We have seen in the Assyrian history that two considerable empires arose at the same time (625 B. C.) out of the ashes of Assyria: the Babylonian and Median. These empires were established by mutual consent; they were connected together by the ties of affinity which united their rulers. For once in the history of the world, two powerful monarchies were seen to stand side by side, not only without collision, but without jealousy or rancor. Babylonia and Media were content to share between them the empire of western Asia. To Cyaxares, the founder of the Median Empire, the conquest of Assyria did not bring a time of repose. His successes did but whet his appetite for power: he engaged in a series of wars, and subdued to himself all Asia to the east of the Halys. The advance of his western frontier to this river brought him in contact with the Lydian power, which stood at the head of a confederacy of the states of western Asia.

With a vast army drawn from various parts of inner Asia, Cyaxares invaded the territory of the western confederacy, and began his attempt at subjugation. During a conflict between the two armies an ominous darkness fell upon the combatants. The sun was eclipsed. Amid the general fear, a desire for reconciliation seized both armies. It was agreed that the two kings of Media and Lydia should swear friendship, and that, to cement the alliance, their children should intermarry. By this peace the three great monarchies of the time-the Median, the Lydian, and the Babylonian - were placed on terms of the closest intimacy. The crown princes of the three kingdoms had become brothers. From the shores of the Egean to those of the Persian gulf, western Asia was now ruled by interconnected dynasties, bound by treaties to respect each other's rights, and perhaps to lend each other aid in important conjunctures. After more than 5 centuries of almost constant war and ravage, after 50 years of fearful strife and convulsion, during which the old monarchy of Assyria had gone down and new empires had taken its place, this part of Asia entered upon a period of repose which stands out in strong contrast with the long term of struggle. From the date of the peace between Alyattes and Cyaxares, (610 в. c.,) for nearly half a century, the three kingdoms of Media, Lydia, and Babylonia pursued their separate courses without quarrel or collision.

Cause.

Cyaxares died 593 B. c., after a reign of 40 years, leaving his crown to his son Astyages, who had neither his father's enterprise nor his ability. During a reign which lasted at least 35 years, he abstained almost wholly from military enterprises, and thus an entire generation of Medes grew up without seeing actual service, which alone makes the soldier. Cyrus, the vassal king of Persia, saw his opportunity, pressed his advantage, and established the supremacy of his nation, before the unhappy effects of Astyages's peace policy could be removed. He waited till Astyages was advanced in years, and so disqualified for command; till the veterans of Cyaxares were almost all in their graves; and till the Babylonian throne was occupied by a king who was not likely to give Astyages any aid. He was successful in bringing about the substitution of Persia for Media as the ruling power in western Asia. The fall of the Median Empire (558 B. C.) was due immediately to the genius of the Persian prince; but its ruin was prepared and its destruction was really caused by the short-sightedness of the Median monarch.

Lydia and Babylonia shared very soon the fate of the Median Empire, to which afterward, under the reign of Cambyses, were added Egypt and Ethiopia. On the ruins of those arose the Persian monarchy, the geographical extent of which was far greater than that of any one of those which had preceded it.

While Persia proper is a comparatively narrow and poor tract, extending in its greatest length less than 8 degrees, the dominions of the Persian kings covered a space 56 degrees long, and more than 20 degrees wide. The boundaries of Persia at the time of its greatest extent were-East: the desert of Thibet, the Sutlej, and the Indus; -south: the Indian sea, the Persian gulf, the Arabian and Nubian deserts; — west: the Greater Syrtis, the Mediterranean, the Ægean, and the Strymon river;-north: the Danube, the Black sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Jaxartes. Within these limits lay a territory the extent of which from east to west was little less than 3,000 miles, while its width varied between 500 and 1,500 miles. Its entire area was probably not less than 2,000,000 of square miles. (The area of the United States is more than 3,000,000 of square miles.) It was thus more than four times as large as the Assyrian Empire. For the Persian history, see CYRUS, DARIUS, and the following war tables.

The desire of Darius of annexing Thrace to the Persian Empire, as a first step to embrace in his dominion the lovely isles and coasts of Greece.

But on the right flank of an army invading Thrace lay the formidable power of Scythia, the ancient enemy of southwestern Asia. This had to be subdued

before Thrace could be conquered. Hence the Scythian expedition was no insane project of a frantic despot, but a well-concerted plan for the furtherance of a great design and the permanent advantage of his empire. Duration. A few months, (508 B. C.)

