HISTORY OF THE MEDES TO THE REIGN OF CYRUS.
My history hence proceeds to inquire who Cyrus was that overthrew the
power of Crœsus, and how the Persians became masters of Asia. In which
narration I shall follow those Persians, who do not wish to magnify the
actions of Cyrus, but to relate the plain truth; though I am aware that
there are three other ways of relating Cyrus's history. After the
Assyrians had ruled over Upper Asia five hundred and twenty years, the
Medes first began to revolt from them; and they it seems, in their
struggle with the Assyrians for liberty, proved themselves brave men;
and having shaken off the yoke, became free: afterward the other nations
also did the same as the Medes. When all throughout the continent were
independent, they were again reduced under a despotic government. There
was among the Medes a man famous for wisdom, named Deioces, son of
Phraortes. This Deioces, aiming at absolute power, had recourse to the
following plan. The Medes were at that time distributed into villages,
and Deioces, who was already highly esteemed in his own district,
applied himself with great zeal to the exercise of justice; and this he
did, since great lawlessness prevailed throughout the whole of Media,
and he knew that injustice and justice are ever at variance. The Medes
of the same village, observing his conduct, chose him for their judge;
and he, constantly keeping the sovereign power in view, showed himself
upright and just. By this conduct he acquired no slight praise from his
fellow citizens, so much so that the inhabitants of other villages,
hearing that Deioces was the only one who judged uprightly, having
before met with unjust sentences, when they heard of him gladly came
from all parts to Deioces, in order to submit their quarrels to his
decision; and at last they would commit the decision to no one else. In
the end, when the number of those who had recourse to him continually
increased as men heard of the justice of his decisions, Deioces, seeing
the whole devolved upon himself, would no longer occupy the seat where
he used to sit to determine differences, and refused to act as judge any
more, for it was of no advantage to him to neglect his own affairs, and
spend the day in deciding the quarrels of others. Upon this, rapine and
lawlessness growing far more frequent throughout the villages than
before, the Medes called an assembly and consulted together about the
present state of things, but, as I suspect, the partisans of Deioces
spoke to the following purpose: "Since it is impossible for us to
inhabit the country if we continue in our present condition, let us
constitute a king over us, and so the country will be governed by good
laws, and we ourselves shall be able to attend to our business, nor be
any longer driven from our homes by lawlessness." By some such words
they persuaded them to submit to a kingly government. Upon their
immediately putting the question, whom they should appoint king, Deioces
was unanimously preferred and commended: so that at last they agreed
that he should be their king. But he required them to build him a palace
suitable to the dignity of a king, and give him guards for security of
his person. The Medes accordingly did so: and built him a strong and
spacious palace in the part of the country that he selected, and
permitted him to choose guards for his person out of all the Medes.
Being thus possessed of the power, he compelled the Medes to build one
city, and having carefully adorned that, to pay less attention to the
others. As the Medes obeyed him in this also, he built lofty and strong
walls, which now go under the name of Ecbatana,[4] one placed in a
circle within the other; and this fortification was so contrived, that
each circle was raised above the other by the height of the battlements
only. The situation of the ground, rising by an easy ascent, was very
favorable to the design. There were seven circles altogether, the king's
palace and the treasury, situated within the innermost of them. The
largest of these walls was about equal in circumference to the city of
Athens; the battlements of the first circle were white, of the second
black, of the third purple, of the fourth blue, of the fifth bright red.
Thus the battlements of all circles were painted with different colors;
but the two last had their battlements plated, the one with silver, the
other with gold.[5]
Deioces then built these fortifications for himself, and round his own
palace; and he commanded the rest of the people to fix their habitations
round the fortification; and when all the buildings were completed he,
for the first time, established the following regulations: that no man
should be admitted to the king's presence, but every one should consult
him by means of messengers, and, moreover, that it should be accounted
indecency for any one to laugh or spit before him. He established such
ceremony about his own person, in order that those who were brought up
with him, and of no meaner family, nor inferior to him in manly
qualities, might not, when they saw him, grieve and conspire against
him; but that he might appear to be of a different nature to those who
did not see him. When he had established these regulations, and settled
himself in the tyranny, he was very severe in the distribution of
justice. And the parties contending were obliged to send him their case
in writing. All other things were regulated by him: so that, if he
received information that any man had injured another, he would send for
him, and punish him in proportion to his offence. For this purpose he
had spies and eaves-droppers in every part of his dominions.
