history of Cyrus, at least with respect to the main substance of it, and the greatest part of the facts and transactions. This judicious reflection on the passage in Xenophon belongs to Mons. Freret.* The battle lasted till evening. Croesus retreated as fast as he could with his troops to Sardis. The other nations, in like manner, that very night directed their course each to their own country, and made as long marches as they possibly could. The conquerors, after they had eaten something, and posted the guards, went to rest.† In describing this battle, I have endeavoured exactly to follow the Greek text of Xenophon, the Latin translation of which is not always faithful. Some mili tary men, to whom I have communicated this description, find a defect in the manner in which Cyrus disposed of his troops in order of battle, as he placed no troops to cover his flanks, to sustain his armed chariots, and to oppose the two bodies of troops which Croesus had detached to fall upon the flanks of his army. It is possible such a circumstance might escape Xenophon in describing this battle. It is allowed, that Cyrus's victory was chiefly owing to his Persian cavalry, which was a new establishment, and entirely the fruit of that prince's care and activity in forming his people, and perfecting them in a part of the military art, of which, till his time, they had been entirely ignorant. The chariots armed with scythes did good service, and the use of them was ever afterwards retained among the Persians. The camels, too, were not unserviceable in this battle, though Xenophon makes no great account of them; and observes, that in his time they made no other use of them than for carrying the baggage.‡ I do not undertake to write a panegyric upon Cyrus, or to magnify his merit. It is sufficient to take notice, that in this affair we see all the qualities of a great general shine out in him. Before the battle, an admirable sagacity and foresight in discovering and disconcerting the enemy's measures: an infinite exactness in the detail of affairs, in taking care that his army should be provided with every thing necessary, and all his orders punctually executed at the times fixed; a wonderful application to gain the hearts of his soldiers, and to inspire them with confidence and ardour: in the heat of action, what a spirit and activity; what a presence of mind in giving orders, as occasion requires ; what courage and intrepidity, at the same time what humanity towards the enemy, whose valour he respects, and whose blood he is unwilling to shed! We shall see by and by, what use he made of his victory. But what appears to me still more remarkable, and more worthy of admiration than all the rest, is the constant care he took on all occasions, to pay that homage and worship to the Deity which he thought belonged to him. Doubtless the reader has been surprised to see, in the relation I have given of this battle, how many times Cyrus, in sight of his army, makes mention of the gods, offers sacrifices and libations to them, addresses himself to them by prayer and invocation, and implores their succour and protection. But in this have added nothing to the original text of the historian, who was also a military person, and who thought it no dishonour to himself or his profession, to relate these particular circumstances. What a shame, then, and a reproach would it be to a Christian officer or general, if, on a day of battle, he should blush to appear as religious and devout as a pagan prince; and if the Lord of hosts, the God of armies, whom he acknowledges as such, should make a less impression upon his mind, than a respect for the false deities of paganism did upon the mind of Cyrus! As for Croesus he makes no great figure in this action; not one word is said of him in the whole engagement. But that profound silence which Xenophon observes in regard to him, seems, in my opinion, to imply a great deal, and gives us to understand that a man may be a powerful prince, or a rich poten tate, without being a great warrior. * Cyrop. 1. vii. p. 179. † Cyrop, p. 180. + Cyrop. p. 480. But let us return to the camp of the Persians. It is easy to imagine, that Panthea must have been in the utmost affliction and distress, when the news was brought to her of the death of Abradates. Having caused his body to be brought to her, and holding it upon her knees, quite out of her senses, with her eyes steadfastly fixed upon the melancholy object, she thought of nothing but feeding her grief, and indulging her misery, with the sight of that dismal and bloody spectacle. Cyrus being told what a condition she was in, ran immediately to her, sympathized with her affliction, and bewailed her unhappy rate with tears of compassion, doing all that he possibly could to give her comfort, and ordering extraordinary honours to be shown to the brave deceased Abradates. But no sooner was Cyrus retired, than Panthea, overpowered with grief, stabbed herself with a dagger, and fell dead upon the body of her hus band. They were both buried in one common grave upon the very spot, and a monument was erected for them, which was standing in the time of Xenophon.