THE KINGDOM OF CYRUS.
We were able to prove that Cyrus, soon after his victory over Astyages
and the Medes, reduced the Parthians and Hyrcanians beneath his
dominion, that the Caducians, the Armenians, and the Cappadocians were
his subjects before the Lydian war, that his empire at this period
extended to the Halys. How far he had already advanced towards the
Bactrians and Sacae must remain uncertain, owing to the contradiction
which exists on this point between the summary narrative of Herodotus
and the excerpt from Ctesias. Afterwards the Lydian war and its sequel
made Cyrus master of the whole of Asia Minor. Between the Lydian and
Babylonian wars Herodotus represents him as conquering the whole of
upper Asia, one nation after the other, and Berosus as conquering the
whole of Asia. When our knowledge is so scanty, it is impossible to fix
the campaigns of Cyrus in the East and the West with greater exactness,
or even to ascertain clearly what successes he achieved in these regions
before and after the Babylonian war. We merely perceive that Elam was
subject to Cyrus before the attack on Babylon (p. 83), and if a
habitation could be allotted to Nabonetus in Carmania, that country
must have been subject before the war which destroyed the Babylonian
kingdom; we may also conclude with great probability that Cyrus would
not have marched against Babylon before he felt himself secure in the
East. Hence we may assume that Iran was subject before the Babylonian
war, and the campaigns which resulted in the conquest of the Gandarians
and their northern neighbours, the Sogdiani and Chorasmians, must be
ascribed to the period after this war. Whether the nations in the north
of Armenia, on the isthmus between the Black and the Caspian Sea, the
Saspeires and Alarodians in the East, and the Colchians and Phasians in
the valley of the Phasis, were reduced by Cyrus or his immediate
successors remains doubtful. In the East he had conquered the Drangians,
Areians, Arachoti, Gedrosians, and Gandarians, to the south of the Cabul
on the Indus,[108] and imposed tribute on the Acvakas to the north of
the Cabul.[109] In the land of the Arachoti he destroyed, as we are
told, the city of Capisa; Darius mentions a city, Kapisakani in
Arachosia, and Capisa is also mentioned elsewhere in later writers.[110]
Nearchus tells us that Cyrus undertook a campaign against the land of
the Indians; on the march thither he lost the greater part of his army
in Gedrosia, owing to the desert and the difficulties of the way;
according to the account of the natives Cyrus and seven men alone
remained out of the whole army.[111] In his account of Alexander of
Macedon, Diodorus remarks that after he had encamped at Drangiana (V.
7), he came to the Ariaspi, who were neighbours to the Gedrosians. These
Ariaspi (whose abodes we have already discovered in the neighbourhood
of the Etymandros) were called "Benefactors" for the following reason.
On one of his campaigns, Cyrus was in the desert, and reduced to extreme
distress for want of necessaries; famine compelled his men to eat each
other; till the Ariaspians brought up 30,000 waggons, filled with
provisions. Thus rescued, Cyrus allowed them immunity from
contributions, honoured them with other presents, and gave them the name
of "Benefactors."[112] Strabo also tells us that the Ariaspians received
this name from Cyrus, and so does Arrian, though he gives a different
and less appropriate reason for it, saying that they had assisted Cyrus
in his campaign against the Scyths.[113] Curtius tells us, as a reason
for the name, that the Ariaspi had aided the army of Cyrus when
suffering from want of provisions and the cold, with supplies and
shelter.[114] Herodotus observes that those who had done a service to
the king were called "Orosangians." In Old Bactrian, _Huvarezyanha_
means the doer of a kind action. Other instances are not wanting to
prove that the Persian kings followed the example of Cyrus in conferring
this title as a distinction.
We may regard it as certain that Cyrus had gone beyond Gedrosia and
reduced the Gandarians and the Acvakas to the north of the Cabul; that
he afterwards advanced to the Indus, and his army was brought into great
distress in the deserts of Gedrosia, as was afterwards the case with
Alexander's army on his return from the Indus. The Ariaspians, from the
position of their country, could only be in a position to bring aid if
Cyrus were returning from the Indus, or if the distress was so great on
the outward march that he felt himself compelled to return when in
Gedrosia. Megasthenes distinctly states that Cyrus did not cross the
Indus or set foot in India.[115] In the north-east he had reduced the
Margiani and Bactrians to lasting obedience. As he had gained a good
frontier in the east on the Indus, he set himself to obtain a similar
frontier in the north-east. The northern neighbours of the Hyrcanians,
Parthians and Margiani, the Sacae and the Chorasmians on the lower Oxus,
were subject to him. With the conquest of the Sogdiani on the western
slope of the Belurdagh Cyrus touched the course of the Jaxartes. There,
on a stream running into that river, he built six citadels and a large
fortress to secure the border against the nomads of the steppes beyond.
These, like the fortress in the land of the Cadusians (V. 388), bore the
name of Cyrus. The Greeks call the north-eastern Cyrus, Cyreshata,
_i.e._ the farthest Cyrus (V. 22).
From the mountains of his native land Cyrus had subjugated in thirty
years three great kingdoms--Media, Lydia, and Babylonia; he had
conquered Asia from the shore of the AEgean Sea to the Indus, and from
the brook of Egypt to the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas and the
banks of the Jaxartes. None of the conquerors before him--no Pharaoh of
Egypt--none of the ancient kings of Elam or Babylon, or of the restless
sovereigns of Assyria, nor even the Mede Cyaxares--had achieved results
which could be distantly compared with the successes of Cyrus. And he
had done more than merely subdue this region; he had understood how to
maintain his conquests; he was not compelled like the rulers of Assyria
to begin each year a new struggle against his defeated opponents; in
his unbounded empire he knew how to institute arrangements which ensured
an existence of two whole centuries. Hence it would be of great service
to know more precisely what his regulations were for the management of
his empire. But we are almost entirely without information about them.
