 Chapter 9 of Cyrus the Great by Jacob Abbott This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Dion Giants, Celtic City, Utah. The Restoration of the Jews, BC 608. The period of the invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus and the taking of the city was during the time while the Jews were in captivity there. Cyrus was their deliverer. It results from this circumstance that the name of Cyrus is connected with sacred history more than that of any other great conqueror of ancient times. It was a common custom in the early ages of the world for powerful sovereigns to take the people of a conquered country captive and make them slaves. They employed them to some extent as personal household servants but more generally as agricultural laborers to till the lands. An account of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon is given briefly in the closing chapters of the second book of Chronicles though many of the attendant circumstances are more fully detailed in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who lived in the time of the captivity. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon made repeated incursions into the land of Judea sometimes carrying away the reigning monarch sometimes deposing him and appointing another sovereign in his stead sometimes assessing attacks or tribute upon the land and sometimes plundering the city and carrying away all the gold and silver that he could find. Thus the kings and the people were kept in a continual state of anxiety and terror for many years to the inroads of this nation of robbers and plunderers that had so unfortunately for them found their way across their frontiers. King Zedekiah was the last of this oppressed and unhappy line of Jewish kings. The prophet Jeremiah was accustomed to denounce the sins of the Jewish nation by which these terrible calamities had been brought upon them with great courage and with an eloquence, solemn and sublime. He declared that the miseries which the people suffered were the special judgments of heaven and he proclaimed repeatedly and openly and in the most public places of the city still heavier calamities which he said were impending. The people were troubled and distressed at these prophetic warnings and some of them were deeply incensed against Jeremiah for uttering them. Finally, on one occasion he took his stand in one of the public courts of the temple and addressing the concourse of priests and people that were there. He declared that unless the nation repented of their sins returned to God, the whole city should be overwhelmed. Even the temple itself, the sacred house of God should be destroyed and the very site abandoned. The priests and the people who heard this denunciation were greatly exasperated. They seized Jeremiah and brought him before a great judicial assembly for trial. The judges asked him why he uttered such predictions declaring that by doing so he acted like an enemy to his country and a traitor and that he deserved to die. The excitement was very great against him and the populace could hardly be restrained from open violence. In the midst of this scene, Jeremiah was calm and unmoved and replied to the accusations as follows. Everything which I have said against this city and this house, I have said by the direction of the Lord Jehovah instead of resenting it and being angry with me for delivering my message, it becomes you to look at your sins and repent of them and forsake them. So God will have mercy upon you and will avert the calamities which otherwise will most certainly come as for myself. Here I am in your hands. You can deal with me just as you think best. You can kill me if you will but you may be assured that if you do so you will bring the guilt and the consequences of setting innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city. I have said nothing and foretold nothing but by commandment of the Lord. The speech produced as might have been expected a great division among the hearers some were more angry than ever and were eager to put the prophet to death others defended him and insisted that he should not die. The letter for the time prevailed. Jeremiah was set at liberty and continued his earnest expostulations with the people on account of their sins and his terrible annunciations of the impending ruin of the city just as before. These unwelcome truths being so painful for the people to hear that it soon began to appear to utter contrary predictions for the sake doubtless of the popularity which they should themselves acquire by their promises of returning peace and prosperity. The name of one of these false prophets was Hananiah on one occasion Jeremiah in order to present and enforce to say more effectually on the minds of the people by means of a visible symbol made a small wooden yoke by divine direction and placed it upon his neck as a token of the bondage which his predictions were threatening. Hananiah took this yoke from his neck and broke it saying that as he had thus broken Jeremiah's wooden yoke so God would break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from all nations within two years and then even those of the Jews who had already been taken captive to Babylon should return again in peace. Jeremiah replied that Hananiah's predictions were false and that though the wooden yoke was broken God would make for Nebuchadnezzar a yoke of iron with which he should bend the Jewish nation in a bondage more cruel than ever. Still Jeremiah himself predicted that after 70 years from the time when the last great captivity should come the Jews should all be restored again to their native land. He expressed this certain restoration of the Jews on one occasion by a sort of symbol by means of which he made a much stronger impression on the minds of the people than could have been done by simple words. There was a piece of land in the country of Benjamin one of the provinces of Judea which belonged to the family of Jeremiah and it was held in such a way that by paying a certain sum of money Jeremiah himself might possess it the right of redemption being in him. Jeremiah was in prison at this time his uncle's son came into the court of the prison and proposed to him to purchase the land. Jeremiah did so in the most public and formal manner. The title deeds were drawn up and subscribed. Witnesses were summoned the money weighed and paid over the whole transaction being regularly completed according to the forms and usages then common for the conveyance of landed property. When all was finished Jeremiah gave the papers into the hands of his scribe directing him to put them safely away and preserve them with care for after a certain period the country of Judea would again be restored to the peaceable possession of the Jews and such titles to land would possess once more their full and original value. On one occasion when Jeremiah's personal liberty was restricted so that he could not utter publicly his prophetical warnings he employed Baruch his scribe to write them from his dictation with a view of reading them to the people from some public and frequented part of the city the prophecy thus dictated was inscribed upon a roll of parchment Baruch waited when he had completed the writing until a favorable opportunity occurred for reading it which was on the occasion of a great festival that was held at Jerusalem and which brought the inhabitants of the land together from all parts of Judea. On the day of the festival Baruch took the roll in his hand and stationed himself at a very public place at the entrance of one of the great courts of the temple there calling upon the people to hear him he began to read a great concourse gathered around him and all listened to him with profound attention one of the bystanders however went down immediately into the city to the king's palace and reported to the king's council who were then assembled there that a great concourse was convened in one of the courts of the temple and that Baruch was there reading to them a discourse or prophecy which had been written by Jeremiah the members of the council sent a summons to Baruch to come immediately to them and to bring his writing with him when Baruch arrived they directed him to read what he had written they asked him when and how that discourse was written Baruch