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After this, the Lydians approached, bearing the corpse, and behind it followed the slayer. He, having advanced in front of the corpse, delivered himself up to Croesus, stretching forth his hands and begging of him to kill him upon it ; then relat ing his former misfortune, and how, in addition to that, he had destroyed his purifier, and that he ought to live no longer. When Croesus heard this, though his own affliction was so
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great, he pitied Adrastus, and said to him : " You have made me full satisfaction by condemning yourself to die. But you are not the author of this misfortune, except as far as you were the involuntary agent, but that god, whoever he was, that long since foreshadowed what was about to happen. "
Croesus therefore buried his son as the dignity of his birth required ; but Adrastus, son of Gordius, son of Midas, who had been the slayer of his own brother, and the slayer of his purifier, when all was silent round the tomb, judging himself the most heavily afflicted of all men, killed himself on the tomb. But Croesus, bereaved of his son, continued disconsolate for two years.
Some time after, the overthrow of the kingdom of Astyages son of Cyaxares, by Cyrus son of Cambyses, and the growing power of the Persians, put an end to the grief of Croesus ; and it entered into his thoughts whether he could by any means check the growing power of the Persians before they became formidable. After he had formed this purpose, he determined to make trial as well of the oracles in Greece as of that in Libya ; and sent different persons to different places, with the following orders : that, computing the days from the time of their departure from Sardis, they should consult the oracles on the hundredth day, by asking what Croesus, son of Alyattes and king of the Lydians, was then doing; and that they should bring him the answer of each oracle in writing. Now, what were the answers given by the other oracles is mentioned by none ; but no sooner had the Lydians entered the temple of Delphi to consult the god, and asked the question enjoined them, than the Pythian thus spoke in hexameter verse : " I know the number of the sands, and the measure of the sea ; I understand the dumb, and hear him that does not speak ; the savor of the hard-shelled tortoise boiled in brass with the flesh of lamb strikes on my senses ; brass is laid beneath it, and brass is put over it. "
The Lydians, having written down this answer of the Pythian, returned to Sardis. And when the rest, who had been sent to other places, arrived bringing the answers, Croesus, having opened each of them, examined their con tents ; but none of them pleased him. When, however, he heard that from Delphi, he immediately adored it and ap proved of it, being convinced that the oracle at Delphi alone was a real oracle, because it had discovered what he had done.
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For when he had sent persons to consult the different oracles, watching the appointed day, he had recourse to the following contrivance : having thought of what it was impossible to dis cover or guess at, he cut up a tortoise and a lamb, and boiled them himself together in a brazen caldron, and put on it a cover of brass.
Such, then, was the answer given to Croesus from Delphi : as regards the answer of the oracle of Amphiaraus, I cannot say what answer it gave to the Lydians, who performed the accustomed rites at the temple ; for nothing else is related than that he considered this also to be a true oracle.
After this he endeavored to propitiate the god at Delphi by magnificent sacrifices ; for he offered three thousand head of cattle of every kind fit for sacrifice, and having heaped up a great pile, he burned on it beds of gold and silver, vials of gold, and robes of purple and garments, hoping by that means more completely to conciliate the god ; he also ordered all the Lydians to offer to the god whatever he was able. When the sacrifice was ended, having melted down a vast quantity of gold, he cast half -bricks from it ; of which the longest were six palms in length, the shortest three, and in thickness one palm : their number was one hundred and seventeen : four of these, of pure gold, weighed each two talents and a half ; the other half -bricks of pale gold weighed two talents each. He made also the figure of a lion of fine gold, weighing ten talents.
Croesus, having finished these things, sent them to Delphi, and with them two large bowls, one of gold, the other of silver, and four casks of silver ; and he dedicated two lustral vases, one of gold, the other of silver ; at the same time he sent many other offerings : among them some round silver covers ; and more over, a statue of a woman in gold three cubits high, which the Delphians say is the image of Croesus' baking woman ; and to all these things he added the necklaces and girdles of his wife.
These were the offerings he sent to Delphi ; and to Amphia raus, having ascertained his virtue and sufferings, he dedicated a shield all of gold, and a lance of solid gold, the shaft as well as the points being of gold ; and these are at Thebes, in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.
To the Lydians appointed to convey these presents to the temples, Croesus gave it in charge to inquire of the oracles whether he should make war on the Persians, and if he should unite any other nation as an ally. Accordingly, when the
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Lydians arrived at the places to which they were sent, and had dedicated the offerings, they consulted the oracles, saying : "Croesus, king of the Lydians and of other nations, esteem ing these to be the only oracles among men, sends these presents in acknowledgment of your discoveries ; and now asks whether he should lead an army against the Persians, and whether he should join any auxiliary forces with his own. " Such were their questions : and the opinions of both oracles concurred, foretelling " that if Croesus should make war on the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire ; " and they advised him to engage the most powerful of the Grecians in his alliance.
When Croesus heard the answers that were brought back, he was beyond measure delighted with the oracles ; and fully expecting that he should destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he again sent to Delphi, and having ascertained the number of the inhabitants, presented each of them with two staters of gold. In return for this, the Delphians gave Croesus and the Lydians the right to consult the oracle before any others, and exemption from tribute, and the first seats in the temple, and the privilege of being made citizens of Delphi to as many as should desire it in all future time.
Croesus, having made these presents to the Delphians, sent a third time to consult the oracle ; for after he had ascertained the veracity of the oracle, he had frequent recourse to it. His demand now was, whether he should long enjoy the kingdom ? to which the Pythian gave this answer : " When a mule shall become king of the Medes, then, tenderfooted Lydian, flee over pebbly Hermus, nor tarry, nor blush to be a coward. "
With this answer, when reported to him, Croesus was more than ever delighted, thinking that a mule should never be king of the Medes instead of a man, and consequently that neither he nor his posterity should ever be deprived of the kingdom. In the next place, he began to inquire carefully who were the most powerful of the Greeks whom he might gain over as allies ; and on inquiry, found that the Lacedaemonians and Athenians excelled the rest, the former being of Dorian, the latter of Ionic descent ; for these were in ancient time the most distinguished, the latter being a Pelasgian, the other an Hellenic nation.
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Croesus then prepared to invade Cappadocia, hoping to over throw Cyrus and the power of the Persians. While Croesus
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was preparing for his expedition against the Persians, a certain Lydian, who before that time was esteemed a wise man, and on this occasion acquired a very great name in Lydia, gave him advice in these words (the name of this person was Sandanis) : " O king, you are preparing to make war against a people who wear leather trousers, and the rest of their garments of leather ; who inhabit a barren country, and feed not on such things as they choose, but such as they can get. Besides, they do not habitually use wine, but drink water ; nor have they figs to eat, nor anything that is good. In the first place, then, if you should conquer, what will you take from them, since they have nothing? On the other hand, if you should be conquered, consider what good things you will lose ; for when they have tasted of our good things, they will become fond of them, nor will they be driven from them. As for me, I thank the gods that they have not put it into the thoughts of the Persians to make war on the Lydians. " In saying this, he did not persuade Croesus.
Croesus invaded Cappadocia for the following reasons : as well from a desire of adding it to his own dominions, as, espe cially, from his confidence in the oracle, and a wish to punish Cyrus on account of Astyages ; for Cyrus son of Cambyses had subjugated Astyages son of Cyaxares, who was brother-in- law of Croesus and king of the Medes. He had become brother- in-law to Croesus in the following manner : —
A band of Scythian nomads having risen in rebellion, with drew into Media. At that time Cyaxares son of Phraortes, grandson of Deioces, ruled over the Medes ; he at first received these Scythians kindly, as being suppliants ; so much so that, esteeming them very highly, he intrusted some youths to them to learn their language and the use of the bow. In course of time, it happened that these Scythians, who were constantly going out to hunt, and who always brought home something, on one occasion took nothing. On their returning empty- handed, Cyaxares (for he was, as he proved, of a violent temper) treated them with most opprobrious language. The Scyth ians, having met with this treatment from Cyaxares, and con sidering it undeserved by them, determined to kill one of the youths that were being educated under their care ; and having prepared the flesh as they used to dress the beasts taken in hunting, to serve it up to Cyaxares as if it were game, and then to make their escape immediately to Alyattes son of Sadyattes,
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at Sardis. This was accordingly done, and Cyaxares and his guests tasted of this flesh ; and the Scythians, having done this, became suppliants to Alyattes.