We can only attempt to draw conclusions from certain hints supplied by
tradition as to the form which Cyrus gave to his dominions. We have
already remarked that the Greeks ascribed to Cyrus the foundation of
excellent institutions, and placed him by the side of Lycurgus; they
maintained that at the time of Cyrus the Persians were in a condition
midway between slavery and freedom. Arrian observes that the Persians,
with whom Cyrus deprived the Medes of the empire and subjugated the
remaining nations of Asia partly by arms and partly by voluntary
submission, were poor and the inhabitants of a rugged country, and
obeyed regulations which made their training like that of the
Spartans.[116] We can plainly see that the kingdom rested on the power
and devotion of the Persians; they were the ruling tribe beside the
sovereign, and in addition to the proud consciousness that they were the
lords of the empire Cyrus allowed them to enjoy the fruits and
advantages of dominion. The Persians were free from contributions and
taxes for the empire, they had only to render military service. Xenophon
tells us that in the time of Cyrus the owners of land furnished
excellent horsemen, who took the field; the rest served for pay. The
garrisons in the fortresses were composed of Persians who were
handsomely treated.[117] The Greeks have already told us that Cyrus
permitted the Persians to express their opinions freely and openly, and
paid honour to those who gave good counsel, and if they assert that no
one rewarded services more liberally (V. 390), these rewards would
mainly fall into the hands of the Persians. From the Persians were first
and chiefly elected the captains of the armies, the commanders of the
contingents which the subject nations had to furnish, and the viceroys
who governed the conquered provinces. Yet nearer to the king stood the
six princes of the Persian tribes (the prince of the Pasargadae was the
king), the descendants of those who in union with Achaemenes had once
governed the Persian nation. Like the king himself they wore the upright
tiara; from their families the king had to choose his legitimate wife,
while his daughters were married to the sons of the tribal princes.[118]
The wife of Cyrus was the daughter of the tribal prince Pharnaspes. The
chiefs of the Persians were the nearest to the throne; they entered into
the king's presence unannounced, and no doubt formed with the king the
chief council of the kingdom. Besides this chief council there was a
supreme court of seven judges. These, as Herodotus tells us, were chosen
men, who had to pronounce sentence for the Persians, and explain the
customs of the fathers; and "everything was brought before them." They
held their office for life, unless convicted of injustice.[119] We also
find that the son succeeded the father. But even these judges were
subject to the supervision and authority of the king, and if it was
proved that any of them had received bribes he inflicted the severest
penalties.[120]
"At the time of the Medes," Herodotus tells us, "the nations ruled over
each other; the Medes ruled over all, and directly over those nearest to
them; these again over their neighbours, who in their turn ruled over
those who lay on their borders. In the same way the Persians estimate
the value of nations. They consider themselves by far the best of all
nations; next in order come those who live nearest to them, and those
who are most remote are held in least estimation."[121] If Herodotus has
here correctly represented the self-consciousness of the Persians his
statement also obviously implies the pride of race, the community of
language and religion, which united the Persians with the kindred
nations of the Iranian table-land, and most closely with the Medes, and
the nations of Western Iran. This feeling presented itself to Cyrus as a
valuable political consideration, and he felt himself called upon to win
for his kingdom the Medes as the nation nearest akin to the Persians and
more numerous. With this view he spared and respected Astyages, took his
daughter into his house, and made her his wife, and even in the first
decade of his reign had no hesitation in appointing Medes as generals
and viceroys; the custom of his successors, to reside for some time in
Ecbatana, in order by this means to attach the Medes to the kingdom,
must, no doubt, go back to Cyrus.
But even towards the conquered nations of alien race, language, and
religion Cyrus conducted himself in a manner very different from the
manner of the kings of Asshur before him. Their kings were not executed,
their cities were not burnt, and their religion and worship were left
uninjured. On the other hand Cyrus did not content himself with the
homage of the conquered princes, nor did he, like the Assyrians, allow
men of the same nation to take their place. Execution, cruel treatment,
imprisonment of the conquered prince, alone or with his family, could
only embitter the conquered nation against the conqueror. The
continuance of the conquered prince in power only supplied them with the
impulse and means to recover their former independence, and princes
chosen in their place from the midst of the subjects would soon follow
the lead of the national tendencies, and their own ambition. Astyages,
Croesus, and Nabonetus received residences and possessions in distant
regions, which allowed them to live in dignity and opulence; and where
the throne remained in the families of the native rulers in districts of
moderate extent which had submitted voluntarily, as in Cilicia and the
cities of the Phenicians, this was not done without certain limitations
and safe regulations. Cyrus set viceroys over the parts of his empire,
who were supplied with troops in moderate numbers. The chief cities,
such as Sardis and Babylon, like the border fortresses, were secured by
garrisons of Persian troops. Cyrus did not impose heavy burdens on the
conquered nations; he left it to themselves to fix the amount of the
yearly contributions which they should pay into his treasury, though it
is true that the amount of the favour they had to expect from the king
depended on the tribute. The viceroys were subordinate to the king, but
with this restriction they exercised supreme authority in the regions
over which they presided. Their main duty was to preserve the province
in obedience and peace. Whether the command that they were to look after
the development of agriculture, and the growth of the population, is
traceable to Cyrus (V. 206), we cannot decide, but we see clearly that
the various communities and regions managed their own affairs
independently, and governed themselves. The local political institutions
were not attacked and removed any more than the religious. It was of no
importance whether the local organisation was dynastic or republican,
though in more important communities such as the Greek cities--the
Anatolian, and the Phenician cities on the Syrian coast, Cyrus gave the
preference to the dynastic form, inasmuch as the dynasties there were
compelled to seek from the king the support necessary for maintaining
their power. If princes of the old royal families were set up over the
cities of the Phenicians, the rise of party leaders to a princely
position was favoured among the Greeks. The local interests of one town
were also advanced against those of another, _e.g._ the interests of
Sidon against those of Tyre, and the interests of Miletus against the
other cities. The persons thus favoured were by this means closely
connected with the kingdom; in the event of a change of dominion they
had to fear the loss of the privileges which they had attained. Moreover
Cyrus had at hand rewards and distinctions of merit, not for the
Persians only, but also for his subjects in other nations. Xenophon lays
stress on the liberality of Cyrus towards those who had done him good
service as the chief means by which he established and strengthened his
empire, and if he tells us that the kings of Persia had continued what
Cyrus had begun, we may certainly assume that the magnificent list of
distinctions and honours, which we find in use at a later time in the
Persian empire, goes back to Cyrus. The merits which whole regions and
tribes had done to the king were also rewarded. We have already seen
that the title "Benefactors," with which largesses in land were
joined,[122] was given not only to distinguished men but also to tribes.
