Chapter III. The History of the Kingdom of the Medes.
A.M. 3257. Ant. J.C. 747.
I took notice, in speaking of the destruction of the ancient Assyrian empire, that Arbaces, general of the Median army, was one of the chief authors of the conspiracy against Sardanapalus: and several writers believe, that he then immediately became sovereign master of Media and many other provinces, and assumed the title of king. Herodotus is not of this opinion. I shall relate what that celebrated historian says upon the subject.
The Assyrians, who had for many ages held the empire of Asia, began to decline in their power by the revolt of several nations.[1062] The Medes first threw off their yoke, and maintained for some time the liberty they had acquired by their valour: but that liberty degenerating into licentiousness, and their government not being well established, they fell into a kind of anarchy, worse than their former subjection. Injustice, violence, and rapine, prevailed everywhere, because there was nobody that had either power enough to restrain them, or sufficient authority to punish the offenders. But all these disorders at length induced the people to settle a form of government, which rendered the state more flourishing than ever it was before.
The nation of the Medes was then divided into six tribes. Almost all the people dwelt in villages, when Dejoces, the son of Phraortes, a Mede by birth, erected the state into a monarchy. This person, seeing the great disorders that prevailed throughout all Media, resolved to take advantage of those troubles, and make them serve to exalt him to the royal dignity. [pg 352] He had a great reputation in his own country, and passed for a man, not only regular in his own conduct, but possessed of all the prudence and equity necessary to govern others.
As soon as he had formed the design of obtaining the throne, he laboured to make the good qualities that had been observed in him more conspicuous than ever: he succeeded so well, that the inhabitants of the village where he lived made him their judge. In this office he acquitted himself with great prudence; and his cares had all the success that had been expected from them; for he brought the people of that village to a sober and regular life. The inhabitants of other villages, whom perpetual disorders suffered not to live in quiet, observing the good order Dejoces had introduced in the place where he presided as judge, began to apply to him, and make him arbitrator of their differences. The fame of his equity daily increasing, all such as had any affair of consequence, brought it before him, expecting to find that equity in Dejoces, which they could meet with nowhere else.
When he found himself thus far advanced in his designs, he judged it a proper time to set his last engines to work for the compassing his point. He, therefore, retired from business, pretending to be over-fatigued with the multitude of people that resorted to him from all quarters; and would not exercise the office of judge any longer, notwithstanding all the importunity of such as wished well to the public tranquillity. Whenever any persons addressed themselves to him, he told them, that his own domestic affairs would not allow him to attend to those of other people.
The licentiousness which had been for some time restrained by the judicious management of Dejoces, began to prevail more than ever, as soon as he had withdrawn himself from the administration of affairs; and the evil increased to such a degree, that the Medes were obliged to assemble, and deliberate upon the means of putting a stop to the public disorder.
There are different sorts of ambition: some violent and impetuous, carrying every thing as it were by storm, hesitating at no kind of cruelty or murder: another sort, more gentle, like that we are speaking of, puts on an appearance of moderation and justice, working under ground, (if I may use that [pg 353] expression,) and yet arrives at her point as surely as the other.
Dejoces, who saw things succeeding according to his wish, sent his emissaries to the assembly, after having instructed them in the part they were to act. When expedients for stopping the course of the public evils came to be proposed, these emissaries, speaking in their turn, represented, that unless the face of the republic was entirely changed, their country would become uninhabitable; that the only means to remedy the present disorders was to elect a king, who should have authority to restrain violence, and make laws for the government of the nation. Then every man could prosecute his own affairs in peace and safety; whereas the injustice that now reigned in all parts, would quickly force the people to abandon the country. This opinion was generally approved; and the whole company was convinced, that no expedient could be devised more effectual for curing the present evil, than that of converting the state into a monarchy. The only thing then to be done, was to choose a king; and about this their deliberations were not long. They all agreed there was not a man in Media so capable of governing as Dejoces; so that he was immediately with common consent elected king.
