surrendered. The answer +brought back was, that they might surrender him. + +They were accordingly making arrangements for doing this, when one of +the citizens, a very prominent and influential man, named Aristodicus, +expressed himself not satisfied with the reply. He did not think it +possible, he said, that the oracle could really counsel them to +deliver up a helpless fugitive to his enemies. The messengers must +have misunderstood or misreported the answer which they had received. +He finally persuaded his countrymen to send a second embassy: he +himself was placed at the head of it. On their arrival, Aristodicus +addressed the oracle as follows: + +"To avoid a cruel death from the Persians, Pactyas, a Lydian, fled to +us for refuge. The Persians demanded that we should surrender him. +Much as we are afraid of their power, we are still more afraid to +deliver up a helpless suppliant for protection without clear and +decided directions from you." + +The embassy received to this demand the same reply as before. + +Still Aristodicus was not satisfied; and, as if by way of bringing +home to the oracle somewhat more forcibly a sense of the true +character of such an action as it seemed to recommend, he began to +make a circuit in the grove which was around the temple in which the +oracle resided, and to rob and destroy the nests which the birds had +built there, allured, apparently, by the sacred repose and quietude of +the scene. This had the desired effect. A solemn voice was heard from +the interior of the temple, saying, in a warning tone, + +"Impious man! how dost thou dare to molest those who have placed +themselves under my protection?" + +To this Aristodicus replied by asking the oracle how it was that it +watched over and guarded those who sought its own protection, while it +directed the people of Cyme to abandon and betray suppliants for +theirs. To this the oracle answered, + +"I direct them to do it, in order that such impious men may the sooner +bring down upon their heads the judgments of heaven for having dared +to entertain even the thought of delivering up a helpless fugitive." + +When this answer was reported to the people of Cyme, they did not dare +to give Pactyas up, nor, on the other hand, did they dare to incur +the enmity of the Persians by retaining and protecting him. They +accordingly sent him secretly away. The emissaries of Mazares, +however, followed him. They kept constantly on his track, demanding +him successively of every city where the hapless fugitive sought +refuge, until, at length, partly by threats and partly by a reward, +they induced a certain city to surrender him. Mazares sent him, a +prisoner, to Cyrus. Soon after this Mazares himself died, and Harpagus +was appointed governor of Lydia in his stead. + +In the mean time, Cyrus went on with his conquests in the heart of +Asia, and at length, in the course of a few years, he had completed +his arrangements and preparations for the attack on Babylon. He +advanced at the head of a large force to the vicinity of the city. The +King of Babylon, whose name was Belshazzar, withdrew within the walls, +shut the gates, and felt perfectly secure. A simple wall was in those +days a very effectual protection against any armed force whatever, if +it was only high enough not to be scaled, and thick enough to resist +the blows of a battering ram. The artillery of modern times would have +speedily made a fatal breach in such structures; but there was nothing +but the simple force of man, applied through brazen-headed beams of +wood, in those days, and Belshazzar knew well that his walls would bid +all such modes of demolition a complete defiance. He stationed his +soldiers, therefore, on the walls, and his sentinels in the watch +towers, while he himself, and all the nobles of his court, feeling +perfectly secure in their impregnable condition, and being abundantly +supplied with all the means that the whole empire could furnish, both +for sustenance and enjoyment, gave themselves up, in their spacious +palaces and gardens, to gayety, festivity, and pleasure. + +Cyrus advanced to the city. He stationed one large detachment of his +troops at the opening in the main walls where the river entered into +the city, and another one below, where it issued from it. These +detachments were ordered to march into the city by the bed of the +river, as soon as they should observe the water subsiding. He then +employed a vast force of laborers to open new channels, and to widen +and deepen those which had existed before, for the purpose of drawing +off the waters from their usual bed. When these passages were thus +prepared, the water was let into them one night, at a time previously +designated, and it soon ceased to flow through the city. The +detachments of soldiers marched in over the bed of the stream, +carrying with them vast numbers of ladders. With these they easily +scaled the low walls which lined the banks of the river, and +Belshazzar was thunderstruck with the announcement made to him in the +midst of one of his feasts that the Persians were in complete and full +possession of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. + +B.C. 608 + +The Jewish captivity.--Jeremiah and the book of Chronicles.--Incursions +of Nebuchadnezzar.--Denunciations of Jeremiah.--Predictions of +Jeremiah.--Exasperation of the priests and people.--Defense of +Jeremiah.--He is liberated.--Symbolic method of teaching.--The wooden +yoke and the iron yoke.--The title deeds of Jeremiah's estate.--The +deeds deposited.--Baruch writes Jeremiah's prophecies.--He reads them +to the people.--Baruch summoned before the council.--The roll sent +to the king.--The roll destroyed.--Jeremiah attempts to leave the +city.--The king sends for Jeremiah.--He is imprisoned.--Jeremiah cast +into a dungeon.--The king orders him to be taken up.--Jerusalem +besieged by the Babylonians.--Capture of the king.--Captivity of the +Jews.--The prophet Daniel.--Cyrus takes possession of Babylon, and +allows the Jews to return.--Assembling of the Jews.--The number +that returned.--Arrival of the caravan at Jerusalem.--Building the +Temple.--Emotions of the old men.--Rejoicings of the young men. + + +The period of the invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus, and the taking of +the city, was during the time while the Jews were in captivity there. +Cyrus was their deliverer. It results from this circumstance that the +name of Cyrus is connected with sacred history more than that of any +other great conqueror of ancient times. + +It was a common custom in the early ages of the world for powerful +sovereigns to take the people of a conquered country captive, and make +them slaves. They employed them, to some extent, as personal household +servants, but more generally as agricultural laborers, to till the +lands. + +An account of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon is given briefly +in the closing chapters of the second book of Chronicles, though many +of the attendant circumstances are more fully detailed in the book +of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who lived in the time of the +captivity. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made repeated +incursions into the land of Judea, sometimes carrying away the +reigning monarch, sometimes deposing him and appointing another +sovereign in his stead, sometimes assessing a tax or tribute upon the +land, and sometimes plundering the city, and carrying away all the +gold and silver that he could find. Thus the kings and the people were +kept in a continual state of anxiety and terror for many years, +exposed incessantly to the inroads of this nation of robbers and +plunderers, that had, so unfortunately for them, found their way +across their frontiers. King Zedekiah was the last of this oppressed +and unhappy line of Jewish kings. + +The prophet Jeremiah was accustomed to denounce the sins of the Jewish +nation, by which these terrible calamities had been brought upon them, +with great courage, and with an eloquence solemn and sublime. He +declared that the miseries which the people suffered were the special +judgments of Heaven, and he proclaimed repeatedly and openly, and in +the most public places of the city, still heavier calamities which he +said were impending. The people were troubled and distressed at these +prophetic warnings, and some of them were deeply incensed against +Jeremiah for uttering them. Finally, on one occasion, he took his +stand in one of the public courts of the Temple, and, addressing the +concourse of priests and people that were there, he declared that, +unless the nation repented of their sins and turned to God, the whole +city should be overwhelmed. Even the Temple itself, the sacred house +of God, should be destroyed, and the very site abandoned. + +The priests and the people who heard this denunciation were greatly +exasperated. They seized Jeremiah, and brought him before a great +judicial assembly for trial. The judges asked him why he uttered such +predictions, declaring that by doing so he acted like an enemy to his +country and a traitor, and that he deserved to die. The excitement was +very great against him, and the populace could hardly be restrained +from open violence. In the midst of this scene Jeremiah was calm and +unmoved, and replied to their accusations as follows: + +"Every thing which I have said against this city and this house, I +have said by the direction of the Lord Jehovah. Instead of resenting +it, and being angry with me for delivering my message, it becomes you +to look at your sins, and repent of them, and forsake them. It may be +that by so doing God will have mercy upon you, and will avert the +calamities which otherwise will most certainly come. As for myself, +here I am in your hands. Yon can deal with me just as you think best. +Yon can kill me if you will, but you may be assured that if you do so, +you will bring the guilt and the consequences of shedding innocent +blood upon yourselves and upon this city. I have said nothing and +foretold nothing but by commandment of the Lord."[C] + +[Footnote C: Jeremiah, xxvi., 12-15.] + +The speech produced, as might have been expected, a great division +among the hearers. Some were more angry than ever, and were eager to +put the prophet to death. Others defended him, and insisted that he +should not die. The latter, for the time, prevailed. Jeremiah was set +at liberty, and continued his earnest expostulations with the people +on account of their sins, and his terrible annunciations of the +impending ruin of the city just as before. + +These unwelcome truths being so painful for the people to hear, other +prophets soon began to appear to utter contrary predictions, for the +sake, doubtless, of the popularity which they should themselves +acquire by their promises of returning peace and prosperity. The name +of one of these false prophets was Hananiah. On one occasion, +Jeremiah, in order to present and enforce what he had to say more +effectually on the minds of the people by means of a visible symbol, +made a small wooden yoke, by divine direction, and placed it upon +his neck, as a token of the bondage which his predictions were +threatening. Hananiah took this yoke from his neck and broke it, +saying that, as he had thus broken Jeremiah's wooden yoke, so God +would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from all nations within two +years; and then, even those of the Jews who had already been taken +captive to Babylon should return again in peace. Jeremiah replied that +Hananiah's predictions were false, and that, though the wooden yoke +was broken, God would make for Nebuchadnezzar a yoke of iron, with +which he should bend the Jewish nation in a bondage more cruel than +ever. Still, Jeremiah himself predicted that after seventy years from +the time when the last great captivity should come, the Jews should +all be restored again to their native land. + +He expressed this certain restoration of the Jews, on one occasion, by +a sort of symbol, by means of which he made a much stronger impression +on the minds of the people than could have been done by simple words. +There was a piece of land in the country of Benjamin, one of the +provinces of Judea, which belonged to the family of Jeremiah, and +it was held in such a way that, by paying a certain sum of money, +Jeremiah himself might possess it, the right of redemption being in +him. Jeremiah was in prison at this time. His uncle's son came into +the court of the prison, and proposed to him to purchase the land. +Jeremiah did so in the most public and formal manner. The title deeds +were drawn up and subscribed, witnesses were summoned, the money +weighed and paid over, the whole transaction being regularly completed +according to the forms and usages then common for the conveyance of +landed property. When all was finished, Jeremiah gave the papers into +the hands of his scribe, directing him to put