"What conqueror except Cyrus," asks Xenophon, "has been called Father by
his subjects, a name which is obviously given not to the plunderer but
to the Benefactor?" By gentleness and liberality he induced men to
prefer him to son, or brother, or father. As he cared for his subjects
and treated them as a father, so did they honour him as a father. In
this way he was able to reign alone, and rule according to his own will
his kingdom which was the greatest and most splendid of all.[123]
Though this description of Xenophon is idealised, though even the more
sober statements of the Greeks, the words of Plato already quoted, the
statements of Herodotus, that the Persians held no one to be the equal
of Cyrus, that they called him father because he had ruled them with a
father's gentleness and had provided them with all good things,[124] and
the opinion of Aeschylus who speaks of Cyrus as a wise and right-minded
man, primarily represent the grateful memory which the Persians
cherished of the founder of their kingdom, Cyrus is undoubtedly the
least bloody among the conquerors and founders of empires known to the
history of the East. His object was not to terrify the conquered nations
and hold them in check by arms, but to reconcile them to the new
government. In Babylon he simply took the place of the native king; like
him, he took measures for the maintenance of the great temples of the
land; on a brick found at Senkereh we read: "Kuras, maintainer of
Bit-Saggatu" (_i.e._ of the great temple of Merodach at Babylon) "and
Bit-Zida" (the temple of Nebo at Borsippa), "son of Kambuziya, I, the
king."[126] Hence he not only left his subjects their religion and
rites, but was careful of them. In the same way their administration of
justice remained undisturbed, and so far as possible he allowed them to
rule themselves. He did not attempt to exhaust their means; on the
contrary, agriculture and trade were favoured, and wherever a rebellion
was attempted and suppressed, the supression was not followed by any
sanguinary punishment. In spite of our defective information we may
still recognise some trace of his keen and unerring political insight.
The manner in which he organised his empire deserves the higher praise
because it is the product of his own mind, and not a copy of any
pattern. The grounds for the clemency and moderation by which he was
guided, we must seek not only in the religious views of Iran, but to a
still greater degree in his character and his political conceptions.
That along with the effort to satisfy the Persians and win the hearts of
his subjects,--with the clever opposition of interests, and most lavish
application of rewards and distinctions,--Cyrus did not neglect real
support and means of power, is proved by the care which Xenophon
represents him as bestowing on the army, the fortification of
Pasargadae, the garrisons in the chief cities of the subject lands, the
fortresses on the borders of the kingdom. The commanders in all these
places, no less than the "chiliarchs" of the garrisons, were nominated
directly by Cyrus, the lists of the garrisons were brought before the
king. The arrangement of the Persian army in divisions of ten battalions
of a thousand men each, which were again broken up into ten companies,
with seven corporals each, is attributed by Xenophon to Cyrus. He put
an end to all skirmishing with horsemen cavalry, by clothing cavalry and
horses in mail, and supplying each soldier with a javelin only, so that
they fought man against man; the infantry he armed with the wicker,
leather-covered shield, battle-axe, and knife, also with a view to close
fighting.[127] To meet the costs of government and the army, Cyrus
collected a large treasure, which he deposited in his palace at
Pasargadae. Pliny has preserved the statement that the conquest of Asia
yielded to Cyrus 24,000 pounds of gold besides that which had been
manufactured, and the golden vessels, and 500,000 talents of
silver.[128] Though this statement may be exaggerated, the gold
accumulated by Alyattes and Croesus at Sardis, the treasures of the
royal palaces at Ecbatana and Babylon, all of which fell into the hands
of Cyrus, were not inconsiderable. In both these latter places the booty
of Assyria was collected, and in Babylon the booty of Syria and the
tribute of the Phenicians. In any case the treasure which Cyrus
deposited at Pasargadae provided abundant means for a long time to
satisfy the most extravagant needs of the empire, the court, and the
army, and to recompense every deed of merit with gold. The treasures
which Alexander, after a long period of decline in Persia, found at
Susa, Persepolis, Ecbatana, and Pasargadae, are estimated by the Greeks
at 180,000 talents, _i.e._ at more than L40,000,000, and beside this
there were the gold and silver ornaments of the citadel (V. 309), and a
large amount of manufactured gold and silver. What Alexander left of the
latter in Susa alone afterwards provided Antigonus with 15,000
talents.[129]
"Concerning the death of Cyrus," so Herodotus tells us, "there are many
narratives, but the most probable in my mind is the following: When he
had reduced the Babylonians, he wished to conquer the Massagetae also.