If we reflect in the least on the first establishment of kingdoms, in any age or country whatsoever, we shall find, that the maintenance of order, and the care of the public good, was the original design of monarchy. Indeed there would be no possibility of establishing order and peace, if all men were resolved to be independent, and would not submit to an authority which takes from them a part of their liberty, in order to preserve the rest. Mankind must be perpetually at war, if they will always be striving for dominion over others, or refuse to submit to the strongest. For the sake of their own peace and safety, they must have a master, and must consent to obey him. This is the human origin of government. And the Scripture teacheth us, that the Divine Providence has not only allowed of the project, and the execution of it, but consecrated it likewise by an immediate communication of his own power.[1063]
There is nothing certainly nobler or greater than to see a private person, eminent for his merit and virtue, and fitted by his excellent talents for the highest employments, and yet through inclination and modesty preferring a life of obscurity and retirement: than to see such a man sincerely refuse the offer made to him, of reigning over a whole nation, and at last consent to undergo the toil of government, from no other motive than that of being serviceable to his fellow-citizens. His first disposition, by which he declares that he is acquainted with the duties, and consequently with the dangers annexed to a sovereign power, shows him to have a soul more elevated and great than greatness itself; or, to speak more justly, a soul superior to all ambition: nothing can show him so perfectly worthy of that important charge, as the opinion he has of his not being so, and his fears of being unequal to it. But when he generously sacrifices his own quiet and satisfaction to the welfare and tranquillity of the public, it is plain he understands what that sovereign power has in it really good, or truly valuable; which is, that it puts a man in a condition of becoming the defender of his country, of procuring it many advantages, and of redressing various evils; of causing law and justice to flourish, of bringing virtue and probity into reputation, and of establishing peace and plenty: and he comforts himself for the cares and troubles to which he is exposed, by the prospect of the many benefits resulting from them to the public. Such a governor was Numa, at Rome; and such have been some other emperors, whom the people found it necessary to compel to accept the supreme power.
It must be owned (I cannot help repeating it) that there is nothing nobler or greater than such a disposition. But to put on the mask of modesty and virtue, in order to satisfy one's ambition, as Dejoces did; to affect to appear outwardly what a man is not inwardly; to refuse for a time, and then accept with a seeming repugnancy, what a man earnestly desires, and what he has been labouring by secret, underhand practices to obtain; this double-dealing has so much meanness in it, that it necessarily lessens our opinion of the person, and extremely sullies the lustre of those good qualities, which in other respects, he possesses.
Dejoces. A.M. 3294. Ant. J.C. 710.
Dejoces reigned fifty-three years.[1064] When he had ascended the throne, he endeavoured to convince the people, that they were not mistaken in the choice they had made of him, for restoring of order. At first he resolved to have his dignity of king attended with all the marks that could inspire an awe and respect for his person. He obliged his subjects to build him a magnificent palace in the place he appointed. This palace he strongly fortified, and chose out from among his people such persons as he judged fittest to be his guards, from their attachment to his interests, and his reliance on their fidelity.
After having thus provided for his own security, he applied himself to polish and civilize his subjects, who, having been accustomed to live in the country and in villages, almost without laws and without polity, had contracted the disposition and manners of savages. To this end he commanded them to build a city, marking out himself the place and circumference of the walls. This city was compassed about with seven distinct walls, all disposed in such a manner, that the outermost did not hinder the parapet of the second from being seen, nor the second that of the third, and so of all the rest. The situation of the place was extremely favourable for such a design, for it was a regular hill, whose ascent was equal on every side. Within the last and smallest enclosure stood the king's palace, with all his treasures: in the sixth, which was next to that, there were several apartments for lodging the officers of his household; and the intermediate spaces, between the other walls, were appointed for the habitation of the people: the first and largest enclosure was about the bigness of Athens. The name of this city was Ecbatana.
The prospect of it was magnificent and beautiful; for, besides the disposition of the walls, which formed a kind of amphitheatre, the different colours wherewith the several parapets were painted formed a delightful variety.
After the city was finished, and Dejoces had obliged part of the Medes to settle in it, he turned all his thoughts to composing of laws for the good of the state. But being persuaded, that the majesty of kings is most respected afar off[1065] he began to keep himself at a distance from his people; was almost inaccessible, and, as it were, invisible to his subjects, not suffering them to speak, or communicate their affairs to him, but only by petitions, and the interposition of his officers. And even those that had the privilege of approaching him, might neither laugh nor spit in his presence.
