The History of Antiquity Volume V Part 20

Teispes (Khaispis).

+--------------+-------------+ (Kambujiya) Cambyses. Ariamnes (Ariyaramna).

(Kurus) Cyrus. Arsames (Arsama).

(Kambujiya) Cambyses. Hystaspes (Vistacpa).

Darius (Darayavus).

[520] If Darius calls himself the ninth Achaemenid, Xerxes also in Herodotus enumerates nine Achaemenids as his predecessors, in which enumeration, it is true, Cambyses occurs but once, while Teispes is twice mentioned, once as the ancestor of the older line, and then as the ancestor of the younger. On a broken cylinder which has just been brought from Babylon by Ra.s.sam, the genealogy of Cyrus is said to be given thus: Achaemenes, Teispes, Cyrus, Cambyses, Cyrus,--so the journals tell us. In this the older line has one member more as against the younger. Till the cylinder is published we must keep to the inscription of Behistun and Herodotus.

[521] Aelian, "Hist. Anim." 12, 21.

[522] Cyrus is said to have been forty years old in 558 B.C., so that he must have been born in 598 B.C., from which it follows that his father Cambyses was born in 620 at the latest. Astyages was married in 610, and must therefore have been born about 630 B.C.

[523] "Persae," 956-960.

[524] Joseph. "Antiq." 11, 2; Herod. 3, 77; Plat. "Legg." p. 695.

[525] Herod. 3, 84.

[526] This highest rank of n.o.bility is called _waspur_ in Pehlevi, and _bar bithan_ is Aramaic. The book of Esther mentions the seven princes of the Persians and Medes, "who may behold the countenance of the king and have the first place in the kingdom," i. 14. The names of the six who aided Darius in slaying Gaumata, as given in Herodotus, agree with the inscription of Behistun, with the exception of one name. Herodotus gives Aspathines for the Ardumanis of Darius. The list of Ctesias is wholly different. If we examine them more closely we find that Ctesias has given the names of the sons of the comrades of Darius for the comrades themselves. Instead of Gobryas he puts Mardonius the son of Gobryas, instead of Otanes Anaphes (so we must read the name Onophes); Anaphes, according to Herod. 7, 62, is the son of Otanes. The name Hydarnes agrees with the inscription and with Herodotus, but the son of Hydarnes had the same name as his father (Herod. 7, 83, 211). The Barisses of Ctesias must be the eldest son of Intaphernes whom Darius allowed to live; he was called after his grandfather, Vayacpara, as was often the case with the Persians. The Ariarathes, who afterwards governed Cappadocia, claimed to have sprung from Anaphes, whom Darius made satrap or king of Cappadocia. Anaphes was succeeded by a son of the same name; after him came Datames, Ariamnes, Ariarathes I., who governed Cappadocia at the time of Artaxerxes Ochus; his son Ariathes II.

crucified Perdiccas in the year 322 B.C. when he had conquered him, though an old man of 82 years; Droysen, "h.e.l.lenismus," 2^2, 95. The Norondobates in Ctesias I cannot explain, unless we ought to read Rhodobates. Mithridates, who in Xenophon's time had been governor of Lycaonia from about 420 B.C., is called a son of Rhodobates (Diog.

Laert. 3, 25), and his father and grandfather are said to have been viceroys of Pontus. The ancestor would be one of the seven, to whom the kingdom of Pontus was given for his services; Polyb. 5, 43. Mithridates Eupator calls himself the sixteenth after Darius; Appian, "Bell. Mith."

c. 112; cf. Justin, 38, 7. These quotations will be sufficient to show that the rank of the six tribal princes of the Persians, like that of the chief princes, was originally hereditary, as the governors.h.i.+ps left to their descendants outside Persia must have remained in their families.

[527] p. 728, 729.

[528] Strabo, p. 729, puts Pasargadae on the Cyrus. Stepha.n.u.s ([Greek: Pa.s.sargadai]) following Anaximenes of Lampsacus, represents Pasargadae as first built by Cyrus; so Curt. 5, 11: Cyrus Pasargadum urbem condiderat. It cannot be doubted that Cyrus built there, and Alexander, according to Arrian (3, 18), found there the treasures of Cyrus. Strabo also tells us that Cyrus built the city and citadel, p. 730. From the accounts of the march of Alexander from Persepolis to Pasargadae, and from his return from the Indus to Pasargadae and Persepolis, it is clear that Pasargadae lay to the east or south-east of Persepolis. If Pasargadae is placed at Murghab, the only reason is the statement that the grave of Cyrus was at Pasargadae, and this grave has been identified with the pyramid of Murghab, in the immediate proximity of which a relief exhibits the picture of Cyrus. But the portrait of Cyrus there is very different from the portrait of Darius and his successors on the tombs at Rachmed, and Naksh-i-Rustem; and the building at Murghab may have served another purpose. According to Pliny ("H. N." 6, 26, 29) we ought to look for Pasargadae to the south of Lake Bakhtegan, near Fasa, or Darabgerd; flumen Sitioga.n.u.s, quo Pasargadas septimo die navigatur.

Sitioga.n.u.s is the modern Sitaragan. Ptolemy puts Pasargadae in the neighbourhood of Caramania, and Oppert therefore identifies it with the ruins of Tell-i-Zohak near Fasa, and looks for the mountain Paraga of the inscriptions in the modern Forg: "Journal Asiat." 1872, p. 549.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FALL OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM.

"Cyaxares was succeeded by his son Astyages on the throne of the Medes"--such is the narrative of Herodotus--"and the latter had a daughter named Mandane. Once he saw his daughter in a dream, and water came from her in such quant.i.ties that all Asia was inundated. This vision Astyages laid before the interpreters of dreams, among the Magians, and their interpretation alarmed him. To guard against the event portended, he gave his daughter, who was already of marriageable age, to none of the Medes of suitable rank, but to a Persian of the name of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, who was of a good family, but quiet in disposition; he regarded him as of less account than a Mede of the middle cla.s.s. Mandane had not been married a year when Astyages had a second vision; from his daughter's womb there grew up a vine-tree which overshadowed all Asia. This dream also he laid before the interpreters, and caused his daughter, who was with child, to be brought from the land of the Persians and be kept under watch; his intention was to kill the child, which, as the Magians said, was destined to reign in his place.

