up to be king, Deïokes was much put forward and commended by every one,
until at last they agreed that he should be their king. And he bade them
build for him a palace worthy of the royal dignity and strengthen him
with a guard of spearmen. And the Medes did so: for they built him a
large and strong palace in that part of the land which he told them, and
they allowed him to select spearmen from all the Medes. And when he
had obtained the rule over them, he compelled the Medes to make one
fortified city and pay chief attention to this, having less regard to
the other cities. And as the Medes obeyed him in this also, he built
large and strong walls, those which are now called Agbatana, standing
in circles one within the other. And this wall is so contrived that one
circle is higher than the next by the height of the battlements alone.
And to some extent, I suppose, the nature of the ground, seeing that it
is on a hill, assists towards this end; but much more was it produced
by art, since the circles are in all seven in number. 111 And within the
last circle are the royal palace and the treasure-houses. The largest
of these walls is in size about equal to the circuit of the wall round
Athens; and of the first circle the battlements are white, of the second
black, of the third crimson, of the fourth blue, of the fifth red: thus
are the battlements of all the circles coloured with various tints, and
the two last have their battlements one of them overlaid with silver and
the other with gold.
99. These walls then Deïokes built for himself and round his own palace,
and the people he commanded to dwell round about the wall. And after
all was built, Deïokes established the rule, which he was the first to
establish, ordaining that none should enter into the presence of the
king, but that they deal with him always through messengers; and that
the king should be seen by no one; and moreover that to laugh or to spit
in presence is unseemly, and this last for every one without exception.
112 Now he surrounded himself with this state 113 to the end that his
fellows, who had been brought up with him and were of no meaner family
nor behind him in manly virtue, might not be grieved by seeing him
and make plots against him, but that being unseen by them he might be
thought to be of different mould.
100. Having set these things in order and strengthened himself in his
despotism, he was severe in preserving justice; and the people used
to write down their causes and send them in to his presence, and he
determined the questions which were brought in to him and sent them out
again. Thus he used to do about the judgment of causes; and he also took
order for this, that is to say, if he heard that any one was behaving in
an unruly manner, he sent for him and punished him according as each act
of wrong deserved, and he had watchers and listeners about all the land
over which he ruled.
101. Deïokes then united the Median race alone, and was ruler of this:
and of the Medes there are the tribes which here follow, namely, Busai,
Paretakenians, Struchates, Arizantians, Budians, Magians: the tribes of
the Medes are so many in number.
102. Now the son of Deïokes was Phraortes, who when Deïokes was dead,
having been king for three-and-fifty years, received the power in
succession; and having received it he was not satisfied to be ruler of
the Medes alone, but marched upon the Persians; and attacking them first
before others, he made these first subject to the Medes. After this,
being ruler of these two nations and both of them strong, he proceeded
to subdue Asia going from one nation to another, until at last he
marched against the Assyrians, those Assyrians I mean who dwelt at
Nineveh, and who formerly had been rulers of the whole, but at that time
they were left without support their allies having revolted from them,
though at home they were prosperous enough. 114 Phraortes marched, I
say, against these, and was both himself slain, after he had reigned
two-and-twenty years, and the greater part of his army was destroyed.
103. When Phraortes had brought his life to an end, Kyaxares the son of
Phraortes, the son of Deïokes, received the power. This king is said
to have been yet much more warlike than his forefathers; and he first
banded the men of Asia into separate divisions, that is to say, he first
arrayed apart from one another the spearmen and the archers and the
horsemen, for before that time they were all mingled together without
distinction. This was he who fought with the Lydians when the day became
night as they fought, and who also united under his rule the whole of
Asia above the river Halys. 115 And having gathered together all his
subjects he marched upon Nineveh to avenge his father, and also because
he desired to conquer that city. And when he had fought a battle with
the Assyrians and had defeated them, while he was sitting down before
Nineveh there came upon him a great army of Scythians, 116 and the
leader of them was Madyas the son of Protohyas, king of the Scythians.
