The History of Antiquity Volume Vi Part 1

The History of Antiquity.

by Max Duncker.

Vol. VI.

BOOK VIII. (_CONTINUED._)

THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS.

EASTERN IRAN.

CHAPTER VI.

THE FALL OF THE LYDIAN EMPIRE.

After the fall of Nineveh, Media, Babylonia, and Lydia had continued to exist side by side in peace and friends.h.i.+p. The successful rebellion of Cyrus altered at one blow the state of Asia. He had not been contented with winning independence for the Persians; he had subjected Media to his power. In the place of a friendly and allied house, the kings of Lydia and Babylonia saw Astyages deprived of his throne, and Media in the hands of a bold and ambitious warrior. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia would hardly have allowed the sovereignty of the table-land of Iran to pa.s.s out of the power of a near kinsman into that of Cyrus without offering some resistance; but he was no longer alive to prevent or revenge the overthrow of his brother-in-law. His son Evil-merodach had also come by his death before Astyages succ.u.mbed to the arms of Cyrus, and after a short reign Neriglissar left the kingdom to a boy (III.

392). On the other hand, the Lydian empire was in its fullest vigour.

We are acquainted with the successes which fell to the lot of Alyattes after his alliance with Media; we saw with what rapidity his son Croesus brought to a happy conclusion the long struggle against the Greek cities of the coast. His kingdom now embraced the whole of Asia Minor, as far as the Halys; the Lycians alone remained independent in their small mountain canton. Loved and honoured by his people, as Herodotus indicates, Croesus saw his complete and compact empire in the greatest prosperity; his treasury was full to overflowing; his metropolis was the richest city in Asia after Babylon. The Lydian infantry were excellent and trustworthy; the cavalry were dreaded; in past days they had measured themselves with success against the Medes.[1] Thus in the third or fourth year of his reign, in the pride of his position, surrounded by inexhaustible treasures and the most splendid magnificence, on his lofty citadel at Sardis, Croesus could declare himself, against the opinion of the Athenian Solon, the man most favoured by fortune (III. 458). Two years afterwards Astyages, whose wife Aryanis was Croesus' sister, was overthrown. Croesus had reason enough to take the field for his brother-in-law, and antic.i.p.ate the danger which might arise for Lydia out of sthis change in the East. He might hope that his example would set the Babylonians in motion against the usurper of the Median throne, and cause the Medes themselves to revolt against their new master. But he appears to have been afraid of embarking in an uncertain and dangerous war at a great distance from his own borders. It was not clear that victory at the first onset would imply lasting success, and Lydia had no attack to fear so long as Cyrus was occupied in establis.h.i.+ng his new dominion in Media, and engaged in conflicts in the East and North. In Sardis it might be a.s.sumed that the usurper would find great difficulties in his way. Herodotus represents Sandanis, a distinguished Lydian, as asking Croesus whether he would take the field against men who clad themselves in leather, and did not eat what they liked, but what they had, and lived in a rugged country--who drank water and not wine, and had not even figs or any other thing that was pleasant? What could the king, if victorious, take from them, when they had nothing? On the other hand, if conquered, he had much to lose, and if the Persians once tasted any of the good things of Lydia, they would never be driven out of the land again.[2] Croesus hesitated. It was of the greatest importance for Cyrus that Lydia and Babylonia should not interfere in favour of Astyages and the Medes, that they remained inactive during the revolution, and allowed him to establish his dominion in Media without disturbance, to direct his aim unimpeded against the neighbours of Media, and to subjugate without opposition the Parthians, Hyrcanians, and Cadusians.

The manner in which war eventually broke out between Lydia and Persia, the course of the war, and the fortune which overtook Croesus, are narrated by Herodotus in the following manner: "Solon had scarcely left Croesus (III. 454, note 3) when the latter saw in a dream the vision which portended the fate of his son. He had two sons: one was deaf and dumb, but the other, Attys, was greatly distinguished above all his companions. The dream told him that he would lose this son by an iron spear-head. In alarm Croesus found a wife for his son, would not allow him to go out with the army as before, and removed into the armoury all the armour which was in the chambers, that nothing might fall upon him.

At the time when Croesus was occupied with the marriage of Attys, a Phrygian came to Sardis, Adrastus by name, the son of Gordius, the grandson of Midas, who had unintentionally killed his brother, and had been banished by his father, and Croesus received him. At the same time a great boar appeared on the Mysian Olympus, which ravaged the lands of the Mysians, and as they could not master it, they sent messengers to Croesus praying him to allow Attys and some chosen youths to come with dogs to set them free from the monster. Croesus would not let his son go, for he had just been married. But the son complained to his father: Previously he had won great glory in war, and in the chase, now he was kept back from both; how would men look upon him in the market-place?--in what light would he appear to the citizens and his young wife? Croesus told him the dream, but Attys replied that the boar had no hands, and no iron point: Croesus therefore allowed him to go, and bade Adrastus accompany his son and watch over him. Adrastus promised to bring back his son uninjured, so far as lay in his power, in return for the kindness which Croesus had shown him. The boar was surrounded on Olympus, and javelins thrown at it from every side; the spear of Adrastus missed the boar and hit Attys. Thus was the dream of Croesus fulfilled. Adrastus went with the corpse to Croesus, and besought him to slay him as a sacrifice to the dead. But Croesus replied that Adrastus had made recompense enough in condemning himself to death.

He had his son buried with proper honours; but Adrastus slew himself on the grave."

