RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Medo-Persia Megander
preparing for another assault he died suddenly, leaving to his son Xerxes a revolt in Egypt, and unfinished preparations against the Greeks.
Xerxes I. (Khshayarsha), 485-465 B.C., was in no respect the equal of his father, but something of the old military prowess was revealed in his successful suppression of the revolt in Egypt and also of a rebellion in Babylonia. He was then ii. Xerxes, free to attack the Greeks, and with a Artaxerxes, large army he passed over Asia Minor, and Sue- crossed the Hellespont, and invaded cessors. Europe. But in the naval battle of Salamis his fleet was overwhelmed and he was compelled to return in defeat to his capital. His empire was tottering, but endured with some show of strength a century and a half longer, chiefly because of the organization which it had received at the clever hands of Darius. Xerxes fell a victim at last to intrigue and perished at the hands of assassins. With his end came the beginning of the end of Persian power. The Greeks had cause to remember him, while the Hebrews enshrined a tradition of his court in the book of Esther and called him Ahasuerus.
The next king was Artaxerxes Longimanus (Artakshatsu) , 465^24 B.C., in whose reign Nehemiah, his cup-bearer, and Ezra the scribe were permitted to visit Jerusalem and there set in order a new Jewish commonwealth with the organization of a church. His successor Darius II., called Darius Nothus (424-405), had an inglorious reign, suffering not a little at the hands of his sister and Queen Parysatis, who was ambitious to set her beloved son Cyrus on the throne but failed in the effort. The scepter came into the hands of the lazy Artaxerxes I . Mnemon (405-358), under whom the waning power of the empire became a byword. His successor Artaxerxes III. Ochus (358-338) restored for a time the empire, reduced the Egyptians, and put down numerous revolts which had their origin in the laxity of the previous reign. He was murdered at last by Bagoas, who tried to settle upon the throne Arses (338-336), but he proved faithless to his patron, and Bagoas poisoned him and made Darius III. Codomannus (336-331 B.C.), a great-grandson of Darius II., the king. He was unequal to the fearful emergency which came upon him. Alexander the Great, fresh from universal success, met him in battle at Arbela (331) and scattered his hosts, destroyed by fire his palaces at Persepolis, and sent his dead body to his aged mother. The sun of Persian hegemony and independence had set. The history of the Christians under the Sassanidae is given under Nestorians (q.v.), which involves virtually the history of that period. Robert W Rogers.
Bibliography: For current bibliography consult E. Wilhelm, " Persien," in. Jahresbericht der Geschichtswissenschaft, Berlin (an annual). On the explorations and discoveries the literature under Assyria; and the works of Lord Curzon and A. V. W Jackson named in the text. On the inscriptions, besides the works of Jackson, and of King and Thompson, named in the text, consult: H. C. Tolman, Guide to the Old Persian Inscriptions, New York, 1902; idem, Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achcemenian Inscriptions, ib. 1908; idem, The Behistun Inscription of King Darius, ib., 1908; H. C. Rawlinson, The Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, in JRAS, 1846—49; F. Spiegel, Alt-persische Keilinschriften, Leipsic, 1881; C. Bezold, Die Achamen%deninschriften, Leip-
sic, 1882; T. Noldeke, Persepolis. Die Achaemenidischen und sasanidischen Denkmdler und Inschriften von Persepolis . ,2 vols., Berlin, 1882; F. H. Weissbach, Die Achamenideninschriften zweiter Art, Leipsic, 1890; F. H. Weissbach and W. Bang, Die altpersischen Keilinschriften, Leipsic, 1893-1909; C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wbrterbuch, Strasburg, 1904. On the history consult: B. Brisson, De regio Persarum principatu, ed. J. H. Lederlin, Strasburg, 1710; G. Rawlinson, Seven Great Monarchies (many reprints); T. Noldeke, Aufsatze zur persischen Geschichte, Leipsic, 1887; idem, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., art. Persia; F. Spiegel, Eranische Alterthumskunde, ii. 236-581, Leipsic, 1873; E. Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums, parts 1-3, Stuttgart, 1884-1901; J. von Prasek, Medien und das Haus des Kyaxares, Berlin, 1890; idem, Die ersten Jahre Dareios des Hystaspiden und der altpersische Kalendar, Leipsic, 1901; idem, Geschichte der Meder und Perser bis zur makedonischen Eroberung, 2 vols., Gotha, 1906—10; F. Justi, Geschichte Iransvonden altesten Zeiten, in Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Strasburg, 1895-1904; idem, Central and Eastern Asia in Antiquity, London, 1902; idem, Iranisches Namenbuch, Marburg, 1895; J. Marquart, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Iran, Gottingen, 1896-1905; idem, Eransahr, Berlin, 1901; P. Kershasp, Studies in Ancient Persian History, London, 1905; V. Smith, Early Hist, of India from 600 B.C. to the Mohammedan Conquest, pp. 10, 34-35, Oxford, 1908 (deals with the conquest of Northern India, cf. Esther i. 1).
MEGANDER (GROSSMANN), KASPAR: Swiss Reformer; b. at Zurich, 1495; d. there Aug. 18, 1545. He studied at Basel, and in 1518 became a chaplain in his native city. From the beginning he stood unconditionally on the side of Zwingli; after 1525 he was active at the exegetical school founded by Zwingli. In 1528 he was called as professor of theology and preacher to Bern where the foundation for a theological institution was being laid, and the management of ecclesiastical affairs fell into his hands.
The importance of Megander for the history of the church lies in his consistent attitude in the negotiations for union between the Swiss and the German Reformation. Bern formed the center of opposition to the efforts of Butzer, and Megander was the leading spirit of that opposition. At first his older colleagues shared entirely his Zwinglian views, but Sebastian Meyer, the friend of the Strasburg theologians, and Peter Kunz, who for a time had studied at Wittenberg, energetically endeavored to advance the union with the Saxons. Consequently both sides vehemently attacked each other, in colloquies and from the pulpit. A synod held on May 31, 1537, censured the offensive quarreling of both parties and requested silence. Another convention, held in September, gave Butzer an opportunity to defend himself, and declared itself satisfied with his justification. Megander, on the other hand, was asked to revise his catechism because Butzer and Kunz suspected it of heresies in the article on the Lord's Supper. Megander's catechism had appeared in 1536, and although he was not disinclined to make changes, he was so deeply hurt by Butzer's immediate and inconsiderate revision that he refused to acknowledge it. Consequently he was dismissed before the end of 1537, and returned to Zurich where he was made dean at the cathedral. With Leo Jud Megander published " Annotations to Genesis and Exodus " (1527) after Zwingli's oral lectures, also " Annotations to the Epistle to the Hebrews and to I John " ( 1 539) . He also wrote short commentaries on Gala-
Meg-apolensia Meissen