These had invaded Asia after driving the Kimmerians out of Europe, and
in pursuit of them as they fled they had come to the land of Media.
104. Now from the Maiotian lake to the river Phasis and to the land of
the Colchians is a journey of thirty days for one without encumbrance;
117 and from Colchis it is not far to pass over to Media, for there
is only one nation between them, the Saspeirians, and passing by this
nation you are in Media. However the Scythians did not make their
invasion by this way, but turned aside from it to go by the upper road
118 which is much longer, keeping Mount Caucasus on their right hand.
Then the Medes fought with the Scythians, and having been worsted in the
battle they lost their power, and the Scythians obtained rule over all
Asia.
105. Thence they went on to invade Egypt; and when they were in Syria
which is called Palestine, Psammetichos king of Egypt met them; and by
gifts and entreaties he turned them from their purpose, so that they
should not advance any further: and as they retreated, when they came
to the city of Ascalon in Syria, most of the Scythians passed through
without doing any damage, but a few of them who had stayed behind
plundered the temple of Aphrodite Urania. Now this temple, as I find
by inquiry, is the most ancient of all the temples which belong to this
goddess; for the temple in Cyprus was founded from this, as the people
of Cyprus themselves report, and it was the Phenicians who founded the
temple in Kythera, coming from this land of Syria. So these Scythians
who had plundered the temple at Ascalon, and their descendants for ever,
were smitten by the divinity 119 with a disease which made them women
instead of men: and the Scythians say that it was for this reason
that they were diseased, and that for this reason travellers who visit
Scythia now, see among them the affection of those who by the Scythians
are called Enareës.
106. For eight-and-twenty years then the Scythians were rulers of Asia,
and by their unruliness and reckless behaviour everything was ruined;
for on the one hand they exacted that in tribute from each people which
they laid upon them, 120 and apart from the tribute they rode about and
carried off by force the possessions of each tribe. Then Kyaxares with
the Medes, having invited the greater number of them to a banquet, made
them drunk and slew them; and thus the Medes recovered their power,
and had rule over the same nations as before; and they also took
Nineveh,—the manner how it was taken I shall set forth in another
history, 121—and made the Assyrians subject to them excepting only the
land of Babylon.
107. After this Kyaxares died, having reigned forty years including
those years during which the Scythians had rule, and Astyages son of
Kyaxares received from him the kingdom. To him was born a daughter whom
he named Mandane; and in his sleep it seemed to him that there passed
from her so much water as to fill his city and also to flood the whole
of Asia. This dream he delivered over 122 to the Magian interpreters of
dreams, and when he heard from them the truth at each point he became
afraid. And afterwards when this Mandane was of an age to have a
husband, he did not give her in marriage to any one of the Medes who
were his peers, because he feared the vision; but he gave her to a
Persian named Cambyses, whom he found to be of a good descent and of a
quiet disposition, counting him to be in station much below a Mede of
middle rank.
108. And when Mandane was married to Cambyses, in the first year
Astyages saw another vision. It seemed to him that from the womb of this
daughter a vine grew, and this vine overspread the whole of Asia. Having
seen this vision and delivered it to the interpreters of dreams, he sent
for his daughter, being then with child, to come from the land of the
Persians. And when she had come he kept watch over her, desiring to
destroy that which should be born of her; for the Magian interpreters
of dreams signified to him that the offspring of his daughter should
be king in his room. Astyages then desiring to guard against this, when
Cyrus was born, called Harpagos, a man who was of kin near him and whom
he trusted above all the other Medes, and had made him manager of all
his affairs; and to him he said as follows: "Neglect not by any means,
Harpagos, the matter which I shall lay upon thee to do, and beware lest
thou set me aside, 123 and choosing the advantage of others instead,
bring thyself afterwards to destruction. Take the child which Mandane
bore, and carry it to thy house and slay it; and afterwards bury it in
whatsoever manner thou thyself desirest." To this he made answer: "O
king, never yet in any past time didst thou discern in me an offence
against thee, and I keep watch over myself also with a view to the time
that comes after, that I may not commit any error towards thee. If it
is indeed thy pleasure that this should so be done, my service at least
must be fitly rendered."