There were many things which impelled him to this: in the first place
his birth, by which he considered himself more than human. Then the
success which had attended him in all his wars; for whatever the nation
against which he directed his army it was unable to withstand him. The
Massagetae were said to be a great and brave nation; some call them
Scythians. They dwell beyond the Araxes (Jaxartes: Herodotus confuses
this river with the Aras), towards the morning and sunrise. The Caspian
Sea is a sea by itself, fifteen days' journey in length and eight in
breadth; on the west side of the sea is the Caucasus, but towards the
east it is bounded by a plain of unlimited extent. A considerable part
of this plain was occupied by the Massagetae. They wear a dress like that
of the Scythians, and resemble them in their mode of life; they fight on
horse and on foot, use the bow and the lance, and also carry
battle-axes. The points of their lances and arrows and their axes are
made of copper, as also are the corslets of the horses. But for their
girdles, for the adornment of the head and shoulders, as well as for the
bits, cheek-pieces, and curbs of their horses, they use gold. Silver and
iron they do not possess, these metals are not found in the country, but
gold and copper in abundance. Each man marries one wife, but they have
their wives in common, and when any one desires to lie with a woman he
hangs his quiver on her waggon, and no attack is made upon him. Those
who reach a great age are put to death by their relations, who assemble
for that purpose, cooked along with sheep's flesh, and eaten; this they
consider the most fortunate lot. Those who die of sickness are not eaten
but buried, and they look on it as a misfortune not to be killed. They
do not cultivate the soil, but live on their herds and on fish, which
the Araxes supplies in large quantities, and drink milk. Of the gods
they worship the sun only, and to him they sacrifice horses, because
they think that the swiftest animal should be offered to the swiftest
deity. At that time a woman, Tomyris by name, was queen of the
Massagetae, her husband being dead. Cyrus sent to her under pretext of an
offer of marriage; he wished to make her his wife. But Tomyris perceived
that it was not her, but the kingdom of the Massagetae, that he wanted,
and refused the offer. As cunning was of no avail, Cyrus marched openly
against the Massagetae, threw a bridge of boats over the Araxes in order
to carry his army across, and caused towers to be built on the
merchant-men which were to form a bridge over the river. While he was
occupied with this, Tomyris sent him a herald, saying: 'O, king of the
Persians, desist from the undertaking which thou hast begun, for thou
knowest not whether thou wilt bring it to a good end. Desist, and rule
over what is thine, leaving us to govern what is ours. But thou wilt
take no heed of these exhortations, but rather do anything than remain
at rest. If thou eagerly desirest to make trial of the Massagetae, desist
from making this bridge over the river; enter upon our land; we will
retire three days' march from the river; or if thou wouldst rather have
us in thy land, do thou the same.' When Cyrus heard this he collected
the chiefs of the Persians in order to consult with them what he should
do. Their advice was all to one purport; he was to allow Tomyris and her
army to come into his land. But Croesus, the Lydian, who was present,
dissented from this advice. 'If we allow the enemy to come into the
land,' he said to Cyrus, there will be danger: 'Shouldst thou be
defeated, the whole empire will be ruined. The victorious Massagetae will
never retire, but invade thy lands, and shouldst thou be victorious,
thou wilt not reap such results as if thou wert to defeat the Massagetae
beyond the river, for then thou couldst advance into the dominion of
Tomyris. Besides, it is shameful and disgraceful that the son of
Cambyses should retire before a woman. For this reason it seems to me
right to cross the river and advance as far as they retire, and there
attempt to gain the victory over them. As I am told, the Massagetae are
not acquainted with the luxuries of the Persians; they have no
experience of enjoyment. We must prepare a meal for them in our camp,
slaying and dressing sheep, and placing at hand goblets of unmixed wine,
and various kinds of food; then leave behind the weakest part of the
army and retire to the river. If I am not deceived, they will seize upon
the provisions when they see them, and we shall be in a position to do
great things.' Cyrus decided in favour of the advice of Croesus, and
caused a message to be sent to Tomyris that she should retire; he would
advance beyond the river. She retired as she promised. But Cyrus gave
his son Cambyses, who would be king after him, to Croesus, and exhorted
him to honour the Lydian king, and treat him kindly if the expedition
across the river should turn out badly. Then he sent the two to Persia,
and crossed the river with his army. And in the first night which he
spent in the land of the Massagetae he saw in a dream the eldest son of
Hystaspes, with wings on his shoulders, one of which overshadowed Asia
and the other Europe. The eldest son of Hystaspes was Darius, at that
time a youth of about 20 years, who had been left behind in Persia,
because he was not old enough to accompany the army. Cyrus summoned
Hystaspes, took him aside, and said to him in private: 'Hystaspes, thy
son is conceiving evil plots against me and my kingdom. The gods watch
over me, and show me the danger which is threatening. Return at once to
Persia, and act in such a way that if I succeed in this enterprise and
return home, thou mayest bring thy son before me for examination.'
Hystaspes answered: 'If the dream shows thee that my son is conceiving a
revolt against thee, I will give him over to thee to deal with as thou
wilt.' Then Hystaspes went over the Araxes on his way back to Persia, to
keep his son under guard for Cyrus. But when he had gone a day's march
from the river, Cyrus did as Croesus had advised; he left the useless
men in the camp, and marched with the able-bodied back to the river. A
third part of the army of the Massagetae came to the camp, slew those
that were left behind, in spite of their resistance, and as they found
the meal prepared, and had conquered the enemy, they feasted, and then
fell asleep, gorged with food and wine. When the Persians came up they
slew many of them, and took even more prisoners, among them Spargapises,
the son of Tomyris, the leader of the Massagetae. When the queen
discovered what had befallen the army and her son, she sent a herald to
Cyrus, who said: 'O Cyrus, insatiate of blood, exalt not thyself because
that by the fruit of the vine, filled with which ye rage and utter evil
words--that by such poison thou hast treacherously got possession of my
son, and not by bravery in the battle. Now take my advice, for I counsel
thee well. Give me my son back again, and depart out of this land,
without punishment for bringing shame on the third part of the army of
the Massagetae. If thou dost not do this, I swear by the sun, the lord of
the Massagetae, that I will satisfy thee with blood, insatiate as thou
art.' To this message Cyrus paid no heed. When he had recovered from the
effects of the wine, Spargapises discovered into what a calamity he had
fallen. He requested Cyrus that he should be freed from his chains. As
soon as this was done, and his hands were free, he killed himself. As
Cyrus did not obey her, Tomyris collected her whole force, and joined
battle with him. I learn that this battle was the most severe ever
fought among the barbarians, and it was fought as follows. In the first
place, so we are told, they hurled missiles from a distance, and when
the missiles were exhausted they fell upon each other, and fought with
lances and swords. They maintained the battle a long time, for neither
side would fly; but at last the Massagetae got the upper hand. The
greater part of the Persian army perished and Cyrus himself fell, after
a reign of 29 years. Tomyris searched for the corpse of Cyrus among the
dead, and when she had found it, she plunged the head in a bottle filled
with human blood, and said in insult to the dead: 'Though I live and
have conquered thee in the battle, thou hast nevertheless made me
unhappy, for thou hast taken away my son by treachery. Yet, as I
threatened, I will satisfy thee with blood.'"
