portance, as the security and beauty of towns and cities, the convenient dwelling of the inhabitants, the preparations of high roads, bridges, causeways, the keeping of woods and forests from being laid waste and destroyed, and, above all, the improvement of agriculture, and the encouraging and promoting of all sorts of trades, even to the lowest and meanest of handicraft employments; every thing, in short, came within the sphere of their policy, and was thought to deserve their care and inspection. And indeed, whatever belongs to the subjects, as well as the subjects themselves, is a part of the trust committed to the head of the commonwealth, and is entitled to his care, concern, and activity. His love for the commonwealth is universal. It extends itself to all matters, and takes in every thing; it is the support of private persons, as well as of the public. Every province, every city, every family, has a place in his heart and affections. Every thing in the kingdom has a relation to, and concerns him; every thing challenges his attention and regard. I have already said, that agriculture was one of the main things on which the Persians bestowed their care and attention. Indeed, one of the prince's first cares was to make husbandry flourish; and those satraps, whose provinces were the best cultivated, enjoyed the most of his favour. And as there were offices erected for the regulation of the military part of the government, so were there likewise for the inspecting their rural labours and economy. Indeed these two employments had a near relation, the business of the one being to guard the country, and of the other to cultivate it. The prince protected both with almost the same degree of affection, because both concurred, and were equally necessary for the public good. Because if the lands cannot be cultivated without the aid and protection of armies for their defence and security; so neither can the soldiers, on the other hand, be fed and maintained without the labour of the husbandmen, who cultivate the ground. It was with good reason, therefore, that the prince, since it was impossible for himself to see into every thing, caused an exact account to be given him, how every province and canton was cultivated; that he might know whether each country brought forth abundantly such fruits as it was capable of producing; that he descended so far into those particulars, as Xenophon remarks of Cyrus the younger, as to inform himself, whether the private gardens of his subjects were well kept, and yielded plenty of fruit; that he rewarded the superintendents and overseers, whose provinces or cantons were the best cultivated, and punished the laziness and negligence of those idle persons who did not labour and improve their grounds. Such a care as this is by no means unworthy of a king, as it naturally tends to propagate riches and plenty throughout his kingdom, and to beget a spirit of industry among his subjects, which is the surest means of preventing that increase of drones and idlers, that are such a burden upon the public, and a dishonour to the state.† Xenophon, in the next passage to this I have now cited, puts into the mouth of Socrates, who is introduced as a speaker, a very noble encomium upon agriculture, which he represents as an employment the most worthy of man, the most ancient, and the most suitable to his nature; as the common nurse of persons of all ages and conditions of life; as the source of health, strength, plenty, riches, and a thousand sober delights and honest pleasures; as the mistress and school of sobriety, temperance, justice, religion; and in a word, of all kinds of virtues, both civil and military. After which he relates the fine saying of Lysander, the Lacedæmonian, who, as he was walking at Sardis with the younger Cyrus, hearing from that prince's own mouth that he himself had planted several of the trees he was looking at, made the following answer: that the world had reason to extol the happiness of Cyrus, whose virtue was as eminent as his fortune, and who in the midst of the greatest affluence, splendour, and magnificence, had yet preserved a taste so pure, and so conformable Is, cui cura sunt universæ, nullam non reip, partem tanquam sui nutrit.-Senec. lib. de Clem. c. xiii. t Xenoph. Econ. p. 827--830. to right reason. * "Cùm Cyrus respondisset, Ego ista sum dimensus, mer sunt ordines, mea descriptio, multæ etiam istarum arborum meâ manu sunt satæ tum Lysandrum, intuentem ejus purpuram, et nitorem corporis, ornatumque Persicum multo auro multisque gemmis, dixisse: †RECTE VERO TE, CYRE, BEATUM FERUNT, QUONIAM VIRTUTI TUE FORTUNA CONJUNCTA EST. How much is it to be wished, that our young nobility, who, in the time of peace, do not know how to employ themselves, had the like taste for planting and agriculture, which surely, after such an example as that of Cyrus, should be thought no dishonour to their quality, especially if they would consider that for several ages, it was the constant employment of the bravest and most warlike people in the world! The reader may easily perceive