When Mandane bore a son, Astyages sent for Harpagus, a man akin to the royal household,[529] the most faithful of his servants, in whose care he trusted on all occasions, and bade him take Mandane's child to his house and there kill it, and bury it, in whatever way he chose. When the boy was given to him, dressed as if for a funeral, Harpagus went in tears to his house, told his wife the orders of Astyages, and declared that he would not be the perpetrator of this murder even though Astyages should lose his reason more utterly than at present, and fall into worse madness: 'the child is akin to me; Astyages is old and without male heirs, if the throne pa.s.ses to the daughter, whose child he is now putting to death by my hands, I shall find myself in the greatest danger. Inasmuch as my present safety demands it the child must die. But the murder must be done by one of the people of Astyages, not by any one of mine.' Without delay he sent a messenger to one of the cowherds of the king, Mithradates by name, whose pastures lay on mountains to the north of Ecbatana, where wild beasts are numerous. When the herdman came he found the whole house of Harpagus filled with lamentation, and saw a struggling and screaming child adorned with gold and variegated robes, and Harpagus said to him: 'Astyages commands you to expose this child on the most desolate mountains, in order that it may die as quickly as possible.' The herdman believed that the child belonged to one of the household of Harpagus, and took it, but from the servant who accompanied him out of the city he ascertained that it was the child of Mandane and Cambyses. Returning to his hut, he found that his wife Spako (the Medes call a dog Spako) had just brought forth a dead child, and when she saw the well-grown and beautiful child which her husband showed her, she clasped his knees in tears, and entreated him not to expose it, but to take away her dead child in its place, and bring it up as her own son:[530] Thus doing you will not be guilty of wrong towards your master; the dead child will receive a splendid funeral, and the other will not lose his life. The herdman took his wife's advice, and did as she bade him. He placed his own dead child in the basket, put on him all the ornaments of the other, and placed him on the wildest mountain.

Three days after he told Harpagus that he was ready to show him the corpse of the child. Harpagus sent the most trustworthy of his bodyguard, and buried the herdman's child. But the herdman's wife brought up the other child, and gave him some other name than Cyrus, by which he was afterwards called. When he was ten years old an incident happened which caused him to be known. He was playing with his comrades, in the village in which the herdman lived, in the street, and his playfellows had chosen him whom they considered the herdman's son to be king. He a.s.signed to every one his work, and bade one build houses, and another to be a lance-bearer; one he made 'the king's eye,' and another 'the bearer of his messages.' Among the boys who were playing with him was the son of Artembares, a man of high rank in Media. This boy failed to do what Cyrus ordered; and Cyrus bade the others take him, and whipped him severely. The boy hastened to the city and complained to his father of the treatment he had received from the son of the cowherd. His father took him to the king and showed his son's shoulders, and said: 'This insult we have received from thy servant, the son of the cowherd.'

Astyages summoned Mithradates and his son. When Astyages asked the latter how he dared so to insult the son of a man in such high favour with the king as Artembares, the lad maintained that he was right in acting as he did, but if he was to blame he was ready to bear the penalty. Astyages was surprised by the likeness of the boy to his own family, and the freedom of his reply. After applying the torture to Mithradates, he soon discovered the truth. He was more enraged at Harpagus than at Mithradates, but concealed his resentment. When Harpagus at his request had acknowledged what he had done, Astyages said: 'The boy was alive, and all that had been done was well. Let Harpagus send his own son to join the new-comer, and also come himself to the banquet.' As soon as the son of Harpagus, a boy of thirteen years, was in the palace, Astyages caused him to be slain, and the dismembered limbs were boiled and roasted, while the head, hands, and feet, were put in a covered basket. At the banquet Harpagus was served with the flesh of his own son, while the other guests ate the flesh of sheep. When Harpagus had eaten, Astyages inquired whether he had enjoyed the meal, and when he replied that he had enjoyed it greatly, the servants of the king brought him the basket, bade him uncover it and take what he would. Harpagus controlled himself, and said that whatever the king did was best. Then Astyages took counsel with the Magians who had interpreted the dreams: they were to consider everything, and give him the advice best for himself and his house. The Magians declared that they had it much at heart that the dominion of Astyages should continue; for if the throne pa.s.sed to the boy who was a Persian, the Medes would be governed by others, 'but if thou remainest king we are rulers in our degree, and have great honour from thee.' But as the boy had already been king in the game, the dream was fulfilled; the king might send him back to Persia to his parents. Astyages did so. When Cyrus came to the house of Cambyses, his parents received him with great joy, when they found who he was, since they believed that he was already dead, and desired to know how he had been preserved. He told them that he had been supposed to be the son of the cowherd, but on the way he had ascertained everything from the convoy which Astyages had sent with him. He related how the wife of the herdman had brought him up, and praised her much, and Spako (the dog) was always on his lips. His parents seized on the name in order that the preservation of the boy might appear to be the work of the G.o.ds, and laid the foundation for the legend that a dog had suckled Cyrus when exposed."

"When Cyrus came to manhood and was the bravest and best-beloved of his comrades, Harpagus sought to win him by presents with a view to vengeance on Astyages, for he regarded the injury done to Cyrus as no less than that done to himself. He had already prepared his revenge. As Astyages was severe towards the Medes, he had secretly persuaded the chief men among them, one by one, that an end must be put to the rule of Astyages, and that Cyrus must be raised to the throne. When this was done and all was ready, he wished to discover his views to Cyrus, who was then in Persia. As the roads were guarded, he invented the following stratagem: he prepared a hare by cutting open the belly without further injury to the skin, inserted a letter, and then again closed the opening. This hare he gave with some nets to the most faithful of his slaves, and sent him, as though he were a hunter, to Persia, with a command to take the hare to Cyrus, and at the same time to tell him that he must open it himself and let no one be present at the time. Cyrus opened the hare, and found written: 'Son of Cambyses, the G.o.ds regard thee with favour, or thou hadst not attained to such good fortune.

