iculties in which this sudden revolution had involved them, and
submitting, in the mean time, to their direction and control. Such a
state of things, it was obvious, could not long last; and after five
days, when the commotion had somewhat subsided, they began to consider
it necessary to make some arrangements of a more permanent character,
the power to make such arrangements as they thought best resting with
them alone. They accordingly met for consultation.

Herodotus the historian,[C] on whose narrative of these events we have
mainly to rely for all the information respecting them which is now
to be attained, gives a very minute and dramatic account of the
deliberations of the conspirators on this occasion. The account is, in
fact, too dramatic to be probably true.

[Footnote C: An account of Herodotus, and of the circumstances under
which he wrote his history, which will aid the reader very much in
forming an opinion in respect to the kind and degree of confidence
which it is proper to place in his statements, will be found in the
first chapter of our history of Cyrus the Great.]

Otanes, in this discussion, was in favor of establishing a republic.
He did not think it safe or wise to intrust the supreme power again to
any single individual. It was proved, he said, by universal
experience, that when any one person was raised to such an elevation
above his fellow-men, he became suspicious, jealous, insolent, and
cruel. He lost all regard for the welfare and happiness of others, and
became supremely devoted to the preservation of his own greatness and
power by any means, however tyrannical, and to the accomplishment of
the purposes of his own despotic will. The best and most valuable
citizens were as likely to become the victims of his oppression as the
worst. In fact, tyrants generally chose their favorites, he said, from
among the most abandoned men and women in their realms, such
characters being the readiest instruments of their guilty pleasures
and their crimes. Otanes referred very particularly to the case of
Cambyses as an example of the extreme lengths to which the despotic
insolence and cruelty of a tyrant could go. He reminded his colleagues
of the sufferings and terrors which they had endured while under his
sway, and urged them very strongly not to expose themselves to such
terrible evils and dangers again. He proposed, therefore, that they
should establish a republic, under which the officers of governme