(:>.) ConlfKCf^ce irilh the Persian Kmpirc^-lt is uni- ' tion CHerodotus, i, 20C). Thucydides, who ranks in the versally allowed that the Median king who succeeded foremost place of (irecian historj-, invariably styles the Cyaxares was hw son Astyages; but of the character barbarous power that liad nearly confjuerf d (Jreece Me- of this kijig and the events and duration of his reign dian. and never calls it IVr^ian fbk.i). All this points there exists an aljs<dute contradiction. In w> far as to the original sufK-riority of the Mi rlian kingdom — a Scripture is conceme<l, the accounts are chiefly of im- suijeriority which still belonged to it in f<ireign eyes, fKjrtance from their relation to Cyrus and Darius, the but which cf>uld not well have allnclnd fo it if Media only [)ers<jnage9 mentioned in Scripture as connected had bc-en violently subdued to the rulr of Persia. Script- with this jjcrifKl of Median histor>'. But having al- ure, which in its eariy silenc e as to the verj' existence ready been considered under the two names in ((uestion, of Persia was true to the jKililical obscurity of this lat- it Ixrfrfimes unnecessary to rflate the circumstances ter jMiwer, is ais^i the first to recogiii.Hf. the superiority afresh here. From chronological considerations we liavc to which it rose under Cyrus. iWlorc the alii* <l armies leaned to the authority of Xenophon in those previous i ha/l marched through the empty brd of the Euphrates articles, but it is imjrfjssible to arrive at certainty. We i into the heart «if Baliylon. j.rophrcy dr•f^•ril>ed the ri.-ing fiimjily state that whichever account Ik; jireferred of the empire as a ram with two bonis, one of which was birth and relations of Cyrus, the notices in Daniel oblige hiKher than the other, and tlie higher came up last us to hold that at the time of tlie capture of Babylon i ("Dan. viii. .3). Srri[.ture histori-, iKtietrating the veil there was a sufterior in rank, though not in jK.wer, to ^ of tradition, and Ifn.king thniigli the thin disguise Cynis; and this can only have l>een either Astyages or which the assumption of Me<lian dross and manners by Cyaxares II. If it were the latter, the description : the Persians had cast over reality, was the first to rcc-
MEDIA
19
IVIEDIA
ognise that Persia, not Media, had become the ruler of Asia. It is Persia that is spoken of tliroughout the book of Ezra, the Jewish scribe being better acquainted with the facts of history than Thucydides was. Nor are the subsequent revolts of the !Medes against Persian rule any argument that at the first rise of the empire they were not one of two great nations united together on friendly and equal terms. So long as Cyrus and Cam- byses his son, descended from the Median as from the Persian dynast}', sat on the throne. Media made no at- tempt at revolt. Nor did they do so under the foreign the pseudo Smerdis, who was supposed to be the son of Cyrus. It was not until the discovery of the imposture practiced by Smerdis, and the elevation of a purely Per- sian family in the person of Darius Hystaspis to the throne, that Media sought for a separate existence. Her ancient Ime of kings no longer ruled over the mountains of Media, and hence probably she sought to return to that independence which had been her pride during the centuries when Assyria vainly sought to rule over Me- dian land.
According to some writers (as Herodotus and Xeno- phon) there was a close relationship between Cyrus and the last Jledian monarch, who was therefore naturally treated with more than common tenderness. The fact of tlie relationship is, however, denied by Ctesias; and whether it existed or no, at any rate the peculiar posi- tion of the Medes under Persia was not really owing to this accident. The two nations were closely akin ; they had the same Arian or Iranic origin, the same early tra- ditions, the same language (Strabo, xv, 2, 8), nearly the same religion, and ultimately the same manners and customs, dress, and general mode of life. It is not sur- prising therefore that they were drawn together, and that, though never actually coalescing, they still formed to some extent a single privileged people. Medes were advanced to stations of high honor and importance un- der Cyrus and liis successors, an advantage shared by no other conquered people. The Jledian capital was at tirst the chief royal residence, and always remained one of the places at which the court spent a portion of the year; while among the provinces Media claimed and enjoyed a precedency, which appears equally in the (ireek writ- ers and in the native records. Still it would seem that the nation, so lately sovereign, was not altogether con- tent with its secondary position. On the tirst conven- ient opportunity Media rebelled, elevating to the throne a certain Phraortes (^Frawartuh^, who called himself Xathrites, anil claimed to be a descendant from Cyaxa- res. Darius Hystaspis, in whose reign this rebellion took place, had great difficulty in suppressing it. After vainly endeavoring to put it down by his generals, he was compelled to take the Meld himself. He defeated Phraortes in a pitched battle, pursued and captured him near Khages, mutilated him, kept him for a time " chained at his door," and finally crucified him at Ec- batana, executing at the same time his chief followers (see the lye/iistiiii Inscription, in Kawlinson's fhrodotus, ii, 001, C()2). Tlic iMedes thereupon submitted, and qui- etly bore the yoke for another ccntiu-y, when they made a second attempt to free themselves, whicli was sup- pressed by Darius Nothus (Xenophon, J/dl. i, 2, 19). Thenceforth they patiently acquiesced in their subordi- nate ixisition, and followed through its various shifts and changes the fortune of Persia.