name.

first who used the old title of royalty (Darawesh or Darius) as a proper When fixed upon the throne, he persecuted the magi with great severity, and patronised the religious system ascribed to Zerdusht, or Zoroas'ter. The Persian legends describe this philosopher as his contemporary; and this is rendered exceedingly probable by a comparison of the various accounts given of this great reformer.*

To secure his title, Daríus, for henceforth he will be best known by this name, united himself in marriage with the two surviving daughters of Cy'rus, and then prepared to punish the Babylonians, who, in consequence probably of the ancient connexion between the Chaldeans and the sacerdotal caste of the Medes, had not only revolted but murdered all whom they regarded as useless mouths, to prove their determined obstinacy. Baby'lon sustained a siege of twenty months; and might have baffled its besiegers, had not a Persian noble mutilated himself, and gone over to the citizens as a deserter who had escaped from the inhuman cruelty of his sovereign. His wounds gave credit to his words he was intrusted with the command of an important post, which he betrayed to Daríus, and thus enabled that monarch to become master of the rebellious city. The attention of the conqueror was next directed to quelling an insurrection of the Greek commercial cities of western Asia; he added Thrace to his dominions, and undertook an invasion of Scythia. The Danube was passed on a bridge of boats; and the Persians advanced without opposition through a difficult and barren country, until they had advanced beyond the reach of their supplies. Daríus was forced to retreat, and his safety was purchased by the loss of the greater part of his followers.

Having severely punished a subsequent revolt of the Greeks of Asia Minor, Darius resolved to extend his vengeance to their Grecian allies, and collected a large naval and military force, which he intrusted to the command of his son-in-law Mardónius. Mardónius crossed the Hellespont into Thrace, whence he passed into Macedonia, at that time a Persian province. All the neighboring countries submitted; but his fleet was shattered in a storm, while doubling Mount A'thos, and his army soon afterward was attacked unexpectedly by the barbarous Thracian tribes, who slew a great many of the soldiers, and severely wounded Mardónius himself. A second expedition was sent to Greece, under the command of Dátis and Artapher'nes, who forced a passage into the northern parts of that country, stormed Eret'ria, and were menacing Athens, when they were totally routed by the Athenians under Miltiades, at the memorable battle of Marathon (B. c. 490). To avenge these losses, Daríus resolved to invade Greece in person; but an insurrection of the Egyptians, and disputes among his children respecting the succession, and not long after his own death, frustrated his designs.

Xerxes, immediately after his accession (B. c. 485), marched against the Egyptian rebels, whom he completely subdued. Elated by this success, he prepared to invade Greece, and collected the largest army that had ever been assembled. His naval preparations were on an equally extensive scale. But on the very threshold of Greece, at the mountain-pass of Thermopyla, his countless hordes were checked and See Professor Shea's admirable translation of Mirkhond, p. 274.

repulsed by a handful of men under the command of Leonidas, king of Sparta. Treachery enabled him to turn the flank of the gallant warriors, and he entered Greece; but the account of his campaigns belongs properly to Grecian history. It is sufficient to say, that after having suffered unparalleled losses by sea and land, he returned to Persia covered with disgrace. The forces that he left behind him under Mardónius were annihilated at the battle of Platéæ; and the Greeks, following up their success, destroyed the power of the Persians in the Mediterranean, and made them tremble for the security of their provinces in Asia Minor.

Xer'xes is unknown by name to the oriental historians; they name him Esfendíar, and ascribe to him the most eminent qualities of a general and soldier. It is probable that the memory of Xer'xes's exploits in youth were alone preserved in eastern Persia. It is generally thought that Xerxes was the Ahasuerus (Achash Zwerosh, that is, "brave hero") mentioned in the book of Esther.

Xerxes was murdered by a captain of his guards, named Artabánus (B.C. 470), and his eldest son shared his fate. The assassin conferred the crown on Artaxer'xes, the third son of the deceased monarch, surnamed Macrocheir, or "the long-handed," called by the native historians Ardeshir Bahmán, who is celebrated for his just and beneficent administration. But his virtues were insufficient to check the decline of the empire, which began to exhibit signs of weakness in every quarAfter countless humiliations, Artaxer'xes was forced to sign a disgraceful peace, by which he recognised the independence of the Asiatic Greeks; consented that his fleet should be wholly excluded from the Ægean and that the Persian army should not come within three days' march of the coast (B. c. 449).

ter.