Avenge thy death on Astyages, for dead thou art in his intention; it is through the G.o.ds and me that thou livest. Long ago thou hast learnt all that befell thee, and what I have suffered at the hands of the king because I did not slay thee, but gave thee to the cowherd. If thou wilt follow my counsel, thou shalt rule over all the land over which Astyages was ruler. Persuade the Persians to revolt, and march against Media, and if I or any other chief man among the Medes is appointed by Astyages to lead the army against thee, all will be as thou wilt. They will revolt from the king, and by pa.s.sing over to thee attempt to dethrone him. All is ready here; act therefore, and act quickly.'

"Cyrus considered in what way he could best persuade the Persians to revolt, and when he discovered what he believed to be the best plan, he wrote down his intentions in a letter and summoned an a.s.sembly of the Persians. In their presence he opened the letter, and read out, that Astyages had appointed him general of the Persians; then he added: 'I command that every one of you appear with a sickle.' And when they were all a.s.sembled, furnished with sickles, Cyrus bade them clear a bushy tract of land about twenty stades in length and breadth, and make it fit for cultivation in a single day. When they had done this, he bade them a.s.semble on the next day; every one was to come bathed. Then he caused all the goats, sheep, and oxen of his father to be got together, slaughtered and dressed, and prepared in addition wine and other excellent food, and entertained the whole of the Persians in a meadow; after the meal he asked them which they preferred, the entertainment of that day, or the work of the day before? They replied that the difference was great: yesterday they had nothing that was good, to-day nothing that was bad. Cyrus took up this reply, and discovered his aims, saying: 'O Persians, thus it is with you. If ye will follow me, ye shall have these blessings and many others, without any service; if ye will not, ye will have troubles without number like those of yesterday.

Follow me, and ye will be free. I believe that I was born by the favour of heaven to take this work in hand, and I do not count you as less than the Medes, in war or any other service. Since this is so, revolt at once from Astyages.' The Persians were quite ready to liberate themselves; they only required a leader, and had long borne the yoke of the Medes with dissatisfaction."

"When Astyages found what Cyrus had done, he summoned him into his presence by a messenger. Cyrus bade the messenger reply that he would come before Astyages wished. Then the king armed all the Medes, and, as though blinded by the G.o.ds, he named Harpagus as general, entirely forgetting the injury he had done to him. When the Medes and Persians met, some of the Medes, who were not in the conspiracy fought, but the greater part made no resistance and fled. Thus the Median army was shamefully put to rout. But Astyages threatened Cyrus and said, that even so he should not accomplish his purpose. The interpreters of dreams among the magicians who had advised him to let Cyrus go he impaled, and then armed all who had remained in the city, young and old, and led them out. He was defeated, lost those whom he commanded, and was himself taken captive. Harpagus spoke harsh words to him, and asked how he liked slavery instead of monarchy with reference to that banquet. Astyages replied by asking, whether the insurrection was his own work or that of Cyrus. Harpagus answered that he had written the letter, and the insurrection was therefore his doing. Then Astyages said that he was the most foolish and unjust of men; the most foolish because when he might have been king, if what had been done had been his doing, he had given up his power to another; the most unjust because in revenge for that banquet he had brought the Medes into slavery; if the throne must pa.s.s to another it would be more just that it should go to a Mede than a Persian, but now the innocent Medes were slaves instead of masters, and the Persians, who had previously been the servants of the Medes, were their masters. Thus Astyages lost the throne, after a reign of thirty-five years, and in consequence of his cruelty the Medes became subject to the Persians. Cyrus did no injury to Astyages, but kept him with him till his death."

In the Persian history of Ctesias the narrative of the fall of Astyages occupied more than one book. But we only know that it contradicted the story of Herodotus, that the daughter of Astyages was not called Mandane but Amytis, that she was married to the Median Spitamas, not to the Persian Cambyses, and that it was not the Median Harpagus but the Persian Oebares who was Cyrus' counsellor.[531] The loss of these books of Ctesias is compensated by a fragment of Nicolaus of Damascus, which seems to give the narrative in a compressed form. It is only in a few unimportant points at the close that the fragment differs from the excerpt of Ctesias which has come down to us.

"Astyages," so we are told in Nicolaus, "was the n.o.blest king of the Medes after Arbaces. In his reign occurred the great revolution by which the dominion pa.s.sed from the Medes to the Persians; and the cause was as follows:--It was a law among the Medes that a poor man who went to a rich man to gain a livelihood, and gave himself up to him, should be fed and clothed and kept as a slave; if the rich man did not do his duty in this respect, the poor man might go on to another. In this way a boy named Cyrus, a Mardian by birth, came to the servant of the king who was placed over the sweepers of the palace. He was the son of Atradates, whose poverty forced him to live by plunder, and Argoste his mother lived by keeping goats. He gave himself up to the servant for bread, and a.s.sisted in cleaning the palace, and as he was industrious the overseer gave him better clothing, and brought him from among those who swept outside to those who cleaned the interior, and put him under their overseer. This man was severe, and often whipped Cyrus. Cyrus left him, and went to the lighter of the lamps, who showed him kindness, and brought him nearer to the king by placing him among those who bore the lights. As Cyrus distinguished himself there also, he came to Artembares, the chief butler, who gave the king his wine. He gladly received Cyrus, and allowed him to wait on those who ate at the king's table. Ere long Astyages remarked how deftly Cyrus waited, and with what a stately air he handed the goblets, and asked Artembares whence the youth came who waited so well. 'O king,' he replied, 'he is thy slave, a Persian by race, of the tribe of the Mardians, who has given himself over to me in order to gain a livelihood.' Artembares was old, and once, when suffering from a fever, he entreated the king to be allowed to remain at home till he was cured; 'in my place the youth, whom thou didst praise, will hand the wine, and if he find favour in thy eyes as cupbearer, then will I, a eunuch, adopt him as my son.' Astyages consented, and Artembares gave much advice to Cyrus, as if to his own son. Cyrus now stood at the side of the king, and served him by day and by night, and showed much good sense and skill. And Astyages allowed him as the son of Artembares to receive his income, and gave him many gifts in addition, and Cyrus became great, and his name was heard everywhere."

