and
straightforward, prevailed until the younger Cyrus made his appearance
upon the scene, when a disturbing force came into play which had
disastrous effects both on the fortunes of Greece and on those of
Persia. The younger Cyrus had personal views of self-aggrandizement
which conflicted with the true interests of his nation, and was so bent
on paving the way for his own ascent to sovereign power that he did not
greatly care whether he injured his country or no. As the accomplishment
of his designs depended mainly on his obtaining a powerful land-force,
he regarded a Spartan as preferable to an Athenian alliance; and, having
once made his choice, he lent his ally such effectual aid that in
two years from the time of his coming down to the coast the war was
terminated. Persian gold manned and partly built the fleet which
conquered at AEgos-Potami; perhaps it contributed in a still more
decisive manner to the victory. Cyrus, by placing his stores at the
entire command of Lysander, deserved and acquired the cordial good-will
of Sparta and the Peloponnesians generally--an advantage of which we
shall find him in the sequel making good use.

The gain to Persia from the dominion which she had reacquired over the
Greeks of Asia was more than counter-balanced by a loss of territory in
another quarter, which seems to have occurred during the reign of Darius
Nothus, though in what exact year is doubtful. The revolt of Egypt is
placed by Heeren and Clinton in B.C. 414, by Eusebius in B.C. 411, by
Manetho in the last year of Darius Nothus, or B.C. 405. The earlier
dates depend on the view that the Amyrtseus of Manetho's twenty-eighth
dynasty was the leader of the rebellion, and had a reign of six years
at this period--a view which is perhaps unsound. Manetho probably
represented Nepherites (Nefaorot) as the leader; and it is quite clear
that he placed the re-establishment of the old throne of the Pharaohs in
the year that Darius Nothus died. As his authority is the best that we
can obtain upon this obscure point, we may regard the last days of
the Persian monarch as clouded by news of a rebellion, which had been
perhaps for some time contemplated, but which did not break out until he
was known to be in a moribund condition.

A few years earlier, B.C. 408 or 409, the Medes had made an unsuccessful
attempt to recover their independence. The circumstances of this revolt,
which is mentioned by no writer but Xenophon, are wholly unkn