The magus, after the death of Cambyses, relying on his having the same name as Smerdis the son of Cyrus, reigned securely during the seven months that remained to complete the eighth year of Cambyses; in which time he treated all his subjects with such beneficence, that at his death, all the people of Asia, except the Persians, regretted his loss. For the magus, on assuming the sovereignty, despatched messengers to every nation he ruled over, and proclaimed a general exemption from military service and tribute for the space of three years. But in the eighth month he was discovered in the following manner. Otanes, son of Pharnaspes, was by birth and fortune equal to the first of the Persians. This Otanes first suspected the magus not to be Smerdis the son of Cyrus, from the fact, that he never went out of the citadel, and that he never summoned any of the principal men of Persia to his presence. Having conceived suspicion of him, he contrived the following artifice. Cambyses had married his daughter, whose name was Phædyma; the magus of course had her as his wife, as well as all the rest of the wives of Cambyses. Otanes therefore, sending to his daughter, inquired whether her husband was Smerdis, son of Cyrus, or some other person; she sent back word to him, saying that she did not know. Otanes sent a second time, saying: "If you do not yourself know Smerdis, son of Cyrus, then inquire of Atossa, for she must of necessity know her own brother." To this his daughter replied: "I can neither have any conversation with Atossa, nor see any of the women who used to live with me; for as soon as this man, whoever he is, succeeded to the throne, he dispersed us all, assigning us separate apartments." When Otanes heard this, the matter appeared much more plain; and he sent a third message to her in these words: "Daughter, it becomes you, being of noble birth, to undertake any peril that your father may require you to incur. For if this Smerdis is not the son of Cyrus, but the person whom I suspect, it is not fit that he should escape with impunity, but suffer the punishment due to his offences. Now follow my directions: watch your opportunity, and whenever you discover him to be sound asleep, touch his ears; and if you find he has ears, be assured that he is Smerdis, son of Cyrus; but if he has none, then he is Smerdis the magus." To this message Phædyma answered, saying "that she should incur very great danger by doing so; for he kept the sides of his head concealed, and if he had no ears, and she should be discovered touching him, she well knew that he would put her to death; nevertheless she would make the attempt." Cyrus, during his reign, had cut off the ears of this Smerdis the magus, for some grave offence. Phædyma, therefore, determining to execute all that she had promised her father, catching the magus sound asleep on his couch one day felt for his ears, and perceiving without any difficulty that the man had no ears, as soon as it was day, she sent and made known to her father what the case was.
Thereupon Otanes, having taken with him Aspathines and Gobryas, who were the noblest of the Persians, and persons on whom he could best rely, related to them the whole affair; and they agreed that each should associate with himself a Persian in whom he could place most reliance. Otanes accordingly introduced Intaphernes; Gobryas, Megabyzus; and Aspathines, Hydarnes. Just at this time Darius, son of Hystaspes, arrived at Susa from Persia, where his father was governor, and the six Persians determined to admit Darius to the confederacy. These seven met, exchanged pledges with each other, and conferred together. When it came to the turn of Darius to declare his opinion, he addressed them as follows: "I thought that I was the only person who knew that it was the magus who reigns, and that Smerdis, son of Cyrus, is dead; and for this very reason I hastened hither in order to contrive the death of the magus. But since it proves that you also are acquainted with the fact, it appears to me that we should act immediately." Otanes said to this: "Son of Hystaspes, you are born of a noble father, and show yourself not at all inferior to him; do not, however, so inconsiderately hasten this enterprise, but set about it with more caution; for we must increase our numbers, and then attempt it." Darius replied to this: "Be assured, ye men who are here present, if you adopt the plan proposed by Otanes, you will all miserably perish; for some one will discover it to the magus, consulting his own private advantage; indeed, you ought to have carried out your project immediately, without communicating it to any one else; but since you have thought fit to refer it to others, and have disclosed it to me, let us carry it out this very day, or be assured, that if this day passes over, no one shall be beforehand with me and become my accuser, but I myself will denounce you to the magus." Otanes, seeing Darius so eager, replied: "Since you compel us to precipitate our enterprise, and will not permit us to defer it, tell us in what way we are to enter the palace and attack him; for you yourself know that guards are stationed at intervals; and how shall we pass them?" "There are many things," said Darius, "that can not be made clear by words, but may by action; and there are other things that seem practicable in description, but no signal effect proceeds from them. Be assured that the guards stationed there will not be at all difficult to pass by: for in the first place, seeing our rank, there is no one who will not allow