"Two years were spent by Croesus in mourning for his son. Then the destruction of the empire of Astyages by Cyrus, and the growing power of the Persians, put an end to the mourning, and caused him to consider whether he could check the rise of the Persians before they became great. With this thought in his mind, he determined to test the oracles, both those of the Greeks and that in Libya, and ascertain whether they could tell the truth; to the oracle which he found truthful, he would propose the question, whether he should undertake a campaign against the Persians. So he sent to the oracles of the Greeks, to Miletus, Delphi, Abae, and Trophonius, to the sanctuary of Amphiaraus at Thebes, and to Dodona, to the temple of Ammon in Libya, bidding his messengers inquire on the hundredth day after their departure from Sardis, what Croesus, the son of Alyattes, the king of Lydia, was doing on that day. The answers were to be written down, and brought back to him. What the other oracles said no one has narrated, but when the Lydians came into the temple at Delphi and propounded their question, the priestess answered: 'I know the number of the sand, and the measure of the sea; I understand the dumb, and hear him who speaks not. The scent of the hard-sh.e.l.led tortoise comes into my nostrils which is being cooked in bra.s.s with lamb's flesh; bra.s.s is below, and bra.s.s is above.' The Lydians wrote this down, and returned to Sardis; and when the other messengers came back, Croesus opened their letters. He paid no attention to the rest, but when he came to the answer from Delphi he recognised the power of the G.o.d, and saw that the Delphic oracle alone had been aware of what he was doing. For on the day appointed he had cooked the flesh of a tortoise and lamb in a brazen vessel, covered with a brazen lid, thinking that it would be impossible to discover or invent such a thing.

What answer was brought back from Amphiaraus I cannot say, for it is nowhere recorded, but Croesus is said to have considered this oracle as truthful. Then Croesus won the favour of the G.o.d of Delphi by great sacrifices. He offered 3000 victims of every kind, and erected a great pile of wood on which he burned couches covered with gold and silver, golden goblets, purple robes and garments, in the hope that he would thereby gain the favour of the G.o.d yet more, and bade the Lydians sacrifice to their deity whatever each possessed. And as the sacrifice left behind an enormous ma.s.s of molten gold, Croesus caused bricks to be made, six palms in length, three in breadth, and one in depth; in all there were 117 bricks. Of these, four were of the purest gold, each two and a half talents in weight; and the rest of white gold (_i.e._ of mingled gold and silver), each two talents in weight. In addition, there was a golden lion which weighed ten talents. When these were finished, Croesus sent them to Delphi, and added two very large mixing-bowls, one of gold, weighing eight talents and a half and twelve minae, and one of silver, the work of Theodorus of Samos, as the Delphians say, and I believe it, for it is the work of no ordinary artificer; four silver jars, and two vessels for holy water, one of gold and the other of silver, circular casts of silver, a golden statue of a woman, three cubits high, and the necklace and girdles of his queen. All these things he sent to Delphi, and to Amphiaraus a golden s.h.i.+eld and a spear, of which both the stem and the point were of gold."

"Croesus bade the envoys who carried these gifts ask the oracles, whether he should march against the Persians, or collect allies. The answer of both oracles was to the same effect: they told him, that if he went against Cyrus he would destroy a great empire, and at the same time advised him to find out who were the most powerful among the Greeks, and take them as allies. Croesus was greatly delighted when he received this answer; in the certainty that he would overthrow the empire of Cyrus, he sent again to Delphi and presented each Delphian with two staters. The Delphians in return bestowed on the Lydians for all future time the right to consult the priestess first, the best seats, freedom from contributions, and the citizens.h.i.+p of Delphi to any Lydian who should wish to become a Delphian. Croesus inquired of the oracle for the third time: whether his reign would be of long continuance, and the priestess replied: 'When a mule becomes king of the Medes, then, O soft-footed Lydian, fly from the pebbly Hermus; stay not, and take no shame to be a coward.' Then Croesus was yet more delighted, for he thought that a mule would never rule over the Medes instead of a man, and therefore neither he nor his descendants would lose their power. Then he inquired who were the most mighty among the h.e.l.lenes, and when he found that the greatest part of the Peloponnesus was subject to the Lacedaemonians, he sent messengers with presents to Sparta to conclude an alliance. The Lacedaemonians were filled with joy; they knew the oracle which had been given to Croesus, and made him a friend and ally, as they had previously received many kindnesses at his hands."

"Croesus now marched to Cappadocia in the hope of crus.h.i.+ng Cyrus and the Persians; he also intended to add Cappadocia to his kingdom, but above all he wished to take vengeance on Cyrus, who had defeated his brother-in-law Astyages, and had got him in his power. When he came to the Halys, which was the boundary between the Lydian and the Persian kingdoms, he crossed the river by the bridges, and came into the part of Cappadocia, which is called Pteria (this region, the strongest in the whole country, lies towards Sinope and the Pontus Euxinus). There he pitched his camp, desolated the land, took the city of the Pterians, and enslaved the inhabitants, conquered the neighbouring cities, and drove out the Syrians, who had done him no harm whatever. But Cyrus collected his army, adding to it all the nations in his march, and took up a position against Croesus. Previous to setting out, he had sent heralds to the Ionians, and requested them to revolt from Croesus. To this request the Ionians did not listen. Then Cyrus encamped opposite Croesus, and the two armies tried their strength in the land of Pteria.

A fierce battle was fought; many fell on both sides; neither was victorious, and when night came they desisted from the battle. Croesus found that his force was not strong enough; his army was inferior in numbers to that of the enemy, and when Cyrus did not venture to attack him on the next day, he returned to Sardis. His object was to summon the Egyptians, for he had made a treaty with Amasis the king of Egypt before entering into terms with the Lacedaemonians, to send to the Babylonians--for with them also and their king Labynetus he had made an alliance--and to call on the Lacedaemonians to join him at a fixed time.

After uniting these, and collecting all his forces, he intended, as soon as the winter was over, to march out against the Persians. So when he arrived at Sardis he sent heralds to his allies, bidding them a.s.semble in the fifth month at Sardis, and dismissed all the mercenaries in the army which had fought against Cyrus. He did not expect that Cyrus, who had contended in the battle without success, would march against Sardis.