After this (for Alyattes refused to deliver up the Scythians to Cyaxares when he demanded them), war lasted between the Lydians and the Medes for five years ; during this period the Medes often defeated the Lydians, and often the Lydians defeated the Medes ; and during this time they had a kind of nocturnal engagement. In the sixth year, when they were carrying on the war with nearly equal success, on occasion of an engagement, it happened that in the heat of the battle day was suddenly turned into night. This change of the day Thales the Milesian had foretold to the Ionians, fixing beforehand this year as the very period in which the change actually took place. The Lydians and Medes seeing night succeeding in the place of day, desisted from fighting, and both showed a great anxiety to make peace. Syennesis the Cilician, and Labynetus the Babylonian, were the mediators of their reconciliation : these were they who hastened the treaty between them, and made a matrimonial connection ; for they persuaded Alyattes to give his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages son of Cyaxares : for without strong necessity, agreements are not wont to remain firm. These nations in their federal contracts observe the same ceremonies as the Greeks ; and in addition, when they have cut their arms to the outer skin, they lick up one another's blood.
Cyrus had subdued this same Astyages, his grandfather by the mother's side, for reasons which I shall hereafter relate. Croesus, alleging this against him, sent to consult the oracle if he should make war on the Persians ; and when an ambiguous answer came back, he, interpreting it to his own advantage, led his army against the territory of the Persians. When he arrived at the river Halys, Croesus transported his forces, as I believe, by the bridges which are now there. But the common opinion of the Grecians is, that Thales the Milesian procured him a passage ; for, while Croesus was in doubt how his army should pass over the river (for they say that these bridges were not at that time in existence), Thales, who was in the camp, caused the stream, which flowed along the left of the army, to flow likewise on the right ; and he contrived it thus : having begun above the camp, he dug a deep trench, in the shape of a half-moon, so that the river, being turned into this from its old
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channel, might pass in the rear of the camp pitched where it then was, and afterward, having passed by the camp, might fall into its former course ; so that as soon as the river was divided into two streams, it became fordable in both. Some say that the ancient channel of the river was entirely dried up : but this I cannot assent to ; for how then could they have crossed it on their return ?
However, Croesus, having passed the river with his army, came to a place called Pteria, in Cappadocia. (Now Pteria is the strongest position of the whole of this country, and is situ ated over against Sinope, a city on the Euxine Sea. ) Here he encamped, and ravaged the lands of the Syrians, and took the city of the Pterians, and enslaved the inhabitants ; he also took all the adjacent places, and expelled the inhabitants, who had given him no cause for blame. But Cyrus, having assembled his own army, and having taken with him all who inhabited the intermediate country, went to meet Croesus. But before he began to advance, he sent heralds to the Ionians, to persuade them to revolt from Croesus : the Ionians, however, refused. When Cyrus had come up and encamped opposite Croesus, they made trial of each other's strength on the plains of Pteria ; but when an obstinate battle took place, and many fell on both sides, they at last parted on the approach of night, neither having been victorious. In this manner did the two armies engage.
But Croesus laying the blame on his own army on account of the smallness of its numbers, for his forces that engaged were far fewer than those of Cyrus — laying the blame on this, when on the following day Cyrus did not attempt to attack him, he marched back to Sardis, designing to summon the Egyptians according to treaty, for he had made an alliance with Amasis, king of Egypt, before he had with the Lacedaemonians ; and to send for the Babylonians (for he had made an alliance with them also, and Labynetus at this time reigned over the Baby lonians), and to require the presence of the Lacedaemonians at a fixed time : having collected these together, and assembled his own army, he purposed, when winter was over, to attack the Persians in the beginning of the spring. With this design, when he reached Sardis, he dispatched ambassadors to his dif ferent allies, requiring them to meet at Sardis before the end of five months ; but the army that was with him, and that had fought with the Persians, which was composed of mercenary
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troops, he entirely disbanded, not imagining that Cyrus, who had come off on such equal terms, would venture to advance upon Sardis.
While Croesus was forming these plans, the whole suburbs were filled with serpents ; and when they appeared, the horses, forsaking their pastures, came and devoured them. When Croesus beheld this, he considered it to be, as it really was, a prodigy, and sent immediately to consult the interpreters at Telmessus : but the messengers having arrived there, and learned from the Telmessians what the prodigy portended, were unable to report it to Croesus ; for before they sailed back to Sardis, Croesus had been taken prisoner. The Telmessians had pronounced as follows: "That Croesus must expect a foreign army to invade his country, which, on its arrival, would subdue the natives ; because, they said, the serpent is a son of the earth, but the horse is an enemy and a stranger. " This answer the Telmessians gave to Croesus when he had been already taken, yet without knowing what had happened with respect to Sardis or Croesus himself.
But Cyrus, as soon as Croesus had retreated after the battle at Pteria, having discovered that it was the intention of Croesus to disband his army, found, upon deliberation, that it would be to his advantage to march with all possible expedition on Sardis, before the forces of the Lydians could be a second time assembled ; and when he had thus determined, he put his plan into practice with all possible expedition ; for having marched his army into Lydia, he brought this news of his own enter prise to Croesus. Thereupon Croesus, being thrown into great perplexity, seeing that matters had turned out contrary to his expectations, nevertheless drew out the Lydians to battle ; and at that time no nation in Asia was more valiant and warlike than the Lydians. Their mode of fighting was from on horse back ; they were armed with long lances, and managed their horses with admirable address.
Cyrus, alarmed at the cavalry, had recourse to the following stratagem: having collected together all the camels that followed his army with provisions and baggage, and caused their burdens to be taken off, he mounted men upon them equipped in cavalry accouterments ; and having furnished them, he ordered them to go in advance of the rest of his army against the Lydian horse, commanded his infantry to follow the camels, and placed the whole of his cavalry behind the infantry. When all were drawn
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up in order, he charged them not to spare any of the Lydians, but to kill every one they met; but on no account to kill Croesus, even if he should offer resistance when taken. He drew up the camels in the front of the cavalry for this reason: a horse is afraid of a camel, and cannot endure either to see its form or to scent its smell. Accordingly, when they joined battle, the horses no sooner smelt the camels and saw them, than they wheeled round, and the hopes of Croesus were de stroyed. Nevertheless, the Lydians were not therefore dis couraged, but when they perceived what had happened, leaped from their horses and engaged with the Persians on foot; at last, when many had fallen on both sides, the Lydians were put to flight, and being shut up within the walls, were besieged by the Persians.
On the fourteenth day after Croesus had been besieged, Cyrus sent horsemen throughout his army, and proclaimed that he would liberally reward the man who should first mount the wall : upon this, several attempts were made, and as often failed ; till, after the rest had desisted, a Mardian, whose name was Hyroeades, endeavored to climb up on that part of the citadel where no guard was stationed, because there did not appear to be any danger that it would be taken on that part, for on that side the citadel was precipitous and impracticable. This is the quarter of the city that faces Mount Tmolus. Now this Hyroe ades the Mardian, having seen a Lydian come down this preci pice the day before for a helmet that was rolled down, and carry it up again, noticed it carefully, and reflected on it in his mind : he thereupon ascended the same way, followed by divers Per sians; and when great numbers had gone up, Sardis was thus taken, and the whole town plundered.