that I mean the ancient Romans. THE INVENTION OF POSTS AND COURIERS. I PROMISED to give some account, in this place, of the invention of posts and couriers. This invention is ascribed to Cyrus; nor, indeed, can I find any mention of such an establishment before his time. As the Persian empire after its last conquests, was of a vast extent, and Cyrus required that all his governors of provinces, and the chief commanders of his troops, should write to him, and give an exact account of every thing that passed in their several districts and armies; in order to render that correspondence the more sure and expeditious, and to put himself in a condition of receiving speedy intelligence of all occurrences and affairs, and of sending his orders thereupon with expedition, he caused post-houses to be built, and messengers to be appointed in every province. Having computed how far a good horse with a brisk rider, could go in a day, without being spoiled, he had stables built in proportion, at equal distances from each other, and had them furnished with horses, and grooms to take care of them. At each of these places he likewise appointed a postmaster, to receive the packets from the couriers as they arrived, and give them to others; and to take the horses that had performed their stage, and to find fresh ones. Thus the post went continually night and day, with extraordinary speed; nor did either rain or snow, heat or cold, or any inclemency of the weather, interrupt its progress. Herodotus speaks of the same sort of couriers in the reign of Xerxes. These couriers were called, in the Persian language, "Ayyago. The superintendency of the posts became a considerable employment. Darius, the last king of the ancient Persians, had it before he came to the crown.** Xenophon takes notice, that this establishment subsisted in his time; which perfectly agrees with what is related in the book of Esther, concerning the edict published by Ahasuerus in favour of the Jews; which edict was carried through that vast empire with a rapidity that would have been impossible, without these posts established by Cyrus. People are justly surprised to find, that this establishment of posts and couriers, first invented in the east by Cyrus, and continued for many ages afterwards by his successors, especially considering the usefulness of it to a government, should never have been imitated in the west, particularly by people so expert in politics as the Greeks and Romans. It is more astonishing, that where this invention was put in execution, it was not farther improved, and that the use of it was confined only to affairs of state, Xenoph. Econ. p. 830-833. † In the original Greek there is still a greater energy ; Δικαίως μοι δοκεῖς, ὦ Κύρε, εὐδαίμων εἶναι· ἀγαθὸς yag av ȧvng evdarovεis. Thou art worthy, Cyrus, of that happiness thou art possessed of: because, with all thy affluence and prosperity, thou art also virtuous. Cic. de Senect. num. 59. Xen. Cyrop. 1. viii. p. 232. Herod. I. viii. c. 98. "Ayyago is derived from a word which, in that language, signifies a service rendered by compulsion It is from thence the Greeks borrowed their verb ayyagɛúεy, compellere, cogere; and the Latins, anga riare. According to Suidas, they were likewise called astandæ. ** Plut. I, i, de Fortun. Alex. p. 326. et in vit. Alex, p. 674, ubi, pro 'Aσyávồng, legendum "Agrávi̇ns. without considering the many advantages the public might have reaped from it, by facilitating a mutual correspondence, as well as the business of merchants and tradesmen of all kinus: oy the expedition it would have procured to the affairs of private persons; the despatch of journeys which required haste; the easy communication between families, cities, and provinces; and by the safety and conveniency of remitting money from one country to another. It is well known what difficulty people at a distance had then, and for many ages afterwards, to communicate any news, or to treat of affairs together; being obliged either to send a servant on purpose, which could not be done without great charge and loss of time; or to wait for the departure of some other person, that was going into the province or country whither they had letters to send; which method was liable to numberless disappointments, accidents and delays. At present we enjoy this general conveniency at a small expence ; but we do nct thoroughly consider the advantage of it; the want thereof would make us fully sensible of our happiness in this respect. France is indebted for it to the university of Paris, which I cannot forbear observing here: I hope the reader will excuse the digression. The university of Paris, being formerly the only one in the kingdom, and having great numbers of scholars resorting to her from all parts of the country, did, for their sakes and conveniency, establish messengers, whose business was, not only to bring clothes, silver, and gold, for the students, but likewise to carry bags of law proceedings, informations, and inquests; to conduct all sorts of persons, indifferently, to or from Paris, finding them both