CHAPTER VII.

THE CONQUEST OF ASSYRIA AND THE WAR WITH THE MASSAGETÆ.

While Harpagus was reducing the lower parts of Asia, Cyrus had conquered the upper parts, subduing every nation without exception. The greatest parts of these I shall pass by without notice; but I will make mention of those which gave him most trouble, and are most worthy of being recorded.

Assyria contains many large cities, the most renowned and the strongest of which, where the seat of government was established after the destruction of Nineveh, was Babylon, which is of the following description. The city stands in a spacious plain, and is quadrangular, and shows a front on every side of one hundred and twenty stades [15 miles]; these stades make up the sum of four hundred and eighty in the whole circumference. It was adorned in a manner surpassing any city we are acquainted with. In the first place, a moat deep, wide, and full of water, runs entirely round it; next, there is a wall fifty royal cubits in breadth [about 84 feet], and in height two hundred [270 feet], but the royal cubit is larger than the common one by three fingers' breadth. And here I think I ought to explain how the earth, taken out of the moat, was consumed, and in what manner the wall was built. As they dug the moat they made bricks of the earth that was taken out; and when they had moulded a sufficient number they baked them in kilns. Then making use of hot asphalt for cement, and laying wattled reeds between the thirty bottom courses of bricks, they first built up the sides of the moat, and afterward the wall itself in the same manner; and on the top of the wall, at the edges, they built dwellings of one story, fronting each other, having spaces between these dwellings wide enough to turn a chariot with four horses. In the circumference of the wall there were a hundred gates, all of bronze, as also were the posts and lintels. Eight days' journey from Babylon [200 miles] stands another city, called Is, on a small river of the same name, which discharges its stream into the Euphrates; this river brings down with its water many lumps of bitumen, from which the bitumen used in the wall of Babylon was taken. The city consists of two divisions, for the Euphrates, separates it in the middle: this river, which is broad, deep, and rapid, flows from Armenia, and falls into the Red Sea. The wall on either bank has an elbow carried down to the river; and thence along the curvatures of each bank runs a wall of baked bricks. The city itself, which is full of houses three and four stories high, is cut up into straight streets running at right angles to each other. At the end of each street a little gate is formed in the wall along the river side, in number equal to the streets; and they are all made of bronze, and lead down to the edge of the river. This outer wall is the chief defence, but another wall runs round within, not much inferior to the other in strength, though narrower. In the middle of each division of the city fortified buildings were erected; in one, the royal palace, with a spacious and strong enclosure, bronze-gated; and in the other, the precinct of Jupiter Belus, which in my time was still in existence, a square building of two stades [¼ of a mile] on every side. In the midst of this precinct is built a solid tower of one stade both in length and breadth, and on this tower rose another, and another upon that, to the number of eight. And there is an ascent to these outside, running spirally round all the towers. About the middle of the ascent there is a landing-place and seats on which those who go up may rest themselves; and in the uppermost tower stands a spacious temple, handsomely furnished, and in it a large couch, with a table of gold by its side. No statue has been erected within it, but as the Chaldæans, who are priests of this deity, assert, though I cannot credit what they say, the god himself comes to the temple and reclines on the bed, in the same manner as the Egyptians say happens at Thebes in Egypt.

There is also another temple below, within the precinct at Babylon; in it is a large golden statue of Jupiter seated, and near it a great table of gold; the throne also and the step are of gold, which together weigh eight hundred talents [twenty-two tons], as the Chaldæans affirm. Outside the temple is a golden altar; and another large altar, where full-grown sheep are sacrificed; for on the golden altar only sucklings may be offered. On the great altar the Chaldæans consume yearly a thousand talents [twenty-seven tons] of frankincense when they celebrate the festival of this god. There was also at that time within the precincts of this temple a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits high [eighteen feet]; I, indeed, did not see it, but only relate what is said by the Chaldæans. Darius, son of Hystaspes, formed a design to take away this statue, but dared not do so; but Xerxes, son of Darius, took it, and killed the priest who forbade him to remove it.