109. Thus he made answer, and when the child had been delivered to him
adorned as for death, Harpagos went weeping to his wife all the words
which had been spoken by Astyages. And she said to him: "Now, therefore,
what is it in thy mind to do?" and he made answer: "Not according as
Astyages enjoined: for not even if he shall come to be yet more out
of his senses and more mad than he now is, will I agree to his will or
serve him in such a murder as this. And for many reasons I will not slay
the child; first because he is a kin to me, and then because Astyages is
old and without male issue, and if after he is dead the power shall come
through me, does not the greatest of dangers then await me? To secure
me, this child must die; but one of the servants of Astyages must be the
slayer of it, and not one of mine."
110. Thus he spoke, and straightway sent a messenger to that one of the
herdsmen of Astyages who he knew fed his herds on the pastures which
were most suitable for his purpose, and on the mountains most haunted by
wild beasts. The name of this man was Mitradates, and he was married to
one who was his fellow-slave; and the name of the woman to whom he was
married was Kyno in the tongue of the Hellenes and in the Median tongue
Spaco, for what the Hellenes call kyna (bitch) the Medes call spaca.
Now, it was on the skirts of the mountains that this herdsman had his
cattle-pastures, from Agbatana towards the North Wind and towards the
Euxine Sea. For here in the direction of the Saspeirians the Median land
is very mountainous and lofty and thickly covered with forests; but
the rest of the land of Media is all level plain. So when this herdsman
came, being summoned with much urgency, Harpagos said these words:
"Astyages bids thee take this child and place it on the most desolate
part of the mountains, so that it may perish as quickly as possible.
And he bade me to say that if thou do not kill it, but in any way shalt
preserve it from death, he will slay thee by the most evil kind of
destruction: 124 and I have been appointed to see that the child is laid
forth."
111. Having heard this and having taken up the child, the herdsman went
back by the way he came, and arrived at his dwelling. And his wife also,
as it seems, having been every day on the point of bearing a child, by
a providential chance brought her child to birth just at that time, when
the herdsman was gone to the city. And both were in anxiety, each for
the other, the man having fear about the child-bearing of his wife, and
the woman about the cause why Harpagos had sent to summon her husband,
not having been wont to do so aforetime. So as soon as he ed and stood
before her, the woman seeing him again beyond her hopes was the first
to speak, and asked him for what purpose Harpagos had sent for him so
urgently. And he said: "Wife, when I came to the city I saw and heard
that which I would I had not seen, and which I should wish had never
chanced to those whom we serve. For the house of Harpagos was all full
of mourning, and I being astonished thereat went within: and as soon as
I entered I saw laid out to view an infant child gasping for breath
and screaming, which was adorned with gold ornaments and embroidered
clothing: and when Harpagos saw me he bade me forthwith to take up the
child and carry it away and lay it on that part of the mountains which
is most haunted by wild beasts, saying that it was Astyages who laid
this task upon me, and using to me many threats, if I should fail to do
this. And I took it up and bore it away, supposing that it was the
child of some one of the servants of the house, for never could I have
supposed whence it really was; but I marvelled to see it adorned with
gold and raiment, and I marvelled also because mourning was made for it
openly in the house of Harpagos. And straightway as we went by the road,
I learnt the whole of the matter from the servant who went with me out
of the city and placed in my hands the babe, namely that it was in truth
the son of Mandane the daughter of Astyages, and of Cambyses the son of
Cyrus, and that Astyages bade slay it. And now here it is."
