The World's Progress Part 40

CHAPTER XIX.

WAR WITH GREECE.

Upon the death of Cyrus, in 529 B.C., his son Cambyses succeeded to the throne, while a younger brother Smerdis, was left to supervise certain provinces, according to his father's wishes. The conquest of Egypt had been planned by Cyrus and would undoubtedly have been undertaken by him had he lived. Cambyses at once began preparations to this end and these occupied some considerable period.

This young prince who had just come into absolute power, apparently inherited all his father's failings and few of his virtues. He had never learned to control himself and that omened ill for those who became his subjects. His jealousy, suspicion, cruelty, and arrogant pride contrasted strikingly with the generous, kindly temperament of Cyrus.

Before setting out for Egypt, he had his brother secretly murdered. No rumor of this crime reached his subjects, however.

Egypt at this time was not able to defend herself against an army that had become experienced and confident under the command of Cyrus; consequently, the country fell rapidly into the hands of the new Persian king. Far from showing the leniency of his father toward the vanquished, he marked his victories with needless cruelty.

The two great powers of Africa besides Egypt were the states of Ethiopia in the south, and Carthage in the northwest. Of the former we learned something in The Story of Egypt; of the latter we shall learn later on.

Suffice it to say here that the Carthaginians were colonists of the Phoenicians, and, like them, were traders whose commerce penetrated to all lands washed by the Mediterranean Sea.

When Egypt lay at his feet, Cambyses resolved to make himself supreme in the whole continent of Africa--only the northern portion of the continent was then known. Accordingly, he directed troops to advance against these two powers which he thought alone worthy of his notice.

Now Carthage could only be taken by sea, and the king was limited to Phoenician vessels, manned by Phoenician sailors. These men promptly refused to make war on their own colony, whose interests were so closely interwoven with those of their country. Their stand must have been united and firm, for Cambyses found himself obliged to abandon his project. The expedition to the south was disheartening. The Persian soldiers were unused to the hot sands and intense sun of Nubia and great loss and discouragement overtook the army. Those who withstood the heat were too exhausted by the march to accomplish anything. The king remained in Egypt. He was constantly haunted by his crime against his brother. He realized his unpopularity with his subjects, and feared that disaster would at any time overtake him. His fears were shortly reflected in his soldiers, who having learned that they were no longer led by one who could bring victory in the face of opposing obstacles, lost heart and fought indifferently.

Herodotus wrote at length concerning the conduct of Cambyses in Egypt and his stories were long credited. Tales were told of Cambyses'

profaning Egyptian temples, desecrating the tombs of the dead, stabbing the apis-bull with his own sword, outraging the priests and inflicting such injury upon the n.o.bles as only the madness which they attribute to him, could explain. In recent years these statements have been modified by investigation. An Egyptologist of first rank claims that the tale regarding the apis-bull was not well founded. Unquestionably Cambyses was brutal in his treatment of a mild and gentle people, and he may have easily incurred the wrath of the priesthood by his contempt for their religion, certain features of which he regarded as mere folly. It is also probable that his deeds have been greatly exaggerated by those who had cause to hate him for his interference with a land to which he had no just claim. Instead of being insane, he no doubt displayed his ungovernable temper and in moments of rage, gave orders which he would gladly have recalled in another mood.

While Cambyses loitered in Egypt, a report spread through the empire that Smerdis had been crowned, and that Cambyses need no longer be regarded as king. One of the Magians, a priesthood of Persia which represented a more material form of wors.h.i.+p than the teachings of Zoroaster allowed, had attempted to usurp the throne in Cambyses'

absence. The real king, feeling depressed with his partial victory, doubting the fidelity of his army, confessed the murder of his brother to his ministers. Having thus disclosed the presumption of the pretender, Cambyses committed suicide.

Darius, a prince of the house of Cyrus, was chosen to succeed. This was a choice likely to prove acceptable to the people, for he was the only legitimate heir to the throne. Herodotus explained with all gravity that the counsellors of state, of whose number Darius was one, agreed to determine the succession after this fas.h.i.+on: they would each go on horseback at sunrise to the city gate, and he whose horse neighed first should be proclaimed king!

