The History of Antiquity Volume V Part 18

downwards. Von Gutschmid, "Neue Beitr." s. 89. From this silence I have concluded, and still conclude, that the liberation of the Medes took place towards 640 B.C., and moreover that the victory of the a.s.syrians over Phraortes, and his death in battle did not bring about a decisive change in favour of the a.s.syrians.

CHAPTER II.

THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES.

"When Phraortes had fallen, he was succeeded by his son Cyaxares. This prince collected all his subjects and marched against Nineveh, in order to avenge the death of his father and destroy the city. He defeated the a.s.syrians, and while encamped before Nineveh, there came upon him the vast army of the Scythians, led by their king Madyas, the son of Protothyas, who invaded Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians, and as they did not come through the land of the Saspeires, but kept the Caucasus to the right, they reached the Median country. Here they attacked the Medes, and the latter being conquered in the battle lost their empire; the Scythians became masters of the whole of Asia, and ruled over it for 28 years. With reckless cruelty they laid everything waste; they not only imposed tribute on all the nations, but went round and took from every one all that he possessed. But Cyaxares and the Medes ma.s.sacred the greater part of them after making them intoxicated at a banquet, and in this way the Medes recovered their empire, and again governed those who had previously been subject to them. Then a horde of Scythians, which had separated from the rest and put themselves under the protection of Cyaxares, were guilty of a crime against a Median boy who had been entrusted to them, and fled for refuge to Alyattes, king of Lydia, who refused to give them up. This led to a war between Media and Lydia which continued for five years, and was brought to an end by a treaty in which Alyattes gave his daughter Aryanis to wife to the son of Cyaxares. Cyaxares was master of all Asia beyond the Halys, took Nineveh, and subjugated the a.s.syrians, with the exception of the Babylonian portion." Such is the history, given by Herodotus, of Cyaxares, who, on his reckoning, ascended the throne of Media in the year 633 B.C.

If Phraortes had fallen in battle against the a.s.syrians with the greater part of his army, Cyaxares (Uvakshathra) could hardly have at once undertaken an attack on Nineveh, with a view of avenging his father's death by the destruction of that city; his first care, on the contrary, would have been to prevent the a.s.syrians from making use of their great victory, to guard against further advances on their part, and to maintain the freedom of Media. This struggle Cyaxares pa.s.sed through with success; that his good fortune carried him as far as the walls of Nineveh, is indeed possible, but not probable; according to Herodotus the collision of the Scythians and Medes did not take place in the land of a.s.shur, but further to the East, in Media.

The facts about the pursuit of the Cimmerians and the invasion of the Scythians have been already examined, and it has been shown that Herodotus has connected the immigration of the Cimmerians into Asia Minor, which took place in the eighth century B.C., with the incursion of Sacian tribes from the Oxus into Media, about the year 630 B.C. He was deceived by the circ.u.mstance that the Cimmerians from their abode on the lower Halys penetrated to Sardis and the cities of the Western coast, about the time when the Sacae invaded Media and inundated Hither Asia (III. 276). The truth is that the hordes of the Sacae not only overthrew Media, but pa.s.sed through Mesopotamia into Syria as far as the borders of Egypt. Their attack shattered and destroyed the cohesion of the a.s.syrian empire.

About the year 620 Cyaxares succeeded in overpowering the section of the Scythians which remained in Media (these hordes were no doubt widely dispersed), and again became master in his own dominions. He made use of his advantageous position as the first who could again direct the forces of his people. He showed himself to the Armenians and Cappadocians as a champion to defend them from the plundering Scythians, and at the same time aided in liberating them from the dominion of the a.s.syrians. The incursion of the Scythians had prepared the way for him; in a few years he was able to extend his power to the West as far as the Halys.[481]

Nabopola.s.sar, the viceroy of a.s.syria in Babylon, who had determined to turn to account the severe blow which the incursion of the Scyths had given to the a.s.syrian kingdom, had already offered him his hand in alliance. Amyite, the daughter of Cyaxares, had become the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopola.s.sar. But in Asia Minor, far to the West, the princes of the Lydians had taken advantage of the disturbance and confusion which the advance of the Cimmerians had carried to the Western coast, to extend their power over Phrygia as far as the Halys (III. 435). Here the two rapidly-developing powers met. Though inferior in numbers the Lydians showed themselves a match for the Medes. After a war of five years, peace was established between them by Nabopola.s.sar of Babylon and Syennesis of Cilicia, in order to set the power of Media free to act against Nineveh. The Halys became the boundary of the two kingdoms, and the peace was confirmed by an alliance. Alyattes of Lydia gave his daughter Aryanis to wife to Astyages the son of Cyaxares (610 B.C.[482]). Media and Babylonia now thought themselves strong enough to undertake the contest against the remains of the a.s.syrian kingdom.

Cyaxares led out the Medes, Nabopola.s.sar the Babylonians against king a.s.sur-idil-ili. The latter offered a long and stubborn defence, and when at length the walls of Nineveh were broken through, he burnt himself in the citadel. The a.s.syrian country as far as the Tigris fell to the share of Media; Mesopotamia was united with the new kingdom of Babylon (607 B.C.[483]). Thus Media and Babylonia took the place of a.s.syria; and Babylon, as Herodotus says, was now the chief city of the a.s.syrians.