us to pass, partly from respect, and partly from fear; and in the next place, I have a most specious pretext by which we shall gain admission, for I will say that I have just arrived from Persia, and wish to report a message to the king from my father. For when a lie must be told, let it be told. Whoever of the doorkeepers shall willingly let us pass, shall be rewarded in due time; but whoever offers to oppose us must instantly be treated as an enemy." After this Gobryas said: "Friends, shall we ever have a better opportunity to recover the sovereign power, or if we shall be unable to do so, to die? seeing we who are Persians, are governed by an earless Medic magus. Those among you who were present with Cambyses when he lay sick, well remember the imprecations he uttered at the point of death against the Persians, if they should not attempt to repossess themselves of the sovereign power: we did not then believe this story, but thought that Cambyses spoke from ill-will. I give my voice that we yield to Darius, and that on breaking up this conference we go direct to the magus." And all assented to his proposal.
Meantime the magi, on consultation, determined to make Prexaspes their friend: both because he had suffered grievous wrong from Cambyses, who shot his son dead with an arrow; and because he alone of all the Persians knew of the death of Smerdis, son of Cyrus, as he had despatched him with his own hand; and moreover, Prexaspes was in high repute with the Persians. Therefore, having sent for Prexaspes, they endeavored to win his friendship, binding him by pledges and oaths, that he would never divulge to any man the cheat they had put upon the Persians, assuring him that in return they would give him every thing his heart could desire. When Prexaspes had promised that he would do as the magi wished, they made a second proposal, saying, that they would assemble all the Persians under the walls of the palace, and desired that he would ascend a tower, and assure them that they were governed by Smerdis, son of Cyrus. Prexaspes assented, and the magi, having convoked the Persians, placed him on the top of a turret, and commanded him to harangue the people. But he purposely forgot what they desired him to say, and, beginning from Achæmenes, described the genealogy of Cyrus' family; told them what great benefits Cyrus had done the Persians; and finally declared the whole truth, saying that he had before concealed it, as it was not safe for him to tell what had happened; but that in the present emergency necessity constrained him to make it known. He accordingly told them that he, being compelled by Cambyses, had put Smerdis, son of Cyrus, to death, and that it was the magi who then reigned. After he had uttered many imprecations against the Persians, if they should not recover back the sovereign power, and punish the magi, he threw himself headlong from the tower. Thus died Prexaspes, a man highly esteemed during the course of his whole life.
MAMELUKE TOMB, CAIRO.
The seven Persians, resolving to attack the magi without delay, had offered prayers to the gods, and were in the midst of their way when they were informed of all that Prexaspes had done, whereupon they again conferred together; and some, with Otanes, strongly advised to defer the enterprise while affairs were in such a ferment; but others, with Darius, urged to proceed at once. While hotly disputing there appeared seven pairs of hawks pursuing two pairs of vultures, and plucking and tearing them. The seven, on seeing this, all approved the opinion of Darius, and forthwith proceeded to the palace, emboldened by the omen. When they approached the gates, it happened as Darius had supposed; for the guards, out of respect for men of highest rank among the Persians, and not suspecting any such design on their part, let them pass by, moved as they were by divine impulse; nor did any one question them. But when they reached the hall, they fell in with the eunuchs appointed to carry in messages, who inquired of them for what purpose they had come; and at the same time that they questioned them they threatened the doorkeepers for permitting them to pass, and endeavored to prevent the seven from proceeding any farther. They instantly drew their daggers, stabbed all that opposed their passage on the spot, and then rushed to the men's apartment. The magi happened to be both within at the time, and were consulting about the conduct of Prexaspes. But seeing the eunuchs in confusion, and hearing their outcry, they hurried out, and put themselves on the defensive. One snatched up a bow, and the other a javelin, and the parties engaged with each other. The one who had taken up the bow, seeing his enemies were near and pressing upon them, found it of no use; but the other made resistance with his spear, and first wounded Aspathines in the thigh, and next Intaphernes in the eye; and Intaphernes lost his eye from the wound, but did not die. The other magus, when he found his bow of no service, fled to a chamber adjoining the men's apartment, purposing to shut to the door, and two of the seven, Darius and Gobryas, rushed in with him; and as Gobryas was grappling with the magus, Darius standing by was in perplexity, fearing that he should strike Gobryas in the dark; but Gobryas, seeing that he stood by inactive, asked him why he did not use his hand. He answered: "Fearing for you, lest I should strike you." "Never mind," said Gobryas, "drive your sword through both of us." Darius obeyed, thrust with his dagger, and by good fortune hit the magus.