When Croesus retired immediately after the battle in Pteria, and it was discovered that the Lydian forces were to be disbanded, Cyrus saw that it would be much to his advantage to march upon Sardis with all speed, before the Lydian army could be collected a second time. He was so rapid in his movements, that he announced his own arrival to Croesus."

"Though in great difficulties, inasmuch as things had turned out contrary to his expectations, Croesus led out the Lydians to battle. And at that time there was no braver and more warlike nation in Asia. They fought on horseback, armed with long lances, and were excellent riders.

The armies met in the large open plain before Sardis. The cavalry of Croesus caused alarm to Cyrus, and on the advice of Harpagus the Mede, he collected all the camels which carried the food and baggage of the army, took off their burdens, and had them mounted by armed men. These he placed before the army, then followed the infantry, and after them the Persian horse. He bade them not to slay Croesus, even though he should seek to defend himself when taken captive. When the battle broke out, the Lydian horses were alarmed at the sight and smell of the camels, and turned, and so the hopes of Croesus were destroyed. Yet the Lydians did not lose their courage; they sprang from their horses and met the Persians on foot. At length, when many had fallen on both sides, the Lydians fled; they were driven into the walls, and besieged by the Persians. Croesus thought that the siege would occupy a long time, and sent fresh messengers to his confederates, and also to the Lacedaemonians, bidding them come as soon as possible. When they arrived at Sparta three hundred Spartans had been slain by the Argives, yet they determined to send a.s.sistance; their men were armed and ready to sail, when there came a second message that Sardis was captured, and Croesus a prisoner."

"Sardis had been invested fourteen days when Cyrus announced to his army that the man who first climbed the walls should receive presents.

Attempts were made, but as they failed, they were given up. Nevertheless Hyroeades, a Mardian, determined to climb the citadel at a place where no watch had been set. It was never supposed possible that the city could be taken on this side, for the mountain fell precipitously down towards Mt. Tmolus, and storming was impossible. On the previous day Hyroeades had seen a Lydian, whose helmet had fallen down, descend after it, and then climb back with it. He also ascended, others followed, and when sufficient Persians were on the top, Sardis was taken and the whole city plundered. After the citadel had been captured a Persian rushed at Croesus, whom he did not know, to cut him down. When the dumb son of Croesus saw this, through fear and horror he broke out into speech, and cried out: 'Man, do not slay Croesus.' And ever after he was able to speak."

"The Persians led Croesus to Cyrus, who caused a great pyre to be built, and Croesus to be led to it in chains with twice seven Lydian boys; whether it was that he intended to offer the firstlings of the victory to some G.o.d, and discharge a vow, or whether he knew that Croesus was eminent for piety, and wished to see if a G.o.d would protect him from being burnt alive. When Croesus was on the pyre, the words of Solon came into his mind, in his distress, that no one among living men was to be accounted happy. When this occurred to him, he sighed deeply after a long silence, and called out thrice, Solon! On hearing this Cyrus commanded the interpreters to ask Croesus whom he was calling upon. At first he was silent; on being pressed, he said: 'On him, whose words I count it above great treasures that all rulers should hear.' As what he said was unintelligible, the question was put to him again, and when they insisted on hearing the whole, he told them, while the pyre was being kindled at the outer edge, what Solon the Athenian had said to him. When Cyrus heard this from the interpreters he reflected that he, a man, was condemning to the flames a man of no less power than himself; in fear of vengeance, and considering that there was nothing certain among men, he changed his mind, and gave orders to quench the fire, and bring down Croesus and those with him. When all attempted in vain to quench the flames, Croesus, according to the Lydian account, called on Apollo, entreating him to aid him now if he had ever offered pleasant gifts, and save him in his extremity. When Croesus was praying in tears to the G.o.d, the sky, which had been clear and still, was suddenly covered with clouds; a storm burst upon them, and the fire was quenched by torrents of rain. And Cyrus then saw that Croesus was a man beloved by the G.o.ds, and asked him why he had marched against his land, and made him his enemy instead of his friend? Croesus replied, that he had been induced to do this by his own bad fortune and the good fortune of Cyrus.

The G.o.d of the h.e.l.lenes had urged him to take the field against Cyrus.

Then Cyrus caused the fetters to be struck off him, and placed him near himself. When Croesus saw the Persians plundering the city, he inquired of Cyrus: 'What is all this mult.i.tude doing with so much eagerness?'

Cyrus answered: 'They are plundering your city and treasures.' He replied: 'They are mine no longer; it is your property which they are plundering and sacking. The Persians, courageous by nature, are poor; if you allow them to plunder and carry off much booty, it may be that the man who gains the most will rebel against you. If it pleases you, do as I advise. Place your body-guard at the gates, and bid them take from the plunderers what they are carrying out, and tell them that a tenth must be offered to Zeus. You will escape their ill-will, and they will gladly obey you.' This advice pleased Cyrus. He followed it, and promised Croesus to grant him a favour in return."

"The favour which Croesus asked was this: Cyrus must allow him to send the fetters, which he wore, to the Delphic G.o.d, and ask whether it was his manner to deceive those who showed him kindness. Cyrus granted the prayer with a smile, and promised that he would not refuse a further request. So Lydians went with the fetters to Delphi, and asked the G.o.d whether he was not ashamed to have urged Croesus to make war upon Cyrus, who had taken much spoil from him; and at the same time they showed the fetters. The priestess answered, as it is recorded, that even a G.o.d could not escape his destiny; Croesus was paying the penalty for his fifth ancestor, who had seized a throne which did not belong to him. The G.o.d had endeavoured to bring it to pa.s.s that the punishment should not fall on Croesus but on his children, but he had only been able to defer the capture of Sardis for three years; let Croesus know that he had been taken captive three years later than was ordained. Moreover, the G.o.d had sent him help when on the pyre. It was announced that he would destroy a great empire if he went against Cyrus, but what empire was not said. Nor had Croesus understood the response about the mule. Cyrus was the mule, the son of a Persian father and Median mother, a subject and his mistress. When Croesus heard this, he saw that he and not the G.o.d was in fault."