There were many others who reigned over Babylon, whom I shall mention in my Assyrian history, who beautified the walls and temples, and amongst them were two women. The first of these, named Semiramis, lived five generations before the other; she raised mounds along the plain, which are worthy of admiration; for before, the river used to overflow the whole plain like a sea. But the other, who was queen next after her, and whose name was Nitocris, (and she was much more sagacious than the other queen,) in the first place left monuments of herself, which I shall presently describe; and in the next place, when she saw the power of the Medes growing formidable and restless, and that, among other cities, Nineveh was captured by them, she took every possible precaution for her own defence. First of all, the River Euphrates, which before ran in a straight line, and which flows through the middle of the city, by having channels dug above, she made so winding, that in its course it touched three times at one and the same village in Assyria, called Arderica: and to this day, those who go from our sea to Babylon, if they travel by the Euphrates, come three times to this village on three successive days. She also raised on either bank of the river a mound, astonishing for its magnitude and height. At a considerable distance above Babylon, she had a reservoir for a lake dug, carrying it out some distance from the river, and in the depth digging down to water, and in width making its circumference of four hundred and twenty stades [about fifty-two and a half miles]: she consumed the soil from this excavation by heaping it up on the banks of the river, and when it was completely dug, she had stones brought and built a casing to it all round. She had both these works done, the river made winding, and the whole excavation a lake, in order that the current, being broken by frequent turnings, might be more slow, and the navigation to Babylon tedious, and that after the voyage, a long march round the lake might follow. All this was done in that part of the country where the approach to Babylon is nearest, and where is the shortest way for the Medes; in order that the Medes might not, by holding intercourse with her people, become acquainted with her affairs. She enclosed herself, therefore, with these defences by digging, and immediately afterwards made the following addition. As the city consisted of two divisions, which were separated by the river, during the reign of former kings, when any one had occasion to cross from one division to the other, he was obliged to cross in a boat: and this, in my opinion, was very troublesome: she therefore provided for this, for after she had dug the reservoir for the lake, she left this other monument built by similar toil. She had large blocks of stone cut, and when they were ready and the place was completely dug out, she turned the whole stream of the river into the place she had dug: while this was filling, and the ancient channel had become dry, in the first place, she lined with burnt bricks the banks of the river throughout the city, and the descents that lead from the gates to the river, in the same manner as the walls. In the next place, about the middle of the city, she built a bridge with the stones she had prepared, and bound them together with plates of lead and iron. Upon these stones she laid, during the day, square planks of timber, on which the Babylonians might pass over; but at night these planks were removed, to prevent people from crossing by night and robbing one another. When the hollow that was dug had become a lake filled by the river, and the bridge was finished, she brought back the river to its ancient channel from the lake.

The same queen also contrived the following deception. Over the most frequented gate of the city she prepared a sepulchre for herself, high up above the gate itself; and on the sepulchre she had engraved, SHOULD ANY ONE OF MY SUCCESSORS, KINGS OF BABYLON, FIND HIMSELF IN WANT OF MONEY, LET HIM OPEN THIS SEPULCHRE, AND TAKE AS MUCH AS HE CHOOSES; BUT IF HE BE NOT IN WANT, LET HIM NOT OPEN IT; FOR THAT WERE NOT WELL. This monument remained undisturbed, until the kingdom fell to Darius; but it seemed hard to Darius that this gate should be of no use, and that when money was lying there, and this money inviting him to take it, he should not do so; but no use was made of this gate for this reason, that a dead body was over the head of any one who passed through it. He therefore opened the sepulchre, and instead of money, found only the body, and these words written: HADST THOU NOT BEEN INSATIABLY COVETOUS, AND GREEDY OF THE MOST SORDID GAIN, THOU WOULDEST NOT HAVE OPENED THE CHAMBERS OF THE DEAD.