them safely away and +preserve them with care, for after a certain period the country of +Judea would again be restored to the peaceable possession of the Jews, +and such titles to land would possess once more their full and +original value. + +On one occasion, when Jeremiah's personal liberty was restricted so +that he could not utter publicly, himself, his prophetical warnings, +he employed Baruch, his scribe, to write them from his dictation, with +a view of reading them to the people from some public and frequented +part of the city. The prophecy thus dictated was inscribed upon a roll +of parchment. Baruch waited, when he had completed the writing, until +a favorable opportunity occurred for reading it, which was on the +occasion of a great festival that was held at Jerusalem, and which +brought the inhabitants of the land together from all parts of Judea. +On the day of the festival, Baruch took the roll in his hand, and +stationed himself at a very public place, at the entrance of one of +the great courts of the Temple; there, calling upon the people to hear +him, he began to read. A great concourse gathered around him, and all +listened to him with profound attention. One of the by-standers, +however, went down immediately into the city, to the king's palace, +and reported to the king's council, who were then assembled there, +that a great concourse was convened in one of the courts of the +Temple, and that Baruch was there reading to them a discourse or +prophecy which had been written by Jeremiah. The members of the +council sent a summons to Baruch to come immediately to them, and +to bring his writing with him. + +When Baruch arrived, they directed him to read what he had written. +Baruch accordingly read it. They asked him when and how that discourse +was written. Baruch replied that he had written it, word by word, from +the dictation of Jeremiah. The officers informed him that they should +be obliged to report the circumstances to the king, and they counseled +Baruch to go to Jeremiah and recommend to him to conceal himself, lest +the king, in his anger, should do him some sudden and violent +injury.[D] + +[Footnote D: See the account of these transactions in the 36th chapter +of Jeremiah.] + +The officers then, leaving the roll in one of their own apartments, +went to the king, and reported the facts to him. He sent one of his +attendants, named Jehudi, to bring the roll. When it came, the king +directed Jehudi to read it. Jehudi did so, standing by a fire which had +been made in the apartment, for it was bitter cold. + +After Jehudi had read a few pages from the roll, finding that it +contained a repetition of the same denunciations and warnings by which +the king had often been displeased before, he took a knife and began +to cut the parchment into pieces, and to throw it on the fire. Some +other persons who were standing by interfered, and earnestly begged +the king not to allow the roll to be burned. But the king did not +interfere. He permitted Jehudi to destroy the parchment altogether, +and then sent officers to take Jeremiah and Baruch, and bring them to +him but they were nowhere to be found. + +The prophet, on one occasion, was reduced to extreme distress by the +persecutions which his faithfulness, and the incessant urgency of his +warnings and expostulations had brought upon him. It was at a time +when the Chaldean armies had been driven away from Jerusalem for a +short period by the Egyptians, as one vulture drives away another from +its prey. Jeremiah determined to avail himself of the opportunity to +go to the province of Benjamin, to visit his friends and family there. +He was intercepted, however, at one of the gates, on his way, and +accused of a design to make his escape from the city, and go over to +the Chaldeans. The prophet earnestly denied this charge. They paid no +regard to his declarations, but sent him back to Jerusalem, to the +officers of the king's government, who confined him in a house which +they used as a prison. + +After he had remained in this place of confinement for several days, +the king sent and took him from it, and brought him to the palace. The +king inquired whether he had any prophecy to utter from the Lord. +Jeremiah replied that the word of the Lord was, that the Chaldeans +should certainly return again, and that Zedekiah himself should fall +into their hands, and be carried captive to Babylon. While he thus +persisted so strenuously in the declarations which he had made so +often before, he demanded of the king that he should not be sent back +again to the house of imprisonment from which he had been rescued. The +king said he would not send him back, and he accordingly directed, +instead, that he should be taken to the court of the public prison, +where his confinement would be less rigorous, and there he was to be +supplied daily with food, so long, as the king expressed it, as there +should be any food remaining in the city. + +But Jeremiah's enemies were not at rest. They came again, after a +time, to the king, and represented to him that the prophet, by his +gloomy and terrible predictions, discouraged and depressed the hearts +of the people, and weakened their hands; that he ought, accordingly, +to be regarded as a public enemy; and they begged the king to proceed +decidedly against him. The king replied that he would give him into +their hands, and they might do with him what they pleased. + +There was a dungeon in the prison, the only access to which was from +above. Prisoners were let down into it with ropes, and left there to +die of hunger. The bottom of it was wet and miry, and the prophet, +when let down into its gloomy depths, sank into the deep mire. Here he +would soon have died of hunger and misery; but the king, feeling some +misgivings in regard to what he had done, lest it might really be a +true prophet of God that he had thus delivered into the hands of his +enemies, inquired what the people had done with their prisoner; and +when he learned that he had been thus, as it were, buried alive, he +immediately sent officers with orders to take him out of the dungeon. +The officers went to the dungeon. They opened the mouth of it. They +had brought ropes with them, to be used for drawing the unhappy +prisoner up, and cloths, also, which he was to fold together and place +under his arms, where the ropes were to pass. These ropes and cloths +they let down into the dungeon, and called upon Jeremiah to place them +properly around his body. Thus they drew him safely up out of the +dismal den. + +These cruel persecutions of the faithful prophet were all unavailing +either to silence his voice or to avert the calamities which his +warnings portended. At the appointed time, the judgments which had +been so long predicted came in all their terrible reality. The +Babylonians invaded the land in great force, and encamped about the +city. The siege continued for two years. At the end of that time the +famine became insupportable. Zedekiah, the king, determined to make a +sortie, with as strong a force as he could command, secretly, at +night, in hopes to escape with his own life, and intending to leave +the city to its fate. He succeeded in passing out through the city +gates with his band of followers, and in actually passing the +Babylonian lines; but he had not gone far before his escape was +discovered. He was pursued and taken. The city was then stormed, and, +as usual in such cases, it was given up to plunder and destruction. +Vast numbers of the inhabitants were killed; many more were taken +captive; the principal buildings, both public and private, were +burned; the walls were broken down, and all the public treasures of +the Jews, the gold and silver vessels of the Temple, and a vast +quantity of private plunder, were carried away to Babylon by the +conquerors. All this was seventy years before the conquest of Babylon +by Cyrus. + +[Illustration: RAISING JEREMIAH FROM THE DUNGEON.] + +Of course, during the time of this captivity, a very considerable +portion of the inhabitants of Judea remained in their native land. The +deportation of a whole people to a foreign land is impossible. A vast +number, however, of the inhabitants of the country were carried away, +and they remained, for two generations, in a miserable bondage. Some +of them were employed as agricultural laborers in the rural districts +of Babylon; others remained in the city, and were engaged in servile +labors there. The prophet Daniel lived in the palaces of the king. He +was summoned, as the reader will recollect, to Belshazzar's feast, on +the night when Cyrus forced his way into the city, to interpret the +mysterious writing on the wall, by which the fall of the Babylonian +monarchy was announced in so terrible a manner. + +One year after Cyrus had conquered Babylon, he issued an edict +authorizing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the city +and the Temple. This event had been long before predicted by the +prophets, as the result which God had determined upon for purposes of +his own. We should not naturally have expected that such a conqueror +as Cyrus would feel any real and honest interest in promoting the +designs of God; but still, in the proclamation which he issued +authorizing the Jews to return, he acknowledged the supreme divinity +of Jehovah, and says that he was charged by him with the work of +rebuilding his Temple, and restoring his worship at its ancient seat +on Mount Zion. It has, however, been supposed by some scholars, who +have examined attentively all the circumstances connected with these +transactions, that so far as Cyrus was influenced by political +considerations in ordering the return of the Jews, his design was to +re-establish that nation as a barrier between his dominions and those +of the Egyptians. The Egyptians and the Chaldeans had long been deadly +enemies, and now that Cyrus had become master of the Chaldean realms, +he would, of course, in assuming their territories and their power, be +obliged to defend himself against their foes. + +Whatever may have been the motives of Cyrus, he decided to allow +the Hebrew captives to return, and he issued a proclamation to that +effect. As seventy years had elapsed since the captivity commenced, +about two generations had passed away, and there could have been very +few then living who had ever seen the land of their fathers. The Jews +were, however, all eager to return. They collected in a vast assembly, +with all the treasures which they were allowed to take, and the stores +of provisions and baggage, and with horses, and mules, and other +beasts of burden to transport them. When assembled for the march, it +was found that the number, of which a very exact census was taken, was +forty-nine thousand six hundred and ninety-seven. + +They had also with them seven or eight hundred horses, about two +hundred and fifty mules, and about five hundred camels. The chief +part, however, of their baggage and stores was borne by asses, of +which there were nearly seven thousand in the train. The march of +this peaceful multitude of families--men, women, and children +together--burdened as they went, not with arms and ammunition for +conquest and destruction, but with tools and implements for honest +industry, and stores of provisions and utensils for the peaceful +purposes of social life, as it was, in its bearings and results, one +of the grandest events of history, so it must have presented, in its +progress, one of the most extraordinary spectacles that the world has +ever seen. + +The grand caravan pursued its long and toilsome march from Babylon +to Jerusalem without molestation. All arrived safely, and the people +immediately commenced the work of repairing the walls of the city and +rebuilding the Temple. When, at length, the foundations of the Temple +were laid, a great celebration was held to commemorate the event. This +celebration exhibited a remarkable scene of mingled rejoicing and +mourning. The younger part of the population, who had never seen +Jerusalem in its former grandeur, felt only exhilaration and joy at +their re-establishment in the city of their fathers. The work of +raising the edifice, whose foundations they had laid, was to them +simply a new enterprise, and they looked forward to the work of +carrying it on with pride and pleasure. The old men, however, who +remembered the former Temple, were filled with mournful recollections +of days of prosperity and peace in their childhood and of the +magnificence of the former Temple, which they could now never hope to +see realized again. It was customary in those days, to express sorrow +and grief by exclamations and outcries, as gladness and joy are +expressed audibly now. Accordingly, on this occasion, the cries of +grief and of bitter regret at the thought of losses which could now +never be retrieved, were mingled with the shouts of rejoicing and +triumph raised by the ardent and young, who knew nothing of the past, +but looked forward with hope and happiness to the future. + +The Jews encountered various hinderances, and met with much opposition +in their attempts to reconstruct their ancient city, and to +re-establish the Mosaic ritual there. We must, however, now return to +the history of Cyrus, referring the reader for a narrative of the +circumstances connected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the very +minute account given in the sacred books of Ezra and Nehemiah. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE STORY OF PANTHEA. + +Xenophon's romantic tales.--Panthea a Susian captive.--Valuable +spoil.--Its division.--Share of Cyrus.--Panthea given to +Cyrus.--Araspes.--Abradates.--Account of Panthea's capture.--Her +great loveliness.--Attempts at consolation.--Panthea's renewed +grief.--Cyrus declines to see Panthea.--His reasons.--Araspes's +self-confidence.--Panthea's patience and gentleness.--Araspes's +kindness to Panthea.--His emotions master him.--Araspes in +love.--Progress of the army.--Araspes confesses his love.--Panthea +offended.--Panthea appeals to Cyrus.--Cyrus reproves Araspes.--Cyrus's +generosity.--Araspes's continued distress.--Plan of Cyrus.--Araspes +pretends to desert.--Panthea proposes to send for her husband.--Cyrus +consents.--Joyful meeting of Panthea and her husband.--The armed +chariots.--Abradates's eight-horse chariot.--Panthea's presents for +her husband.--Imposing spectacle.--Panthea's preparations.--Panthea +offers her presents.--Abradates's pleasure.--Abradates departs for +the field.--The farewell.--The order of battle.--Appearance of +Abradates.--The charge.--Terrible havoc made by the chariots.--The +great victory.--The council of war.--Abradates slain.--Panthea's +grief.--Cyrus's kindness to Panthea.--She is inconsolable.--Panthea +kills herself on the dead body of her husband. + + +In the preceding chapters of this work, we have followed mainly the +authority of Herodotus, except, indeed, in the account of the visit +of Cyrus to his grandfather in his childhood, which is taken from +Xenophon. We shall, in this chapter, relate the story of Panthea, +which is also one of Xenophon's tales. We give it as a specimen of +the romantic narratives in which Xenophon's history abounds, and on +account of the many illustrations of an ancient manners and customs +which it contains, leaving it for each reader to decide for himself +what weight he will attach to its claims to be regarded as veritable +history. We relate the story here in our own language, but as to the +facts, we follow faithfully the course of Xenophon's narration. + +Panthea was a Susian captive. She was taken, together with a great +many other captives and much plunder, after one of the great battles +which Cyrus fought with the Assyrians. Her husband was an Assyrian +general, though he himself was not captured at this time with his +wife. The spoil which came into possession of the army on the occasion +of the battle in which Panthea was taken was of great value. There +were beautiful and costly suits of arms, rich tents made of splendid +materials and highly ornamented, large sums of money, vessels of +silver and gold, and slaves--some prized for their beauty, and others +for certain accomplishments which were highly valued in those days. +Cyrus appointed a sort of commission to divide this spoil. He pursued +always a very generous policy on all these occasions, showing no +desire to secure such treasures to himself, but distributing them with +profuse liberality among his officers and soldiers. + +The commissioners whom he appointed in this case divided the spoil +among the various generals of the army, and among the different bodies +of soldiery, with great impartiality. Among the prizes assigned to +Cyrus were two singing women of great fame, and this Susian lady. +Cyrus thanked the distributors for the share of booty which they had +thus assigned to him, but said that if any of his friends wished for +either of these captives, they could have them. An officer asked for +one of the singers. Cyrus gave her to him immediately, saying, "I +consider myself more obliged to you for asking her, than you are to me +for giving her to you." As for the Susian lady, Cyrus had not yet seen +her, but he called one of his most intimate and confidential friends +to him, and requested him to take her under his charge. + +The name of this officer was Araspes. He was a Mede, and he had been +Cyrus's particular friend and playmate when he was a boy, visiting his +grandfather in Media. The reader will perhaps recollect that he is +mentioned toward the close of our account of that visit, as the +special favorite to whom Cyrus presented his robe or mantle when he +took leave of his friends in returning to his native land. + +Araspes, when he received this charge, asked Cyrus whether he had +himself seen the lady. Cyrus replied that he had not. Araspes then +proceeded to give an account of her. The name of her husband was +Abradates, and he was the king of Susa, as they termed him. The reason +why he was not taken prisoner at the same time with his wife was, that +when the battle was fought and the Assyrian camp captured, he was +absent, having gone away on an embassage to another nation. This +circumstance shows that Abradates, though called a king, could hardly +have been a sovereign and independent prince, but rather a governor or +viceroy--those words expressing to our minds more truly the station of +such a sort of king as could be sent on an embassy. + +Araspes went on to say that, at the time of their making the capture, +he, with some others, went into Panthea's tent, where they found her +and her attendant ladies sitting on the ground, with veils over their +faces, patiently awaiting their doom. Notwithstanding the concealment +produced by the attitudes and dress of these ladies, there was +something about the air and figure of Panthea which showed at once +that she was the queen. The leader of Araspes's party asked them all +to rise. They did so, and then the superiority of Panthea was still +more apparent than before. There was an extraordinary grace and beauty +in her attitude and in all her motions. She stood in a dejected +posture, and her countenance was sad, though inexpressibly lovely. She +endeavored to appear calm and composed, though the tears had evidently +been falling from her eyes. + +The soldiers pitied her in her distress, and the leader of the party +attempted to console her, as Araspes said, by telling her that she had +nothing to fear; that they were aware that her husband was a most +worthy and excellent man; and although, by this capture, she was lost +to him, she would have no cause to regret the event, for she would be +reserved for a new husband not at all inferior to her former one +either in person, in understanding, in rank, or in power. + +These well-meant attempts at consolation did not appear to have the +good effect desired. They only awakened Panthea's grief and suffering +anew. The tears began to fall again faster than before. Her grief soon +became more and more uncontrollable. She sobbed and cried aloud, and +began to wring her hands and tear her mantle--the customary Oriental +expression of inconsolable sorrow and despair. Araspes said that in +these gesticulations her neck, and hands, and a part of her face +appeared, and that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever +beheld. He wished Cyrus to see her. + +Cyrus said, "No; he would not see her by any means." Araspes asked him +why. He said that there would be danger that he should forget his duty +to the army, and lose his interest in the great military enterprise in +which he was engaged, if he should allow himself to become captivated +by the charms of such a lady, as he very probably would be if he were +now to visit her. Araspes said in reply that Cyrus might at least see +her; as to becoming captivated with her, and devoting himself to her +to such a degree as to neglect his other duties, he could certainly +control himself in respect to that danger. Cyrus said that it was not +certain that he could so control himself; and then there followed a +long discussion between Cyrus and Araspes, in which Araspes maintained +that every man had the command of his own heart and affections, and +that, with proper determination and energy, he could direct the +channels in which they should run, and confine them within such limits +and bounds as he pleased. Cyrus, on the other hand, maintained that +human passions were stronger than the human will; that no one could +rely on the strength of his resolutions to control the impulses of the +heart once strongly excited, and that a man's only safety was in +controlling the circumstances which tended to excite them. This was +specially true, he said, in respect to the passion of love. The +experience of mankind, he said, had shown that no strength of moral +principle, no firmness of purpose, no fixedness of resolution, no +degree of suffering, no fear of shame, was sufficient to control, in +the hearts of men, the impetuosity of the passion of love, when it was +once fairly awakened. In a word, Araspes advocated, on the subject of +love, a sort of new school philosophy, while that of Cyrus leaned very +seriously toward the old. + +In conclusion, Cyrus jocosely counseled Araspes to beware lest he +should prove that love was stronger than the will by becoming himself +enamored of the beautiful Susian queen. Araspes said that Cyrus need +not fear; there was no danger. He must be a miserable wretch indeed, +he said, who could not summon within him sufficient resolution and +energy to control his own passions and desires. As for himself, he was +sure that he was safe. + +As usual with those who are self-confident and boastful, Araspes +failed when the time of trial came. He took charge of the royal +captive whom Cyrus committed to him with a very firm resolution to be +faithful to his trust. He pitied the unhappy queen's misfortunes, and +admired the heroic patience and gentleness of spirit with which she +bore them. The beauty of her countenance, and her thousand personal +charms, which were all heightened by the expression of sadness and +sorrow which they bore, touched his heart. It gave him pleasure to +grant her every indulgence consistent with her condition of captivity, +and to do every thing in his power to promote her welfare. She was +very grateful for these favors, and the few brief words and looks of +kindness with which she returned them repaid him for his efforts to +please her a thousand-fold. He saw her, too, in her tent, in the +presence of her maidens, at all times; and as she looked upon him +as only her custodian and guard, and as, too, her mind was wholly +occupied by the thoughts of her absent husband and her hopeless grief, +her actions were entirely free and unconstrained in his presence. This +made her only the more attractive; every attitude and movement seemed +to possess, in Araspes's mind, an inexpressible charm. In a word, the +result was what Cyrus had predicted. Araspes became wholly absorbed in +the interest which was awakened in him by the charms of the beautiful +captive. He made many resolutions, but they were of no avail. While he +was away from her, he felt strong in his determination to yield to +these feelings no more; but as soon as he came into her presence, +all these resolutions melted wholly away, and he yielded his heart +entirely to the control of emotions which, however vincible they might +appear at a distance, were found, when the time of trial came, to +possess a certain mysterious and magic power, which made it most +delightful for the heart to yield before them in the contest, and +utterly impossible to stand firm and resist. In a word, when seen at a +distance, love appeared to him an enemy which he was ready to brave, +and was sure that he could overcome; but when near, it transformed +itself into the guise of a friend, and he accordingly threw down the +arms with which he had intended to combat it, and gave himself up to +it in a delirium of pleasure. + +Things continued in this state for some time. The army advanced from +post to post, and from encampment to encampment, taking the captives +in their train. New cities were taken, new provinces overrun, and new +plans for future conquests were formed. At last a case occurred in +which Cyrus wished to send some one as a spy into a distant enemy's +country. The circumstances were such that it was necessary that a +person of considerable intelligence and rank should go, as Cyrus +wished the messenger whom he should send to make his way to the court +of the sovereign, and become personally acquainted with the leading +men of the state, and to examine the general resources of the kingdom. +It was a very different case from that of an ordinary spy, who was +to go into a neighboring camp merely to report the numbers and +disposition of an organized army. Cyrus