[311] Herod. 5, 19.
[312] Herod. 5, 21; 7, 21; Justin, 7, 3, 4.
[313] Herod. 5, 18, 21; Justin, 7, 3, 4. In the year 512 B.C., in which this incident falls, Alexander must have been very young; Herodotus speaks of him as young and inexperienced. In Justin we are told in reference to the length of his life: "Senex decessit." On the reigns of Amyntas and Alexander Philhellen, I shall treat in my Greek History. For the present I refer to Droysen, "Hellenismus," 12, 75, and Von Gutschmid, "Ueber die makedonische Anagraphe, Symbol. Philolog." Bonn.
[314] The Ionian revolt liberated Lemnos from the dominion of the Persians; when Miltiades during the revolt subjugated Lemnos and Imbros to Athens, Hermon was at the head of Lemnos.
[315] Herod. 3, 129-138. Athenaeus, p. 522. On the date of the expedition above, p. 270, n. That this whole expedition owed its origin to an intrigue of Democedes, is merely a part of Herodotus' love of anecdote. But it is not incredible that Democedes joined it in the hope of returning to Greece.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE STATE OF DARIUS.
The perseverance and vigour of Darius had succeeded in re-establishing and extending the kingdom of Cyrus. In the west he had reached Mount Olympus and the great Syrtis, in the east the course of the Indus, high up among the Himalayas; in the north the boundaries were the Caucasus and the Jaxartes, in the south the tribes of Arabia and the negroes above Nubia. He set himself to give a regulated administration to this empire, which had been acquired by such vast conquests, and which in its wide extent threw the empire of the Assyrians completely into the shade. He made the first attempt known to history to organize his conquests and govern them on a fixed plan. Thus he became the real founder of the Persian empire. He succeeded so far that an empire, the like of which had not been seen upon earth, which enumerated the most various nations among its subjects, was really governed, and the foundations which he laid were so firm that in spite of many serious rebellions, the empire never fell from internal disorganization.
The chief support of the kingdom lay in the proud feeling of the Persians that they were the ruling nation of Asia, and governed the nations through their king and with their king. They saw with satisfaction how the tribute, the contributions, the prisoners of the subject nations came from the furthest distance to their mountains, how the palaces of their king rose in ever-increasing splendour on their native soil, what brilliance and magnificence surrounded their ruler, the king of kings. From the Persians were chosen the magistrates who governed the provinces, and the generals who commanded their contingents; Persians surrounded the king and were his counsellors and judges. The court, the administration, and the army opened the most brilliant prospect to every Persian who was in a position to distinguish himself in the eyes of the king; and service in war offered acceptable pay to the man of the people. Persian troops, excellently appointed, protected the person of the king; they formed the garrisons of the fortresses, they were the nucleus of the army, and marched before the rest of the troops. In solemn processions and parades, the Persians were always on the right of the king.[316] They were not only free from tax and tribute of every kind, but largesses of money were made whenever the king entered Pasargadae (V. 357). Plato's Laws maintain that Darius established as law the allotments which Cyrus promised the Persians; in this way he had shown his inclination to the Persians and had established a common feeling between the ruler and the nation.[317] However this may be, every one, even the meanest Persian, felt that he had a share in the government of Asia.