and, laying the matter before them, desired their advice how to act. They were unanimously of opinion, that he should retire, and expect Tomyris in his own dominions. subsist on what the soil spontaneously produces. | Cyrus called a council of his principal officers, They have trees whose leaves possess a most singular property; they beat them to powder, and then steep them in water: this forms a dye, with which they paint on their garments figures of animals. The impression is so very strong, that it cannot be washed out; it appears to be interwoven in the cloth, and wears as long as the garment. The sexes communicate promiscuously, and in public, like the brutes. CCIV. Caucasus terminates that part of the Caspian which extends to the west; it is bounded on the east by a plain of prodigious extent, a considerable part of which forms the country of Massagetæ, against whom Cyrus meditated an attack. He was invited and urged by many strong incentives. When he considered the peculiar circumstances of his birth, he believed himself more than human. He reflected also on the prosperity of his arms, and that wherever he had extended his incursions, he had been followed by success and victory. CCVII. Cræsus the Lydian, who assisted at the meeting, was of a different sentiment, which he defended in this manner: "I have before remarked, O king! that since Providence has rendered me your captive, it becomes me to exert all my abilities in obviating whatever menaces you with misfortune. I have been instructed in the severe but useful school of adversity. If you were immortal yourself, and commanded an army of immortals, my advice might be justly thought impertinent; but if you confess yourself a human leader, of forces that are human, it becomes you to remember that sublunary events have a circular motion, and that their revolution does not permit the same man always to be fortunate. Upon this present subject of debate I dissent from the majority. If you await the enemy in your own dominions, a defeat may chance to lose you all your empire; the victorious Massagetæ, instead of retreating to their own, will make farther inroad into your territories. If you shall conquer, you will still be a loser by that interval of time and place which must be necessarily em CCV. The Massageta were then governed by a queen; she was a widow, and her name Tomyris. Cyrus sent ambassadors to her with overtures of marriage; the queen, concluding that his real object was the possession, not of her person, but her kingdom, forbade his approach. Cyrus, on finding these measures in-ployed in the pursuit. I will suppose that, effectual, advanced to the Araxes, openly discovering his hostile designs upon the Massageta. He accordingly threw a bridge of boats over the river for the passage of his forces, which he also fortified with turrets. CCVI. Whilst he was engaged in this difficult undertaking, Tomyris sent by her ambassadors this message: "Sovereign of the Medes, uncertain as you must be of the event, we advise you to desist from your present purpose. Be satisfied with the dominion of your own kingdom, and suffer us to retain what is certainly our own. You will not, however, listen to this salutary counsel, loving any thing rather than peace: If, then, you are really impatient to encounter the Massagetæ, give up your present labour of constructing a bridge; we will retire three days' march into our country, and you shall pass over at your leisure; or, if you had rather receive us in your own territories, do you as much for us." On hearing this, 4 Forms a dye.]—By the discovery of cochineal, we far surpass the colours of antiquity. Their royal purple had a strong smell, and a dark cast, as deep as bull's blood.Gibbon. after victory, you will instantly advance into the dominions of Tomyris; yet can Cyrus the son of Cambyses, without disgrace and infamy, retire one foot of ground from a female adversary? I would therefore recommend, that having passed over with our army, we proceed on our march till we meet the enemy; then let us contend for victory and honour. I have been informed the Massagetæ lead a life of the meanest poverty, ignorant of Persian fare, of Persian delicacies. Let these therefore be left behind in our camp: let there be abundance of food prepared, costly viands, and flowing goblets of wine. With these let us leave the less effective of the troops, and with the rest again retire towards the river. If I err not, the foe will be allured by the sight of our luxurious preparations, and afford us a noble occasion of victory and glory." CCVIII. The result of the debate was, that Cyrus preferred the sentiments of Croesus: he therefore returned for answer to Tomyris, that he would advance the space into her dominions which she had proposed. She was faithful to her engagement, and retired accordingly. Cyrus then formally delegated his authority to his son CCXI. Cyrus, advancing a day's march from the Araxes, followed, in all respects, the counsel of Croesus; and leaving behind him the troops upon which he had less dependence, he returned with his choicest men towards the Araxes. A detachment of about the third part of the army of the Massagetæ attacked the Persians whom Cyrus had left, and, after a feeble conflict, put them to the sword. When the slaughter ceased, they observed the luxuries which had artfully been prepared; and yielding to the allurement, they indulged themselves in feasting and wine, till drunkenness and sleep overcame them. In this situation the Persians attacked them: several were slain, but the greater part were made prisoners, among whom was