replied that he had written it word by word from the dictation of Jeremiah the officers informed him that they should be obliged to report the circumstances to the king and they counseled Baruch to go to Jeremiah and recommend to him to conceal himself lest the king in his anger should do him some sudden and violent injury the officers then leaving the role in one of their own apartments went to the king and reported the facts to him he sent one of his attendants named Jehudai to bring the role when it came the king directed Jehudai did so standing by a fire which had been made in the apartment for it was bitter cold after Jehudai had read a few pages from the role finding that it contained a repetition of the same denunciations and warnings by which the king had often been displeased before he took a knife and began to cut the parchment into pieces and to throw it on the fire some other persons who were standing by interfered and earnestly begged the king not to allow the role to be burned but the king did not interfere he permitted Jehudai to destroy the parchment altogether and then sent officers to take Jeremiah and Baruch and bring them to him to be found. The profit on one occasion was reduced to extreme distress by the persecutions which his faithfulness and the incessant urgency of his warnings and expostulations had brought upon him it was at a time when the Chaldean armies had been driven away from Jerusalem for a short period by the Egyptians and the culture drives away another from its prey. Jeremiah determined to avail himself of the opportunity to go to the province of Benjamin to visit his friends and family there he was intercepted however at one of the gates on his way and accused of a design to make his escape from the city and go over to the Chaldeans that earnestly denied this charge they paid no regard to his declarations but sent him back to Jerusalem to the officers of the king's government who confined him in a house which they used as a prison. After he had remained in this place of confinement for several days the king sent and took him from it and brought him to the palace and inquired whether he had any prophecy to utter from the lord. Jeremiah replied that the word of the lord was that the Chaldeans should certainly return again and that Zedekiah himself should fall into their hands and be carried captive to Babylon while he thus persisted so strenuously in the declarations which he had made often before he demanded of the king that he should not be sent back again to the house of imprisonment from which he had been rescued. The king said he would not send him back and he accordingly directed instead that he should be taken to the court of the public prison where his confinement would be less rigorous and there he was to be supplied daily with food so long as the king expressed it as there should be any food remaining in the city. But Jeremiah's enemies were not at rest. They came again after a time to the king and represented to him that the prophet by his gloomy and terrible predictions discouraged and depressed the hearts of the people and weakened their hands that he ought accordingly to be regarded as a public enemy and they begged the king to proceed decidedly against him. The king replied that he would give him into their hands and they might do with him what they pleased. There was a dungeon in the prison the only access to which was from above prisoners were let down into it with robes and left there to die of hunger. The bottom of it was wet and myery and the prophet when let down into it's gloomy doubts sank into the deep mire. Here he would soon have died of hunger and misery but the king feeling some misgivings in regard to what he had done lest it might really be a true prophet that he had thus delivered into the hands of his enemies inquired what the people had done with their prisoner and when he learned that he had been thus as it were buried alive he immediately sent officers with orders to take him out of the dungeon. The officers went to the dungeon they opened the mouth of it they had brought ropes with them to be used for drawing the unhappy prisoner up and cloths also which he was to fold together and place under his arms where the ropes were to pass. These ropes and cloths they let down into the dungeon and called upon Jeremiah to place them properly around his body thus they drew him safely up out of the dismal den. The terrible persecutions of the faithful prophet were all unavailing either to silence his voice or to avert the calamities which his warnings portended at the appointed time the judgments which had been so long predicted came in all their terrible reality the Babylonians invaded the land in great force and encamped about the city and continued for two years. At the end of that time the famine became insupportable. Zedekiah the king determined to make a sortie with as strong a force as he could command secretly at night in hopes to escape with his own life and intending to leave the city to its fate he succeeded in passing out through the city gates with his band of followers and in actually passing the Babylonian lines but he had not gone far before his escape was discovered he was pursued and taken the city was then stormed and as usual in such cases it was given up to plunder and destruction vast numbers of the inhabitants were killed many more were taken captive the principal buildings both public and private were burned the walls were broken down and all the public treasures of the Jews the gold and silver vessels of the temple and a vast quantity of private plunder were carried away to Babylon by the conquerors all this was 70 years before the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. Of course during the time of this captivity a very considerable portion of the inhabitants of Judea remained in their native land the deportation of a whole people to a foreign land is impossible a vast number however of the inhabitants of the country were carried away and they remained for two generations in a miserable bondage as agricultural laborers in the rural districts of Babylon others remained in the city and were engaged in servile laborers there the prophet Daniel lived in the palaces of the king he was summoned as the reader will recollect to Belchazar's feast on the night when Cyrus forced his way into the city to interpret the mysterious writing on the wall by which the fall of the Babylonian monarchy was announced in so terrible a manner one year after Cyrus had conquered Babylon he issued an edict authorizing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city and the temple this event had been long before predicted by the prophets as the result of which God had determined upon for purposes of his own we should not naturally have expected that such a conqueror as Cyrus would feel any real and honest interest in promoting the designs of God but still in the proclamation which he issued authorizing the Jews to return he acknowledged the supreme divinity of Jehovah that he was charged by him with the work of rebuilding his temple and restoring his worship at its ancient seat on Mount Zion it has however been supposed by some scholars who have examined attentively all the circumstances connected with these transactions that so far as Cyrus was influenced by political considerations he was ordering the return of the Jews his design was to reestablish that nation as a barrier between his dominions and those of the Egyptians the Egyptians and the Chaldeans had long been deadly enemies and now that Cyrus had become master of the Chaldean realms he would of course in assuming their territories and power be obliged to defend himself against their foes whatever may have been the motives of Cyrus he decided to allow the Hebrew captives to return and he issued a proclamation to that effect as seventy years had elapsed since the captivity commenced about two generations had passed away a few then living who had ever seen the land of their fathers the Jews were however all eager to return they collected in a vast assembly with all the treasures which they were allowed to take and the stores of provisions and baggage with which horses and mules and other beasts of burden to transport them when assembled for the march it was found that the number of