When the kingdom had fallen which for three centuries had ruled in the East and West, Cyaxares might indulge the thought of making his empire more complete on the table-land of Iran. According to the story which Ctesias has preserved for us from the Medo-Persian Epos of the fall of a.s.syria (III. 249), the Bactrians had been prevailed upon to join the Medes and Babylonians in the course of the war against a.s.syria, and the Persian songs which describe the contest of Cyrus and Astyages, represent the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Bactrians, and other nations of the East, as ruled by viceroys of the Median king.[484] We may regard it as certain that Cyaxares succeeded in subjugating the table-land of Iran to a considerable extent. No slight proof is afforded of the increase and greatness of the Median kingdom in his reign by the unusual care and extraordinary efforts of the successor of Nabopola.s.sar to protect Babylonia and Babylon by fortifications against the event of a struggle between the two powers, whose united exertions had destroyed a.s.syria (III. 366).

The position which the Medo-Persian poems a.s.sign to the chief of the Babylonians beside the chief of the Medes, during and after the common struggle, has been already explained. The Babylonian is the astrologer, the adviser, the helper; the Mede is the man of action. In the event of success against a.s.syria he promises the Babylonian the viceroyalty of Babylon, and has already given it to him, free of tribute, when the fraud is discovered by which the cunning Babylonian has acquired the most valuable part of the spoil of Nineveh. For this offence the chief is condemned to death; but the Mede pardons him, and in consideration of his former services and the promise made, leaves him the viceroyalty. So eager were the Median minstrels to conceal the independence of Babylonia beside Media, and represent a power as great as Babylon was under Nebuchadnezzar as a satrapy of their kings. This fiction is maintained in other episodes of the Medo-Persian Epos which have come down to us.

We are told of the stubborn resistance which the Cadusians made to the Medes; and an explanation is given how this unimportant nation on the sh.o.r.e of the Caspian (p. 268) could withstand the mighty kingdom of the Medes. This episode has come to us in the Persian form. It is the fault of the Median king that the Cadusians have become stubborn and successful enemies. He failed to help to his rights a brave warrior in his service; this warrior betook himself to the Cadusians, and became their chief, led them well, and bequeathed his thirst for vengeance to his descendants. From such a point of view even a Median minstrel could lament the perversity of the Median king, and the power of Babylonian gold, the abundance of which is strongly marked in the narrative, could praise the ancient simplicity of the Medes: "who took no heed of silver, and did not regard gold," as we are told in the Hebrew Scriptures, and reprobate the victory of gold over strict justice. But it is a Persian to whom the wrong is done, who summons the Cadusians to freedom; and the resistance of the Cadusians to the Median kingdom, thus brought about by a Persian, subsequently furnishes Cyrus with a pretext for arming the Persians, and also provides him with allies in the Cadusians. It was the merit of a brave Persian to have provided this a.s.sistance for his people long before. The king of the Medes who was guilty of this mistake is called in Ctesias Artaeus; we have seen (p. 277) that Artaeus and Astibaras, who reigned 40 years each, are but one and the same person; and as the reign of Cyaxares occupies 40 years in Herodotus, we may conjecture that he is the king hidden behind the Artaeus-Astibaras of Ctesias. The king of Babylon, the satrap of the episode, is brought in as a descendant of Belesys (Nabopola.s.sar), and described as an effeminate man. His name, in the form given by Ctesias, is Annarus.

Evilmerodach or Neriglissar of Babylon must be meant; but, without doubt, we are dealing with mere fiction.

The episode is as follows: There was a Persian of the name of Parsondes, in the service of the king of the Medes, an eager huntsman, and active warrior on foot and in the chariot, distinguished in council and in the field, and of influence with the king. Parsondes often urged the king to make him satrap of Babylon in the place of Annarus, who wore women's clothes and ornaments, but the king always put the pet.i.tion aside, for it could not be granted without breaking the promise which his ancestor had made to Belesys (p. 297). Annarus discovered the intentions of Parsondes, and sought to secure himself against him, and to take vengeance. He promised great rewards to the cooks who were in the train of the king, if they succeeded in seizing Parsondes and giving him up.

One day Parsondes in the heat of the chase strayed far from the king. He had already killed many boars and deer, when the pursuit of a wild a.s.s (the Sa.s.sanids also hunt this animal) carried him to a great distance.