* SECTION VI.-THE TAKING OF SARLIS AND OF CRISUS. THE next day, in the morning, Cyrus marched towards Sardis.† If we may believe Herodotus, Croesus did not imagine that Cyrus intended to shut him up in the city, and therefore marched out with his forces to meet him and to give him battle. According to that historian, the Lydians were the bravest and most warlike people of Asia. Their principal strength consisted in their cavalry. Cyrus, in order to render that the less serviceable to them, made his camels advance first, of which animals the horse could neither endure the sight nor the smell, and therefore immediately retired on their approach. Upon which the riders dismounted, and came to the engagement on foot, which was very obstinately maintained on both sides; but at length the Lydians gave way, and were forced to retreat into the city; which Cyrus quickly besieged, causing his engines to be levelled against the walls, and his scaling ladders to be prepared, as if he intended to attack it by storm. But while he was amusing the besieged with these preparations, the night following he made himself master of the citadel by a private way that led thereto, which he was informed of by a Persian slave, who had been a servant to the governor of that place. At break of day he entered the city, where he met with no resistance. His first care was to preserve it from being plundered; for he perceived the Chaldeans had quitted their ranks, and already began to disperse themselves. To stop the rapacious hands of foreign soldiers, and tie them as it were, by a single command, in a city abounding with riches as Sardis did, is a thing not to be done but by so singular an authority as Cyrus had over his army. He gave all the citizens to understand that their lives should be spared, and neither their wives nor children touched, provided they brought him all their gold and silver. This condition they readily complied with; and Croesus himself, whom Cyrus had ordered to be conducted to him, set them an example, by delivering up all his riches and treasures to the conqueror.‡ When Cyrus had given all necessary orders concerning the city, he had a particular conversation with the king, of whom he asked, among other things, what he now thought of the oracle of Delphos, and of the answers given by the god that presided there, for whom, it was said, he had always had a great regard? Croesus first acknowledged, that he had justly incurred the indignation of that god, for having shown a distrust of the truth of his answers, and for having put him to the trial by an absurd and ridiculous question; and then declared, that notwithstanding all this, he still had no reason to complain of him, for that having consulted him, to know what he should do in order to lead a happy life, the oracle had given him an answer, which implied in substance, that he should enjoy a perfect and lasting happiness, when he once came to the knowledge of himself. "For want of this knowledge," continued he, "and believing myself, through the excessive praises that were lavished Cyrop. 1. vii. p. 184–136. Herod. 1. i. c. 79–84. ↑ Cyrop. 1. vii. p. 180. upon me, to be something very different from what I am, I accepted the title of generalissimo of the whole army, and unadvisedly engaged in a war against a prince, infinitely my superior in all respects. But now that I am instructed by my defeat, and begin to know myself, I believe I am about to commence being happy; and if you prove favourable to me, for my fate is in your hands, I shall certainly be so." Cyrus, touched with compassion at the misfortune of the king, who was fallen in a moment from so great an ele vation, and admiring his equanimity under such a reverse of fortune, treated him with a great deal of clemency and kindness, suffering him to enjoy both the title and authority of king, under the restriction of not having the power to make war; that is to say, he discharged him, as Croesus acknowledged himself, from all the burdensome part of regal power, and truly enabled him to lead a happy life, exempted from all care and disquiet. From thencefor ward he took him with him in all his expeditions, either out of esteem for him, and to have the benefit of his counsel, or out of policy, and to be the more secure of his person." * Herodotus, and other writers after him, relate this story with the addition of some very remarkable circumstances, which I think it incumbent on me to mention, notwithstanding they seem to be much more wonderful than true. I have already observed, that the only son Croesus had living was dumb. This young prince, seeing a soldier, when the