Internal wars and rebellions were of frequent occurrence; the royal forces were often defeated and the empire kept in a state of turbulence and confusion. On the death of Artaxerxes (B. c. 424), his only legitimate son, Xerxes, ascended the throne; but within forty-five days was murdered by his natural brother, Sogdiánus; and he again was deposed by another illegitimate prince, O'chus, who, on his accession, took the name of Darius II.

Under the administration of Daríus II., surnamed Nóthus, that is, "illegitimate," the empire declined rapidly, chiefly owing to the increased power and consequent turbulence of the provincial satraps. On the death of Daríus, his son Artaxer'xes, surnamed Mnémon, from the strength of his memory, ascended the throne (B. C. 405); but was opposed by his brother Cy'rus, who had the support of the queen-mother, Parysátis, and of an army of Greek mercenaries, which he was enabled to levy through his connexion with Sparta. Cy'rus, at first successful, was slain at the battle of Cunax'a (B. c. 401); but his ten thousand Greek auxiliaries, under the guidance of Xen'ophon, a renegade Athenian, though a delightful historian, succeeded in forcing a safe passage to their native land. During the remainder of his reign, the weak Artaxerxes was the mere puppet of his mother, Parysátis, whose inveterate hatred against Queen Statíra, and all whom she suspected of having contributed to the overthrow of her favorite son, Cy'rus, filled the palace with murders, treasons, and assassinations. While the

court was thus disgraced, Agesiláus, king of Sparta, joined with the Asiatic Greeks, was making rapid conquests in western Persia; and he would probably have dismembered the empire, had not the troubles excited in Greece by a lavish distribution of Persian gold, compelled him to return home.

The remainder of the reign of Artaxer'xes was singularly unfortunate: he attempted to reduce Egypt, but his efforts failed, owing to a disagreement between the Athenian auxiliaries and the Persian commanders; Cy'prus regained its independence; and the spirit of revolt spread through all western Asia. His domestic calamities were still more afflicting: he was obliged to punish his oldest son Daríus with death, for conspiring against him; O'chus, his youngest son, murdered his brother, to open a path to the succession; and Artaxerxes, overcome by such a complication of miseries, died of a broken heart.

O'chus, on the accession (B. c. 360), took the name of Artaxerxes III.; and, to secure himself on the throne, put to death no fewer than eighty of the royal family. Artabázus, the satrap of Asia Minor, attempted to take advantage of the unpopularity which those crimes brought on the monarch; and, aided by the Thebans and Athenians, made a vigorous effort to seize the throne. O'chus, however, was as conspicuous for his military prowess as for his crimes; he defeated Artabázus, and forced him to seek refuge in Greece. He next marched against the Phoenician insurgents, who were supported by the Cypriots and Egyptians: the treason of the general of the confederates gave O'chus an easier victory than he had expected, and he levelled the city of Sidon with the ground. Being joined by a powerful body of Greek auxiliaries, he recovered the island of Cy'prus, and once more reduced it to a Persian province. But the king's cruelties were not compensated by his victories; and he was at length poisoned by the eunuch Bagóas, who placed Ar'ces, the youngest son of O'chus, on the throne.

Ar'ces, after a brief reign, suffered the fate of his father; and the treacherous Bagóas transferred the crown to Daríus Codoman'nus, a descendant of Daríus Nóthus (B. c. 336). The eunuch hoped that by raising so remote a branch to the throne, he would be permitted to retain royal power in his hands; but Daríus soon asserted his independence, and Bagóas prepared to remove him by poison. The treachery was discovered; and Daríus compelled the baffled eunuch to drink the medicated portion that he had prepared. But the fate of the Persian empire was now at hand; Alexan'der the Great of Macedon appeared in Asia, and his brave little army scattered the myriads of Persia like chaff before the wind. After the loss of the two battles of Is'sus and Arbéla, Daríus, while seeking refuge in a remote part of his empire, was murdered by the eunuch Bes'sus; and Asia received a new mas

ter.*

The Persians inherited the commercial power of the Babylonians and Phoenicians; but they opened no new branch of trade, and scarcely maintained those they found already established. It is not, therefore, necessary to repeat here what has been said in the preceding chapters on the commerce of central Asia.

See the history of Macedon in a following chapter.

CHAPTER VII.

PHOENICIAN COLONIES IN NORTHERN AFRICA,

ESPECIALLY

CARTHAGE.

SECTION I.-Geographical Outline of Northern Africa.