Only a meagre excerpt remains of the account given by Ctesias of the conflict of Cyrus and Croesus. The king of the Sacae, Amorges, marched with Cyrus against Croesus and Sardis. When the Lydians were shut up in the city, Croesus, deceived by the portents of the G.o.ds, gave his son as a hostage to Cyrus, and when he subsequently sought to deceive him in the negotiations, Cyrus caused the son to be slain before the father's eyes. The mother, when she saw the execution of her son, threw herself down from the turrets of the walls. Then Cyrus, on the advice of Oebares, caused wooden figures of Persians to be placed on long poles and laid against the turrets, that the Lydians might be filled with terror at the sight of them. In this way the citadel, and the city itself, was taken. Croesus fled for refuge into the temple of Apollo, where Cyrus caused him to be placed in chains, but though seals were set on them, and Oebares was commissioned to keep watch, the fetters were three times removed from Croesus in a miraculous manner. Then those who had been put in chains with him were beheaded, as though they had conspired to liberate their king, and Cyrus brought Croesus into the palace and caused yet heavier chains to be put upon him; but the fetters again fell to the ground, this time amid thunder and lightning. At length Cyrus liberated Croesus, showed him great kindness, and presented him with the large city of Barene, near Ecbatana, which had been garrisoned by 5000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.[3]

Polyaenus relates that Croesus, after his defeat in Cappadocia by Cyrus, withdrew his troops in the night by a pa.s.s. This pa.s.s he then filled with a quant.i.ty of timber, to which he set fire in order to check the pursuit of the Persians. When the armies met a second time for battle, Cyrus rendered the numerous cavalry of the Lydians, in which they trusted, useless by placing camels opposite them. Thus they were at once put to flight, and trod down the infantry, so that Cyrus was again victorious. At Sardis Croesus once more tried the fortune of battle. As his Greek allies delayed their coming, he provided the strongest and tallest Lydians with Greek armour. The sight of the strange arms checked the Persians. They were terrified by the sound of the spears striking against the brazen s.h.i.+elds, and the glitter of the s.h.i.+elds caused their horses to take fright and turn. They retired, and Cyrus concluded a treaty for three days with Croesus, in which he was to withdraw his forces from Sardis. But as soon as it was night he turned his army again upon Sardis, and attacked the city unexpectedly. The ascent of the walls by scaling ladders was successful, yet Croesus maintained the citadel and defended it bravely in the deceptive hope that his allies would arrive. Then Cyrus caused the relatives of those who were with Croesus in the citadel to be seized and bound, and brought before the walls; and he announced to their kinsmen on the towers that if the citadel were given up the captives would be set at liberty, if not they would all be hanged. This induced the Lydians in the citadel to open the gates. But in another pa.s.sage Polyaenus repeats the version of Ctesias about the capture of the city. Cyrus caused figures in Persian clothing, and wearing beards, with quivers on their shoulders and bows in their hands, to be placed on tall poles of equal length, and in the night these were laid against the walls of the citadel so that the figures rose above the wall. At break of day Cyrus attacked the part of the city underneath the citadel. The attacks were beaten off, but on turning round some Lydians saw the figures above the citadel, and thinking that it had been stormed by the Persians, they fled, and Cyrus took Sardis by storm.[4]

In Xenophon the Persians and Medes are contending against Babylonia. On the representation of the king of Babylon that those two nations would subjugate all the world, unless measures were taken to prevent them, Croesus marches out to aid the king,[5] with an army of 40,000 horse, and about 150,000 light-armed infantry and bowmen. But the united army of the Lydians and Babylonians, though it reached nearly 60,000 cavalry and more than 200,000 infantry,[6] was defeated. Cyrus turned his steps towards Lydia, and Croesus collected a new army on the Pactolus of Lydians, Phrygians, Paphlagonians, and Lycaonians, who were joined by the Cilicians and Cappadocians. The Egyptians and Cyprians came on board s.h.i.+p; envoys went to Lacedaemon to ask for troops. With this army Croesus marched to meet Cyrus at Thymbrara. Here the battle took place. Cyrus had placed two archers on each of the camels; these were ranged opposite the enemy's cavalry, and even from a distance the Lydian horses sought to avoid the camels; some turn round, others rear, and press upon each other. So the Persians succeeded in overthrowing the disorganised cavalry. But the battle had to be fought out with the javelin, lance, and sword; the Persians were not victorious without great bloodshed.

Croesus flies to Sardis, the Lydians alone remain faithful, the rest of his army disperses. Cyrus pursues him on the next morning, and at once invests Sardis. In the very night after the camp was pitched before Sardis, Chaldaeans (_i.e._ Gordyaeans, Carduchians)[7], and Persians climb the fortifications where they seem to be steepest. They were led by a Persian, who having formerly been the slave of one on the watch in the citadel, knew the place where the rocks could be climbed from the river.

The Lydians abandoned the walls, as soon as they saw the citadel taken.

Croesus shut himself up in his palace, and asked for quarter. Cyrus had him brought into his presence, and said that it was not his intention to abandon to his soldiers the richest city in Asia after Babylon, but they must have some reward for their efforts and dangers which they had undergone. Croesus replied that the sack of the city would destroy the sources of wealth, the woven stuffs and industry of the place; if it were spared the Lydians would gladly bring the best of what they had, and in a year's time the city would once more be in great prosperity.