In a similar way, though not without variations, Diodorus and Trogus
narrate the death of Cyrus. The account of Diodorus marks even more
strongly the shameful death of the king. He tells us that, after the
overthrow of the Babylonians, Cyrus desired to subdue the whole earth.
He had reduced the greatest nations and mightiest nations, he was of
opinion that no ruler or nation could withstand his power. Like many of
those who exercise irresponsible power, Cyrus did not know how to bear
prosperity as a man should. He led a strong army to Scythia; but the
queen of the Scythians took him prisoner and crucified him. In the
excerpt from Pompeius Trogus we are told that when Cyrus had reduced
Asia and brought the East into his power, he marched upon the Scythians.
But Tomyris, their queen, was not terrified by the approach of the
Persians. She might have defended the passage of the Jaxartes against
them, but she considered that flight would be more difficult for the
enemy if they had the river behind them. So Cyrus crossed the Jaxartes,
and pitched his camp when he had advanced some distance into the country
of the enemy. On the next day he abandoned it as if in terror and
retired, leaving in it a sufficiency of wine and everything that is
required for a banquet. The queen, on hearing this, sent her young son
to pursue the enemy with a third part of her army. When he reached the
camp, the youth, who had no experience of war, gave up all thought of
the enemy, and allowed his people to become intoxicated with the wine,
to which they were not accustomed. Cyrus returned in the night, and all
the Scythians including the queen's son were cut down. In spite of the
loss of such an army, and the still greater loss of her only son,
Tomyris thought only of revenge, and plotted how she could destroy the
victors by treachery. When she was no longer in a condition to give
battle she enticed Cyrus by retiring into a pass, after she had placed
an ambush in the mountains. So she succeeded in defeating the whole
Persian army, 200,000 men, with the king. Not even a messenger escaped
to tell of the disaster. She caused the head to be cut off the body of
Cyrus, and placed in a bottle filled with human blood, calling out:
"Satiate thyself with the blood for which thou didst thirst with an
insatiable desire."[130] In regard to this story, which no doubt is to
be ascribed to Deinon, Arrian remarks quite briefly: "Whether the defeat
of the Persians in Scythia was brought about by the difficulty of the
land, or some mistake of Cyrus, or whether the Scythians were better
soldiers than the Persians of that date, I cannot determine."[131]
Polyaenus must have had stories of a similar kind before him; but in his
account the stratagem which Cyrus uses against Tomyris is used by the
queen against Cyrus, and this is the reason given for the defeat of the
Persian army and the death of the king. When Cyrus approached, Tomyris
retreated with her army in pretended flight. The Persians pursued; in
the camp of the queen they found a great store of wine, provisions, and
cattle, on which they feasted and drank the whole night through as
though they had already won the battle. Then, when they could scarcely
move, Tomyris attacked them and cut them all down together with Cyrus
himself.[132]
The narrative of Herodotus involves glaring contradictions. In
opposition to the cunning, ambition, and bloodthirstiness of Cyrus, it
presents to us as a model of honour, love of peace, moderation and
self-restraint, the queen of a nation of cannibals, who gives Cyrus the
wisest lessons before exacting punishment for his insatiable ambition.
She perceives the treachery of his intended wooing. When he comes openly
with force, she urges him to be content with what he possesses, makes
the battle easier for him by allowing him to cross the river without
opposition, and then gives him the choice of a field of battle. When
Cyrus has made a treacherous use of her honourable and open offers she
taunts him with the evil results of the use of wine on the Persians and
again offers peace on the most favourable conditions; if Cyrus
surrenders her son and retires from her country she will allow the
destruction of her army to go unpunished. This moderation remains
without any effect; Cyrus goes blindly to his destruction. But the queen
of the barbarians has no enjoyment of this success; her sorrow for the
loss of her son, who puts an end to his own life in noble shame that he
has brought his army to destruction, and become a captive by excess in
wine, is greater than her joy at the victory. Hardly less strange is the
conduct of Cyrus. The general who has conquered Media, Lydia, and
Babylonia, and the nations of Asia, is uncertain how to carry on the
campaign against the Massagetae; he takes counsel with the prince, whom
in spite of the bravery of his people he has defeated most rapidly and
decisively: he allows this prince to tell him that the son of Cambyses
ought not to give way to a woman, and follows his advice against the
unanimous opinion of the Persians. At the same time he has evil
intimations about the issue of the decision; and sends the heir to the
throne back to Persia. He boasts that the gods have announced to him all
the misfortunes which threatened him, whereas it is the elevation of
Darius which was shown to him in the dream, a danger which did not even
remotely threaten him, and not the destruction which was to overtake him
in two days.