At last he came upon the cooks, who were occupied in preparations for the king's table. Being thirsty, Parsondes asked for wine; they gave it, took care of his horse, and invited him to take food--an invitation agreeable to Parsondes, who had been hunting the whole day. He bade them send the a.s.s which he had captured to the king, and tell his own servants where he was. Then he ate of the various kinds of food set before him, and drank abundantly of the excellent wine, and at last asked for his horse in order to return to the king. But they brought beautiful women to him, and urged him to remain for the night. He agreed, and as soon as, overcome by hunting, wine, and love he had fallen into a deep sleep, the cooks bound him, and brought him to Annarus. Annarus reproached him with calling him an effeminate man, and seeking to obtain his satrapy; he had the king to thank that the satrapy granted to his ancestors had not been taken from him. Parsondes replied that he considered himself more worthy of the office, because he was more manly and more useful to the king. But Annarus swore by Bel and Mylitta that Parsondes should be softer and whiter than a woman, called for the eunuch who was over the female players, and bade him shave the body of Parsondes and bathe and anoint him every day, put women's clothes on him, plait his hair after the manner of women, paint his face, and place him among the women, who played the guitar and sang, and to teach him their arts. This was done, and soon Parsondes played and sang better at the table of Annarus than any of the women. Meanwhile the king of the Medes had caused search to be made everywhere for Parsondes, and since he could nowhere be found, and nothing could be heard of him, he believed that a lion or some other wild animal had torn him when out hunting, and lamented for his loss. Parsondes had lived for seven years as a woman in Babylon, when Annarus caused an eunuch to be scourged and grievously maltreated. This eunuch Parsondes induced by large presents to retire to Media and tell the king the misfortune which had come upon him. Then the king sent a message commanding Annarus to give up Parsondes. Annarus declared that he had never seen him. But the king sent a second messenger charging him to bring Annarus to be put to death if he did not surrender Parsondes. Annarus entertained the messenger of the king, and when the meal was brought, 150 women entered, of whom some played the guitar while others blew the flute. At the end of the meal Annarus asked the king's envoy which of all the women was the most beautiful and had played best. The envoy pointed to Parsondes.

Annarus laughed long and said, "That is the person whom you seek," and released Parsondes, who on the next day returned home with the envoy to the king in a chariot. The king was astonished at the sight of him, and asked why he had not avoided such disgrace by death? Parsondes answered: "In order that I might see you again, and by you execute vengeance on Annarus, which could never have been mine had I taken my life." The king promised him that his hope should not be deceived, as soon as he came to Babylon. But when he came there, Annarus defended himself on the ground that Parsondes, though in no way injured by him, had maligned him, and sought to obtain the satrapy over Babylonia. The king pointed out that he had made himself judge in his own cause, and had imposed a punishment of a degrading character; in ten days he would p.r.o.nounce sentence upon him for his conduct. In terror Annarus hastened to Mitraphernes, the eunuch of greatest influence with the king, and promised him the most liberal rewards (10 talents of gold and 100 talents of silver, 10 golden and 200 silver bowls) if he could induce the king to spare his life and retain him in the satrapy of Babylonia. He was prepared to give the king 100 talents of gold, 1000 talents of silver, 100 golden and 300 silver bowls, and costly robes with other gifts; Parsondes also should receive 100 talents of silver and costly robes. After many entreaties Mitraphernes persuaded the king not to command the execution of Annarus, as he had not killed Parsondes, but to condemn him in the penalty which he was prepared to pay Parsondes and the king. Annarus in grat.i.tude threw himself at the feet of the king, but Parsondes said: "Cursed be the man who first brought gold among men; for the sake of gold I have been made a mockery to the Babylonians." The eunuch advised him to lay aside his anger, and be reconciled with Annarus, for that was what the king desired; but Parsondes determined to take vengeance for the sentence of the king, and waited for a favourable opportunity in order to fly with a thousand horse and three thousand infantry to the Cadusians, whose most distinguished chief had married his sister. Then he persuaded the Cadusians to revolt from the Medes, and was elected to be their general. When the king of the Medes armed against them, Parsondes armed in return, and occupied the pa.s.ses into the country with 200,000 warriors. Though the Median king brought up 800,000 men, Parsondes nevertheless put him to flight, and slew 50,000 Medes. In admiration of such n.o.ble deeds, the Cadusians made Parsondes king, and they often invaded Media and laid it waste. At the end of his days, Parsondes commanded his successor to remain an enemy of the Medes, and p.r.o.nounced a curse: "If ever peace should be concluded between the Medes and the Cadusians, might his race and the whole nation of the Cadusians perish." This is the reason why the Cadusians remained the enemies of the Medes, and were never subject to them.[485]

Another episode tells us of the contests which the Medes had to sustain under the dominion of Astibaras-Artaeus, _i.e._ of Cyaxares, against the Parthians and the Sacae. The Parthians, whose chief was Marmares, revolted from the Medes, but handed over their land and city to the king of the Sacae, Cydraeus, that he might protect them against the Medes; and the sister of Cydraeus, Zarinaea (Zaranya, _i.e._ the golden), who was distinguished for her beauty and wisdom, her boldness and bravery (for the women of the Sacae took the field with the men), became the wife of Marmares. As the Medians intended to reduce the Parthians again to subjection, a war broke out between them and the Parthians and Sacae, which lasted for several years, and led to battles in which many fell on one side and the other. In one of these battles Zarinaea was wounded.