which a very exact census was taken was forty nine thousand six hundred and ninety seven they had also with them seven or eight hundred horses about two hundred and fifty mules and about five hundred camels the chief part however of their baggage and stores was born the masses of which there were nearly seven thousand in the train the march of this peaceful multitude of families men women and children together burdened as they went not with arms and ammunition for conquest and destruction but with tools and implements for honest industry and stores of provisions and utensils for the peaceful purposes of social life as it was in its bearings and results one of the grandest events of history so it must have presented in its progress one of the most extraordinary spectacles that the world has ever seen the grand caravan pursued its long and toilsome march from Babylon to Jerusalem without molestation safely and the people immediately commenced the work of repairing the walls of the city and rebuilding the temple when at length the foundations of the temple were laid a great celebration was held to commemorate the event this celebration exhibited a remarkable scene of mingled rejoicing and mourning the younger part of the population who were seen Jerusalem in its former grandeur felt only exhilaration and joy at their re-establishment in the city of their fathers the work of raising the edifice whose foundations they had laid was to them simply a new enterprise and they looked forward to the work of carrying it on with pride and pleasure the old men however the former temple were filled with mournful recollections of days of prosperity and peace in their childhood and of the magnificence of the former temple which they could now never hope to see realized again it was customary in those days to express sorrow and grief by exclamations and outcries as gladness and joy expressed audibly now accordingly on this occasion the cries of grief and of bitter regret at the thought of losses which could now never be retrieved were mingled with the shouts of rejoicing and triumph raised by the ardent and young who knew nothing of the past but looked forward with hope and happiness to the future the Jews encountered various hindrances and met with much opposition in their attempts to reconstruct their ancient city and to reestablish the mosaic ritual there we must however now return to the history of Cyrus referring the reader for a narrative of the circumstances connected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the very minute account of the sacred books of Ezra and Nehemiah End of Chapter 9 Chapter 10 of Cyrus the Great by Jacob Abbott this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Dion Giants, Salt Lake City, Utah the story of Panthea in the preceding chapters of this work we have followed mainly the authority of Herodotus except indeed in the account of the visit of Cyrus to his grandfather in his childhood which is taken from Xenophon we shall in this chapter relate the story of Panthea which is also one of Xenophon's tales we give it as a specimen of the romantic narratives in which Xenophon's history abounds in the account of the many illustrations of an ancient manners and customs which it contains leaving it for each reader to decide for himself what weight he will attach to its claims to be regarded as veritable history we relate this story here in our own language but as to the facts we follow faithfully of Xenophon's narration Panthea was a Susian captive she was taken together with a great many other captives and much plunder after one of the great battles which Cyrus fought with the Assyrians her husband was an Assyrian general though he himself was not captured at this time with his wife the spoil which came into possession on the occasion of the battle in which Panthea was taken was of great value there were beautiful and costly suits of arms, rich tents made of splendid materials and highly ornamented large sums of money vessels of silver and gold and slaves some prized for their beauty and others for certain accomplishments which were highly valued in those days Cyrus appointed a sort of commission to divide this spoil he pursued always a very generous policy on all these occasions showing no desire to secure such treasures to himself but distributing them with profuse liberality among his officers and soldiers the commissioners whom he appointed in this case divided the spoil among the various generals of the army and among the different bodies of soldiery with great impartiality among the prizes assigned to Cyrus were two singing women of great fame and this Susian lady Cyrus thanked the distributors for the share of booty which they had thus assigned to him that if any of his friends wished for either of these captives they could have them an officer asked for one of the singers Cyrus gave her to him immediately saying I consider myself more obliged to you for asking her than you are to me for giving her to you as for the Susian lady Cyrus had not yet seen her he called one of his most intimate and confidential friends to him and requested him to take her under his charge the name of this officer was a raspus he was a mead and he had been Cyrus's particular friend and playmate when he was a boy visiting his grandfather in media the reader will perhaps recollect and toward the close of our account of that visit as the special favorite to whom Cyrus presented his robe or mantle when he took leave of his friends in returning to his native land a raspus when he received this charge asked Cyrus whether he had himself seen the lady Cyrus replied that he had not a raspus then proceeded to give an account of her the name of her husband was Abrodotus and he was the king of Suza as they termed him the reason why he was not taken prisoner at the same time with his wife was that when the battle was fought and the Assyrian camp captured he was absent having gone away from the charge to another nation this circumstance shows that Abrodotus though called a king could hardly have been a sovereign and independent prince but rather a governor or a viceroy those words expressing to our minds more truly the station of such a sort of king as could be sent on an embassy a raspus went on to say at the time of their making the capture he with some others went into Panthea's tent where they found her and her attendant ladies sitting on the ground with veils over their faces patiently awaiting their doom not withstanding the concealment produced by the attitudes and dress of these ladies there was something about the heir and figure which showed at once that she was the queen the leader of a raspuses party asked them all to rise they did so and then the superiority of Panthea was still more apparent than before there was an extraordinary grace and beauty in her attitude and in all her motions she stood in a dejected posture and her countenance was sad though inexpressibly lovely she endeavored to appear calm and composed though the tears had evidently been falling from her eyes the soldiers pitied her in her distress and the leader of the party attempted to console her as a raspuses said by telling her that she had nothing to fear that they were aware that her husband was a most worthy and excellent man and although by this capture she was lost to him she would have no cause to regret the event for she would be reserved for a new husband not at all in virure to her former one either in person, in understanding in rank or in power she did not appear to have the good effect desired they only awakened Panthea's grief and suffering anew the tears began to fall again faster than before her grief soon became more and more uncontrollable she sobbed and cried aloud and began to wring her hands and tear her mantle the customary oriental expression unassailable sorrow and despair a raspuses said that in these justiculations her neck and hands and a part of her face appeared and that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever beheld he wished Cyrus to see her Cyrus said no he would not see her by any means a raspuses asked him why he said that there would be danger that he should forget his duty to the army and lose his interest in the great military enterprise in which he was engaged if he should allow himself to become