The following incidents befell Croesus himself. He had a son, of whom I have before made mention, who was in other respects proper enough, but dumb. Now, in the time of his former prosperity, Croesus had done everything he could for him, and among other expedients had sent to consult the oracle of Delphi concerning him ; but the Pythian gave him this answer : " O Lydian born, king of many, very foolish Croesus, wish not to hear the longed-for voice of thy son speaking within thy palace : it were better for thee that this should be far off ; for he will first speak in an unhappy clay. "
When the city was taken, one of the Persians, not knowing Croesus, was about to kill him. Croesus, though he saw him
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approach, from his present misfortune took no heed of him, nor did he care about dying by the blow ; but this speechless son of his, when he saw the Persian advancing against him, through dread and anguish burst into speech, and said, " Man, kill not Croesus. " These were the first words he ever uttered ; but from that time he continued to speak during the remainder of his life.
So the Persians got possession of Sardis, and made Croesus prisoner, after he had reigned fourteen years, been besieged fourteen days, and lost his great empire, as the oracle had pre dicted. The Persians, having taken him, conducted him to Cyrus ; and he, having heaped up a great pile, placed Croesus upon it, bound with fetters, and with him fourteen young Lydians, designing either to offer this sacrifice to some god as the first fruits of his victory, or wishing to perform a vow; or perhaps, having heard that Croesus was a religious person, he placed him on the pile for the purpose of discovering whether any deity would save him from being burned alive. When Croesus stood upon the pile, notwithstanding the weight of his misfortunes, the words of Solon recurred to him, as spoken by inspiration of the Deity, that " no living man could be justly called happy. " When this occurred to him, after a long silence he recovered himself, and uttering a groan, thrice pronounced the name of Solon. When Cyrus heard him, he commanded his interpreters to ask Croesus whom it was he called upon: they drew near and asked him, but Croesus for some time kept silence ; but at last, being constrained to speak, said, " I named a man whose discourses I more desire all tyrants might hear, than to be possessor of the greatest riches. "
When he gave them this obscure answer, they again inquired what he said ; and when they persisted in their inquiries, and were very importunate, he at length told them that Solon, an Athenian, formerly visited him, and having viewed all his treas ures, made no account of them ; telling, in a word, how every thing had befallen him as Solon had warned him, though his discourse related to all mankind as much as to himself, and especially to those who imagine themselves happy. The pile being now kindled, the outer parts began to burn : but Cyrus, informed by the interpreters of what Croesus had said, relented, and considering that being but a man, he was yet going to burn another man alive who had been no way inferior to himself in
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prosperity; and moreover fearing retribution, and reflecting that nothing human is constant, commanded the fire to be instantly extinguished and Croesus, with those who were about him, to be taken down ; but they, with all their endeavors, were unable to master the fire.
Croesus, perceiving that Cyrus had altered his resolution, when he saw every man endeavoring to put out the fire but unable to get the better of it, shouted aloud, invoking Apollo, and besought him, if ever any of his offerings had been agree able to him, to protect and deliver him from the present danger : he with tears invoked the god, and on a sudden clouds were seen gathering in the air, which before was serene, and a vio lent storm burst forth and vehement rain fell and extinguished the flames ; by which Cyrus perceiving that Croesus was beloved by the gods, and a good man, when he had had him taken down from the pile, asked him the following question : " Who persuaded you, Croesus, to invade my territories, and to become my enemy instead of my friend ? "
He answered : " O king, I have done this for your good but my own evil fortune, and the god of the Greeks who encour aged me to make war is the cause of all. For no man is so void of understanding as to prefer war before peace : for in the latter, children bury their fathers ; in the former, fathers bury their children. But I suppose it pleased the gods that these things should be so. "
He then thus spoke : but Cyrus, having set him at liberty, placed him by his own side, and showed him great respect ; and both he and all those that were with him were astonished at what they saw. But Croesus, absorbed in thought, remained silent ; and presently turning round and beholding the Per sians sacking the city of the Lydians, he said : " Does it become me, O king, to tell you what is passing through my mind, or to keep silent on the present occasion ? "
Cyrus bade him say with confidence whatever he wished; upon which Croesus asked him, saying, " What is this vast crowd so earnestly employed about? "
He answered, " They are sacking your city and plundering your riches. "
" Not so," Croesus replied ; " they are neither sacking my city nor plundering my riches, for they no longer belong to me, but they are ravaging what belongs to you. "
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The reply of Croesus attracted the attention of Cyrus ; he therefore ordered all the rest to withdraw, and asked Croesus what he thought should be done in the present conjuncture. He answered : " Since the gods have made me your servant, I think it my duty to acquaint you if I perceive anything deserv ing of remark. The Persians, who are by nature overbearing, are poor. If therefore you permit them to plunder and possess great riches, you may expect the following results : whoso acquires the greatest possessions, be assured will be ready to rebel. Therefore, if you approve what I say, adopt the follow ing plan : place some of your bodyguard as sentinels at every gate, with orders to take the booty from all those who would go out, and to acquaint them that the tenth must of necessity be consecrated to Jupiter : thus you will not incur the odium of taking away their property ; and they, acknowledging your intention to be just, will readily obey. "
Cyrus, when he heard this, was exceedingly delighted, as he thought the suggestion a very good one. Having therefore commended it highly, and ordered his guards to do what Croesus suggested, he addressed Croesus as follows : " Croesus, since you are resolved to display the deeds and words of a true king, ask whatever boon you desire on the instant. "
"Sir," he answered, "the most acceptable favor you can bestow upon me is to let me send my fetters to the god of the Grecians, whom I have honored more than any other deity, and to ask him if it be his custom to deceive those who deserve well of him. "
Cyrus asked him what cause he had to complain, that induced him to make this request : upon which Croesus recounted to him all his projects, and the answers of the oracles, and particularly the offerings he had presented ; and how he was incited by the oracle to make war against the Persians. When he had said this, he again besought him to grant him leave to reproach the god with these things. But Cyrus, smiling, said, "You shall not only receive this boon from me, but whatever else you may at any time desire. "
When Croesus heard this he sent certain Lydians to Delphi, with orders to lay his fetters at the entrance of the temple, and to ask the god if he were not ashamed to have encouraged Croesus by his oracles to make war on the Persians, as he would put an end to the power of Cyrus, of which war such
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were the first fruits (showing the fetters), and at the same time to ask if it were the custom of the Grecian gods to be ungrateful.
When the Lydians arrived at Delphi, and had delivered their message, the Pythian is reported to have made this an swer : —
" The god himself even cannot avoid the decrees of fate ; and Croesus has atoned the crime of his ancestor in the fifth generation, who, being one of the bodyguard of the Heraclidae, was induced by the artifice of a woman to murder his master, and to usurp his dignity, to which he had no right. But although Apollo was desirous that the fall of Sardis might happen in the time of the sons of Croesus, and not during his reign, yet it was not in his power to avert the fates : but so far as he allowed they accomplished, and conferred the boon on him ; for he delayed the capture of Sardis for the space of three years. Let Croesus know, therefore, that he was taken prisoner three years later than the fates had ordained ; and in the next place, he came to his relief when he was upon the point of being burned alive. Then, as to the prediction of the oracle, Croesus has no right to complain : for Apollo foretold him that if he made war on the Persians, he would subvert a great empire ; and had he desired to be truly informed, he ought to have sent again to inquire whether his own or that of Cyrus was meant. But since he neither understood the oracle, nor inquired again, let him lay the blame on himself. And when he last consulted the oracle, he did not understand the answer concerning the mule : for Cyrus was that mule ; inas much as he was born of parents of different nations, the mother superior, but the father inferior. For she was a Mede, and daughter of Astyages, king of Media ; but he was a Persian, subject to the Medes ; and though in every respect inferior, he married his own mistress. "
The Pythian gave this answer to the Lydians, and they carried it back to Sardis, and reported it to Croesus, and he, when he heard it, acknowledged the fault to be his, and not the god's. Such is the account of the kingdom of Croesus, and the first subjection of Ionia.