Stryangaeus, the Mede, to whom Cyaxares had given his daughter Rhoetaea to wife, pursued, overtook, and threw her from her horse. But the sight of her beauty and youth, and her entreaties, moved him; he allowed her to escape. Not long afterwards Stryangaeus with other Medes was taken captive by the Parthians. Marmares wished to put him to death, and though Zarinaea entreated for his life, insisted on his execution. Then Zarinaea loosed the bonds of the captive Medes, caused Marmares to be put to death by them, and allowed Stryangaeus to escape. When, after the death of her brother Cydraeus, she ascended the throne of the Sacae, she sent messengers to the king of the Medes to conclude peace and friends.h.i.+p. The Parthians were to return under the sovereignty of the Medes, the Sacae and Medes were to keep what previously belonged to them, and to be friends and allies for ever. This was done. Stryangaeus, the real author of this treaty, ever since the battle in which he had first seen Zarinaea, had been possessed with violent love for her, and went to Roxanace (_i.e._ the brilliant),[486] where was the royal citadel of the Sacae, in order to see the beloved princess once more. Zarinaea, who returned his affection, came to see him full of joy, received him and his attendants in the most splendid manner, kissed him in the sight of all, and ascended his chariot, and thus, while conversing with each other they arrived in the palace. Here Stryangaeus sighed in the chambers a.s.signed to him, and could not resist the violence of his pa.s.sion. At length he took counsel with the most faithful of his eunuchs, who encouraged him to discover his pa.s.sion to Zarinaea. Easily persuaded, Stryangaeus hastened to the queen, and after much delay and many sighs, sometimes blus.h.i.+ng and again turning pale, he ventured to declare that he was consumed with love for her. Zarinaea answered quietly and gently that it would be shameful and fatal for her to surrender herself to him, and far more shameful and dangerous for Stryangaeus, as his wife was the daughter of the king of the Medes, and, as she heard, more beautiful than herself and many other women. He must be brave, not only against his enemies, but against himself, and not bring about a long calamity for the sake of a brief enjoyment. No other wish of his but this should remain unsatisfied. Stryangaeus was silent for a long time, then embraced and kissed the queen, and departed. He was far more dejected than before, and determined to take his life.

"Thou hast been saved by me," he wrote to Zarinaea, "but through thee I am destroyed. If in this thou hast done justly, then may all good things be thine, and mayest thou be happy; if thou hast done evil, may a pa.s.sion like mine overtake thee." When he had bound the eunuch by an oath to give this letter to Zarinaea immediately after his death, he lay back on his cus.h.i.+ons and demanded his sword. As the eunuch refused to give it, he ended his days by starvation. Zarinaea ruled over the Sacae with wisdom and power. She conquered the neighbouring nations who sought to subjugate her people, caused a great part of the land to be cultivated, and built a considerable number of cities, and brought the Sacae into greater prosperity. In grat.i.tude for the benefits received from her, and in remembrance of her virtues, the Sacae erected on her grave a three-sided pyramid, three stades in length on each side, and ending in a point a stadum in height, on which was placed a colossal golden statue of the queen. Wors.h.i.+p was also offered to her as to a hero, so that she received greater honours than any of her predecessors.[487]

We have already acquainted ourselves with the land of the Parthians (p.

10). The Sacae were neighbours of the Hyrcanians, the Parthians, and the Bactrians in the steppes of the Oxus. Herodotus tells us that the Sacae were a nation of the tribe of the Scyths, and that their proper name was Amyrgians; the Persians called all the Scythians Sacae. The inscriptions of Darius speak of caka Humavarka; in the second version the name is Omuvargap, and in the Babylonian-a.s.syrian version Umurga. According to the account of Herodotus the Sacae wore trousers, and upright, pointed caps, and carried bows of a peculiar character, battle-axes and daggers.

They fought as mounted bowmen. On the monument of Darius at Behistun cakuka,[488] the leader of the Sacae, wears a tall pointed cap. In the army of Xerxes the Sacae were ranged with the Bactrians. What our episode tells us of the royal citadel and the cities built by Zarinaea does not harmonise with the nature of the steppe-country of the Sacae, and the statement of the Greeks, that the Sacae lived in variegated tents, and that their wealth consisted in flocks of sheep, but it does agree with the fact that the women went to battle on horseback with the men. The companions of Alexander describe the Sacae as strong, warlike, well-grown men, with flowing hair; the Macedonians only came up to their shoulders.

Later accounts speak of heavy-armed horse among them; both horse and rider were covered with armour, and the weapons of attack were long lances.[489] From the narratives given in the episodes we may retain the fact that although the Persians followed the lead of the Medes from the time of Phraortes, Cyaxares, even after the fall of Nineveh, did not succeed in subjugating the remaining nations of Iran without severe struggles. There is no reason to doubt that the Cadusians made an obstinate resistance, and maintained their independence: The Parthians were able to combine with the Sacae in order to preserve their freedom, and did not become subject to Cyaxares without severe contests. That the Sagartians on the edge of the great desert (p. 6) were subject to Cyaxares, is clear from the inscription of Darius at Behistun. If the Medes had to fight with the Sacae, who were settled on the Oxus, Bactria must have been reduced to form a part of their kingdom. Beside the Hyrcanians, Parthians, and "other nations," the Bactrians and Sacae are specially mentioned as subjects of the Median kings,[490] and Arrian a.s.sures us that the Acvakas, whom we found north of the Cabul on the right bank of the Indus (IV. 393), were subjects of the Medes.[491]

