[521-519 B.C.]

instituted the Feast of the Magophonia in memory of the murder which had made him king.

Two revolutions in such quick succession had shaken the power of the Persians. The empire founded by Cyrus differed but little from those of the Egyptians and Assyrians. It was the same collection of provinces administered by semi-independent governors, feudal kingdoms, and half-subjugated towns and tribes. These turbulent subjects hailed with delight any pretext for revolt. Rebellion broke out first in Susiana, under the lead of a certain Athrina, a descendant of the last national dynasty. From Susiana the contagion quickly spread to Babylon, where Nadintabaira, son of Nabonidus, came forward as a claimant to the throne, which he ascended under the glorious name of Nebuchadrezzar [III]. After entrusting his generals with the comparatively easy task of subjugating Athrina, Darius himself took command of the expedition to Chaldea. But Nebuchadrezzar III had made good use of the short time occupied by the Persians in crossing the Assyrian plain. He was already in possession of the strong positions on the right bank of the Tigris, and a fleet of armed boats protected his army. Darius, not venturing to attack him from the front, divided his army into little parties, some on horseback, and some on camels, and escaping the notice of the enemy by the multiplicity of his movements, he succeeded in crossing the river. The Chaldeans tried in vain to cast him back into the water. They formed up in good order, and six days later engaged in a second battle at Zazanu on the banks of the Euphrates (December, 521).

Nebuchadrezzar was completely defeated, and escaped with some officers to Babylon, where he was taken, and executed by the conqueror's command (519). Legend was not slow to embellish the events of this war, and in less than half a century it was reported that when Darius reached Babylon it was prepared for resistance. The inhabitants had repaired the walls, cut the canals, filled their magazines and barns, and relieved themselves of all useless and superfluous mouths by a general massacre, including all women except those necessary for bread making. At the end of twenty months the Persians were no further than at the beginning, when Zopyrus, one of the seven, conceived a plan to insure them success. After having his nose and ears cut off, and his body lacerated with whip blows, he presented himself in the city as a fugitive, commanded some sorties with success, and after thus gaining the confidence of the besieged, he was able, when on guard, to open the gates to the enemy. Three thousand Babylonians were crucified, the walls razed to the ground, and the city was repeopled with foreign colonists. The treachery of Zopyrus, as reported by Herodotus, was the admiration of olden times; but is only another of the stories which have to be eliminated from history.

In the midst of his triumph, Darius learned that the war was not over. Martiya, a Persian, tried to excite a second rebellion in Susiana, but it was promptly quelled by the Susians themselves. Media, however, rose under a certain Fravartish (Phraortes), who claimed to be a descendant of Cyaxares, and proclaimed himself king under the name of Phraortes II. Sufficient time had not elapsed since the rule of Astyages in Media for the Median nobility to renounce hope of recovering the supremacy, of which they had been robbed by the victory of Cyrus; and they seized the opportunity to rebel when Darius, after the murder of Gaumata, left with the flower of his troops for Babylon. Some of the nomadic tribes remained faithful, but all settled Medians joined the pretender, and the rebellion extended to Armenia and Assyria; and even where the authority of Phraortes was not recognised,

[520-518 B.C.]

the example of revolt was followed. Chitratahma also gave himself out as a descendant of Cyaxares, and incited Sagartia to rebellion; and Frada headed a revolt in Magiana. It would have been fatal for Darius if the rebellion had extended to the western satrapies, but, fortunately, they remained faithful. Orœtes, governor of Lydia, assumed an independent demeanour and threatened to become dangerous; and Bagæus conveyed to Sardis the royal command relieving the governor of his office, upon which all pikes were immediately lowered. So, encouraged by this success Bagæus handed a letter to the secretary, in which it was written, "King Darius orders the Persians at Sardis to kill Orotes," so they drew their swords and slew him. Several engagements of his generals with the troops of the pretender failed to attain any great success; Phraortes kept his position in Armenia, and his obstinate rebellion encouraged Parthia and Hyrcania to espouse his cause. Persia herself began to despair of success and to think of having another king; and many people would not believe that the line of direct descent from Cyrus had ended with Cambyses.

The usurpation and the fall of Gaumata and the accession of Darius had not shaken their faith in the existence of Bardius. The imposture of Gaumata did not necessarily involve the fact of the death of Bardius. So when a certain Vahyazdata appeared as the youngest son of Cyrus, he was received with enthusiasm.

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The imminence of the danger impelled Darius himself to take the field; he left Babylon, penetrated Media by the defile of Kerend, and defeated the enemy near the town of Kundorus (520). Phraortes fled towards the north, doubtless with the intention of continuing the struggle in the mountains. He was captured not far from Raga, and taken to Ecbatana. His punishment was horrible his nose and ears were cut off, his tongue cut out, and his eyes taken out, he was chained to the gate of the palace, and after the people had had enough of that spectacle, he was impaled; and his chief followers were also either impaled, or beheaded. Success was just as complete and rapid in Persia itself. Vahyazdata made the mistake of dividing his troops, and sending one part to Arachosia; so whilst Artavardija, the conqueror at Racha and then at Paraga (520), made him prisoner in the castle of Uvadeshaya, the satrap of Arachosia victoriously repulsed the invasion (519).