TOL. III. — 15
226 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. Bt xenophon.
[Xenophon, the famous Greek general and historian, was born at Athens about B. C. 460. He was a pupil and friend of Socrates, whose biography he wrote in the "Memorabilia. " He joined the expedition of Cyrus the Younger as a volunteer, and on the murder of the generals after the battle of Cunaxa, was made commander of the retreat, the celebrated " Retreat of the Ten Thou sand. " Later he served in the Spartan army and was banished by Athens ; he lived some twenty years in Elis, but the time and place of his death are not known. His chief work is the "Anabasis," describing the expedition of Cyrus and the retreat. He also wrote a history of Grecian affairs, the "Hellenica" ; the " CyropjBdia," a pretended biography of Cyrus the Great, really an ideal dream of a boy's education and a social state ; and other things. ]
Cybus is said to have had for his father Cambyses, king of the Persians. Cambyses was of the race of the Perseidae, who were so called from Perseus. It is agreed that he was born of a mother named Mandane ; and Mandane was the daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. Cyrus is described, and is still celebrated by the Barbarians, as having been most handsome in person, most humane in disposition, most eager for knowledge, and most ambitious of honor ; so that he would undergo any labor and face any danger for the sake of obtaining praise. Such is the constitution of mind and body that he is recorded to have had ; and he was educated in conformity with the laws of the Persians.
These laws seem to begin with a provident care for the common good; not where they begin in most other govern ments ; for most governments, leaving each individual to edu cate his children as he pleases, and the advanced in age to live as they please, enjoin their people not to steal, not to plunder, not to enter a house by violence, not to strike any one whom it is wrong to strike, not to be adulterous, not to disobey the magistrates, and other such things in like manner ; and, if people transgress any of these precepts, they impose punish ments upon them. But the Persian laws, by anticipation, are careful to provide, from the beginning, that their citizens shall not be such as to be inclined to any action that is bad and mean. . . .
The boys attending the public schools pass their time in learning justice ; and say that they go for this purpose, as those with us say who go to learn to read. Their presidents spend the most part of the day in dispensing justice amongst
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them ; for there are among the boys, as among the men, accu sations for theft, robbery, violence, deceit, calumny, and other such things as naturally occur ; and such as they convict of doing wrong, in any of these respects, they punish ; they pun ish likewise such as they find guilty of false accusation ; they appeal to justice also in the case of a crime for which men hate one another excessively, but for which they never go to law, that is, ingratitude ; and whomsoever they find able to return a benefit, and not returning it, they punish severely. For they think that the ungrateful are careless with regard to the gods, their parents, their country, and their friends; and upon in gratitude seems closely to follow shamelessness, which appears to be the principal conductor of mankind into all that is dis
honorable.
They also teach the boys self-control ; and it contributes
much toward their learning to control themselves, that they see every day their elders behaving themselves with discretion. They teach them also to obey their officers ; and it contributes much to this end, that they see their elders constantly obedient to their officers. They teach them temperance with respect to eating and drinking ; and it contributes much to this object, that they see that their elders do not quit their stations to satisfy their appetites, until their officers dismiss them, and that the boys themselves do not eat with their mothers, but with their teachers, and when the officers give the signal. They bring from home with them bread, and a sort of cresses to eat with it ; and a cup to drink from, that, if any are thirsty, they may take water from the river. They learn, besides, to shoot with the bow, and to throw the javelin. These exercises the boys practice till they are sixteen or seventeen years of age, when they enter the class of young men. . . .
Cyrus, till twelve years of age, or a little more, was educated under this discipline, and evidently excelled all his equals, both in quickly learning what was necessary, and in doing everything in a becoming and manly way. At that time Astyages sent for his daughter and her son ; for he was desirous to see him, having heard that he was a handsome and excellent child. Accordingly Mandane went to her father, and took her son Cyrus with her. As soon as she arrived, and Cyrus knew Astyages to be his mother's father, he instantly, as being a boy naturally affectionate, embraced him, just as if he had been previously brought up with him, and
228 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
had long loved him ; and observing him adorned with paint about his eyes and color applied to his face, and with arti
ficial hair, things that are customary amongst the Medes purple coats, cloaks, collars about the neck, and bracelets on the wrists, are all Median decorations ; but amongst the Per sians at home, even at this day, their habits are much coarser, and their diet more simple), observing this dress of his grand father, and fixing his eyes on" him, he said, " O mother, how handsome my grandfather is ! His mother then asking him which he thought the more handsome, his father or his grand father, Cyrus answered, "Of the Persians, mother, my father is much the most handsome ; but of all the Medes that I have seen, either upon the road or at the gates of the palace, my grandfather is far the most handsome. " Astyages, then, embracing Cyrus in return, put on him a fine robe, did him honor, and decorated him with collars and bracelets ; and whenever he went abroad, took him with him on a horse with a bridle of gold, just as he himself used to go about. Cyrus, being a boy fond of what was fine and honorable, was pleased with the robe, and extremely delighted at learning to ride ; for amongst the Persians, from its being difficult to breed horses, and difficult even to ride in a country so mountainous, it is a rare thing to see a horse.
Astyages, when he was supping with his daughter and Cyrus, and wished the boy to sup as agreeably as possible, that he might the less regret what he had left at home, had several dishes set before him, with sauces and meats of all kinds ; when, as they relate, Cyrus said, " How much trouble, grandfather, you have at your meals, if you must stretch out your hands to all these dishes, and taste of all these kinds of meat ! " "What, then," said Astyages, "do you not think this entertainment much finer than what you have in Persia ? " To this question Cyrus is said to have replied, "No, grand father ; for with us the way to be satisfied is much plainer and straighter than with you ; since among us plain bread and meat conduct us to that object ; you, indeed, pursue the same object with us, but after rambling in many windings up and down, you at last scarcely reach the point at which we have arrived long before you. "
" But, child," said Astyages, " it is not with pain that we ramble through these windings ; if you taste," said he, " you will find that these things are pleasant. " "But, grandfather,"
(for
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
229
said Cyrus, " I observe you yourself show an aversion to these dishes. " " From what do you guess," inquired Astyages, "that you express such an opinion ? " " Because I remark," said he, " that when you touch your bread, you do not wipe your hand upon anything ; but when you touch any one of these dishes, you immediately wipe your hand upon your napkin, as if you were quite uneasy that it had touched them. "
On receiving this answer Astyages said, " If you think so, then, at least eat heartily of plain meat, that you may return home a stout youth ; " and as he said this, he directed various kinds of flesh, both of tame and wild animals, to be presented to him. Cyrus, " when he saw this variety of meats, is reported to have said, And do you give me all these meats, grandfather, to do with them what I please ? " " Yes, indeed," said Asty
ages; "
I make you a present of them. " Then Cyrus, taking of the several meats, is said to have distributed them to the servants about his grandfather, saying to each, " I give this to you, because you take pleasure in teaching me to ride ; this to you, because you gave me a javelin, for I have it still ; this to you, because you serve my grandfather well ; this to you, because you honor my mother ; " and to have proceeded thus, till he had distributed all the meat that he had received.
Astyages then said, "And do you give nothing to this Sacian, my cupbearer, whom I value above all ? " This Sacian was a handsome person, and had the honor to introduce to Asty ages any that wanted to see him, and to exclude such as he did not think it seasonable to admit. Cyrus upon this is said to have answered rather flippantly, as a boy not yet grown bashful, " For what reason is it, grandfather, that you value this Sacian so much ? " Astyages replied, jestingly, " Do you not see," said he, "how properly and gracefully he pours out my wine? " For these cupbearers to kings perform their business very cleverly ; they pour in the wine without spilling, and give the cup, holding it on three fingers, and presenting it in such a manner as to put it most conveniently into the hand of the per son who is to drink.
