chadone for, following his blow reduced several cities of Mediay and among the reft Ecbatan itself which he almoft intirely destroyed botruose ed blood sensing did girl He was fucceeded by his for Phraortes ;ywho, being Phraortes. of a warlike temper, and not fatisfied with the kingdom of Year of Media, which his father had left him, invaded Perfia; the flood and is faid to have brought that nation under fubjection to 1692. the Medes But we are inclined to difagree with our au- Bef. Chr. thor in this particulary and afcribe the conqueft of Perfia, 656. not to Phraertes, but to his fon and fucceffor Gyaxares (S). w Judith i, 14.600 * HERODOT. ubi fupra, SIMIO GT 26/0 ka ya (S) It feems plain from Scripture, that the Perfians were not fubdued by the Medes till after the taking of Nineveh, by the joint forces of Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar, In the fourth year of Jeboiakim, which the Jews reckon to be the firft of Nebuchadnezzar (45), God threatened by his prophet (46), that he would take all the families of the north, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Baby lon, and bring them against Judea, and against the nations round about, and utterly destroy thofe nations, and make them an ftonishment and lafting defolations, and caufe them all to drink the wine-cup of his fury; and in particular, he names the kings of Judah and Egypt, and thofe of Edom and Moab, and Ammon and Tyre, and all the kings of Elam, and all the and at the of Fame. kings of the Medes, &c. Where it is to be obferved, that in numbering the nations which were to be fubdued, he omits the Agrians, who mult confequently have been already conquered, and names the (45) Jerem. xxv. I. 35. & feq. ་ How kings of Elam or Perfia, as diftinct from those of the Medes; whence we may con clude, that the Perfians were not yet fubdued by the Medes. In the beginning of the reign, of Zedekiah, that is, in the fixth year of Nebuchadnezzar, the fame prophet foretold the approaching conqueft of Perfia by the Medes and their confe derates: Behold, fays he, I will break the bow of Elam-upon Elam will I bring the four: winds from the four quarters of heaven and there shall be no nation where the outcafts of Elam fhall not come. -I will fet my throne in Elam, and will defiroy from thence the king and the princes, faith the LORD; but in the latter it shall come to 6 days (that is, in the reign of Cyrus), that Facill bring again the captivity of Elam, faith the Lord (47), no v From these words of the prophet it is manifeft, that, i/ the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, nay, after the deftruction of Nineveh, the Perfians had kings of their own, and consequently could Суахаres I. However, he fubdued feveral of the neighbouring nations, attacking then one after another, till he made himself after of almoft all the Upper Afia, lying between ́mount Taurus and the river Halys. Elated with the good fuccefs that attended his army, at length he invaded Affyria, made himself mafter of great part of the country, and even laid fiege to Nineveh, the metropolis of the empire. But here his good fortune abandoning him, he perifhed, with the greater part of his army, in the attempt, after having reigned twenty-two years. UPON the death of Phraortes, his fon Cyaxares was placed on the throne. He was a brave and enterprifing Year of prince; and indeed fuch a man was then, more than ever, the flood wanting, to fave the nation from impending flavery, most 1713. part of the kingdom being already poffeffed by the AffyBef. Chr. tans. Having fettled himfelf well in his kingdom, and 635 brought his troops under good difcipline (T), he foon re covered what the Affyrians had taken during the reigns of his father and grandfather. What he had next at heart was, to avenge their death, by the deftruction of Nineveh; and accordingly, having affembled all his forces, he marched out, with a defign to treat that city, as Nebuchadonofor had treated the metropolis of Media. The Affyrians meeting hun on the frontiers, with the remains only of that great army which had been destroyed before Bethulia, an engagement enfued, wherein the former were defeated, and driven into Nineveh. Cyaxares, pursuing his victory, laid clofe fiege to the city; but was foon obliged to give over the enterprize, and employ his troops in the defence of his own kingdom". (48) See Sir Ifaac Newton's chron, of ant. (49) Herodot, I. i. kingd. amend. p. 313, & seqq. A for A formidable army of Scythians, having driven the Cim- The Scymerians out of Europe, were in full march in purfuit of their thians infying enemies, and ready to enter Media. They were vade Afia. come from the neighbourhood of the Palus Magtis, and commanded by king Madyes, the fon of Protothyas., This Madyes can be no other than Indatbyr fus the Scythian, who invaded Afia, as Strabo informs us; and, having laid wafte great part of that country, advanced to the confines of Egypt. Cyaxares no fooner heard of their march, but, breaking up the fiege of Nineveh, he advanced with all his forces against them. The two armies engaged; and the Medes, though encouraged by the example of their king, who, on that occafion, gave proofs of an extraordinary valour, were utterly routed. The