This able statesman acted in this manner, in order the better to secure to himself the possession of the crown. For, having to deal with men yet uncivilized, and no very good judges of true merit, he was afraid, that too great a familiarity with him might induce contempt, and occasion plots and conspiracies against a growing power, which is generally looked upon with invidious and discontented eyes. But by keeping himself thus concealed from the eyes of the people, and making himself known only by the wise laws he made, and the strict justice he took care to administer to every one, he acquired the respect and esteem of all his subjects.
It is said, that from the innermost part of his palace he saw every thing that was done in his dominions, by means of his emissaries, who brought him accounts, and informed him of all transactions. By this means no crime escaped either the knowledge of the prince, or the rigour of the law; and the punishment treading upon the heels of the offence, kept the wicked in awe, and stopped the course of violence and injustice.
Things might possibly pass in this manner to a certain degree during his administration: but there is nothing more obvious than the great inconveniencies necessarily resulting from the custom introduced by Dejoces, and wherein he has been imitated by the rest of the Eastern potentates; the custom, I mean, of living concealed in his palace, of governing by spies dispersed throughout his kingdom, of relying solely upon their sincerity for the truth of facts; of not suffering truth, the complaints of the oppressed, and the just reasons of innocent persons, to be conveyed to him any other way, than through foreign channels, that is, by men liable to be prejudiced or corrupted; men that stopped up all avenues to remonstrances, or the reparation of injuries, and that were [pg 357] capable of doing the greatest injustice themselves, with so much the more ease and assurance, as their iniquity remained undiscovered, and consequently unpunished. But besides all this, methinks, that very affectation in princes of making themselves invisible, shows them to be conscious of their slender merit, which shuns the light, and dares not stand the test of a near examination.
Dejoces was so wholly taken up in humanizing and softening the manners, and in making laws for the good government of his people, that he never engaged in any enterprise against his neighbours, though his reign was very long, for he did not die till after having reigned fifty-three years.
Pharaortes. A.M. 3347. Ant. J.C. 657.
Phraortes reigned twenty-two years.[1066] After the death of Dejoces, his son Phraortes, called otherwise Aphraartes,[1067] succeeded. The affinity between these two names would alone make one believe that this is the king called in Scripture Arphaxad: but that opinion has many other substantial reasons to support it, as may be seen in father Montfaucon's learned dissertation, of which I have here made great use. The passage in Judith, That Arphaxad built a very strong city, and called it Ecbatana,[1068] has deceived most authors, and made them believe, that Arphaxad must be Dejoces, who was certainly the founder of that city. But the Greek text of Judith, which the Vulgate translation renders ædificavit, says only, That Arphaxad added new buildings to Ecbatana.[1069] And what can be more natural, than that, the father not having entirely perfected so considerable a work, the son should put the last hand to it, and make such additions as were wanting?
Phraortes, being of a very warlike temper, and not contented with the kingdom of Media, left him by his father, attacked the Persians;[1070] and defeating them in a decisive battle, brought them under subjection to his empire. Then strengthened by the accession of their troops, he attacked other neighbouring nations, one after another, till he made himself master of almost all the Upper Asia, which comprehends all that lies north of mount Taurus, from Media as far as the river Halys. [pg 358] Elate with this good success, he ventured to turn his arms against the Assyrians, at that time indeed weakened through the revolt of several nations, but yet very powerful in themselves. Nabuchodonosor, their king, otherwise called Saosduchinus, raised a great army in his own country, and sent ambassadors to several other nations of the East,[1071] to require their assistance. They all refused him with contempt, and ignominiously treated his ambassadors, letting him see, that they no longer dreaded that empire, which had formerly kept the greatest part of them in a slavish subjection.
