if they should think proper to fly before you, not out of cowardice or fear, for they are a very courageous and warlike people, but only with a design to harass and ruin your army by continual and fatiguing marches; what will become of us in such an uncultivated, barren, and naked country, where we shall neither find forage for our horses, nor provision for our men? I am afraid, sir, that through a false notion of glory, and the insinuations of flatterers, you may be hurried into a war, which may turn to the dishonour of the nation. You now enjoy the sweets of peace and tranquillity in the midst of your people, where you are the object of their admiration, and the author of their happiness. You are sensible the gods have placed you upon the throne to be their coadjutor, or, to speak more properly, to be the dispenser of their bounty, rather than the minister of their power. You pride yourself upon being the protector, the guardian, and the father of your subjects: and you often declare to us, because you really believe so, that you look upon yourself as invested with sovereign power, only to make your people happy. What exquisite joy must it be to so great a prince as you are, to be the source of so many blessings: and under the shadow of your name to preserve such infinite numbers of people in so desirable a tranquillity! Is not the glory of a king who loves his subjects, and is beloved by them; who, instead of waging war against neighbouring or distant nations,makes use of his power to keep them in peace and amity with each other; is not such a glory infinitely preferable to that of ravaging and spoiling a country, of filling the earth with slaughter and desolation, with hor ror, consternation, and despair? But there is one motive more, which ought to have a greater influence upon you than all others; I mean that of justice. Thanks to the gods, you are not of the number of those princes, who acknowledge no other law than that of force,* and who imagine that they have a peculiar privilege annexed to their dignity, which private persons have not, of invading other men's properties. You do not make your greatness consist in being able to do whatever you will,† but in willing only what may be done without infringing the laws, or violating justice. To speak plain, shall one man be reckoned unjust, and a robber, for seizing on a few acres of his neighbour's estate; and shall another be reckoned just and great, and have the title of hero, because he seizes upon and usurps whole provinces? Permit me, sir, to ask you, what title have you to Scythia? What injury have the Scythians done you? What reason can you allege for declaring war against them? The war, indeed, in which you have been engaged against the Babylonians, was at the same time both just and necessary: the gods have accordingly crowned your arms with success. It belongs to you, sir, to judge, whether that which you are now going to undertake, be of the same nature.

* Id in summâ fortunâ æquius, quod validius: et sua retinere, privatæ domûs: de alienis certare, regiam laudem esse. Tacit. Annal. 1. xxv. c. 1.

† Ut felicitatis est quantum velis posse, sic magnitudinis velle quantum possis. Plin, in Panegyr. Traj.

Nothing but the generous zeal of a brother, truly concerned for the glory of his prince and the good of his country, could inspire such a freedom: as, on the other hand, nothing but a perfect moderation in the prince could make him capable of bearing with it. Darius,* as Tacitus observes of another great emperor, had the art of reconciling two things which are generally incompatible, the sovereignty and liberty. Far from being offended at the freedom used by his brother, he thanked him for his good advice, though he did not follow it; for he had taken his resolution. He departed from Susa at the head of an army of 700,000 men; and his fleet, consisting of 600 ships, was chiefly manned with Ionians, and other Grecian nations that dwelt upon the sea-coasts of Asia Minor and the Hellespont. He marched his army towards the Thracian Bosphorus, which he passed upon a bridge of boats: after which, having made himself master of all Thrace, he came to the banks of the Danube, otherwise called the Iste., where he had ordered his fleet to join him. In several places on his march he caused pillars to be erected with magnificent inscriptions, in one of which he suffered himself to be called, the best and handsomest of all men living. What vanity! what a littleness of soul was this!

And yet if this prince's faults had terminated only in sentiments of pride and vanity, perhaps they would appear more excusable than they do, at least they would not have been so pernicious to his subjects. But how shall we reconcile Darius's disposition, which seemed to be so exceeding humane and gentle, with his barbarous and cruel behaviour towards Oebazus, a venerable old man, whose merit, as well as quality, entitled him to respect? This nobleman had three sons, who were all preparing themselves to attend the king in this expedition against the Scythians. Upon Darius's departure from Susa, the good old father begged as a favour of him, that he would please to leave him one of his sons at home, to be a comfort to him in his old age, One, replied Darius, will not be sufficient for you; I will leave you all the three: and immediately he caused them all to be put to death.