Theatre of war. The western shore of the Black sea and the basin of the Don. March of Darius. Darius collected an army of nearly 800,000 men, and a fleet of 600 ships, chiefly from the Greeks in Asia Minor.

He crossed the Bosphorus, marched through Thrace, crossed the Great Balkan, and passed the Danube by a bridge (which the Ionian Greeks had made) just above the apex of the Delta, and so invaded Scythia. The natives retired on his approach, endeavoring to destroy his army by depriving it of provisions. But the commissariat of the Persians was, as usual, well arranged. Darius remained for more than two months in Scythia without incurring any important losses.

Attempts had been made during his absence to induce the Greeks, who guarded the bridge over the Danube, to break it, and so hinder his return, but they were unsuccessful. (See MILTIADES.) Darius recrossed the river, and met on his return march through Thrace no opposition.

Before passing the Bosphorus he commissioned Megabazus to complete the reduction of Thrace, and assigned him for that purpose 80,000 men, who remained in Europe, while Darius and the rest of his army crossed into Asia.

THE IONIAN REVOLT.

Real cause. A national spirit had gradually grown up among the Greek cities which were scattered along the coasts of Asia Minor. The Scythian expedition had greatly developed this. Six hundred Greek ships had formed a united fleet, on the fidelity of which the fate of the whole Persian army had depended. This had made them conscious of their strength, and awakened a deep-felt desire for national independence.

Immediate cause. Histiæus, the Persian governor (tyrant) of Miletus, who had been rewarded with a grant of land in Thrace, having become an object of suspicion to the king, was recalled to Susa, and his son-in-law Aristagoras was made governor of Miletus in his room. The failure of an attempt on Naxos having rendered the security of this appointment precarious, Aristagoras persuaded the Ionians to revolt.

Duration. About six years, (500-494 B. c.) Theatre of war. In the original revolt appear to have been included only the cities of Ionia and Eolis, but the war spread gradually over the whole of the western part of Asia Minor.

Parties. The Asiatic Greeks, (especially Ionians,) aided by Athens and Eretrea, against the Persians.

Remark. Aristagoras had sought assistance in European Greece. Repulsed from Sparta, he applied to Athens, (the mother-state of Miletus,) and to Eretria, (which had received valuable aid from Miletus in her great war with Chalcis.) The help he obtained was not very important. Athens promised 20 ships; Eretria, 5 ships. The whole power of the Persian Empire was against them. Object of the war. The liberation of the Asiatic Greeks from Persian supremacy.

Result of the war.

Annihilation of the Greek fleet; destruction of Miletus. Remark. All Ionia sank into servitude. Its soft skies helped to heale

wounds of the population; the desolated places were rebuilt, but the history of Ionia closed for ever.

Campaign. Sailing to Ephesus, the confederates marched up the valley of the Cayster, crossed Mount Tmolus, and took the Lydian capital Sardis at the first onset. It caught fire during the plundering and was burnt. Aristagoras and his troops hastily retreated; but were overtaken before they could reach Ephesus, and suffered a severe defeat from the Persians. The expedition then broke up: the Asiatic Greeks dispersed among their cities; the Athenians and Eretrians sailed home.

Consequences. The failure of the expedition was forgotten for the glory of its one achievement, the burning of Sardis, one of the chief cities of the Great King. Everywhere along the coast of Asia Minor revolts broke out. If a great man had been at the head of the movement a successful issue might probably have been secured; but Aristagoras was unequal to the occasion; and the struggle for independence, which had promised so fair, was soon put down. After the subjection of the western coast of Asia Minor, Persia concentrated her strength upon Miletus, the cradle of the revolt and the acknowledged chief of the cities. A large fleet was collected in her behalf by the Ionian towns. This fleet, the combined strength of Ionia, was totally defeated in the battle of Lade, and soon afterward Miletus herself fell. The flames of rebellion were everywhere ruthlessly trampled out; and the power of the great king was once more firmly established over the coasts and islands of the Propontis and the Ægean sea. One thing remained, however: to take vengeance upon the foreigners (Athenians and Eretrians) who had dared to lend their aid to the king's revolted subjects, and had borne a part in the burning of Sardis.

the lonians.

THE PERSIAN WARS.

