The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians Part 38

The affinity between these two names would alone make one believe that this is the king called in Scripture Arphaxad: but that opinion has many other substantial reasons to support it, as may be seen in father Montfaucon's learned dissertation, of which I have here made great use.

The pa.s.sage in Judith, _That Arphaxad built a very strong city, and called it Ecbatana,_(1068) has deceived most authors, and made them believe, that Arphaxad must be Dejoces, who was certainly the founder of that city. But the Greek text of Judith, which the Vulgate translation renders _aedificavit_, says only, _That Arphaxad added new buildings to Ecbatana_.(1069) And what can be more natural, than that, the father not having entirely perfected so considerable a work, the son should put the last hand to it, and make such additions as were wanting?

Phraortes, being of a very warlike temper, and not contented with the kingdom of Media, left him by his father, attacked the Persians;(1070) and defeating them in a decisive battle, brought them under subjection to his empire. Then strengthened by the accession of their troops, he attacked other neighbouring nations, one after another, till he made himself master of almost all the Upper Asia, which comprehends all that lies north of mount Taurus, from Media as far as the river Halys. Elate with this good success, he ventured to turn his arms against the a.s.syrians, at that time indeed weakened through the revolt of several nations, but yet very powerful in themselves. Nabuchodonosor, their king, otherwise called Saosduchinus, raised a great army in his own country, and sent amba.s.sadors to several other nations of the East,(1071) to require their a.s.sistance.

They all refused him with contempt, and ignominiously treated his amba.s.sadors, letting him see, that they no longer dreaded that empire, which had formerly kept the greatest part of them in a slavish subjection.

The king, highly enraged at such insolent treatment, swore by his throne and his reign, that he would be revenged of all those nations, and put them every one to the sword. He then prepared for battle, with what forces he had, in the plain of Ragau. A great battle ensued there, which proved fatal to Phraortes. He was defeated, his cavalry fled, his chariots were overturned and put into disorder, and Nabuchodonosor gained a complete victory. Then taking advantage of the defeat and confusion of the Medes, he entered their country, took their cities, pushed on his conquests even to Ecbatana, forced the towers and the walls by storm, and gave the city to be pillaged by his soldiers, who plundered it, and stripped it of all its ornaments.

The unfortunate Phraortes, who had escaped into the mountains of Ragau, fell at last into the hands of Nabuchodonosor, who cruelly caused him to be shot to death with darts. After that, he returned to Nineveh with all his army, which was still very numerous, and for four months together did nothing but feast and divert himself with those that had accompanied him in this expedition.

In Judith, we read that the king of a.s.syria sent Holophernes with a powerful army, to revenge himself of those that had refused him succours; the progress and cruelty of that commander, the general consternation of all the people, the courageous resolution of the Israelites to withstand him, in a.s.surance that their G.o.d would defend them, the extremity to which Bethulia and the whole nation was reduced, the miraculous deliverance of that city by the courage and conduct of the brave Judith, and the complete overthrow of the a.s.syrian army, are all related in the same book.

(M186) CYAXARES I. reigned forty years.(1072) This prince succeeded to the throne immediately after his father's death. He was a very brave, enterprising prince, and knew how to make his advantage of the late overthrow of the a.s.syrian army. He first settled himself well in his kingdom of Media, and then conquered all Upper Asia. But what he had most at heart was, to go and attack Nineveh, to revenge the death of his father by the destruction of that great city.

The a.s.syrians came out to meet him, having only the remains of that great army, which was destroyed before Bethulia. A battle ensued, wherein the a.s.syrians were defeated, and driven back to Nineveh. Cyaxares, pursuing his victory, laid siege to the city, which was upon the point of falling inevitably into his hands, but the time was not yet come when G.o.d designed to punish that city for her crimes, and for the calamities she had brought upon his people, as well as other nations. It was delivered from its present danger in the following manner.

A formidable army of Scythians, from the neighbourhood of the Palus Maeotis, had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe, and was still marching under the conduct of king Madyes in pursuit of them. The Cimmerians had found means to escape from the Scythians, who had advanced as far as Media. Cyaxares, hearing of this irruption, raised the siege from before Nineveh, and marched with all his forces against that mighty army, which, like an impetuous torrent, was going to overrun all Asia. The two armies engaged, and the Medes were vanquished. The Barbarians, finding no other obstacle in their way, overspread not only Media, but almost all Asia.