The king, highly enraged at such insolent treatment, swore by his throne and his reign, that he would be revenged of all those nations, and put them every one to the sword. He then prepared for battle, with what forces he had, in the plain of Ragau. A great battle ensued there, which proved fatal to Phraortes. He was defeated, his cavalry fled, his chariots were overturned and put into disorder, and Nabuchodonosor gained a complete victory. Then taking advantage of the defeat and confusion of the Medes, he entered their country, took their cities, pushed on his conquests even to Ecbatana, forced the towers and the walls by storm, and gave the city to be pillaged by his soldiers, who plundered it, and stripped it of all its ornaments.
The unfortunate Phraortes, who had escaped into the mountains of Ragau, fell at last into the hands of Nabuchodonosor, who cruelly caused him to be shot to death with darts. After that, he returned to Nineveh with all his army, which was still very numerous, and for four months together did nothing but feast and divert himself with those that had accompanied him in this expedition.
In Judith, we read that the king of Assyria sent Holophernes with a powerful army, to revenge himself of those that had refused him succours; the progress and cruelty of that commander, the general consternation of all the people, the courageous resolution of the Israelites to withstand him, in assurance that their God would defend them, the extremity to which Bethulia and the whole nation was reduced, the miraculous deliverance of that city by the courage and conduct [pg 359] of the brave Judith, and the complete overthrow of the Assyrian army, are all related in the same book.
Cyaxares I. A.M. 3869. Ant. J.C. 635.
Cyaxares I. reigned forty years.[1072] This prince succeeded to the throne immediately after his father's death. He was a very brave, enterprising prince, and knew how to make his advantage of the late overthrow of the Assyrian army. He first settled himself well in his kingdom of Media, and then conquered all Upper Asia. But what he had most at heart was, to go and attack Nineveh, to revenge the death of his father by the destruction of that great city.
The Assyrians came out to meet him, having only the remains of that great army, which was destroyed before Bethulia. A battle ensued, wherein the Assyrians were defeated, and driven back to Nineveh. Cyaxares, pursuing his victory, laid siege to the city, which was upon the point of falling inevitably into his hands, but the time was not yet come when God designed to punish that city for her crimes, and for the calamities she had brought upon his people, as well as other nations. It was delivered from its present danger in the following manner.
A formidable army of Scythians, from the neighbourhood of the Palus Mæotis, had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe, and was still marching under the conduct of king Madyes in pursuit of them. The Cimmerians had found means to escape from the Scythians, who had advanced as far as Media. Cyaxares, hearing of this irruption, raised the siege from before Nineveh, and marched with all his forces against that mighty army, which, like an impetuous torrent, was going to overrun all Asia. The two armies engaged, and the Medes were vanquished. The Barbarians, finding no other obstacle in their way, overspread not only Media, but almost all Asia. After that, they marched towards Egypt, from whence Psammiticus diverted their course by presents. They then returned into Palestine, where some of them plundered the temple of Venus at Ascalon, the most ancient of the temples dedicated to that goddess. Some of the Scythians settled at Bethshan, [pg 360] a city in the tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan, which from them was afterwards called Scythopolis.
The Scythians for the space of twenty-eight years were masters of the Upper Asia, namely, the two Armenias, Cappadocia, Pontus, Colchis, and Iberia; during which time they spread desolation wherever they came. The Medes had no way of getting rid of them, but by a dangerous stratagem. Under pretence of cultivating and strengthening the alliance they had made together, they invited the greatest part of them to a general feast, which was made in every family. Each master of the feast made his guests drunk, and in that condition were the Scythians massacred. The Medes then repossessed themselves of the provinces they had lost, and once more extended their empire to the banks of the Halys, which was their ancient boundary westward.
The remaining Scythians, who were not at this feast, having heard of the massacre of their countrymen, fled into Lydia to king Halyattes, who received them with great humanity.[1073] This occasioned a war between the two princes. Cyaxares immediately led his troops to the frontiers of Lydia. Many battles were fought during the space of five years, with almost equal advantage on both sides. But the battle fought in the sixth year was very remarkable on account of an eclipse of the sun, which happened during the engagement, when on a sudden the day was turned into a dark night. Thales, the Milesian, had foretold this eclipse. The Medes and Lydians, who were then in the heat of the battle, equally terrified with this unforeseen event, which they looked upon as a sign of the anger of the gods, immediately retreated on both sides, and made peace. Syennesis, king of Cilicia, and Nabuchodonosor,[1074] king of Babylon, were the mediators. To render it more firm and inviolable, the two princes were willing to strengthen it by the tie of marriage, and agreed, that Halyattes should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, eldest son of Cyaxares.
