her hand,
the statement that all the revolts broke out while Darius
was "at Babylon" does not allow of the supposition that all
the events recorded before his departure for Media could
have been compressed into the space of three or four months.
It seems, therefore, more probable that the siege lasted
till 519 B.C., as it can well have done if credit be given
to the mention of "twenty-one months at least" by Herodotus;
perhaps the siege was brought to an end in the May of that
year, as calculated by Marquart.

[Illustration: 166.jpg DARIUS PIERCING A REBEL WITH HIS LANCE BEFORE A
GROUP OF FOUR PRISONERS]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the impression of an intaglio
at St. Petersburg.

The attempt of the Persian adventurer Martiya to stir up the Susians to
revolt in his rear failed, thanks to the favourable disposition of the
natives, who refused to recognise in him Ummanish, the heir of
their national princes. Media, however, yielded unfortunately to the
solicitations of a certain Fravartish, who had assumed the personality
of Khshatrita of the race of Cyaxares, and its revolt marked almost the
beginning of a total break-up of the empire. The memory of Astyages and
Cyaxares had not yet faded so completely as to cause the Median nobles
to relinquish the hope of reasserting the supremacy of Media; the
opportunity for accomplishing this aim now seemed all the more
favourable, from the fact that Darius had been obliged to leave this
province almost immediately after the assassination of the Usurper, and
to take from it all the troops that he could muster for the siege of
Babylon. Several of the nomadic tribes still remained faithful to him,
but all the settled inhabitants of Media ranged themselves under the
banner of the pretender, and the spirit of insurrection spread thereupon
into Armenia and Assyria. For one moment there was a fear lest it should
extend to Asia Minor also, where Orcetes, accustomed, in the absence of
Cambyses, to act as an autonomous sovereign, displayed little zeal in
accommodating himself to the new order of things. There was so much
uncertainty as to the leanings of the Persian guard of Orcetes, that
Darius did not venture to degrade the satrap officially, but despatched
Bagseus to Sardes with precise instructions, which enabled him to
accomplish his mission by degrees, so as not to risk a Lydian revolt.
His first act was to show the guard a r