|
One year after this he died, having reigned forty-three years,
reckoning
from the death of his father. He was one of the greatest monarchs
that
ever reigned in the East. He was succeeded by his son:
(M178)
EVIL-MERODACH. As soon as he was settled in the throne, he
released
Jechonias, king of Judah, out of prison, where he had been confined
near
seven and thirty years.(1054)
In the reign of this Evil-Merodach,
which lasted but two years, the
learned place Daniel’s detection of the fraud
practised by the priests of
Bel; the innocent artifice by which he contrived
to destroy the dragon,
which was worshipped as a god; and the miraculous
deliverance of the same
prophet out of the den of lions, where he had
victuals brought him by the
prophet Habakkuk.
Evil-Merodach rendered
himself so odious by his debauchery and other
extravagancies, that his own
relations conspired against him, and put him
to death.(1055)
(M179)
NERIGLISSOR, his sister’s husband, and one of the chief
conspirators, reigned
in his stead.
Immediately on his accession to the crown, he made great
preparations for
war against the Medes,(1056) which made Cyaxares send for
Cyrus out of
Persia, to his assistance. This story will be more particularly
related by
and by, where we shall find that this prince was slain in battle
in the
fourth year of his reign.
(M180) LABOROSOARCHOD, his son,
succeeded to the throne. This was a very
wicked prince. Being born with the
most vicious inclinations, he indulged
them without restraint when he came to
the crown; as if he had been
invested with sovereign power, only to have the
privilege of committing
with impunity the most infamous and barbarous
actions. He reigned but nine
months; his own subjects conspiring against him,
put him to death. His
successor was:
(M181) LABYNITUS, OR NABONIDUS.
This prince had likewise other names, and
in Scripture that of Belshazzar. It
is on good grounds supposed that he
was the son of Evil-Merodach, by his wife
Nitocris, and consequently
grandson to Nabuchodonosor, to whom, according to
Jeremiah’s prophecy, the
nations of the East were to be subject, as also to
his son, and his
grandson after him: “All nations shall serve him, and his
son, and his
son’s son, until the very time of his land shall
come.”(1057)
Nitocris is that queen who raised so many noble edifices in
Babylon.(1058)
She caused her own monument to be placed over one of the most
remarkable
gates of the city, with an inscription, dissuading her successors
from
touching the treasures laid up in it, without the most urgent
and
indispensable necessity. The tomb remained closed till the reign
of
Darius, who, upon his breaking it open, instead of those immense
treasures
he had flattered himself with discovering, found nothing but the
following
inscription:
IF THOU HADST NOT AN INSATIABLE THIRST
AFTER MONEY, AND A MOST
SORDID, AVARICIOUS SOUL, THOU WOULDST NEVER HAVE
BROKEN OPEN THE
MONUMENTS OF THE DEAD.
In the first year of
Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel had the vision of the four
beasts, which
represented the four great monarchies, and the kingdom of
the Messiah, which
was to succeed them.(1059) In the third year of the
same reign he had the
vision of the ram and the he-goat, which prefigured
the destruction of the
Persian empire by Alexander the Great, and the
persecution which Antiochus
Epiphanes, king of Syria, should bring upon
the Jews.(1060) I shall hereafter
make some reflections upon these
prophecies, and give a larger account of
them.
Belshazzar, whilst his enemies were besieging Babylon, gave a
great
entertainment to his whole court, upon a certain festival, which
was
annually celebrated with great rejoicing.(1061) The joy of this feast
was
greatly disturbed by a vision, and still more so by the explication
which
Daniel gave of it to the king. The sentence written upon the
wall
imported, that his kingdom was taken from him, and given to the Medes
and
Persians. That very night the city was taken, and Belshazzar
killed.
(M182) Thus ended the Babylonian empire, after having subsisted
two
hundred and ten years from the destruction of the great Assyrian
empire.
The particular circumstances of the siege, and the taking of
Babylon,
shall be related in the history of Cyrus.
Chapter
III. The History of the Kingdom of the Medes.
(M183) I took notice,
in speaking of the destruction of the ancient
Assyrian empire, that Arbaces,
general of the Median army, was one of the
chief authors of the conspiracy
against Sardanapalus: and several writers
believe, that he then immediately
became sovereign master of Media and
many other provinces, and assumed the
title of king. Herodotus is not of
this opinion. I shall relate what that
celebrated historian says upon the
subject.
The Assyrians, who had for
many ages held the empire of Asia, began to
decline in their power by the
revolt of several nations.(1062) The Medes
first threw off their yoke, and
maintained for some time the liberty they
had acquired by their valour: but
that liberty degenerating into
licentiousness, and their government not being
well established, they fell
into a kind of anarchy, worse than their former
subjection. Injustice,
violence, and rapine, prevailed everywhere, because
there was nobody that
had either power enough to restrain them, or sufficient
authority to
punish the offenders. But all these disorders at length induced
the people
to settle a form of government, which rendered the state more
flourishing
than ever it was before.
The nation of the Medes was then
divided into six tribes. Almost all the
people dwelt in villages, when
Dejoces, the son of Phraortes, a Mede by
birth, erected the state into a
monarchy. This person, seeing the great
disorders that prevailed throughout
all Media, resolved to take advantage
of those troubles, and make them serve
to exalt him to the royal dignity.
