Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1872 edition. Excerpt:...at this point is misleading and confused. On the death of his uncle and father, Tanyoxarces and Cambyses, the two great divisions of the empire had of right descended to Cyrus grandson of Astyages, in addition to his own conquests in Armenia and Asia Minor. Nevertheless this distinguished prince was then but little known to his late father's subjects in the province of Persia. He could not boast like Darius of his pure Aryan descent, and, with reference to the Median taint in his blood, was known to them only as Cyrus the Mule. His youth had been spent chiefly in the Median court of Astyages. His claim to kingly rank was derived at first rather from his Median ancestry than from his Persian origin. The Medes had selected hirn as their sovereign as son of Mandane princess of Media, and he had established himself in their hearts by leading them to conquest, while the Persians still acknowledged his father Carnbyses as their king. From Lucian and Onesicritus, quoting Persian annals, we have learnt that he was not conscious of the cruelties perpetrated on his friends in Persia during the violent reign of Cambyses, and that he only heard of these atrocities at the time of his approaching death: Xenophon also is precise in stating, that it was not till he was an old man, when his father and mother were both long since dead, that he took a journey into Persia for the seventh time since the beginning of his reign,1 and there died. In fact, as Cambyses father of Cyrus never reigned in Asia Minor, or over Media proper, except as supreme sovereign of the Persians and Medes, so Cyrus son of Cambyses and Mandane never reigned in Persia proper, but only as lord paramount oyer the confederacy of Medes and Persians. He was almost a stranger at Persepolis, where...