THE MAGIAN WAS KILLED.

When the people finally learned the truth and realized how great a deception had been practised, they turned against his priesthood and instigated a general ma.s.sacre. The wors.h.i.+p they had established was cast aside and the purer faith of ancient Persia was restored. The pretender had compelled the Jews to cease labor on the new temple they were building in Jerusalem. Darius gave them permission to continue. So similar were the religions of the Hebrews and Persians, that there could be no friction between the two nations on that ground in an age when nearly all religions were polytheistic.

Darius was long occupied with internal disturbances. Revolts were put down with severity. When the government of the empire was firmly established, it was superior to any before known in Asia. The whole empire was divided into satrapies, or provinces--each under a resident governor; these governors made frequent reports to the capital and the opportunity for revolts was slight.

Internal concerns thus settled, Darius turned to conquest. He conducted a campaign in the east, pus.h.i.+ng Persia's possessions to the banks of the Indus.

It was natural that the king should have cast longing eyes westward, toward the beautiful isles and states of Greece. Long before the age of Cyrus, Greek colonists had settled in Asia Minor. They had fallen to the share of Persia when Lydia was conquered, and Darius had organized their local government so completely that the freedom-loving Greeks were oppressed by it and in 500 B.C. revolted. These Greek cities appealed to Athens for aid in their struggle for liberty. A few soldiers were sent, and with such aid they displaced the Persian government and destroyed Sardis. Darius sent an army to put down the revolt, and the city which had led the struggle was destroyed. The king of Persia now determined to punish Athens for having given help to the revolting Greek cities of Asia Minor. Accordingly, he fitted out an expedition to conquer Greece.

The naval forces were wrecked in a storm and the land forces were routed by hostile tribes en route. A second expedition was prepared, more numerous and better equipped than the first. Before dispatching it, however, Darius sent heralds to the various Greek states to inquire if they would submit peacefully. They replied with great scorn. In 490 B.C.

the Persian king sent 300,000 soldiers to conquer Greece. The battle of Marathon was fought, and owing to the skill of Miltiades, the Greeks won. Four years later Darius died and Xerxes ruled in his stead. To him was left the duty of wiping out the inglorious defeat of the Persian arms. Not until 480 B.C. were the armies ready for what was expected to be a great conquest.

It has been said that never in the history of the world has such a motley array of soldiers been gathered together under one commander. All nations subservient to Persia were represented, and while Herodotus may have overstated their number, we may accept his statement that it was the largest force ever thus far marshalled together. At the defense of Thermopylae the Persians learned the character of their opponents. A little band of three hundred Spartans under command of Leonidas held the entire Persian army at bay in a narrow pa.s.s for two days. When the army spread out over the land, the Greeks realized their inability to cope with it and decided to hazard all on a naval engagement. The famous battle of Salamis followed, in which 1,000 men-of-war belonging to the Persians were destroyed or put to flight by 300 Greek vessels. Xerxes watched the fight from a throne hastily constructed for him on the sh.o.r.e. When at night his naval forces withdrew to Asia, he could scarcely credit the outcome. Byron has immortalized the occasion in a stanza:

"A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis; And s.h.i.+ps, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations--all were his!

He counted them at break of day-- And when the sun set where were they?"

Leaving a strong land force to conquer the Greeks the next year, Xerxes returned to Persia. By the following spring the Greeks had gathered their forces, and inspired by their glorious victory at Salamis, they defeated the Persian army in the battle of Plataea. Thereupon the Greek cities in Asia Minor a.s.serted their freedom, and Greek independence shone forth triumphantly before the world.