Herodotus tells us that Cyaxares was the first to separate the lance-bearers, archers, and hors.e.m.e.n, and combine them into divisions; that is, he introduced a better and more manageable arrangement of the army. To the same prince, no doubt, is due the completion of the fortifications of Ecbatana, which we found had been strengthened by his predecessor Phraortes. When the fortifications were first begun, the place was merely intended as a point of defence against a.s.syria; but as soon as it became destined to aid in the maintenance of independence, it was necessary that it should be capable of offering refuge and support to the Median army, if hard pressed. The mountains of the Zagrus form the boundary wall, and at the same time the line of division between the Medes and a.s.syrians. As Polybius told us (p. 268), it was an ascent of twelve miles--_i.e._ four leagues--to the top of the pa.s.s. If the Medes failed to hold these pa.s.ses, and were then defeated in their own table-land, the mountains of the Orontes formed a new point of protection to their retreat. The Orontes (Old Persian, _Urvanda_; now Elvend) is a steep range of mountains, traversing Media from north-west to south-east; the heights of the pa.s.ses are given by travellers at 7000 or 10,000 feet; Ctesias puts the ascent at twenty-five stades;[492]

recent explorers fix the time at four hours. On the eastern spur of this mountain wall, in a fertile plain, six leagues long and four leagues broad, lay Ecbatana, Old Persian _Hangmatana, i.e._ place of a.s.sembly, the Achmeta of the Hebrews. If the Orontes could not be held, the fortifications of Ecbatana formed a last point of protection for the Median army. From the a.s.syrians there was nothing more to be feared after the fall of Nineveh, but Cyaxares had no doubt felt, in the inundation of Media by the nomadic tribes of the Sacae, and then in the final battles against a.s.shur, what a support was given by a strong metropolis; what good service the walls of Nineveh had rendered to the enemy, even in his decline. He saw what measures were being taken by Nebuchadnezzar, his step-son, to make his metropolis secure, and determined that the kingdom, which he had so rapidly and brilliantly erected and developed, should not be without the nucleus of an impregnable fortress and royal citadel. The booty in silver and gold, which the Medes gained in Nineveh, and of which we hear not in the Median poems only, but also from the Hebrew prophets who lived at the time of the fall of the city, provided no doubt ample means both for the erection of the strongest works, and for the adornment of these as well as the citadel.

Ctesias tells us that Semiramis built a splendid palace at Ecbatana, a city lying in a plain, and as there were no springs near, she cut through the roots of the range of mountains, twelve stades distant from the city (the Orontes), on the farther side of which was a lake flowing into a river, in order to convey the water of the river into the city.

For this object a tunnel was cut through the mountain, fifteen feet in breadth and forty feet in depth, and through it the river was carried into Ecbatana.[493] If Ctesias ascribes the palace of Ecbatana and the tunnel, like other monuments of Media, to Semiramis, we have already seen that the queen is no more than a poetical fiction; nor could any of the sovereigns who ruled over a.s.syria entertain the project of building citadels and conduits for the Median kings. These could only be the work of Median princes, who resided in Ecbatana; and as Phraortes could hardly have had the means and the time for such important structures, we must ascribe both the completion and adornment of the royal citadel, as well as the tunnel, to Cyaxares, unless we are to reject the latter as a pure invention, for which there seems to me no sufficient proof.

"When the palace had been built at Ecbatana, it was surrounded with large and strong walls," Herodotus tells us, "of which one encircled another, in such a manner that the inner overtopped the outer by the height of the turret. The situation, which was on a hill, contributed to this result, and the natural elevation was artificially increased. In all there were seven circles; the innermost contained the king's dwelling and treasure-house; the outermost wall was of about the extent of the wall of Athens. The towers of the first circle were white, of the second black, of the third red-purple, of the fourth blue-purple, of the fifth red; the towers of the sixth are covered with silver; and those of the seventh, which surrounds the buildings of the palace, with gold. The city was built round the outermost wall."[494] Polybius describes the situation of Ecbatana and the palace as they were under the Achaemenids, who were wont to pa.s.s some of the hot summer months in the cool and fresh air of Ecbatana. "Ecbatana lies in the northern regions of Media, and commands the parts of Asia which look towards the Maeotis and the Euxine. The city was in old days the royal abode of the Median kings, and it appears to have far surpa.s.sed all other cities in wealth and in the splendour of its buildings. It is built under the spurs of the Orontes. Though without walls, it possesses a citadel built by the hand of man, of surprising strength. Below the citadel is the palace, which it is as difficult to speak of in detail as to pa.s.s over in silence.