Cyrus made war against the son of this queen, who bore the name of his father Labynetus, and had the empire of Assyria. Now when the great king leads his army in person, he carries with him from home well prepared provisions and cattle; and he takes with him water from the river Choaspes, which flows past Susa, of which alone, the king drinks. A great number of four-wheeled carriages drawn by mules carry the water of this river, after it has been boiled in silver vessels, and follow him from place to place wherever he marches. Cyrus, in his march against Babylon, arrived at the river Gyndes, whose fountains are in the Matianian mountains, and which flows through the land of the Dardanians, and falls into another river, the Tigris; the latter, flowing by the city of Opis, discharges itself into the Red Sea. When Cyrus was endeavoring to cross this river Gyndes, which can be passed only in boats, one of the sacred white horses through wantonness plunged into the stream, and attempted to swim over, but the stream having carried him away and drowned him, Cyrus was much enraged with the river for this affront, and threatened to make his stream so weak, that henceforth women should easily cross it without wetting their knees. After this menace, deferring his expedition against Babylon, he divided his army into two parts; and marked out by lines one hundred and eighty channels, on each side of the river, diverging every way; then having distributed his army, he commanded them to dig. His design was indeed executed by the great numbers he employed; but they spent the whole summer in the work. When Cyrus had avenged himself on the river Gyndes, by distributing it into three hundred and sixty channels, and the second spring began to shine, he then advanced against Babylon. But the Babylonians, having taken the field, awaited his coming; and when he had advanced near the city, the Babylonians gave battle, and, being defeated, were shut up in the city. But as they had been long aware of the restless spirit of Cyrus, and saw that he attacked all nations alike, they had laid up provisions for many years; and therefore were under no apprehensions about a siege. On the other hand, Cyrus found himself in difficulty, since much time had elapsed, and his affairs were not at all advanced. Whether therefore some one else made the suggestion to him in his perplexity, or whether he himself devised the plan, he had recourse to the following stratagem. Having stationed the bulk of his army near the passage of the river where it enters Babylon, and again having stationed another division beyond the city, where the river makes its exit, he gave orders to his forces to enter the city as soon as they should see the stream fordable. Having thus stationed his forces, and given these directions, he himself marched away with the ineffective part of his army; and coming to the lake, Cyrus did the same with respect to the river and the lake as the queen of the Babylonians had done. For having diverted the river, by means of a canal, into the lake, which was before a swamp, he made the ancient channel fordable by the sinking of the river. When this took place, the Persians who were appointed to that purpose close to the stream of the river, which had now subsided to about the middle of a man's thigh, entered Babylon by this passage. If, however, the Babylonians had been aware of it beforehand, or had known what Cyrus was about, they would not have suffered the Persians to enter the city, but would have utterly destroyed them; for having shut all the little gates that lead down to the river, and mounting the walls that extend along the banks of the river, they would have caught them as in a net; whereas the Persians came upon them by surprise. It is related by the people who inhabited this city, that on account of its great extent, when they who were at the extremities were taken, those of the Babylonians who inhabited the centre knew nothing of the capture (for it happened to be a festival) but they were dancing at the time, and enjoying themselves, till they received certain information of the truth. Thus was Babylon taken for the first time.[9]

How great was the power of the Babylonians, I can prove by many other circumstances, and especially by the following. The whole territory over which the great king reigns, is divided into districts for the purpose of furnishing subsistence for him and his army, in addition to the usual tribute; of the twelve months in the year, the Babylonian territory provides him with subsistence for four, and all the rest of Asia for the remaining eight; so that the territory of Assyria amounts to a third part of the power of all Asia, and the government of this region, which the Persians call a satrapy, is remunerative; since it yielded a full artabe of silver every day to Tritæchmes son of Artabazus, who held this district from the king: the artabe is a Persian measure, containing three Attic chœnices more than the Attic medimnus [or about twelve and a half gallons]. And he had a private stud of horses, in addition to those used in war, of eight hundred stallions, and sixteen thousand mares. He kept, too, such a number of Indian dogs, that four considerable towns in the plain were exempted from all other taxes and appointed to find food for the dogs. Such were the advantages accruing to the governor of Babylon. The land of Assyria is but little watered by rain, only enough in fact to nourish the root of the corn; the stalk grows up, and the grain comes to maturity only by being irrigated from the river, not, as in Egypt, by the river overflowing the fields, but by the hand and by engines. The Babylonian territory, like Egypt, is intersected by canals; and the largest of these is navigable, stretching in the direction of the winter sunrise[10]; and it extends from the Euphrates to another river, the Tigris, on which the city of Nineveh stood. This is, of all lands with which we are acquainted, by far the best for the growth of corn: but it does not carry produce trees of any kind, either the fig, or the vine, or the olive; yet it is so fruitful in the produce of corn, that it yields continually two hundred-fold, and when it produces its best, it yields even three hundred-fold. The blades of wheat and barley grow there to fully four fingers (three inches) in breadth; and though I well know to what a height millet and sesama grow, I shall not mention it; for I am well assured, that to those who have never been in the Babylonian country, what has been said concerning its productions will appear to many incredible. They use no other oil than such as is drawn from sesama. They have palm-trees growing all over the plain; most of these bear fruit from which they make bread, wine, and honey. They also tie the fruit of that which the Greeks call the male palm, about those trees that bear dates, in order that the fly entering the date may ripen it, lest otherwise the fruit may fall before maturity; for the male palms have flies in the fruit, just like wild fig-trees.