was uncertain whom he should +send on such an embassy. + +In the mean time, Araspes had ventured to express to Panthea his love +for her. She was offended. In the first place, she was faithful to her +husband, and did not wish to receive such addresses from any person. +Then, besides, she considered Araspes, having been placed in charge of +her by Cyrus, his master, only for the purpose of keeping her safely, +as guilty of a betrayal of his trust in having dared to cherish and +express sentiments of affection for her himself. She, however, forbore +to reproach him, or to complain of him to Cyrus. She simply repelled +the advances that he made, supposing that, if she did this with +firmness and decision, Araspes would feel rebuked and would say no +more. It did not, however, produce this effect. Araspes continued to +importune her with declarations of love, and at length she felt +compelled to appeal to Cyrus. + +Cyrus, instead of being incensed at what might have been considered a +betrayal of trust on the part of Araspes, only laughed at the failure +and fall in which all his favorite's promises and boastings had ended. +He sent a messenger to Araspes to caution him in regard to his +conduct, telling him that he ought to respect the feelings of such a +woman as Panthea had proved herself to be. The messenger whom Cyrus +sent was not content with delivering his message as Cyrus had dictated +it. He made it much more stern and severe. In fact, he reproached the +lover, in a very harsh and bitter manner, for indulging such a +passion. He told him that he had betrayed a sacred trust reposed in +him, and acted in a manner at once impious and unjust. Araspes +was overwhelmed with remorse and anguish, and with fear of the +consequences which might ensue, as men are when the time arrives for +being called to account for transgressions which, while they were +committing them, gave them little concern. + +When Cyrus heard how much Araspes had been distressed by the message +of reproof which he had received, and by his fears of punishment, he +sent for him. Araspes came. Cyrus told him that he had no occasion to +be alarmed. "I do not wonder," said he, "at the result which has +happened. We all know how difficult it is to resist the influence +which is exerted upon our minds by the charms of a beautiful woman, +when we are thrown into circumstances of familiar intercourse with +her. Whatever of wrong there has been ought to be considered as more +my fault than yours. I was wrong in placing you in such circumstances +of temptation, by giving you so beautiful a woman in charge." + +Araspes was very much struck with the generosity of Cyrus, in thus +endeavoring to soothe his anxiety and remorse, and taking upon himself +the responsibility and the blame. He thanked Cyrus very earnestly for +his kindness; but he said that, notwithstanding his sovereign's +willingness to forgive him, he felt still oppressed with grief and +concern, for the knowledge of his fault had been spread abroad in the +army; his enemies were rejoicing over him, and were predicting his +disgrace and ruin; and some persons had even advised him to make his +escape, by absconding before any worse calamity should befall him. + +"If this is so," said Cyrus, "it puts it in your power to render me a +very essential service." Cyrus then explained to Araspes the necessity +that he was under of finding some confidential agent to go on a secret +mission into the enemy's country, and the importance that the +messenger should go under such circumstances as not to be suspected +of being Cyrus's friend in disguise. "You can pretend to abscond," +said he; "it will be immediately said that you fled for fear of my +displeasure. I will pretend to send in pursuit of you. The news of +your evasion will spread rapidly, and will be carried, doubtless, into +the enemy's country; so that, when you arrive there, they will be +prepared to welcome you as a deserter from my cause, and a refugee." + +This plan was agreed upon, and Araspes prepared for his departure. +Cyrus gave him his instructions, and they concerted together the +information--fictitious, of course--which he was to communicate to the +enemy in respect to Cyrus's situation and designs. When all was ready +for his departure, Cyrus asked him how it was that he was so willing +to separate himself thus from the beautiful Panthea. He said in reply, +that when he was absent from Panthea, he was capable of easily +forming any determination, and of pursuing any line of conduct that +his duty required, while yet, in her presence, he found his love for +her, and the impetuous feelings to which it gave rise, wholly and +absolutely uncontrollable. + +As soon as Araspes was gone, Panthea, who supposed that he had really +fled for fear of the indignation of the king, in consequence of his +unfaithfulness to his trust, sent to Cyrus a message, expressing her +regret at the unworthy conduct and the flight of Araspes, and saying +that she could, and gladly would, if he consented, repair the loss +which the desertion of Araspes occasioned by sending for her own +husband. He was, she said, dissatisfied with the government under +which he lived, having been cruelly and tyrannically treated by the +prince. "If you will allow me to send for him," she added, "I am sure +he will come and join your army; and I assure you that you will find +him a much more faithful and devoted servant than Araspes has been." + +Cyrus consented to this proposal, and Panthea sent for Abradates. +Abradates came at the head of two thousand horse, which formed a very +important addition to the forces under Cyrus's command. The meeting +between Panthea and her husband was joyful in the extreme. When +Abradates learned from his wife how honorable and kind had been the +treatment which Cyrus had rendered to her, he was overwhelmed with a +sense of gratitude, and he declared that he would do the utmost in his +power to requite the obligations he was under. + +Abradates entered at once, with great ardor and zeal, into plans for +making the force which he had brought as efficient as possible in the +service of Cyrus. He observed that Cyrus was interested, at that time, +in attempting to build and equip a corps of armed chariots, such as +were often used in fields of battle in those days. This was a very +expensive sort of force, corresponding, in that respect, with the +artillery used in modern times. The carriages were heavy and strong, +and were drawn generally by two horses. They had short, scythe-like +blades of steel projecting from the axle-trees on each side, by which +the ranks of the enemy were mowed down when the carriages were driven +among them. The chariots were made to contain, besides the driver of +the horses, one or more warriors, each armed in the completest manner. +These warriors stood on the floor of the vehicle, and fought with +javelins and spears. The great plains which abound in the interior +countries of Asia were very favorable for this species of warfare. + +[Illustration: THE WAR CHARIOT OF ABRADATES.] + +Abradates immediately fitted up for Cyrus a hundred such chariots at +his own expense, and provided horses to draw them from his own troop. +He made one chariot much larger than the rest, for himself, as he +intended to take command of this corps of chariots in person. His own +chariot was to be drawn by eight horses. His wife Panthea was very +much interested in these preparations. She wished to do something +herself toward the outfit. She accordingly furnished, from her own +private treasures, a helmet, a corslet, and arm-pieces of gold. These +articles formed a suit of armor sufficient to cover all that part of +the body which would be exposed in standing in the chariot. She also +provided breast-pieces and side-pieces of brass for the horses. The +whole chariot, thus equipped, with its eight horses in their gay +trappings and resplendent armor, and with Abradates standing within +it, clothed in his panoply of gold, presented, as it drove, in the +sight of the whole army, around the plain of the encampment, a most +imposing spectacle. It was a worthy leader, as the spectators +thought, to head the formidable column of a hundred similar engines +which were to follow in its train. If we imagine the havoc which a +hundred scythe-armed carriages would produce when driven, with +headlong fury, into dense masses of men, on a vast open plain, we +shall have some idea of one item of the horrors of ancient war. + +The full splendor of Abradates's equipments were not, however, +displayed at first, for Panthea kept what she had done a secret for a +time, intending to reserve her contribution for a parting present to +her husband when the period should arrive for going into battle. She +had accordingly taken the measure for her work by stealth, from the +armor which Abradates was accustomed to wear, and had caused the +artificers to make the golden pieces with the utmost secrecy. Besides +the substantial defenses of gold which she provided, she added various +other articles for ornament and decoration. There was a purple robe, +a crest for the helmet, which was of a violet color, plumes, and +likewise bracelets for the wrists. Panthea kept all these things +herself until the day arrived when her husband was going into battle +for the first time with his train, and then, when he went into his +tent to prepare himself to ascend his chariot, she brought them to +him. + +Abradates was astonished when he saw them. He soon understood how they +had been provided, and he exclaimed, with a heart full of surprise and +pleasure, "And so, to provide me with this splendid armor and dress, +you have been depriving yourself of all your finest and most beautiful +ornaments!" + +"No," said Panthea, "you are yourself my finest ornament, if you +appear in other people's eyes as you do in mine, and I have not +deprived myself of you." + +The appearance which Abradates made in other people's eyes was +certainly very splendid on this occasion. There were many spectators +present to see him mount his chariot and drive away; but so great was +their admiration of Panthea's affection and regard for her husband, +and so much impressed were they with her beauty, that the great +chariot, the resplendent horses, and the grand warrior with his armor +of gold, which the magnificent equipage was intended to convey, were, +all together, scarcely able to draw away the eyes of the spectators +from her. She stood, for a while, by the side of the chariot, +addressing her husband in an under tone, reminding him of the +obligations which they were under to Cyrus for his generous and noble +treatment of her, and urging him, now that he was going to be put to +the test, to redeem the promise which she had made in his name, that +Cyrus would find him faithful, brave, and true. + +The driver then closed the door by which Abradates had mounted, so +that Panthea was separated from her husband, though she could still +see him as he stood in his place. She gazed upon him with a +countenance full of affection and solicitude. She kissed the margin of +the chariot as it began to move away. She walked along after it as it +went, as if, after all, she could not bear the separation. Abradates +turned, and when he saw her coming on after the carriage, he said, +waving his hand for a parting salutation, "Farewell, Panthea; go back +now to your tent, and do not be anxious about me. Farewell." Panthea +turned--her attendants came and took her away--the spectators all +turned, too, to follow her with their eyes, and no one paid any regard +to the chariot or to Abradates until she was gone. + +On the field of battle, before the engagement commenced, Cyrus, in +passing along the lines, paused, when he came to the chariots of +Abradates, to examine the arrangements which had been made for them, +and to converse a moment with the chief. He saw that the chariots were +drawn up in a part of the field where there was opposed to them a very +formidable array of Egyptian soldiers. The Egyptians in this war were +allies of the enemy. Abradates, leaving his chariot in the charge of +his driver, descended and came to Cyrus, and remained in conversation +with him for a few moments, to receive his last orders. Cyrus directed +him to remain where he was, and not to attack the enemy until he +received a certain signal. At length the two chieftains separated; +Abradates returned to his chariot, and Cyrus moved on. Abradates then +moved slowly along his lines, to encourage and animate his men, and to +give them the last directions in respect to the charge which they were +about to make on the enemy when the signal should be given. All eyes +were turned to the magnificent spectacle which his equipage presented +as it advanced toward them; the chariot, moving slowly along the line, +the tall and highly-decorated form of its commander rising in the +center of it, while the eight horses, animated by the sound of the +trumpets, and by the various excitements of the scene, stepped +proudly, their brazen armor clanking as they came. + +When, at length, the signal was given, Abradates, calling on the other +chariots to follow, put his horses to their speed, and the whole line +rushed impetuously on to the attack of the Egyptians. War horses, +properly trained to their work, will fight with their hoofs with +almost as much reckless determination as men will with spears. They +rush madly on to encounter whatever opposition there may be before +them, and strike down and leap over whatever comes in their way, as if +they fully understood the nature of the work that their riders or +drivers were wishing them to do. Cyrus, as he passed along from one +part of the battle field to another, saw the horses of Abradates's +line dashing thus impetuously into the thickest ranks of the enemy. +The men, on every side, were beaten down by the horses' hoofs, or +over-turned by the wheels, or cut down by the scythes; and they who +here and there escaped these dangers, became the aim of the soldiers +who stood in the chariots, and were transfixed with their spears. The +heavy wheels rolled and jolted mercilessly over the bodies of the +wounded and the fallen, while the scythes caught hold of and cut +through every thing that came in their way--whether the shafts of +javelins and spears, or the limbs and bodies of men--and tore every +thing to pieces in their terrible career. As Cyrus rode rapidly by, he +saw Abradates in the midst of this scene, driving on in his chariot, +and shouting to his men in a phrensy of excitement and triumph. + +The battle in which these events occurred was one of the greatest and +most important which Cyrus fought. He gained the victory. His enemies +were every where routed and driven from the field. When the contest +was at length decided, the army desisted from the slaughter and +encamped for the night. On the following day, the generals assembled +at the tent of Cyrus to discuss the arrangements which were to be made +in respect to the disposition of the captives and of the spoil, and to +the future movements of the army. Abradates was not there. For a time, +Cyrus, in the excitement and confusion of the scene did not observe +his absence. At length he inquired for him. A soldier present told +him that he had been killed from his chariot in the midst of the +Egyptians, and that his wife was at that moment attending to the +interment of the body, on the banks of a river which flowed near the +field of battle. Cyrus, on hearing this, uttered a loud exclamation of +astonishment and sorrow. He dropped the business in which he had been +engaged with his council, mounted his horse, commanded attendants to +follow him with every thing that could be necessary on such an +occasion, and then, asking those who knew to lead the way, he drove +off to find Panthea. + +When he arrived at the spot, the dead body of Abradates was lying upon +the ground, while Panthea sat by its side, holding the head in her +lap, overwhelmed herself with unutterable sorrow. Cyrus leaped from +his horse, knelt down by the side of the corpse, saying, at the same +time, "Alas! thou brave and faithful soul, and art thou gone?" + +At the same time, he took hold of the hand of Abradates; but, as he +attempted to raise it, the arm came away from the body. It had been +cut off by an Egyptian sword. Cyrus was himself shocked at the +spectacle, and Panthea's grief broke forth anew. She cried out with +bitter anguish, replaced the arm in the position in which she had +arranged it before, and told Cyrus that the rest of the body was in +the same condition. Whenever she attempted to speak, her sobs and +tears almost prevented her utterance. She bitterly reproached herself +for having been, perhaps, the cause of her husband's death, by urging +him, as she had done, to fidelity and courage when he went into +battle. "And now," she said, "he is dead, while I, who urged him +forward into the danger, am still alive." + +Cyrus said what he could to console Panthea's grief; but he found it +utterly inconsolable. He gave directions for furnishing her with every +thing which she could need, and promised her that he would make ample +arrangements for providing for her in future. "You shall be treated," +he said, "while you remain with me, in the most honorable manner; or +if you have any friends whom you wish to join, you shall be sent to +them safely whenever you please." + +Panthea thanked him for his kindness. She had a friend, she said, whom +she wished to join, and she would let him know in due time who it was. +In the mean time, she wished that Cyrus would leave her alone, for a +while, with her servants, and her waiting-maid, and the dead body of +her husband. Cyrus accordingly withdrew. As soon as he had gone, +Panthea sent away the servants also, retaining the waiting-maid +alone. The waiting-maid began to be anxious and concerned at +witnessing these mysterious arrangements, as if they portended some +new calamity. She wondered what her mistress was going to do. Her +doubts were dispelled by seeing Panthea produce a sword, which she had +kept concealed hitherto beneath her robe. Her maid begged her, with +much earnestness and many tears, not to destroy herself; but Panthea +was immovable. She said she could not live any longer. She directed +the maid to envelop her body, as soon as she was dead, in the same +mantle with her husband, and to have them both deposited together in +the same grave; and before her stupefied attendant could do any thing +to save her, she sat down by the side of her husband's body, laid her +head upon his breast, and in that position gave herself the fatal +wound. In a few minutes she ceased to breathe. + + * * * * * + +Cyrus expressed his respect for the memory of Abradates and Panthea by +erecting a lofty monument over their common grave. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CONVERSATIONS. + +General character of Xenophon's history.--Dialogues and +conversations.--Ancient mode of discussion.--Cyrus's games.--Grand +procession.--The races.--The Sacian.--His success.--Mode of finding +a worthy man.--Pheraulas wounded.--Pheraulas pursues his course.--He +receives the Sacian's horse.--Sumptuous entertainment.--Pheraulas +and the Sacian.--Riches a source of disquiet and care.--Argument of +Pheraulas.--Remark of the Sacian.--Reply of Pheraulas.--Singular +proposal of Pheraulas.--The Sacian accepts it.--The plan carried into +effect.--The happy result.--Cyrus's dinner party.--Conversation +about soldiers.--The discontented soldier.--His repeated +misfortunes.--Amusement of the party.--The awkward squad.--Merriment +of the company.--The file-leader and the letters.--Remark of +Cyrus.--Animadversion version of Aglaitadas.--Aglaitadas's argument +for melancholy.--Defense of the officers.--General character of +Xenophon's Cyropaedia. + + +We have given the story of Panthea, as contained in the preceding +chapter, in our own language, it is true, but without any intentional +addition or embellishment whatever. Each reader will judge for himself +whether such a narrative, written for the entertainment of vast +assemblies at public games and celebrations, is most properly to be +regarded as an invention of romance, or as a simple record of +veritable history. + +A great many extraordinary and dramatic incidents and adventures, +similar in general character to the story of Panthea, are interwoven +with the narrative in Xenophon's history. There are also, besides +these, many long and minute details of dialogues and conversations, +which, if they had really occurred, would have required a very high +degree of skill in stenography to produce such reports of them +as Xenophon has given. The incidents, too, out of which these +conversations grew, are worthy of attention, as we can often judge, +by the nature and character of an incident described, whether it is +one which it is probable might actually occur in real life, or only an +invention intended to furnish an opportunity and a pretext for the +inculcation of the sentiments, or the expression of the views of the +different speakers. It was the custom in ancient days, much more than +it is now, to attempt to add to the point and spirit of a discussion, +by presenting the various views which the subject naturally elicited +in the form of a conversation arising out of circumstances invented +to sustain it. The incident in such cases was, of course, a fiction, +contrived to furnish points of attachment for the dialogue--a sort of +trellis, constructed artificially to support the vine. + +We shall present in this chapter some specimens of these +conversations, which will give the reader a much more distinct idea +of the nature of them than any general description can convey. + +At one time in the course of Cyrus's career, just after he had +obtained some great victory, and was celebrating his triumphs, in the +midst of his armies, with spectacles and games, he instituted a series +of races, in which the various nations that were represented in his +army furnished their several champions as competitors The army marched +out from the city which Cyrus had captured, and where he was then +residing, in a procession of the most imposing magnificence. Animals +intended to be offered in sacrifice, caparisoned in trappings of gold, +horsemen most sumptuously equipped, chariots of war splendidly built +and adorned, and banners and trophies of every kind, were conspicuous +in the train. When the vast procession reached the race-ground, the +immense concourse was formed in ranks around it, and the racing went +on. + +When it came to the turn of the Sacian nation to enter the course, +a private man, of no apparent importance in respect to his rank or +standing, came forward as the champion; though the man appeared +insignificant, his horse was as fleet as the wind. He flew around the +arena with astonishing speed, and came in at the goal while his +competitor was still midway of the course. Every body was astonished +at this performance. Cyrus asked the Sacian whether he would be +willing to sell that horse, if he could receive a kingdom in exchange +for it--kingdoms being the coin with which such sovereigns as Cyrus +made their purchases. The Sacian replied that he would not sell his +horse for any kingdom, but that he would readily give him away to +oblige a worthy man. + +"Come with me," said Cyrus, "and I will show you where you may throw +blindfold, and not miss a worthy man." + +So saying, Cyrus conducted the Sacian to a part of the field where a +number of his officers and attendants were moving to and fro, mounted +upon their horses, or seated in their chariots of war. The Sacian took +up a hard clod of earth from a bank as he walked along. At length they +were in the midst of the group. + +"Throw!" said Cyrus. + +The Sacian shut his eyes and threw. + +It happened that, just at that instant, an officer named Pheraulas +was riding by. He was conveying some orders which Cyrus had given him +to another part of the field. Pheraulas had been originally a man of +humble life, but he had been advanced by Cyrus to a high position on +account of the great fidelity and zeal which he had evinced in the +performance of his duty. The clod which the Sacian threw struck +Pheraulas in the mouth, and wounded him severely. Now it is the part +of a good soldier to stand at his post or to press on, in obedience +to his orders, as long as any physical capacity remains; and +Pheraulas, true to his military obligation, rode on without even +turning to see whence and from what cause so unexpected and violent +an assault had proceeded. + +The Sacian opened his eyes, looked around, and coolly asked who it was +that he had hit. Cyrus pointed to the horseman who was riding rapidly +away, saying, "That is the man, who is riding so fast past those +chariots yonder. You hit _him_." + +"Why did he not turn back, then?" asked the Sacian. + +"It is strange that he did not," said Cyrus; "he must be some madman." + +The Sacian went in pursuit of him. He found Pheraulas with his face +covered with blood and dirt, and asked him if he had received a blow. +"I have," said Pheraulas, "as you see." "Then," said the Sacian, "I +make you a present of my horse." Pheraulas asked an explanation. The +Sacian accordingly gave him an account of what had taken place between +himself and Cyrus, and said, in the end, that he gladly gave him his +horse, as he, Pheraulas, had so decisively proved himself to be a most +worthy man. + +Pheraulas accepted the present, with many thanks, and he and the +Sacian became thereafter very strong friends. + +Some time after this, Pheraulas invited the Sacian to an +entertainment, and when the hour arrived, he set before his friend and +the other guests a most sumptuous feast, which was served in vessels +of gold and silver, and in an apartment furnished with carpets, and +canopies, and couches of the