Ecbatana is an excellent theme for those who love to tell of marvellous things with adornment and exaggeration; but those who enter with caution on anything which goes beyond the ordinary intelligence find themselves in difficulties. The circuit of the palace is about seven stades, and the rich ornamentation of the various parts proves how flouris.h.i.+ng was the condition of those who founded it. Though the entire wood-work consists of cedar and cypress, this is never allowed to appear; on the contrary, the beams of the roof and the panelling, the pillars in the chambers and halls, are covered with gold or silver plates, and the roof consists wholly of silver tiles. Most of these were carried off at the time of the expedition of Alexander, and the remainder in the reign of Antigonus and Seleucus-Nicanor. Nevertheless the temple of Aine (_i.e._ of Anahita) at the time when Antiochus Theos (261-245 B.C.) came to Ecbatana, had gilded pillars round it; and some of the gold plates in the side-walls were still remaining, and the greater part of the silver plates, while the silver tiles of the roof were still there in considerable quant.i.ties."[495] At the time of Alexander, Diodorus allows the city of Ecbatana a circuit of 250 stades, _i.e._ of more than 30 miles.[496] Isidore of Charax mentions the treasure-house at Ecbatana, the metropolis of Media and the shrine of Anaitis, in which sacrifice was constantly offered.[497]

It is not clear from these descriptions whether the fortifications at that time included the whole city or not. Herodotus only speaks of the fortifications of the citadel, and represents the city as built at the foot of its walls. Yet we may a.s.sume that Phraortes and Cyaxares followed the pattern of the chief cities of a.s.syria and Babylonia in placing a strong wall round their city. A late and very uncertain authority, the book of Judith, states that the walls of Ecbatana consisted of splendid masonry, and reached a height of seventy cubits (about 110 feet); the towers of these walls were a hundred cubits in height, and there were gates in them.[498] When the Medes lost their empire and became subject to the Achaemenids, it was to their interest that the metropolis of the Medes should not be fortified, but that the citadel should be in the hands of a Persian garrison. Cyrus himself, therefore, after the conquest of Astyages, or Darius, after suppressing the rebellion of the Medes, may have thrown down the walls which surrounded Ecbatana. The silence of Herodotus respecting them would then be explained by the fact that they were no longer in existence in his time. The circuit of the external wall Herodotus compares with the circuit of the city of Athens, which, exclusive of the harbour cities but including the s.p.a.ce between the Phaleric and the long walls, reached 60 stades, or 7 miles.[499] If we chose to a.s.sume that Herodotus included the Phaleric and long walls in the circuit, the total extent would be 22 miles, an incredible length for the wall of a citadel.

Of the outer walls of the royal citadels at Babylon, Diodorus puts those on the one bank of the Euphrates at 30 stades, and those on the other at 60, and of the two inner walls of the latter the first was 40 stades in length and the second 20.[500] The circuit of 22 miles may, therefore, refer only to the whole extent of the citadel and city of Ecbatana, and it would then come near the statement of Diodorus, who puts the circuit of Ecbatana at 250 stades.

The royal citadel of the Achaemenids at Persepolis was surrounded, according to Diodorus, with a triple wall; the first wall was 16, the second 32, the third 60 cubits in height. These walls were decorated with great expense, and adorned with towers. The citadel of Ecbatana is said to have had seven walls, and, however strange this may appear, religious no less than military motives might have led to that number.

We know the importance ascribed in the Avesta to the number seven--the seven supreme deities, and the seven girdles of the earth. On the other hand, if we leave out of sight the hill on which the citadel was built, the elevated plateau of Ecbatana did not present the natural difficulties such as rivers and heights, which strengthened the fortification of the a.s.syrian metropolis and the walls of Babylon; hence it was more important to meet this deficiency by the number of towers and walls. The successive walls would have been of little service had not each inner one been higher than the outer, and they would have been the reverse of serviceable, had not the distance between them been so great that the arrows and missiles of the enemy, when they had gained the outer walls, failed to reach from it to the next, so that the a.s.sault of the next wall had to be begun afresh after the capture of the adjacent outer wall, without any cover. If we might a.s.sume that the words of Polybius: "The palaces, of which the extent reaches to about seven stades, lie below the citadel," are to be interpreted as meaning that these buildings lay under the protection of the walls of the citadel, _i.e._ behind them--and it is scarcely conceivable that the Achaemenids should have chosen an unprotected palace in Media for a constant residence, and deposited there large treasures, and the archives of the kingdom--the circuit of the buildings of the palace and that of the external wall of 60 stadia would give a s.p.a.ce between the walls of each of about 2000 feet; a distance not much in excess of that absolutely required. Hence the circuit of 60 stadia from the outer wall does not appear too large.

More astonis.h.i.+ng still is the account given by Herodotus of the ornamentation of the turrets of these walls--the colours of the turrets of the first five, the silver and gold of the two last. The attempt has been made to explain these statements as a legendary echo of the fame of the splendour of Ecbatana in the time of Cyaxares and his successor Astyages. But Polybius tells us very distinctly that the roof of the palace and that of the temple of Anahita consisted of silver tiles at the time of the Achaemenids, that the beams and panels of the roofs as well as the pillars were entirely covered with gold and silver plates, and that these decorations remained in the temple of Anahita at the time of Antiochus Theos. This ornamentation might be extended to the turrets of the inner walls. Considering the amount of the spoil of Nineveh, it cannot be regarded as an impossibility that the ramparts of the interior walls, the length of which, according to the statement of Polybius, did not reach more than 4200 feet, were covered with plates of gold, and of the next with plates of silver, when the roof of the palace could consist of silver tiles. That the overthrow of the a.s.syrian kingdom and the spoil of the cities brought considerable possessions to the Median nation may be concluded from the remark of Herodotus that the Persians had adopted better clothing and more luxurious habits from the Medes.