captivated by the charms of such a lady as he very probably would be if he were now to visit her a raspuses said in reply that Cyrus would at least see her as to becoming captivated with her and devoting himself to her to such a degree as to neglect his other duties he could certainly control himself in respect to that danger Cyrus said that it was not certain that he could so control himself and then there followed a long discussion between Cyrus and a raspuses which a raspuses maintained that every man had the command of his own heart and affections and that with proper determination and energy he could direct the channels in which they should run and confine them within such limits and bounds as he pleased Cyrus on the other hand maintained that human passions were stronger and no one could rely on the strength of his resolutions to control the impulses of the heart once strongly excited and that a man's only safety was in controlling the circumstances which tended to excite them this was specially true he said in respect to the passion of love the experience of mankind he said he was known that no strength of moral principle no firmness of purpose no fixedness of resolution no degree of suffering no fear of shame was sufficient to control in the hearts of men the impetuality of the passion of love when it was once fairly awakened in a word a raspuses advocated on the subject of love a sort of new school philosophy while that of Cyrus leaned very seriously toward the old in conclusion Cyrus jocosly counseled a raspuses to beware lest he should prove that love was stronger than the will by becoming himself enamored of the beautiful Susie and Queen a raspuses said that Cyrus need not fear there was no danger there must be a miserable wretch indeed he said who could not summon within him sufficient resolution and energy to control his own passions and desires as for himself he was sure that he was safe as usual with those who are self-confident and boastful a raspuses failed when the time of trial came he took charge of the royal captive and admitted to him with a very firm resolution to be faithful to his trust he pitied the unhappy Queen's misfortunes and admired the heroic patients and gentleness of spirit with which she bore them the beauty of her countenance and her thousand personal charms which were all heightened by the expression of sadness and sorrow which they bore touched his heart it gave him pleasure to grant her every indulgence consistent with her condition of captivity and to do everything in his power to promote her welfare she was very grateful for these favors and the few brief words and looks of kindness with which she returned them repaid him for his efforts to please her a thousand fold he saw her too in her tent in the presence of her maidens at all times and as she looked upon him as only her custodian and guard and as too her mind was wholly occupied by the thoughts of her absent husband and her hopeless grief her actions were entirely free and unconstrained in his presence this made her only the more attractive every attitude and movement seemed to possess in Eraspus's mind an inexpressible charm in a word the result was what Cyrus had predicted Eraspus became wholly absorbed in the interest which was awakened in him by the charms of the beautiful captive he made many resolutions but they were of no avail while he was away from her strong in his determination to yield to these feelings no more but as soon as he came into her presence all these resolutions melted wholly away and he yielded his heart entirely to the control of emotions which however visible they might appear at a distance were found when the time of trial came to possess a certain mysterious and magic power which made it most delightful for the heart to yield before them in the contest and utterly impossible to stand firm and resist in a word when seen at a distance love appeared to him an enemy which he was ready to brave and was sure that he could overcome but when near he formed itself into the guise of a friend and he accordingly threw down the arms with which he had intended to combat it and gave himself up to it in a delirium of pleasure things continued in this state for some time the army advanced from post to post and from encampment to encampment taking the captives in their train new cities were taken new provinces overrun and new plans for future conquests were formed at last a case occurred in which Cyrus wished to send someone as a spy into a distant enemy's country the circumstances were such that it was necessary that a person of considerable intelligence and rank should go as Cyrus wished the messenger whom he should send to make his way to the court of the sovereign and become personally acquainted with the leading men of the state and to examine the general resources of the kingdom it was a very different case from that of an ordinary spy who was to go into a neighboring camp merely to report the numbers and disposition of an organized army Cyrus was uncertain whom he should send on such an embassy in the meantime Erasmus had ventured to express to panthea his love for her she was offended in the first place she was faithful to her husband and did not wish to receive such addresses from any person then besides she considered Erasmus having been placed in charge of her by Cyrus his master only for the purpose of keeping her safely as guilty of a betrayal of his trust in having dared to cherish and express sentiments of affection for her himself she however for bore to reproach him or to complain of him to Cyrus she simply repelled the advances that he made supposing that if she did this with firmness and decision Erasmus would feel rebuked and would say no more it did not however produce this effect Erasmus continued to import tune her with declarations of love and at length she felt compelled to appeal to Cyrus Cyrus instead of being incensed at what might have been considered a betrayal of trust on the part of Erasmus only love at the failure and fall in which all his favorites promises and boastings had ended he sent a messenger to Erasmus to caution him in regard to his conduct telling him that he ought to respect the feelings of such a woman as Panthea had proved herself to be the messenger whom Cyrus sent was not content with delivering his message as Cyrus had dictated it he made it much more stern and severe in fact he reproached the lover in a very harsh and bitter manner for indulging such a passion he told him that he had betrayed the sacred trust reposed in him and acted in a manner at once impious and unjust Erasmus was overwhelmed with remorse and anguish and with fear of the consequences which might ensue as men are when the time arrives for being called to account for transgressions which while they were committing them gave them little concern and heard how much Erasmus had been distressed by the message of reproof which he had received and by his fears of punishment he sent for him Erasmus came Cyrus told him that he had no occasion to be alarmed I do not wonder said he at the result which has happened we all know how difficult it is to resist the influence in our minds by the charms of a beautiful woman when we are thrown into circumstances of familiar intercourse with her whatever of wrong there has been ought to be considered as more my fault than yours I was wrong in placing you in such circumstances of temptation by giving you so beautiful a woman in charge Erasmus was very much struck by Cyrus in thus endeavoring to soothe his anxiety and remorse and taking upon himself the responsibility and the blame he thanked Cyrus very earnestly for his kindness but he said that notwithstanding his sovereign's willingness to forgive him he felt still oppressed with grief and concern for the knowledge of his fault which spread abroad in the army his enemies were rejoicing over him and were predicting his disgrace and ruin and some persons had even advised him to make his escape by absconding before any worse calamity should befall him if this is so said Cyrus it puts it in your power to render me a very essential service to explain to Erasmus the necessity that he was under of finding some confidential agent to go on a secret mission into the enemy's country and the importance that the messenger should