ved by an oracle; but first he sought to make
alliance with the chief of the states of Hellas. In those days,
Pisistratus was despot of Athens; but Sparta was mighty, by the laws of
Lycurgus. Therefore Croesus sent envoys to the Spartans to make alliance
with them, which was done very willingly. But when Croesus went up
against Cyrus, his army was put to flight, and Cyrus besieged him in the
city of Sardis, and took it, and made himself lord of Lydia. He would
have slain Croesus, but, finding him wise and pious, he made him his
counsellor.

Now, this Cyrus had before overthrown the Median king, Astyages, whose
daughter was his own mother. For her father, fearing a dream, wedded her
to a Persian, and when she bore a child, he gave order for its slaying.
But the babe was taken away and brought up by a herdsman of the
hill-folk. But in course of time the truth became known to Astyages, and
to Harpagus, the officer who had been bidden to slay the babe, and to
Cyrus himself. Then Harpagus, fearing the wrath of Astyages, bade Cyrus
gather together the Persians--who in those days were a hardy people of
the mountains--and made himself king over the Medians; which things
Cyrus did, overthrowing his grandfather Astyages. And in this wise began
the dominion of the Persians.

The Ionian cities of Asia were zealous to make alliance with Cyrus when
he had overthrown Croesus. But he held them of little account, and
threatened them, and the Lacedaemonians also, who sent him messengers
warning him to let the Ionians alone. And he sent Harpagus against the
cities of the Ionians, of whom certain Phocaeans and Teians sailed away
to Rhegium and Abdera rather than become the slaves of the barbarians;
but the rest, though they fought valiantly enough, were brought to
submission by Harpagus.

While Harpagus was completing the subjugation of the West, Cyrus was
making conquest of Upper Asia, and overthrew the kingdom of Assyria, of
which the chief city was Babylon, a very wonderful city, wherein there
had ruled two famous queens, Semiramis and Nitocris. Now, this queen had
made the city wondrous strong by the craft of engineers, yet Cyrus took
it by a shrewd device, drawing off the water of the river so as to gain
a passage. Thus Babylon also fell under the sway of the Persian. But
when Cyrus would have made war upon Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae,
who dwelt to the eastward, there was a very great battle, and Cyrus
himself was slain an