§ 1. Introduction. § 2. The Assyrian Empire. § 3. The Median Empire. § 4. The Babylonian Empire. § 5. The Lydian Monarchy, and its influence upon the Asiatic Greeks. § 6. Conquest of the Asiatic Greeks by Cræsus, king of Lydia. § 7. Foundation of the Persian Empire by Cyrus, and overthrow of the Median Empire by the latter. § 8. Conquest of the Lydian Monarchy by Cyrus. § 9. Conquest of the Asiatic Greeks by Harpagus, the general of Cyrus. Death of Cyrus. § 10. Reigns of Cambyses and of the false Smerdis. § 11. History of Polycrates, despot of

Samos. 12. Accession of Darius, son of Hystaspes. His organization of the Persian Empire. § 13. Invasion of Scythia by Darius. § 14. Subjection of Thrace and Macedonia to the Persian Empire.

§ 1. THE period upon which we are now entering is the most brilliant in the history of Greece. The subject has hitherto been confined to the history of separate and isolated cities, which were but little affected by each other's prosperity or adversity. But the Persian invasion produced an important change in the relations of the Greek cities. A common danger drew them closer together and compelled them to act in concert. Thus Grecian history obtains a degree of unity, and consequently of interest. The rise and progress of the Persian empire, which produced such important results upon the Grecian states, therefore claim our attention; but in order to understand the subject aright, it is necessary to go a little further back, and to glance at the history of those monarchies which were overthrown by the Persians.

§ 2. From the first dawn of history to the present day the East has been the seat of vast and mighty empires. Of these the earliest and the most extensive was founded by the Assyrian kings, who resided at the city of Nineveh on the Tigris. At the time of its greatest prosperity this empire appears to have extended over the south of Asia, from the Indus on the east to the Mediterranean sea on the west. Of its history we have hardly any particulars; but its greatness is attested by the unanimous voice of sacred and profane writers; and the wonderful discoveries which have been made within the last few years in the earthen mounds which entomb the ancient Nineveh afford unerring testimony of the progress which the Assyrians had made in architecture, sculpture, and the arts of civilized life. At the beginning of the eighth century before the Christian era the power of this vast empire was broken by the revolt of the Medes and Babylonians, who had hitherto been its subjects. The city of Nineveh still continued to exist as the seat of an independent kingdom, but the greater part of its dominions was divided between the Medes and Babylonians.

§3. The Medes belonged to that branch of the Indo-Germanic family inhabiting the vast space of country known by the general name of Iran or Aria, which extends south of the Caspian and the Oxus, from the Indus on the east to Mount Zagros on the west-a range of mountains running parallel to the Tigris and eastward of that river. The north-western part of this country was occupied by the Medes, and their capital Ecbatana was situated in a mountainous and healthy district, which was celebrated for the freshness and coolness of its climate in the sum

mer heats. Their language was a dialect of the Zend; and their religion was the one which had been founded by Zoroaster. They worshipped fire as the symbol of the Deity, and their priests were the Magi, who formed a distinct class or caste, possessing great influence and power in the state. The people were brave and warlike, and under their successive monarchs they gradually extended their dominion from the Indus on the east to the river Halys in the centre of Asia Minor on the west. Their most celebrated conquest was the capture of Nineveh, which they rased to the ground in B.C. 606.*

§ 4. The Babylonians were a Semitic people. Their territory comprised the fertile district between the Tigris and the Euphrates, and their capital, Babylon, situated on the latter river, was one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. Herodotus, who visited it in its decline, describes its size and grandeur in terms which would exceed belief, if the truthfulness of the historian was not above all suspicion. It was built in the form of a square, of which each side was 15 miles in length, and it was surrounded by walls of prodigious size, 300 feet high and 75 feet thick. Under Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian empire reached its height. This monarch extended his dominions as far as the confines of Egypt. He took Jerusalem, and carried away its inhabitants into captivity, and he annexed to his dominions both Judea and Phoenicia. On his death, in B.C. 562, he bequeathed to his son Labynetus (the Belshazzar of Scripture) a kingdom which extended from the Tigris to the frontiers of Egypt and the south of Phoenicia.

