The of his feet in a violent manner, and put his heel out of joint Egyptians were then reckoned the most skilful in physic; for which reason the king had several physicians of that nation about him. These undertook to cure the king,* and exerted all their skill on so important an occasion; but they were so awkward in the operation, and in the handling and managing the king's foot, that they put him to incredible pain; so that he passed seven days and seven nights without sleeping. Democedes was mentioned on this occasion by some person, who had heard him extolled at Sardis as a very able physician. He was sent for immediately, and brought to the king in the condition he was in, with his irons on, and a very poor apparel; for he was at that time actually a prisoner. The king asked him, whether he had any knowledge of physic? At first he denied he had, fearing, that if he should give any proofs of his skill, he should be detained in Persia, and by that means be for ever de barred from returning to his own country, for which he had an exceeding affection. Darius, displeased with his answer, ordered him to be put to the torture. Democedes found it was necessary to own the truth, and therefore offered his service to the king. The first thing he did, was to apply gentle fomentations to the part affected. This remedy had a speedy effect; the king recovered his sleep; and in a few days was perfectly cured both of the sprain and the dislocation. To recompense the physician, the king made him a present of two pair of golden chains. Upon which Democedes asked him, whether he meant to reward the happy success of his endeavours by doubling his misfortunes? The king was pleased with that saying; and or dered his eunuchs to conduct Democedes to his wives, that they might see the person to whom he was indebted for his recovery They all made him very magnificent presents; so that in one day's time he became extremely rich. Democedes was a native of Crotona,† a city of Græcia Magna in the lower Calabria in Italy, from whence he had been obliged to fly, on account of the ill-treatment he received from his father. He first went to Ægina,‡ where, by several successful cures, he acquired great reputation: the inhabitants of this place settled on him a yearly pension of a talent. The talent contained sixty minæ, and was worth about 3000 livres French money. Some time after he was invited to Athens; where they augmented his pension to 5000 livres per annum. After this he was received into the family of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, who gave him a pension of 2000 crowns.|| It redounds much to the honour of cities or princes, by handsome pensions and salaries, to engage such persons in their service as are of public benefit to mankind; and even to induce foreigners of worth and merit to come and settle among them. The Crotonians from * Anciently the same persons practised both as physicians and surgeons. † Herod. l. iii. c. 131. An island between Attica and Peloponnesus VOL. II. 2 C 100 minæ. Two talents. this time had the reputation of having the ablest physicians; and next after them, the people of Cyrene in Africa. The Argives were at the same time reputed to excel in music. Democedes,* after performing this cure upon the king, was admitted to the honour of eating at his table, and came to have great influence at Susa. At his intercession, the Egyptian physicians were pardoned, who had all been condemned to be hanged for having been less skilful than the Grecian physician; as if they were obliged to answer for the success of their remedies, or that it was a crime not to be able to cure a king. This is a strange abuse, though too common an effect of unlimited power, which is seldom guided by reason or equity, and which, being accustomed to see every thing give way implicitly to its authority, expects that its commands, of what nature soever, should be instantly performed! We have seen something of this kind in the history of Nebuchadnezzar, who pronounced a general sentence of death upon all his magicians, because they could not divine what it was he had dreamed in the night, which he himself had forgotten. Democedes procured also the enlargement of several of those persons who had been imprisoned with him. He lived in the greatest affluence, and was in the highest esteem and favour with the king. But he was at a great distance from his own country, and his thoughts and desires were continually bent upon Greece. He had the good fortune to perform another cure,† which contributed to raise his credit and reputation still higher. Atossa, one of the king's wives, and daughter to Cyrus, was attacked with a cancer in her breast. As long as the pain was moderate, she bore it with patience, not being able to prevail on herself, out of modesty, to discover her disorder. But at last she was constrained to it, and sent for Democedes; who promised to cure her, and at the same time requested that she would be pleased to grant him a certain favour he should beg of her, entirely