d
the whole day in regulating other men's affairs to the neglect of his
own.' Hereupon robbery and lawlessness broke out afresh and prevailed
throughout the country even more than heretofore; wherefore the Medes
assembled from all quarters and held a consultation on the state of
affairs. The speakers, as I think, were chiefly friends of Deiokes. 'We
cannot possibly,' they said, 'go on living in this country if things
continue as they now are; let us, therefore, set a king over us, so that
the land may be well governed, and we ourselves may be able to attend
to our own affairs, and not be forced to quit our country on account
of anarchy.' After speaking thus, they persuaded themselves that they
desired a king, and forthwith debated whom they should choose. Deiokes
was proposed and warmly praised by all, so they agreed to elect him."
Whereupon Deiokes had a great palace built, and enrolled a bodyguard
to attend upon him. He next called upon his subjects to leave their
villages, and "the Medes, obedient to his orders, built the city now
called Ecbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength,
rising in circles one within the other. The walls are concentric, and
so arranged that they rise one above the other by the height of their
battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favoured
this arrangement. The number of the circles is seven, the royal palace
and the treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the outer
wall is very nearly the same as that of Athens. Of this wall the
battlements are white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the
fourth blue, of the fifth orange. The two last have their battlements
coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications
Deiokes caused to be raised for himself and his own palace; the people
he required to dwell outside the citadel. When the town was finished,
he established a rule that no one should have direct access to the king,
but that all communications should pass through the hands of messengers.
It was declared to be unseemly for any one to see the king face to face,
or to laugh or spit in his presence. This ceremonial Deiokes established
for his own security, fearing lest his compeers who had been brought up
with him, and were of as good family and parts as he, should be vexed at
the sight of him and conspire against him: he thought that by rendering
himself invisible to his vassals they would in time come to regard him