The Historians' History of the World 02

In his captivity, Harpagus was present to insult and reproach him. Among other things, he asked him what was his opinion of that supper, in which he had compelled a father to feed on the flesh of his child, a supper which had reduced him from a monarch to a slave. In reply Astyages requested to know if he imputed to himself the success of Cyrus? He confessed that he did, explained the means, and justified his conduct. Astyages told him that he was then the most foolish and wicked of mankind;—most foolish, in acquiring for another the authority he might have enjoyed himself; most wicked, for reducing his countrymen to servitude, to gratify his private revenge. If he thought a change in the government really necessary, and was still determined not to assume the supreme authority himself, justice should have induced him to have raised a Mede to that honour, rather than a Persian. The Medes, who were certainly not accessory to the provocation given, had exchanged situations with their servants; the Persians, who were formerly the servants, were now the masters.

After a reign of thirty-five years Astyages was thus deposed. To his cruelty of temper the Medes owed the loss of their power, after possessing, for the space of one hundred and twenty-eight years, all that part of Asia which lies beyond the Halys, deducting from this period the short interval of the Scythian dominion. In succeeding times, being dissatisfied with their condition, they took up arms against Darius; their attempt proved unsuccessful, and they were a second time reduced to servitude. From this period the Persians, who, under the conduct of Cyrus, had shaken off the power of the Medes, remained in undisturbed possession of Asia. Cyrus detained Astyages in captivity for the remainder of his life, but in no other instance treated him with severity. Such is the history of the birth, education, and success of Cyrus. He afterwards, as I have before related, subdued Crœsus, who had attacked him unjustly; from which time he remained without a rival, sovereign of Asia.b

Such is the picturesque narrative of Herodotus—the narrative on which all subsequent studies of the subject have been largely based. We take up now a critical analysis of this famous story.

THE MEDIAN EMPIRE: A MODERN INTERPRETATION

The series of the great Iranian monarchies begins for us with the Median empire of Ecbatana. According to Herodotus the Medes freed themselves from the Assyrians, and lived for a time without a master till Deioces obtained the kingly power by stratagem. There reigned then

Deioces

53 years

}

75 years

}

150 years.

Phraortes

22 years

Cyaxares

40 years

}

75 years

Astyages

35 years

The totals show how the figures are arranged on an artificial system. The duration of the kingdom is exactly a century and a half, divided into two exactly equal portions, each of which is occupied by the reigns of two kings. But further, according to Herodotus, the rule of the Medes over Upper Asia, i.e., the land east of the Halys, lasted one hundred and twenty-eight years, save only (πάρεξ) the twenty-eight years during which the Scythians ruled. It is easy to see that “save only” means “minus,” and that thus the foreign supremacy of the Medes is reckoned at exactly one hundred years, or two-thirds of the total duration of the kingdom. Obviously such figures can at most be only approximately correct. But the names of the kings in Herodotus are now all authenticated, directly or indirectly, by the inscriptions lately discovered. Probably, too, the reckoning of the total duration of the empire at a century and a half is about right. Indeed, such chronological systems sometimes correspond better, on the whole, with the facts than their artificiality would lead us to expect.