"Astyages had a very n.o.ble and beautiful daughter, whom he gave to Spitamas the Mede, adding the whole of Media as a dowry. Then Cyrus caused his father and mother to come from the land of the Medians, and they rejoiced at the greatness of their son, and his mother told him the dream which she had while he was yet an unborn child. She had fallen asleep in the sanctuary when tending her goats, and in her dream water flowed from her in such quant.i.ties that it became a great stream, and inundated all Asia, and flowed down to the sea. When the father heard this, he ordered the dream to be laid before the Chaldaeans in Babylon.

Cyrus sent for the most skilful of them and laid the dream before him.

He declared that the dream portended great good fortune for Cyrus, and the highest place in Asia; Astyages was to know nothing of it, 'otherwise he will put you to death in some shameful manner, and me also,' the Babylonian said. They mutually swore to impart to no one this great and unparalleled vision. Cyrus afterwards came to yet greater honours, and made his father satrap of Persia, and his mother one of the first among the women in Persia in wealth and position."

"The Cadusians were at enmity with Astyages. Their leader was Onaphernes, who was a traitor to his people in the interests of Astyages, and he despatched a messenger saying, that he must send a trusty person with whom to confer about the surrender. Astyages sent Cyrus to arrange everything with Onaphernes, bidding him be back again in Ecbatana on the fortieth day. The interpreter of dreams urged Cyrus to go to the Cadusians, and filled him with confidence. Cyrus, who was of a n.o.ble and ambitious nature, intended, with the help of heaven, to bring the Persians to revolt, to attempt the overthrow of Astyages, and place confidence in the Babylonian, who was better acquainted than others with the will of heaven. They consulted with each other; the Babylonian told Cyrus that it was destined that he should overthrow Astyages and his dominion, he knew this for certain; and Cyrus promised the Babylonian that if this turned out to be true and he became king, he would make him a great reward. Cyrus remembered how Arbaces had previously overthrown Sardanapalus, and obtained his dominion, and yet the Medes, by whom he was supported, were not stronger than the Persians. Arbaces was not stronger than himself, and to him, as to the other, his fortune had been foretold. With such thoughts Cyrus pa.s.sed the boundaries of the land of the Cadusians. Here he was met by a man who had been whipped, and carried dung in a basket. Cyrus took this for a sign, and inquired of the Babylonian, who told him to ask the man who he was and whence he came. The man replied that he was a Persian of the name of Oebares. Then Cyrus was greatly pleased; for Oebares signifies one who brings good news. And the Babylonian told Cyrus that the other signs were most favourable--both that he was a countryman of Cyrus, and that he was carrying horse-dung, which portended dominion and power.

Cyrus without delay took the man with him."

"Then he came to Onaphernes, and when the treachery had been arranged by mutual concessions, he set out on the way back to Persia. He had given Oebares a horse and Persian clothing, and being convinced of his friendly disposition he often conversed with him. Once he said: 'How hard it is to see the Persians ill-treated by the Medes, and yet they are as good as they!' 'O Cyrus,' replied the other, 'there is no great-hearted, high-minded man, to put an end to the dominion of the Medes over better men than themselves.' 'Why should there not be such a man?' asked Cyrus. 'Perhaps there is such an one,' Oebares replied, 'but want of courage does not allow him to do it, though he could.' Cyrus pushed his questions further: 'If such a venturesome man should appear, how might he accomplish his aim?' 'The first step,' Oebares answered, 'would be to unite with the Cadusians, who would be willing to join him, for they love the Persians, and hate the Medes; then he must rouse the Persians, who are about 40,000 in number, and arm them; their treatment by the Medes will prepare them for this. Their land also is most suitable, being full of mountains and rocks, and even if the Medes should invade it, they will be driven back with loss.' Then Cyrus asked: 'Suppose that this man should appear, would you join in the danger with him?' Oebares replied: 'Most readily, if you were the man to take the matter in hand; your father is the ruler of Persia, so that you have the best place of refuge, and are the strongest. If not you, who is it to be?' As Cyrus saw from this that Oebares was a cautious and brave man, who placed all his hopes in him, he revealed his plan and consulted him. Oebares encouraged him, and gave him good counsel to guide him. He urged Cyrus to send to his father Atradates and entreat him to arm the Persians, apparently to aid the king against the Cadusians, but in truth to revolt against Astyages; then he must ask Astyages for permission to visit Persia for some days, in order to offer the sacrifice which he had vowed for the safety of the king, and at the same time for his father who was sick. If he obtained his request he must set manfully to work; when a man ventures in a great enterprise it is no hards.h.i.+p to venture his life, and if need be to lose it, for this happens even to those who do nothing. Cyrus was pleased at the man's resolute frame of mind, and now told him his mother's dream and the interpretation of the Babylonian. Oebares then inflamed his spirit yet more, but cunning as he was, he bade him take care that the Babylonian did not tell the dream to the king--'if you will not permit his death, which would be the safest thing.' 'That be far from me,' said Cyrus. Filled with alarm that the Babylonian would betray the dream to Astyages, Oebares gave out that according to ancestral custom he would offer sacrifice to the G.o.ddess of the moon at night, and obtained of Cyrus all that he required for the purpose--incense, wine, and pillows--and arranged that Cyrus should take no part in the sacrifice. In his tent he dug a deep trench, put thick pillows over it, and invited the Babylonian to a banquet, and made him intoxicated. When he sank down on the pillows, he threw him into the trench, and his servants with him. In the morning, Oebares went quietly on with Cyrus, who soon inquired for the Babylonian. Oebares acknowledged what he had done; he could find no other way of escape for Cyrus and his children. Cyrus was deeply distressed, and even more angry, and would not see Oebares any more, but at length he again placed his confidence in him."

"When Cyrus was again with Astyages, Oebares reminded him of his advice.