Now Deioces collected the Medes into one nation, and ruled over it. The
following are the tribes of the Medes, the Busæ, Parataceni, Struchates,
Arizanti, Budii, and the Magi. Deioces had a son, Phraortes, who, when
his father died, after a reign of fifty-three years, succeeded him in
the kingdom; but having so succeeded, he was not content to rule over
the Medes only, but made war on the Persians, and reduced them under the
dominion of the Medes. And afterward being master of these two nations,
both of them powerful, he subdued Asia, attacking one nation after
another; till at last he invaded the Assyrians, who inhabited the city
of Nineveh, and having made war on them, perished with the greater part
of his army, after he had reigned twenty-two years.
[Illustration: ASSYRIAN WARRIORS IN A CHARIOT.]
When Phraortes was dead, Cyaxares his son, grandson of Deioces,
succeeded him. He is said to have been more warlike than his ancestors.
He was the first to divide the people of Asia into cohorts, and then
into spearmen, archers, and cavalry; whereas before they had been
confusedly mixed together. It was he that fought with the Lydians, when
the day was turned into night, as they were fighting; and who subjected
the whole of Asia above the river Halys. He assembled the forces of all
his subjects, and marched against Nineveh to avenge his father, and
destroy that city. He took Nineveh (how they took it, I will relate in
another work),[6] and reduced the Assyrians into subjection, with the
exception of the Babylonian district. Having accomplished these things,
Cyaxares died, after a reign of forty years.
[Illustration: SPHINX FROM S. W. PALACE (NIMROUD).]
Astyages the son of Cyaxares succeeded him in the kingdom. He had a
daughter, to whom he gave the name of Mandane. When she arrived at a
marriageable age he gave her to no one of the Medes who was worthy of
her, but to a Persian, named Cambyses, whom he found descended of a good
family, and of a peaceful disposition, deeming him far superior to a
Mede of moderate rank. In the first year after Mandane was married to
Cambyses, Astyages saw a vision: it appeared to him that a vine sprang
from his daughter, and spread over all Asia. Having seen this and
communicated it to the interpreters of dreams, he sent to Persia for his
daughter, and her son the infant Cyrus, and upon her arrival he put her
under a guard, resolving to destroy her child, for the Magian
interpreters had signified to him from his vision, that the issue of his
daughter would reign in his stead. Astyages therefore, sent for
Harpagus, a kinsman of his, and the most faithful of all the Medes, and
the manager of all his affairs, and said to him: "Harpagus, on no
account fail to perform the business I now charge you with; nor expose
me to danger by deceiving me; nor, by preferring another, draw ruin upon
thy own head. Take the child of Mandane carry him to your own house and
kill him, and afterward bury him in whatever way you think fit."
Harpagus answered: "O king, you have never yet observed any ingratitude
in me, and I shall take care never to offend you for the future. If it
is your pleasure that this thing should be done, it is fitting that I
readily obey you." Harpagus, having given this answer, when the child
had been put into his hands, adorned as if for death, returned home
weeping; and upon his arrival he told his wife all that Astyages had
said. She asked him, "What then do you purpose to do?" He answered: "Not
as Astyages has commanded; though he should be yet more outrageous and
mad than he is, I will not comply with his wishes, nor will I submit to
him by performing such a murder: and for many reasons I will not murder
the child; both because he is my own relation, and because Astyages is
old, and has no male offspring; besides, if, after his death, the
sovereignty should devolve on his daughter, whose son he would now
murder by my means, what else remains for me but the greatest danger? It
is necessary, however, for my safety that the child should die, but as
necessary that one of Astyages' people should be the executioner, and
not one of mine." He accordingly sent a messenger for one of Astyages'
herdsmen, who he knew grazed his cattle on pastures most convenient for
the purpose, and on mountains abounding with wild beasts. His name was
Mitradates, and he had married his fellow-servant. The foot of the
mountains at which this herdsman grazed his cattle, lies to the north of
Ecbatana, toward the Euxine Sea. For the Medic territory on this side
toward the Saspires, is very mountainous, lofty, and covered with
forests; while all the rest of Media is level. When the herdsman,
summoned in great haste, arrived, Harpagus addressed him as follows:
"Astyages bids thee take this infant, and expose him on the bleakest
part of the mountains, that he may speedily perish; and has charged me
to add, that if thou by any means shouldst save the child, thou shalt
die by the most cruel death; and I am appointed to see the child
exposed." The herdsman, having heard these words, took the infant,
returned by the same way, and reached his cottage. It so happened that
an infant of his own lay dead at home. When he returned and came up to
his wife she asked him why Harpagus had sent for him in such haste.
