d with a rising in Susiana, where a certain Atrines assumed
the name and state of king, and was supported by the people. Almost
simultaneously a pretender appeared in Babylon, who gave out that he was
the son of the late king, Nabonidus, and bore the world-renowned name
of Nebuchadnezzar. Darius, regarding this second revolt as the more
important of the two, while he dispatched a force to punish the
Susianians, proceeded in person against the Babylonian pretender. The
rivals met at the river Tigris, which the Babylonians held with a naval
force, while their army was posted on the right bank, ready to dispute
the passage. Darius, however, crossed the river in their dispute, and,
defeating the troops of his antagonist, pressed forward against the
capital. He had nearly reached it, when the pretender gave him battle
for the second time at a small town on the banks of the Euphrates.
Fortune again declared in favor of the Persians, who drove the host of
their enemy into the water and destroyed great numbers. The soi-disant
Nebuchadnezzar escaped with a few horsemen and threw himself into
Babylon; but the city was ill prepared for a siege, and was soon taken,
the pretender falling into the hands of his enemy, who caused him to be
executed.

Meanwhile, in Susiana, Atrines, the original leader of the rebellion,
had been made prisoner by the troops sent against him, and, being
brought to Darius while he was on his march against Babylon, was put to
death. But this severity had little effect. A fresh leader appeared in
the person of a certain Martes, a Persian who, taking example from the
Babylonian rebel, assumed a name which connected him with the old kings
of the country, and probably claimed to be their descendant, but the
hands of Darius were now free by the termination of the Babylonian
contest, and he was able to proceed towards Susiana himself. This
movement, apparently, was unexpected; for when the Susianians heard of
it they were so alarmed that they laid hands on the pretender and slew
him.

A more important rebellion followed. Three of the chief provinces of
the empire, Media, Armenia, and Assyria, revolted in concert. A Median
monarch was set up, who called himself Xathrites, and claimed descent
from the great Oyaxares; and it would seem that the three countries
immediately acknowledged his sway. Darius, seeing how formidable the
revolt was, determined to act with caution. Settling himself at the
newly-conquered cit