go under such circumstances as not to be suspected of being Cyrus's friend in disguise you can pretend to abscond said he it will be immediately said for fear of my displeasure I will pretend to send in pursuit of you the news of your evasion will spread rapidly and will be carried doubtless into the enemy's country so that when you arrive there they will be prepared to welcome you as a deserter from my cause and a refugee this plan was agreed upon and Erasmus prepared for his departure Cyrus gave him his instructions and they concerted together the information fictitious of course which he was to communicate to the enemy in respect to Cyrus's situation and designs when all was ready for his departure Cyrus asked him how it was that he was so willing to separate himself thus from the beautiful panthea and replied that when he was absent from panthea he was capable of easily forming any determination and of pursuing any line of conduct that his duty required while yet in her presence he found his love for her and the impetuous feelings to which it gave rise holy and absolutely uncontrollable as soon as Erasmus was gone panthea who supposed that he had really fled for fear of the indignation of the king in consequence of his unfaithfulness to his trust sent to Cyrus a message expressing her regret at the unworthy conduct and the flight of Erasmus and saying that she could and gladly would if he consented repair of the loss the desertion of Erasmus occasioned by sending for her own husband he was she said dissatisfied with the government under which he lived having been cruelly and tyrannically treated by the prince if you will allow me to send for him she added I am sure he will come and join your army and I assure you that you will find him a much more faithful and devoted servant than Erasmus has been Cyrus consented to this proposal and panthea sent for Abradades Abradades came at the head of 2000 horse which formed a very important addition to the forces under Cyrus's command the meeting between panthea and her husband was joyful in the extreme when Abradades learned from his wife how honorable and kind had been the treatment which Cyrus had rendered to her he was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and he declared that he would do the utmost in his power to requite the obligations he was under Abradades entered at once with great ardor and zeal into plans to bring the force which he had brought as efficient as possible in the service of Cyrus he observed that Cyrus was interested at that time in attempting to build and equip a core of armed chariots such as were often used in fields of battle in those days this was a very expensive sort of force corresponding in that respect during the artillery used in modern times the carriages were heavy and strong and were drawn generally by two horses they had short scythe-like blades of steel projecting from the axle trees on each side by which the ranks of the enemy were mowed down when the carriages were driven among them the chariots were made to contain horses one or more warriors each armed in the completest manner these warriors stood on the floor of the vehicle and fought with javelins and spears the great planes which abound in the interior countries of Asia were very favorable for this species of warfare Abradades immediately fitted up for Cyrus a hundred such chariots from his own expense and provided horses to draw them from his own troop he made one chariot much larger than the rest for himself as he intended to take command of this core of chariots in person his own chariot was to be drawn by eight horses his wife Panthea was very much interested in these preparations she had to take something herself toward the outfit she accordingly furnished from her own private treasures a helmet, a corset and arm pieces of gold these articles formed a suit of armor sufficient to cover all that part of the body which would be exposed in standing in the chariot she also provided breast pieces and side pieces of brass for the horses equipped with its eight horses in their gay trappings and resplendent armor and with Abradades standing within it clothed in his panoply of gold presented as it drove in the sight of the whole army around the plane of the encampment a most imposing spectacle it was a worthy leader as the spectators thought to had the formidable column of a hundred similar engines which were to follow in its train if we imagine the havoc which a hundred scythe armed carriages would produce when driven with headlong fury into dense masses of men on a vast open plane we shall have some idea of one item of the horrors of ancient war Abradades' equipments were not however displayed at first for Panthea kept what she had done a secret for a time intending to reserve her contribution for a parting present to her husband when the period should arrive for going into battle she had accordingly taken the measure for her work by stealth from the armor which was a custom to wear and had caused the artificers to make the golden pieces with the utmost secrecy besides these substantial defenses of gold which she provided she added various other articles for ornament and decoration there was a purple robe a crest for the helmet for the wrists Panthea kept all these things herself until the day arrived when her husband was going into battle for the first time with his train and then when he went into his tent to prepare himself to ascend his chariot she brought them to him Abradades was astonished when he saw them he soon understood how they had been provided and he exclaimed with a heart full of surprise and pleasure and so to provide me with this splendid armor and dress you have been depriving yourself of all your finest and most beautiful ornaments no said Panthea you are yourself my finest ornament if you appear in other people's eyes as you do in mine I am not deprived myself of you the appearance which Abradades made in other people's eyes was certainly very splendid on this occasion there were many spectators present to see him mount his chariot and drive away but so great was their admiration of Panthea's affection and regard for her husband and so much impressed were they with her beauty the great chariot, the resplendent horses and the grand warrior with his armor of gold which the magnificent equipage was intended to convey were altogether scarcely able to draw away the eyes of the spectators from her she stood for a while by the side of the chariot addressing her husband in an undertone reminding him of the obligations which they were under to Cyrus for his generous and noble treatment of her and urging him now that he was going to be put to the test to redeem the promise which she had made in his name that Cyrus would find him faithful brave and true the driver then closed the door by which Abradades had mounted and was separated from her husband though she could still see him as he stood in his place she gazed upon him with a countenance full of affection and solicitude she kissed the margin of the chariot as it began to move away she walked along after it as it went as if after all she could not bear the separation and when he saw her coming on after the carriage he said waving his hand for a parting salutation farewell Panthea, go back now to your tent and do not be anxious about me farewell Panthea turned her attendance came and took her away the spectators all turned too to follow her with their eyes to the chariot or to Abradades until she was gone on the field of battle before the engagement commenced Cyrus in passing along the lines paused when he came to the chariots of Abradades to examine the arrangements which had been made for them and to converse a moment with the chief he saw that the chariots were drawn up in a part of the field where there was opposed to them a very formidable array of Egyptian soldiers the Egyptians in this war were allies of the enemy Abradades leaving his chariot in the charge of his driver descended and came to Cyrus and remained in conversation with him for a few moments to receive his last orders Cyrus directed him to remain where he was and not to attack the enemy until he received a certain signal at length the two chieftains separated Abradades returned to his chariot and Cyrus moved on Abradades then moved slowly