riety of
subjects are dealt with, his story "advancing with epic grandeur to
its close." Mahaffy pronounces Herodotus an Ionic story-writer, who
never became an Attic one--the chief master of Ionic, as Thucydides
was of Attic prose.]

[Footnote 2: From Book I of the "History." Translated by George
Rawlinson. Croesus reigned from 560 B.C. to 546. The visit of Solon
was made some time before 559.]

[Footnote 3: The capital of Lydia, in Asia Minor, and a flourishing
city in the time of Croesus. It was several times destroyed, the
last time by Tamerlane. Its site is now a village.]

[Footnote 4: Amasis came to the Egyptian throne in 569 B.C., and
reigned 44 years.]

II

BABYLON AND ITS CAPTURE BY CYRUS[5] (538 B.C.)

Assyria contains many large cities; but of these Babylon, to which,
after the destruction of Nineveh, the seat of government was removed,
is by far the most renowned and the most strongly fortified. Babylon
is situated in an extensive plain. Each side of the city, which forms
a square, measures one hundred and twenty stadia (about fourteen
miles), making the entire circuit of the city four hundred and eighty
stadia--such is the magnitude of this city Babylon! and in
magnificence also it surpassed every city of which we have any
knowledge. It is surrounded by a trench, deep, wide, and full of
water. Within this is a wall, the width of which is fifty royal
cubits, and its height two hundred cubits.[6] The royal cubit exceeds
the common measure by three fingers' breadth.

It is proper I should say in what manner the earth removed from the
trench was disposed of, and how the wall was constructed. The earth,
as fast as it was removed from the trench, was converted into bricks
and baked in furnaces: when thus prepared, melted bitumen was used
instead of mortar; and between every thirtieth course of bricks there
was inserted a layer of reeds. The sides of the trench were first
lined with brickwork, and then the wall raised in the manner
described. On the upper edges of the wall, and opposite to one
another, were constructed turrets; between these turrets a space was
left wide enough for a chariot and four horses to pass and turn. In
the walls were one hundred gates, all of brass, with posts and upper
lintels of the same. Eight days' journey from Babylon is a city named
Is, near which runs a small river of the same name, discharging itself
into the Euphrates; this river brings down with its waters clo