Then Cyrus asked Croesus how it came to pa.s.s that he who was such a zealous servant of Apollo, and did everything by his direction, had fallen into calamity. Croesus replied that he had brought upon him the aversion of the G.o.d by putting it to the test whether his announcements were true. He believed indeed that he had appeased his wrath by rich presents of gold and silver, and when he lost his youthful son he had further asked how he could most happily pa.s.s the rest of his life, and the G.o.d had answered, "By knowing thyself, thou wilt live happily." He had regarded this condition of happiness as a very easy one; a man might have some difficulty in learning to know others, but himself he could know quite easily. "But I did not know myself," Croesus continues in Xenophon, "when I fancied that I was equal to you in war; you are descended from the G.o.ds, from a series of kings, and from your youth have been exercised in brave deeds. My ancestor was a slave who became king. Now I know myself." Cyrus allowed him to retain his wife and daughters, gave him servants and entertainment, and took him with him wherever he went, either because he held the advice of Croesus to be useful, or because this seemed to him the safest thing to do.[8]

Only fragments have come down to us of Diodorus' narrative of the fall of Croesus; in some respects these agree with the account of Herodotus; more frequently they differ from it. He may have borrowed from Ephorus.[9] Diodorus began with the death of Attys by the javelin of the Phrygian Adrastus. Croesus at first threatens to have Adrastus burnt alive, but forgives his offence when he offers his own life for it. But he voluntarily slays himself at the tomb of Attys. Diodorus then gives an account of the oracles--the first, which Croesus received at Delphi before the war on behalf of his dumb son,--Croesus was foolish in wis.h.i.+ng to hear the much-desired voice of his child; he would speak in a day of disaster--the second, about the consequences of crossing the Halys; the third, about the mule. Croesus sent Eurybatus of Ephesus with gold, apparently to Delphi, but in reality to the Peloponnesus, in order to receive as many h.e.l.lenes as possible into his pay; but Eurybatus pa.s.sed over to Cyrus, and revealed everything to him. This act of treachery was held in such detestation by the Greeks, that to his day a villain was called Eurybatus. When Cyrus had reached the pa.s.ses of Cappadocia with his united forces he sent heralds to Croesus, to discover his forces, and to tell him that Cyrus would pardon his former offences and nominate him satrap of Lydia, if he would appear at his gates and there proclaim himself a servant like the rest. Croesus replied that Cyrus and the Persians would sooner endure to be his slaves, as in former times they had been the servants of the Medes; as regarded himself, he had never obeyed the order of another person. When Croesus had been taken captive, and the flames of the pyre quenched, Diodorus represents Croesus putting to Cyrus the question which we find in Herodotus (p. 14), about the sacking of the city; Cyrus puts an end to the plundering, and orders the possessions of the inhabitants to be brought into the palace. We are further told, that as the rain had suddenly come down and quenched the flames, Cyrus regarded Croesus as a pious man. Moreover, he kept Solon's saying in mind; he held Croesus in honour, and made him his adviser, regarding one who had a.s.sociated with so many wise men as being himself prudent and able.[10]

Justin's excerpt from Pompeius Trogus gives a brief account of the fall of the Lydian kingdom. When Cyrus had reduced the greater part of the nations which had previously been subject to the Medes, Croesus, the king of Lydia, whose power and wealth were then very great, came to the help of the Babylonians. He was conquered and retired into his kingdom.

When Cyrus had settled his quarrel with Babylon, he engaged in war with Lydia. He easily put to flight the Lydian army, already dispirited by the previous defeat. Croesus himself was captured. "But the less the danger of the war, the milder was the use made of the victory. To Croesus was given his life, portions of his property, and the city of Barka, where he lived a life, which, if not that of a king, approached nearly to royal magnificence."[11]

The end only of the account of Nicolaus of Damascus, containing the story of the intended burning of Croesus, has come down to us. Cyrus, we are told, had great sympathy with the misfortune of Croesus, but the Persians insisted that he should be burnt as an enemy. A great pyre was erected at the foot of a hill. Cyrus marched out with all his army; a great mult.i.tude of natives and foreigners gathered together. When Croesus and fourteen Lydians were brought out in chains, all the Lydians broke out into sighs and lamentations, and beat their heads, so that the weeping and wailing of men and women was greater now than it had been at the capture of the city. This showed what affection Croesus inspired among his subjects. "They tore their garments, and thousands of women ran weeping forward. Croesus advanced without tears, and with a firm countenance, and when he reached Cyrus he asked with a loud voice that his son might be brought to him. This was done. The son embraced his father, and said with tears: 'Woe is me, my father. Of what avail was your piety; when will the G.o.ds help us? Have they granted me speech only to bewail our misfortunes?' Turning to the Persians he said: 'Burn me also; I am no less your enemy than my father.' But Croesus checked him with these words: 'I alone determined on the war, and no one else of the Lydians; therefore I alone must pay the penalty.' When numerous servants of the Lydian women had brought rich garments and ornaments of every kind to be burned with him, Croesus kissed his son and the Lydians who were standing by, and ascended the pyre; but the son raised his hands to heaven and cried aloud: 'King Apollo, and all ye G.o.ds to whom my father has done honour, come now to our help, that the piety of mankind may not be destroyed with Croesus.' His friends could hardly restrain him from casting himself on the pyre. But on a sudden Herophile, the sibyl of Ephesus, appeared, and descended from the height, and cried: 'Ye fools, what injustice is this? Supreme Zeus, and Phoebus, and glorious Amphiaraus will not permit it. Obey the truthful sayings of my words, that the G.o.d may not visit your frenzy with grievous destruction.' Cyrus caused the oracle to be interpreted to the Persians that they might desist from their purpose, but they set the pile on fire with torches on every side. Then Croesus called thrice on the name of Solon, and Cyrus wept, that he should be compelled by the Persians to do an unrighteous act, and burn a king who was no less in honour than himself. When the Persians looked on Cyrus and saw his distress, they changed their minds, and the king bade those who were near him put out the fire. But the pile was on fire and no one could quench it. Then Croesus called on Apollo for help, because his enemies wished to save him and could not.

