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.