but while he was still prostrate, the king re-entered.

thought.

What the king He thought Haman was offering the queen violence, and in unbridled rage, commanded him to be led to instant execution.

A suggestion proposed.

An officer standing by, suggested to the king the gallows which Haman had made for Mordecai; upon which the king cried aloud: Take him and hang him thereon himself.

executed.

The order This order was executed without delay; and Haman was hung upon his own gallows.

What followed.

The king then returned to

Esther, and commanded Mordecai to be brought before him.

How he was

honoured.

Taking off his signet ring, he

placed it on the finger of Mordecai, and made him the first officer in the empire.

The effect

thereof.

From this moment the Jews

were protected; the decree of Cyrus

was confirmed; and the building of the city and temple of Jerusalem proceeded without further interruption.

When Haman laid his plot to extirpate the Jews, he drew lots (Pur) to find out the most lucky day and month. The lot fell on the 13th day of the 12th month, called in Hebrew Adar. Had it fallen in the some earlier month, the events recorded above could not have occurred, and the massacre of the Jews could not have been arrested. Mordecai, on his advancement, made the allotted day a national festival, which he called Purim, from Pur, a lot, and the feast is still observed by the Jews in commemoration of this deliverance.

State of
Babylon,

In the latter part of this reign, the Babylonians revolted, because the seat of government had been entirely removed from Babylon to Susa, in Persia.

How they were punished.

Ashasue'rus sent a large army against the revolters; destroyed their wall; and reduced the rebellious city to subordination.

Camby'ses, son of Cyrus, held his court at Babylon only the six winter months. He spent the spring at Susa, and the summer at Ecbatan.

PERIOD X.

THE 12 KINGS OF PERSIA.

B.C. 540 to 331.

B.C.

540. CYRUS, the founder, reigned 19 years. The last 8 over Babylon.

529. CAMBY'SES, his son (called in Ezra iv. 6, Ahasueʼrus), reigned 6 years. He spent 6 months annually at Babylon, 3 at Susa, and 3 at Ecbătan.

SMERDIS usurped the throne for 7 months. This king is called Artaxerxes, in Ezra iv. 7.

521. DARIUS I., son of Hystaspés,* called in the Book of Esther Ahasuerus, reigned 36 years. He removed the seat of government to Susa, and destroyed Babylon. This was the king who was conquered by the Greeks at Marathon. (B.C. 490.)

485. XERXES I., his son (called Artaxerxes in Ezra vi. 4), reigned 21 years. This was the king who was conquered by the Greeks at Salǎmis. (B.c. 480.)

464. ARTAXERXES I., Longiman'us, his son, reigned 40 years. This was the king who sent Ezra to Jerusalem. NEHEMIAH lived in this reign.

424. XERXES II., his son, reigned 6 weeks.

424. SOGDIA'NUS, his half-brother, reigned a few days, and was assassinated by Darius Nothus.

423. DARIUS II., Nothus (the bastard), an indolent, weak prince, who reigned 6 years.

*This is not Darius the Mede, uncle of Cyrus, but Darius the Persian.

404. ARTAXERXES II., Mnemon (of good memory), his son, reigned 46 years. His brother Cyrus revolts-is aided by 10,000 Greeks, who, after the battle of Cunaxa, retreat under the conduct of Xenophon. (B.c. 401.)

358. OCHUS, his son, reigned 21 years, and is poisoned. 337. ARSES, his son, was murdered in the second year of his reign.

335. DARIUS III., Codomannus, reigned 4 years. This is the prince whom Alexander thrice conquered. With him ended the first Persian empire, 209 years after its foundation by Cyrus. (B.c. 334, 333, 331.)

CHAPTER I.

THE REIGN OF XERXES.

B.C. 486-464.

COTEMPORARY EVENTS.

480. The battles of Thermopyla and of Salamis. 479. Battles of Platæa and Mycălé.

477. The 300 Fabii slaughtered.

469. Capua founded by the Tuscans.

Themistoclés, Aristidés, and Pausanias, Eschylus and Sophoclés, Coriolanus the Roman, Hiero of Syracuse, &c., lived in this period.

of Darius.

Successor Xerxes, whose name is so celebrated in Grecian history, succeeded his father, Ahasuerus, in Persia.

Treatment of He did not interfere with the

the Jews.

edict of Cyrus, and consequently the Jews went on with the temple. But they suffered greatly in the loss of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, and Zechariah.

Section I.

ZERUBBABEL.

Governor of the Jews from B.C. 543 to 480.

Zerubbabel,

who he was.

Zerubbabel was the son of

Salathiel, of the royal race of David.

by Cyrus.

Honoured To his hands were restored the 5400 sacred vessels taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. (B.c. 543.)

What was done with them.

With these holy treasures, committed to his charge by king Cyrus, Zerubbabel returned to Jerusalem, leading with him the first band of returning exiles to the number of 50,000.

turned.

Not all re- These were by no means all the Jewish captives; for many who had