It need not be proved that this narrative has come from a poetical
source. The prominent traits, the long speeches and counter-speeches,
the lament of the mother, the bottle of blood, point beyond all mistake
to poetry. It is clear that Persian poems would not ascribe to the great
founder of their empire, whom they honoured as a father, the part which
Herodotus represents him as taking against the queen of a barbarous
nation; least of all would they charge Cyrus with an insatiable thirst
for blood, and bring him on that account to a shameful end. But the
Medes, as they had matched the poems of the Persians on the birth,
youth, and rise of Cyrus with other songs about his origin, his fortune,
and the fall of Astyages composed from their own point of view, might
very well describe after their own manner the death of the king. They
could not reverse their own subjugation, but they could have the
satisfaction of reprobating the ambition and bloodthirstiness of their
conqueror, who called out the Median army for ceaseless service; they
could bring the conqueror of Asia to a miserable end, and represent the
subduer of the noblest men as finding his master in a woman. And if it
was the advice of a conquered and captive king which led Cyrus to
destruction,--the trait suits the context and presents an instance of
poetical justice. The dream of Cyrus obviously belongs to another
context; it is merely inserted here in order to show how Cambyses and
Hystaspes escaped the great defeat in the land of the Massagetae. At a
later time the Medes felt heavily enough the power of Darius. The Median
poems on the rebellion of Cyrus contained a certain element of fact in
the desertion of Harpagus, and the same may have been the case in their
poems about Tomyris. Ctesias told us above that Cyrus conquered and took
prisoner the king of the Sacae, but was afterwards severely defeated by
his wife Sparethra, in which defeat many captives were taken, and among
them the most distinguished Medes. Strabo also tells us of a battle
which Cyrus lost against the Sacae. Forced to retire, he had abandoned
his camp and all that was in it, and when the Sacae were enjoying the
booty he fell upon them and cut them down. These events may underlie the
story of Tomyris.
From the various narratives, which, as Herodotus informs us, were
current about the rise and death of Cyrus, the historian chose that
account of both which seemed to him the "most probable," _i.e._ that
which coincided with his own views, and thus appeared to him most
credible. It is the firm conviction of Herodotus, the thought which lies
at the base of his great history, that every unjust deed, every act of
violence, is followed by punishment. Cyrus had considered himself to be
more than a man; he had placed no limit, no end to his conquests. Hence
retribution overtook him in his conflict with a woman. The description
of the barbarous custom of the Massagetae was obviously wanting in the
authority which Herodotus followed about the death of Cyrus; it comes
from another source. In this way, though unobserved by Herodotus, a
glaring contradiction has crept into his narrative. If we may draw a
conclusion from the name Spargapises, _i.e._ youthful form, the enemies
in the poetry which he used were of Arian stock.[133]
According to the account of Ctesias Cyrus fell in war against the
Derbiccians. These were said by some to dwell in the neighbourhood of
the Margiani; by others they were placed on both sides of the mouth of
the Oxus; but as Ctesias mentions the Indians as their allies and
represents the Sacae as dwelling at no great distance, we must look for
them on the middle course of the Oxus in the neighbourhood of Bactria.
According to Strabo's description, the Derbiccians worshipped the earth,
to which they sacrificed male creatures, just as they ate none but male
animals. The smallest offence was punished with death. The men who had
exceeded their seventieth year were slain and eaten by their nearest
relatives. The women who came to old age were also killed but not eaten.
Curtius states that a part of their warriors were armed with poles
hardened in the fire.[134] "Amoraeus," so we are told in the excerpt
preserved from Ctesias' "Persian History," "was king of the Derbiccians;
against him Cyrus marched, and the Indians aided the Derbiccians in the
battle. The elephants which the Derbiccians received from the Indians
were placed in the ambush. They caused the Persian cavalry to retreat.
Cyrus fell from his horse, and as he lay on the ground an Indian hit him
with his javelin under the hip in the thigh. He was lifted up and
carried into the Persian camp. In this battle many of the Persians fell,
and also many of the Derbiccians--10,000 on either side. Hearing this,
Amorges the king of the Sacae came to the help of Cyrus with 20,000 men.
When the battle was renewed, the Persians and Sacae fought bravely and
conquered. Amoraeus fell and with him his two sons; 30,000 Derbiccians
and 9000 Persians were left in the field, and the land of the
Derbiccians submitted to Cyrus. But he felt his end approaching. He
named his eldest son Cambyses as his successor; and the younger
Tanyoxarkes he made lord of the Bactrians, the Chorasmians, Parthians,
and Carmanians, with an arrangement that their lands should pay no
tribute. To the two sons of Spitamas, Spitaces and Megabernes (V. 383),
he gave the satrapies of the Derbiccians and Hyrcanians (Barcanians),
and bade them obey their mother (Amytis) in all things. They were also
to give their hands to each other and to Amorges in pledge that they
would treat him and each other as friends; on him who persisted in
kindness to his brother Cyrus invoked blessings, and curses on him who
should be the first to begin a quarrel. Thus saying, he died on the
third day after his wound."[135]
This narrative also goes back to a poetical source, though it is not
directly borrowed any more than the narrative of Herodotus. Meagre as
the excerpt is, there can be no doubt about the poetical origin of it.
This is proved by the compression of the events into a few days; the
rapid and ready assistance given by the king of the Sacae, whom Cyrus
had once captured in battle and then made his friend; the gratitude
which he reaped for this deed in his last days; the heavy penalty laid
upon the Derbiccians for the wound of Cyrus; the fall of their king and
his two sons and the submission of the country; the death of Cyrus after
great danger in the moment of victory; the appointment of a successor;
the recommendation of Amorges; the exhortations to union given by Cyrus
when dying to his sons; his blessing on the son who remembered them, and
his curse on him who neglected them. Here also, as in the different
accounts of Herodotus and Ctesias in the elevation of Cyrus, we find
points of agreement in the two versions. Whether the names Tomyris and
Amoraeus can be connected we need not inquire. Each story contains the
space of three days, the appointment of a successor, the exhortations
and the recommendation of a third person--Croesus in the one, Amorges in
the other. As in the story of Ctesias--Nicolaus about the rise of Cyrus,
Oebares takes the place of Harpagus in Herodotus, so here the Sacian
Amorges takes the place of the Lydian Croesus; though Croesus, it is
true, gives only ruinous advice, and Amorges renders active and valuable
help. As the Persian tradition is preserved in the story of Ctesias
about the rise of Cyrus, though the Medes had their discrepant version,
so in the story of the fall, as given by this historian, we have no
doubt the Persian account. The region which is allotted to the second
son, the emphasis laid on the harmony of the sons, the death of Cyrus in
victory, no less than the tone which pervades the whole narrative, prove
the Persian origin of the story. The aged prince is wounded at the head
of his people in a battle on horseback; but his friends avenge him; he
dies, as he had lived, in victory and success, surrounded by his sons
and stepsons. This glorification of his death was matched by the Medes
in the poems from which the narrative of Herodotus has arisen.