He had a great reputation in his own
country, and passed for a man, not
only regular in his own conduct, but
possessed of all the prudence and
equity necessary to govern
others.
As soon as he had formed the design of obtaining the throne, he
laboured
to make the good qualities that had been observed in him more
conspicuous
than ever: he succeeded so well, that the inhabitants of the
village where
he lived made him their judge. In this office he acquitted
himself with
great prudence; and his cares had all the success that had been
expected
from them; for he brought the people of that village to a sober
and
regular life. The inhabitants of other villages, whom perpetual
disorders
suffered not to live in quiet, observing the good order Dejoces
had
introduced in the place where he presided as judge, began to apply to
him,
and make him arbitrator of their differences. The fame of his equity
daily
increasing, all such as had any affair of consequence, brought it
before
him, expecting to find that equity in Dejoces, which they could meet
with
nowhere else.
When he found himself thus far advanced in his
designs, he judged it a
proper time to set his last engines to work for the
compassing his point.
He, therefore, retired from business, pretending to be
over-fatigued with
the multitude of people that resorted to him from all
quarters; and would
not exercise the office of judge any longer,
notwithstanding all the
importunity of such as wished well to the public
tranquillity. Whenever
any persons addressed themselves to him, he told them,
that his own
domestic affairs would not allow him to attend to those of other
people.
The licentiousness which had been for some time restrained by
the
judicious management of Dejoces, began to prevail more than ever, as
soon
as he had withdrawn himself from the administration of affairs; and
the
evil increased to such a degree, that the Medes were obliged to
assemble,
and deliberate upon the means of putting a stop to the public
disorder.
There are different sorts of ambition: some violent and
impetuous,
carrying every thing as it were by storm, hesitating at no kind of
cruelty
or murder: another sort, more gentle, like that we are speaking of,
puts
on an appearance of moderation and justice, working under ground, (if
I
may use that expression,) and yet arrives at her point as surely as
the
other.
Dejoces, who saw things succeeding according to his wish,
sent his
emissaries to the assembly, after having instructed them in the part
they
were to act. When expedients for stopping the course of the public
evils
came to be proposed, these emissaries, speaking in their
turn,
represented, that unless the face of the republic was entirely
changed,
their country would become uninhabitable; that the only means to
remedy
the present disorders was to elect a king, who should have authority
to
restrain violence, and make laws for the government of the nation.
Then
every man could prosecute his own affairs in peace and safety; whereas
the
injustice that now reigned in all parts, would quickly force the people
to
abandon the country. This opinion was generally approved; and the
whole
company was convinced, that no expedient could be devised more
effectual
for curing the present evil, than that of converting the state into
a
monarchy. The only thing then to be done, was to choose a king; and
about
this their deliberations were not long. They all agreed there was not
a
man in Media so capable of governing as Dejoces; so that he
was
immediately with common consent elected king.
If we reflect in the
least on the first establishment of kingdoms, in any
age or country
whatsoever, we shall find, that the maintenance of order,
and the care of the
public good, was the original design of monarchy.
Indeed there would be no
possibility of establishing order and peace, if
all men were resolved to be
independent, and would not submit to an
authority which takes from them a
part of their liberty, in order to
preserve the rest. Mankind must be
perpetually at war, if they will always
be striving for dominion over others,
or refuse to submit to the
strongest. For the sake of their own peace and
safety, they must have a
master, and must consent to obey him. This is the
human origin of
government. And the Scripture teacheth us, that the Divine
Providence has
not only allowed of the project, and the execution of it, but
consecrated
it likewise by an immediate communication of his own
power.(1063)
There is nothing certainly nobler or greater than to see a
private person,
eminent for his merit and virtue, and fitted by his excellent
talents for
the highest employments, and yet through inclination and
modesty
preferring a life of obscurity and retirement: than to see such a
man
sincerely refuse the offer made to him, of reigning over a whole
nation,
and at last consent to undergo the toil of government, from no
other
motive than that of being serviceable to his fellow-citizens. His
first
disposition, by which he declares that he is acquainted with the
duties,
and consequently with the dangers annexed to a sovereign power, shows
him
to have a soul more elevated and great than greatness itself; or, to
speak
more justly, a soul superior to all ambition: nothing can show him
so
perfectly worthy of that important charge, as the opinion he has of
his
not being so, and his fears of being unequal to it. But when he
generously
sacrifices his own quiet and satisfaction to the welfare and
tranquillity
of the public, it is plain he understands what that sovereign
power has in
it really good, or truly valuable; which is, that it puts a man
in a
condition of becoming the defender of his country, of procuring it
many
advantages, and of redressing various evils; of causing law and justice
to
flourish, of bringing virtue and probity into reputation, and
of
establishing peace and plenty: and he comforts himself for the cares
and
troubles to which he is exposed, by the prospect of the many
benefits
resulting from them to the public. Such a governor was Numa, at
Rome; and
such have been some other emperors, whom the people found it
necessary to
compel to accept the supreme power.
It must be owned (I
cannot help repeating it) that there is nothing nobler
or greater than such a
disposition. But to put on the mask of modesty and
virtue, in order to
satisfy one’s ambition, as Dejoces did; to affect to
appear outwardly what a
man is not inwardly; to refuse for a time, and
then accept with a seeming
repugnancy, what a man earnestly desires, and
what he has been labouring by
secret, underhand practices to obtain; this
double-dealing has so much
meanness in it, that it necessarily lessens our
opinion of the person, and
extremely sullies the lustre of those good
qualities, which in other
respects, he possesses.