Cyrus followed it, sent to Persia, and when he found that all was ready, asked Astyages, under the pretext that Oebares had suggested, for permission to go to Persia. The king would not let him go. Then Cyrus betook himself to the most trusty of the eunuchs; when a favourable moment came, he was to obtain permission for the journey to Persia. One day when Cyrus found the king in the best of humours and cheered with wine, he gave the eunuch a sign, and the latter said to the king: 'Cyrus asks to perform the sacrifice, which he has vowed for thee in Persia, that thou mightest continue gracious to him, and for permission to visit his sick father.' The king called for Cyrus, and with a smile, gave him permission of absence for five months; in the sixth month he was to return. Cyrus bowed in grat.i.tude before the king, appointed Tiridates as butler to the king during his absence, and early on the next morning he set out to Persia."

"In vain had the wife of the slain Babylonian waited for his return to Ecbatana; Oebares told her that robbers had killed him. Then she became the wife of the brother of her husband, and when she heard that Cyrus had gone to Persia, she remembered that her first husband had once confided to her the dream of the mother of Cyrus, and its interpretation. She related this to her husband, who at once went to Astyages, told him all, and added that Cyrus had obviously gone to Persia with a view of preparing for the execution of that which the dream had portended. The king was seized with great anxiety, and the Babylonian advised him to put Cyrus to death as soon as he returned.

Towards evening Astyages caused his concubines to dance and play before him while drinking wine. One of the players sang: 'The lion has let the boar which he had in his power go forth to the pasture. There he will become strong and give great trouble to the lion, and at length he, the weaker, will overcome the stronger.' Astyages applied this song to himself and Cyrus, and on the spot sent 300 hors.e.m.e.n to bring him back; if he would not obey they were to cut off his head and bring that. When the hors.e.m.e.n brought to Cyrus the commands of Astyages, he answered cunningly, perhaps on the advice of Oebares: 'Why should I not return as my lord summons me? To-day we will feast; to-morrow morning we will set out.' This met with their approval. After the manner of the Persians, Cyrus caused many oxen and other animals to be slain in sacrifice, feasted the hors.e.m.e.n, and made them intoxicated; at the same time he sent a message to his father to send at once 1000 cavalry and 5000 foot-soldiers to the city of Hyrba which lay on the way, and to arm the rest of the Persians as quickly as possible in such a way that it should seem to be done by command of the king. His true aims he did not communicate to him. In the night he and Oebares took horse, just as they were, hastened to Hyrba, armed the inhabitants, and drew out those whom Atradates had sent in order for battle. When the hors.e.m.e.n of Astyages had slept off their debauch on the following morning, and found that Cyrus had disappeared, they pursued him and came to Hyrba. Here Cyrus first displayed his bravery, for with his Persians he slew 250 of the horse of Astyages. The remainder escaped, and brought the news to Astyages. 'Woe is me!' cried the king striking his thigh, 'that I, well knowing that we should not do good to the evil, have allowed myself to be carried away by clever speeches, and have raised up this Mardian to be such a mischief to me. Still, he shall not succeed.' He called his generals and bade them a.s.semble the army, and led out against the Persians nearly 1,000,000 foot-soldiers, 200,000 horse, and 3000 chariots."

"Meanwhile the army under Atradates, who was now fully instructed, was collected: 300,000 infantry, 50,000 horse, and 100 chariots. Cyrus encouraged the Persians, and Oebares seized the pa.s.ses of the mountain and the heights, built lines, and brought the people from the open cities into such as were well fortified. Astyages burned down the abandoned cities, summoned Atradates and Cyrus to submission, and taunted them with their former beggary. Cyrus replied that Astyages did not recognise the power of the G.o.ds, which forced them, goat-herds as they were, to accomplish what was destined to be done. As he had done them kindness, they bade him lead back the Medes, and give their freedom to the Persians who were better than the Medes. Thus it came to a battle. Astyages, surrounded by 20,000 of his body-guard, looked on: among the Persians Atradates had the right, and Oebares the left, wing; Cyrus, surrounded by the bravest warriors, was in the centre. The Persians defended themselves bravely, and slew many of the Medes, so that Astyages cried out on his throne: 'How bravely these "terebinth-eaters" fight!' But at length the Persians were overpowered by numbers, and driven into the city before which they fought. Cyrus and Oebares advised to send the women and children to Pasargadae, which is the loftiest mountain, and renew the battle on the next day: 'If we are defeated we must all die, and if that must be so it is better to fall in victory and for the freedom of our country.' Then all were filled with hatred and anger against the Medes, and when the morning came and the gates were opened, all marched out; Atradates alone remained with the old men in the city to defend the walls. But while Cyrus and Oebares were fighting in the field, Astyages caused 100,000 men to go round and attack the Persian army in the rear. The attack succeeded. Atradates fell covered with wounds into the hands of the Medes. Astyages said to him: 'An excellent satrap are you; is it thus that you thank me, you and your son, for what I have done for you?'

Atradates, almost at the last gasp, replied: 'I know not, O king, what deity has roused this frenzy in my son; put me not to the torture, I shall soon die.' Astyages had compa.s.sion on him and said: 'I will not put you to the torture; I know that if your son had followed your advice, he would not have done such things.' Atradates died, and Astyages gave him an honourable burial. Meanwhile Cyrus and Oebares after a brave struggle had been compelled to retire to Pasargadae. The mountain was very high and with steep sides, and the way to it led through narrow pa.s.ses, which were here and there overtopped by high walls of rock. Oebares defended the pa.s.ses with 10,000 heavy-armed men.