The most wonderful thing of all, next to the city itself, is what I am now going to describe: their vessels that sail down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of leather. For when they have cut the ribs out of willows that grow in Armenia above Babylon, they cover them with hides extended on the outside, by way of a bottom; not making any distinction in the stern, nor contracting the prow, but making them circular like a buckler; then having lined this vessel throughout with reeds, they suffer it to be carried down by the river freighted with merchandise, chiefly casks of palm-wine. The vessel is steered by two spars, held by two men standing upright, one of whom draws his spar in and the other thrusts his out. Some of these vessels are made very large, and others of a smaller size; but the largest of them carry a cargo of five thousand talents [about one hundred and thirty-five tons]. Every vessel has a live ass on board, and the larger ones more. For after they arrive at Babylon, and have disposed of their freight, they sell the ribs of the boat and all the reeds by public auction; then having piled the skins on the asses, they return by land to Armenia, for it is not possible by any means to sail up the river because of the rapidity of the current: and for this reason they make their vessels of skins and not of wood, and upon their return to Armenia with their asses, they construct other vessels in the same manner. For their dress, they wear a linen tunic that reaches down to the feet; over this they put another garment of wool, and over all a short white cloak; they have sandals peculiar to the country, very much like the Bœotian clogs. They wear long hair, binding their heads with turbans, and anoint the whole body with perfumes. Every man has a seal, and a staff curiously wrought; and on every staff is carved either an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something of the kind; for it is not allowable to wear a stick without a device.

Many curious customs prevail amongst them. This, in my opinion, is the wisest, which I hear the Venetians, of Illyria, also practise. Once a year, in every village, whatever maidens are of a marriageable age, they collect together and bring in a body to one place; around them gathers a crowd of men. Then a crier having made them stand up one by one, offers them for sale, beginning with the most beautiful; and when she has been sold for a large sum, he puts up another who is next in beauty. They are sold on condition that they shall be married. Such men among the Babylonians as are rich and desirous of marrying, bid against one another, and purchase the handsomest. But such of the lower classes as are desirous of marrying, do not require a beautiful form, but are willing to take the plainer damsels with a sum of money. So when the crier has finished selling the handsomest of the maidens, he makes the ugliest stand up, or one that is a cripple, and puts her up to auction, for the person who will marry her with the smallest sum, until she is knocked down to the man who offers to take the least. This money is that obtained from the sale of the handsome maidens; so that the beautiful ones portion out the ugly and the crippled. A father is not allowed to give his daughter in marriage to whom he pleases, nor can a purchaser carry off a maiden without security; but he is first obliged to give security that he will certainly marry her, and then he may take her away. If they do not agree, a law has been enacted that the money shall be repaid. It is also lawful for any one who pleases to come from another village and purchase. They have also this other custom, second only to the former in wisdom. They bring their sick to the market-place, for they have no physicians; then those who pass by the sick person confer with him about the disease, to discover whether they have themselves been afflicted with the same disease, or have seen others so afflicted. They then advise him to have recourse to the same treatment as that by which they escaped a similar disease, or have known to cure others. And no one passes by a sick person in silence, without inquiring into the nature of his distemper. They embalm their dead in honey, and their funeral lamentations are like those of the Egyptians.

