The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians Part 39

What we have now related of Crsus is a very natural picture of the behaviour of kings and great men, who for the most part are seduced by flattery; and shows us at the same time the two sources from whence that blindness generally proceeds. The one is, a secret inclination which all men have, but especially the great, of receiving praise without any precaution, and of judging favourably of all that admire them, and show an unlimited submission and complaisance to their humours. The other is, the great resemblance there is between flattery and a sincere affection, or a reasonable respect; which is sometimes counterfeited so exactly, that the wisest may be deceived, if they are not very much upon their guard.

Crsus, if we judge of him by the character he bears in history, was a very good prince, and worthy of esteem in many respects. He had a great deal of good-nature, affability, and humanity. His palace was a receptacle for men of wit and learning, which shows that he himself was a person of learning, and had a taste for the sciences. His weakness was, that he laid too great stress upon riches and magnificence, thought himself great and happy in proportion to his possessions, mistook regal pomp and splendour for true and solid greatness, and fed his vanity with the excessive submissions of those that stood in a kind of adoration before him.

Those learned men, those wits and other courtiers, that surrounded this prince, ate at his table, partook of his pleasures, shared his confidence, and enriched themselves by his bounty and liberality, took care not to thwart the prince's taste, and never thought of undeceiving him with respect to his errors or false ideas. On the contrary, they made it their business to cherish and fortify them in him, extolling him perpetually as the most opulent prince of his age, and never speaking of his wealth, or the magnificence of his palace, but in terms of admiration and rapture; because they knew this was the sure way to please him, and to secure his favour. For flattery is nothing else but a commerce of falsehood and lying, founded upon interest on one side, and vanity on the other. The flatterer desirous to advance himself, and make his fortune; the prince to be praised and admired, because he is his own first flatterer, and carries within himself a more subtile and better prepared poison than any adulation gives him.

That maxim of aesop, who had formerly been a slave, and still retained somewhat of the spirit and character of slavery, though he had varnished it over with the address of an artful courtier; that maxim of his, I say, which recommended to Solon, "That we should either not come near kings, or say what is agreeable to them," shows us with what kind of men Crsus had filled his court, and by what means he had banished all sincerity, integrity, and duty, from his presence. In consequence of which, we see he could not bear that n.o.ble and generous freedom in the philosopher, upon which he ought to have set an infinite value; as he would have done, had he but understood the worth of a friend, who, attaching himself to the person, and not to the fortune of a prince, has the courage to tell him disagreeable truths; truths unpalatable, and bitter to self-love at the present, but that may prove very salutary and serviceable for the future.

_Dic illis, non quod volunt audire, sed quod audisse semper volent._ These are Seneca's own words, where he is endeavouring to show of what great use a faithful and sincere friend may be to a prince; and what he adds further seems to be written on purpose for Crsus: "Give him,"(1105) says he, "wholesome advice. Let a word of truth once reach those ears, which are perpetually fed and entertained with flattery. You will ask me, what service can be done to a person arrived at the highest pitch of felicity?

That of teaching him not to trust in his prosperity; of removing that vain confidence he has in his power and greatness, as if they were to endure for ever; of making him understand, that every thing which belongs to and depends upon fortune, is as unstable as herself; and that there is often but the s.p.a.ce of a moment between the highest elevation and the most unhappy downfall."

It was not long before Crsus experienced the truth of what Solon had told him.(1106) He had two sons, one of which, being dumb, was a perpetual subject of affliction to him; the other, named Atys, was distinguished by every good quality, and his great consolation and delight. The father one night had a dream, which made a great impression upon his mind, that this beloved son of his was to perish by iron. This became a new source of anxiety and trouble, and care is taken to remove out of the young prince's way every thing made of iron, as partisans, lances, javelins, &c. No mention is made of armies, wars, or sieges, before him. But one day there was to be an extraordinary hunting-match, for the killing of a wild boar, which had committed great ravage in the neighbourhood. All the young lords of the court were to be at this hunting. Atys very earnestly importuned his father that he would give him leave to be present, at least as a spectator. The king could not refuse him that request, but intrusted him to the care of a discreet young prince, who had taken refuge in his court, and was named Adrastus. And this very Adrastus, as he was aiming his javelin at the boar, unfortunately killed Atys. It is impossible to express either the affliction of the father, when he heard of this fatal accident, or of the unhappy prince, the innocent author of the murder, who expiated his fault with his blood, stabbing himself in the breast with his own sword, upon the funeral pile of the unfortunate Atys.