(M184) DEJOCES reigned fifty-three years.(1064)
When he had ascended the
throne, he endeavoured to convince the people, that
they were not mistaken
in the choice they had made of him, for restoring of
order. At first he
resolved to have his dignity of king attended with all the
marks that
could inspire an awe and respect for his person. He obliged his
subjects
to build him a magnificent palace in the place he appointed. This
palace
he strongly fortified, and chose out from among his people such
persons as
he judged fittest to be his guards, from their attachment to
his
interests, and his reliance on their fidelity.
After having thus
provided for his own security, he applied himself to
polish and civilize his
subjects, who, having been accustomed to live in
the country and in villages,
almost without laws and without polity, had
contracted the disposition and
manners of savages. To this end he
commanded them to build a city, marking
out himself the place and
circumference of the walls. This city was compassed
about with seven
distinct walls, all disposed in such a manner, that the
outermost did not
hinder the parapet of the second from being seen, nor the
second that of
the third, and so of all the rest. The situation of the place
was
extremely favourable for such a design, for it was a regular hill,
whose
ascent was equal on every side. Within the last and smallest
enclosure
stood the king’s palace, with all his treasures: in the sixth,
which was
next to that, there were several apartments for lodging the
officers of
his household; and the intermediate spaces, between the other
walls, were
appointed for the habitation of the people: the first and
largest
enclosure was about the bigness of Athens. The name of this city
was
Ecbatana.
The prospect of it was magnificent and beautiful; for,
besides the
disposition of the walls, which formed a kind of amphitheatre,
the
different colours wherewith the several parapets were painted formed
a
delightful variety.
After the city was finished, and Dejoces had
obliged part of the Medes to
settle in it, he turned all his thoughts to
composing of laws for the good
of the state. But being persuaded, that the
majesty of kings is most
respected afar off(1065) he began to keep himself at
a distance from his
people; was almost inaccessible, and, as it were,
invisible to his
subjects, not suffering them to speak, or communicate their
affairs to
him, but only by petitions, and the interposition of his officers.
And
even those that had the privilege of approaching him, might neither
laugh
nor spit in his presence.
This able statesman acted in this
manner, in order the better to secure to
himself the possession of the crown.
For, having to deal with men yet
uncivilized, and no very good judges of true
merit, he was afraid, that
too great a familiarity with him might induce
contempt, and occasion plots
and conspiracies against a growing power, which
is generally looked upon
with invidious and discontented eyes. But by keeping
himself thus
concealed from the eyes of the people, and making himself known
only by
the wise laws he made, and the strict justice he took care to
administer
to every one, he acquired the respect and esteem of all his
subjects.
It is said, that from the innermost part of his palace he saw
every thing
that was done in his dominions, by means of his emissaries, who
brought
him accounts, and informed him of all transactions. By this means no
crime
escaped either the knowledge of the prince, or the rigour of the law;
and
the punishment treading upon the heels of the offence, kept the wicked
in
awe, and stopped the course of violence and injustice.
Things might
possibly pass in this manner to a certain degree during his
administration:
but there is nothing more obvious than the great
inconveniencies necessarily
resulting from the custom introduced by
Dejoces, and wherein he has been
imitated by the rest of the Eastern
potentates; the custom, I mean, of living
concealed in his palace, of
governing by spies dispersed throughout his
kingdom, of relying solely
upon their sincerity for the truth of facts; of
not suffering truth, the
complaints of the oppressed, and the just reasons of
innocent persons, to
be conveyed to him any other way, than through foreign
channels, that is,
by men liable to be prejudiced or corrupted; men that
stopped up all
avenues to remonstrances, or the reparation of injuries, and
that were
capable of doing the greatest injustice themselves, with so much
the more
ease and assurance, as their iniquity remained undiscovered,
and
consequently unpunished. But besides all this, methinks, that
very
affectation in princes of making themselves invisible, shows them to
be
conscious of their slender merit, which shuns the light, and dares
not
stand the test of a near examination.
Dejoces was so wholly taken
up in humanizing and softening the manners,
and in making laws for the good
government of his people, that he never
engaged in any enterprise against his
neighbours, though his reign was
very long, for he did not die till after
having reigned fifty-three years.
(M185) PHRAORTES reigned twenty-two
years.(1066) After the death of
Dejoces, his son Phraortes, called otherwise
Aphraartes,(1067) succeeded.
The affinity between these two names would alone
make one believe that
this is the king called in Scripture Arphaxad: but that
opinion has many
other substantial reasons to support it, as may be seen in
father
Montfaucon’s learned dissertation, of which I have here made great
use.
The passage in Judith, _That Arphaxad built a very strong city, and
called
it Ecbatana,_(1068) has deceived most authors, and made them believe,
that
Arphaxad must be Dejoces, who was certainly the founder of that city.
But
the Greek text of Judith, which the Vulgate translation
renders
_ædificavit_, says only, _That Arphaxad added new buildings
to
Ecbatana_.(1069) And what can be more natural, than that, the father
not
having entirely perfected so considerable a work, the son should put
the
last hand to it, and make such additions as were
wanting?