But it seemed as if one war engendered another. The ephemeral success of the second pseudo-Smerdis evoked a second false Nebuchadrezzar, for Darius had hardly left Babylon, when the Armenian Arakha presented himself to the people as the son of Nabonidus, but was easily conquered and was executed. The subjugation of the other provinces was quite easy. Chitratahma expiated his rebellion on the stake; Hystaspes, the father of Darius, soon quelled Hyrcania, (519) Dadarshis, the satrap of Bactriana, easily overcame the resistance of Frada (519); and the wars were concluded.

Organisation of Darius' Empire

The lesson of these first years was not lost on the conqueror. The empire of Cyrus had comprised, besides the countries governed by Persian officers, vassal kingdoms and cities and tributary people who were under the direct rule of the sovereign, and not under the satraps of the province which was the seat of their domain. It was the system of government practised by Tiglathpileser III and adopted by Persia from Babylon and Ecbatana.

Darius did not attempt to subjugate the races that peopled his domains; on the contrary, he encouraged the people to retain their languages, customs,

[515 B.C.] and religions, their laws and their particular constitutions. The Jews received permission to finish the building of the temple; the Greeks of Asia retained their various governments; Phoenicia kept her kings and suffets, and Egypt her hereditary nomarchs. But over all these local powers, there was a single authority, superior to all, and the same everywhere. The territory was divided into governments, the number of which varied with the times. There were originally twenty-three. The number of these governments, or satrapies, was increased to thirty-one by the conquests of Darius. If each of these satrapies had been governed by a separate governor invested with royal power, and sovereign in all but name and title, the empire would have run the risk of soon being broken up into a chaotic assembly of principalities, in incessant struggle against Persia. But Darius avoided uniting civil and military power in one person. He placed in each government three officers sent directly from the court and quite independent of each other-the satrap, the royal secretary, and the general. The satraps were chosen by the king. They could be taken from any class in the nation, from the poor as well as the rich, from foreigners as well as Persians; but it was customary to confer the most important satrapies on persons united by blood or marriage to the royal family. They were not nominated for any special time, but remained in office as long as the king pleased. They had full civil power, with palaces, parks, a court, bodyguards, and well-filled harems; they imposed taxes as they liked, administered justice, and had power over life and death.

They had a royal secretary at their disposal, and this personage, charged ostensibly with the duties of chancellor, was in reality a spy who watched everybody's actions and conduct, so as to be able to report them in the right quarter.

The Persian soldiers, the native troops, and the mercenaries cantoned in the province were under the command of a general, who was often inimical to the satrap and secretary. These three rivals, therefore, equalised and kept each other in check, and thus a revolt was, if not impossible, at least difficult. They were in perpetual communication with the court by means of regular couriers, who took their despatches from one end of the country to the other, in a few weeks. As an additional precaution Darius sent to the provinces every year officers whom he called his "eyes and his ears," because they were commissioned to see and hear for him what went on in the most distant parts of the kingdom. They appeared at the most unexpected moments, examined the state of affairs, reformed any details of administration, reprimanded and suspended the satrap, when necessary, and they were attended by a body of troops to support their decisions and give weight to their councils, which might otherwise have been wanting. An unfavourable account, a slight disobedience, or even the mere suspicion of disobedience, was enough to ruin a satrap, for he was then deposed, or more often condemned to death without a trial, the people of his suite being ordered to do the deed. A courier arrived suddenly, the guard received orders to kill their chief, and they at once fulfilled the royal decree.

This administrative reform did not please the Persians, and they tried to pay off their enforced obedience by scoffing jests at the king's expense. "Cyrus," they said, "had been a father and Cambyses a master, but Darius was only an innkeeper greedy of gain." For the division of the empire was done less for a political object than for financial profits and the chief duty of the satraps was to assess, collect and turn over the taxes. Persia proper was exempt from a regular taxation, and the people were only required to

[515-512 B.C.]

make the king a present every time he crossed the country. The present was in proportion to the fortune of the individual, and sometimes merely consisted of an ox, or a sheep, or even a little milk or cheese, a few dates, a handful of flour or some vegetables; but the other provinces were taxed according to their extent and wealth with a tribute payable partly in kind, and partly in money. The revenue in money went up to 1460 Euboic talents or nearly £28,000,000. To facilitate the payments Darius circulated gold and silver coins named after himself. These darics were stamped with a figure of the king, bearing a bow, or a javelin. They were thick, irregular, and clumsy, but of pure metal. The coins were not in common circulation, but they were used in the payment of the soldiers and sailors, and were current on the coasts of the Mediterranean. In the interior of Asia, metals were valued according to their weight for transactions of commerce and daily life, and kings themselves preferred to have them in their rough state, for they had them melted down and put into earthen vases, and coined according to the needs or the caprice of the moment. The tribute in kind was not less than that in money. Egypt supplied the corn for the 120,000 military men who occupied it; the Medians gave annually 100,000 sheep, 4000 mules, and 3000 horses; the Armenians 30,000 chickens, the people of Babylon 500 young eunuchs; Cilicia 365 white horses, one for each day of the year. The royal taxes were not excessive, but the satraps received no salary from the state, and they and their suites lived and received their heavy remunerations at the expense of the satrapies. The government of Babylon alone had to give a full artaba of silver every day. Egypt, India, Media, and Syria gave not much less; and the poorest provinces were not those least heavily taxed, for the satraps counted on having at least as much as the king.

