The Historians' History of the World 02

387 Peace of Antalcidas. The Asiatic Greeks are given back to the Persian power.

386-385 War between Cyprus and Persia. Defeat of Evagoras. Haker of Egypt allies himself with the Pisidians. Artaxerxes’ campaign against the Cadusians.

383 Surrender of Evagoras to Persia.

378 Nectanebo I ascends throne of Egypt. Chabrias, the Athenian, reorganises the Egyptian army.

374 Failure through mutiny of the mercenaries of the Persian expedition against Nectanebo.

370-365 The satraps of Asia Minor break out in revolt. This weakens the empire greatly.

364 Tachus succeeds Nectanebo I in Egypt.

361 Tachus invades Syria.

359 His nephew Nectanebo II seizes the Egyptian throne and Tachus is obliged to take refuge with the Persians.

358 Death of Artaxerxes II. His son Ochus murders all possible claimants, and takes the throne with the name of Artaxerxes III. Defeat of the Persians in Egypt.

352 Revolt of Tennes of Sidon against Persia. Cyprus joins him.

347 Isocrates exhorts Philip of Macedon to attack Persia.

345 Tennes betrays Sidon to Artaxerxes III. The city is cruelly punished. Cyprus subdued.

340 Conquest of Egypt by Artaxerxes.

338 Murder of Artaxerxes by the prime minister, the eunuch Bagoas. Arses, the king’s youngest son, placed on the throne.

336 The Macedonian army crosses into Asia. Death of Philip.

335 Bagoas puts Arses and his children to death. Codomannus, great-grandson of Darius II, placed on the throne as Darius III. He has Bagoas put to death.

334 Alexander crosses the Hellespont. Battle of the Granicus. Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia submit to the Greeks.

333 Battles of Issus and Amanus. Phrygia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia submit to the Greeks; also the whole of northern Syria.

332 Alexander captures Tyre,—Phœnicia, Judea, and Samaria submit. Egypt goes over to the Greeks. Darius’ attempt to recover Asia Minor is frustrated.

331 Alexander invades Assyria. Battle of Arbela which overthrows the Achæmenian Dynasty. Darius flees into Media. Fall of Babylon and Susa. Pasagarda and Persepolis captured.

330 Bessus, satrap of Bactria, seizes Darius and murders him. He calls himself Artaxerxes IV, but finally falls into Alexander’s hands and is put to death.

From the Capital at Susa

(Now in the Louvre)

CHAPTER I. LAND AND PEOPLE

The Persians were the first Aryans to achieve a great world empire within historic times. With them the Aryan race became dominant in the Western world, and it has so continued to the present time. The Persians themselves maintained first place among the nations only for about two centuries, or from the time of Cyrus until the Asiatic conquests of Alexander the Great. And the sceptre which they laid down was taken up by Western nations akin to them in speech, and passed on from one to another people of the same great Indo-Germanic race throughout the two and a half millenniums which separate the time of Cyrus from our own. But it is not only because of their kinship with European nations that the Persians are of interest. Their history has intrinsic importance. Theirs was unquestionably the mightiest empire the world had seen since secure history began. It extended from India on the east, to the extreme confines of Asia on the west and the northwest, and beyond them to include Egypt. It even threatened at one time, through the subjugation of Greece, to invade Europe as well, and numberless writers have moralised on the great change of destiny that would have fallen to the lot of Western civilisation, had this threat been made effective. All such moralising of course is but guess-work, and it may be questioned whether most of it has any validity whatever. For the truth seems to be that the Persians were much more nearly akin to the European intellect than a study of their descendants of recent generations would lead one to suppose. It is everywhere conceded that they sprang from the same stock, and their most fundamental traits show many points of close resemblance. Thus it is matter of record that the Persians differed widely from the Hamitic or Semitic conquerors, both in their methods of warfare and in their treatment of conquered enemies. The Semites, in particular, were notoriously cruel and unimaginative in their treatment of fallen foes. The word “unimaginative” is here used advisedly, for it would seem as if nothing but curiously defective imagination could permit one human being to treat another in the atrocious manner which characterised the conquerors of the Semitic race—not merely the Babylonians and Assyrians, but the Hebrews as well, as the history of David only too amply illustrates.

The paragraph in which David’s treatment of the people of the conquered city of Rabbah, as recorded, is a fair sample of the usual fortunes of war that fell to the lot of the victims of a Semitic nation.