Phraortes, being of a very warlike temper, and not contented
with the
kingdom of Media, left him by his father, attacked the
Persians;(1070) and
defeating them in a decisive battle, brought them under
subjection to his
empire. Then strengthened by the accession of their troops,
he attacked
other neighbouring nations, one after another, till he made
himself master
of almost all the Upper Asia, which comprehends all that lies
north of
mount Taurus, from Media as far as the river Halys. Elate with this
good
success, he ventured to turn his arms against the Assyrians, at that
time
indeed weakened through the revolt of several nations, but yet
very
powerful in themselves. Nabuchodonosor, their king, otherwise
called
Saosduchinus, raised a great army in his own country, and sent
ambassadors
to several other nations of the East,(1071) to require their
assistance.
They all refused him with contempt, and ignominiously treated
his
ambassadors, letting him see, that they no longer dreaded that
empire,
which had formerly kept the greatest part of them in a slavish
subjection.
The king, highly enraged at such insolent treatment, swore by
his throne
and his reign, that he would be revenged of all those nations, and
put
them every one to the sword. He then prepared for battle, with what
forces
he had, in the plain of Ragau. A great battle ensued there, which
proved
fatal to Phraortes. He was defeated, his cavalry fled, his chariots
were
overturned and put into disorder, and Nabuchodonosor gained a
complete
victory. Then taking advantage of the defeat and confusion of the
Medes,
he entered their country, took their cities, pushed on his conquests
even
to Ecbatana, forced the towers and the walls by storm, and gave the
city
to be pillaged by his soldiers, who plundered it, and stripped it of
all
its ornaments.
The unfortunate Phraortes, who had escaped into the
mountains of Ragau,
fell at last into the hands of Nabuchodonosor, who
cruelly caused him to
be shot to death with darts. After that, he returned to
Nineveh with all
his army, which was still very numerous, and for four months
together did
nothing but feast and divert himself with those that had
accompanied him
in this expedition.
In Judith, we read that the king
of Assyria sent Holophernes with a
powerful army, to revenge himself of those
that had refused him succours;
the progress and cruelty of that commander,
the general consternation of
all the people, the courageous resolution of the
Israelites to withstand
him, in assurance that their God would defend them,
the extremity to which
Bethulia and the whole nation was reduced, the
miraculous deliverance of
that city by the courage and conduct of the brave
Judith, and the complete
overthrow of the Assyrian army, are all related in
the same book.
(M186) CYAXARES I. reigned forty years.(1072) This prince
succeeded to the
throne immediately after his father’s death. He was a very
brave,
enterprising prince, and knew how to make his advantage of the
late
overthrow of the Assyrian army. He first settled himself well in
his
kingdom of Media, and then conquered all Upper Asia. But what he had
most
at heart was, to go and attack Nineveh, to revenge the death of his
father
by the destruction of that great city.
The Assyrians came out
to meet him, having only the remains of that great
army, which was destroyed
before Bethulia. A battle ensued, wherein the
Assyrians were defeated, and
driven back to Nineveh. Cyaxares, pursuing
his victory, laid siege to the
city, which was upon the point of falling
inevitably into his hands, but the
time was not yet come when God designed
to punish that city for her crimes,
and for the calamities she had brought
upon his people, as well as other
nations. It was delivered from its
present danger in the following
manner.
A formidable army of Scythians, from the neighbourhood of the
Palus
Mæotis, had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe, and was still
marching
under the conduct of king Madyes in pursuit of them. The Cimmerians
had
found means to escape from the Scythians, who had advanced as far
as
Media. Cyaxares, hearing of this irruption, raised the siege from
before
Nineveh, and marched with all his forces against that mighty army,
which,
like an impetuous torrent, was going to overrun all Asia. The two
armies
engaged, and the Medes were vanquished. The Barbarians, finding no
other
obstacle in their way, overspread not only Media, but almost all
Asia.
After that, they marched towards Egypt, from whence Psammiticus
diverted
their course by presents. They then returned into Palestine, where
some of
them plundered the temple of Venus at Ascalon, the most ancient of
the
temples dedicated to that goddess. Some of the Scythians settled
at
Bethshan, a city in the tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan, which
from
them was afterwards called Scythopolis.
The Scythians for the
space of twenty-eight years were masters of the
Upper Asia, namely, the two
Armenias, Cappadocia, Pontus, Colchis, and
Iberia; during which time they
spread desolation wherever they came. The
Medes had no way of getting rid of
them, but by a dangerous stratagem.
Under pretence of cultivating and
strengthening the alliance they had made
together, they invited the greatest
part of them to a general feast, which
was made in every family. Each master
of the feast made his guests drunk,
and in that condition were the Scythians
massacred. The Medes then
repossessed themselves of the provinces they had
lost, and once more
extended their empire to the banks of the Halys, which
was their ancient
boundary westward.
The remaining Scythians, who were
not at this feast, having heard of the
massacre of their countrymen, fled
into Lydia to king Halyattes, who
received them with great humanity.(1073)
This occasioned a war between the
two princes. Cyaxares immediately led his
troops to the frontiers of
Lydia. Many battles were fought during the space
of five years, with
almost equal advantage on both sides. But the battle
fought in the sixth
year was very remarkable on account of an eclipse of the
sun, which
happened during the engagement, when on a sudden the day was
turned into a
dark night. Thales, the Milesian, had foretold this eclipse.