Having slain the magi, and cut off their heads, they left the wounded of their own party there, as well on account of their exhaustion as to guard the acropolis; but the other five of them, carrying the heads of the magi, ran out with shouting and clamor, and called upon the rest of the Persians, relating what they had done, and showing them the heads; and at the same time they slew every one of the magi that came in their way. The Persians, informed of what had been done by the seven, and of the fraud of the magi, determined themselves also to do the like; and having drawn their daggers, they slew every magus they could find; and if the night coming on had not prevented, they would not have left a single magus alive. This day the Persians observe in common more than any other, and in it they celebrate a great festival, which they call "The Slaughter of the Magi." On that day no magus is allowed to be seen in public.
When the tumult had subsided, and five days had elapsed, those who had risen up against the magi deliberated on the state of affairs. Otanes advised that they should commit the government to the Persians at large, "for," said he, "how can a monarchy be a well-constituted government, where one man is allowed to do whatever he pleases without control?" Megabyzus advised them to intrust the government to an oligarchy, and said: "Let us choose an association of the best men, and commit the sovereign power to them, for among them we ourselves shall be included, and it is reasonable to expect that the best counsels will proceed from the best men." Darius expressed his opinion the third, saying: "What Megabyzus has said concerning the people was spoken rightly, but if three forms are proposed, and each the best in its kind, democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy, I contend that the last is far superior. For nothing can be found better than one man, who is the best; since acting upon equally wise plans, he would govern the people without blame, and would keep his designs most secret from the ill-affected. But in an oligarchy, whilst many are exerting their energies for the public good, strong private enmities commonly spring up; for each wishing to be chief, and to carry his own opinions, they come to deep animosities one against another, whence seditions arise; and from seditions, murder; and from murder recourse is always had to a monarchy; and thus it is proved that this form of government is the best. Also when the people rule, it is impossible that evil should not spring up, and powerful combinations, for they who injure the commonwealth act in concert; and this lasts until some one of the people stands forward and puts them down; and on this account, being admired by the people, he becomes a monarch; this again shows that a monarchy is best. Moreover, we should not subvert the institutions of our ancestors, when we see how good they are."
Four of the seven adhered to this opinion. Then said Otanes: "Associates, since it is evident that some one of us must be made king, I will not enter into competition with you; for I wish neither to govern nor be governed. But on this condition I give up all claim to the government, that neither I nor any of my posterity may be subject to any one of you." The six agreed to these terms, and he withdrew from the assembly; and this family alone, of all the Persians, retains its liberty to this day, and yields obedience only so far as it pleases, but without transgressing the laws of the Persians. The rest of the seven consulted how they might appoint a king on the most equitable terms; and they determined that Otanes and his posterity forever should be given a Median vest yearly, by way of distinction, together with all such presents as are accounted most honorable among the Persians, for he first advised the enterprise, and associated them together. And they made the resolution that every one of the seven should have liberty to enter into the palace without being introduced, and that the king should not be allowed to marry a wife out of any other family than of the conspirators. With regard to the kingdom, they determined that he whose horse should first neigh in the suburbs at sunrise, while they were mounted, should have the kingdom.