After that, they marched towards Egypt, from whence Psammiticus diverted their course by presents. They then returned into Palestine, where some of them plundered the temple of Venus at Ascalon, the most ancient of the temples dedicated to that G.o.ddess. Some of the Scythians settled at Bethshan, a city in the tribe of Mana.s.seh, on this side Jordan, which from them was afterwards called Scythopolis.

The Scythians for the s.p.a.ce of twenty-eight years were masters of the Upper Asia, namely, the two Armenias, Cappadocia, Pontus, Colchis, and Iberia; during which time they spread desolation wherever they came. The Medes had no way of getting rid of them, but by a dangerous stratagem.

Under pretence of cultivating and strengthening the alliance they had made together, they invited the greatest part of them to a general feast, which was made in every family. Each master of the feast made his guests drunk, and in that condition were the Scythians ma.s.sacred. The Medes then repossessed themselves of the provinces they had lost, and once more extended their empire to the banks of the Halys, which was their ancient boundary westward.

The remaining Scythians, who were not at this feast, having heard of the ma.s.sacre of their countrymen, fled into Lydia to king Halyattes, who received them with great humanity.(1073) This occasioned a war between the two princes. Cyaxares immediately led his troops to the frontiers of Lydia. Many battles were fought during the s.p.a.ce of five years, with almost equal advantage on both sides. But the battle fought in the sixth year was very remarkable on account of an eclipse of the sun, which happened during the engagement, when on a sudden the day was turned into a dark night. Thales, the Milesian, had foretold this eclipse. The Medes and Lydians, who were then in the heat of the battle, equally terrified with this unforeseen event, which they looked upon as a sign of the anger of the G.o.ds, immediately retreated on both sides, and made peace. Syennesis, king of Cilicia, and Nabuchodonosor,(1074) king of Babylon, were the mediators. To render it more firm and inviolable, the two princes were willing to strengthen it by the tie of marriage, and agreed, that Halyattes should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, eldest son of Cyaxares.

The manner these people had of contracting an alliance with one another, is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, which they had in common with the Greeks, they had this in particular; the two contracting parties made incisions in their own arms, and licked one another's blood.

(M187) Cyaxares's first care, as soon as he found himself again in peace, was to resume the siege of Nineveh, which the irruption of the Scythians had obliged him to raise.(1075) Nabopola.s.sar, king of Babylon, with whom he had lately contracted a particular alliance, joined with him in a league against the a.s.syrians. Having therefore united their forces, they besieged Nineveh, took it, killed Saracus the king, and utterly destroyed that mighty city.

G.o.d had foretold by his prophets above a hundred years before, that he would bring vengeance upon that impious city for the blood of his servants, wherewith the kings thereof had gorged themselves, like ravenous lions; that he himself would march at the head of the troops that should come to besiege it; that he would cause consternation and terror to go before them; that he would deliver the old men, the mothers, and their children, into the merciless hands of the soldiers; that all the treasures of the city should fall into the hands of rapacious and insatiable plunderers; and that the city itself should be so totally and utterly destroyed, that not so much as a vestige of it should be left; and that the people should ask hereafter, Where did the proud city of Nineveh stand?

But let us hear the language of the prophets themselves: Woe unto the b.l.o.o.d.y city, (cries Nahum,) it is all full of lies and robbery:(1076) he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face.(1077) The Lord cometh to avenge the cruelties done to Jacob and to Israel. I hear already the noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots.(1078) The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword, and the glittering spear. The s.h.i.+eld of his mighty men is made red; the valiant men are in scarlet.(1079) They shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightning. G.o.d is jealous; the Lord revengeth, and is furious.(1080) The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence: who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: I will strip thee of all thy ornaments.(1081) Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.(1082) She is empty, and void, and waste. Nineveh is destroyed; she is overthrown; she is desolate. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace(1083) shall be dissolved.(1084) And Huzzab shall be led away captive; she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves tabring upon their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I see a mult.i.tude of slain, and a great number of carca.s.ses; and there is no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses.(1085) Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding places of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid: where the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with rapine:(1086)(1087) The Lord shall destroy a.s.sur.(1088) He shall depopulate that city, which was so beautiful, and turn it into a land where no man cometh, and into a desert. It shall be a dwelling place for wild beasts, and the birds of night shall lurk therein. Behold, shall it be said, see that proud city, which was so stately, and so exalted; which said in her heart, I am the only city, and besides me there is no other.