" Bid the Sacian give me the cup, grandfather," said Cyrus, " that I also, by gracefully pouring in wine for you to drink, may gain your favor if I can. " Astyages bade the Sacian give him the cup ; and Cyrus, taking it, rinsed the cup so well, as he had observed the Sacian to do, settled his countenance so gravely, and brought and presented the cup to his grandfather
230 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
so prettily, as to afford much laughter to his mother and Asty- ages. Cyrus then, laughing out, leaped up to his grandfather,
I will turn you out of your office ; for I will pour out wine better
and, kissing him, cried out, " O Sacian, you are undone ;
than you in other respects, and I will not drink the wine my self. " For these cupbearers to kings, when they give the cup, dip a little out with a smaller cup, which they pour into their left hand and swallow ; so that, in case they mix poison in the cup, it may be of no profit to them. "
Upon this, Astyages said, joking,
you imitated the Sacian in everything else, did not you swallow some of the wine ?
" " Because, to say the truth," said he, " I was afraid there might have been poison mixed in the cup ; for, when you entertained your friends upon your birthday, I plainly perceived that he had poured in poison for you all. " "And how, child," said he, " did you know this ? " " Because," said he, " I saw you all disordered both in mind and body ; for, in the first place, what you do not allow us boys to do, that you did yourselves ; for you all cried out together, and yet could not understand each other ; next you fell to singing very ridiculously ; and, without attending to the singer, you swore that he sung admirably ; then, though each told stories of his own strength, when you rose up and fell to dancing, you were not only unable to dance properly, but were unable even to stand upright ; at length, you all entirely forgot yourselves, you, that you were king, and they, that you were their ruler ; and then, for the first time, I discovered that it was equal liberty of speech that you were practicing ; for you never ceased to speak. " "
And why, Cyrus, when
Is your father, child, never intoxicated when he drinks? " "No, indeed," said he. "What does he, then? " "Why, he quenches his thirst, and "suffers no further harm ; for I believe, grandfather," says he, it is not a Sacian
Astyages then said,
that pours out wine for him. " His mother then said, " But why, child, do you thus make war upon the Sacian ? " Cyrus is said to have replied : " Why, indeed, because I hate him ; for very often, when I am desirous to run to my grandfather, this disagreeable fellow hinders me. But pray, grandfather," said he, " allow me to have the government of him for three days. " " How would you govern him ? " said Astyages. Cyrus replied : " Why, standing as he does, just at the entrance, when he had a mind to go in to dinner, I would tell him that it is
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 231
not yet possible for him to get his dinner, because ' he was busy with certain people ' ; then, when he came to supper, I would tell him that ' he was bathing ' ; and, if he was very eager to eat, I would tell him that ' he was with the women ' ; and so on, till I had tormented him as he torments me when he keeps me from you. "
Such amusement did he afford them at meals ; at other times of the day, if he perceived his grandfather or his mother's brother in want of anything, it was difficult for any one to be beforehand with him in doing it ; for Cyrus was extremely delighted to gratify them in anything that lay in his power.
But when Mandane was preparing to return home to her husband, Astyages requested her to leave Cyrus with him. She made answer, that she was willing to gratify her father in everything ; but that she should think it unkind to leave the child against his will. Upon this, Astyages said to Cyrus, " Child, if you will stay with me, in the first place, the Sacian shall not have the command of your access to me ; but, when ever you wish to come in, it shall be in your own power to do so ; and the oftener you come," said he, " the more I shall think myself obliged to you. You shall also have the use of all my horses, and of as many more as you please ; and, when you go away, you shall take as many of them as you please with you. At meals, too, you shall take whatever way you please to what appears to you to be sufficient. As for the animals that are now in the park, I give them to you ; and will collect others of all kinds, which you shall hunt when you have learned to ride, and shall strike them down with your bow and javelin, as grown men do. Boys I will find you for playfellows ; and whatever else you may desire, if you tell me of it, you shall not fail to have it. "
When Astyages had said this, Cyrus's mother asked him whether he would stay or go. He did not at all hesitate, but at once said that he would stay. And being asked by his mother for what reason, it is said that he answered, " Because, mother, at home I am, and am accounted, superior to my equals in age both in throwing the javelin and in shooting with the bow ; but here, I well know that, in horsemanship, I am infe rior to the boys of my age ; and be assured, mother, this grieves me very much. But if you leave me here, and I learn to be a horseman, I conceive that when I am in Persia, I shall easily
232 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
master them there, who are so good at all exercises on foot and, when I come amongst the Medes, I shall endeavor, by becoming the best of good horsemen for my grandfather's sake, to be a support to him. " "
His mother is then reported to have said,
will you be instructed here in the knowledge of justice, when your masters are there ? " " Oh, mother," said Cyrus, " I under stand that accurately already. " "How do you know that? " said Mandane. " Because my teacher," said he, " appointed me to give judgment to others, as being very exact in the knowledge of justice myself. But yet," added he, "for not having decided rightly, in one case, I received some stripes. The case was this : A bigger boy, who had a little coat, taking the coat off a little boy, that had a larger one, put on him his own coat, and put on himself the little boy's coat. I, there fore, giving judgment between them, decided that it was best that each should keep the coat that best fitted him. Upon this, the master beat me, telling me that when I should be con stituted judge of what fitted best, I might determine in this manner ; but that when I was to judge whose the coat was, I must consider what just possession is ; whether he that took a thing from another by force should have it, or he who made it or purchased it should possess it ; and then he told me what was according to law was just, and that what was contrary to law was an act of violence ; and impressed upon me accord ingly, that a judge ought to give his opinion in conformity with the law. So, mother," said he, " I understand what is just in all cases very exactly ; or, if I am at all deficient, my grand father here will teach it me. "
" But, child," says she, " the same things are not accounted just with your grandfather here, and yonder in Persia; for among the Medes your grandfather has made himself master of all ; but amongst the Persians it is accounted just that each should have equal rights with his neighbors. Your father is the first to execute what is appointed by the whole state, and submits to what is appointed ; his own inclination is not his standard of action, but the law. Take care, then, that you are not beaten to death at home, if you come thither having learned from your grandfather not what belongs to a king, but what belongs to a tyrant ; an ingredient in which is, to think that you yourself ought to have more than all others. " "Oh,
But how, child,
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 233
mother," said Cyrus, " your father is much better able to teach one to have less than to have more. Do you not see," said he, " that he has taught all the Medes to have less than himself ? Be well assured, therefore, that your father will not dismiss me, nor any one, from about him, instructed to encroach upon others. "
Many remarks of this kind did Cyrus utter. At last, his mother went away ; while he stayed, and was there brought up. He soon began to associate with those that were his equals in age, so as to be upon very familiar terms with them ; and he quickly attached their fathers to him, both by visiting them, and by giving evidence that he loved their children ; so that, if they wanted any favor of the king, they desired their boys to ask Cyrus to obtain it for them ; and Cyrus, from his benignity and love of esteem, did his utmost to effect their object. Astyages, also, whatever Cyrus asked, was unable to refuse to gratify him ; for Cyrus, when his grandfather fell ill, never quitted him, nor ever ceased from tears ; and it was clearly seen by all that he was in the utmost fear lest he should die. In the night, if Astyages wanted anything, Cyrus was the first to perceive it, and started up, more nimbly than any one else, to serve him in anything that he thought would gratify him ; so that he gained the entire love of Asty ages.