most gorgeous and splendid description. +The Sacian was much impressed with this magnificence, and he asked +Pheraulas whether he had been a rich man at home, that is, before he +had joined Cyrus's army. Pheraulas replied that he was not then rich. +His father, he said, was a farmer, and he himself had been accustomed +in early life to till the ground with the other laborers on his +father's farm. All the wealth and luxury which he now enjoyed had been +bestowed upon him, he said, by Cyrus. + +"How fortunate you are!" said the Sacian; "and it must be that you +enjoy your present riches all the more highly on account of having +experienced in early life the inconveniences and ills of poverty. The +pleasure must be more intense in having desires which have long been +felt gratified at last than if the objects which they rested upon had +been always in one's possession." + +"You imagine, I suppose," replied Pheraulas, "that I am a great deal +happier in consequence of all this wealth and splendor; but it is not +so. As to the real enjoyments of which our natures are capable, I can +not receive more now than I could before. I can not eat any more, +drink any more, or sleep any more, or do any of these things with any +more pleasure than when I was poor. All that I gain by this abundance +is, that I have more to watch, more to guard, more to take care of. I +have many servants, for whose wants I have to provide, and who are a +constant source of solicitude to me. One calls for food, another for +clothes, and a third is sick, and I must see that he has a physician. +My other possessions, too, are a constant care. A man comes in, one +day, and brings me sheep that have been torn by the wolves; and, on +another day, tells me of oxen that have fallen from a precipice, or of +a distemper which has broken out among the flocks or herds. My wealth, +therefore, brings me only an increase of anxiety and trouble, without +any addition to my joys." + +"But those things," said the Sacian, "which you name, must be unusual +and extraordinary occurrences. When all things are going on +prosperously and well with you, and you can look around on all your +possessions and feel that they are yours, then certainly you must be +happier than I am." + +"It is true," said Pheraulas, "that there is a pleasure in the +possession of wealth, but that pleasure is not great enough to balance +the suffering which the calamities and losses inevitably connected +with it occasion. That the suffering occasioned by losing our +possessions is greater than the pleasure of retaining them, is proved +by the fact that the pain of a loss is so exciting to the mind that it +often deprives men of sleep, while they enjoy the most calm and quiet +repose so long as their possessions are retained, which proves that +the pleasure does not move them so deeply. They are kept awake by the +vexation and chagrin on the one hand, but they are never kept awake by +the satisfaction on the other." + +"That is true," replied the Sacian. "Men are not kept awake by the +mere continuing to possess their wealth, but they very often are by +the original acquisition of it." + +"Yes, indeed," replied Pheraulas; "and if the enjoyment of _being_ +rich could always continue as great as that of first becoming so, the +rich would, I admit, be very happy men; but it is not, and can not be +so. They who possess much, must lose, and expend, and give much; and +this necessity brings more of pain than the possessions themselves can +give of pleasure." + +The Sacian was not convinced. The giving and expending, he maintained, +would be to him, in itself, a source of pleasure. He should like to +have much, for the very purpose of being able to expend much. Finally, +Pheraulas proposed to the Sacian, since he seemed to think that riches +would afford him so much pleasure, and as he himself, Pheraulas, found +the possession of them only a source of trouble and care, that he +would convey all his wealth to the Sacian, he himself to receive only +an ordinary maintenance from it. + +"You are in jest," said the Sacian. + +"No," said Pheraulas, "I am in earnest." And he renewed his +proposition, and pressed the Sacian urgently to accept of it. + +The Sacian then said that nothing could give him greater pleasure than +such an arrangement. He expressed great gratitude for so generous an +offer, and promised that, if he received the property, he would +furnish Pheraulas with most ample and abundant supplies for all his +wants, and would relieve him entirely of all responsibility and care. +He promised, moreover, to obtain from Cyrus permission that Pheraulas +should thereafter be excused from the duties of military service, and +from all the toils, privations, and hardships of war, so that he might +thenceforth lead a life of quiet, luxury, and ease, and thus live in +the enjoyment of all the benefits which wealth could procure, without +its anxieties and cares. + +The plan, thus arranged, was carried into effect. Pheraulas divested +himself of his possessions, conveying them all to the Sacian. Both +parties were extremely pleased with the operation of the scheme, and +they lived thus together for a long time. Whatever Pheraulas acquired +in any way, he always brought to the Sacian, and the Sacian, by +accepting it, relieved Pheraulas of all responsibility and care. The +Sacian loved Pheraulas, as Xenophon says, in closing this narrative, +because he was thus continually bringing him gifts; and Pheraulas +loved the Sacian, because he was always willing to take the gifts +which were thus brought to him. + +Among the other conversations, whether real or imaginary, which +Xenophon records, he gives some specimens of those which took place at +festive entertainments in Cyrus's tent, on occasions when he invited +his officers to dine with him. He commenced the conversation, on one +of these occasions, by inquiring of some of the officers present +whether they did not think that the common soldiers were equal to the +officers themselves in intelligence, courage, and military skill, and +in all the other substantial qualities of a good soldier. + +"I know not how that may be," replied one of the officers. "How they +will prove when they come into action with the enemy, I can not tell; +but a more perverse and churlish set of fellows in camp, than these I +have got in my regiment, I never knew. The other day, for example, +when there had been a sacrifice, the meat of the victims was sent +around to be distributed to the soldiers. In our regiment, when the +steward came in with the first distribution, he began by me, and so +went round, as far as what he had brought would go. The next time he +came, he began at the other end. The supply failed before he had got +to the place where he had left off before, so that there was a man in +the middle that did not get any thing. This man immediately broke out +in loud and angry complaints, and declared that there was no equality +or fairness whatever in such a mode of division, unless they began +sometimes in the center of the line. + +"Upon this," continued the officer, "I called to the discontented man, +and invited him to come and sit by me, where he would have a better +chance for a good share. He did so. It happened that, at the next +distribution that was made, we were the last, and he fancied that only +the smallest pieces were left, so he began to complain more than +before. 'Oh, misery!' said he, 'that I should have to sit here!' 'Be +patient,' said I; 'pretty soon they will begin the distribution with +us, and then you will have the best chance of all.' And so it proved +for, at the next distribution, they began at us, and the man took his +share first; but when the second and third men took theirs, he fancied +that their pieces looked larger than his, and he reached forward and +put his piece back into the basket, intending to change it; but the +steward moved rapidly on, and he did not get another, so that he lost +his distribution altogether. He was then quite furious with rage and +vexation." + +Cyrus and all the company laughed very heartily at these mischances of +greediness and discontent; and then other stories, of a somewhat +similar character, were told by other guests. One officer said that a +few days previous he was drilling a part of his troops, and he had +before him on the plain what is called, in military language, a +_squad_ of men, whom he was teaching to march. When he gave the order +to advance, one, who was at the head of the file, marched forward with +great alacrity, but all the rest stood still. "I asked him," continued +the officer, "what he was doing. 'Marching,' said he, 'as you ordered +me to do.' 'It was not you alone that I ordered to march,' said I, +'but all.' So I sent him back to his place, and then gave the command +again. Upon this they all advanced promiscuously and in disorder +toward me, each one acting for himself, without regard to the others, +and leaving the file-leader, who ought to have been at the head, +altogether behind. The file-leader said, 'Keep back! keep back!' Upon +this the men were offended, and asked what they were to do about such +contradictory orders. 'One commands us to advance, and another to keep +back!' said they; 'how are we to know which to obey?'" + +Cyrus and his guests were so much amused at the awkwardness of these +recruits, and the ridiculous predicament in which the officer was +placed by it, that the narrative of the speaker was here interrupted +by universal and long-continued laughter. + +"Finally," continued the officer, "I sent the men all back to their +places, and explained to them that, when a command was given, they +were not to obey it in confusion and unseemly haste, but regularly and +in order, each one following the man who stood before him. 'You must +regulate your proceeding,' said I, 'by the action of the file-leader; +when he advances, you must advance, following him in a line, and +governing your movements in all respects by his.' + +"Just at this moment," continued the officer, "a man came to me for a +letter which was to go to Persia, and which I had left in my tent. I +directed the file-leader to run to my tent and bring the letter to me. +He immediately set off, and the rest, obeying literally the directions +which I had just been giving them, all followed, running behind him +in a line like a troop of savages, so that I had the whole squad of +twenty men running in a body off the field to fetch a letter!" + +When the general hilarity which these recitals occasioned had a little +subsided, Cyrus said he thought that they could not complain of the +character of the soldiers whom they had to command, for they were +certainly, according to these accounts, sufficiently ready to obey the +orders they received. Upon this, a certain one of the guests who was +present, named Aglaitadas, a gloomy and austere-looking man, who had +not joined at all in the merriment which the conversation had caused, +asked Cyrus if he believed those stories to be true. + +"Why?" asked Cyrus; "what do _you_ think of them?" + +"_I_ think," said Aglaitadas, "that these officers invented them to +make the company laugh. It is evident that they were not telling the +truth, since they related the stories in such a vain and arrogant +way." + +"Arrogant!" said Cyrus; "you ought not to call them arrogant; for, +even if they invented their narrations, it was not to gain any selfish +ends of their own, but only to amuse us and promote our enjoyment. +Such persons should be called polite and agreeable rather than +arrogant." + +"If, Aglaitadas," said one of the officers who had related the +anecdotes, "we had told you melancholy stories to make you gloomy and +wretched, you might have been justly displeased; but you certainly +ought not to complain of us for making you merry." + +"Yes," said Aglaitadas, "I think I may. To make a man laugh is a very +insignificant and useless thing. It is far better to make him weep. +Such thoughts and such conversation as makes us serious, thoughtful, +and sad, and even moves us to tears, are the most salutary and the +best." + +"Well," replied the officer, "if you will take my advice, you will +lay out all your powers of inspiring gloom, and melancholy, and of +bringing tears, upon our enemies, and bestow the mirth and laughter +upon us. There must be a prodigious deal of laughter in you, for none +ever comes out. You neither use nor expend it yourself, nor do you +afford it to your friends." + +"Then," said Aglaitadas, "why do you attempt to draw it from me?" + +"It is preposterous!" said another of the company; "for one could more +easily strike fire out of Aglaitadas than get a laugh from him!" + +Aglaitadas could not help smiling at this comparison; upon which +Cyrus, with an air of counterfeited gravity, reproved the person who +had spoken, saying that he had corrupted the most sober man in the +company by making him smile, and that to disturb such gravity as that +of Aglaitadas was carrying the spirit of mirth and merriment +altogether too far. + + * * * * * + +These specimens will suffice. They serve to give a more distinct idea +of the Cyropaedia of Xenophon than any general description could +afford. The book is a drama, of which the principal elements are such +narratives as the story of Panthea, and such conversations as those +contained in this chapter, intermingled with long discussions on the +principles of government, and on the discipline and management of +armies. The principles and the sentiments which the work inculcates +and explains are now of little value, being no longer applicable to +the affairs of mankind in the altered circumstances of the present +day. The book, however, retains its rank among men on account of a +certain beautiful and simple magnificence characterizing the style and +language in which it is written, which, however, can not be +appreciated except by those who read the narrative in the original +tongue. