he world, and had an area
nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this seemingly
powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower Euphrates.
Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal palace, from
which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose
provinces extended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean
to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.

Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but
unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in
history. The eldest was Artaxerxes, a youth of but little character; and
the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In
order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the
Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is
commonly called Cyrus the Younger.

He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed
the crown, while Artaxerxes was born before that date, Parysatis seems
to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the
throne, since he was in fact the _king's_ eldest son. Through her
influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of
western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made
him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country,
was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in
shaping the young man's future career.

In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon,
and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerxes,
who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief
characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxes Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly
was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have
remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to
the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerxes he plotted his
assassination; or at least, Tissaphernes, a neighboring satrap,[1]
accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to
make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put
to death--for in Persia the law's delays were unknown--had not Parysatis
interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and,
clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and
pressed his neck to hers in such a way