When the army had passed the Danube upon a bridge of boats,‡ the king was for having the bridge broken down, that his army might not be weakened by leaving so considerable a detachment of his troops as was necessary to guard it. But one of his officers represented to him, that it might be proper to keep that, as a necessary resource, in case the war with the Scythians should prove unfortunate. The king acquiesced, and committed the guarding of the bridge to the care of the Ionians, who built it; giving them leave, at the same time, to go back to their own country, if he did not return in the space of two months: he then proceeded on his march to Scythia.

* Nerva Cæsar res olim dissociabiles miscuit, principatum et libertatem. Tacit. in vit. Agric. cap. iii. Herod. l. iv. c. 84. Senec. de Irâ, c. 16. Herod. 1. iv. c. 99. 101.

As soon as the Scythians were informed that Darius was marching against them,* they immediately entered into consultation upon the measures necessary to be taken. They were very sensible, that they were not in a condition to resist by themselves so formidable an enemy. They applied therefore to all the neighbouring nations, and desired their assistance, alleging, that the danger was general, and concerned them all, and that it was their common interest to oppose an enemy, whose views of conquest were not confined to one nation. Some returned favourable answers to their de mand; others absolutely refused to enter into a war which, they said, did not regard them; but they had soon reason to repent their refusal.

One wise precaution taken by the Scythians,† was to place their wives and children in safety, by sending them in carriages to the most northern parts of the country; and with them likewise they sent all their herds and flocks, reserving othing to themselves but what was necessary for the support of their army. Another precaution of theirs was to fill up all their wells, and stop up their springs, and to consume all the forage in those parts through which the Persian army was to pass. This done, they marched, in conjunction with their allies, against the enemy, not with a view of giving him battle, for they were determined to avoid that, but to draw him into such places as suited best their interest. Whenever the Persians seemed disposed to attack them, they still retired farther up into the country; and thereby drew them on, from place to place, into the territories of those nations that had refused to enter into alliance with them, whose lands became a prey to the two armies of the Persians and Scythians.

Darius, weary of these tedious and fatiguing pursuits, sent a heald to the king of the Scythians, whose name was Indathyrsus, with this message in his name :—Prince of the Scythians, wherefore dost thou continually fly before me? Why dost thou not stop somewhere or other, either to give me battle, if thou believest thyself able to encounter me, or, if thou thinkest thyself too weak, to acknowledge thy master, by presenting him with earth and water? The Scythians were a high-spirited people, extremely jealous of their liberty and professed enemies to all slavery. Indathyrsus sent Darius the following answer:- -If I fly before thee, prince of the Persians, it is not because I fear thee: what I do now, is no more than what I am used to do in time of peace. We Scythians have neither cities nor lands to defend if thou hast a mind to force us to come to an engagement, come and attack the tombs of our fathers, and thou shalt find what manner of men we are. As to the title of master, which thou assumest, keep it for other nations than the Scythians. For my part I acknowledge no other master than the great Jupiter, one of my own ancestors, and the goddess Vesta.

*Herod. l. iv. c. 102. 118, 119.

Ibid. c. 120. 125.

Ibid. c. 126,127

The farther Darius advanced into the country,* tne greater hardships his army was exposed to. Just when it was reduced to the last extremity, there came a herald from the Scythian prince, who was commissioned to present to Darius a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows. The king desired to know the meaning of those gifts. The messenger answered, that his orders were only to deliver them, and nothing more; and that it was left to the Persian king to find out the meaning. Darius concluded at first, that the Scythians thereby consented to deliver up the earth and water to him, which were represented by the mouse and frog; as also their cavalry, whose swiftness was represented by the bird; together with their own persons and arms, signified by the arrows. Gobryas, one of the seven lords that had deposed the Magian impostor, expounded the enigma in the following manner: Know, says he to the Persians, that unless you can fly in the air like birds, or hide yourselves in the earth like mice, or dive under the water like frogs, you shall in no wise be able to avoid the arrows of the Scythians.