As it was impossible to force a way through, Astyages gave command that 100,000 men should go round the mountain, and seek for a pa.s.s there and climb the mountain. This movement compelled Cyrus and Oebares to seek shelter during the night on a lower hill for the army, together with the women and children. Astyages followed quickly, and his army was already between the two mountains, and bravely attacked that held by the Persians, the approach to which, lying through deep gorges, thick oak forests, and wild olive trees, was very difficult. The Persians fought still more bravely; in one place Cyrus dashed forward, and in another Oebares, who urged them not to let their wives, mothers, and old men be ma.s.sacred and tortured by the Medes. So they rushed down with a cry, and when their javelins failed, they threw down stones in great numbers. The Medes were driven back, and Cyrus chanced to come to the house in which he once lived with his father as a boy, when he pastured goats. He kindled a fire of cypress and laurel-wood, and offered the sacrifice of the man who is distressed and in desperate circ.u.mstances. Then followed thunder and lightning, and when Cyrus sank down in prayer, birds of good omen settled on the roof, as a sign that he would again reach Pasargadae. So the Persians remained for the night on the mountain, and when on the following morning the Medes renewed the attack, they fought yet more bravely, relying on the happy omens. But Astyages placed 50,000 men at the foot of the mountain behind those who were attacking, and bade them slay all who came down. Thus pressed, the Medes fought more zealously than on the previous day, and the Persians retired to the top of the mountain on which were their women and children. These ran to meet the fugitives, and cried out to them, 'Cowards, whither would ye fly, will ye creep back into the bosoms that bore you?' Seized with shame, the Persians turned, and in one onslaught drove the Medes down the mountain, and slew sixty thousand of them."

"But Astyages did not retire from the siege of the mountain. Cyrus had still need of much cunning and bravery before he succeeded in defeating Astyages and taking the camp of the Medes. On that day, Cyrus went into the tent of Astyages, seated himself on his throne, and took the sceptre amid the acclamations of the Persians; and Oebares put the king's kidaris on his head with the words: 'Thou art more worthy to bear it; the G.o.ds give it to thee for thy virtue, and grant the Persians to rule over the Medes.' The treasures of Astyages, which the Persians found in the camp of the Medes, were brought to Pasargadae under the care of Oebares; but even those which they found in the tents of the other Medes were enormous. It was not long before the intelligence of the defeat and flight of Astyages spread abroad, and nations as well as individuals deserted him. First of all Artasyras, the chief of the Hyrcanians, came, with 50,000 men, and recognised Cyrus as king; afterwards came the chiefs of the Parthians, Sacae, Bactrians, and other nations, each seeking to arrive before the other. Only a few faithful men remained with Astyages, and when Cyrus marched against him he was easily overcome. Then Cyrus gained possession of Ecbatana. There the daughter of Astyages and her husband Spitamas were taken captive with their two sons. But Astyages could not be found; Amytis and Spitamas had hidden him in the palace in the woodwork of the roof. Then Cyrus commanded that Amytis, her husband, and her children should be tortured that they might confess where Astyages was, but he came forward of his own will to prevent the torture. Spitamas was beheaded, because he had lied, and said that he did not know the hiding-place of Astyages; Amytis Cyrus took for his wife. He loosed from Astyages the heavy chains which Oebares had put upon him, honoured him as a father, and made him satrap of the Barcanians."[532]

According to Deinon, who wrote in the first half of the fourth century B.C., Cyrus was first governor of the staff-bearers of Astyages, and then of his body-guard. In a dream he had thrice seen the sun at his feet, and thrice stretched out his arms to grasp it, and the magicians had interpreted this dream to the effect that he would reign for thrice ten years. When Astyages had given Cyrus leave to go to Persia, and he had availed himself of it, the king sent for Angares, the most famous of the Median minstrels, in order to sing before him and his company at the banquet. After reciting the usual songs, Angares at last said: "The great beast of prey, more mighty than a wild boar, is let loose in the swamps; when he is master of his land, he will with ease fight against many." And when Astyages asked, "What wild beast is this?" Angares answered: "Cyrus the Persian." Then Astyages, regarding the suspicion as well-founded, sent to fetch Cyrus back, but failed to recover him.[533]

The narrative of Pompeius Trogus has been preserved in excerpts only.

Astyages had a daughter, but no male heirs. From her bosom, he saw, in a dream, a vine growing, of which the branches overshadowed all Asia. The interpreters of dreams declared that this vision portended the greatness of the grandson whom his daughter would bring forth, but it also involved the loss of the empire to him. To be rid of this fear, Astyages had not given his daughter to any eminent man, nor even to a Mede--that there might not be rank on the father's side as well as on the mother's, to excite the ambition of his grandson--but to Cambyses, a man of middle station, in the then unknown nation of the Persians. Even this did not remove the alarm of Astyages; when his daughter was pregnant he sent for her in order to have her child put to death before his eyes. When a boy was born he gave him to Harpagus, his trusted friend, to be put to death. But Harpagus, fearing that the daughter of Astyages if she should come to the throne would avenge on him the death of her son, gave the child to the herdman of the king, and bade him expose it. The herdman obeyed, but when his wife heard of the matter, she urged her husband to fetch the child and show it to her. Wearied by her entreaties, the herdman went back into the forest, and there found a dog beside the child, suckling it, and defending it from the beasts of prey. He took it up and carried it to his fold, while the dog followed in much distress.

When the herdman's wife took it in her arms, the child smiled on her as though it had known her, and it was so full of life and sweet smiles that the woman induced her husband to expose her own child in place of the grandson of the king. After this the excerpt goes on to relate, like Herodotus, the game of the boys, the answer of Cyrus, the revenge of Astyages on Harpagus, the letter in the hare's belly, in which Harpagus imparts to Cyrus his plan for the desertion of the Medes to the Persians. When Cyrus had received and read this letter in Persepolis, a dream also urged the enterprise upon him, but at the same time bade him take as his a.s.sociate the man whom he met first on the following day.