consistent with her honour. The queen engaged her word, and was cured. The favour desired by the physician was to procure him a journey into his own country, and the queen was not unmindful of her promise. It is worth while to take notice of such events,‡ which, though not very considerable in themselves, often give occasion to the greatest enterprises of princes, and are even the secret springs and distant causes of them. As Atossa was conversing one day with Darius, she took occasion to represent to him, that, as he was in the flower of his age, and of a vigorous constitution, capable of enduring the fatigues of war, and had numerous armies at command, it would be for his honour to form some great enterprise, and let the Persians see they had a man of courage for their king. You have hit my thoughts, replied Darius; for I was meditating an attack upon the Scythians. *Herod. l. iii. c. 132. † Herod. 1. iii. c. 135. 137. Non sine usa fuerit introspicere illa primo aspectu levia, ex queis magnarum sæpe re rum motus oriuntur Tac. l. iv. c. 32. 1 had much rather, says Atossa, you would first turn your arms against Greece. I have heard great things said in praise of the women of Lacedæmon, of Argos, Athens, and Corinth; and should be very glad to have some of them in my service. Besides, you have a person here that might be very useful to you in such an enterprise, and could give you a perfect knowledge of the country. the person I mean is Democedes, who hath cured both you and me. This was enough for the king, and the affair was resolved upon immediately. Fifteen Persian noblemen were appointed to accompany Democedes into Greece, and to examine with him all the maritime places as thoroughly as possible. The king strictly charged these persons, above all things to keep a watchful eye upon the physician, that he did not give them the slip, and to bring him back with them to the Persian court. Darius, in giving such an order, plainly showed he did not understand the proper methods for engaging men of abilities and merit to reside in his dominions, and for attaching them to his person. To pretend to do this by authority and compulsion, is the sure way of suppressing all knowledge and industry, and of driving away the liberal arts and sciences, which must be free and unconfined, like the genius from whence they spring. For one man of genius that will be kept in a country by force, thousands will be driven away, who would probably have chosen to reside in it, if they could enjoy their liberty and meet with kind treatment. When Darius had formed his design of sending into Greece, he acquainted Democedes with it, laid open his views to him, and told him the occasion he had for his service in conducting the Persian noblemen thither, particularly to the maritime towns, in order to observe their situation and strength: at the same time earnestly desiring him, that, when that was done, he would return back with them to Persia. The king permitted him to carry all his moveables with him, and give them, if he pleased, to his father and brothers, promising, at his return, to give him as many of greater value; and signified to him farther, that he would order the galley in which he was to sail, to be laden with very rich presents, for him to bestow as he thought fit on the rest of his family. The king's intention appeared, by this manner of speaking, to be undisguised and without artifice: but Democedes was afraid it might be a snare laid for him, to discover whether he intended to return to Persia or not; and therefore, to remove all suspicion, he left his own goods behind him at Susa, and only took with him the presents designed for his family. The first place the commissioners landed at was Sidon in Phonicia, where they equipped two large vessels for themselves, and put all they had brought along with them on board a transport. After having passed through, and carefully examined the chief cities of Greece, they went to Tarentum in Italy. Here the Persian noblemen were taken up as spies; and Democedes, taking advantage of this arrest, made his escape from them, and fled to Crotona. When the Persian lords had recovered their liberty, they pursued him thither, but could not prevail upon the Crotonians to deliver up their fellow-citizen. The city moreover seized the loaded vessel; and the Persians, having lost their guide, laid aside the thoughts of going through the other parts of Greece, and set out for their own country. Democedes let them know, at their departure, that he was going to marry the daughter of Milo, a famous wrestler of Crotona, whose name was very well known to the king. This voyage of the Persian noblemen into Greece, was attended with no immediate consequence; because, on their return home, they found the king engaged in other affairs. A. M. 3485. In the third year of this king's reign,* which was but Ant. J. C. 519. the second according to the Jewish computation, the Samaritans gave the Jews new trouble. In the preceding reigns, they had procured an order to prohibit the