The kings would without doubt receive the richest part of the spoil. The decoration of the turrets was possibly rude, but it exhibited in a striking manner the splendour and exaltation of the kingdom, which was thus encased in gold and silver, while the sovereign dwelt in gold and silver chambers. Such a parade of royal magnificence is not out of harmony with the character of the ancient East. To those who were not allowed to enter the wide and high gates of the palace, these turrets showed far and wide, through city and country, the splendour of the citadel. The colours of the five outer walls would be given by glazed tiles, such as those found in the ruins of Nineveh and Chalah, of Babylon and Mugheir. We may a.s.sume with certainty that Cyaxares desired to give to his palace and citadel a splendour no less than that displayed by the palaces of Nineveh, or the royal citadel of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, or the golden citadel in Sardis. Religious conceptions may also have determined the colours of the decoration as well as the number of the walls. As Auramazda sat in pure light, on a golden throne on the golden Hukairya, so was the ruler on earth to dwell in his palace of Ecbatana in golden chambers surrounded by golden walls.

The Avesta exhibits Mithra with a golden helmet and silver coat of mail, the wheels of his chariots are of gold, his horses are greys,[501] shod on the fore hoofs with gold, and on the hinder hoofs with silver; in like manner the upper turrets of the citadel must s.h.i.+ne with silver and the highest with gold. We have seen that the metals, owing to the brilliance inherent in them, belonged in the ideas of the Iranians to the good spirits. And as the splendour of gold and silver belonged to the highest G.o.ds, so must the colours of the other turrets have been a.s.signed to the good spirits, to whose protection each separate wall was entrusted.[502]

The account which Polybius gives of the structure of the palace, the cedar and cypress wood of which the door-posts, pillars, roofs, and panels in the walls were made, shows that wood was employed in building in Media, which agrees with the habits of mountaineers. In Teheran and Ispahan buildings of wood of this kind are still in use, and no doubt the mountain forests of northern Media provided better materials in ancient times than now. The n.o.blest trunks and best kinds of wood were sought out for the royal house. The kings of a.s.shur, and Nebuchadnezzar tell us in their inscriptions that they have caused trees to be cut down on this or that mountain for their buildings. The wooden palace, which Deioces, and perhaps Phraortes, first erected, must have been extended by Cyaxares, and may have been furnished by him or his successor with the brilliant ornamentation. The inner walls of the palace of the Achaemenids at Persepolis, if we may draw this conclusion from the metal supports which are found in the remains of the stone walls, were decorated in a similar manner. When the palace of the Median kings at Ecbatana had become the summer residence and treasure-house of the Persian monarchs, it would, no doubt, be enriched and adorned yet more.

The temple of Anahita, connected with the palace, which Polybius has described above, is the work of Artaxerxes II. Alexander caused the spoil he had taken in Babylon, Susa, Persepolis, and Pasargadae, to be brought to Ecbatana, where he is said to have collected 180,000 talents in gold and silver.[503] At a later time, the Arsacids are said to have resided at Ecbatana during the summer like the Achaemenids.[504] At the present day, Hamadan, which is built high up on a slope of Elvend, marks the site of the ancient Ecbatana. It contains about 40,000 inhabitants; the ruins of the ancient city have not yet been satisfactorily explored.

The slender pillars with lotus-like capitals, discovered here, are like the pillars of Persepolis, and therefore might be the work of the Achaemenids; what has been discovered in engraved stones and coins comes from the time of the Arsacids and Sa.s.sanids. Some cylinders covered with cuneiform inscriptions have not yet been examined.

Cyaxares had rescued Media from the most extreme peril. The consequences of the defeat, in which his father, with the greatest part of his army, fell before the a.s.syrians, had been averted. Though subsequently overpowered by the Scythians, he yet became once more sovereign in his own country. This rise of Media, and the weakening of the a.s.syrian kingdom by the inundation of the Scythians, he used in order to subjugate Armenia and Cappadocia. And though he was not able to achieve anything decisive against the Lydians, he attained a greater success; in combination with Babylonia he avenged on the a.s.syrians the supremacy they had exercised over Media; he overthrew the remnant of that kingdom, whose tough vigour showed itself even at the final hour in an obstinate resistance. It was a great achievement and at the same time an important extension of the Median dominions, not merely by the whole extent of the a.s.syrian country on the left bank of the Tigris, which fell to Media, but also by the closer connection which Cyaxares thus obtained with Armenia and Cappadocia, the subject lands to the west. Then followed the spread of the Median power over the kindred nations in the north and east of Iran. The Persians were already subjected to Phraortes, and Cyaxares brought under his sovereignty the Sagartians, Hyrcanians, Parthians, and Bactrians; he made the Sacae dependant on him, and in the east perhaps extended his power as far as the Indus. From his proud citadel at Ecbatana he ruled from the Halys to the Oxus. It was a powerful empire. Herodotus depicts the reign of Cyaxares when he says: "He was far more powerful than his predecessors." With the Medes he pa.s.ses as the founder of their sovereignty; and his reign must have been held in grateful remembrance, not by the Medes only, but also by the subject nations. Those who afterwards attempted to bring the Medes and Sagartians under arms against the dominion of the Persians, called themselves the descendants of Cyaxares--and one even laid aside his own name, Phraortes, to do so.