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE DEATH OF CYRUS. + +B.C. 530 + +Progress of Cyrus's conquests.--The northern countries.--The +Scythians.--Their warlike character.--Cyrus's sons.--His queen.--Selfish +views of Cyrus.--Customs of the savages.--Cyrus arrives at the +Araxes.--Difficulties of crossing the river.--Embassage from +Tomyris.--Warning of Tomyris.--Cyrus calls a council of war.--Opinion +of the officers.--Dissent of Croesus.--Speech of Croesus.--His +advice to Cyrus.--Cyrus adopts the plan of Croesus.--His reply +to Tomyris.--Forebodings of Cyrus.--He appoints Cambyses +regent.--Hystaspes.--His son Darius.--Cyrus's dream.--Hystaspes's +commission.--Cyrus marches into the queen's country.--Success of the +stratagem.--Spargapizes taken prisoner.--Tomyris's concern for her +son's safety.--Her conciliatory message.--Mortification of +Spargapizes.--Cyrus gives him liberty within the camp.--Death of +Spargapizes.--Grief and rage of Tomyris.--The great battle.--Cyrus +is defeated and slain.--Tomyris's treatment of Cyrus's +body.--Reflections.--Hard-heartedness, selfishness, and cruelty +characterize the ambitious. + + +After having made the conquest of the Babylonian empire, Cyrus found +himself the sovereign of nearly all of Asia, so far as it was then +known. Beyond his dominions there lay, on every side, according to the +opinions which then prevailed, vast tracts of uninhabitable territory, +desolate and impassable. These wildernesses were rendered unfit for +man, sometimes by excessive heat, sometimes by excessive cold, +sometimes from being parched by perpetual drought, which produced bare +and desolate deserts, and sometimes by incessant rains, which drenched +the country and filled it with morasses and fens. On the north was the +great Caspian Sea, then almost wholly unexplored, and extending, as +the ancients believed, to the Polar Ocean. + +On the west side of the Caspian Sea were the Caucasian Mountains, +which were supposed, in those days, to be the highest on the globe. In +the neighborhood of these mountains there was a country, inhabited by +a wild and half-savage people, who were called Scythians. This was, in +fact, a sort of generic term, which was applied, in those days, to +almost all the aboriginal tribes beyond the confines of civilization. +The Scythians, however, if such they can properly be called, who lived +on the borders of the Caspian Sea, were not wholly uncivilized. They +possessed many of those mechanical arts which are the first to be +matured among warlike nations. They had no iron or steel, but they +were accustomed to work other metals, particularly gold and brass. +They tipped their spears and javelins with brass, and made brazen +plates for defensive armor, both for themselves and for their horses. +They made, also, many ornaments and decorations of gold. These they +attached to their helmets, their belts, and their banners. They were +very formidable in war, being, like all other northern nations, +perfectly desperate and reckless in battle. They were excellent +horsemen, and had an abundance of horses with which to exercise their +skill; so that their armies consisted, like those of the Cossacks of +modern times, of great bodies of cavalry. + +The various campaigns and conquests by which Cyrus obtained +possession of his extended dominions occupied an interval of about +thirty years. It was near the close of this interval, when he was, in +fact, advancing toward a late period of life, that he formed the plan +of penetrating into these northern regions, with a view of adding them +also to his domains. + +He had two sons, Cambyses and Smerdis. His wife is said to have been a +daughter of Astyages, and that he married her soon after his conquest +of the kingdom of Media, in order to reconcile the Medians more easily +to his sway, by making a Median princess their queen. Among the +western nations of Europe such a marriage would be abhorred, Astyages +having been Cyrus's grandfather; but among the Orientals, in those +days, alliances of this nature were not uncommon. It would seem that +this queen was not living at the time that the events occurred which +are to be related in this chapter. Her sons had grown up to maturity, +and were now princes of great distinction. + +One of the Scythian or northern nations to which we have referred were +called the Massagetae. They formed a very extensive and powerful realm. +They were governed, at this time, by a queen named Tomyris. She was a +widow, past middle life. She had a son named Spargapizes, who had, +like the sons of Cyrus, attained maturity, and was the heir to the +throne. Spargapizes was, moreover, the commander-in-chief of the +armies of the queen. + +The first plan which Cyrus formed for the annexation of the realm of +the Massagetae to his own dominions was by a matrimonial alliance. He +accordingly raised an army and commenced a movement toward the north, +sending, at the same time, embassadors before him into the country of +the Massagetae, with offers of marriage to the queen. The queen knew +very well that it was her dominions, and not herself, that constituted +the great attraction for Cyrus, and, besides, she was of an age when +ambition is a stronger passion than love. She refused the offers, and +sent back word to Cyrus forbidding his approach. + +Cyrus, however, continued to move on. The boundary between his +dominions and those of the queen was at the River Araxes, a stream +flowing from west to east, through the central parts of Asia, toward +the Caspian Sea. As Cyrus advanced, he found the country growing more +and more wild and desolate. It was inhabited by savage tribes, who +lived on roots and herbs, and who were elevated very little, in any +respect, above the wild beasts that roamed in the forests around them. +They had one very singular custom, according to Herodotus. It seems +that there was a plant which grew among them, that bore a fruit, whose +fumes, when it was roasting on a fire, had an exhilarating effect, +like that produced by wine. These savages, therefore, Herodotus +says, were accustomed to assemble around a fire, in their convivial +festivities, and to throw some of this fruit in the midst of it. The +fumes emitted by the fruit would soon begin to intoxicate the whole +circle, when they would throw on more fruit, and become more and more +excited, until, at length, they would jump up, and dance about, and +sing, in a state of complete inebriation. + +Among such savages as these, and through the forests and wildernesses +in which they lived, Cyrus advanced till he reached the Araxes. Here, +after considering, for some time, by what means he could best pass +the river, he determined to build a floating bridge, by means of boats +and rafts obtained from the natives on the banks, or built for the +purpose. It would be obviously much easier to transport the army by +using these boats and rafts to _float_ the men across, instead of +constructing a bridge with them; but this would not have been safe, +for the transportation of the army by such a means would be gradual +and slow; and if the enemy were lurking in the neighborhood, and +should make an attack upon them in the midst of the operation, while +a part of the army were upon one bank and a part upon the other, and +another portion still, perhaps, in boats upon the stream, the defeat +and destruction of the whole would be almost inevitable. Cyrus planned +the formation of the bridge, therefore, as a means of transporting his +army in a body, and of landing them on the opposite bank in solid +columns, which could be formed into order of battle without any delay. + +While Cyrus was engaged in the work of constructing the bridge, +embassadors appeared, who said that they had been sent from Tomyris. +She had commissioned them, they said, to warn Cyrus to desist entirely +from his designs upon her kingdom, and to return to his own. This +would be the wisest course, too, Tomyris said, for himself, and she +counseled him, for his own welfare, to follow it. He could not foresee +the result, if he should invade her dominions and encounter her +armies. Fortune had favored him thus far, it was true, but fortune +might change, and he might find himself, before he was aware, at the +end of his victories. Still, she said, she had no expectation that he +would be disposed to listen to this warning and advice, and, on her +part, she had no objection to his persevering in his invasion. She did +not fear him. He need not put himself to the expense and trouble of +building a bridge across the Araxes. She would agree to withdraw all +her forces three days' march into her own country, so that he might +cross the river safely and at his leisure, and she would await him at +the place where she should have encamped; or, if he preferred it, she +would cross the river and meet him on his own side. In that case, he +must retire three days' march from the river, so as to afford her the +same opportunity to make the passage undisturbed which she had offered +him. She would then come over and march on to attack him. She gave +Cyrus his option which branch of this alternative to choose. + +Cyrus called a council of war to consider the question. He laid the +case before his officers and generals, and asked for their opinion. +They were unanimously agreed that it would be best for him to accede +to the last of the two proposals made to him, viz., to draw back +three days' journey toward his own dominions, and wait for Tomyris to +come and attack him there. + +There was, however, one person present at this consultation, though +not regularly a member of the council, who gave Cyrus different +advice. This was Croesus, the fallen king of Lydia. Ever since the +time of his captivity, he had been retained in the camp and in the +household of Cyrus, and had often accompanied him in his expeditions +and campaigns. Though a captive, he seems to have been a friend; at +least, the most friendly relations appeared to subsist between him and +his conqueror; and he often figures in history as a wise and honest +counselor to Cyrus, in the various emergencies in which he was placed. +He was present on this occasion, and he dissented from the opinion +which was expressed by the officers of the army. + +"I ought to apologize, perhaps," said he, "for presuming to offer any +counsel, captive as I am; but I have derived, in the school of +calamity and misfortune in which I have been taught, some advantages +for learning wisdom which you have never enjoyed. It seems to me that +it will be much better for you not to fall back, but to advance and +attack Tomyris in her own dominions; for, if you retire in this +manner, in the first place, the act itself is discreditable to you: it +is a retreat. Then, if, in the battle that follows, Tomyris conquers +you, she is already advanced three days' march into your dominions, +and she may go on, and, before you can take measures for raising +another army, make herself mistress of your empire. On the other hand, +if, in the battle, you conquer her, you will be then six days' march +back of the position which you would occupy if you were to advance +now. + +"I will propose," continued Croesus, "the following plan: Cross the +river according to Tomyris's offer, and advance the three days' +journey into her country. Leave a small part of your force there, with +a great abundance of your most valuable baggage and supplies--luxuries +of all kinds, and rich wines, and such articles as the enemy will most +value as plunder. Then fall back with the main body of your army +toward the river again, in a secret manner, and encamp in an +ambuscade. The enemy will attack your advanced detachment. They will +conquer them. They will seize the stores and supplies, and will +suppose that your whole army is vanquished. They will fall upon the +plunder in disorder, and the discipline of their army will be +overthrown. They will go to feasting upon the provisions and to +drinking the wines, and then, when they are in the midst of their +festivities and revelry, you can come back suddenly with the real +strength of your army, and wholly overwhelm them." + +Cyrus determined to adopt the plan which Croesus thus recommended. +He accordingly gave answer to the embassadors of Tomyris that he would +accede to the first of her proposals. If she would draw back from the +river three days' march, he would cross it with his army as soon as +practicable, and then come forward and attack her. The embassadors +received this message, and departed to deliver it to their queen. She +was faithful to her agreement, and drew her forces back to the place +proposed, and left them there, encamped under the command of her son. + +Cyrus seems to have felt some forebodings in respect to the manner in +which this expedition was to end. He was advanced in life, and not now +as well able as he once was to endure the privations and hardships of +such campaigns. Then, the incursion which he was to make was into a +remote, and wild, and dangerous country and he could not but be aware +that he might never return. Perhaps he may have had some compunctions +of conscience, too, at thus wantonly disturbing the peace and invading +the territories of an innocent neighbor, and his mind may have been +the less at ease on that account. At any rate, he resolved to settle +the affairs of his government before he set out, in order to secure +both the tranquillity of the country while he should be absent, and +the regular transmission of his power to his descendants in case he +should never return. + +Accordingly, in a very formal manner, and in the presence of all his +army, he delegated his power to Cambyses, his son, constituting him +regent of the realm during his absence. He committed Croesus to his +son's special care, charging him to pay him every attention and honor. +It was arranged that these persons, as well as a considerable portion +of the army, and a large number of attendants that had followed the +camp thus far, were not to accompany the expedition across the +river, but were to remain behind and return to the capital. These +arrangements being all thus finally made, Cyrus took leave of his son +and of Croesus, crossed the river with that part of the army which +was to proceed, and commenced his march. + +The uneasiness and anxiety which Cyrus seems to have felt in respect +to his future fate on this memorable march affected even his dreams. +It seems that there was among the officers of his army a certain +general named Hystaspes. He had a son named Darius, then a youth of +about twenty years of age, who had been left at home, in Persia, when +the army marched, not being old enough to accompany them. Cyrus +dreamed, one night, immediately after crossing the river, that he saw +this young Darius with wings on his shoulders, that extended, the one +over Asia and the other over Europe, thus overshadowing the world. +When Cyrus awoke and reflected upon his dream, it seemed to him to +portend that Darius might be aspiring to the government of his empire. +He considered it a warning intended to put him on his guard. + +When he awoke in the morning, he sent for Hystaspes, and related to +him his dream. "I am satisfied," said he, "that it denotes that your +son is forming ambitious and treasonable designs. Do you, therefore, +return home, and arrest him in this fatal course. Secure him, and let +him be ready to give me an account of his conduct when I shall +return." + +Hystaspes, having received this commission, left the army and +returned. The name of this Hystaspes acquired a historical immortality +in a very singular way, that is, by being always used as a part of the +appellation by which to designate his distinguished son. In after +years Darius did attain to a very extended power. He became Darius the +Great. As, however, there were several other Persian monarchs called +Darius, some of whom were nearly as great as this the first of the +name, the usage was gradually established of calling him Darius +Hystaspes; and thus the name of the father has become familiar to all +mankind, simply as a consequence and pendant to the celebrity of the +son. + +After sending off Hystaspes, Cyrus went on. He followed, in all +respects, the plan of Croesus. He marched his army into the country +of Tomyris, and advanced until he reached the point agreed upon. Here +he stationed a feeble portion of his army, with great stores of +provisions and wines, and abundance of such articles as would be +prized by the barbarians as booty. He then drew back with the main +body of his army toward the Araxes, and concealed his forces in a +hidden encampment. The result was as Croesus had anticipated. The +body which he had left was attacked by the troops of Tomyris, and +effectually routed. The provisions and stores fell into the hands of +the victors. They gave themselves up to the most unbounded joy, and +their whole camp was soon a universal scene of rioting and excess. +Even the commander, Spargapizes, Tomyris's son, became intoxicated +with the wine. + +While things were in this state, the main body of the army of Cyrus +returned suddenly and unexpectedly, and fell upon their now helpless +enemies with a force which entirely overwhelmed them. The booty was +recovered, large numbers of the enemy were slain, and others were +taken prisoners. Spargapizes himself was captured; his hands were +bound; he was taken into Cyrus's camp, and closely guarded. + +The result of this stratagem, triumphantly successful as it was, would +have settled the contest, and made Cyrus master of the whole realm, if +as he, at the time, supposed was the case, the main body of Tomyris's +forces had been engaged in this battle; but it seems that Tomyris had +learned, by reconnoiterers and spies, how large a force there was in +Cyrus's camp, and had only sent a detachment of her own troops to +attack them, not judging it necessary to call out the whole. Two +thirds of her army remained still uninjured. With this large force +she would undoubtedly have advanced without any delay to attack Cyrus +again, were it not for her maternal concern for the safety of her son. +He was in Cyrus's power, a helpless captive, and she did not know to +what cruelties he would be exposed if Cyrus were to be exasperated +against her. While her heart, therefore, was burning with resentment +and anger, and with an almost uncontrollable thirst for revenge, her +hand was restrained. She kept back her army, and sent to Cyrus a +conciliatory message. + +She said to Cyrus that he had no cause to be specially elated at +his victory; that it was only one third of her forces that had been +engaged, and that with the remainder she held him completely in her +power. She urged him, therefore, to be satisfied with the injury which +he had already inflicted upon her by destroying one third of her army, +and to liberate her son, retire from her dominions, and leave her in +peace. If he would do so, she would not molest him in his departure; +but if he would not, she swore by the sun, the great god which she +and her countrymen adored, that, insatiable as he was for blood, she +would give it to him till he had his fill. + +Of course Cyrus was not to be frightened by such threats as these. He +refused to deliver up the captive prince, or to withdraw from the +country, and both parties began to prepare again for war. + +Spargapizes was intoxicated when he was taken, and was unconscious of +the calamity which had befallen him. When at length he awoke from his +stupor, and learned the full extent of his misfortune, and of the +indelible disgrace which he had incurred, he was overwhelmed with +astonishment, disappointment, and shame. The more he reflected upon +his condition, the more hopeless it seemed. Even if his life were to +be spared, and if he were to recover his liberty, he never could +recover his honor. The ignominy of such a defeat and such a captivity, +he knew well, must be indelible. + +He begged Cyrus to loosen his bonds and allow him personal liberty +within the camp. Cyrus, pitying, perhaps, his misfortunes, and the +deep dejection and distress which they occasioned, acceded to this +request. Spargapizes watched an opportunity to seize a weapon when he +was not observed by his guards, and killed himself. + +His mother Tomyris, when she heard of his fate, was frantic with grief +and rage. She considered Cyrus as the wanton destroyer of the peace of +her kingdom and the murderer of her son, and she had now no longer any +reason for restraining her thirst for revenge. She immediately began +to concentrate her forces, and to summon all the additional troops +that she could obtain from every part of her kingdom. Cyrus, too, +began in earnest to strengthen his lines, and to prepare for the great +final struggle. + +At length the armies approached each other, and the battle began. The +attack was commenced by the archers on either side, who shot showers +of arrows at their opponents as they were advancing. When the arrows +were spent, the men fought hand to hand, with spears, and javelins, +and swords. The Persians fought desperately, for they fought for their +lives. They were in the heart of an enemy's country, with a broad +river behind them to cut off their retreat, and they were contending +with a wild and savage foe, whose natural barbarity was rendered still +more ferocious and terrible than ever by the exasperation which they +felt, in sympathy with their injured queen. For a long time it was +wholly uncertain which side would win the day. The advantage, here and +there along the lines, was in some places on one side, and in some +places on the other; but, though overpowered and beaten, the several +bands, whether of Persians or Scythians, would neither retreat +nor surrender, but the survivors, when their comrades had fallen, +continued to fight on till they were all slain. It was evident, at +last, that the Scythians were gaining the day. When night came on, the +Persian army was found to be almost wholly destroyed; the remnant +dispersed. When all was over, the Scythians, in exploring the field, +found the dead body of Cyrus among the other ghastly and mutilated +remains which covered the ground. They took it up with a ferocious and +exulting joy, and carried it to Tomyris. + +Tomyris treated it with every possible indignity. She cut and +mutilated the lifeless form; as if it could still feel the injuries +inflicted by her insane revenge. "Miserable wretch!" said she; "though +I am in the end your conqueror, you have ruined my peace and happiness +forever. You have murdered my son. But I promised you your fill of +blood, and you shall have it." So saying, she filled a can with +Persian blood, obtained, probably, by the execution of her captives, +and, cutting off the head of her victim from the body, she plunged it +in, exclaiming, "Drink there, insatiable monster, till your murderous +thirst is satisfied." + +This was the end of Cyrus. Cambyses, his son, whom he had appointed +regent during his absence, succeeded quietly to the government of his +vast dominions. + +In reflecting on this melancholy termination of this great conqueror's +history, our minds naturally revert to the scenes of his childhood, +and we wonder that so amiable, and gentle, and generous a boy should +become so selfish, and unfeeling, and overbearing as a man. But such +are the natural and inevitable effects of ambition and an inordinate +love of power. The history of a conqueror is always a tragical and +melancholy tale. He begins life with an exhibition of great and noble +qualities, which awaken in us, who read his history, the same +admiration that was felt for him, personally, by his friends and +countrymen while he lived, and on which the vast ascendency which he +acquired over the minds of his fellow-men, and which led to his power +and fame, was, in a great measure, founded. On the other hand, he ends +life neglected, hated, and abhorred. His ambition has been gratified, +but the gratification has brought with it no substantial peace or +happiness; on the contrary, it has filled his soul with uneasiness, +discontent, suspiciousness, and misery. The histories of heroes would +be far less painful in the perusal if we could reverse this moral +change of character, so as to have the cruelty, the selfishness, and +the oppression exhaust themselves in the comparatively unimportant +transactions of early life, and the spirit of kindness, generosity, +and beneficence blessing and beautifying its close. To be generous, +disinterested, and noble, seems to be necessary as the precursor of +great military success; and to be hard-hearted, selfish, and cruel is +the almost inevitable consequence of it. The exceptions to this rule, +though some of them are very splendid, are yet very few. + + THE END. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + +1. 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