rment all the peoples of Europe.

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

=The Medes.=--Many were the tribes dwelling in Iran; two of these have
become noted in history--the Medes and the Persians. The Medes at the
west, nearer the Assyrians, destroyed Nineveh and its empire (625).
But soon they softened their manners, taking the flowing robes, the
indolent life, the superstitious religion of the degenerate Assyrians.
They at last were confused with them.

=The Persians.=--The Persians to the east preserved their manners,
their religion, and their vigor. "For twenty years," says Herodotus,
"the Persians teach their children but three things--to mount a horse,
to draw the bow, and to tell the truth."

=Cyrus.=--About 550 Cyrus, their chief, overthrew the king of the
Medes, reunited all the peoples of Iran, and then conquered Lydia,
Babylon, and all Asia Minor. Herodotus recounts in detail a legend
which became attached to this prince. Cyrus himself in an inscription
says of himself, "I am Cyrus, king of the legions, great king, mighty
king, king of Babylon, king of Sumir and Akkad, king of the four
regions, son of Cambyses, great king of Susiana, grand-son of Cyrus,
king of Susiana."

=The Inscription of Behistun.=--The eldest son of Cyrus, Cambyses, put
to death his brother Smerdis and conquered Egypt. What occurred
afterward is known to us from an inscription. Today one may see on the
frontier of Persia, in the midst of a plain, an enormous rock, cut
perpendicularly, about 1,500 feet high, the rock of Behistun. A
bas-relief carved on the rock represents a crowned king, with left
hand on a bow; he tramples on one captive while nine other prisoners
are presented before him in chains. An inscription in three languages
relates the life of the king: "Darius the king declares, This is what
I did before I became king. Cambyses, son of Cyrus, of our race,
reigned here before me. This Cambyses had a brother Smerdis, of the
same father and the same mother. One day Cambyses killed Smerdis. When
Cambyses had killed Smerdis the people were ignorant that Smerdis was
dead. After this Cambyses made an expedition to Egypt and while he was
there the people became rebellious; falsehood was then rife in the
country, in Persia, in Media and the other provinces. There was at
that time a magus named Gaumata; he deceived the people by saying that
he was Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. Then the whole people rose in
revolt, forsook Cambyses and went over to the