ALTHOUGH Africa was circumnavigated at a period of very remote antiquity, the interior of the country still remained unexplored, and the southern part, on account of the difficulty of navigation in the ocean, was neglected until the knowledge of its discovery was forgotten. But the northern coast bordering on the Mediterranean became the seat of flourishing Greek and Phoenician colonies. This extensive district was divided by nature into three regions, or bands, of unequal breadth, nearly parallel with the sea-line: 1, the maritime country, consisting generally of very fertile districts, whence it was called Inhabited Africa, is now named Barbary; 2, a rugged mountainous country, whose loftiest peaks form the chain of Mount Atlas, abounding in wild beasts and palm-groves, whence it was called by the ancients the Land of Lions, and by the moderns Beledulgeríd, or the Land of Dates; the Romans usually named it Gætúlia; 3, a vast sandy desert, which the Arabs call Sahára.

From the chain of Mount Atlas several small rivers flow into the Mediterranean by a short northern course; but there are no streams of importance on the south side of these mountains, and no great river in the interior until we reach the remote Niger, concerning which the ancients had very imperfect information; indeed, nothing was known with certainty of its true course, until the recent discovery of its mouth by the Landers.

Proceeding westward along the shore from Egypt, Africa presented the following political divisions: 1, Marmar'ica, a sandy tract tenanted by nomad tribes; 2, Cyrenaica, a fertile territory, occupied by Greek colonies, extending to the greater Syr'tis; its chief cities were Cyréne, and Bar'ca; 3, Régio Syr'tica, the modern kingdom of Trip'oli, a sandy tract subject to the Carthaginians, but almost wholly occupied by nomad hordes; 4, the domestic territory of Carthage, which forms the modern kingdom of Túnis; 5, a very fruitful country subject to the Carthaginians, the northern part of which was named Byzacéna, and the southern Zeugitána; and, 6, Numid'ia and Mauritánia, occupied during the Carthaginian age by nomad hordes; but having some Carthaginian colonies along the coasts.

Carthage was built on a peninsula in the interior of a large bay, now called the gulf of Tunis, formed by the projection of the Hermaan promontory (now Cape Bon) on the east, and the promontory of Apollo (now Cape Zebid) on the west. The peninsula was about midway between Utica and Tunis, both of which could be seen from the walls of Carthage; the former being about nine, and the latter only six miles distant it was joined to the land by an isthmus averaging three miles in length; and on the seaside there was a narrow neck of land projecting westward, which formed a double harbor, and served as a mole or breakwater for the protection of shipping. Toward the sea the city was fortified only by a single wall; but the isthmus was guarded by the citadel Byr'sa, and a triple wall eighty feet high and about thirty wide.

The African territory of Carthage extended westward along the coast of the pillars of Hercules, and eastward to the altars of the Phila'ni, which marked the frontier between the territories of Cyrene and Carthage. Southward, the dominions of Carthage extended to the Tritonian lake; but many of the nomad tribes beyond these limits paid nominal obedience to the republic.

The fertile provinces of Carthage, occupied by people who tilled the soil, extended from Cape Bon, in a direct line, to the most eastern angle of the Triton lake, a distance of nearly two hundred geographical miles. Its average breadth was one hundred and fifty miles.

The foreign possessions of Carthage included the Balearic islands, Corsica, Sardínia, and the smaller islands in the Mediterranean, the southern part of Sicily and Spain, some settlements on the western coast of Africa, and the Fortunate islands in the Atlantic, which are probably the Canaries, and the fertile Madeira.

SECTION II.-Social and Political Condition of Carthage.

THE government of Carthage was formed by circumstances; it was originally monarchical, like Tyre, its parent state; but at a very early period it assumed a republican form, in which aristocracy was the prevailing element, though the power of the people was not wholly excluded. There were two kings, or chief magistrates, called suffetes (the shophetim, or judges, of the Hebrews), who appear to have been nominated by the senate, and then presented for confirmation to the general assembly of the people. There was There was a double senate; a syned'rium, or house of assembly, and a select council, denominated gerúsia, which was composed of a hundred of the principal members of the syned'rium, and formed the high court of judicature.

Public affairs were not submitted to the assembly of the people, except when there was a difference of opinion between the suffétes and the senate, when the decision of the general assembly was final.

In one particular the Carthaginian government was more constitutional than that of Rome, or most of the Grecian republics; it kept distinct the civil and military power: the dignity of chief magistrate was not united to that of general without an express decree for the purpose. When a king was sent to conduct a war, his military powers expired at the close of the campaign, and previously to a new one a fresh nomina