From the morning the day had been cloudy, but without rain, but when Croesus had prayed, dark clouds rolled up from every side, lightning and thunder followed fast, and the rain poured down in such streams that not only was the pyre quenched but men could hardly withstand the storm. A purple canopy was quickly spread over Croesus, but the Persians, terrified at the storm, the darkness, and the panic which had come upon the horses owing to the tempest, were seized with fear of the G.o.ds. They thought of the saying of the sibyl and the commands of Zoroaster, cast themselves on the earth, and cried for pardon. From this date the rule of Zoroaster, which had existed among the Persians for a long time, not to burn their dead nor pollute fire in any way, was strictly observed.

Cyrus led Croesus into the palace, treated him as a friend, seeing that he was a pious man, and bade him ask without hesitation for any favour that he chose. Croesus asked that he might send his fetters to Delphi and ask the G.o.d, why he had deceived him by his responses and driven him into war, when he had sent him such trophies; the messengers were also to ask whether the G.o.ds of the Greeks paid no heed to the gifts which they received. Cyrus granted this request with a smile and said that he would not refuse Croesus even a greater favour; he made him his friend, and when he left Sardis, restored his wives and children, and took him as a companion. Some say that he would have made him viceroy of Sardis, if he had not been afraid that this would induce the Lydians to revolt."[12]

We have already noticed how deep was the impression made on the Greeks by the greatness and splendour of the Lydian kingdom. Lydia was the power of the East with which they first came into immediate contact, the first Oriental court which they had before their eyes. A king of Lydia had subjugated the great cities of the coast; his wide dominion, power, and wisdom were the admiration of the Greeks; his glory and treasures excited their astonishment; he had shown himself kindly and gracious towards them, and sent the richest gifts to their G.o.ds--and this king it was who fell by a sudden overthrow from his splendid position. He succ.u.mbed to a foreign and distant nation, whose name up to that time was hardly known to Greece, and his fall brought with it distress and mischief for the Greeks of the west coast of Asia Minor. This sudden fall of Croesus was a striking event, and most disastrous for the Greeks, the more striking owing to the unexpected and rapid nature of the change. How could so brave, wise, and religious a ruler fall from the summit of fortune into the deepest distress, and come by a mischance which brought disaster not only on himself and his kingdom, but also on the Greek cities? How could this be the result of an undertaking begun on the authority of the G.o.d of Delphi? These questions forced themselves on the Greeks of Anatolia, and beyond the sea, and their legends were at pains to solve the problem. In the mind of Herodotus the solution was the punishment which sooner or later overtakes every unrighteous act.

Gyges, the ancestor of Croesus, had robbed the ancient royal family of the Lydians, the race of Sandon, of their throne. It was the vengeance for this crime which overtook Croesus. It was a widely-spread and favourite story among the Greeks, how Solon of Athens, unmoved by the successes, the prosperity, and splendour of Croesus, had warned him in his proud citadel at Sardis of the mutability of human things, and preferred to his brilliant position as a sovereign the modest lot of a life well spent in the performance of duty. We have observed (III. 458) that this narrative is not without some basis of fact. Could there be a more impressive ill.u.s.tration of the saying of Solon than the fate which had overtaken Croesus? The tradition of the Greeks, especially of the Delphian priesthood, was aware of several oracular responses which had been given to Croesus. Herodotus' point of view led him to believe that no one, though warned by portents, dreams, and oracles, could escape the doom which hung over him. In this fact lay the justification of the Delphian oracle in regard to the prophecies given to Croesus. It had announced what was correct, but owing to the blindness sent upon him by fate, Croesus had not been able to understand its meaning.

Guided by these views, Herodotus represents misfortune as coming on Croesus in one blow upon another immediately after he had displayed the splendour of his empire to Solon, and in foolish vainglory had declared himself to be the most fortunate of men. That Croesus had two sons, one a youth of promise, the other dumb, and that he lost the former in the bloom of his youth, are facts mentioned by Xenophon as well as Herodotus.[13] A dream indicates to Croesus the death which is destined for his n.o.ble son; and the means which he adopts to avert the death serve to bring it about. Adrastus, who first slays his own brother, then the son of Croesus, and at length slays himself on the young man's grave, is called a scion of the old Phrygian royal family of Midas and Gordius; hence there is a close connection between the fall of the Phrygian and Lydian houses. The Greeks wors.h.i.+pped Nemesis Adrastea, _i.e._ the doom which none can escape, on the Granicus, and on a mountain near Cyzicus.[14] In the tradition of the Lydians, Attys was their first king, whom Herodotus calls the son of the G.o.d Manes; according to the legend of the Phrygians and Lydians, he had been slain by a boar.[15] As we saw, the Phrygians mourned each year for the death of Attys, who had been carried off in the bloom of youth (I. 532). When death had overtaken this son, Croesus sent to Delphi to ascertain whether his remaining son should ever receive the gift of speech; and the answer was returned that he would speak on a day of great misfortune. Thus the prescience of the Delphic priestess is brought forward in the most emphatic manner.