along his lines to encourage and animate his men and to give them the last directions back to the charge which they were about to make on the enemy when the signal should be given allies were turned to the magnificent spectacle which his equipage presented as it advanced toward them the chariot moving slowly along the line the tall and highly decorated form of its commander rising in the center of it while the eight horses animated by the sound of the trumpets and by the various excitements of the scene stepped proudly their brazen armor clanking as they came when at length the signal was given Abradades calling on the other chariots to follow put his horses to their speed and the whole line rushed impetuously on to the attack of the Egyptians the horses properly trained to their work will fight with their hooves with almost as much reckless determination as men will with spears they rush madly on to encounter whatever opposition there may be before them and strike down and leap over whatever comes in their way as if they fully understood the nature of the work that their riders or drivers were rushing them to do Cyrus as he passed along from one part of the battlefield to another saw the horses of Abradades' line dashing thus impetuously into the thickest ranks of the enemy the men on every side were beaten down by the horses hooves or overturned by the wheels or cut down by the sides and they who here and there these dangers became the aim of the soldiers who stood in the chariots and were transfixed with their spears the heavy wheels rolled and jolted mercilessly over the bodies of the wounded and the fallen while the sides caught hold of and cut through everything that came in their way whether the shafts of javelins and spears or the limbs and bodies of men and tore everything to pieces in their terrible career as Cyrus rode rapidly by he saw Abradades in the midst of this scene driving on in his chariot and shouting to his men in a frenzy of excitement and triumph the battle in which these events occurred was one of the greatest and most important which Cyrus fought he gained the victory his enemies were everywhere routed and driven from the field when the contest was at length decided the army desisted from the slaughter and encamped for the night on the following day the generals assembled at the tent of Cyrus to discuss the arrangements which were to be made in respect to the disposition of the captives and of the spoil and to the future movements of the army Abradades was not there for a time Cyrus in the excitement and confusion of the scene did not observe his absence at length he inquired for him a soldier present told him that he had been killed from his chariot in the midst of the Egyptians and that his wife was at that moment attending to the enterment of the body on the banks of a river which flowed near the field of battle Cyrus on hearing this uttered a loud exclamation of astonishment and sorrow he dropped the business in which he had been engaged with his council mounted his horse commanded attendants to follow him with everything that could be necessary on such an occasion and then asking those who knew to lead the way he drove off to find Panthea when he arrived at the spot the dead body of Abradades was lying upon the ground while Panthea sat by its side holding the head in her lap overwhelmed herself with unutterable sorrow Cyrus leaped from his horse knelt down by the side of the corpse saying at the same time alas, thou brave and faithful soul and art thou gone at the same time he took hold of the hand of Abradades but as he attempted to raise it the arm came away from the body it had been cut off by an Egyptian sword Cyrus was himself shocked at the spectacle and Panthea's grief broke forth anew she cried out with bitter anguish replaced the arm in the position in which she had arranged it before and told Cyrus that the rest of the body was in the same condition whenever she attempted to speak her sobs and tears almost prevented her utterance she bitterly reproached herself for having been perhaps the cause of her husband's death by urging him as she had done to fidelity and courage when he went into battle now she said he is dead while I who urged him forward into the danger and still alive Cyrus said what he could to console Panthea's grief but he found it utterly inconsolable he gave directions for furnishing her with everything which she could need and promised her that he would make ample arrangements for providing for her in future you shall be treated he said while you remain with me in the most honorable manner or if you have any friends whom you wish to join you shall be sent to them safely whenever you please Panthea thanked him for his kindness she had a friend she said whom she wished to join and she would let him know in due time who it was in the meantime she urged that Cyrus would leave her alone for a while with her servants and her waiting maid and the dead body of her husband Cyrus accordingly withdrew as soon as he had gone Panthea sent away the servants also retaining the waiting maid alone the waiting maid began to be anxious and concerned at witnessing these mysterious arrangements as if they portended some new calamity she wondered what her mistress was going to do her doubts were dispelled by seeing Panthea produce a sword which she had kept concealed hitherto beneath her robe her maid begged her with much earnestness and many tears not to destroy herself but Panthea was immovable she said she could not live any longer she directed the maid to envelop her body as soon as she was dead in the same mantle with her husband and to have them both deposited together in the same grave and before her stupefied attendant could do anything to save her she sat down by the side of her husband's body laid her head upon his breast and in that position gave herself the fatal wound in a few minutes she ceased to breathe Cyrus expressed his respect for the memory of Aberdottis and Panthea by erecting a lofty monument over their common grave End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Cyrus the Great by Jacob Abbott this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Dion Giants Conversations we have given this story of Panthea as contained in the preceding chapter in our own language it is true but without any intentional addition or embellishment whatever each reader will judge for himself whether such a narrative written for the entertainment of vast assemblies at public games and celebrations is most properly to be regarded as an invention of romance or as a simple record of veritable history of great many extraordinary and dramatic incidents and adventures similar in general character to the story of Panthea are interwoven with the narrative in Xenophon's history there are also besides these many long and minute details of dialogues and conversations which if they had really occurred would have required a very high degree of skill in stenography to produce such reports of them as Xenophon has given the incidents too out of which these conversations grew are worthy of attention as we can often judge by the nature character of an incident described whether it is one which it is probable might actually occur in real life or only an invention intended to furnish an opportunity and a pretext for the inculcation of the sentiments or the expression of the views of the different speakers it was the custom in ancient days much more than it is now to attempt to add to the point and spirit of a discussion by presenting the various views which the subject naturally elicited in the form of a conversation arising out of circumstances invented to sustain it the incident in such cases was of course a fiction contrived to furnish points of attachment for the dialogue as sort of trellis constructed artificially to support the vine we shall present in this chapter some specimens of these conversations which will give the reader a much more distinct idea of the nature of them than any general description can convey at one time in the course of Cyrus's career just after he had obtained some great victory he was celebrating his triumphs in the midst of his armies with spectacles and games he instituted a series of races in which the various nations that were represented in his army furnished