There are three tribes among them that eat nothing but fish; these, when they have taken and dried them in the sun, they treat in the following manner: they put them into a mortar, and having pounded them with a pestle, sift them through a fine cloth; then, whoever pleases, kneads them into a cake, or bakes them like bread.

When Cyrus had conquered this nation, he was anxious to reduce the Massagetæ to subjection. This nation is said to be both powerful and valiant, dwelling toward the east and the rising sun beyond the river Araxes, over against the Issedonians; there are some who say that this nation is Scythian. The Araxes is reported by some persons to be greater, by others less, than the Ister; they say that there are many islands in it, some nearly equal in size to Lesbos; and that in them are men, who during the summer feed upon all manner of roots, which they dig out of the ground; and that they store up for food ripe fruits which they find on the trees, and feed upon these during the winter. They add, that they have discovered other trees that produce fruit of a peculiar kind, which the inhabitants, when they meet together in companies, and have lighted a fire, throw on it, as they sit around in a circle; and that, inhaling the fumes of the burning fruit that has been thrown on, they become intoxicated by the odor, just as the Greeks do by wine; and that the more fruit is thrown on, the more intoxicated they become, until they rise up to dance and betake themselves to singing. The river Araxes flows from the Matienian mountains, whence also springs the river Gyndes, which Cyrus distributed into the three hundred and sixty trenches; and it gushes out from forty springs, all of which, except one, discharge themselves into fens and swamps, in which it is said men live who feed on raw fish, and clothe themselves in the skins of sea-calves; but the one stream of the Araxes flows through an unobstructed channel into the Caspian Sea. The Caspian is a sea by itself, having no communication with any other sea; for the whole of that which the Greeks navigate, and that beyond the Pillars, called the Atlantic, and the Red Sea, are all one. But the Caspian is a separate sea of itself; being in length a fifteen-days' voyage for a rowing boat; and in breadth, where it is widest, an eight-days' voyage. On the western shore of this sea stretches the Caucasus, which is in extent the largest, and in height the loftiest, of all mountains; it contains within itself many various nations of men, who for the most part live upon the produce of wild fruit-trees. In this country, it is said, there are trees which produce leaves of such a nature, that by rubbing them and mixing them with water the people paint figures on their garments; these figures do not wash out, but grow old with the wool, as if they had been woven in from the first. East of the Caspian is a plain in extent unbounded in the prospect. A great portion of this extensive plain is inhabited by the Massagetæ, against whom Cyrus resolved to make war; for the motives that urged and incited him to this enterprise were many and powerful: first of all his birth, which he thought was something more than human; and secondly, the good fortune which had attended him in his wars; for wherever Cyrus directed his arms, it was impossible for that nation to escape.