Cause. The participation of the Athenians and Eretrians in the revolt of Duration. About 50 years, (500–449 B. c.) Theatre of war. The Archipelago, with the surrounding countries, especially Greece. Object of the war. The extension of Persian supremacy over Greece. Result of the war. The complete independence of Greece.

Number of wars. Four: I., under Mardonius, 492; II., under Datis and Artaphernes, in 490; III., under Xerxes, in 480. IV. The aggressive war against the Persians, 478-449.

I. First attempt in 492. Complete failure of the Persians. Duration. Ten months.

Theatre of war. The northern shores of the Archipelago. Mount Athos. Commander. Mardonius, son-in-law of King Darius, a young, inexperienced

man.

Campaign. He marched westward from the Hellespont, through Thrace. When he had arrived at the Strymon, he ordered his fleet to sail around Mt. Athos. On this journey it suffered a terrible shipwreck, in which 300 vessels perished,

and the shores of the Strymonian bay were covered with innumerable Persian corpses. As the land army at the same time suffered greatly from the hostilities of the Thracians and the rough character of the country, Mardonius returned. Result. It interrupted for a brief space of time (2 years) the great international struggle between Greece and Persia.

II. Second attempt in 490, and second failure of the Persians. Duration. About six months.

Theatre of war. The Cyclades, (southern Archipelago,) Euboea and eastern Attica.

Commanders. Persian: Datis and Artaphernes. Greek: Miltiades. Campaign. The fleet sailed from the bay of Issus in a westerly direction; Naxos was sacked, but on. the sacred isle of Delos a grand act of homage was performed to the divinities of the island. All the world was to perceive that the Persian king had no thought of despoiling the Hellenic national divinities of their honors; the ancient festivals uniting the two shores were to be restored with new splendor. Then they sailed to Euboea, entered the Euripus, and displayed their forces before Eretria. Treason opened the gates: Eretria was converted into a heap of ruins and its citizens reduced to slavery. The Persians quitted the smoking ruins and crossed to the opposite shore of the channel, where the plain of Marathon opened before them.

Battle. MARATHON, (September 12th, 490.) Here the Persians were met by the Athenians, under Miltiades, and completely defeated. The Athenians lost only 192 men. Near their graves was erected a monument of victory, the first of the kind on Greek soil, and the battle-field of Marathon became a sanctuary of the country. (See MARATHON and MILTIADES.)

Result. Political and intellectual regeneration of Athens.

III. Third attempt, in 480, and third failure of the Persians. Duration. 2 years, (480 and 479.)

Theatre of war. Greece, from the Hellespont to the Isthmus of Corinth. Commanders. Persian: Xerxes, Mardonius. Greek: Leonidas, Eurybiades, THEMISTOCLES, Aristides, Pausanias.

First campaign. Critalla, in Cappadocia, was the gathering-place of the nations dwelling between the Indus and the Mediterranean, who, to the number of 900,000, marched from there to Sardis, where, in the autumn of 481, they went into winter quarters. Before marching farther on, three great preparatory works were undertaken and successfully completed.

I. Magazines were established on the Thracian coast.

II. The Hellespont was bridged over, (between Sestus and Abydos.)

III. The isthmus was cut through, which combines the peninsula of Athos with the mainland, so as to guard the fleet against shipwreck.

Then the army marched from Sardis through the Troad to the Hellespont, thence along the southern coast of Thrace, straight across the ridge of Chalcidice, into the corner of the Thermæan gulf. In its innermost recess both divisions of

the armada (the fleet of more than 3,000 sail and the army) united. After a short rest both divisions advanced, and encountered the enemy about the same time. Battles. On land: near the pass of THERMOPYLÆ, (the gate of Greece,) defended by Leonidas, who was slain with all his companions, whereupon Xerxes advanced without opposition into Attica and burned Athens, (July, 480.)

On sea: near Artemisium, where, after three naval conflicts, the Greeks were forced to retire, (July, 480.) They reassembled again at SALAMIS, where, on the 20th of September, 480, they met the Persian fleet for the fourth time. At Salamis the Greeks were completely victorious.

Result. Brilliant and incontestable as the victory had been, yet it had not in reality brought about any decisive result. The proportion between the opposing naval forces was not changed, (both had lost about one-fifth,) and the land forces of the Persians remained unhurt.