their several champions as competitors the army marched out from the city which Cyrus had captured and where he was then residing in a procession of the most imposing magnificence animals intended to be offered in sacrifice comparison in trappings of gold horsemen most sumptuously equipped chariots of war splendidly built and adorned and banners and trophies of every kind were conspicuous in the train when the vast procession reached the race ground the immense concourse was formed in ranks around it and the racing went on when it came to the turn of the Sacean nation to enter the course a private man of no apparent importance in respect to his rank or standing came forward as the champion though the man appeared insignificant his horse was as fleet as the wind he flew around the arena with astonishing speed and came in at the goal while his competitor was still midway of the course everybody was astonished at this performance Cyrus asked the Sacean whether he would be willing to sell that horse if he could receive a kingdom in exchange for it kingdoms being the coin with which such sovereigns as Cyrus made their purchases the Sacean replied that he would not sell his horse for any kingdom but that he would readily give him away to oblige a worthy man come with me said Cyrus and I will show you where you may throw blindfold and not miss a worthy man so saying Cyrus conducted the Sacean to a part of the field where a number of his officers and attendants were moving to and fro mounted upon their horses or seated in their chariots of war the Sacean took up a hard clog of earth from a bank as he walked along at length they were in the midst of the group throw said Cyrus the Sacean shut his eyes and threw it happened that just at that instant an officer named Feralis was riding by he was conveying some orders which Cyrus had given him to another part of the field Feralis had been originally a man of humble life but he had been advanced by Cyrus to a high position on account of the great fidelity and zeal which he had evinced in the performance of his duty the clot which the Sacean threw struck Feralis in the mouth and wounded him severely now it is the part of a good soldier to stand at his post or to press on in obedience to his orders as long as any physical capacity remains and Feralis true to his military obligation rode on without even turning to see whence and from what caused so unexpected and violent an assault had proceeded the Sacean opened his eyes looked around and Cooley asked who it was that he had hit Cyrus pointed to the horseman who was riding rapidly away saying that is the man who is riding so fast past those chariots yonder you hit him why did he not turn back then asked the Sacean it is strange that he did not said Cyrus he must be some madman the Sacean went in pursuit of him he found Feralis with his face covered with blood and dirt and asked him if he had received a blow I have said Feralis as you see then said the Sacean I make you a present of my horse Feralis asked an explanation the Sacean accordingly gave him an account of what had taken place between himself and Cyrus and said in the end that he gladly gave him his horse as he Feralis had so decisively proved himself to be a most worthy man Feralis accepted the present with many thanks and he and the Sacean became thereafter very strong friends sometime after this Feralis invited the Sacean to an entertainment and when the hour arrived he sat before his friend and the other guests a most sumptuous feast which was served in vessels of gold and silver and in an apartment furnished with carpets and canopies and couches of the most gorgeous and splendid description the Sacean was much impressed by his presence and he asked Feralis whether he had been a rich man at home that is before he had joined Cyrus's army Feralis replied that he was not then rich his father he said was a firmer and he himself had been accustomed in early life to till the ground with the other laborers on his father's farm who though enjoyed had been bestowed upon him he said by Cyrus how fortunate you are said the Sacean and it must be that you enjoy your present riches all the more highly on account of having experienced in early life the inconveniences and ills of poverty the pleasure must be more intense in having desires gratified at last if the objects which they rested upon had been always in one's possession you imagine I suppose replied Feralis that I am a great deal happier in the consequence of all this wealth and splendor but it is not so as to the real enjoyments of which our natures are capable I cannot receive more now than I could before I cannot eat anymore drink anymore or sleep anymore or do any of these things with any more pleasure than when I was poor all that I gain by this abundance is that I have more to watch more to guard more to take care of I have many servants for whose wants I have to provide and who are a constant of solicitude to me one calls for food another for clothes a third is sick and I must see that he has a physician my other possessions too are a constant care a man comes in one day and brings me sheep that have been torn by the wolves and on another day tells me of oxen that have fallen from a precipice or of a distemper which has broken out among the flocks or herds my wealth therefore brings me only an increase of anxiety and trouble without any addition to my joys but those things said the sacian which you name must be unusual and extraordinary occurrences when all things are going on prosperously and well with you and you can look around your possessions and feel that they are yours then certainly you must be happier than I am it is true said Feralis that there is a pleasure in the possession of wealth but that pleasure is not great enough to balance the suffering which the calamities and losses inevitably connected with it occasion that the suffering occasioned by losing our possessions is greater than the pleasure of retaining them is proved by the fact that the pain of a loss is so exciting to the mind that it often deprives men of sleep while they enjoy the most calm and quiet repose so long as their possessions are retained which proves that the pleasure does not move them so deeply they are kept awake by the vexation and chagrin on the one hand but they are never kept awake by the satisfaction on the other that is true replied the Secian men are not kept awake by the mere continuing to possess their wealth but they very often are by the original acquisition of it yes indeed replied Feralis and if the enjoyment of being rich could always continue as great as that of first becoming so the rich would I admit be very happy men but it is not and cannot be so they who possess much must lose and expend and give much and this necessity brings more of pain than the possessions themselves can give of pleasure the Secian was not convinced the giving and expending he maintained would be to him in itself a source of pleasure he would like to have much for the very purpose of being able to expend much finally Feralis proposed to the Secian since he seemed to think that riches would afford him so much pleasure and as he himself Feralis found the possession of them only a source of trouble and care that he would convey all his wealth to the Secian he himself to receive only an ordinary maintenance from it you are ingest said the Secian no said Feralis I am in earnest and he renewed his proposition and pressed the Secian urgently to accept of it the Secian then said that nothing could give him greater pleasure than such an arrangement he expressed great gratitude for so generous an offer and promised that if he received the property he would furnish Feralis with most ample and abundant supplies for all his wants and would relieve him entirely of all responsibility and care he promised moreover to obtain from Cyrus permission that Feralis should thereafter be excused from the duties of military service and from all the toils privations and hardships of war so that he might thenceforth lead a life of quiet, luxury and ease and thus live in the enjoyment of all the benefits which wealth could procure without its anxieties and cares the plan thus arranged was carried into effect Feralis divested himself of his possessions conveying them all to