112. And as he said this the herdsman uncovered it and showed it to
her. And she, seeing that the child was large and of fair form, wept and
clung to the knees of her husband, beseeching him by no means to lay it
forth. But he said that he could not do otherwise than so, for watchers
would come backwards and forwards sent by Harpagos to see that this was
done, and he would perish by a miserable death if he should fail to do
this. And as she could not after all persuade her husband, the wife next
said as follows: "Since then I am unable to persuade thee not to lay it
forth, do thou this which I shall tell thee, if indeed it needs must be
seen laid forth. I also have borne a child, but I have borne it dead.
Take this and expose it, and let us rear the child of the daughter of
Astyages as if it were our own. Thus thou wilt not be found out doing
a wrong to those whom we serve, nor shall we have taken ill counsel
for ourselves; for the dead child will obtain a royal burial and the
surviving one will not lose his life."
113. To the herdsman it seemed that, the case standing thus, his wife
spoke well, and forthwith he did so. The child which he was bearing
to put to death, this he delivered to his wife, and his own, which was
dead, he took and placed in the chest in which he had been bearing the
other; and having adorned it with all the adornment of the other child,
he bore it to the most desolate part of the mountains and placed it
there. And when the third day came after the child had been laid forth,
the herdsman went to the city, leaving one of his under-herdsmen to
watch there, and when he came to the house of Harpagos he said that he
was ready to display the dead body of the child; and Harpagos sent the
most trusted of his spearmen, and through them he saw and buried the
herdsman's child. This then had had burial, but him who was afterwards
called Cyrus the wife of the herdsman had received, and was bringing him
up, giving him no doubt some other name, not Cyrus.
114. And when the boy was ten years old, it happened with regard to him
as follows, and this made him known. He was playing in the village in
which were stalls for oxen, he was playing there, I say, with other boys
of his age in the road. And the boys in their play chose as their king
this one who was called the son of the herdsman: and he set some of them
to build palaces and others to be spearmen of his guard, and one of them
no doubt he appointed to be the eye of the king, and to one he gave the
office of bearing the messages, 12401 appointing a work for each one
severally. Now one of these boys who was playing with the rest, the son
of Artembares a man of repute among the Medes, did not do that which
Cyrus appointed him to do; therefore Cyrus bade the other boys seize him
hand and foot, 125 and when they obeyed his command he dealt with the
boy very roughly, scourging him. But he, so soon as he was let go, being
made much more angry because he considered that he had been treated with
indignity, went down to the city and complained to his father of the
treatment which he had met with from Cyrus, calling him not Cyrus, for
this was not yet his name, but the son of the herdsman of Astyages. And
Artembares in the anger of the moment went at once to Astyages, taking
the boy with him, and he declared that he had suffered things that were
unfitting and said: "O king, by thy slave, the son of a herdsman, we
have been thus outraged," showing him the shoulders of his son.
115. And Astyages having heard and seen this, wishing to punish the boy
to avenge the honour of Artembares, sent for both the herdsman and his
son. And when both were present, Astyages looked at Cyrus and said:
"Didst thou dare, being the son of so mean a father as this, to treat
with such unseemly insult the son of this man who is first in my
favour?" And he replied thus: "Master, I did so to him with right. For
the boys of the village, of whom he also was one, in their play set me
up as king over them, for I appeared to them most fitted for this place.
Now the other boys did what I commanded them, but this one disobeyed
and paid no regard, until at last he received the punishment due. If
therefore for this I am worthy to suffer any evil, here I stand before
thee."
116. While the boy thus spoke, there came upon Astyages a sense of
recognition of him and the lineaments of his face seemed to him to
resemble his own, and his answer appeared to be somewhat over free for
his station, while the time of the laying forth seemed to agree with the
age of the boy. Being struck with amazement by these things, for a
time he was speechless; and having at length with difficulty recovered
himself, he said, desiring to dismiss Artembares, in order that he might
get the herdsman by himself alone and examine him: "Artembares, I will
so order these things that thou and thy son shall have no cause to
find fault"; and so he dismissed Artembares, and the servants upon the
command of Astyages led Cyrus within. And when the herdsman was left
alone with the king, Astyages being alone with him asked whence he had
received the boy, and who it was who had delivered the boy to him.