A woman whose husband was dead, was queen of the Massagetæ; her name was Tomyris; and Cyrus sent ambassadors under pretence of wooing her, and made her an offer of marriage. But Tomyris, being aware that he was not wooing her, but the kingdom of the Massagetæ, forbade their approach. Upon this Cyrus, perceiving his artifice ineffectual, marched to the Araxes, and openly prepared to make war on the Massagetæ, by throwing bridges over the river, and building turrets on the boats which carried over his army. While he was employed in this work Tomyris sent a herald to him with this message: "King of the Medes, desist from your great exertions; for you cannot know if they will terminate to your advantage; and having desisted, reign over your own dominions, and bear to see me governing what is mine. But if you will not attend to my advice, and prefer every thing before peace; in a word, if you are very anxious to make trial of the Massagetæ, toil no longer in throwing a bridge over the river; but do you cross over to our side, while we retire three days' march from the river; or if you had rather receive us on your side, do you the like." When Cyrus heard this proposal, he called a council of the principal Persians, laid the matter before them, and demanded their opinion as to what he should do: they unanimously advised him to let Tomyris pass with her army into his territory. But Crœsus the Lydian, who was present and disapproved this advice, delivered a contrary opinion to that which was put forward, and said: "O king, I assured you long ago, that since Jupiter delivered me into your hands, I would to the utmost of my power avert whatever misfortune I should see impending over your house; and my own calamities,[11] sad as they are, have been lessons to me. If you think yourself immortal, and that you command an army that is so too, it is needless for me to make known to you my opinion. But if you know that you too are a man, and that you command such as are men, learn this first of all, that there is a wheel in human affairs, which, continually revolving, does not suffer the same persons to be always successful. My opinion touching the matter before us is wholly at variance with that already given. For if we shall receive the enemy into this country, there is danger that if you are defeated, you will lose, besides, your whole empire; for it is plain that if the Massagetæ are victorious, they will not flee home again, but will march upon your territories: and if you are victorious, your victory is not so complete as if, having crossed over into their territory, you should conquer the Massagetæ and put them to flight; for then you can march directly into the dominions of Tomyris. It is a disgrace too that Cyrus the son of Cambyses should give way and retreat before a woman. My opinion, therefore, is, that you should pass over and advance as far as they retire; and then, by the following stratagem, endeavor to get the better of them. I hear the Massagetæ are unacquainted with the Persian luxuries, and are unused to the comforts of life. Suppose then that you cut up and dress an abundance of cattle, and lay out a feast in our camp for these men; and besides, bowls of unmixed wine without stint; then leave the weakest part of your army behind, while the rest return again toward the river; for the Massagetæ, if I mistake not, when they see so much excellent fare, will turn to immediately, and after that there remains for us the display of mighty achievements."

Cyrus approved the suggestions of Crœsus and bade Tomyris retire, as he would cross over to her. She accordingly retired, as she had promised. Cyrus placed Crœsus in the hands of his son Cambyses, to whom he also intrusted the kingdom, and having strictly charged him to honor Crœsus, and treat him well in case his inroad on the Massagetæ should fail, sent them back to Persia and crossed the river with his army. When he had passed the Araxes, and night came on, he saw a vision, as he was sleeping in the country of the Massagetæ. He fancied that he saw the eldest son of Hystaspes with wings on his shoulders; and that with one of these he overshadowed Asia, and with the other Europe. Now Darius, who was then about twenty years of age, was the eldest son of Hystaspes, son of Arsames, one of the Achæmenides; and he had been left in Persia, for he had not yet attained the age of military service. When Cyrus awoke he considered his dream with attention; and as it seemed to him of great moment, he summoned Hystaspes, and taking him aside, said: "Hystaspes, your son has been detected plotting against me and my empire; and I will show you how I know it for a certainty. The gods watch over me and forewarn me of every thing that is about to befall me. Now, last night, as I was sleeping, I saw the eldest of your sons with wings on his shoulders, and with one of these he overshadowed Asia, and Europe with the other; from this vision, it cannot be otherwise than that your son is forming designs against me; do you therefore go back to Persia with all speed, and take care, that when I have conquered these people and return home, you bring your son before me to be examined." Cyrus spoke thus under a persuasion that Darius was plotting against him; but the deity forewarned him that he himself would die in that very expedition, and that his kingdom would devolve on Darius. Hystaspes, however, answered in these words: "God forbid, O king, that a Persian should be born who would plot against you! But if any such there be, may sudden destruction overtake him, for you have made the Persians free instead of being slaves, and instead of being ruled over by others to rule over all; but if any vision informs you that my son is forming any plot against you, I freely surrender him to you to deal with as you please." And Hystaspes repassed the Araxes and went to Persia, for the purpose of keeping his son Darius in custody for Cyrus.

