Although Herodotus did not write his work in chronological order, yet we cannot doubt that he had some general plan of computing time. By carefully selecting and comparing the separate data scattered through his work, this plan to a certain extent may be traced out, and early history, with regard to settled chronology, must necessarily gain a good deal. The following essay is founded upon a procedure of this kind; it is drawn entirely from Herodotus, and only from data which he has precisely determined, the passages of his work being always referred to.

The year B. C. 561, in which the fall of Astyages and the Median empire took place, as may be proved from Herodotus himself, is a fixed point of time from which we may ascend into higher antiquity. This point of time may be determined by the chronological data respecting the battle of Marathon, four years before the death of Darius (Herodotus VII. 1. 4.) agreeing with the general data of the Greeks, who fix it in the third year of the 72nd Olymp. B. C. 490. By adding to this the thirty-two years of Darius's reign that had already elapsed (Herodotus, ibid.), the eight months of Smerdis (Herodotus, III. 68.), the seven years and five months of Cambyses (Herodotus III. 66.), and the twenty-nine years of Cyrus (Herodotus, I. 214.), we obtain the year 560 as the first year of Cyrus.

I. CHRONOLOGY OF THE MEDIAN EMPIRE.

B. C.
End of the Median empire561.
Duration of the Median empire one hundred and fifty-six years (Herodotus, I, 130.)
The beginning of it, therefore, after their separation from the Assyrians, would be717.
In this period, at first, six years of anarchy[a]716—710.
Reign of Deioces fifty-three years (Herodotus, I. 102.)710—657.
Reign of Phraortes, twenty-two years (ibid.)657—635.
Cyaxares, forty years (I. 106.)635—595.
Irruption and dominion of the Scythians, twenty-eight years (I. 203. 106.)625—598.
Conquest of Nineveh (I. 106.)597.
Astyages reigned thirty-five years (I. 130.)595—561.

[a] These are certainly not determined from Herodotus; but they remain after subtracting the one hundred and fifty years' reign of the four Median kings.

The succession of Median kings given by Ctesias, which entirely differs from this, the author thinks might be explained by a duplication; see † Gott. Gel. Anz. 1810, p. 4.

II. CHRONOLOGY OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE.

The dominion of the Assyrians over Asia, or their empire, ended with the revolt of the Medes (Herodotus, I. 95.); although the existence of their state did not then end, but terminated with the capture of Nineveh by Cyaxares, B. C. 597.

B. C.
Revolt of the Medes, as above717.
The dominion of the Assyrians had endured five hundred and twenty years (Herodotus, I. 95.)
The Assyrian empire lasted therefore from1237—717.