All they that pa.s.s by her shall scoff at her, and shall insult her with hissings and contemptuous gestures.

The two armies enriched themselves with the spoils of Nineveh; and Cyaxares, prosecuting his victories, made himself master of all the cities of the kingdom of a.s.syria, except Babylon and Chaldea, which belonged to Nabopola.s.sar.

After this expedition Cyaxares died, and left his dominions to his son Astyages.

ASTYAGES reigned thirty-five years. This prince is called in (M188) Scripture Ahasuerus. Though his reign was very long, no less than thirty-five years, yet have we no particulars recorded of it in history.

He had two children, whose names are famous, namely, Cyaxares, by his wife Aryenis, and Mandane, by a former marriage. In his father's lifetime he married Mandane to Cambyses, the son of Achemenes, king of Persia: from this marriage sprung Cyrus, who was born but one year after the birth of his uncle Cyaxares. The latter succeeded his father in the kingdom of the Medes.

CYAXARES II. This is the prince whom the Scripture calls Darius the Mede.

Cyrus, having taken Babylon, in conjunction with his uncle Cyaxares, left it under his government. After the death of his uncle, and his father Cambyses, he united the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians into one: in the sequel, therefore, they will be considered only as one empire. I shall begin the history of that empire with the reign of Cyrus; which will include also what is known of the reigns of his two predecessors, Cyaxares and Astyages. But I shall previously give some account of the kingdom of Lydia, because Crsus, its king, has a considerable share in the events of which I am to speak.

Chapter IV. The History of the Lydians.

The kings who first reigned over the Lydians, are by Herodotus called Atyadae, that is, descendants from Atys.(1089) These, he tells us, derived their origin from Lydus, the son of Atys; and Lydus gave the name of Lydians to that people, who before this time were called Monians.

These Atyadae were succeeded by the Heraclidae, or descendants of Hercules, who possessed this kingdom for the s.p.a.ce of five hundred and five years.

(M189) ARGO, great grandson of Alcaeus, son of Hercules, was the first of the Heraclidae who reigned in Lydia.

(M190) The last was CANDAULES. This prince was married to a lady of exquisite beauty; and, being infatuated by his pa.s.sion for her, was perpetually boasting of her charms to others. Nothing would serve him, but that Gyges, one of his chief officers, should see, and judge of them by his own eyes; as if the husband's own knowledge of them was not sufficient for his happiness, or the beauty of his wife would have been impaired by his silence.(1090) The king to this end placed Gyges secretly in a convenient place; but notwithstanding that precaution, the queen perceived him when he retired, yet took no manner of notice of it. Judging, as the historian represents it, that the most valuable treasure of a woman is her modesty, she studied a signal revenge for the injury she had received; and, to punish the fault of her husband, committed a still greater crime.

Possibly, a secret pa.s.sion for Gyges had as great a share in that action, as her resentment for the dishonour done her. Be that as it will, she sent for Gyges, and obliged him to expiate his crime, either by his own death, or the king's, at his own option. After some remonstrances to no purpose, he resolved upon the latter, and by the murder of Candaules became master of his queen and his throne.(M191) By this means the kingdom pa.s.sed from the family of the Heraclidae into that of the Mermnadae.

Archilochus, the poet, lived at this time, and, as Herodotus informs us, spoke of this adventure of Gyges in his poems.

I cannot forbear mentioning in this place what is related by Herodotus, that amongst the Lydians, and almost all other Barbarians, it was reckoned shameful and infamous even for a man to appear naked. These footsteps of modesty, which are met with amongst pagans, ought to be reckoned valuable.(1091) We are a.s.sured, that among the Romans, a son, who was come to the age of maturity, never went into the baths with his father, nor even a son-in-law with his father-in-law; and this modesty and decency were looked upon by them as enjoined by the law of nature, the violation whereof was criminal. It is astonis.h.i.+ng, that amongst us our magistrates take no care to prevent this disorder, which, in the midst of Paris, at the season of bathing, is openly committed with impunity; a disorder so visibly contrary to the rules of common decency, so dangerous to young persons of both s.e.xes, and so severely condemned by paganism itself.