But

And, indeed, the whole Persian army, marching in a vast, uncultivated, and barren country, completely destitute of water, was reduced to so deplorable a condition, that they had nothing before their eyes but inevitable ruin: nor was Darius himself exempt from the common danger. He owed his preservation to a camel, which was loaded with water, and followed him with great difficulty through that wild and desert country. The king afterwards did not forget this benefactor; to reward him for the service he had done him, and the fatigues he had undergone, on his return to Asia, he settled a certain district of his own upon him for his peculiar use and subsistence, for which reason the place was called Gaugamela, that is in the Persian tongue, the Camel's habitation. It was near the same place that Darius Codomannus received a second overthrow by Alexander the Great.

Darius deliberated no longer,‡ finding himself under an absolute necessity of quitting his rash enterprise. He began then to think in earnest of returning home; and saw but too plainly, that there was no time to be lost. As soon therefore as night came, the Persians, to deceive the enemy, lighted a great number of fires, as usual; and leaving the old men and the sick behind them in the camp, together with all their asses, which made a sufficient noise, they set out upon their march, in order to reach the Danube. The Scythians did not perceive they were gone till the next morning; whereupon they immediately sent a considerable detachment to the Danube: this detachment being perfectly well acquainted with the roads of the country, arrived at the bridge a great while before the Persians. The Scythians had sent expresses beforehand to persuade the Ionians to break the bridge, and to return to their own country and the latter had promised to do it, but without designing to exe*Herod. 1. iv. c. 128. 132. † Strabo, 1. vii. p. 305. l. xvi. p. 737. + Herod. Liv ⚫. 134. 140.

cute their promise. The Scythians now pressed them to it more earnestly, and repesented to them, that the time prescribed by Darius for staying there was elapsed; that they were at liberty to re turn home, without either violating their word or their duty; that they now had it in their power to throw off for ever the yoke of their subjection, and make themselves a happy and free people; and that the Scythians would render Darius incapable of forming any more enterprises against any of his neighbours.

The Ionians entered into consultation upon the affair. Miltiades the Athenian, who was prince, or, as the Greeks call it, tyrant, of the Chersonesus of Thrace, at the mouth of the Hellespont, was one of those that accompanied Darius, and furnished him with ships for his enterprise. Having the public interest more at heart than his private advantage, he was of opinion that they should comply with the request of the Scythians and embrace so favourable an opportunity of recover ing the liberty of Ionia: all the other commanders acquiesced in his sentiments, except Hystiæus, the tyrant of Miletus. When it came to his turn to speak, he represented to the Ionian generals, that their fortune was linked with that of Darius; that it was under that prince's protection that each of them was master in his own city; and if the power of the Persians should sink or decline, the cities of Ionia would not fail to depose their tyrants, and recover their freedom. All the other chief's were influenced by his opinion; and, as is usual in most cases, the consideration of private interest prevailed over the public good. They resolved therefore to wait for Darius : out, in order to deceive the Scythians, and hinder them from undertaking any thing, they declared to them, that they had resolved to to retire, pursuant to their request; and, the better to carry on the fraud, they actually began to break one end of the bridge, exhorting the Scythians at the same time to do their part, to return speedily back to meet the common enemy, to attack and defeat them. The Scythians being too credulous, retired, and were deceived a second time.

They missed Darius,† who had taken a different route from that in which they expected to come up with him. He arrived by night at the bridge over the Danube; and, finding it broken down, he no longer doubted but the Ionians were gone, and that consequently he should be ruined. He made his people call out with a loud voice for Hystiæus, the Milesian, who at last answered, and put the king out of his anxiety. They entirely repaired the bridge; so that Darius repassed the Danube, and came back into Thrace. There he left Megabyzus, one of his chief generals, with part of his army, to complete the conquest of that country, and entirely reduce it to his obedience. After which he repassed the Bosphorus with the rest of his troops, and went to Sardis, where he spent the winter and the greatest part of the year following, in order to refresh his *Amicior omnium libertati quàm suæ dominationi fuit. Corn. Nep. Herod. l. iv. c. 141. 144.