horses and diet; as also to carry letters, parcels, and packets, for the public as well as the university. In the university-registers of the four nations, as they are called, of the faculty of arts, these messengers are often styled Nuntii volantes, to signify the great speed and despatch they were obliged to make. The state, then, is indebted to the university of Paris for the invention and establishment of these messengers and letter-carriers. And it was at her own charge and expense that she erected these offices, to the satisfaction both of our kings and the public. She has, moreover, maintained and supported them since the year 1576, against all the various attempts of the farmers, which has cost her immense sums. For there never was any ordinary royal messengers, till Henry III. first established them in the year 1576, by his edict of November, appointing them in the same cities as the university had theirs in, and granting them the same rights and privileges as the kings, his predecessors, had granted the messengers of the university. The university never had any other fund or support, than the profits arising from the post-office. And it is upon the foundation of the same revenue, that King Louis XV. by his decree of the council of state, of the 14th of April 1719, and by his letters-patent, bearing the same date, registered in parliament, and in the chamber of accounts, has ordained, that in all the colleges of the said university the students shall be taught gratis; and has to that end, for the time to come, appropriated to the university an eight-and twentieth part of the reve nue arising from the general lease or farm of the posts and messengers of France which eight-and-twentieth part amounted that year to the sum of one hundred and eighty-four thousand livres, or thereabouts.* It is not, therefore, without reason, that the university, to whom this regulation has restored a part of her ancient lustre, regards Louis XV. as a kind of new founder, whose bounty has at length delivered her from the unhappy and shameful necessity of receiving wages for her labours; which in some measure dishonoured the dignity of her profession, as it was contrary to that noble, disinterested spirit, which becomes it. And, indeed, the labour of masters and professors, who instruct others, ought not to be given for nothing; but neither ought it to be sold. Nec venire hoc beneficium oportet, nec perire.† * About $37,740. Quintil. I. xii. c. 7. SECTION V.-ADMINISTRATION OF THE REVENUES. THE prince is the sword and buckler of the state; by him are the peace and tranquillity thereof secured. But, to enable him to defend it, he bas occasion for arms, soldiers, arsenals, fortified towns, and ships; and all these things require great expenses. It is, moreover, just and reasonable, that the king have wherewithal to support the dignity of the crown, and the majesty of empire; as also to procure reverence and respect to his person and authority. These are the two principal reasons that have given occasion for the exacting of tribute and the imposition of taxes. As the public advantage, and the necessity of defraying the expenses of the state, have been the first cause of these burdens, so ought they likewise to be the constant standard of their use. Nor is there any thing in the world more just and reasonable than such impositions, since every private person ought to think himself very happy, that he can purchase his peace and security at the expense of so slender a contribution. The revenues of the Persian kings consisted partly in moneys imposed upon the people, and partly in their being furnished with several of the products of the earth in kind, as corn and other provisions, forage, horses, camels, or whatever rarities each particular province afforded.* Strabo relates, that the satrap of Armenia sent regularly every year to the king of Persia, his master, twenty thousand young colts. By this we may form an estimate of the other levies in the several provinces. But we are to consider, that the tributes were only exacted from the conquered nations; for the natural subjects, that is, the Persians, were exempt from all impositions. Nor was the custom of imposing taxes, and determining the sums each province was yearly to pay, introduced till the reign of Darius; at which time the pecuniary impositions, as nearly as we can judge from the computation made by Herodotus, which is attended with great difficulties, amounted to nearly forty-four millions, French money. The place in which the public treasure was kept was called, in the Persian language, Gaza. There were treasures of this kind at Susa, at Persepolis, at Pasagarda, at Damascus, and other cities. The gold and silver were there kept in ingots, and coined into money, according as the king had occasion. The money chiefly used by the Persians was of gold, and called Daric, from the name of Darius, who first caused them to be coined, with his image on one side, and an archer on the reverse. The Daric is sometimes also called Stater Aureus, because the weight of it, like that of the