Spargapises, their leader, the son of Tomyris. Cambyses;' and above all recommended Croesus | to Persia, fully intending to watch over his son, to his care, as one whom, if the projected expe- and deliver him to Cyrus. dition should fail, it would be his interest to distinguish by every possible mark of reverence and honour. He then dismissed them into Persia, and passed the river with his forces. CCIX. As soon as he had advanced beyond the Araxes into the land of the Massagetæ, he saw in the night this vision: He beheld the eldest son of Hystas pes having wings upon his shoulders; one of which overshadowed Asia, the other Europe. Hystaspes was the son of Arsamis, of the family of the Achæmenides; the name of his eldest son was Darius, a youth of about twenty, who had been left behind in Persia as not yet of an age for military service. Cyrus awoke, and revolved the matter in his mind as it appeared to him of serious importance, he sent for Hystaspes to his presence, and, dismissing his attendants, "Hystaspes," said the king, "I will explain to you my reasons, why I am satisfied beyond all dispute that your son is now engaged in seditious designs against me and my authority. The gods, whose favour I enjoy, disclose to me all those events which menace my security. In the night just passed, I beheld your eldest son having wings upon his shoulders, one of which overshadowed Asia, the other Europe; from which I draw certain conclusions that he is engaged in acts of treachery against me. Do you therefore return instantly to Persia; and take care, that when I return victorious from my present expedition, your son may give me a satisfactory explanation of his conduct." CCX. The strong apprehension of the treachery of Darius induced Cyrus thus to address the father; but the vision in reality imported that the death of Cyrus was at hand, and that Darius should succeed to his power. "Far be it, O king!” said Hystaspes in reply, "from any man of Persian origin to form conspiracies against his sovereign: if such there be, let immediate death be his portion. You have raised the Persians from slavery to freedom; from subjects, you have made them masters: if a vision has informed you that my son designs any thing against you, to you and to your disposal I shall deliver him." Hystaspes, after this interview, passed the Araxes on his return 1 His son Cambyses.]-When the Persian kings went on any expedition, it was customary with them to name their successor, in order to prevent the confusion unavoidably arising from their dying without having done this.-Larcher. CCXII. As soon as the queen heard of the defeat of her forces, and the capture of her son, she despatched a messenger to Cyrus with these words: "Cyrus, insatiable as you are of blood, be not too elate with your recent success. When you yourself are overcome with wine, what follies do you not commit? By entering your bodies, it renders your language more insulting. By this poison you have conquered my son, and neither by your prudence nor your valour. I venture a second time to advise what it will be certainly your interest to follow. Restore my son to liberty, and, satisfied with the disgrace you have put upon a third part of the Massagetæ, depart from these realms unhurt. If you will not do this, I swear by the Sun, the great god of the Massagetæ, that, insatiable as you are of blood, I will give you your fill of it."* CCXIII. These words made but little impression upon Cyrus. The son of Tomyris, when, recovering from his inebriated state, he knew the misfortune which had befallen him, intreated Cyrus to release him from his bonds: he obtained his liberty, and immediately destroyed himself. CCXIV. On the refusal of Cyrus to listen to her counsel, Tomyris collected all her forces : 2 Fill of blood.]-With this story of Cyrus that of the Roman Crassus nearly corresponds. The wealth of Crassus was only to be equalled by his avarice. He was taken prisoner in an expedition against the Parthians, who poured liquefied gold down his throat, in order, as they said, that he whose thirst of gold could never be satisfied when he was alive, might be filled with it when dead.-T. D a battle ensued, and of all the conflicts which ever took place amongst the barbarians, this was I believe by far the most obstinately disputed. According to such particulars as I have been able to collect, the engagement began by a shower of arrows poured on both sides, from an interval of some distance; when these were all spent, they fought with their swords and spears, and for a long time neither party gained the smallest advantage: the Massageta were at length victorious, the greater part of the Persians were slain, Cyrus himself also fell; and thus terminated a reign of twenty-nine years. When after diligent search his body was found, Tomyris directed his head to be thrown into a vessel filled with human blood, and having insulted and mutilated the dead body, exclaimed, "Survivor and conqueror as I am, thou hast ruined my peace by thy successful stratagem against my son; but I will give thee now, as I threatened, thy fill of blood."-This account of the end of Cyrus seems to me most consistent with probability, although there are many other and different relations." brass. CCXV. The Massagetæ in their clothes and food resemble the Scythians; they fight on horseback and on foot, and are both ways formidable. They have spears, arrows, and battleaxes. They make much use both of gold and Their spears, the points of their arrows, and their battle-axes, are made of brass; their helmets, their belts, and their breast-plates are decorated with gold. They bind also a plate of brass on the chests of their horses, whose reins, bits, and other harness, are plated with gold. They use neither iron nor silver, which indeed their country does not produce, though it abounds with gold and brass. CCXVI. Concerning their manners we have to observe, that though each man marries but one wife, she is considered as common pro 3 Different relations.]