d by Ctesias would hardly show any
sensible change from those in force in the same country before the Persian
conquests. In their double character of priests and astrologers the
Chaldaeans would enjoy an almost boundless influence over both kings and
private individuals; the general belief in their powers of divination made
them in a sense the masters and arbiters of every destiny. Under the
national kings "members of their caste led the national armies and occupied
all the chief posts in the kingdom." The royal houses that succeeded one
another at Babylon sprang from their ranks both in the days of vassalage to
Assyria and in those of full independence. Their hierarchy was headed by an
archimagus; we do not know his title in the national language, but we do
know that, after the king, he was the chief person in the empire. He
accompanied the sovereign wherever he went, even to the wars, in order to
regulate his actions according to the rules of his art and the indications
of the heavens. When the king died and his successor was not on the spot to
assume the reins of government, the archimagus was regent during the
interregnum, as, for instance, between the death of Nabopolassar and the
accession of Nebuchadnezzar.[118]

The almost theocratic character of this regime had both its advantages and
its inconveniences. These priests were the savants of their time. The
honours that were paid to them must have had their effect in stimulating
intellectual culture and material well being, but, on the other hand, the
constant intervention of a sacerdotal body in public affairs could not but
do something to enfeeble the military spirit and the energy and
responsibility of the commanders. Not that the priests were less penetrated
by the national sentiment than their fellow countrymen. Proud of their
ancient traditions and of the superiority of their science, they added
contempt to the detestation they felt for a foreign master, whether he came
from Babylon or Susa. The priests were the ringleaders in those risings
against Assyria, and, in later years, against Persia, which cost Babylon so
dearly. Once only was the success they promised achieved, and that was in
the time of Nabopolassar, when Nineveh was exhausted by its long succession
of wars and victories. On every other occasion the upper hand remained with
races less instructed, indeed, and less refined, but among whom the power
concentrated in the hands of the sovereign had been