Cyrus was, perhaps, a little over-talkative ; but this was partly from education, because he was obliged by his master to give a reason for what he did, and to require reasons from others, when he had to give his opinion in judgment; and partly, because, from being very eager after knowledge, he was always putting questions to those about him on many subjects, to ascertain how such and such things were ; and, upon what ever subjects he was questioned by others, he gave, from being of a quick apprehension, very ready answers ; so that, from all these circumstances, loquacity was contracted by him. But, as in the persons of those who, while still young, have attained an extraordinary stature, there yet appears something childish, which betrays the fewness of their years, so, in the talkative ness of Cyrus, there was no forwardness to be observed, but a certain simplicity, and affectionateness of disposition, so that a person was desirous rather to hear yet more from him than to be in his company in silence.
234 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
But when time, with increase of stature, advanced him to the age to become a young man, he then used fewer words and a gentler tone of voice ; he became remarkably bashful, so as to blush when he came into the company of men of years ; and that playful, doglike habit, of running up to everybody alike, he no longer retained. Thus he became more quiet, but was still in society extremely agreeable ; for in whatever exercises he and his equals used to emulate each other, he did not chal lenge his companions to those in which he knew himself supe rior ; but in those in which he felt himself inferior, he was the first to commence declaring that he would perform better than they. Accordingly, he would begin vaulting upon the horse, shooting with the bow, or hurling the javelin on horseback, while he was yet scarcely able to sit on a horse ; and, when he was outdone, he was the first to laugh at himself ; and as, on being unsuccessful, he did not shrink from attempting again the things in which he had failed, but assiduously employed himself in endeavoring to do them better, he soon attained an equality with his companions in horsemanship, and, by his love of the exercise, soon left them behind.
He rapidly, too, exhausted all the beasts in the park, pur suing, throwing at them, and killing them, so that Astyages could no longer collect animals for him. Cyrus, perceiving that, though he was desirous, he was unable to procure many living creatures for him, said to him : " Why need you take so much pains, grandfather, in seeking these animals ?
will but send me out a-hunting with my uncle, I shall consider
that whatever beasts I
though he was very desirous to go out to hunt, yet he could not now be importunate, as when he was a boy; but became more backward in going to his grandfather; and as to what he had previously blamed in the Sacian, that he did not admit him to his grandfather, he became in this a Sacian to himself ; for he never went in, unless he had ascertained whether it was convenient, and begged the Sacian, by all means, to signify to him when it was convenient and when not ; so that the Sacian now loved him extremely, as did all other people.
see are maintained for my use. " But
When Astyages, therefore, knew that he was extremely desirous to hunt abroad, he sent him out with his uncle, and sent some older persons on horseback with him, as guards upon him, to take care of him in the rugged parts of the
If you
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 235
country, and in case any beasts of the fiercer kind should show themselves. Cyrus, in consequence, was very earnest in inquiring of those that attended him, what beasts he was not to approach, and what sort of animals he might confidently pursue. They told him that bears had destroyed many that had ventured to approach them, as well as lions, wild boars, and leopards, but that stags, antelopes, wild sheep, and wild asses were harmless creatures. They told him likewise, that he must guard against rough places not less than the beasts ; for that many men, with their horses, had been carried head long over precipices.
Cyrus attended to all these instructions very readily; but, as soon as he saw a stag leap forth, forgetting all that he had heard, he pursued, regarding nothing but which way the animal fled ; and his horse, taking a leap with him, fell somehow upon his knees, and very nearly threw him over his neck. However Cyrus, though with difficulty, kept upon his back, and the horse got up again. When he reached the open ground he hurled his javelin, and struck the stag down, a fine large animal ; and he was most highly delighted. But his guards, riding up to him, reproved him, told him into what danger he had run, and said that they must complain of him. Cyrus, having alighted from his horse, stood and listened to this with much uneasiness ; but, hearing a shout, he sprang on his horse, as in a sort of enthusiasm, and seeing before him a boar advancing, he rode forward to meet it, and taking a good aim with his javelin, struck the boar in the forehead, and brought it down. But now his uncle, seeing his rashness, began to reprove him. Cyrus, however, notwithstanding his uncle was finding fault with him, begged that he would allow him to carry off the beasts that he had taken, and to present them to his grandfather. To this, they say, his uncle replied, " But if he learn that it is you that have taken them, he will not only blame you, but me, for allowing you to do it. " "Let him even beat me," says he, " if he will, when I have given them to him ; and do you, if you will, uncle," says he, " correct me as you please ; gratify me only in this. " Cyaxares at last said, "Do as you please ; for you seem now to be our king. "
Cyrus accordingly, carrying home the beasts, presented them to his grandfather, and told him that he himself had hunted them for him. The javelins he did not show him, but
236 THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT.
laid them down, covered with blood, where he thought that he certainly would see them. Astyages said, " Child, I receive with pleasure whatever you give me ; yet I am not in such want of any of these animals as that you should run into danger for them. " "If, then, you do not want them, grand father," said Cyrus, "pray give them to me, that I may dis tribute them to my companions. " "Child," said Astyages, " take them, and distribute them to whom you please, and of everything else whatever you will. "
Cyrus, taking the beasts, carried them off and gave them to the boys ; and said to them at the same time : " Boys, what very triflers were we when we hunted the beasts in the park ! It seems to me the same as if one had hunted animals tied by the leg ; for, first, they were within a narrow compass of ground ; then the creatures were lean, mangy things ; one was lame, another maimed ; but the beasts in the mountains and plains, how fine, how large, and how sleek did they appear ! The stags, as if they had wings, leaped to the very sky ; the boars, as they say brave men do, came to close quarters ; and, by reason of their bulk, it was impossible to miss them. These, even when they are dead," says he, " appear to me finer than those other walled-up creatures when alive. But," added he, " would your fathers, think you, allow you to go out a-hunt- ing ? " " Yes, very readily," said they, " if Astyages desired it. " Cyrus then said, "Who is there, then, that would men tion it for us to Astyages ? " " Who more able," said they, "to persuade him than yourself? " "By Jupiter," said he, " for my part, I know not what kind of person I am become ; for I am neither able to speak, nor look up to my grandfather in the same manner as formerly ; and, if I go on at this rate, I fear," says he, "I shall become a mere dullard and fool; yet, when I was a little boy, I was thought a wonderful talker. " The boys then said, "You tell us a sad piece of news, if you will be able to do nothing for us in case of need, but, as far as depends on you, we must make our requests to some one else. "
Cyrus, on hearing this remark, was annoyed, and, retiring in silence, encouraged himself to venture; and, having con sidered how he might speak to his grandfather in the least offensive manner, and obtain for himself " and the boys what they desired, went in, and began thus ; Tell me," said he,
THE BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT. 237
"grandfather, if one of your domestic servants should run away, and you should take him again, what would you do with him? " "What else," said he, "but put him in chains, and force him to work ? " " But if he should of himself return to you, how would you act ? " " What else should I do," said he, " but have him whipped, " that he may do so no more, and make use of him as at first ? " It is time for you, then," said Cyrus, " to prepare a scourge to whip me, as I am contriving how to run away, and take my companions with me, to hunt. " " You have done well," said Astyages, " to tell it me before hand ; for I now order you not to stir from home. It would be a fine thing, indeed," added he, " if, for the sake of a little venison, I should send out my daughter's son to ramble at his pleasure. "
Cyrus, hearing this, obeyed, and stayed at home; but he continued afflicted, melancholy-looking, and silent. Astyages, finding that he was so extremely distressed, and being willing to please him, took him out to the chase ; and, assembling abundance of people, both foot and horse, and also the boys, and driving the beasts into that part of the country which was suited for riding, he made a great hunt, and being himself present, royally attended, gave orders that none should throw till Cyrus had had enough of the exercise. Cyrus, however, would not let him hinder them, but said, " If you have a mind, grandfather, that I should hunt with pleasure, let all those with me engage in the pursuit, and strive each to do his best. " Asty ages then gave them permission, and, taking his stand, saw them
engage with the beasts, striving to outdo each other, pursuing and throwing their javelins. He was delighted with Cyrus, who, from excess of joy, could not hold his tongue, but, like a young and generous dog, cried out when he approached a beast, and encouraged every one by name. He was pleased to see him laughing at one ; another he observed him to praise cordially, and without the least feeling of envy. At last Asty ages, having taken abundance of game, retired ; and, in other respects, was so pleased with that hunt that he always went out with Cyrus whenever he could, and took abundance of people with him, as well as the boys, for the sake of Cyrus. Thus, for the most part, did Cyrus pass his time, contributing much pleasure and service to every one, without doing the least harm.