"Wife," said he, "when I reached the city, I saw and heard what I wish I
had never seen, nor had ever befallen our masters. The whole house of
Harpagus was filled with lamentations; I, greatly alarmed, went in, and
as soon as I entered, I saw an infant lying before me, panting and
crying, dressed in gold and a robe of various colors. Harpagus bade me
to take up the child directly, and carry him away, and expose him in the
part of the mountain most frequented by wild beasts; telling me at the
same time, that it was Astyages who imposed this task on me, and
threatening the severest punishment if I should fail to do it. I took up
the infant and carried him away, supposing him to belong to one of the
servants; for I had then no suspicion whence he came; though I was
astonished at seeing him dressed in gold and fine apparel; and also at
the sorrow which evidently prevailed in the house of Harpagus. But soon
after, on my way home, I learnt the whole truth, from a servant who
accompanied me out of the city, and delivered the child into my hands;
that he was born of Mandane, Astyages' daughter, and of Cambyses son of
Cyrus, and that Astyages had commanded him to be put to death."
As the herdsman uttered these last words, he uncovered the child, and
showed it to his wife; she seeing that the child was large and of a
beautiful form, embraced the knees of her husband, and with tears
besought him by no means to expose it. He said that it was impossible to
do otherwise; for spies would come from Harpagus to see the thing done,
and he must himself die the most cruel death if he should fail to do it.
"Since, then" said she "I cannot persuade you not to expose the child,
do this: take our own dead child and expose it, and let us bring up the
son of Astyages' daughter as our own. Thus you will neither be convicted
of having wronged our masters, nor shall we have consulted ill for our
own interests; for the child that is dead will have a royal burial, and
the one that survives will not be deprived of life." The herdsman, happy
at the suggestion of his wife, gave to her the child that he had brought
for the purpose of putting to death, and his own, which was dead, he put
into the basket in which he had brought the other, and having dressed it
in all the finery of the other child, exposed it in the most desolate
part of the mountains. On the third day after the infant had been
exposed, the herdsman, having left one of his assistants as a guard,
went to the city, and arriving at the house of Harpagus, told him he was
ready to show the dead body of the infant. Harpagus accordingly sent
some of the most trusty of his guards, and by that means saw the body,
and buried the herdsman's child. The other, who afterwards had the name
of Cyrus, was brought up by the herdsman's wife, who gave him some other
name, and not that of Cyrus.
When the child attained the age of ten years, the following circumstance
discovered him. He was playing in the village in which the ox-stalls
were, with boys of his own age in the road. The boys had chosen this
reputed son of the herdsman for their king. He in sport appointed some
of them to build houses, and others to be his body-guards; one of them
to be the king's eye, and to another he gave the office of bringing
messages to him, assigning to each his proper duty. One of these boys
who was playing with him, son of Artembares, a man of rank among the
Medes, refused to obey the orders of Cyrus; he therefore commanded the
others to seize him, and when they obeyed, Cyrus scourged the boy very
severely. But the boy, as soon as he was let loose, considering that he
had been treated with great indignity, took it very much to heart, and
hastening to the city, complained to his father of the treatment he had
met with from the son of Astyages' herdsman. Artembares, in a transport
of anger, went immediately to Astyages, and taking his son with him,
said that he suffered treatment that was not to be borne, adding, "Thus,
O king, are we insulted by your slave, the son of a herdsman;" showing
the boy's shoulders. Astyages having heard and seen what was done,
resolving, on account of the rank of Artembares, to avenge the indignity
offered to the youth, sent for the herdsman and his son. When both came
into his presence, Astyages, looking upon Cyrus, said: "Have you, who
are the son of such a man as this, dared to treat the son of one of the
principal persons in my kingdom with such indignity?" But Cyrus
answered: "Sir, I treated him as I did with justice. For the boys of our
village, of whom he was one, in their play made me their king, because I
appeared to them the most fitted for that office. All the other boys
performed what they were ordered, but he refused to obey and paid no
attention to my commands, so he was punished: if I deserve punishment
for this here I am ready to submit to it." As the boy spoke Astyages
recognised him; the character of his face appeared like his own, and his