"But this glorious struggle and triumph of the few lifted to superhuman heroism by an enn.o.bling moral principle, as against the merely brutal force of numbers, does not properly belong any more to the history of the East, nor to that of remote antiquity; it is the dawn of a new star in the West, and of times which, from their spirit, actors, and achievements, may almost be called modern. At the bottom of the new departure lies the difference between the ideals--the conceptions of beauty and dignity of the political and social life--set up by the Oriental and Western man: 'A good master!' is the prayer and ideal of the Asiatic. 'No master! Liberty at any price, as the highest good in itself!' is that of the Greek. And the Greek wins the day, for his own time, and for his own race, and for future times and races to come."[1]

The following period, embracing nearly 150 years, was a time of decay and degeneracy. With Xerxes began the corruption of the Persian court--the licentiousness, a.s.sa.s.sinations, murders, and accompanying crimes which soon undermined the entire social order. Conditions were such that rulers were no longer strong, vigorous men, full of life and ambition--save indeed those usurpers who occasionally appropriated the reins of government. The days of Persian greatness were over, and under guidance of one or another of the princes, the state plunged on to ruin. In 336 B.C., Alexander, the young king of Macedonia, embarked upon his world conquests, and the Persian Empire merged into the Empire of Greece.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PERSIAN KING (WITH ATTENDANTS).]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Ragozin: Persia.

CHAPTER XX.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE PERSIANS.

There were wide differences between the civilization of the Persians and of the dwellers in the Tigris-Euphrates valleys. The Persian despised trade. His religion taught him to speak the truth, and he regarded commercial dealings as incompatible with this requirement. No shops made the princ.i.p.al streets in his country the scenes of hot disputes concerning prices and wares. The few shops which existed at all were tucked into obscure places on unfrequented by-ways. It naturally followed that there was an absence of those industrial centers which in Babylonia produced rare stuffs, delicate fabrics and ornaments. Swarms of slaves provided whatever was required by the wealthy, and it was the Persian's boast that his sword brought him the luxury of the world in tribute.

It has been estimated that the total population of Persia did not exceed 2,000,000. A small proportion of these were peasants who tilled the arable soil. Agriculture was held honorable and was encouraged by the national religion. The great majority of men were soldiers.

Since the soldier's life was thought to be worthy of a Persian, we may do well to consider whatever features characterized the service in this empire. Probably because of the mountainous country in which they dwelt, chariots were never popular with these people. Ordinarily they were impractical, being suited to plains and accessible places. Nevertheless a few were used and these were furnished with scythes attached to the axle. Chariots formed the front line of defense. Behind them the foot soldiers were arranged in squares, with cavalry on the wings. One commander--the king, if he were present,--gave commands to all from his position in the center. This was an evident fault, for, were he killed or in any way disabled, the entire army sometimes took fright and fled.

When the charge was made, the chariots dashed ahead, hewing right and left. They seldom failed to break the solid line drawn up before them, whereupon the infantry and horse followed, taking advantage of the confusion thus wrought. If the regular line of Persian soldiery was broken or in any way disturbed, since they had no reinforcements in a second division, the battle was almost always lost. To prevent such an occurrence was their aim. It has been said that the Orientals of this time could not be trusted to fight unless they were well supported at the rear--hence the custom of forming one deep line. The native Persians were brave soldiers, but their ranks were generally composed largely of subjects levied throughout the empire. Scantily clothed Nubians fought with clubs and stones in the same army with well-equipped natives. Drawn up by nation, in native custom, it is not surprising that they presented a sight marvellous indeed to the foreigner.

The contrast between Greek and Persian military tactics was marked. The Greeks trusted to their solid, heavily-armed phalanx; the Persians tried to equip themselves as lightly as possible, and trusted to their agility and swiftness of motion. Their leniency toward captives has been mentioned before. They found no delight in mere slaughter.

Literature and learning had little part in the life of the average citizen. The boy was left with his mother until five years of age. Then his education began. He rose before dawn and was trained in running, throwing stones, and shooting with an arrow. At seven he was taught to ride, and in Persia this implied much. He must be able to spring on a horse running at full speed, to shoot accurately when under rapid motion. In course of a few years' practice it was not strange that a Persian was never so at ease as on his horse. Furthermore, he was compelled to endure severe hards.h.i.+ps--sleeping under the open sky, eating only one meal in two days, making long marches, and swimming streams burdened with his weapons. At fifteen years of age he was considered a man and was enlisted in the army, where he ordinarily served until fifty.