238 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. By DEAN STANLEY.
[Arthur Penrhtn Stanley, a great English liberal divine and ecclesias tical historian, was nephew of Lord Stanley of Alderley ; born 1816 ; educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold ; was a brilliant graduate of Balliol College, Oxford ; tutor and examiner at University College, canon of Canterbury Cathedral, pro fessor of ecclesiastical history at Oxford, canon of Christ Church, and in 1864 dean of Westminster ; chaplain to the bishop of London, the Prince of Wales, and Queen Victoria ; Lord Rector of St. Andrews in 1874. He was for many years the greatest leader of the Broad Church party, eminent at once as scholar, orator, divine, man of letters, historian, and fervid lover of humanity. He wrote among many other things the "Life of Dr. Arnold" (1844), "Sinai and Palestine" (1865), "Lectures on the Eastern Church" (1861), "Lectures on the Jewish Church " (1863-79), " Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey " (1867), "The Three Irish Churches" (second edition, 1869), "Essays on Church and State" (1870), "The Athanasian Creed" (1871), "Lectures on the Church of Scotland " (1872), also volumes of collected sermons. He died
in 1881. ]
Unlike Egypt, which still preserves to us the likeness of the scenes and sights which met the eye of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, Babylon has more totally disappeared than any other of the great Powers which once ruled the earth. Not a single architectural monument — only one single sculpture — remains of "the glory of the Chaldees' excellency. " Even the natural features are so transformed as to be hardly recogniz able. But by a singular compensation its appearance has been recorded more exactly than any of the contemporary capitals with which it might have been compared. Of Thebes, Mem phis, Nineveh, Susa, no eyewitness has left us a plan or pic ture. But Babylon was seen and described, not indeed in its full splendor, but still in its entirety, by the most inquisitive traveler of antiquity within one century from the time when the Israelites were within its walls, and his accounts are cor rected or confirmed by visitors who saw it yet again fifty years later, when the huge skeleton, though gradually falling to pieces, was distinctly visible. —
Of all the seats of empire of all the cities that the pride or power of man has built on the surface of the globe — Baby lon was the greatest. Its greatness, as it was originated, so in large measure it was secured, by its natural position. Its founders took advantage of the huge spur of tertiary rock which projects itself from the long-inclined plane of the Syrian
BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 239
desert into the alluvial basin of Mesopotamia, thus furnishing a dry and solid platform on which a nourishing city might rest ; whilst it was defended on the south by the vast morass or lake, if not estuary, extending in that remote period from the Persian Gulf. On this vantage ground it stood, exactly crossing the line of traffic between the Mediterranean coasts and the Iranian mountains ; just also on that point where the Euphrates, sinking into a deeper bed, changes from a wide expanse into a manageable river, not broader than the Thames of our own metropolis ; where, also, out of the deep rich alluvial clay it was easy to dig the bricks which from its earliest date supplied the material for its immense buildings, cemented by the bitumen which from that same early date came floating down the river from the springs in its upper course.
Babylon was the most majestic of that class of cities which belong almost exclusively to the primeval history of mankind : " the cities," as they are called by Hegel, " of the river plains " ; which have risen on the level banks of the mighty streams of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China, and thus stand in the most striking contrast to the towns which belong to the second stage of human civilization, clustering each on its Acropolis or its Seven Hills, and thus contracted and concentrated by the necessities of their local position as obviously as those older capitals possessed from their situation an illimitable power of expansion. As of that second class one of the most striking examples was Jerusalem on its mountain fastness, with the hills standing round it, as if with a divine shelter, and fenced off by its deep ravines as by a natural fosse, so of that earlier class the most remarkable was the city to which the new comers suddenly found themselves transplanted. Far as the horizon itself, extended the circuit of the vast capital of the
then known world. If the imperceptible circumference of our modern capitals has exceeded the limits of Babylon, yet none in ancient times or modern can be compared with its definite inclosure, which was on the lowest computation forty, on the highest sixty miles round. Like Nineveh or Ecbatana, it was, but on a still larger scale, a country or empire inclosed in a city. Forests, parks, gardens, were intermingled with the houses so as to present rather the appearance of the suburbs of a great metropolis than the metropolis itself. Yet still the regularity and order of a city were preserved. The streets,
240 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
according to a fashion rare in Europe, whether ancient or modern, but common in ancient Asia, — and adopted by the Greek and Roman conquerors when they penetrated into Asia, perhaps in imitation of Babylon, — were straight, and at right angles to each other. The houses, unlike those of most ancient cities, except at Tyre, and afterwards in Rome, were three or four stories high. But the prodigious scale of the place ap peared chiefly in the enormous size, unparalleled before or since, of its public buildings, and rendered more conspicuous by the flatness of the country from which they rose. Even in their decay, "their colossal piles, domineering over the monoto nous plain, produce an effect of grandeur and magnificence which cannot be imagined in any other situation. " —(Ains- worth. )
The walls by which this imperial city, or, as it might be called, this civic empire, rising out of a deep and wide moat, was screened and protected from the wandering tribes of the Desert, as the Celestial Empire by the Great Wall of China, as the extremities of the Roman Empire by the wall of Trajan in Dacia, or of Severus in Northumberland, were not, like those famous bulwarks, mere mounds or ramparts, but lines as of towering hills, which must have met the distant gaze at the close of every vista, like the Alban range at Rome. They ap peared, at least to Herodotus, who saw them whilst in their unbroken magnificence, not less than 300 feet high ; and along their summit ran a vast terrace which admitted of the turning of chariots with four horses, and which may therefore well have been more than eighty feet broad.
If to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were accustomed to the precipitous descent of the walls overhanging the valley of the Kedron, the mere height of the Babylonian inclosure may not have seemed so startling as to us, yet to the size of the other buildings the puny dimensions whether of the Palace or Temple of Solomon bore no comparison. The great palace of the kings was itself a city within the city — seven miles round ; and its gardens, expressly built to convey to a Median princess some reminiscence of her native mountains, rose one above another, to a height of more than seventy feet, on which stood forest trees of vast diameter side by side with flowering shrubs. On the walls of the Palace the Israelites might see painted those vast hunting-scenes which were still traceable two centuries later — of which one characteristic fragment
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remains in sculpture, a lion trampling on a man — which would recall to them the description in their own early annals of "Nimrod the mighty hunter. "
But the most prodigious and unique of all was the Temple of Bel — which may well have seemed to them the completion of that proud tower " whose top was to reach to heaven. " It was the central point of all ; it gave its name to the whole place — Bab-el or Bab-bel, " the gate of God or Bel," which by the quaint humor of primitive times had been turned to the Hebrew word " Babel," or " confusion. " It was the most re markable of all those artificial mountains," or beacons, which, towering over the plains of Mesopotamia, guide the traveler's eye like giant pillars. " It rose like the Great Pyramid, square upon square ; and was believed to have reached the height of 600 feet. Its base was a square of 200 yards. No other edifice consecrated to worship, not Carnac in Egyptian Thebes, nor Byzantine St. Sophia, nor Gothic Clugny, nor St. Peter's of Rome, have reached the grandeur of this primeval sanctu ary, casting its shadow far and wide, over city and plain. Thither, as to the most sacred and impregnable fortress, were believed to have been transported the huge brazen laver, the precious brazen pillars, and all the lesser vessels of the Temple of Jerusalem, together doubtless with all the other like sacred spoils which Babylonian conquest had swept from Egypt, Tyre, Damascus, or Nineveh. And when from the silver shrine at the summit of this building, the whole mass of mingled verdure and habitation for miles and miles was overlooked, what was wanting in grace or proportion must have been compensated by the extraordinary richness of color. Some faint conception of this may be given by the view of Moscow from the Kremlin over the blue, green, and gilded domes and towers springing from the gardens which fill up the vacant intervals of that most Oriental of European capitals. But neither that view nor any other can give a notion of the vastness of the varie gated landscape of Babylon as seen from any of its elevated points.
