title to the sovereignty in him. It assigned the crown, at his death,
not to his son as such, but to his predecessor's grandson; for though
Xerxes was both the son of Darius and the grandson of Cyrus, it was in
the latter capacity that he was regarded as entitled to the crown in the
argument referred to above. The doctrine was very gratifying to the
pride of Atossa, for it made Xerxes the successor to the crown as her
son and heir, and not as the son and heir of her husband. For this very
reason it was likely to be not very gratifying to Darius. He hesitated
very much in respect to adopting it. Atossa's ascendency over his mind,
and her influence generally in the Persian court, was almost
overwhelming, and yet Darius was very unwilling to seem, by giving to
the oldest grandson of Cyrus the precedence over his own eldest son, to
admit that he himself had no legitimate and proper title to the throne.

While things were in this state, a Greek, named Demaratus, arrived at
Susa. He was a dethroned prince from Sparta, and had fled from the
political storms of his own country to seek refuge in Darius's capital.
Demaratus found a way to reconcile Darius's pride as a sovereign with
his personal preferences as a husband and a father. He told the king
that, according to the principles of hereditary succession which were
adopted in Greece, Xerxes was his heir as well as Cyrus's, for he was
the oldest son who was born _after his accession_. A son, he said,
according to the Greek ideas on the subject, was entitled to inherit
only such rank as his father held when the son was born; and that,
consequently, none of his children who had been born before his
accession could have any claims to the Persian throne. Artobazanes, in a
word, was to be regarded, he said, only as the son of Darius the noble,
while Xerxes was the son of Darius the king.

In the end Darius adopted this view, and designated Xerxes as his
successor in case he should not return from his distant expedition. He
did not return. He did not even live to set out upon it. Perhaps the
question of the succession had not been absolutely and finally settled,
for it arose again and was discussed anew when the death of Darius
occurred. The manner in which it was finally disposed of will be
described in the next chapter.

CHAPTER II.

EGYPT AND GREECE.

B.C. 484

Xerxes assumes the crown.--His message to Artobazanes.--Question of the
succession again debated.--Advice