The Medes and
Lydians, who were then in the heat of the battle, equally
terrified with
this unforeseen event, which they looked upon as a sign of the
anger of
the gods, immediately retreated on both sides, and made peace.
Syennesis,
king of Cilicia, and Nabuchodonosor,(1074) king of Babylon, were
the
mediators. To render it more firm and inviolable, the two princes
were
willing to strengthen it by the tie of marriage, and agreed,
that
Halyattes should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, eldest son
of
Cyaxares.
The manner these people had of contracting an alliance
with one another,
is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, which they
had in common
with the Greeks, they had this in particular; the two
contracting parties
made incisions in their own arms, and licked one
another’s blood.
(M187) Cyaxares’s first care, as soon as he found
himself again in peace,
was to resume the siege of Nineveh, which the
irruption of the Scythians
had obliged him to raise.(1075) Nabopolassar, king
of Babylon, with whom
he had lately contracted a particular alliance, joined
with him in a
league against the Assyrians. Having therefore united their
forces, they
besieged Nineveh, took it, killed Saracus the king, and utterly
destroyed
that mighty city.
God had foretold by his prophets above a
hundred years before, that he
would bring vengeance upon that impious city
for the blood of his
servants, wherewith the kings thereof had gorged
themselves, like ravenous
lions; that he himself would march at the head of
the troops that should
come to besiege it; that he would cause consternation
and terror to go
before them; that he would deliver the old men, the mothers,
and their
children, into the merciless hands of the soldiers; that all the
treasures
of the city should fall into the hands of rapacious and
insatiable
plunderers; and that the city itself should be so totally and
utterly
destroyed, that not so much as a vestige of it should be left; and
that
the people should ask hereafter, Where did the proud city of
Nineveh
stand?
But let us hear the language of the prophets
themselves: Woe unto the
bloody city, (cries Nahum,) it is all full of lies
and robbery:(1076) he
that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy
face.(1077) The Lord cometh
to avenge the cruelties done to Jacob and to
Israel. I hear already the
noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling
of the wheels, and of the
prancing horses, and of the bounding
chariots.(1078) The horseman lifteth
up both the bright sword, and the
glittering spear. The shield of his
mighty men is made red; the valiant men
are in scarlet.(1079) They shall
seem like torches, they shall run like the
lightning. God is jealous; the
Lord revengeth, and is furious.(1080) The
mountains quake at him, and the
hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his
presence: who can stand before
his indignation? and who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? Behold,
I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts:
I will strip thee of all thy
ornaments.(1081) Take ye the spoil of silver,
take the spoil of gold; for
there is no end of the store and glory out of all
the pleasant
furniture.(1082) She is empty, and void, and waste. Nineveh is
destroyed;
she is overthrown; she is desolate. The gates of the rivers shall
be
opened, and the palace(1083) shall be dissolved.(1084) And Huzzab shall
be
led away captive; she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her
as
with the voice of doves tabring upon their breasts. I see a multitude
of
slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is no end of
their
corpses; they stumble upon their corpses.(1085) Where is the dwelling
of
the lions, and the feeding places of the young lions, where the lion,
even
the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them
afraid:
where the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and
strangled for
his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens
with
rapine:(1086)(1087) The Lord shall destroy Assur.(1088) He
shall
depopulate that city, which was so beautiful, and turn it into a
land
where no man cometh, and into a desert. It shall be a dwelling place
for
wild beasts, and the birds of night shall lurk therein. Behold, shall
it
be said, see that proud city, which was so stately, and so exalted;
which
said in her heart, I am the only city, and besides me there is no
other.
All they that pass by her shall scoff at her, and shall insult her
with
hissings and contemptuous gestures.
The two armies enriched
themselves with the spoils of Nineveh; and
Cyaxares, prosecuting his
victories, made himself master of all the cities
of the kingdom of Assyria,
except Babylon and Chaldea, which belonged to
Nabopolassar.
After this
expedition Cyaxares died, and left his dominions to his
son
Astyages.
ASTYAGES reigned thirty-five years. This prince is
called in (M188)
Scripture Ahasuerus. Though his reign was very long, no less
than
thirty-five years, yet have we no particulars recorded of it in
history.
He had two children, whose names are famous, namely, Cyaxares, by
his wife
Aryenis, and Mandane, by a former marriage. In his father’s lifetime
he
married Mandane to Cambyses, the son of Achemenes, king of Persia:
from
this marriage sprung Cyrus, who was born but one year after the birth
of
his uncle Cyaxares. The latter succeeded his father in the kingdom of
the
Medes.
CYAXARES II. This is the prince whom the Scripture calls
Darius the Mede.
Cyrus, having taken Babylon, in conjunction with his
uncle Cyaxares, left
it under his government. After the death of his uncle,
and his father
Cambyses, he united the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians
into one: in
the sequel, therefore, they will be considered only as one
empire. I shall
begin the history of that empire with the reign of Cyrus;
which will
include also what is known of the reigns of his two predecessors,
Cyaxares
and Astyages. But I shall previously give some account of the
kingdom of
Lydia, because Crœsus, its king, has a considerable share in the
events of
which I am to speak.
Chapter IV. The History of
the Lydians.