Plato relates the story of Gyges in a different manner from Herodotus.(1092) He tells us that Gyges wore a ring, the stone of which, when turned towards him, rendered him invisible; so that he had the advantage of seeing others, without being seen himself; and that by means of this ring, with the concurrence of the queen, he deprived Candaules of his life and throne. This probably signifies, that in order to compa.s.s his criminal design, he used all the tricks and stratagems, which the world calls subtle and refined policy, which penetrates into the most secret purposes of others, without making the least discovery of its own. The story, thus explained, carries in it a greater appearance of truth, than what we read in Herodotus.

Cicero, after having related this fable of Gyges's famous ring, adds, that if a wise man had such a ring, he would not use it to any wicked purpose; because virtue considers what is honourable and just, and has no occasion for darkness.(1093)

(M192) GYGES reigned thirty-eight years.(1094) The murder of Candaules raised a sedition among the Lydians. The two parties, instead of coming to blows, agreed to refer the matter to the decision of the Delphic oracle, which declared in favour of Gyges. The king made large presents to the temple of Delphi, which undoubtedly preceded, and had no little influence upon, the oracle's answer. Among other things of value, Herodotus mentions six golden cups, weighing thirty talents, amounting to near a million of French money, which is about forty-eight thousand pounds sterling.

As soon as he was in peaceable possession of the throne, he made war against Miletus, Smyrna, and Colophon, three powerful cities belonging to the neighbouring states.

After he had reigned thirty-eight years, he died, and was succeeded by his son

ARDYS, who reigned forty-nine years.(1095) It was in the reign of(M193) this prince, that the Cimmerians, driven out of their country by the Scythae Nomades, went into Asia, and took the city of Sardis, with the exception of the citadel.

(M194) SADYATTES reigned twelve years.(1096) This prince declared war against the Milesians, and laid siege to their city. In those days the sieges, which were generally nothing more than blockades, were carried on very slowly, and lasted many years. This king died before he had finished that of Miletus, and was succeeded by his son.

(M195) HALYATTES reigned fifty-seven years.(1097) This is the prince who made war against Cyaxares, king of Media. He likewise drove the Cimmerians out of Asia. He attacked and took the cities of Smyrna and Clazomenae. He vigorously prosecuted the war against the Milesians, begun by his father; and continued the siege of their city, which had lasted six years under his father, and continued as many under him. It ended at length in the following manner: Halyattes, upon an answer he received from the Delphic oracle, had sent an amba.s.sador into the city, to propose a truce for some months. Thrasybulus, Tyrant of Miletus, having notice of his coming, ordered all the corn, and other provisions, a.s.sembled by him and his subjects for their support, to be brought into the public market; and commanded the citizens, at the sight of a signal that should be given, to be all in a general humour of feasting and jollity. The thing was executed according to his orders. The Lydian amba.s.sador at his arrival was in the utmost surprise to see such plenty in the market, and such cheerfulness in the city. His master, to whom he gave an account of what he had seen, concluding that his project of reducing the place by famine would never succeed, preferred peace to so apparently fruitless a war, and immediately raised the siege.

(M196) CRSUS. His very name, which is become a proverb, conveys an idea of immense riches. The wealth of this prince, to judge of it only by the presents he made to the temple of Delphi, must have been excessively great. Most of those presents were still to be seen in the time of Herodotus, and were worth several millions. We may partly account for the treasures of this prince, from certain mines that he had, situate, according to Strabo, between Pergamus and Atarna;(1098) as also from the little river Pactolus, the sand of which was gold. But in Strabo's time this river had no longer the same advantage.

What is very extraordinary, this affluence did not enervate or soften the courage of Crsus.(1099) He thought it unworthy of a prince to spend his time in idleness and pleasure. For his part, he was perpetually in arms, made several conquests, and enlarged his dominions by the addition of all the contiguous provinces, as Phrygia, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Pamphylia, and all the country of the Carians, Ionians, Dorians, and aeolians. Herodotus observes, that he was the first conqueror of the Greeks, who till then had never been subject to a foreign power. Doubtless he must mean the Greeks settled in Asia Minor.

But what is still more extraordinary in this prince, though he was so immensely rich, and so great a warrior, yet his chief delight was in literature and the sciences. His court was the ordinary residence of those famous learned men, so revered by antiquity, and distinguished by the name of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.