In spite of its drawbacks, this system was preferable to that hitherto employed in the East, for it gave the king a regular budget, kept the provinces under his power, and made national revolts very difficult. The death of each king was no longer followed by insurrections which took a great part of the following reign to quell. Darius had not only the glory of organising the Persian empire, but he invented a form of government which served henceforth as a pattern to the great oriental states. His fame as an administrator has even obscured his military renown, for it is often forgotten that he increased his empire while regulating its administration.

Later Conquests of Darius

Darius' victories left the Persians with only India on the east, and Greece on the west, in which to expand, as their territory in other directions extended to the seas, or to obstacles untraversable by the heavy armies of the period. The empire was bounded on the north by the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, and the steppes of Tartary, and on the south by the Erythræan Sea, the sandy tableland of Arabia, and the desert of Africa.

About the year 512 the Persians seem to have penetrated farther east. From the heights of Iran they commanded the immense plains of the Punjab. Darius invaded and conquered this country, and formed thereof the satrapy of India. Then, instead of fulfilling his intention of going beyond the Ganges, he had the southern regions explored. A fleet constructed at Peukala and placed under the command of a Greek admiral, Scylax a Carian, descended the Indus to its mouth and subjugated the tribes who

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[515-512 B.C.]

lived on the banks of the river, and when he reached the sea, he turned to the west and in less than thirty months reached the coasts of Gedrosia and Arabia.

The Persians might have had a brilliant and lucrative career in India. It is not known what prevented them from following up their first success and turned their attention to the West, where Darius planned to conquer the Greeks of Europe. But before setting out on that expedition, prudence warned him to conquer, or at least to frighten, the people who might disturb his course, so he attacked the Scythians.

The first expedition, commanded by Ariaramnes, satrap of Cappadocia, crossed the Pontus Euxinus, landed some thousands of men on the opposite coast, and made some prisoners, who furnished the Persian generals with the information they needed. With this knowledge, Darius crossed the Bosporus with eight hundred thousand men, subjugated the eastern coast of Thrace, and crossed the Danube on a bridge of boats, made by the Greeks of Ionia. The Scythians would not fight, but having destroyed the fodder, and filled up the wells, they drove off their cattle and took refuge in the interior, leaving the enemy to fight against famine, and the impassability of the country.e

We cannot pause to dwell upon the details of this campaign. But there is one incident chronicled by Herodotus that must be transcribed because of the interesting light it throws upon the relations of the antagonists.

"The Scythians," says Herodotus, "discovering that the Persians were in extreme perplexity, hoped that by detaining them longer in their country, they should finally reduce them to the utmost distress: with this view, they occasionally left exposed some of their cattle with their shepherds, and artfully retired; of these, with much exultation, the Persians took possession.

"This was again and again repeated; Darius nevertheless became gradually in want of almost every necessary: the Scythian princes, knowing this, sent to him a messenger, with a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows, as a present. The Persians inquired of the bearer, what these might mean; but the man declared that his orders were only to deliver them and return: he advised them, however, to exert their sagacity, and interpret the mystery.

"The Persians accordingly held a consultation on the subject. Darius was of opinion, that the Scythians intended by this to express submission to him, and give him the earth and the water which he required. The mouse, as he explained it, was produced in the earth, and lived on the same food as man; the frog was a native of the water; the bird bore great resemblance to a horse; and in giving the arrows, they intimated the surrender of their power: this was the interpretation of Darius. Gobryas, however, one of the seven who had dethroned the Magus, thus interpreted the presents: 'Men of Persia, unless like birds ye shall mount into the air, like mice take refuge in the earth, or like frogs leap into the marshes, these arrows shall prevent the possibility of your return to the place from whence you came. This explanation was generally accepted."

This quaint recital suggests that the Persians were in dire straits; but the result was less disastrous than the Scythians anticipated. Darius managed to provision his army, and for some weeks he traversed the steppes, even penetrating, it has been supposed, to the heart of Russia, burning and sacking all the villages on the road, and then returning south with no reverses. During his absence, the barbarians begged the Greeks to destroy their bridge of boats and return to their own country. Miltiades of Athens, tyrant of the Thracian Chersonesus, wished to accede to this request, but Histiæus of Miletus opposed the plan, and his advice was followed. So