the Secian both parties were extremely pleased with the operation of the scheme and they lived thus together for a long time whatever Feralis acquired in any way he always brought to the Secian and the Secian by accepting it relieved Feralis all responsibility and care the Secian loved Feralis as Xenophon says in closing this narrative because he was thus continually bringing him gifts and Feralis loved the Secian because he was always willing to take the gifts which were thus brought to him among the other conversations whether real or imaginary which Xenophon records he gives some specimens of those which took place at festive entertainments in Cyrus's tent on occasions when he invited his officers to dine with him he commenced the conversation on one of these occasions by inquiring of some of the officers present whether they did not think that the common soldiers were equal to the officers themselves in intelligence, courage and military skill and in all the other substantial qualities of a good soldier I know not how that may be replied one of the officers how they will prove when they come into action with the enemy I cannot tell but a more perverse and churlish set of fellows in camp than these I have got in my regiment I never knew the day for example when there had been a sacrifice the meat of the victims was sent around to be distributed to the soldiers in our regiment when the steward came in with the first distribution he began by me and so went round as far as what he had brought would go the next time he came he began at the other end where he had left off before so that there was a man in the middle that did not get anything this man immediately broke out in loud and angry complaints and declared that there was no equality or fairness whatever in such a mode of division unless they began sometimes in the center of the line upon this continued the officer I called to the discontented man and invited him to come and sit by me where he would have a better chance for a good share he did so it happened that at the next distribution that was made we were the last and he fancied that only the smallest pieces were left so he began to complain more than before misery said he that I should have to sit here be patient said I pretty soon they will begin the distribution with us and then you will have the best chance of all and so it proved for at the next distribution they began at us and the man took his share first but when the second and third men took theirs he fancied that their pieces looked larger than his and he reached forward and put his piece back into the basket intending to change it but the steward moved rapidly on and he did not get another so that he lost his distribution altogether he was then quite furious with rage and vexation Cyrus and all the company left very heartily at these mischances of greediness and discontent and then other stories of a somewhat similar character were told by other guests one officer said that a few days previous he was drilling a part of his troops and he had before him on the plane what is called in military language a squad of men whom he was teaching to march when he gave the order to advance one who was at the head of the file marched forward with great but all the rest stood still I asked him continued the officer what he was doing marching said he as you ordered me to do it was not you alone that I ordered to march said I but all so I sent him back to his place and then gave the command again upon this they all advanced promiscuously and in disorder toward me each one acting for himself without regard to the others and leaving the file leader who ought to have been at the head all together behind the file leader said keep back keep back upon this the men were offended and asked what they were to do about such contradictory orders one commands us to advance and another to keep back said they how are we to know which to obey Cyrus and his guests were so much amused at the awkwardness of these recruits and the ridiculous predicament in which the officer was placed by it that the narrative of the speaker was here interrupted by universal and long continued laughter finally continued the officer I sent the man all back to their places and explained to them that when a command was given they were not to obey it in confusion and unseemly haste but regularly and in order each one following the man who stood before him you must regulate your proceeding said I by the action of the file leader when he advances you must advance following him in a line and governing your movements in all respects by his just at this moment continued the officer a man came to me for a letter which was to go to Persia and which I had left in my tent I directed the file leader to run to my tent and bring the letter to me he immediately set off and the rest obeying literally the directions and giving them all followed running behind him in a line like a troop of savages so that I had the whole squad of 20 men running in a body off the field to fetch a letter when the general hilarity which these recitals occasioned had a little subsided Cyrus said he thought that they could not complain of the character of the soldiers whom they had to command for they were certainly according to these accounts sufficiently ready to obey the orders they received upon this a certain one of the guests who was present named a gladed us a gloomy and a steer looking man who had not joined at all in the merriment which the conversation had caused asked Cyrus if he believed those stories to be true why asked Cyrus what do you think of them I think said a gladed us that these officers invented them to make the company laugh it is evident that they were not telling the truth since they related the stories in such a vain and arrogant way arrogant said Cyrus you ought not to call them arrogant for even they invented their narrations it was not to gain any selfish ends of their own but only to amuse us and promote our enjoyment such persons should be called polite and agreeable rather than arrogant if a gladed us said one of the officers who had related the anecdotes we had told you melancholy stories to make you gloomy and wretched you might have been justly displeased but you certainly ought not to complain of us for making you merry yes said a gladed us I think I may to make a man laugh is a very insignificant and useless thing it is far better to make him weep such thoughts and such conversation as makes us serious thoughtful and sad and even moves us to tears are the most salutary and the best well replied the officer if you will take my advice you will lay out all your powers of inspiring gloom and melancholy and of bringing tears upon our enemies and bestow the mirth and laughter upon us there must be a prodigious deal of laughter in you or none ever comes out you neither use nor expend it yourself nor do you afford it to your friends then said a gladed us why do you attempt to draw it from me this is preposterous said another of the company for one could more easily strike fire out of a gladed us then get a laugh from him a gladed us could not help smiling at this comparison upon which Cyrus with an air of counterfeited gravity reproved the person who had spoken saying that he had corrupted the most sober man in the company by making him smile and that to disturb such gravity as that of a gladed us was carrying the spirit of mirth and merriment altogether too far these specimens will suffice they serve to give a more distinct idea of the syrupedic of Xenophon than any general description could afford the book is a drama of which the principal elements are such narratives as the story of panthea and such conversations as those contained in this chapter intermingled with long discussions on the principles of government and on the and management of armies the principles and the sentiments which the work inculcates and explains are now of little value being no longer applicable to the affairs of mankind in the altered circumstances of the present day the book however retains its rank among men on account of a certain beautiful and simple magnificence characterizing the style and language in which it is written which however cannot be appreciated except by those who read the narrative in the original tongue end of chapter 11