From the earliest times of the city, as we have seen, the two materials of its architecture were the bricks baked from the plains on which it stood, and the plaster fetched from the bitumen springs of Hit. But these homely materials were made to yield effects as bright and varied as porcelain or metal.
The several stages of the Temple itself were black, orange, vol. in. — 16
242 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
crimson, gold, deep yellow, brilliant blue, and silver. The white or pale brown of the houses, wherever the natural color of the bricks was left, must have been strikingly contrasted with the rainbow hues with which most of them were painted, according to the fancy of their owners, whilst all the interven ing spaces were filled with the variety of gigantic palms in the gardens, or the thick jungles or luxuriant groves by the silvery lines of the canals, or in the early spring the carpet of brilliant flowers that cover the illimitable plain without the walls, or the sea of waving corn, both within and without, which burst from the teeming soil with a produce so plentiful that the Grecian traveler dared not risk his credit by stating its enormous magnitude.
When from the outward show we descend to the inner life of the place, Babylon may well indeed to the secluded Israelite have seemed to be that of which to all subsequent ages it has been taken as the type — " the World " itself. No doubt there was in Jerusalem and Samaria, especially since the days of Solomon, a little hierarchy and aristocracy and court, with its factions, feasts, and fashions. But nowhere else in Asia, hardly even in Egypt, could have been seen the magnificent cavalry careering through the streets, the chariots and four, " chariots like whirlwinds," " horses swifter than eagles," — "horses, " and chariots, and horsemen, and companies," with "spears and "burnished helmets. " Nowhere else could have been imagined the long muster roll, as of a peerage, that passes in long procession before the eye of the Israelite captive — " the satraps, captains, pashas, the chief judges, treasurers, judges, counselors, and all the rulers of the provinces. " Their splen did costumes of scarlet — their party-colored sashes — "all of them princes to look to " ; their elaborate armor, — " buckler, and shield, and helmet," — their breastplates, their bows and quivers, and battle-axes — marked out to every eye the power and grandeur of the army. Nowhere was science or art so vis ibly exalted, as in " the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the wise Chaldaeans," who were expected to un ravel all the secrets of nature, and who in point of fact, from those wide level plains, " where the entire celestial hemisphere is continually visible to every eye, and where the clear trans
parent atmosphere shows night after night the heavens gemmed with countless stars of undimmed brilliancy," had laid the first foundations of astronomy, mingled as it was with the specu
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243
lations, then deemed pregnant with yet deeper significance, of astrology. Far in advance of the philosophy, as yet unborn, of Greece, in advance even of the ancient philosophy of Egypt, the Chaldaeans long represented to both those nations the high est flights of human intellect — even as the majestic Temples, which served to them at once as college and observatory, towered above the buildings of the then known world. Twice over in the Biblical history — once on the heights of Zophim, once beside the cradle of Bethlehem — do the star gazers of Chaldaea lay claim to be at once the precursors of Divine Reve lation, and the representatives of superhuman science.
Returning to the ordinary life of the place, its gay scenes of luxury and pomp were stamped on the memory of the Is raelites by the constant clash and concert, again and again re sounding, of the musical instruments in which the Babylonians delighted, and of which the mingled Greek and Asiatic names are faintly indicated by the British catalogue of " cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music. " Nor could they forget how, like the Athenian exiles in later days at Syracuse, their artistical masters besought them to take their own harps and sing one of the songs of their distant mountain city ; though, unlike those prisoners, who gladly re cited to their kindred enemies the tragedies of their own Eu ripides, they could not bring themselves to waste on that foreign
land the melody which belonged only to their Divine Master. Yet one more feature peculiar to Chaldaea, both natural and social, is recalled by the scene of that touching dialogue be tween the captors and the captives. The trees on which their harps were hung were unlike any that they knew in their own country. They called them by the name that seemed nearest to the willows of their own watercourses. But they were in fact the branching poplars mingled with the tamarisks, which still cluster beside the streams of Mesopotamia, and of which one solitary and venerable specimen long survived on the ruins of Babylon, and in the gentle waving of its green boughs sent forth a melancholy, rustling sound, such as in
after times chimed in with the universal desolation of the spot, such as in the ears of the Israelites might have seemed to echo their own mournful thoughts. The "waters " by which they wept were " the riven of Babylon. " "The river" — that word was of unknown or almost unknown sound to those who had seen only the scanty torrent beds of Judtea, or
244 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
the narrow rapids of the Jordan. The " river " in the mouth of an Israelite meant almost always the gigantic Euphrates — the fourth "river" of the primeval garden of the earth — the boundary of waters, from beyond which their forefathers had come. And now, after parting from it for many centuries, they once more found themselves on its banks — not one river only, but literally, as the Psalmist calls "rivers"; for by the wonderful system of irrigation which was the life of the whole region, was diverted into separate canals, each of which was itself " river," the source and support of the gardens and palaces which clustered along the water's edge. The country far and near was intersected with these branches of the mighty stream. One of them was so vast as to bear then the name, which bears even to this day, of the Egyptian Nile.
On the banks of the main channel of the "river" all the streets abutted, all the gates opened and immediately on leaving the city opened into that vast lake or estuary which made the surrounding tract itself " the desert of the sea" —the great sea, tossed by the four winds of heaven, and teeming with the monster shapes of earth — the sea on which floated innum erable ships or boats, as the junks at Canton, or the gondolas at Venice, or even as the vast shipping at our own renowned seaports. " Of the great waters," such the monumental in scription of Nebuchadnezzar, " like the waters of the ocean, made use abundantly. " " Their depths were like the depths of the vast ocean. " The inland city was thus converted into " city of merchants" — the magnificent empire into "a land of traffic. " " The cry," the stir, the gayety of the Chaldaeans was not in the streets or gardens of Babylon, but "in their ships. " — (Isaiah. ) Down the Euphrates came floating from the bitumen pits of Hit the cement with which its foundations were covered, and from Kurdistan and Armenia huge blocks of basalt, from Phoenicia gems and wine, perhaps its tin from Cornwall; up its course came from Arabia and from India the dogs for their sports, the costly wood for their stately walking staves, the frankincense for their worship.
And over this vast world of power, splendor, science, art, and commerce presided genius worthy of (so at least the Israelite tradition represented him), — "the Head of Gold," "whose brightness was excellent" —the Tree whose height reached to heaven, and the sight thereof " to the end of all the earth " — " whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much,
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BABYLON AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 245
and in it meat for all—under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the air had their habitation. " He whose reign reached over one half of the whole period of the empire — he who was the last conqueror amongst the primeval monarchies, as Nimrod had been the first — the Lord of the then known historical world from Greece to India, — was the favorite of Nebo, who when he looked on his vast constructions might truly say, " Is not this Great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? "
Hardly any other name than Nebuchadnezzar's is found on " the bricks of Babylon. " — (Rawlinson. ) Palace and Temple were both rebuilt by him ; and not only in Babylon but through out the country. The representations of him in the Book of Daniel may belong to a later epoch ; but they agree in their general outline with the few fragments preserved to us of ancient annals or inscriptions ; and they have a peculiar interest of their own, from the fact that the combination which they exhibit of savage power with bursts of devotion and tenderness is not found elsewhere amongst the Hebrew portraitures of any Gentile potentate.