During the period of the Persian empire, a numerous body of officials made up the king's retinue. Besides the farmers, soldiers and officials, there were many slaves, who completed the social body. They performed all kinds of labor, built the palaces and made fine roads throughout the realm.

The Persian court has probably never been excelled in ceremony and pomp.

Ceremony surrounded the monarch during hours of retirement and seclusion as well as when before the public eye.

"The officers in most close attendance on the monarch's person were, in war, his charioteer, his stool-bearer, his bow-bearer, and his quiver-bearer; in peace, his parasol-bearer, and his fan-bearer, who was also privileged to carry what has been termed the 'royal-handkerchief.'

Among the officers of the Court, less closely attached to the person of the monarch than these, may be mentioned the steward of the household; the groom or master of the horse; the keeper of the women's department, the king's 'eyes' and 'ears'--persons whose business it was to keep him informed on all matters of importance; his scribes, who wrote his letters, his messengers who went his errands, his ushers, his tasters, who tried the various dishes set before him lest they should be poisoned; his cup-bearers, who handed him wine and tasted of it; his chamberlains who a.s.sisted him to bed; and his musicians, who amused him with song and harp. Besides these, the Court comprised various cla.s.ses of guards, doorkeepers, huntsmen, grooms, cooks, and other domestic servants in abundance, together with a vast mult.i.tude of visitors, guests, princes, captives of rank, foreign refugees, amba.s.sadors, and travellers. We are a.s.sured that the king fed daily within the precincts of his palace as many as 15,000 persons, and that the cost of each day's food was 400 talents. A thousand beasts were slaughtered for each repast, besides abundance of feathered game and poultry.... On all occasions the guests, if they liked, carried away any portion of the food set before them, conveying it to their homes where it served to support their families."[1]

Prescribed etiquette governed everyone, from the king to his meanest subject. The august king must dine alone, or at best have with him the queen and her son. He could be approached only with certain ceremony.

Ceremony and form were by no means confined to royalty and the court.

Men of different rank met each other with established form and salutation; certain tasks could be performed only by persons who could perform no other tasks. This led to a large body of idlers around the court, ready to take part in any intrigue or conspiracy. They gathered around the homes of the wealthy as well as the palace of the king--water-bearers, adorners, awakers, and each rigidly confined himself to his single duty.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DAMASCUS SWORD-MAKER.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.]

In early times the Persians indulged in a single meal each day. The custom continued later, but now the feast began with the morning and ceased only with night. The amount of wine a man could drink became his boast. In place of the regular habits, frugal fare and constant exercise of early times, were subst.i.tuted the prolonged feast, all kinds of indulgencies, and idleness.

The royal harem provided apartments for the king's several wives in early years. Towards the close of the empire, provision had to be made for some three hundred and sixty--if we may trust one writer. The jealousies, differences and intrigues which arose from this quarter can scarcely be imagined. Each wished her son to be given preference, and this ambition, together with the restlessness accompanying enforced seclusion, stimulated crime and fostered conspiracies. The favorite of the king might toy with the lives of his subjects--even with the lives of those dear to him, at will. No subject in the land had reason to think his life secure--least of all, he who was today powerful.

For diversions--other than Court intrigues--the king turned to the hunt.

Dice throwing was the national game, and the carving of wood was a frequent pastime. Since little was known of books, men were forced to find some means of pa.s.sing hours unoccupied with national affairs or private concerns.

Dress had been simple in early years. As time went on, it became more complex; even matters of cosmetics and perfumes were later deemed of weighty importance.

There is more to attract us in the Persian state during years of its earlier simplicity, while yet the soldier found his deepest satisfaction in military skill, bodily exercise and great endurance, than in the period of imperial greatness, when the court of Persia exceeded in splendor anything since known.