Jews from proceeding any farther in building of the temple of Jerusalem. But upon the earnest exhortation of the prophets, and the express order of God, the Israelites had lately resumed the work, which had been interrupted for several years, and carried it on with great vigour. The Samaritans had recourse to their ancient practices, to prevent them. To this end they applied to Tatnai, whom Darius had made governor of the provinces of Syria and Palestine. They complained to him of the audacious proceeding of the Jews who, of their own authority, and in defiance of the prohibitions to the contrary, presumed to rebuild their temple; which must necessarily be prejudicial to the king's interests. Upon this representation of theirs, the governor thought fit to go himself to Jerusalem And being a person of great equity and moderation, when he had inspected the work, he did not think proper to proceed violently, and to put a stop to it without any farther deliberation; but inquired of the Jewish elders what license they had for entering upon a work of that nature. The Jews hereupon producing the edict of Cyrus, he would not of himself ordain any thing in contradiction to it, but sent an account of the matter to the king, and desired to know his pleasure. He gave the king a true representation of the matter, acquainting him with the edict of Cyrus, which the Jews alleged in their justification, and desired him to order the registers to be con sulted, to know whether Cyrus had really published such an edict and to be pleased to send him instructions how he was to act in the affair. Darius having commanded the registers to be examined the edict was found at Ecbatana, in Media, the place where Cyrus was at the time of its being granted. Now Darius having a great respect for the memory of that prince, confirmed his edict, and caused another to be drawn up, wherein the former was referred to, and ratified. This motive of regard to the memory of Cyrus, had there been nothing else to influence the king, would be very laud able: but the Scripture informs us, that it was God himself who influenced the mind and heart of the king, and inspired him with a favourable disposition to the Jews. The truth of this appears pretty plain from the edict itself. In the first place it ordains, that all the victims, oblations, and other expenses of the temple, be abundantly furnished the Jews, as the priests should require: in the second place it enjoins the priests of Jerusalem, when they offered their sacrifices to the God of heaven, to pray for the preservation of the life of the king and the princes his children; and lastly, it goes so far as to denounce imprecations against all princes and people, that should hinder the carrying on of the building of the temple, or that should attempt to destroy it: by all which Darius evidently acknowledges, that the God of Israel is able to overturn the kingdoms of the world, and to dethrone the most mighty and powerful princes. By virtue of this edict, the Jews were not only authorized to proceed in the building of their temple, but all the expenses thereof were also to be furnished to them out of the taxes and imposts of the province. What must have become of the Jews, when the crimes of disobedience and rebellion were laid to their charge, if at such a juncture their superiors had only hearkened to their enemies, and not given them leave to justify themselves! The same prince, some time after, gave a still more signal proof of his love for justice, and of his abhorrence of informers, a detestable race of men, by their very nature and condition enemies to all merit and all virtue. It is pretty obvious that I mean the famous edict, published by this prince against Haman, in favour of the Jews, at the request of Esther, whom the king had taken to his bed in the room of Vashti, one of his wives. According to archbishop Usher, this Vashti, is the same person as is called by profane writers Atossa; and the Ahasuerus of the Holy Scriptures the same as Darius; but according to others, it is Artaxerxes. The fact is well known, being related in the sacred history: I have given, however a brief account of it in this volume. Such actions of justice do great honour to a prince's memory; as do also those of gratitude, of which Darius, on a certain occasion, gave a very laudable instance. Syloson,* brother to Polycrates tyrant of Samos, had once made Darius a present of a suit of clothes, of a curious red colour, which extremely pleased Darius's fancy, and would never suffer him to make any return for it. Darius at that time was but a private gentleman, an officer in the guards of Cambyses, whom he accompanied to Memphis, in his Egyptian expedition. When Darius was on the throne of Persia, Syloson went to Susa, presented himself at the gate of his palace, and caused himself to be announced as a Grecian, to whom his majesty was under some obligation. Darius, surprised at such a message, and curious to know the truth of it, ordered him to be † Herod. 1. iii. c. 139. 149 |