And the herdsman said that he was his own son, and that the mother was
living with him still as his wife. But Astyages said that he was not
well advised in desiring to be brought to extreme necessity, and as he
said this he made a sign to the spearmen of his guard to seize him. So
he, as he was being led away to the torture, 126 then declared the story
as it really was; and beginning from the beginning he went through the
whole, telling the truth about it, and finally ended with entreaties,
asking that he would grant him pardon.
117. So when the herdsman had made known the truth, Astyages now cared
less about him, but with Harpagos he was very greatly displeased and
bade his spearmen summon him. And when Harpagos came, Astyages asked
him thus: "By what death, Harpagos, didst thou destroy the child whom I
delivered to thee, born of my daughter?" and Harpagos, seeing that
the herdsman was in the king's palace, turned not to any false way of
speech, lest he should be convicted and found out, but said as follows:
"O king, so soon as I received the child, I took counsel and considered
how I should do according to thy mind, and how without offence to thy
command I might not be guilty of murder against thy daughter and against
thyself. I did therefore thus:—I called this herdsman and delivered the
child to him, saying first that thou wert he who bade him slay it—and in
this at least I did not lie, for thou didst so command. I delivered it,
I say, to this man commanding him to place it upon a desolate mountain,
and to stay by it and watch it until it should die, threatening him with
all kinds of punishment if he should fail to accomplish this. And when
he had done that which was ordered and the child was dead, I sent the
most trusted of my eunuchs and through them I saw and buried the child.
Thus, O king, it happened about this matter, and the child had this
death which I say."
118. So Harpagos declared the truth, and Astyages concealed the anger
which he kept against him for that which had come to pass, and first he
related the matter over again to Harpagos according as he had been told
it by the herdsman, and afterwards, when it had been thus repeated by
him, he ended by saying that the child was alive and that that which had
come to pass was well, "for," continued he, "I was greatly troubled by
that which had been done to this child, and I thought it no light thing
that I had been made at variance with my daughter. Therefore consider
that this is a happy change of fortune, and first send thy son to be
with the boy who is newly come, and then, seeing that I intend to make a
sacrifice of thanksgiving for the preservation of the boy to those gods
to whom that honour belongs, be here thyself to dine with me."
119. When Harpagos heard this, he did reverence and thought it a great
matter that his offence had turned out for his profit and moreover that
he had been invited to dinner with happy augury; 127 and so he went to
his house. And having entered it straightway, he sent forth his son, for
he had one only son of about thirteen years old, bidding him go to the
palace of Astyages and do whatsoever the king should command; and he
himself being overjoyed told his wife that which had befallen him. But
Astyages, when the son of Harpagos arrived, cut his throat and divided
him limb from limb, and having roasted some pieces of the flesh and
boiled others he caused them to be dressed for eating and kept them
ready. And when the time arrived for dinner and the other guests were
present and also Harpagos, then before the other guests and before
Astyages himself were placed tables covered with flesh of sheep; but
before Harpagos was placed the flesh of his own son, all but the head
and the hands and the feet, 128 and these were laid aside covered up
in a basket. Then when it seemed that Harpagos was satisfied with food,
Astyages asked him whether he had been pleased with the banquet; and
when Harpagos said that he had been very greatly pleased, they who had
been commanded to do this brought to him the head of his son covered
up, together with the hands and the feet; and standing near they
bade Harpagos uncover and take of them that which he desired. So when
Harpagos obeyed and uncovered, he saw the remains of his son; and seeing
them he was not overcome with amazement but contained himself: and
Astyages asked him whether he perceived of what animal he had been
eating the flesh: and he said that he perceived, and that whatsoever
the king might do was well pleasing to him. Thus having made answer and
taking up the parts of the flesh which still remained he went to his
house; and after that, I suppose, he would gather all the parts together
and bury them.