conquerors, having no other enemy to contend with, over-ran not only all Media, but the greater part of Upper Afia (U). From thence they STRAB 1. i. prope initium. fs Short Dad or civi 1 (U) Enfebiks tells us, that this purfuit fell, as it were by rians, Scythians, and Samari- when they extended their conquefts into Syria, as far as the confines of Egypt. But there Pfammiticus, king of that country, when they were encountered by the Romans. For they came from the countries bordering on the lake Maotis; they were then likewife affifted, as Plutarch informs us (51, by their neighbours the Scythians, and had in their army above 300,000 men, befides a great multitude of women and children. They wandered over many countries, bearing all down before them, and finally, defigning to settle in Italy, divided into feveral bodies, to facilitate their paffage thither; but were all cut off in three battles by the Roman confuls. Mere neceffity obliged thefe poor nations to infeft their neighbours, and expofe themfelves to fuch dangers: for their country abounding more in men than in fuftenance, and fhut up in the north by intolerable cold, they were compelled to discharge their overgrown numbers on the fouthern countries, and drive others, right or wrong, from their poffeffions, as being intitled to what others had, because they had nothing them felves. As they were a warlike race, and inured to hardfhips, they generally prevailed, their next neigbours giving them a free paffage, that they might the fooner get rid of them; others fupplying them with provifions, and guides, to lead them to more wealthy countries. (51) Plutarch. in Mario. The first body of these, mentioned by Herodotus, took the way of the Euxine fea, which they had on the left, as mount Caucafus on their right. They paffed through Colchis and Pontus, and, arriving in Paphlagonia, fortified the promontory whereon Sinope was afterwards built by the Greeks." Here they left, under a strong guard, fuch as were unfit for fervice, and great part of their baggage; and then continued their march into Phrygia, Lydia, and Ionia, having now no mountains or deep rivers to ftop their march; for the Iris and Halys they had already paffed. We shall give an account of their wars with the Lydians in the hiftory of Ly-. dia. As the Cimmerians held their courfe wefterly along the Shore of the Euxine fea, fo the Scythians took the other way; and, having the Cafpian on their left, paffed between that fea and the Caucafus, thro' Albania, Colthene, and other obfcure nations, till they came into Media, where they engaged and routed Cyaxares, as we have faid. To this overthrow of Cyaxares, fome commentators refer that prophecy of Nahum (52); He (that is, Cyaxares befieging Nineveh) shall recount his worthies; they fhall fumble in their walk (that is, in the walk or perambulation of the Scythians, whose (52) Nabum ii. 5. try, meeting them in perfon, prevailed upon thofe barbarians, what by intreaties, what by prefents, to proceed no farther, and thereby faved his country from the heavy oppreffion, which his neighbours groaned under 2. In this expedition, the Scythians poffeffed themselves of the city of Bethfheam in the territories of the tribe of Manasseh on this fide the Jordan, and held it as long as they continued in Afia; whence it is called Scythopolis, or the city of the Scythians b. On their return from Egypt, as they paffed through the land of the Philistines, fome of the ftragglers plundered the temple of Venus at Afcalon; which was believed the moft antient in the world dedicated to that goddefs. To avenge this attempt, the goddess is faid to have inflicted on thofe that were concerned in the facrilege, and their pofterity, the hemorrhoids; which fhews that the Philistines ftill preserved the memory of what they had formerly fuffered on account of the ark; for, from that time, they looked, it seems, on this diftemper as a punishment from Heaven attending fuch facrilegious attempts; and therefore, in charging the Scythians with this crime, took care not to omit, in their hiftories, the punishment which their ancestors had suffered for one of the fame nature c. THE Scythians were, for the space of twenty-eight years, mafters of the Upper Afta, namely the two Armenias, Cappadocia, Pontus, Colchis, Iberia, and great part of Lydia. Cyaxares, finding it impracticable to get rid of his troublefome guests by open force, refolved to try what might be effected by ftratagem; and accordingly invited the greatest part of them to a general feaft, which was given in every family. Each landlord made his guest drunk; and in that condition were the Scythians maflacred, and the kingdom a HERODOT. lib. i. c. 105. lib. ii. c. 1. & lib. vii. c. 20. b SYNCEL. P. 214. CHERODOT. 1. i. c. 105. coming at this time into Afia may well be fo termed, fince it was rather a paffing thro', than any fettlement; for in the fhort space of twenty-eight years they over-ran, conquered, and loft Media, Affyria, VOL. V. and all the upper Afia): they hall make hafte to the wall therefore, and the defence fhall be prepared; that is, they shall haften to Nineveh, as if they intended to deliver it from the Medes befieging it (53. (53) Vid. int. al. Jun, & Tremel, in loc. D delivered |