Xenophon represents Cyrus as dying at an advanced age in peace, when he
has reached Persia for the seventh time after winning the empire. In the
palace he had a dream which announced his approaching end. He caused his
sons to be brought to him, who had accompanied him to Persia, his
friends, and the captains of the Persians. His power, so he told them,
had not decayed with age; he had striven for nothing and attempted
nothing that he had not obtained, and what he had once obtained he had
never lost. Though everything had succeeded according to his wishes, he
had never allowed himself to indulge in proud thoughts and excessive
rejoicing, for he had ever been attended by the apprehension that evil
would come upon him in the future. "Do you now, Cambyses," he continued,
"receive the throne, which the gods and I, so far as lies in me, give to
you; to you, Tanaoxares, I give the satrapy over the Medes, the
Armenians, and the Cadusians. I give you this because I deem it right to
leave to the elder the larger dominion and the name of king, but to you
a less burdensome fortune." Then he urged both to remain in the closest
friendship, for they had been nourished by one mother, and had grown up
in one house; neither of them could find a stronger support than his
brother. He made them swear by the gods of their fathers that they would
hold each other in honour; they could not prove their love for him more
truly in any other way. Finally, he reminded them that by showing
kindness to friends they would be able to punish their enemies, gave his
hand to all, veiled his face and died.[136]
According to the account of the companions of Alexander of Macedon, the
corpse of Cyrus rested in the abode of his ancestors, at his metropolis,
Pasargadae, in the precincts of the "old citadel." Concerning his tomb
we have only the account of Aristobulus, who saw it when Alexander
reached Pasargadae, and on the return from India received a commission
to restore the sepulchres which had been plundered in the mean time.
This account is preserved in two excerpts; the shorter one is given by
Strabo, the more circumstantial by Arrian. In the latter we are told:
"At Pasargadae in the royal garden (Paradeisus) was the tomb of Cyrus.
Round the tomb a grove of trees had been planted of various kinds; the
soil was permeated by streams and overgrown with thick grass. The tomb
itself was built of square stones in a rectangular form; the upper part
was a covered chamber." From Strabo we learn that "the tomb is a tower
of no great size, which is massive in the lower part, but in the upper
story is a room." "The door which leads into it," Arrian continues, "is
so narrow, that a moderately stout man could scarcely enter. In the
chamber was a couch with feet of beaten gold, with purple coverlet over
which lay carpets of Babylonian pattern. There was also a robe
(_kandys_) and under-garments of Babylonian manufacture, and Median
trowsers, garments coloured blue and purple, some of one colour, some of
the other, chains, swords, and necklaces of gold and precious stones,
and a table (Strabo adds goblets). On the middle of the couch was the
coffin with the corpse of Cyrus, covered with a lid. The inscription on
the grave, in the Persian language and Persian letters, says: 'O men, I
am Cyrus the son of Cambyses, who founded the empire of the Persians and
governed Asia; do not grudge me this monument.' Within the outer wall of
the sepulchre near the steps which lead to the chamber was a small
dwelling for the Magians, who have watched the tomb since the time of
Cyrus, the office descending from father to son. Each day they receive a
sheep and a fixed amount of corn and wheat, and each month a horse to
sacrifice to Cyrus." The corpse itself is said to have been completely
preserved after two centuries. Onesicritus tells us that the tower of
the sepulchre had ten stories; the inscription was in Persian and Greek
written in Persian letters, and said: "Here lie I, Cyrus, king of
kings."[137]
Near the modern city of Murghab, on a plain covered with the ruins of
walls, not far from a square tower and a platform, built of square
blocks of marble to a height of nearly forty feet, on a substructure of
seven flats (the sacred number which we meet everywhere) arranged in
terraces, rises a plain oblong building constructed of huge stones of
the most beautiful white marble, which are closely fitted together, and
covered with a flat gable roof; it forms a chamber in which the entrance
is through a door four feet in height. The excellent and beautiful
proportions, the quiet simple forms of the building, give an impression
of solemnity, and appear to mark a consecrated place. Close to this
building, and again in a terrace, we find bases, shafts, and pillars,
which must have belonged to a large structure, perhaps to a portico,
which was in some connection with the stages of the terrace. Three
door-posts bear, in three different languages, the inscription: "I,
Cyrus, the king, the Achaemenid." Hence there can be no doubt that these
remains belong to a structure erected by Cyrus. Before the posts are
twelve bases, and before these a pillar of marble fifteen feet in
height, formed from a single stone. On this is cut in relief a slim form
in profile. It has four wings springing from the shoulders, is clothed
in a closely-fitting garment falling to the ancles; on the right side
which is visible, and on the lower hem, the garment is furnished with
fringes. The form of the uncovered lower arm seems to indicate a
commanding attitude. The head is covered with a striped, closely-fitting
cap, which reaches down to the neck. Out of the crown of it rise two
horns, which extend on either side and bear a tall ornament of
peculiarly-formed leaves and feathers. The face is surrounded by a full
but short beard, the nose is somewhat rounded at the tip, the line of
the profile is straight and well-formed, the expression mild and serene.
Over the head, as on the posts, we find written in cuneiform letters:
"_Adam Kurus Khsayathiya Hakhamanisiya_" _i.e._ "I, Cyrus, the king,
Achaemenid."[138] This is, it would seem, a picture of the famous king.
So far as we can tell Cyrus was long in coming to his prime, and did not
attain to his full powers till he had reached the years of manhood.