The overthrow of Astyages caused Croesus to examine a whole series of oracles that he might ascertain whether they knew what was hidden from men, before he inquired whether he should march against Cyrus. Before this examination, Croesus had sought and received many prophecies at Delphi, and now he tests not this oracle only, but many others. The mixture of belief and scepticism which would give rise to such an examination is not in itself incredible, but the manner in which the test is carried out in the narrative of Herodotus, or rather of the Delphian priesthood, is wholly beyond belief. The frivolous question--what was the king of the Lydians doing on a certain day--the drift of which was so obvious, would certainly be left unanswered by any oracle of repute which was believed to receive revelations from the G.o.ds. If we consider the nature of the Delphic prophecy, which claimed rather to announce the responses of Apollo than to bring to light the past or the future; the religious solemnity of the ceremonies, which they who would consult the oracle had to perform; the small number of the days on which the priestess spoke, we may be quite sure that the priests would have rejected the question. Herodotus cannot give the answers of the other oracles--not even the answer of Amphiaraus (which is also mentioned in the account of Nicolaus), and yet this oracle must have stood the test no less than Delphi, for Croesus sent presents to it, and laid before it his second question. To Apollo of Miletus, whose answer to the first question Herodotus does not know, and of whom the second question is not asked, Croesus dedicates exactly the same gifts as those sent to Apollo of Delphi after he had stood the test. Hence it is quite clear that the supposed examination of the oracles is merely a story invented by the Greeks to glorify the Delphic shrine. Croesus fell, in spite of the splendid presents he had made to the Delphic G.o.d, on whose advice he had acted; in order to maintain the divine wisdom of the oracle against this charge, it must be proved to have knowledge of the most secret things. And it is true that Croesus had put the oracle to the test, though in another manner, by following up the answer to his question whether he should go against the Persians, with a second question--whether his empire would continue. The story how splendidly Delphi had stood the test then received an apparently certain foundation in the hexameters about the lamb's flesh and tortoise, which was subsequently manufactured in Delphi in the name of the priestess.

The narrative of the campaign in Herodotus is obviously intended to put Croesus in the wrong, and burden him with guilt of his own in addition to the offence of his ancestor. Sandanis warns him in vain (p. 5). Cyrus has done nothing to injure Croesus, and therefore Croesus is the aggressor. He crosses the Halys, invades the territory of Cyrus, in order to conquer Cappadocia and avenge Astyages on Cyrus; he causes the land of the Cappadocians to be desolated; and Herodotus lays stress on the fact that this nation was quite innocent. Guilt is followed by incapacity, after the indecisive battle. Croesus disbands his army for the singular reason that it "was inferior in numbers to that of Cyrus."

He is then surprised in Sardis; the citadel is naturally ascended in the very place where in old days king Meles omitted to carry the lion which was to make the walls of Sardis impregnable, because he thought it unnecessary, the place being inaccessible. (I. 561). Croesus is saved from instant death, because the deaf and dumb son receives his speech on a day of misfortune, as Delphi had announced. The son can not only speak, but knows how to address his father by name. The favour of the G.o.ds, who turn again to Croesus when he has expiated the guilt of Gyges and himself by his overthrow, is shown in this miracle, and more plainly still on the funeral pyre. The wisdom of the Greeks, and of Solon, is set in the clearest light, when Croesus in his deepest distress, on the brink of a terrible death, remembers the warning once given him by Solon. If such a recollection forms the most brilliant evidence of the insight of the Greeks, it might also give the motive for the rescue of Croesus.

The occurrences on and at the pyre partake so strongly of the miraculous that Herodotus himself is puzzled. What reason could Cyrus, whose gentleness Herodotus himself extols, have for condemning Croesus to a death by fire, and with him fourteen Lydian youths? Herodotus knows that fire is a G.o.d in the eyes of the Persians, and that corpses could not be burnt.[16] He says: "Cyrus either wished to offer first-fruits to some G.o.d, or to fulfil a vow, or to ascertain whether Apollo would a.s.sist the pious Croesus." When narrating the astonis.h.i.+ng incidents which took place on the pyre, he drops the positive tone, and continues the story with "the Lydians say." The pyre is already kindled when the question is asked by the interpreters, What is the meaning of the cry "Solon"?

Croesus is at first obstinately silent, then answers obscurely; and only after long pressure tells of his meeting with Solon, which could not be done very briefly if it was to be made intelligible to Cyrus, and the narrative had to be translated by the interpreters, as Herodotus himself relates. Then Cyrus is seized with remorse for the execution he has commanded, and the attempt is made to quench the pyre. Impossible as all this is, Croesus at the last moment confesses that Solon is right, and Solon's deep insight moves the heart of the great sovereign of the Persians, and rescues the once prosperous but now fallen king.

In his minute account of the cremation, which, in his rhetorical manner, he connects with the recovery of speech by the deaf and dumb son, Nicolaus of Damascus felt difficulties like those in Herodotus. The law bidding the Persians not to pollute fire, nor to "burn the dead," is well known to him. He removes the contradiction by representing the cremation as taking place against the will of Cyrus, and remarks that after this incident the regulation was more strictly observed. In his story also the change is made by the mention of Solon's name. When Cyrus had ascertained what Solon had said to Croesus, he began to weep, and saw that he had done wrong, and the pain of their king touches the heart of the Persians. This movement is a.s.sisted in Nicolaus by the sibyl of Ephesus; in which no doubt he follows the legend of Ephesus; Croesus had made large presents to the temple of Artemis in that city (III. 451).

In Herodotus, as in Diodorus and Nicolaus, it is the rain, by which the pyre is quenched, which causes Cyrus to continue his gentle treatment of Croesus. Moreover, the excellent advice, which Croesus with immediate prudence gives, for putting an end to the plunder of Sardis, and other matters in Herodotus, in Diodorus, and Xenophon, co-operate in influencing Cyrus to hold such a wise man in respect. Xenophon knows, or at any rate says, nothing of the burning of Croesus. Ctesias knows nothing of it: in his account miracles of another kind are vouchsafed to the imprisoned Croesus by Apollo in his temple; the triple loosing of the bonds, and their final removal with thunder and lightning, determine Cyrus to set him at liberty and make provision for him.

Lastly, it was inc.u.mbent on Herodotus and the Greek narratives to justify the Delphian oracle with regard to the responses given to Croesus. In Herodotus and Nicolaus this justification is introduced and pointed by the sending of the fetters, which Croesus had worn, as the first-fruits of the promised victory to Delphi, and the question whether it was the manner of the Greek G.o.ds to deceive those who had done them kindness. Following, no doubt, the legend of the Delphic priesthood, Herodotus then gives the defence of the priestess, that Croesus had not rightly understood the oracles,--though as we shall see, he had understood them correctly enough. The priestess further tells Croesus, that he was destined to pay the penalty for the offence, which his ancestor Gyges had committed against Candaules, though the Delphic oracle had sanctioned this crime and carried it out. Then destiny has to bear the blame. No man can escape his doom; the G.o.d of Delphi had deferred the fall of Croesus for three years, and saved him from the flames of the funeral pyre. The G.o.d of Delphi had thus announced the truth (to prove this Cyrus is made the son of a Median mother), and had shown his grat.i.tude for the gifts of Croesus by delaying his overthrow, and rescuing him from the flames, as Croesus must himself confess.

