dis, the monarch in whose name the government was
administered at Susa, was the son of Cyrus, the true and rightful heir
to the throne. Thus all parties throughout the empire acquiesced
peaceably in what they supposed to be the legitimate succession.

In the mean time, the usurper had placed himself in an exceedingly
dizzy and precarious situation, and one which it would require a
great deal of address and skillful management to sustain. The plan
arranged between himself and his brother for a division of the
advantages which they had secured by their joint and common cunning
was, that Smerdis was to enjoy the ease and pleasure, and Patizithes
the substantial power of the royalty which they had so stealthily
seized. This was the safest plan. Smerdis, by living secluded, and
devoting himself to retired and private pleasures, was the more likely
to escape public observation; while Patizithes, acting as his prime
minister of state, could attend councils, issue orders, review troops,
dispatch embassies, and perform all the other outward functions of
supreme command, with safety as well as pleasure. Patizithes seems to
have been, in fact, the soul of the whole plan. He was ambitious and
aspiring in character, and if he could only himself enjoy the actual
exercise of royal power, he was willing that his brother should enjoy
the honor of possessing it. Patizithes, therefore, governed the realm,
acting, however, in all that he did, in Smerdis's name.

Smerdis, on his part, was content to take possession of the palaces,
the parks, and the gardens of Media and Persia, and to live in them
in retired and quiet luxury and splendor. He appeared seldom in
public, and then only under such circumstances as should not expose
him to any close observation on the part of the spectators. His
figure, air, and manner, and the general cast of his countenance, were
very much like those of the prince whom he was attempting to
personate. There was one mark, however, by which he thought that there
was danger that he might be betrayed, and that was, his ears had been
cut off. This had been done many years before, by command of Cyrus, on
account of some offense of which he had been guilty. The marks of the
mutilation could, indeed, on public occasions, be concealed by the
turban, or helmet, or other head-dress which he wore; but in private
there was great danger either that the loss of the ears, or the
studied effort to conceal it, should be observed