The kings who first reigned over the Lydians, are by
Herodotus called
Atyadæ, that is, descendants from Atys.(1089) These, he
tells us, derived
their origin from Lydus, the son of Atys; and Lydus gave
the name of
Lydians to that people, who before this time were called
Mœonians.
These Atyadæ were succeeded by the Heraclidæ, or descendants of
Hercules,
who possessed this kingdom for the space of five hundred and five
years.
(M189) ARGO, great grandson of Alcæus, son of Hercules, was the
first of
the Heraclidæ who reigned in Lydia.
(M190) The last was
CANDAULES. This prince was married to a lady of
exquisite beauty; and, being
infatuated by his passion for her, was
perpetually boasting of her charms to
others. Nothing would serve him, but
that Gyges, one of his chief officers,
should see, and judge of them by
his own eyes; as if the husband’s own
knowledge of them was not sufficient
for his happiness, or the beauty of his
wife would have been impaired by
his silence.(1090) The king to this end
placed Gyges secretly in a
convenient place; but notwithstanding that
precaution, the queen perceived
him when he retired, yet took no manner of
notice of it. Judging, as the
historian represents it, that the most valuable
treasure of a woman is her
modesty, she studied a signal revenge for the
injury she had received;
and, to punish the fault of her husband, committed a
still greater crime.
Possibly, a secret passion for Gyges had as great a
share in that action,
as her resentment for the dishonour done her. Be that
as it will, she sent
for Gyges, and obliged him to expiate his crime, either
by his own death,
or the king’s, at his own option. After some remonstrances
to no purpose,
he resolved upon the latter, and by the murder of Candaules
became master
of his queen and his throne.(M191) By this means the kingdom
passed from
the family of the Heraclidæ into that of the
Mermnadæ.
Archilochus, the poet, lived at this time, and, as Herodotus
informs us,
spoke of this adventure of Gyges in his poems.
I cannot
forbear mentioning in this place what is related by Herodotus,
that amongst
the Lydians, and almost all other Barbarians, it was reckoned
shameful and
infamous even for a man to appear naked. These footsteps of
modesty, which
are met with amongst pagans, ought to be reckoned
valuable.(1091) We are
assured, that among the Romans, a son, who was come
to the age of maturity,
never went into the baths with his father, nor
even a son-in-law with his
father-in-law; and this modesty and decency
were looked upon by them as
enjoined by the law of nature, the violation
whereof was criminal. It is
astonishing, that amongst us our magistrates
take no care to prevent this
disorder, which, in the midst of Paris, at
the season of bathing, is openly
committed with impunity; a disorder so
visibly contrary to the rules of
common decency, so dangerous to young
persons of both sexes, and so severely
condemned by paganism itself.
Plato relates the story of Gyges in a
different manner from
Herodotus.(1092) He tells us that Gyges wore a ring,
the stone of which,
when turned towards him, rendered him invisible; so that
he had the
advantage of seeing others, without being seen himself; and that
by means
of this ring, with the concurrence of the queen, he deprived
Candaules of
his life and throne. This probably signifies, that in order to
compass his
criminal design, he used all the tricks and stratagems, which the
world
calls subtle and refined policy, which penetrates into the most
secret
purposes of others, without making the least discovery of its own.
The
story, thus explained, carries in it a greater appearance of truth,
than
what we read in Herodotus.
Cicero, after having related this
fable of Gyges’s famous ring, adds, that
if a wise man had such a ring, he
would not use it to any wicked purpose;
because virtue considers what is
honourable and just, and has no occasion
for darkness.(1093)
(M192)
GYGES reigned thirty-eight years.(1094) The murder of Candaules
raised a
sedition among the Lydians. The two parties, instead of coming to
blows,
agreed to refer the matter to the decision of the Delphic oracle,
which
declared in favour of Gyges. The king made large presents to the
temple of
Delphi, which undoubtedly preceded, and had no little influence
upon, the
oracle’s answer. Among other things of value, Herodotus mentions
six golden
cups, weighing thirty talents, amounting to near a million of
French money,
which is about forty-eight thousand pounds sterling.
As soon as he was in
peaceable possession of the throne, he made war
against Miletus, Smyrna, and
Colophon, three powerful cities belonging to
the neighbouring
states.
After he had reigned thirty-eight years, he died, and was
succeeded by his
son
ARDYS, who reigned forty-nine years.(1095) It was
in the reign of(M193)
this prince, that the Cimmerians, driven out of their
country by the
Scythæ Nomades, went into Asia, and took the city of Sardis,
with the
exception of the citadel.
(M194) SADYATTES reigned twelve
years.(1096) This prince declared war
against the Milesians, and laid siege
to their city. In those days the
sieges, which were generally nothing more
than blockades, were carried on
very slowly, and lasted many years. This king
died before he had finished
that of Miletus, and was succeeded by his
son.