city was taken, ready to give the king, whom he did not know, a stroke upon the head with his scimitar, made such a violent effort and struggle, out of fear and tenderness for the life of his father, that he broke the strings of his tongue, and cried out, “soldier, spare the life of Croesus." Croesus being a prisoner, was condemned by the conqueror to be burnt alive. Accordingly, the funeral-pile was prepared, and that unhappy prince being laid thereon, and just upon the point of execution, recollecting the conversation he had formerly had with Solon, was wofully convinced of the truth of that philosopher's admonition, and in remembrance thereof, cried out aloud three times, "Solon, Solon, Solon!" Cyrus, who, with the chief officers of his court, was present at this spectacle, was curious to know why Croesus pronounced that celebrated philosopher's name with so much vehemence in this extremity. Being told the reason, and reflecting upon the uncertain state of all sublunary things, he was touched with commiseration at the prince's misfortune, caused him to be taken from the pile, and treated him afterwards, as long as he lived, with honour and respect.§ Thus had Solon the glory, with a single word, to save the life of one king, and give a wholesome lesson of instruction to another.|| Two answers in particular, given by the Delphic oracle, had induced Crosus to engage in the war which proved so fatal to him. The one was, that he, Croesus, was to believe himself in danger, when the Medes should have a mule to reign over them; the other, that when he should pass the river Halys, to make war against the Medes, he would destroy a mighty empire. From the first of these oracular answers he concluded, considering the impossibility of the thing spoken of, that he had nothing to fear; and from the second, he conceived hopes of subverting the empire of the Medes. When he found that things had happened quite contrary to his expectations, with Cyrus's leave he despatched messengers to Delphos, in order to make a present to the god, in his name, of a golden chain, and at the same time to reproach him for having so basely deceived him by his oracles, notwithstanding all the vast presents and offerings he had made him. The god was at no great pains to justify his answers. The mule which the oracle meant was Cyrus, who derived his extraction from two different nations, being a Persian by the father's side, * Cyrop. 1. vii. P. 181-184. † Herod. l. i. c. 85. Herod. c. 86-91. Plut. in Solan Η Καὶ δόξαν ἔσχεν ὁ Σόλων ἐνὶ λόγω τὸν μέν σώσας, τὸν δὲ παιδεύσας τῶν Βασλέιων. Plut. This conversation is already related in this volume, p. 301, 302. and a Mede by the mother's; and as to the great empire which Croesus was to overthrow, the oracle did not mean that of the Medes, but his own. It was by such false and deceitful oracles, that the father of lies, the devil, who was the author of them, imposed upon mankind in those times of ignorance and darkness, always giving his answer to those that consulted him, in such ambiguous and doubtful terms, that, let the event be what it would, they contained a relative meaning. When the people of Ionia and Eolia were apprised of Cyrus's having subdued the Lydians, they sent ambassadors to him at Sardis, to desire he would receive them as his subjects, upon the same conditions he had granted the Lydians. Cyrus, who, before his victory, had solicited them in vain to embrace his party, and was then in a condition to compel them to it by force, answered them only by a fable of a fisherman, who having played upon his pipe, in order to make the fish come to him, in vain, found there was no way to catch them, but by throwing his net into the water. Failing in their hopes of succeeding this way, they applied to the Lacedæmonians, and demanded their succour. The Lacedæmonians thereupon sent deputies to Cyrus, to let him know, that they would not suffer him to undertake any thing against the Greeks. Cyrus only laughed at such a message, and warned them in his turn to take care, and put themselves into a condition to defend their own territories.* The nations of the isles had nothing to apprehend from Cyrus, because he had not yet subdued the Phoenicians, nor had the Persians any shipping. ARTICLE II. THE HISTORY OF THE BESIEGING AND TAKING OF BABYLON BY CYRUS. CYRUS staid in Asia Minor, till he had entirely reduced all the nations that inhabited it into subjection, from the Ægean sea to the river Euphrates. From thence he proceeded to Syria and Arabia, which he also subdued. After which he entered into Assyria, and advanced towards Babylon, the only city of the East that stood out against him.