Xenophon dwells yet more on the justification. Croesus had placed himself in the wrong with the G.o.d, by putting it to the test whether he could tell the truth; then he hopes that he has appeased him by rich presents, but he misunderstands the further response of the G.o.d, "that he will be happy when he knows himself," for in descent, bravery, and generals.h.i.+p he holds himself the equal of Cyrus. In Herodotus and Nicolaus the gift of speech to the deaf and dumb son, the quenching of the pyre,--in Herodotus also the delay of destiny, and in Ctesias, the miraculous loosing of the fetters,--are proofs that the dedicatory gifts of Croesus and his piety had not been in vain. They could not avert his doom, but they had alleviated it; the G.o.d of the Greeks, whom he serves, has at the last saved him from the most cruel fate, and brought it about that Croesus ends his days, if not as a ruler, yet in peace and dignity.

In spite of all the national and individual points of view which mark Herodotus' account of the fall of Croesus, and the legends which he has woven into it, and used for his own purposes--the fanciful colours which stamp it as fabulous--it nevertheless contains a nucleus of historical truth, and we can give it a place before the rest as a narrative of facts. We have seen above how suddenly the successful rebellion of Cyrus put an end to the close relations between Babylonia, Lydia, and Media; how Lydia was touched by this change, how clearly the intervention of Lydia was needed, and what reasons could induce Croesus to defer it.

Croesus was obviously brought to abandon his delay by the successes which Cyrus achieved in establis.h.i.+ng his dominion over the Medes, and extending it to North and South, but above all by his conquests in the West and the advance of the Persian border to the Halys. Herodotus'

account shows us very clearly that Cappadocia had become subject to Cyrus. When, on a previous occasion, the Medes reached the Halys, Alyattes, the father of Croesus, had taken up arms; was he to fall short of this example, in the presence of a power which had grown up more rapidly and threatened greater danger than the Medes? As Herodotus told us, it was his intention to attack Cyrus before he became too powerful.

We may conclude with certainty from what Herodotus relates, that Croesus did not hide from himself the importance and difficulty of the undertaking. Above all he sought to win the favour of Sandon the national deity (I. 564). The Lydians offered large burnt-sacrifices to this deity, their sun-G.o.d; on a huge pyre they burnt numerous victims, gold and silver vessels, and costly robes in his honour. Herodotus tells us that Croesus bade the Lydians sacrifice from their own stores on that occasion; hence the great sacrifice, the gold of which Croesus dedicated to the G.o.d of Miletus and Delphi, was a national offering, which Croesus presented to Sandon. We have already shown that the Greeks recognised in the sun-G.o.d of the Lydians their own Apollo and Hercules, while the Lydians found their solar deity in the Apollo of the Greeks. When Gyges undertook to overthrow the old royal family which claimed to spring from this sun-G.o.d, and could not succeed in his attempt, an answer was sought from the sun-G.o.d of Delphi. The G.o.d of the Greeks then dethroned the descendants of the Lydian deity. In the year 556 B.C.[17] Croesus had already sent to Delphi, and given dedicatory offerings to the G.o.d of Delphi and to the Ismenian Apollo at Thebes; and at the present time, when he had resolved to enter on a severe struggle for his throne and kingdom, he called to mind the G.o.d, to whose oracle his house owed its position; he would now receive by his favour both kingdom and crown. So Apollo of Miletus and Delphi received silver and gold which had been consecrated by the fire. The bricks into which it was formed were intended to bear the lion which was also fas.h.i.+oned out of the same gold--the symbol of the burning sun, the image of the Lydian G.o.d. The four golden bricks formed the uppermost steps. The total amount of the gold dedicated at Delphi and Miletus reached 270 talents. For the presents at Miletus Croesus used the property of Sadyattes, which he had confiscated at the beginning of his reign, dedicated, and applied as an offering.[18] When Croesus sent the gifts to Delphi, he inquired of the oracle, as Gyges had previously done. At this time--about 140 years before Croesus--the question had been who was to ascend the throne of Lydia; now the question was, whether the descendant of Gyges would maintain it in the conflict against Persia. The answer of the priestess, which Aristotle and Diodorus have preserved in metre,[19]--"That Croesus by crossing the Halys would destroy a great kingdom"--is genuine, and was certainly given in the meaning that Croesus should undertake the war and would destroy the kingdom of his opponent. The object of Croesus in asking the question was to know whether he would be fortunate in his attack on Persia. If it was the object of the priesthood to give a dubious answer to this question, they could not possibly have answered the further question--whether he should take allies to help him,--with the command that he must take the "most powerful of the h.e.l.lenes." At that time the Spartans were beyond all question the most powerful of the h.e.l.lenes. How could the priests of Delphi, who owing to the close connection in which they stood to Sparta were well aware that the oracle would be a law to that state, send the Spartans to defeat and destruction, if they foresaw such a thing?[20] That at Delphi, owing to the impression made on the Greeks by the power, greatness, and splendour of the Lydian empire, the remote and unknown Persians were underrated is quite probable, and indeed sufficiently proved by the subsequent emba.s.sy of the Spartans to Cyrus. The first response did not entirely remove the doubts of Croesus, so he asked a second time--"whether his dominion would continue long," and this question received a thoroughly satisfactory answer, _i.e._ an answer which, in the obscure form purposely adopted by oracles, deferred the defeat of the Lydians to distant times, and impossible conditions.