The manner these people had of contracting an alliance [pg 361] with one another, is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, which they had in common with the Greeks, they had this in particular; the two contracting parties made incisions in their own arms, and licked one another's blood.
A.M. 3378. Ant. J.C. 626.
Cyaxares's first care, as soon as he found himself again in peace, was to resume the siege of Nineveh, which the irruption of the Scythians had obliged him to raise.[1075] Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, with whom he had lately contracted a particular alliance, joined with him in a league against the Assyrians. Having therefore united their forces, they besieged Nineveh, took it, killed Saracus the king, and utterly destroyed that mighty city.
God had foretold by his prophets above a hundred years before, that he would bring vengeance upon that impious city for the blood of his servants, wherewith the kings thereof had gorged themselves, like ravenous lions; that he himself would march at the head of the troops that should come to besiege it; that he would cause consternation and terror to go before them; that he would deliver the old men, the mothers, and their children, into the merciless hands of the soldiers; that all the treasures of the city should fall into the hands of rapacious and insatiable plunderers; and that the city itself should be so totally and utterly destroyed, that not so much as a vestige of it should be left; and that the people should ask hereafter, Where did the proud city of Nineveh stand?
But let us hear the language of the prophets themselves: Woe unto the bloody city, (cries Nahum,) it is all full of lies and robbery:[1076] he that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face.[1077] The Lord cometh to avenge the cruelties done to Jacob and to Israel. I hear already the noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots.[1078] The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword, and the glittering spear. The shield of his mighty men is made red; the valiant men are in scarlet.[1079] They shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightning. God is jealous; the Lord revengeth, and is furious.[1080] The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, [pg 362] and the earth is burnt at his presence: who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: I will strip thee of all thy ornaments.[1081] Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.[1082] She is empty, and void, and waste. Nineveh is destroyed; she is overthrown; she is desolate. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace[1083] shall be dissolved.[1084] And Huzzab shall be led away captive; she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves tabring upon their breasts. I see a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses.[1085] Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding places of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid: where the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with rapine:[1086][1087] The Lord shall destroy Assur.[1088] He shall depopulate that city, which was so beautiful, and turn it into a land where no man cometh, and into a desert. It shall be a dwelling place for wild beasts, and the birds of night shall lurk therein. Behold, shall it be said, see that proud city, which was so stately, and so exalted; which said in her heart, I am the only city, and besides me there is no other. All they that pass by her shall scoff at her, and shall insult her with hissings and contemptuous gestures.
The two armies enriched themselves with the spoils of Nineveh; and Cyaxares, prosecuting his victories, made himself master of all the cities of the kingdom of Assyria, except Babylon and Chaldea, which belonged to Nabopolassar.
After this expedition Cyaxares died, and left his dominions to his son Astyages.
Astyages reigned thirty-five years. This prince is called in [pg 363]
Astyages. A.M. 3409. Ant. J.C. 595.
Scripture Ahasuerus. Though his reign was very long, no less than thirty-five years, yet have we no particulars recorded of it in history. He had two children, whose names are famous, namely, Cyaxares, by his wife Aryenis, and Mandane, by a former marriage. In his father's lifetime he married Mandane to Cambyses, the son of Achemenes, king of Persia: from this marriage sprung Cyrus, who was born but one year after the birth of his uncle Cyaxares. The latter succeeded his father in the kingdom of the Medes.
Cyaxares II. This is the prince whom the Scripture calls Darius the Mede.
Cyrus, having taken Babylon, in conjunction with his uncle Cyaxares, left it under his government. After the death of his uncle, and his father Cambyses, he united the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians into one: in the sequel, therefore, they will be considered only as one empire. I shall begin the history of that empire with the reign of Cyrus; which will include also what is known of the reigns of his two predecessors, Cyaxares and Astyages. But I shall previously give some account of the kingdom of Lydia, because Crœsus, its king, has a considerable share in the events of which I am to speak.