† The siege of this important place was no easy enterprise. The walls of it were of a prodigious height, and appeared to be inaccessible, without mentioning the immense number of people within them for their defence. Besides, the city was stored with all sorts of provisions for twenty years. However, these difficulties did not discourage Cyrus from pursuing his design. But, despairing to take the place by storm or assault, he made the inhabitants believe he designed to reduce it by famine. To which end he caused a line of circumvallation to be drawn quite round the city, with a large and deep ditch; and, that his troops might not be over-fatigued, he divided his army into twelve bodies, and assigned each of them its month for guarding the trenches. The besieged thinking themselves out of all danger, by reason of their ramparts and maga zines, insulted Cyrus from the top of their walls, and laughed at all his attempts, and all the trouble he gave himself, as so much unprofitable labour. SECTION 1.-PREDICTIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO THE SIEGE AND THE TAKING OF BABYLON, AS THEY ARE SET DOWN IN DIFFERENT PLACES OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. I As the taking of Babylon is one of the greatest events in ancient history, and as the principal circumstances with which it was attended, were foretold in the holy Scriptures many years before it happened, I think it not improper, before give an account of what the profane writers say of it, briefly to put together what we find upon the same head in the sacred pages, that the reader may be the more capable of comparing the predictions and the accomplishment of them together. Herod. l. i. c. 141, 152, 153. Herod. 1. i. c. 177. Cyrop. 1. vii. p. 186-138. I. THE PREDICTION OF THE JEWISH CAPTIVITY AT BABYLON, AND THE TIME OF ITS DURATION. GOD Almighty was pleased, not only to cause the captivity which his people were to suffer at Babylon to be foretold a long time before it came to pass, but likewise to set down the exact number of years it was to last. The term be fixed for it was seventy years, after which he promised he would deliver them, by bringing a remarkable and an eternal destruction upon the city of Babylon, the place of their bondage and confinement. "And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Jer. xxv. 11. II. THE CAUSES OF GOD'S WRATH AGAINST BABYLON. WHAT kindled the wrath of God against Babylon was, 1. Her insupportable pride; 2. Her inhuman cruelty towards the Jews; and, 3. The sacrilegious impiety of her king. 1. Her pride. She believed herself to be invincible. She says in her heart, I am the queen of nations, and I shall remain so for ever. There is no power equal to mine. All other powers are either subject or tributary to me, or in alliance with me. I shall never know either barrenness or widowhood. Eternity is written in my destiny, according to the observation of all those that have consulted the stars to know it. 2. Her cruelty. It is God himself that complains of it. I was willing, says he, to punish my people in such a manner as a father chastiseth his children. I sent them for a time into banishment at Babylon, with a design to recall them as soon as they were become more thankful and more faithful. But Babylon and her prince have converted my paternal chastisement into such a cruel and inhuman treatment, as my clemency abhors. Their design has been to destroy mine was to save. The banishment they have turned into a severe bondage and captivity, and have shown no compassion or regard either to age, or infirmity, or virtue. 3. The sacrilegious impiety of her king. To the pride and cruelty of his predecessors, Belshazzar added an impiety that was peculiar to himself. He did not only prefer his false divinities to the true and only God, but imagined himself likewise to have vanquished his power, because he was possessed of the vessels which had belonged to his worship; and, as if he meant to affront him, he affected to apply these holy vessels to profane uses. This was the provoking circumstance that brought down the wrath of God upon him. III. THE DECREE PRONOUNCED AGAINST BABYLON, PREDICTION OF THE CALAMITIES THAT WERE TO FALL UPON HER, and of HER UTTER DESTRUCTION. "MAKE bright the arrows, gather the shields;" it is the prophet that speaks to the Medes and Persians. The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, for his device is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple."* 66 Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand, a day cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate.†-Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria." "Shout against her round about. Recompense her according to her work', according to all that she hath done, do unto her; and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.§-Every one that is found shall be thrust through, and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 1 heir bows also shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no Jer. li. 11. † Isa. xiii. 6, 9. Jer. 1. 15, 29, and li. 3. In the destruction of Nineveh. Jer. 1. 18. |