answer more free than accorded with his condition; the time also of the
exposure seemed to agree with the age of the boy. Alarmed at this
discovery, he was for some time speechless; and at last, having with
difficulty recovered himself (being desirous of sending Artembares away
in order that he might examine the herdsman in private), he said:
"Artembares, I will take care that neither you nor your son shall have
any cause of complaint," and dismissed him; but the servants, at the
command of Astyages, conducted Cyrus into an inner room; and when the
herdsman remained alone, he asked him in the absence of witnesses,
whence he had the boy, and from whose hands he received him? He affirmed
that the boy was his own son, and that the mother who bore him was still
living with him. Astyages told him, that he did not consult his own
safety in wishing to be put to the torture; and as he said this he made
a signal to his guards to seize him. The man, when brought to the
torture, discovered the whole matter, speaking the truth throughout; and
concluded with prayers and entreaties for pardon. Astyages, when the
herdsman had confessed the truth, did not concern himself much about him
afterwards; but attaching great blame to Harpagus, he ordered his guards
to summon him; and when Astyages asked, "Harpagus, by what kind of death
did you dispose of the child which I delivered to you, born of my
daughter?" Harpagus, seeing the herdsman present, had not recourse to
falsehood, lest he should be detected and convicted, but said, "O king,
when I had received the infant, I carefully considered how I could act
according to your wish and command, and, without offending you, I might
be free from the crime of murder both in your daughter's sight and in
yours. I therefore sent for this herdsman and gave him the child, saying
that you had commanded him to put it to death, and in saying this I did
not speak falsely, for such indeed were your orders. In this manner I
delivered the infant to him, charging him to place it in some desert
mountain, and to stay and watch till the child was dead, threatening the
severest punishment if he should not fully carry out these injunctions.
When he had executed these orders, and the child was dead, I sent some
of the most trusty of my servants, and by means of them beheld the body,
and buried it. This is the whole truth, O king, and such was the fate of
the child."
Thus Harpagus told the real truth; but Astyages, dissembling the anger
which he felt on account of what had been done, again related to
Harpagus the whole matter as he had heard it from the herdsman; and
afterwards, when he had repeated it throughout, he ended by saying that
the child was alive and all was well. "For," he added, "I suffered much
on account of what had been done regarding this child, and could not
easily bear the reproaches of my daughter; therefore, since fortune has
taken a more favorable turn, do you, in the first place, send your own
son to accompany the boy I have recovered; and, in the next place, (for
I propose to offer a sacrifice for the preservation of the child to the
gods, to whom that honor is due), do you be with me at supper."
Harpagus on hearing these words, when he had paid his homage, and had
congratulated himself that his fault had turned to so good account, and
that he was invited to the feast under such auspicious circumstances,
went to his own home. And as soon as he entered he sent his only son,
who was about thirteen years of age, and bade him go to Astyages, and do
whatever he should command; and then, being full of joy, he told his
wife what had happened. But when the son of Harpagus arrived, having
slain him and cut him into joints, Astyages roasted some parts of his
flesh and boiled others, and having had them well dressed, kept them in
readiness. At the appointed hour, when the other guests and Harpagus
were come, tables full of mutton were placed before the rest and
Astyages himself, but before Harpagus all the body of his son, except
the head, the hands and the feet; these were laid apart in a basket
covered over. When Harpagus seemed to have eaten enough, Astyages asked
him if he was pleased with the entertainment; and when Harpagus replied
that he was highly delighted, the officers appointed for that purpose
brought him the head of his son covered up with the hands and feet, and
standing before Harpagus, they bade him uncover the basket and take what
he chose. Harpagus doing as they desired, and uncovering the basket, saw
the remains of his son's body, but he expressed no alarm at the sight,
and retained his presence of mind; whereupon Astyages asked him if he
knew of what animal he had been eating. He said he knew very well, and
that whatever a king did was agreeable to him. After he had given this
answer he gathered the remains of the flesh and went home, purposing, as
I conjecture, to collect all that he could and bury it.