Next day, before dawn, Cyrus went on a journey, and met a slave of the name of Oebares, belonging to the house of a Mede. When Cyrus found that he was a Persian by birth, he took his chains off and turned back with him to Persepolis. Cyrus then a.s.sembled the Persians. On the first day he made them cut down a wood on the way, and on the second he entertained them. Astyages sends Harpagus against them, and he pa.s.ses over to their side with the army entrusted to him. Astyages now marches out in person, after summoning all his forces, against Persia. The struggle was severe. Astyages placed a portion of his army in the rear of his forces, and told the latter that they must try whether they could not break through the ranks of the enemy in battle more easily than through the ranks behind them in flight. The Medes attacked with great spirit; the Persians were forced back to their wives and children, by whom they were again driven into the battle with the cry: Would they fly for refuge into the bosoms of their mothers and wives? They put the Medes to flight. Here the excerpt of Justin breaks off, though he represents Astyages as having been taken prisoner in this battle after the rout. Cyrus merely took the government from him; he treated him as his grandfather, and made him satrap of the Hyrcanians; Oebares he made ruler of Persia, and gave him his sister in marriage.[534]

Polyaenus repeats the narrative of Herodotus about the manner in which Cyrus induced the Persians to revolt. Then followed a war between the Medes and Persians, and Cyrus was three times defeated. As the women and children of the Persians were at Pasargadae, Cyrus was compelled to risk another battle in the neighbourhood of this place. The Persians were again put to flight; Oebares was retreating when the women met the fugitives, with the cry already quoted. The Persians halted; and as the Medes were pursuing without order, the Persians gained such a victory that no further battle was needed to decide the question of the throne.[535] Anaximenes of Lampsacus also relates that Cyrus had built Pasargadae at the place where he had overcome Astyages in battle. Strabo tells us: "Cyrus held Pasargadae in honour, for it was there that he conquered Astyages in the final battle, and became ruler of all Asia in his place, and he built a city and a palace in remembrance of the victory."[536] Plutarch tells us: When Cyrus revolted from Astyages and the Medes he was three times conquered in battle, and when the Persians fled into the city, the enemy had almost succeeded in forcing an entrance with them, when the women came out to meet them. The cry of the women brought about a change in the battle, and for this reason Cyrus made a law that as often as the king came into the city of Pasargadae, every woman should receive a piece of gold. Ochus marched past the city to evade the law; but Alexander twice entered Pasargadae, and gave double to all the women that were with child.[537] In all these narratives the land of the Persians is the scene of the decisive conflict.

Only a few short fragments remain of the account given by Diodorus of the overthrow of Astyages. With him Cyrus is the son of Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, and Cambyses. His father brought him up as a king, and inflamed him with a desire for the mightiest achievements. As a young man he displayed a capacity in advance of his years, and clearly showed that he would undertake the most important enterprises. He was the first man of his time in bravery, wisdom, and all other virtues.

Another fragment obviously comes after the defeat, which, according to Nicolaus, Astyages suffered in the final battle at Pasargadae. When defeated, Astyages, though he had himself disgracefully turned and fled, showed ferocious anger against his army. He deposed all the commanders and elected others in their place. Those who were to blame for the flight, he executed one and all, thinking that he should thus compel the others to show themselves brave men in danger. "For he was cruel and harsh in character. But he did not terrify the mult.i.tude by this severity; on the other hand, by the exasperation which such violence and caprice excited in every one, he roused them to a desire for revolution and deposition. The troops met in their divisions; treasonable speeches were uttered, and the majority urged each other to vengeance."[538]

Xenophon, it is true, has not written a history of Cyrus, but has given a description of his life from his knowledge of the Persian life and character, and the conclusions he deduced therefrom, as to the possible origin of the empire, in order to explain and realise to the Greeks the difficulty which they found it so hard to solve--the manner in which great nations could form one community and be governed by one person.

With him Cyrus is the son of Cambyses, who is the king of the Persians, and Mandane the daughter of Astyages of Media, whom Xenophon represents as reigning before Cyaxares. When Cyrus was twelve years of age, his mother went with him to Media, in order to show him to his grandfather, whom the boy astonished by his apt answers. At the age of sixteen, Cyrus performs his first deeds of arms. When Astyages died, he was succeeded on the throne by his son Cyaxares, the brother of Mandane. He entreats Cambyses to aid him against the a.s.syrians; Cambyses sends Cyrus, by whose services the Medes are defeated. After this he conquered the Lydians, who had come to aid the a.s.syrians against the Medes, and took Babylon; and his uncle Cyaxares, whom Xenophon does not describe as a pattern ruler, gives him his daughter in marriage, and Media as a dowry, for he was without male children. Cambyses and Mandane a.s.sented to this arrangement. After the death of Cambyses, Cyrus became king of Persia, and on the death of Cyaxares, Media also became his.

The Armenians also narrate the fall of Astyages. Moses of Ch.o.r.ene (I.

513) tells us that he only related the stories of the Persians to please his patron Sahak (Isaac) Bagratuni, and gave them a meaning which they did not possess. Biurasp Asdahag lived at the time of Nimrod, and the person whom the Persians in their stories call the child of Satan, served him; and with regard to the dragon, or the changing of Asdahag into a dragon, the truth was that he sacrificed men in infinite numbers to the dragon, till the mult.i.tude grew weary, overpowered him, and threw him into a trench filled with bitumen. Moses further tells us: The ninth descendant of Baroir of Armenia (I. 515), King Tigran, was the mightiest of all the princes of Armenia, and helped Cyrus to overthrow the kingdom of the Medes. Tigran was pledged by treaties to Asdahag (Astyages) the king of the Medians, and when he united with Cyrus, Astyages had an evil dream. He saw a high mountain surrounded by snow and ice, as in the land of the son of Haikhs (I. 513). On the summit of the mountain, a woman in purple, covered with a sky-blue veil, brought forth three heroes at once: one, carried on a lion, dashed toward the west; the second, on a leopard, to the north; the third, on a monstrous dragon, to Media. With this Asdahag fought in the dream: they shed a sea of blood, and pierced each other with their lances. Asdahag explained this dream to mean that he had to expect an attack from Tigran, the king of Armenia. To prevent this, and secretly to destroy Tigran, Asdahag sought Tigran's sister, Tigranuhi, in marriage, obtained her, and held her in great honour. Then he asked for a meeting with Tigran. But Tigranuhi had perceived the duplicity of Asdahag, and warned her brother. He collected the best warriors of great and little Armenia, and marched against the Medes. The war continued for four months, till Tigran in a hand-to-hand conflict pierced the iron armour of Asdahag with his lance. The death of Asdahag put an end to the battle and the war, and Tigran led his sister back to Armenia, where she became the ancestress of the race of Osdan. Anuish (Aryanis), the first wife of Astyages, and a number of young princesses and boys, more than 10,000 in all, Tigranes brought to Armenia, and settled there to the east of the great mountain, towards the land of Koghten, in the plain of Ajtnayan, as far as Nakhjevan. In the songs of the people of Koghten, the descendants of Astyages are spoken of in an allegorical manner, as the descendants of the dragon; for Astyages (Asdahag) in our language means the dragon.[539] As has been shown, the Armenians were closely allied to the people of Iran in language, character, and religious wors.h.i.+p. It cannot therefore astonish us that the legends of Iran are known to them.