(M195) HALYATTES reigned fifty-seven years.(1097) This is the prince
who
made war against Cyaxares, king of Media. He likewise drove the
Cimmerians
out of Asia. He attacked and took the cities of Smyrna and
Clazomenæ. He
vigorously prosecuted the war against the Milesians, begun by
his father;
and continued the siege of their city, which had lasted six years
under
his father, and continued as many under him. It ended at length in
the
following manner: Halyattes, upon an answer he received from the
Delphic
oracle, had sent an ambassador into the city, to propose a truce for
some
months. Thrasybulus, Tyrant of Miletus, having notice of his
coming,
ordered all the corn, and other provisions, assembled by him and
his
subjects for their support, to be brought into the public market;
and
commanded the citizens, at the sight of a signal that should be given,
to
be all in a general humour of feasting and jollity. The thing was
executed
according to his orders. The Lydian ambassador at his arrival was in
the
utmost surprise to see such plenty in the market, and such cheerfulness
in
the city. His master, to whom he gave an account of what he had
seen,
concluding that his project of reducing the place by famine would
never
succeed, preferred peace to so apparently fruitless a war, and
immediately
raised the siege.
(M196) CRŒSUS. His very name, which is
become a proverb, conveys an idea
of immense riches. The wealth of this
prince, to judge of it only by the
presents he made to the temple of Delphi,
must have been excessively
great. Most of those presents were still to be
seen in the time of
Herodotus, and were worth several millions. We may partly
account for the
treasures of this prince, from certain mines that he had,
situate,
according to Strabo, between Pergamus and Atarna;(1098) as also from
the
little river Pactolus, the sand of which was gold. But in Strabo’s
time
this river had no longer the same advantage.
What is very
extraordinary, this affluence did not enervate or soften the
courage of
Crœsus.(1099) He thought it unworthy of a prince to spend his
time in
idleness and pleasure. For his part, he was perpetually in arms,
made several
conquests, and enlarged his dominions by the addition of all
the contiguous
provinces, as Phrygia, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia,
Pamphylia, and all the
country of the Carians, Ionians, Dorians, and
Æolians. Herodotus observes,
that he was the first conqueror of the
Greeks, who till then had never been
subject to a foreign power. Doubtless
he must mean the Greeks settled in Asia
Minor.
But what is still more extraordinary in this prince, though he was
so
immensely rich, and so great a warrior, yet his chief delight was
in
literature and the sciences. His court was the ordinary residence of
those
famous learned men, so revered by antiquity, and distinguished by the
name
of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
Solon, one of the most
celebrated amongst them, after having established
new laws at Athens, thought
he might absent himself for some years, and
improve that time by
travelling.(1100) He went to Sardis, where he was
received in a manner
suitable to the reputation of so great a man. The
king, attended with a
numerous court, appeared in all his regal pomp and
splendour, dressed in the
most magnificent apparel, which was all over
enriched with gold, and
glittered with diamonds. Notwithstanding the
novelty of this spectacle to
Solon, it did not appear that he was the
least moved at it, nor did he utter
a word which discovered the least
surprise or admiration; on the contrary,
people of sense might
sufficiently discern from his behaviour, that he looked
upon all this
outward pomp, as an indication of a little mind, which knows
not in what
true greatness and dignity consist. This coldness and
indifference in
Solon’s first approach, gave the king no favourable opinion
of his new
guest.
He afterwards ordered that all his treasures, his
magnificent apartments,
and costly furniture, should be showed him; as if he
expected, by the
multitude of his fine vessels, jewels, statues, and
paintings, to conquer
the philosopher’s indifference. But these things were
not the king; and it
was the king that Solon was come to visit, and not the
walls and chambers
of his palace. He had no notion of making a judgment of
the king, or an
estimate of his worth, by these outward appendages, but by
himself and his
own personal qualities. Were we to judge at present by the
same rule, we
should find many of our great men wretchedly naked and
desolate.
When Solon had seen all, he was brought back to the king.
Crœsus then
asked him, which of mankind in all his travels he had found the
most truly
happy? “One Tellus,” replied Solon, “a citizen of Athens, a very
honest
and good man, who, after having lived all his days without
indigence,
having always seen his country in a flourishing condition, has
left
children that are universally esteemed, has had the satisfaction of
seeing
those children’s children, and at last died gloriously in fighting for
his
country.”
Such an answer as this, in which gold and silver were
accounted as
nothing, seemed to Crœsus to denote a strange ignorance and
stupidity.
However, as he flattered himself that he should be ranked at least
in the
second degree of happiness, he asked him, “Who, of all those he had
seen,
was the next in felicity to Tellus?” Solon answered, “Cleobis and
Biton,
of Argos, two brothers,(1101) who had left behind them a perfect
pattern
of fraternal affection, and of the respect due from children to
their
parents. Upon a solemn festival, when their mother, a priestess of
Juno,
was to go to the temple, the oxen that were to draw her not being
ready,
the two sons put themselves to the yoke, and drew their mother’s
chariot
thither, which was above five miles distant. All the mothers of the
place,
ravished with admiration, congratulated the priestess on being the
mother
of such sons. She, in the transports of her joy and
thankfulness,
earnestly entreated the goddess to reward her children with the
best thing
that heaven can give to man. Her prayers were heard. When the
sacrifice
was over, her two sons fell asleep in the very temple, and
there
died(1102) in a soft and peaceful slumber. In honour of their piety,
the
people of Argos consecrated statues to them in the temple of
Delphi.”