After the fall of a.s.syria the leading portion pa.s.sed to Media, Babylonia, and Lydia. As the two first had united for the overthrow of a.s.syria, and had come to terms with Lydia for this object, so in other respects they displayed a friendly feeling towards each other. The daughter of Cyaxares became the consort of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and the daughter of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was married to his son Astyages. Afterwards, Babylon prevented the attempt of Egypt to unite Syria with the land of the Nile; it was eagerly occupied with subjugating Mesopotamia and Syria, while Lydia established its power over the tribes and cities of Asia Minor as far as the Halys. Neither Media nor Lydia thought of putting any hindrances in the way of the extension of the Babylonian dominion over Syria and Phoenicia. Of these three kingdoms, thus connected by mutual alliances, Media was the strongest. Babylonia and Lydia were not equal either in extent of country or amount of population; Lydia was perhaps inferior in the vigour of the ruling tribe, and Babylonia certainly inferior in the military strength of the population. Even when united they did not reach the size or strength of the Median power, whose army Cyaxares had arranged, and for which he had provided at Ecbatana a strongly fortified centre, equidistant from the Halys and the Oxus. When Astyages ascended the throne, on the death of his father in 593 B.C., he entered upon the inheritance of a secure dominion in peaceful and friendly relations to all the neighbouring powers. While his father-in-law, Alyattes of Lydia, and his son Croesus were occupied in subjugating the Carians and the Greek cities on the west coast of Anatolia (III. 439), and Nebuchadnezzar carried on one campaign after another in order to incorporate in his kingdom the great trading marts of the Syrian coasts, Astyages could enjoy, for more than thirty years, the fruits of the efforts by which his father had founded and established the Median empire.

FOOTNOTES:

[481] Herod. 1, 72. In Xenophon, who represents Astyages as reigning before Cyaxares, Astyages had subjugated the king of Armenia; the rebellion of this king was afterwards repressed by Cyaxares. "Cyri inst.i.t." 3, 1, 6 ff.

[482] Vol. III. 287, 438. Even after the discussions of Gelzer ("Rheinisches Museum," 1875, s. 264 ff.) on the date of the eclipse, I believe that Oltmann and Bailly's calculation may hold good for it, until it is proved astronomically that in the year 610 B.C. an eclipse of the sun would not have been visible in Asia Minor. If this were proved, Herodotus' dates for Cyaxares, who not only in his work but on the evidence of the inscription of Behistun, was the founder of the Median empire, would have to be thrown back more than half a century, which the date of Cyrus does not allow. To a.s.sume a confusion of Cyaxares with Astyages in Herodotus, is impossible, for Cyaxares is twice expressly mentioned (1, 74, and 103), and moreover Astyages is spoken of as the son of Cyaxares to whom Aryanis was married. Nor can I regard it as finally proved that the double capture of Sardis rests simply on Callisthenes, and a deduction from Strabo. Gelzer agrees that the incursions of the Cimmerians into Asia Minor and their establishment in Cappadocia must be placed at the least before the year 705 B.C. ("Z.

Aegypt. Sprache," 1875, s. 18); the devastation of Phrygia by the Cimmerians he puts in the year 696 or 676 B.C. According to the dates of Eusebius Midas (the husband of Damodike) began to reign in Olymp. 10, 3 = 738, and took his own life in Ol. 21, 2 = 695 (Euseb. ed. Schone, 2, 82, 85); his reign extended therefore from 738 to 695 B.C. Hence the devastation of Phrygia by the Cimmerians must have taken place in the year 695. If they were masters of Phrygia at this date, it is not easy to see why these successes did not carry them on into Lydia. As a fact, this is far from improbable; and if the image at Nymsi is their work, they would not have had any time for it in 630 B.C., for that incursion was merely a "plundering raid," and the change in the dynasty of Lydia, the accession of Gyges in the year 689 B.C. (Vol. III. 416), seems to me to point to some previous violent change. Besides, Strabo's words, p.

61, and p. 647, are plain and conclusive enough, so that I see no reason to attach much weight to the interpretation of the pa.s.sage, p. 627. Cf.

Caesar, "Ind. lect. Marb. Sem. aestivum," 1876.

[483] Vol. III. 284 ff., 291.

[484] Diod. 2, 34; Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66.

[485] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 9, 10, ed. Muller; Diod. 2, 33; Ctes. Fragm.

52, ed. Muller.

[486] Roxane and Roxanace are both formed from the old Bactrian _raokshna_. Mullenhoff, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akadem." 1866, s. 562.

[487] Ctes. Fragm. 25-28, ed. Muller; Nic. Damasc. fragm. 12 ed. Muller.

[488] Oppert gives the form of the second version as cakuka Iskunka.

[489] Ch.o.e.rilus in Strabo, p. 303; Herod. 3, 93; 7, 64; 9, 71; Ptolem.

6, 13; Curtius, 7, 4, 6; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 13; Cf. Plut. "Cra.s.sus," 24.

[490] Nicol. Damasc. fragm. 66, ed. Muller.

[491] "Ind." 1, 1.

[492] Diod. 2, 13; 17, 110; Strabo, p. 127.

[493] Diod. 2, 13.