Sprung from the royal house of the Persians, grandson of Achaemenes, he
grew up at Pasargadae, and rendered service as a vassal to his
sovereign. While performing courtly and martial duties at Ecbatana, the
extinction of the male line of the house of Deioces, and the rival
claims which the death of Astyages would call forth, opened to him the
prospect of obtaining independence for himself and the Persians. When
once more among his own people, the suspicion of Astyages forces arms
into the hands of himself and his father. Astyages penetrates into the
mountains of Persia, and Cambyses is slain; only after severe struggles
are the Medes beaten back. Cyrus avails himself of his success in order
to carry war into Media. About eighty years after Achaemenes had joined
Phraortes Cyrus marches victoriously into Ecbatana. He at once aims at a
higher object. The dominion of the Medes must pass over to the Persians.
Babylon and Lydia give him time to subjugate the Parthians and
Hyrcanians, to make war on the Sacae and Bactrians, to reduce the
Cadusians, Armenians, and Cappadocians. When yet unprepared or engaged
in other conflicts, he is attacked by Croesus. A brilliant campaign
carries him far beyond the defensive; he overthrows the Lydian empire
and advances to the shore of the AEgean. While his generals complete the
reduction of Asia Minor he turns again to the East; once more Babylon
gives him time to establish and extend his empire in the table-land of
Iran. Secure on the East and West he proceeds to the decisive struggle
with Babylon. In the first campaign he crosses the Tigris and secures
the passage; in the second he defeats Nabonetus, captures Sepharvaim,
storms Babylon, obtains possession of Borsippa, subjugates Syria, and
the Phenician cities. After the annihilation of the Babylonian kingdom,
Cyrus extends the borders of his empire still further to the East. The
nations on the right bank of the Indus, the Chorasmians and the
Sogdiani, are reduced, and the Jaxartes becomes the limit of the
kingdom. Thus by unwearied energy, restless effort, and tough endurance,
Cyrus achieved a career which has no equal; from being chief of the
Persian tribes he became sovereign of Asia. As Xenophon says, his
kingdom extended from regions which are rendered uninhabitable by heat,
to others which are uninhabitable by reason of the cold. This aim Cyrus
had pursued with great determination; he had not been guilty of any wild
outbursts. A general, rapid in decision and tenacious in purpose, he had
understood how to meet failure and make himself master of the most
difficult undertakings. Other military princes of the East have achieved
greater conquests in a shorter space of time than Cyrus, but none
understood how to preserve the empire he had won, and make it permanent,
as Cyrus did. He possessed not only the keen eye of the general, but an
unerring political insight, and an unusual power of penetrating into the
interests, the motives, the manners and actions of the communities and
nations which victory placed in his power. Among the rulers of the East
no one is like him, and one alone approaches him, the second successor
on the throne which he founded.
FOOTNOTES:
[108] Behist. 1, 6.
[109] Arrian. "Ind." 1, 1.
[110] Plin. "H. N." 6, 25; Ptolem. 6, 18.
[111] Script. Alex. Magni; fragm. 23, ed. Mueller.
[112] Diod. 17, 81.
[113] Strabo, p. 724; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 27, 4; 4, 4, 6.
[114] Curtius, 7, 3, 1.
[115] In Strabo, p. 686.
[116] Arrian, "Anab." 4, 5.
[117] Xenoph. "Cyri inst." 6, 6, 9; 8, 8, 20.
[118] _E.g._ Ctes. "Pers." 43.
[119] Herod. 3, 31; Xenoph. "Anab." 1, 6, 4; Esther i. 14.
[120] Herod. 5, 25; 7, 194.
[121] Herod. 1, 134.
[122] Herod. 3, 154; 8, 85.
[123] "Cyri inst." 8, 8, 1; 8, 2, 7.
[124] Herod. 3, 75, 86, 160.
[125] "Persae," 768-770.
[126] "Transact. Bibl. Arch." 2, 148.
[127] "Cyri inst." 8, 6, 9; 8, 8, 22, 23.
[128] Plin. "H. N." 33, 15.
[129] Arrian, "Anab." 3, 16; Curtius, 5, 2, 11; 6, 9, 6, 10; Diod. 17,
66, 71; Strabo, p. 731.
[130] Diod. "Exc. vat." p. 33, 2, 44; Justin, 1, 8; 2, 3; 37, 3.
[131] Arrian, "Anab." 5, 4. A similar story is in Frontin. "Strateg." 2,
5, 5.
[132] Polyaen. "Strateg." 8, 28.
[133] _Cparheghapaeca_, from _cpareg_, to shoot, spring, and _paeca_,
_pica_, shape: Muellenhoff, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akad." 1866, s. 567.
[134] Strabo, p. 514, 520; Plin. "H. N." 6, 16; Ptolem. 4, 20; Curtius,
3, 2; Diod. 2, 2; Steph. Byz. [Greek: Derbikkai].
[135] Ctes. "Pers." 6-9.
[136] "Cyri inst." 8, 7.
[137] Ctes. "Pers." 7; Arrian, "Anab." 6, 28; Strabo, p. 730; Plin. "H.
N." 6, 29; Plut. "Alex." 69. Curtius (10, 1) asserts after Cleitarchus,
that when Alexander visited the tomb of Cyrus on his return from India,
he only found the shield of Cyrus, then rotten, two Scythian bows, and a
sword in the sepulchre.
[138] In the wings, the clothing, and the peculiar head-dress this
portrait (Tenier, "Descript." pl. 84) differs essentially from the
representation of Darius and his successors at Persepolis and
Naksh-i-Rustem. It is not Cyrus but his Fravashi which is here
represented. The building at Murghab is somewhat like the description of
the tomb of Cyrus given in the text, but the site will not allow us to
regard it as the tomb at Pasargadae. It must be a building which one of
his successors has dedicated to the memory of the great king. The
profile in the relief confirms to some degree Plutarch's statement that
Cyrus had an aquiline nose, and the Persians therefore considered beaked
noses the most becoming: "Praec. ger. reip." c. 30. The nose of Darius,
as we see it in the monuments, appears straighter and longer.