ich meant a loss of so much fighting strength
to the mother country; even under the most favourable conditions
a considerable time must have passed before they could succeed in
assimilating to themselves the races amongst whom they lived. At
last, however, a day would dawn when the process of incorporation was
accomplished, and Assyria, having increased her area and resources
twofold, found herself ready to endure to the end the strain of
conquest. In the interval, she suffered from a scarcity of fighting men,
due to the losses incurred in her victories, and must have congratulated
herself that her traditional foe was not in a position to take advantage
of this fact.

The first wave of the Assyrian invasion had barely touched Syria; it
had swept hurriedly over the regions in the north, and then flowed
southwards to return no more, so that the northern races were able to
resume the wonted tenor of their lives. For centuries after this
their condition underwent no change; there was the same repetition of
dissension and intrigue, the same endless succession of alliances and
battles without any signal advantage on either side. The Hittites still
held Northern Syria: Carchemish was their capital, and more than one
town in its vicinity preserved the tradition of their dress, their
language, their arts, and their culture in full vigour. The Greek
legends tell us vaguely of some sort of Cilician empire which is said
to have brought the eastern and central provinces of Asia Minor into
subjection about ten centuries before our era.*

* Solinus, relying on the indirect evidence of Hecatseus of
Miletus, tells us that Cilicia extended not only to the
countries afterwards known as Cataonia, Commagene, and
Syria, but also included Lydia, Media, Armenia, Pamphylia,
and Cappadocia; the conquests of the Assyrian kings must
have greatly reduced its area. I am of opinion that the
tradition preserved by Hecatous referred both to the
kingdom of Sapalulu and to that of the monarchs of this
second epoch.

Is there any serious foundation for such a belief, and must we assume
that there existed at this time and in this part of the world a kingdom
similar to that of Sapalulu? Assyria was recruiting its forces, Chaldaea
was kept inactive by its helplessness, Egypt slumbered by the banks of
its river, there was no actor of the first rank to fill the stage; now
was the opportunity for a second-rate p