But Xerxes had lost all confidence in his troops, and his troops in him. He returned to Asia with the remainder of his fleet and the greater part of the land forces. Mardonius was left behind, with 300,000 men, to complete the conquest. Second campaign, in 479, by Mardonius.

In the spring of 479, Mardonius marched from Thessaly southward. In July, Athens is again occupied by the Persians, who, after ravaging Attica, return to Boeotia, where they were received with open arms by the inhabitants, and Mardonius naturally already faucied himself the satrap of a country incorporated with the Persian Empire.

Battle. In September, 479, near PLATÆÆ, Mardonius is attacked by the Greeks, under Pausanias, and totally defeated.

Result. The victory of PLATÆÆ was the first decisive victory of the whole war; for Marathon and Salamis had only broken the courage of the enemy, while here his power, together with that of his allies, was annihilated. Therefore, the day of Platæ is the real day of the salvation of Hellas; the danger has passed away, and thus ends a decennium of Greek history, which far surpasses all its previous periods in events of an extraordinary nature and of momentous results.

IV. The aggressive War against the Persians.

Cause. The hatred of the Greeks against the Persians, on account of their endeavors to enslave Greece.

Duration. About 30 years, (478-449 B. C.)

Theatre of war. The islands and coasts (northern and eastern) of the Archipelago.

Object of the war. The expulsion of the Persians from Thrace, the Greek islands and the colonies of Asia Minor.

Result of the war. The Athenians become the ruling power in the Archipelago. They impose on Ionia and the island a yoke which was more invidious and not less oppressive than that of the Persians.

Commanders. Greek: Pausanias, Aristides, Cimon.

Battles. The double victory by sea and land on the Eurymedon, in 466, where the Persian fleet was completely annihilated by Cimon. Persia ceases to be a maritime power.

II. The Sicilian Expedition.

Duration. Three years, (415-413.)

Synchronistic Remark. SALAMIS. HIMERA.

At the same time that the Persian hosts were endeavoring to annihilate Greece, the Carthaginians (allies of the Persians) threatened with annihilation the flourishing Greek colonies in Sicily. One of the grandest political combinations simultaneously directed the Asiatic hosts against Greece and the Carthaginian hosts against Sicily, to extirpate, at a blow, liberty and civilization from the face of the earth. The victory remained with the Hellenes. The battle of SALAMIS saved and avenged Greece, and on the same day the rulers of Syracuse and Agrigentum vanquished the immense Carthaginian army at HIMÈRA so completely that the war against the Greek colonies in Italy was thereby terminated.

Character of the war. The Peloponnesians invade Attica, ravage the country, and besiege Athens. The Athenians retaliate by ravaging the coasts of the Peloponnesus. The greatest calamity of Athens was the great plague which broke out in the second year, and carried off Pericles.

Great commanders. Athenians: PERICLES, Cleon. Spartans: Archidamus, Brasidas.

Battle. Amphipolis, in 422, where the Athenians were defeated.

Result. Both generals having fallen in the engagement, a truce for 50 years was negotiated by Nicias, it being stipulated that each party should be placed in the position which it had occupied before the commencement of the war.

Cause. The help of the Athenians was invoked by the inhabitants of Egesta, in Sicily, against Syracuse, the great Doric town of the west. Alcibiades persuaded them to grant the desired assistance.

Theatre of war. The south-eastern part of Sicily. The surroundings of Syracuse.

Object of the war. The conquest of Sicily, and the erection of a maritime empire in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, with Athens for capital. Result of the war. The complete destruction of the naval power of the Athenians, which was the immediate cause of their ruin.

Commanders.

Spartan: Gylippus.

Athenian: ALCIBIADES, Nicias, Lamachus, Demosthenes.

Battles and siege. Syracuse was besieged in vain by the Athenians, who either perished or were taken prisoners. This calamity, important in the history of the art of war, has been ably described by Thucydides in its most melancholy circumstances.

III. The Decelian War.

Duration. Ten years, (413-404 B. C.)

Cause. The resentment of Alcibiades led him to incite the Spartans to attack the Athenians, who had just lost their armies and fleets. They invaded Attica, and seized upon Decelia, whence they molested the whole territory. Theatre of war. Attica, Northern Archipelago, the Hellespont. Object of the war. The breaking up of the Athenian supremacy. Result of the war. The complete humiliation of Athens. The city was dismantled, the harbors destroyed, the navy never thereafter to exceed 12 ships. Remark. In the 75th year after the battle of Salamis, the sovereignty of Athens received this calamitous termination.