Cyrus having advanced one day's march from the Araxes, proceeded to act according to the suggestion of Crœsus. After this, when Cyrus and the effective part of the Persian army had marched back to the Araxes, leaving the ineffective part behind, a third division of the army of the Massagetæ attacked those of Cyrus' forces that had been left behind, and, after some resistance, put them to death. Then, seeing the feast laid out, as soon as they had overcome their enemies they lay down and feasted; and being filled with food and wine, fell asleep. Then the Persians attacked them, and put many of them to death, and took a still greater number prisoners, among them the son of Queen Tomyris, who commanded the Massagetæ, and whose name was Spargapises. When she heard what had befallen her army and her son, she sent a herald to Cyrus with the following message: "Cyrus, insatiate with blood, be not elated with what has now happened, that by the fruit of the vine, with which ye yourselves, when filled with it, so rave, that when it descends into your bodies, evil words float on your lips; be not elated, that by such a poison you have deceived and conquered my son, instead of by prowess in battle. But take the good advice that I offer you. Restore my son; depart out of this country unpunished for having insolently disgraced a third division of the army of the Massagetæ. But if you will not do this, I swear by the sun, the Lord of the Massagetæ, that, insatiable as you are, I will glut you with blood." Cyrus, however, paid no attention to this message; but Spargapises, the son of Queen Tomyris, as soon as he recovered from the effects of the wine, and perceived in what a plight he was, begged of Cyrus that he might be freed from his fetters; and as soon as he was set free, and found his hands at liberty, he put himself to death. But Tomyris, finding Cyrus did not listen to her, assembled all her forces, and engaged with him. I think that this battle was the most obstinate that was ever fought between barbarians. First of all, they stood at a distance and used their bows; afterward, when they had emptied their quivers, they engaged in close fight with their swords and spears, and thus they continued fighting for a long time, and neither was willing to give way; but at length the Massagetæ got the better, and the greater part of the Persian army was cut in pieces on the spot, and Cyrus himself was killed, after he had reigned twenty-nine years. Tomyris filled a skin with human blood, sought for the body of Cyrus among the slain of the Persians, and thrust the head into the skin, and insulting the dead body, said: "Thou hast indeed ruined me though alive and victorious in battle, since thou hast taken my son by stratagem; but I will now glut thee with blood, as I threatened." Of the many accounts given of the end of Cyrus, this appears to me most worthy of credit.

The Massagetæ resemble the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they have both horse and foot bow-men, and javelin-men, who are accustomed to carry battle-axes: they use gold and bronze for every thing; for in whatever concerns spears, and arrow-points, and battle-axes, they use bronze; but the head, and belts, and shoulder-pieces, are ornamented with gold. In like manner with regard to the chest of horses, they put on breastplates of bronze; but the bridle-bit and cheek-pieces are ornamented with gold. They make no use of silver or iron, for neither of those metals are found in their country, but they have bronze and gold in abundance. Their manners are as follows: when a man has attained a great age, all his kinsmen meet, and sacrifice him, together with cattle of several kinds; and when they have boiled the flesh, they feast on it. This death they account the most happy; but they do not eat the bodies of those who die of disease; but bury them in the earth, and think it a great misfortune that they did not reach the age to be sacrificed. They sow nothing, but live on cattle, and fish which the river Araxes yields in abundance, and they are drinkers of milk. They worship the sun only of all the gods, and sacrifice horses to him; and they assign as the reason of this custom that they think it right to offer the swiftest of all animals to the swiftest of all the gods.

[1] Under the name "barbarians" the Greeks included all who were not sprung from themselves—all who did not speak the Greek language.

[2] Syria was at that time the name of Cappadocia, as Herodotus himself elsewhere states.

[3] It is generally agreed that the name of Lycurgus's nephew was not Leobotas, but Charilaus. See the life of Lycurgus in the "Boys' and Girls' Plutarch."

[4] There is a Scriptural account of Ecbatana, in the Apocrypha. Judith i 1-4.

[5] Major Robinson states that the seven colors described by Herodotus, are those employed by the Orientals, to denote the seven planetary bodies.

[6] Several passages of our author seem to prove that Herodotus wrote other histories than those which have come down to us. Elsewhere in this book he speaks of his Assyrian history; and the second of the Libyan.

[7] Tartessus was situated between the two branches of the Bœtis, now the Guadalquiver.

[8] A proverbial expression signifying "that the victors suffered more than the vanquished."

[9] It was again taken by Darius; see end of Book III.

[10] That is, southeast.

[11] These words "pathemata mathemata" seem to have been a proverb in the Greek.

_BOOK II. EUTERPE._