§ 5. The Median and Babylonian empires did not include any countries inhabited by the Greeks, and exercised only a remote influence upon Grecian civilization. There was, however, a third power, which rose upon the ruins of the Assyrian empire, with which the Greeks were brought into immediate contact. This was the Lydian monarchy, whose territory was originally confined to the fertile district eastward of Ionia, watered by the Caÿster and the Hermus. The capital of the monarchy was Sardis, which was situated on a precipitous rock belonging to the ridge of Mount Tmolus. Here three dynasties of Lydian kings are said to have reigned. Of the two first we have no account, and it is probable that, down to the commencement of the third of these dynasties, Lydia formed a province of the Assyrian empire. However this may be, the history of Lydia begins only with the accession of Gyges, the founder of the third dynasty; and it

* According to Herodotus, there were four Median kings :—1. Deioces, the founder of the empire, who reigned B.C. 710-657; 2. Phraortes, B.C. 657-635; 3. Cyaxares, B.C. 635-595; 4. Astyages, B.C. 595-559.

cannot be a mere accident that the beginning of his reign is nearly coincident with the decline of the Assyrian empire and the foundation of the independent monarchies of the Babylonians and Medes.*

Under Gyges and his successors Sardis became the centre of a powerful and civilized monarchy; and the existence of such a state in close proximity to the Greek cities in Ionia exercised an important influence upon the latter. The Lydians were a wealthy and industrious people, carrying on an extensive commerce, practising manufactures and acquainted with various arts. The Lydians are said to have been the first people to coin money of gold and silver; and of the former metal they obtained large quantities in the sands of the river Pactolus, which flowed down from Mount Tmolus towards the Hermus. From them the Ionic Greeks derived various improvements in the useful and the ornamental arts, especially in the weaving and dyeing of fine fabrics, in the processes of metallurgy, and in the style of their music. The growth of the Lydian monarchy in wealth and civilization was attended with another advantage to the Grecian cities on the coast. As the territory of the Lydians did not originally extend to the sea, the whole of their commerce with the Mediterranean passed through the Grecian cities, and was carried on in Grecian ships. This contributed greatly to the prosperity and wealth of Miletus, Phocæa, and the other Ionian cities.

§ 6. But while the Asiatic Greeks were indebted for so much of their grandeur and opulence to the Lydian monarchy, the increasing power of the latter eventually deprived them of their political independence. Even Gyges had endeavoured to reduce them to subjection, and the attempt was renewed at various times by his successors; but it was not till the reign of Cræsus, the last king of Lydia, who succeeded to the throne in B.C. 560, that the Asiatic Greeks became the subjects of a barbarian power. This monarch succeeded in the enterprise in which his predecessors had failed. He began by attacking Ephesus, and reduced in succession all the other Grecian cities on the coast. His rule, however, was not oppressive; he appears to have been content with the payment of a moderate tribute, and to have permitted the cities to regulate their own affairs. He next turned his arms towards the east, and subdued all the nations in Asia Minor west of the river Halys, with the exception of the Lycians and Cilicians. The fame of Croesus and of his countless

According to Herodotus, there were five Lydian kings:-1. Gyges, who reigned B.C. 716-678; 2. Ardys, B.C. 678-629; 3. Sadyattes, B.C. 629-617; 4. Alyattes, B.C. 617-560; 5. Croesus, B.C. 560-546.

treasures now resounded through Greece. He spoke the Greek language, welcomed Greek guests, and reverenced the Greek oracles, which he enriched with the most munificent offerings. The wise men of Greece were attracted to Sardis by the fame of his power and of his wealth. Among his other visitors he is said to have entertained Solon; but the celebrated story of the interview between the Athenian sage and the Lydian monarch, which the stern laws of chronology compel us to reject, has already been narrated in a previous part of this work.*

Cræsus deemed himself secure from the reach of calamities, and his kingdom appeared to be placed upon a firm and lasting foundation. His own subjects were submissive and obedient; and he was closely connected with the powerful monarchs of Media, Babylon, and Egypt. Astyages, the king of Media, whose territories adjoined his own, was his brother-in-law; and he had formed an alliance and friendship with Labynetus, king of Babylon, and Amasis, king of Egypt. The four kings seemed to have nothing to fear either from internal commotions or external foes. Yet within the space of a few years their dynasties were overthrown, and their territories absorbed in a vast empire, founded by an adventurer till then unknown by name.

§ 7. The rise and fall of the great Asiatic monarchies have been characterized by the same features in ancient and modern times. A brave and hardy race, led by its native chief, issues either from the mountains or from the steppes of Asia, overruns the more fertile and cultivated parts of the continent, conquers the effeminate subjects of the existing monarchies, and places its leader upon the throne of Asia. But the descendants. of the new monarch and of the conquering race give way to sensuality and sloth, and fall victims in their turn to the same bravery in another people, which had given the sovereignty to their ancestors. The history of Cyrus, the great founder of the Persian empire, is an illustration of these remarks. It is true that the earlier portion of his life is buried under a heap of fables, and that it is impossible to determine whether he was the grandson of the Median king, Astyages, as is commonly stated; but it does not admit of doubt, that he led the warlike Persians from their mountainous homes to a series of conquests, which secured him an empire extending from the Egean to the Indus, and from the Caspian and the Oxus, to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

The Persians were of the same race as the Medes, spoke a dialect of the same language, and were adherents of the same religion. They inhabited the mountainous region south of Media,

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