Commanders. Athenian: Thrasybulus, Alcibiades, (who was recalled,) Conon. Spartan: LYSANDER, Callicratidas.

Battles. The Athenians gained two naval battles, the first near Cyzicus, (410) and the second near the Arginusian islands, (406.) But LYSANDER annihilated the Athenian fleet in 405, near ÆGOS POTAMOS, (on the Hellespont.) Result of the defeat at Egos Potamos. Then the enemy appeared in the Piræus: the people made a courageous resistance; and it was only the extremity of famine that forced Athens to demand peace of Sparta. The Spartans held a council of all the confederates, who, after 27 years of warfare, had destroyed the empire of Athens. On this occasion the Boeotians and Corinthians insisted that the city should be burned, and all the people sold into slavery. But Sparta resolved that she never should suffer a city to be destroyed by the hands of Greeks which had acted so noble a part in the defence of their common country. Athens ceased to be a political power, but destroyed she was not. On the contrary, the groves of the Lyceum and the Academy were the seat of a more glorious empire than the fate of arms can bestow or take away.

Commanders. Theban: EPAMINONDAS and Pelopidas. Spartan: Agesilaus and Cleombrotus.

Battles. Gained by the Thebans: LEUCTRA, (371,) Mantinea, (362.) Peace. In consequence of the general exhaustion, a universal pacification was made in 361.

Remark. With Epaminondas (who had fallen at Mantinea) the influence of Boeotia was extinguished. Agesilaus, the last hero of Sparta, died soon after him. The maritime power of Athens (after a short revival about 304) had sunk again into insignificance, and the best Greek armies had suffered in the last battles an irrecoverable loss. There remained not in any of the states a citizen capable of uniting the divided republics by the pre-eminence of his moral powers.

THE WARS THAT LED TO THE MACEDONIAN SUPREMACY.

CALLED: THE SACRED WARS.

I. The Phocian War, or first Sacred War. Cause. The hatred of the Thebans, who sought for new opportunities of quarrel with Sparta, was the real cause of the war. The Amphictyonic council at Delphi (see Dict.) had condemned the Phocians to pay a fine for having occupied the lands of Apollo. They refused to pay it, and, in conjunction with the Spartans, who also had been fined for the seizure of the Cadmea in 382, took possession of the temple of Delphi. and used its treasures to equip an army. Duration. Nearly 10 years, (355–346 B. C.)

Theatre of the war. Central Greece, and Thessaly.

Parties. Phocians, Spartans, and the tyrants of Pheræ, (in E. Thessaly.) Thebans, Locrians, and almost all the nations of northern Greece.

Object of the war. Thebes hoped to recover its supremacy, which it had gradually lost since the death of Epaminondas.

Result of the war. Rise of the Macedonian supremacy.

Commanders. The three brothers, Philomelus, Onomarchus, and Phayllus, who were finally conquered by PHILIP OF MACEDON.

Peace. The Phocian cities were deprived of their walls, the inhabitants dispersed, restitution of the Delphic treasure enforced, and the two votes of the Phocians in the Amphictyonic council given to PHILIP OF MACEDON.

Remark. The treasures of Delphi, circulating in Greece, were as injurious to the country as the ravages which it underwent. A war springing out of private passions, fostered by bribes and subsidiary troops, and terminated by the interference of foreign powers, was exactly what was requisite for annihilating the scanty remains of morality and patriotism still existing in Greece.

II. The Locrian War, or second Sacred War. Cause. PHILIP OF MACEDON causes the Amphictyons to impose a fine on the Locrians of Amphissa, and to intrust the levying of it to him. Thebes and Athens stir up Greece against him.

Duration. Two years, (339, 338.) Theatre of war. Boeotia.

Object of the war. To free Greece from Macedonian influence. Result of the war. The independence of Greece for ever extinguished. Battle. CHÆRONEA, in Boeotia, in 338. The Athenians and their allies fought in a manner worthy of the last contest in defence of ancient liberty. They were defeated.

Remark. Philip was now absolute master of Greece. He was, however, very anxious, by some great exploit in harmony with the national feeling, to keep his army employed, and prevent the Greeks from reflecting on their calamity. He resolved therefore to avenge the gods, formerly insulted by Xerxes, and to inflict punishments on the successors to his throne for the contumelies he had offered