crime.

The whole revolution which has been described in this chapter, from
its first inception to its final accomplishment, was effected in a
very short period of time, and Cyrus thus found himself very
unexpectedly and suddenly elevated to a throne.

Harpagus continued in his service, and became subsequently one of his
most celebrated generals.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ORACLES.

B.C. 547

Plans of Croesus.--The River Halys.--Nature of the oracles.--Situation
of Delphi.--The gaseous vapor.--The priestess.--The sacred tripod.--The
oracle of Dodona.--The two black doves.--The priestesses of
Dodona.--Manner of obtaining responses.--The great brazen caldron.--The
Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Discovery of the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.--Other
oracles.--Mode of consulting the oracle.--Mystic ceremonies.--Croesus
puts the oracle to the test.--Manner of doing it.--Return of the
messengers.--The replies.--Croesus decides in favor of Delphi.--His
costly gifts.--The silver tank.--The golden lion.--The bread-maker.--Her
history.--The oracle questioned.--The response.--Delight of
Croesus.--Supplementary inquiry.--Croesus's feeling of security.--Nature
of the oracles.--Means by which the credit of the oracles was
sustained.--Whether the priests were impostors.--Answers of the
oracles.--Collusion between the priests and those who consulted the
oracle.--Is there any revelation truly divine?

As soon as Cyrus had become established on his throne as King of the
Medes and Persians, his influence and power began to extend westward
toward the confines of the empire of Croesus, king of Lydia.
Croesus was aroused from the dejection and stupor into which the
death of his son had plunged him, as related in a former chapter, by
this threatening danger. He began to consider very earnestly what he
could do to avert it.

The River Halys, a great river of Asia Minor, which flows northward
into the Black Sea, was the eastern boundary of the Lydian empire.
Croesus began to entertain the design of raising an army and
crossing the Halys, to invade the empire of Cyrus, thinking that that
would perhaps be safer policy than to wait for Cyrus to cross the
Halys, and bring the war upon him. Still, the enterprise of invading
Persia was a vast undertaking, and the responsibility great of being
the aggressor in the contest. After carefully considering the subject
in all its aspects, Croesus found himself still perplexed and
undecided.

The Greeks had