Astyages thus punished Harpagus; and then, considering what he should do
with Cyrus, summoned the Magi, who had formerly interpreted his dream.
When they were come, Astyages asked them in what way they had
interpreted his vision. They gave the same answer as before; and said
that if the boy was still alive, and had not already died, he must of
necessity be king. He answered them as follows: "The boy still survives,
and while living in the country, the boys of the village made him king,
and he has already performed all such things as kings really do, for he
has appointed guards, door-keepers, messengers, and all other things in
like manner; and now I desire to know to what do these things appear to
you to tend." The Magi answered, "If the boy be living and has already
been a king by no settled plan, you may take courage on his account and
make your mind easy, for he will not reign a second time. For some of
our predictions terminate in trifling results; and dreams, and things
like them, are fulfilled by slight events." To this Astyages replied: "I
too, O Magi, am very much of the same opinion, that since the child has
been named king, the dream is accomplished, and that the boy is no
longer an object of alarm to me; yet consider well, and carefully weigh
what will be the safest course for my family and yourselves." The Magi
answered: "O king, it is of great importance to us that your empire
should be firmly established, for otherwise it is alienated, passing
over to this boy, who is a Persian, and we, who are Medes, shall be
enslaved by Persians, and held in no account as being foreigners;
whereas while you, who are of our own country, are king, we have a share
in the government, and enjoy great honors at your hands. Thus, then, we
must on every account provide for your safety and that of your
government; and now if we saw any thing to occasion alarm we should tell
you of it beforehand; but now, since the dream has issued in a trifling
event, we ourselves take courage, and advise you to do the like, and to
send the boy out of your sight to his parents in Persia." When Astyages
heard this he was delighted, and, calling for Cyrus, said to him:
"Child, I have been unjust to you, by reason of a vain dream; but you
survive by your own destiny. Now go in happiness to Persia, and I will
send an escort to attend you; when you arrive there you will find a
father and mother very different from the herdsman Mitradates and his
wife."
Astyages thus sent Cyrus away, and, upon his arrival at the house of
Cambyses, his parents received him with the greatest tenderness and joy,
having been assured that he had died immediately after his birth; and
they inquired of him by what means his life had been preserved. He told
them, that till that time he believed he was the son of Astyages'
herdsman. He related that he had been brought up by the herdsman's wife;
and he went on constantly praising her.
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN HARE.]
When Cyrus had reached man's estate, and proved the most manly and
beloved of his equals in age, Harpagus paid great court to him, sending
him presents, from his desire to be avenged on Astyages; for he did not
see that he himself, who was but a private man, could be able to take
vengeance on Astyages; perceiving, therefore, that Cyrus was growing up
to be his avenger, he contracted a friendship with him, comparing the
sufferings of Cyrus with his own. And before this he had made the
following preparations. Seeing Astyages severe in his treatment of the
Medes, Harpagus holding intercourse with the chief persons of the
nation, one after another, persuaded them that they ought to place him
at their head, and depose Astyages. When he had effected his purpose,
and all was ready, Harpagus, wishing to discover his designs to Cyrus,
who resided in Persia, and having no other way left, because the roads
were all guarded, contrived the following artifice. Having cunningly
contrived a hare, by opening its belly, and tearing off none of the
hair, he put a letter, containing what he thought necessary to write,
into the body; and having sewed up the belly of the hare, he gave it
with some nets to the most trusty of his servants, dressed as a hunter,
and sent him to Persia; having by word of mouth commanded him to bid
Cyrus, as he gave him the hare, to open it with his own hand, and not to
suffer any one to be present when he did so. This was accordingly done,
and Cyrus having received the hare, opened it; and found the letter
which was in it, to the following purport: "Son of Cambyses, seeing the
gods watch over you, (for otherwise you could never have arrived at your
present fortune), do you now avenge yourself on your murderer Astyages;
for as far as regards his purpose you are long since dead, but by the
care of the gods and of me you survive. I suppose you have been long
since informed both what was done regarding yourself, and what I
suffered at the hands of Astyages, because I did not put you to death,
but gave you to the herdsman. Then, if you will follow my counsel, you
shall rule over the whole territory that Astyages now governs. Persuade
the Persians to revolt, and invade Media; and whether I or any other
illustrious Mede be appointed to command the army opposed to you, every
thing will turn out as you wish; for they, on the first onset, having
revolted from him, and siding with you, will endeavor to depose him.
