lliances with
Babylon and Egypt--The war between Lydia and Persia: the defeat of
the Lydians, the taking of Sardes, the death of Croesus and subsequent
legends relating to it--The submission of the cities of the Asiatic
littoral._

_Cyrus in Bactriana and in the eastern regions of the Iranian table-land
--The impression produced on the Chaldaean by his victories; the Jewish
exiles, Ezekiel and his dreams of restoration, the new temple, the
prophecies against Babylon; general discontent with Nabonidus--The
attach of Cyrus and the battle of Zalzallat, the taking of Babylon
and the fall of Nabonidus: the end of the Chaldaean empire and the
deliverance of the Jews._

_Egypt under Amasis: building works, support given to the
Greeks; Naukratis, its temples, its constitution, and its
prosperity--Preparations for defence and the unpopularity of Amasis with
the native Egyptians--The death of Cyrus and legends relating to it: his
palace at Pasargadae and his tomb--Cambyses and Smerdis--The legendary
causes of the war with Egypt--Psammetichus III., the battle of Pelusium;
Egypt reduced to a Persian province._

_Cambyses' plans for conquest; the abortive expeditions to the oceans of
Amnion and Carthage--The kingdom of Ethiopia, its kings, its customs:
the Persians fail to reach Napata, the madness of Cambyses--The fraud of
Gaumata, the death of Cambyses and the reign of the pseudo-Smerdis,
the accession of Darius--The revolution in Susiana, Chaldaea, and Media:
Nebuchadrezzar III. and the fall of Babylon, the death of Oraetes, the
defeat of Khshatrita, restoration of peace throughout Asia, Egyptian
affairs and the re-establishment of the royal power._

_The organisation of the country and its division into satrapies: the
satrap, the military commander, the royal secretary; couriers, main
roads, the Eyes and Ears of the king--The financial system and the
provincial taxes: the daric--Advantages and drawbacks of the system of
division into satrapies; the royal guard and the military organisation
of the empire--The conquest of the Hapta-Hindu and the prospect of war
with Greece._

[Illustration: 003.jpg PAGE IMAGE]

CHAPTER I--THE IRANIAN CONQUEST

Drawn by Boudier, from the engraving in Coste and Flandin.
The vignette, drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a statuette in
terra-cotta, found in Southern Russia, represents a young
Scythian.

_The Iranian religions--Cyrus in Lydia and at Babylon: Cambyses in