heir
despatching a more or less numerous fleet into Cypriot waters; by so
doing they protected the AEgean from the piracy of the Phoenicians, and
at the same time, in the event of any movement arising on the banks of
the Nile, they were close enough to the Delta to be promptly informed
of it, and to interfere to their own advantage before any repressive
measures could be taken.

The field of hostilities having shifted, and Greece having now set
herself to attempt the dismemberment of the Persian empire, we may well
ask what has become of Xerxes. The little energy and intelligence he
had possessed at the outset were absorbed by a life of luxury and
debauchery. Weary of his hopeless pursuit of the wife of Masistes,
he transferred his attentions to the Artayntas whom he had given in
marriage to his son Darius, and succeeded in seducing her. The vanity
of this unfortunate woman at length excited the jealously of the queen.
Amestris believed herself threatened by the ascendency of this mistress;
she therefore sent for the girl's mother, whom she believed guilty of
instigating the intrigue, and, having cut off her breasts, ears, nose,
lips, and torn out her tongue, she sent her back, thus mutilated, to her
family. Masistes, wishing to avenge her, set out for Bactriana, of which
district he was satrap: he could easily have incited the province to
rebel, for its losses in troops during the wars in Europe had been
severe, and a secret discontent was widespread; but Xerxes, warned in
time, despatched horsemen in pursuit, who overtook and killed him. The
incapacity of the king, and the slackness with which he held the reins
of government', were soon so apparent as to produce intrigues at court:
Artabanus, the chief captain of the guards, was emboldened by the
state of affairs to attempt to substitute his own rule for that of
the Achaemenids, and one night he assassinated Xerxes. His method of
procedure was never exactly known, and several accounts of it were soon
afterwards current. One of them related that he had as his accomplice
the eunuch Aspamithres. Having committed the crime, both of them rushed
to the chamber of Artaxerxes,* one of the sons of the sovereign, but
still a child; they accused Darius, the heir to the throne, of the
murder, and having obtained an order to seize him, they dragged him
before his brother and stabbed him, while he loudly protested his
innocence.

* Artaxerxes is the form commonly adopted by