Since, then, every thing is ready here, do as I advise, and do it
quickly."
Cyrus, upon receiving this intelligence, began to consider by what
measures he could best persuade the Persians to revolt. Having written
such a letter as he thought fit, he called an assembly of the Persians,
read the letter and said that Astyages had appointed him general of the
Persians: "Now," he continued, "I require you to attend me, every man
with a sickle." When all had come with their sickles, as had been
ordered, Cyrus selected a tract of land in Persia, about eighteen or
twenty stadia square (nearly two and one half miles), which was
overgrown with briers, and directed them to clear it during the day:
when the Persians had finished the appointed task, he bade them come
again on the next day, washed and well attired. In the meantime Cyrus
collected all his father's flocks and herds, had them killed and
dressed, to entertain the Persian forces, and provided wine and bread in
abundance. The next day, when the Persians had assembled, he made them
lie down on the turf, and feasted them; and, after the repast was over,
asked them whether the treatment they had received the day before, or
the present, was preferable. They answered, that the difference was
great; for on the preceding day they had every hardship, but on the
present everything that was good. Then Cyrus discovered his intentions,
and said: "Men of Persia, the case stands thus; if you will hearken to
me, you may enjoy these, and numberless other advantages, without any
kind of servile labor; but if you will not hearken to me, innumerable
hardships, like those of yesterday, await you. Now, therefore, obey me,
and be free; for I am persuaded I am born by divine providence to
undertake this work; and I deem you to be men in no way inferior to the
Medes, either in other respects or in war; then revolt with all speed
from Astyages."
The Persians under such a leader, gladly asserted their freedom, having
for a long time felt indignant at being governed by the Medes. Astyages,
informed of what Cyrus was doing, sent a messenger and summoned him; but
Cyrus bade the messenger take back word, "that he would come to him
sooner than Astyages desired." When Astyages heard this, he armed all
the Medes; and, as if the gods had deprived him of understanding, made
Harpagus their general, utterly forgetting the outrage he had done him.
And when the Medes came to an engagement with the Persians, such of them
as knew nothing of the plot, fought; but others went over to the
Persians; and the far greater part purposely behaved as cowards and
fled. As soon as the news was brought to Astyages that the Medes were
thus shamefully dispersed, he exclaimed: "Not even so shall Cyrus have
occasion to rejoice." His first act was to impale the Magi, who had
interpreted his dream, and advised him to let Cyrus go; then he armed
all the Medes that were left in the city, old and young; and leading
them out, engaged the Persians, and was defeated. Astyages himself was
made prisoner, and lost all the Medes whom he had led out. Harpagus,
standing by Astyages after he was taken, exulted over him and jeered at
him; and among other galling words, he asked him about the supper, at
which he had feasted him with his son's flesh, and inquired, "how he
liked slavery in exchange for a kingdom." Astyages, looking steadfastly
on Harpagus, asked in return, whether he thought himself the author of
Cyrus's success. Harpagus said, he did, for, as he had written, the
achievement was justly due to himself. Astyages thereupon proved him to
be "the weakest and most unjust of all men; the weakest, in giving the
kingdom to another, which he might have assumed to himself, if indeed he
had effected this change; and the most unjust, because he had enslaved
the whole nation of the Medes on account of the supper."
So Astyages, after he had reigned thirty-five years, was deposed. But
Cyrus kept him with him till he died, without doing him any further
injury. Thus did Cyrus come to the throne, conquer Crœsus, and become
master of all Asia.