What Moses tells us of Biurasp Asdahag and his serpents rests on the myth in the Avesta of the serpent Azhi dahaka, the Zohak of the later form of Iranian legend (p. 250). The epithet which Moses gives to Asdahag, Biurasp, is also of Iranian origin; Baevaracpa means the lord of 10,000 horses. That the descendants of Astyages are spoken of in the national legend of Armenia as the descendants of the dragon, shows that the Armenians had confounded Astyages of Media with Azhi dahaka or Zohak. The Armenians can only claim as their own the legend of King Tigran, who overcomes and slays Asdahag of Media. They ascribe to their princes the overthrow of the Medes. As already remarked, the Armenian legend of Tigran must come down from an early date. Xenophon makes Tigran the son of the king of Armenia, the most faithful helper and a.s.sociate of Cyrus.[540]

Leaving out of sight the romance of Xenophon, and the Armenian tradition, which involve special hypotheses, the accounts in the West of the fall of Astyages go back to two distinct versions, one of which we have in the narrative of Herodotus, the other in the narrative of Ctesias-Nicolaus, which is presupposed in Deinon and Polyaenus. In Trogus we have a third version, which combines the two. So far as Justin's excerpt allows us to form an opinion, this version, and the fragments of Diodorus, are based upon the Persian history of Deinon. The introduction is distinguished from the account of Herodotus by the fact that only one dream of Astyages is mentioned; that Cyrus is already exposed, and a dog is suckling him before the herdsman's wife, whose name was "dog," brings him up; then follows the story of Herodotus, including the letter, which Harpagus sends to Cyrus in the hare's belly.

At this point Trogus pa.s.ses into the account of Nicolaus; he represents Cyrus as receiving in a dream the exhortation to rise against Astyages, and to take the first man he meets as his a.s.sociate. Cyrus meets...o...b..res, though not, it is true, on the borders of the Cadusians. The place of the hors.e.m.e.n, who in Nicolaus are first sent by Astyages, is taken in Trogus by the march of Harpagus, and his desertion to Cyrus; then follows the narrative of the war, which in the most essential traits agrees with the version of Ctesias-Nicolaus. From Deinon's fragments we shall add to the excerpt from Trogus, that Cyrus before his rebellion had served at the court of Astyages as overseer of the staff-bearers, and then of the body-guard; that Astyages was warned by Angares; and, finally, the defection of the Medes after the battle of Pasargadae, as given in the fragments of Diodorus.

The detail and liveliness of the traits in the accounts of Herodotus and Ctesias-Nicolaus, in the fragment of Deinon, and the narrative of Trogus--the warnings and portents--the dialogues and speeches of the action--the letter:--all these point to poetical sources. We found that the accounts of Ctesias of the foundation, rise, and fall of a.s.syria, and of the rise of Media, were based upon poems, and here also, beyond doubt, poetic traditions form the groundwork. Herodotus, at the beginning of his narrative, tells us: "I write these matters from the accounts given by some of the Persians, who do not exaggerate the life of Cyrus, but wish to narrate the order of events; I am aware that three other different accounts of the life of Cyrus are in existence."[541]

Xenophon tells us that Cyrus "is even now the theme of song among the barbarians."[542] In Deinon's fragment it is Angares, the most famous of the Median minstrels, who, while singing at the table of Astyages, warns him in a poetical figure against Cyrus (p. 354); in the account of Nicolaus it is one of the singing women, from whom, at the same time and in a similar figure, this warning comes. At the court of the Sa.s.sanids there were singing women who sang to the kings the achievements of old days. Ibn-al-Hareth brought women of this kind from the court of Chosru Nus.h.i.+rvan to the Koreis.h.i.+tes, and they sang the deeds of Rustem.[543]

According to these statements and indications we may regard it as certain that the elevation of Cyrus and the fall of Astyages was celebrated in song among the Persians and Medes. In spite of the differences between the three narratives, certain traits are common to all. In all dreams announce the future greatness of Cyrus; in Herodotus these appear to Astyages; in Nicolaus, to the mother of Cyrus; in Deinon and Trogus, to Cyrus also. In Herodotus Cambyses is rich in flocks, in Nicolaus the mother of Cyrus tends goats; in Herodotus Cambyses is of a quiet disposition, in Nicolaus he is driven by his son to revolt, and finally disowns the enterprise. All three narratives lay stress on the warnings given to Astyages against Cyrus, though in different ways; all mark strongly the early personal valour of Cyrus, which Xenophon also celebrates. Artembares the Mede is found both in Herodotus and Nicolaus, though in a different relation to Cyrus. In all three accounts a counsellor--Harpagus in the one case, Oebares in the other--exercises the greatest influence on the resolutions of Cyrus. Herodotus and Nicolaus mark the cunning of Cyrus as opposed to Astyages; in both Cyrus gives out that he is carrying out the king's orders in arming the Persians. In Herodotus Cyrus tells the Persians that he does not consider them worse men than the Medes, and they revolt "because they have now got a leader in Cyrus." In Nicolaus Cyrus asks whether there is not a leader who can put an end to the rule of the Medes over better men than themselves. In both the dominion of the Medes has long been hated by the Persians. In both before the beginning of the struggle Astyages commands Cyrus to appear before him. In Herodotus Astyages says, when Harpagus has pa.s.sed over to Cyrus and the Median army has broken up, that "he shall not succeed;" and in Nicolaus he uses the same words after the first defeat of his hors.e.m.e.n. In Herodotus it is the cruelty of Astyages to Harpagus, and his severity towards the Medes, which cost him his throne; in Diodorus the army revolts, even after brave fighting, from Astyages because he cruelly revenges upon them the defeat at Pasargadae. In all three accounts Cyrus does no harm to Astyages after his victory.