-Xenophon makes Cyrus die peaceably in his bed; Strabo inclines to this opinion; Lucian makes him live beyond the age of an hundred.Larcher. The Massagetæ are by some authors confounded with the Scythians. Diodorus Siculus calls Tomyris queen of the Scythians.-Larcher. perty. For what the Greeks assert in general of the Scythians, is true only of the Massagetæ. When a man of this country desires to have communication with a woman, he hangs up his quiver before his waggon, and enjoys her without fear of interruption. To speak of the number of years to which they live, is impossible. As soon as any one becomes infirm through age, his assembled relations put him to death,' boiling along with the body the flesh of sheep and other animals, upon which they feast: esteeming universally this mode of death the happiest. Of those who die from any disease, they never eat; they bury them in the earth, and esteem their fate a matter to be lamented, because they have not lived to be sacrificed. They sow no grain, but entirely subsist upon cattle, and upon the fish which the river Araxes abundantly sup.. plies; milk also constitutes a part of their diet. They sacrifice horses to the sun, their only deity, thinking it right to offer the swiftest of mortal animals, to the swiftest of immortal beings. 4 Put him to death.]—Hellanicus, speaking of the Hy. perboreans, who live beyond the Rhipean mountains, observes, that they learn justice, that they do not eat meat, but live entirely on fruit. Those of sixty years they carry out of the town, and put to death. Timæus says, that in Sardinia, when a man has passed the age of seventy years, his sons, in honour of Saturn, and with seeming satisfaction, beat his brains out with clubs, and throw him from some frightful precipice. The inhabitants of Iulis, in the isle of Ceos, oblige those who are past the age of sixty years to drink hemlock, &c. This custom, so contrary to our manners, will, doubtless, appear fabulous to those who are no friends to antiquity, and whose judgments are regulated entirely by modern manners. It is practised nevertheless at the present day in the kingdom of Aracan; the inhabitants of this country accelerate the death of their friends and relations, when they see them afflicted by a painful old age, or incurable disease; it is with them an act of piety. -Larcher. 5 Sacrifice horses.]-This was a very ancient custom: it was practised in Persia in the time of Cyrus, and was probably anterior to that prince. Horses were also sacrificed to Neptune, and the deities of the rivers, being precipitated into the sea or into rivers. Sextus Pompeius threw into the sea horses and live oxen, in honour of Neptune, whose son he professed himself to be.-Larcher. Placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum I HERODOTUS. BOOK II. EUTERPE. themselves than the rest of mankind. Whilst I. CAMBYSES the son of Cyrus, by Cassandana, daughter of Phanaspe, succeeded his father. The wife of Cyrus had died before him; he had lamented her loss himself with the sincerest grief, and commanded all his subjects to exhibit public marks of sorrow.' Cambyses thus descended, considered the Ionians and Æolians as his slaves by right of inheritance: -He undertook therefore an expedition against Egypt, and assembled an army for this purpose, composed as well of his other subjects as of those Greeks who acknowledged his authority. II. Before the reign of their king Psammitichus, the Egyptians esteemed themselves the most ancient of the human race; but when this prince came to the throne he took consid-end of two years, on his one day opening the erable pains to investigate the truth of this matter; the result was, that they believe the Phrygians more ancient than themselves, and 3 door of their apartment, both the children extended their arms towards him, as if in supplication, and pronounced the word Becos. It did not at first excite his attention, but on their repeating the same expression whenever he appeared, he related the circumstance to his master, and at his command brought the children to his presence. When Psammitichus had heard them repeat this same word, he endea Vobis picta croco et fulgenti murice vestis; This citation from Virgil implies, that these were instru- According to Justin, the Scythians believed themselves proverb, Phryx plagis emendatur (see Erasmus Adag.), to be more ancient than the Egyptians. was contemptuously applied to all this nation. 4 Whose milk.]-Claudian has an allusion to this historical fact. See his Poem in Eutropium, ii. 250: Dat cuncta vetustas 3 Phrygians.]-The volumes of Greece and Rome abound with records of the Phrygians. Arrian tells us, that the Phrygians were the oldest of mankind, Agortas Φρυγές παλαιοτατοι ανθρώπων, cited by Eustathius in Dion. Their religious madness in the worship of their goddess Cybele renders them very remarkable in classic story. They were remarkable for their effeminacy, and we have their character beautifully drawn by Virgil, in the con.ed trast which he gives us in the ninth Æneid, betwixt itated, os being a termination appropriated to the Greek them and the ancient Tuscans: 5 Principium Phrygibus, nec rex Ægyptius ultra language.-Larcher. |