Solon, one of the most celebrated amongst them, after having established new laws at Athens, thought he might absent himself for some years, and improve that time by travelling.(1100) He went to Sardis, where he was received in a manner suitable to the reputation of so great a man. The king, attended with a numerous court, appeared in all his regal pomp and splendour, dressed in the most magnificent apparel, which was all over enriched with gold, and glittered with diamonds. Notwithstanding the novelty of this spectacle to Solon, it did not appear that he was the least moved at it, nor did he utter a word which discovered the least surprise or admiration; on the contrary, people of sense might sufficiently discern from his behaviour, that he looked upon all this outward pomp, as an indication of a little mind, which knows not in what true greatness and dignity consist. This coldness and indifference in Solon's first approach, gave the king no favourable opinion of his new guest.

He afterwards ordered that all his treasures, his magnificent apartments, and costly furniture, should be showed him; as if he expected, by the mult.i.tude of his fine vessels, jewels, statues, and paintings, to conquer the philosopher's indifference. But these things were not the king; and it was the king that Solon was come to visit, and not the walls and chambers of his palace. He had no notion of making a judgment of the king, or an estimate of his worth, by these outward appendages, but by himself and his own personal qualities. Were we to judge at present by the same rule, we should find many of our great men wretchedly naked and desolate.

When Solon had seen all, he was brought back to the king. Crsus then asked him, which of mankind in all his travels he had found the most truly happy? "One Tellus," replied Solon, "a citizen of Athens, a very honest and good man, who, after having lived all his days without indigence, having always seen his country in a flouris.h.i.+ng condition, has left children that are universally esteemed, has had the satisfaction of seeing those children's children, and at last died gloriously in fighting for his country."

Such an answer as this, in which gold and silver were accounted as nothing, seemed to Crsus to denote a strange ignorance and stupidity.

However, as he flattered himself that he should be ranked at least in the second degree of happiness, he asked him, "Who, of all those he had seen, was the next in felicity to Tellus?" Solon answered, "Cleobis and Biton, of Argos, two brothers,(1101) who had left behind them a perfect pattern of fraternal affection, and of the respect due from children to their parents. Upon a solemn festival, when their mother, a priestess of Juno, was to go to the temple, the oxen that were to draw her not being ready, the two sons put themselves to the yoke, and drew their mother's chariot thither, which was above five miles distant. All the mothers of the place, ravished with admiration, congratulated the priestess on being the mother of such sons. She, in the transports of her joy and thankfulness, earnestly entreated the G.o.ddess to reward her children with the best thing that heaven can give to man. Her prayers were heard. When the sacrifice was over, her two sons fell asleep in the very temple, and there died(1102) in a soft and peaceful slumber. In honour of their piety, the people of Argos consecrated statues to them in the temple of Delphi."

"What then," says Crsus, in a tone that showed his discontent, "you do not reckon me in the number of the happy?" Solon, who was not willing either to flatter or exasperate him any further, replied calmly: "King of Lydia, besides many other advantages, the G.o.ds have given us Grecians a spirit of moderation and reserve, which has produced amongst us a plain, popular kind of philosophy, accompanied with a certain generous freedom, void of pride or ostentation, and therefore not well suited to the courts of kings: this philosophy, considering what an infinite number of vicissitudes and accidents the life of man is liable to, does not allow us either to glory in any prosperity we enjoy ourselves, or to admire happiness in others, which perhaps may prove only transient, or superficial." From hence he took occasion to represent to him further, "That the life of man seldom exceeds seventy years, which make up in all six thousand two hundred and fifty days, of which no two are exactly alike; so that the time to come is nothing but a series of various accidents, which cannot be foreseen. Therefore, in our opinion," continued he, "no man can be esteemed happy, but he whose happiness G.o.d continues to the end of his life: as for others, who are perpetually exposed to a thousand dangers, we account their happiness as uncertain as the crown is to a person that is still engaged in battle, and has not yet obtained the victory." Solon retired, when he had spoken these words,(1103) which served only to mortify Crsus, but not to reform him.

aesop, the author of the Fables, was then at the court of this prince, by whom he was very kindly entertained. He was concerned at the unhandsome treatment Solon received, and said to him by way of advice: "Solon, we must either not come near princes at all, or speak things that are agreeable to them." "Say rather," replied Solon, "that we should either never come near them at all, or else speak such things as may be for their good."(1104)

In Plutarch's time some of the learned were of opinion, that this interview between Solon and Crsus did not agree with the dates of chronology. But as those dates are very uncertain, that judicious author did not think this objection ought to prevail against the authority of several credible writers, by whom this story is attested.