The Persians, according to my own knowledge, observe the following
customs:—It is not their practice to erect statues, or temples, or
altars, but they charge those with folly who do so; because, as I
conjecture, they do not think the gods have human forms, as the Greeks
do. They are accustomed to ascend the highest parts of the mountains,
and offer sacrifice to Jupiter, and they call the whole circle of the
heavens by the name of Jupiter. They sacrifice to the sun and moon, to
the earth, fire, water, and the winds. To these alone they sacrificed in
the earliest times: but they have since learnt from the Arabians and
Assyrians to sacrifice to Venus Urania, whom the Assyrians call Venus
Mylitta, the Arabians, Alitta, and the Persians Mitra. They do not erect
altars nor kindle fires when about to sacrifice; they do not use
libations, or flutes, or fillets, or cakes; but, when any one wishes to
offer sacrifice to any one of these deities, he leads the victim to a
clean spot, and invokes the god, usually having his tiara decked with
myrtle. He that sacrifices is not permitted to pray for blessings for
himself alone; but he is obliged to offer prayers for the prosperity of
all the Persians, and the king, for he is himself included in the
Persians. When he has cut the victim into small pieces, and boiled the
flesh, he strews under it a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil, and
then lays all the flesh upon it; when he has put every thing in order,
one of the Magi standing by sings an ode concerning the original of the
gods, which they say is the incantation; and without one of the Magi it
is not lawful for them to sacrifice. After having waited a short time,
he that has sacrificed carries away the flesh and disposes of it as he
thinks fit. It is their custom to honor their birthday above all other
days; and on this day they furnish their table in a more plentiful
manner than at other times. The rich then produce an ox, a horse, a
camel, and an ass, roasted whole in an oven; but the poor produce
smaller cattle. They are moderate at their meals, but eat of many
after-dishes, and those not served up together. On this account the
Persians say, "that the Greeks rise hungry from the table, because
nothing worth mentioning is brought in after dinner, and that if
anything were brought in, they would not leave off eating." The Persians
are much addicted to wine. They are accustomed to debate the most
important affairs when intoxicated; but whatever they have determined on
in such deliberation, is on the following day, when they are sober,
proposed to them by the master of the house where they have met to
consult; and if they approve of it when sober also, then they adopt it;
if not, they reject it. And whatever they have first resolved on when
sober, they reconsider when intoxicated. When they meet one another in
the streets, one may discover by the following custom, whether those who
meet are equals. For instead of accosting one another, they kiss on the
mouth; if one be a little inferior to the other, they kiss the cheek;
but if he be of a much lower rank, he prostrates himself before the
other.
The Persians are of all nations the most ready to adopt foreign customs;
for they wear the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than their own;
and in war they use the Egyptian cuirass. From the age of five years to
twenty, they instruct their sons in three things only: to ride, to use
the bow, and to speak the truth. Before he is five years of age, a son
is not admitted to the presence of his father, but lives entirely with
the women: the reason of this custom is, that if he should die in
childhood, he may occasion no grief to his father.
Now I much approve of the above custom, as also of the following, that
not even the king is allowed to put any one to death for a single crime,
nor any private Persian exercise extreme severity against any of his
domestics for one fault, but if on examination he should find that his
misdeeds are more numerous and greater than his services, he may in that
case give vent to his anger. They say that no one ever yet killed his
own father or mother. To tell a lie is considered by them the greatest
disgrace; next to that, to be in debt; for the reason that one who is in
debt must of necessity tell lies. Whosoever of the citizens has the
leprosy or scrofula, is not permitted to stay within a town, nor to have
communication with other Persians; and they say that a man is afflicted
with these diseases from having committed some offence against the sun.
Every stranger that is seized with these distempers they drive out of
the country; and they do the same to white pigeons, making the same
charge against them. They neither spit, nor wash their hands in a river,
but pay extreme veneration to all rivers. Another circumstance is also
peculiar to them which has escaped the notice of the Persians
themselves, but not of us. Their names, which correspond with their
personal forms and their rank, all terminate in the same letter (s)
which the Dorians call _San_, and the Ionians _Sigma_. If you inquire
into this you will find, that all Persian names, without exception, end
in the same letter. These things I can with certainty affirm to be true,
since I myself know them. But what follows, relating to the dead, is
only secretly mentioned, viz.: that the dead body of a Persian is never
buried until it has been torn by some bird or dog; but I know for a
certainty that the Magi do this, for they do it openly. The Persians
then, having covered the body with wax, conceal it in the ground. The
Magi differ very much from all other men, and particularly from the
Egyptian priests, for the latter hold it matter of religion not to kill
any thing that has life, except such things as they offer in sacrifice;
whereas the Magi kill every thing with their own hands, except a dog or
a man; and they think they do a meritorious thing, when they kill ants,
serpents, and other reptiles and birds.