Attic Stater, was two drachms of gold, which were equivalent to twenty drachms of silver, and consequently were worth ten livres of French money. Besides these tributes, which were paid in money, there was another contribution made in kind, by furnishing victuals and provision for the king's ta ble and household, grain, forage, and other necessaries for the subsistence of his armies, and horses for his cavalry. This contribution was imposed upon the one hundred and twenty satrapies, or provinces, each of them furnishing such a part as they were severally taxed at. Herodotus observes, that the province of Babylon, the largest and wealthiest of them all, alone furnished the whole contribution for the space of four months, and consequently bore a third part of the burden of the whole imposition, while the rest of Asia together con tributed the other two thirds. T By what has been already said on this subject, we see that the kings of Persia did not exact all their taxes and impositions in money, but were content to levy only a part of them in money, and take the rest in such products and com Herod. 1. iii. c. 89-97. † Herod 1. xi. p. 530. About $8,880,000. Darius the Mede, otherwise called Cyaxares, is supposed to have been the first who caused this money to be coined. Value, one dollar, eighty-seven and a half cents. Herod, iii. c. 91-97, et l. i. c. 192. modities as the several provinces afforded; which is a proof of the great wis dom, moderation, and humanity of the Persian government. Without doubt, it had been observed how difficult it often is for the people, especially in countries at a distance from commerce, to convert their goods into money, without suffering great losses; whereas nothing can tend so much to the rendering of taxes easy, and to shelter the people from vexation, trouble, and expense, as taking in payment from each country, such fruits and commodities as that country produces; by which means the contribution becomes easy, natural, and equitable. There were likewise certain cantons assigned and set apart for maintaining the queen's toilet and wardrobe; one for her girdle, another for her veil, and so on for the rest of her vestments: and these districts, which were of a great extent, since one of them contained as much ground as a man could walk over in a day; took their names from their particular use, or part of the garments to which they were appropriated; and were accordingly called, one the Queen's Girdle, another the Queen's Veil, and so on. In Plato's time, the same custom continued among the Persians.* The way in which kings gave pensions in those days to such persons as they had a mind to gratify, was exactly like what I have observed concerning the queens. We read, that the king of Persia assigned the revenue of four cities to Themistocles; one of which was to supply him with wine, another with bread, the third with meats for his table, and the fourth with his clothes and furniture. Before that time, Cyrus had acted in the same manner with Pytharchus of Cyzicus, for whom he had a particular consideration, and to whom he gave the revenues of seven cities. In following times, we find many instances of a like nature. ARTICLE II. OF THEIR WAR. THE people of Asia in general were naturally of a warlike disposition, and did not want courage; but in time they all grew effeminate through luxury and pleasure. When I say all, I must be understood to except the Persians, who, even before Cyrus, as well as in his reign, had the reputation of being a people of a very military genius. The situation of their country, which is rugged and mountainous, might be one reason of their hard and frugal manner of living; which is a thing of no little importance for the forming of good soldiers. But the good education which the Persians gave their youth, was the chief cause of the courage and martial spirit of that people. With respect, therefore to the manners, and particularly to the article which I am now treating of, we must make some distinction between the different nations of Asia. So that in the following account of military affairs, what perfection and excellence appear in the rules and principles of war, is to be applied only to the Persians, as they were in the reign of Cyrus; the rest belongs to the other nations of Asia, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Lydians, and to the Persians likewise, after they had degenerated from their ancient valour, which happened not long after Cyrus, as will be shown in the sequel. 1. THEIR ENTERING INTO THE SERVICE, OR INTO MILITARY DISCIPLINE. THE Persians were trained up to the service from their tender years, by passing through different exercises. Generally speaking, they served in the armies, from the age of twenty to fifty years. And whether they were in peace or war, they always wore swords as our gentlemen do, which was never practised among the Greeks or the Romans. They were obliged to enlist themselves at the time appointed; and it was esteemed a crime to desire to be dispensed with Plut. in Alcib. c. i. p. 123. Athen. 1. i. p. 30. |