“What then,” says Crœsus, in a tone that showed his discontent,
“you do
not reckon me in the number of the happy?” Solon, who was not
willing
either to flatter or exasperate him any further, replied calmly:
“King of
Lydia, besides many other advantages, the gods have given us
Grecians a
spirit of moderation and reserve, which has produced amongst us a
plain,
popular kind of philosophy, accompanied with a certain generous
freedom,
void of pride or ostentation, and therefore not well suited to the
courts
of kings: this philosophy, considering what an infinite number
of
vicissitudes and accidents the life of man is liable to, does not allow
us
either to glory in any prosperity we enjoy ourselves, or to
admire
happiness in others, which perhaps may prove only transient,
or
superficial.” From hence he took occasion to represent to him
further,
“That the life of man seldom exceeds seventy years, which make up in
all
six thousand two hundred and fifty days, of which no two are
exactly
alike; so that the time to come is nothing but a series of
various
accidents, which cannot be foreseen. Therefore, in our opinion,”
continued
he, “no man can be esteemed happy, but he whose happiness God
continues to
the end of his life: as for others, who are perpetually exposed
to a
thousand dangers, we account their happiness as uncertain as the crown
is
to a person that is still engaged in battle, and has not yet obtained
the
victory.” Solon retired, when he had spoken these words,(1103)
which
served only to mortify Crœsus, but not to reform him.
Æsop, the
author of the Fables, was then at the court of this prince, by
whom he was
very kindly entertained. He was concerned at the unhandsome
treatment Solon
received, and said to him by way of advice: “Solon, we
must either not come
near princes at all, or speak things that are
agreeable to them.” “Say
rather,” replied Solon, “that we should either
never come near them at all,
or else speak such things as may be for their
good.”(1104)
In
Plutarch’s time some of the learned were of opinion, that this
interview
between Solon and Crœsus did not agree with the dates of
chronology. But as
those dates are very uncertain, that judicious author
did not think this
objection ought to prevail against the authority of
several credible writers,
by whom this story is attested.
What we have now related of Crœsus is a
very natural picture of the
behaviour of kings and great men, who for the
most part are seduced by
flattery; and shows us at the same time the two
sources from whence that
blindness generally proceeds. The one is, a secret
inclination which all
men have, but especially the great, of receiving praise
without any
precaution, and of judging favourably of all that admire them,
and show an
unlimited submission and complaisance to their humours. The other
is, the
great resemblance there is between flattery and a sincere affection,
or a
reasonable respect; which is sometimes counterfeited so exactly, that
the
wisest may be deceived, if they are not very much upon their
guard.
Crœsus, if we judge of him by the character he bears in history,
was a
very good prince, and worthy of esteem in many respects. He had a
great
deal of good-nature, affability, and humanity. His palace was a
receptacle
for men of wit and learning, which shows that he himself was a
person of
learning, and had a taste for the sciences. His weakness was, that
he laid
too great stress upon riches and magnificence, thought himself great
and
happy in proportion to his possessions, mistook regal pomp and
splendour
for true and solid greatness, and fed his vanity with the
excessive
submissions of those that stood in a kind of adoration before
him.
Those learned men, those wits and other courtiers, that surrounded
this
prince, ate at his table, partook of his pleasures, shared his
confidence,
and enriched themselves by his bounty and liberality, took care
not to
thwart the prince’s taste, and never thought of undeceiving him
with
respect to his errors or false ideas. On the contrary, they made it
their
business to cherish and fortify them in him, extolling him perpetually
as
the most opulent prince of his age, and never speaking of his wealth,
or
the magnificence of his palace, but in terms of admiration and
rapture;
because they knew this was the sure way to please him, and to secure
his
favour. For flattery is nothing else but a commerce of falsehood
and
lying, founded upon interest on one side, and vanity on the other.
The
flatterer desirous to advance himself, and make his fortune; the prince
to
be praised and admired, because he is his own first flatterer, and
carries
within himself a more subtile and better prepared poison than
any
adulation gives him.
That maxim of Æsop, who had formerly been a
slave, and still retained
somewhat of the spirit and character of slavery,
though he had varnished
it over with the address of an artful courtier; that
maxim of his, I say,
which recommended to Solon, “That we should either not
come near kings, or
say what is agreeable to them,” shows us with what kind
of men Crœsus had
filled his court, and by what means he had banished all
sincerity,
integrity, and duty, from his presence. In consequence of which,
we see he
could not bear that noble and generous freedom in the philosopher,
upon
which he ought to have set an infinite value; as he would have done,
had
he but understood the worth of a friend, who, attaching himself to
the
person, and not to the fortune of a prince, has the courage to tell
him
disagreeable truths; truths unpalatable, and bitter to self-love at
the
present, but that may prove very salutary and serviceable for the
future.
_Dic illis, non quod volunt audire, sed quod audisse semper volent._
These
are Seneca’s own words, where he is endeavouring to show of what great
use
a faithful and sincere friend may be to a prince; and what he adds
further
seems to be written on purpose for Crœsus: “Give him,”(1105) says
he,
“wholesome advice. Let a word of truth once reach those ears, which
are
perpetually fed and entertained with flattery. You will ask me,
what
service can be done to a person arrived at the highest pitch of
felicity?
That of teaching him not to trust in his prosperity; of removing
that vain
confidence he has in his power and greatness, as if they were to
endure
for ever; of making him understand, that every thing which belongs to
and
depends upon fortune, is as unstable as herself; and that there is
often
but the space of a moment between the highest elevation and the most
unhappy downfall.” |
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