Two years were spent on this occasion in deep mourning,(1107) the afflicted father's thoughts being wholly taken up with the loss he had sustained. But the growing reputation, and great qualities of Cyrus, who began to make himself known, roused him out of his lethargy. He thought it behoved him to put a stop to the power of the Persians, which was enlarging itself every day. As he was very religious in his way, he would never enter upon any enterprise without consulting the G.o.ds. But, that he might not act blindly, and in order to be able to form a certain judgment on the answers he should receive, he was willing to a.s.sure himself beforehand of the truth of the oracles. For which purpose, he sent messengers to all the most celebrated oracles both of Greece and Africa, with orders to inquire, every one at his respective oracle, what Crsus was doing on such a day, and such an hour, before agreed on. His orders were punctually observed; and of all the oracles none gave a true answer but that of Delphi. The answer was given in Greek hexameter verses, and was in substance as follows: "I know the number of the grains of sand on the sea-sh.o.r.e, and the measure of the ocean's vast extent. I can hear the dumb, and him that has not yet learnt to speak. A strong smell of a tortoise boiled in bra.s.s, together with sheep's flesh, has reached my nostrils, bra.s.s beneath, bra.s.s above." And indeed the king, thinking to invent something that could not possibly be guessed at, had employed himself on the day and hour set down, in boiling a tortoise and a lamb in a bra.s.s pot, which had a bra.s.s cover. St. Austin observes in several places, that G.o.d, to punish the blindness of the Pagans, sometimes permitted the devils to give answers conformable to the truth.

Crsus, thus a.s.sured of the veracity of the G.o.d whom he designed to consult, offered three thousand victims to his honour, and ordered an infinite number of vessels, tripods, and golden tables, to be melted down, and converted into ingots of gold, to the number of a hundred and seventeen, to augment the treasures of the temple of Delphi. Each of these ingots weighed at least two talents; besides which, he made several other presents: amongst others Herodotus mentions a golden lion, weighing ten talents, and two vessels of an extraordinary size, one of gold, which weighed eight talents and a half and twelve minae; the other of silver, which contained six hundred of the measures called amphorae. All these presents, and many more, which for brevity's sake I omit, were to be seen in the time of Herodotus.

The messengers were ordered to consult the G.o.d upon two points: first, whether Crsus should undertake a war against the Persians; secondly, if he did, whether he should require the succour of any auxiliary troops. The oracle answered, upon the first article, that if he carried his arms against the Persians, he would subvert a great empire; upon the second, that he would do well to make alliances with the most powerful states of Greece. He consulted the oracle again, to know how long the duration of his empire would be. The answer was, that it should subsist till a mule came to possess the throne of Media; which he considered as an a.s.surance of the perpetual duration of his kingdom.

Pursuant to the direction of the oracle, Crsus entered into alliance with the Athenians, who at that time had Pisistratus at their head, and with the Lacedaemonians, who were indisputably the two most powerful states of Greece.

A certain Lydian, much esteemed for his prudence, gave Crsus, on this occasion, very judicious advice.(1108) "O prince, (says he to him,) why do you think of turning your arms against such a people as the Persians, who, being born in a wild, rugged country, are inured from their infancy to every kind of hards.h.i.+p and fatigue, who, being coa.r.s.ely clad, and coa.r.s.ely fed, can content themselves with bread and water; who are absolute strangers to all the delicacies and conveniencies of life; who, in a word, have nothing to lose if you conquer them, and every thing to gain if they conquer you; and whom it would be difficult to drive out of our country, if they should once come to taste the sweets and advantages of it? So far therefore from thinking of beginning a war against them, it is my opinion we ought to thank the G.o.ds that they have never put it into the heads of the Persians to come and attack the Lydians." But Crsus had taken his resolution and would not be diverted from it.

What remains of the history of Crsus will be found in that of Cyrus, which I am now going to begin.

MAPS.

[Map: The World.]

Plate I, part A.

[Map: The World.]

Plate I, part B.

[Map: Egypt with Lybia.]

Plate II, part A.

[Map: Egypt with Lybia.]

Plate II, part B.

[Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.]

Plate III, part A.

[Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.]

Plate III, part B.

[Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.]

Plate III, part C.

[Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.]

Plate IV, part A.

[Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.]

Plate IV, part B.

[Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.]

Plate IV, part B.

[Map: The a.s.syrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians.]

Plate V, part A.

[Map: The a.s.syrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians.]

Plate V, part B.