lory of Sennacherib was thus in some degree tarnished;
first, by the terrible disaster which befell his host on the borders of
Egypt; and, secondly, by his failure to maintain the authority which, in
the earlier part of his reign, he had estaldished over Babylon. Still,
notwithstanding these misfortunes, he must be pronounced one of the most
successful of Assyria's warrior kings, and altogether one of the
greatest princes that ever sat on the Assyrian throne. His victories of
Eltekeh and Khaluli seem to leave been among the most important battles
that Assyria ever gained. By the one Egypt and Ethiopia, by the other
Susiana and Babylon, were taught that, even united, they were no match
for the Assyrian hosts. Sennacherib thus wholesomely impressed his most
formidable enemies with the dread of his arms, while at the same time he
enlarged, in various directions, the limits of his dominions. He warred
in regions to which no earlier Assyrian monarch had ever penetrated; and
he adopted modes of warfare on which none of them had previously
ventured. His defeat of a Greek fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean, and
his employment of Phoenicians in the Persian Gulf, show an enterprise
and versatility which we observe in few Orientals. His selection of
Tarsus for the site of a great city indicates a keen appreciation of the
merits of a locality, if he was proud, haughty, and self-confident,
beyond all former Assyrian kings, it would seem to have been because he
felt that he had resources within himself--that he possessed a firm
will, a bold heart, and a fertile invention. Most men would have laid
aside the sword and given themselves wholly to peaceful pursuits, after
such a disaster as that of Pelusium. Sennacherib accepted the judgment
as a warning to attempt no further conquests in those parts, but did not
allow the calamity to reduce him to inaction. He wisely turned his sword
against other enemies, and was rewarded by important successes upon all
his other frontiers.

But if, as a warrior, Sennacherib deserves to be placed in the foremost
rank of the Assyrian kings, as a builder and a patron of art he is still
more eminent. The great palace which he raised at Nineveh surpassed in
size and splendor all earlier edifices, and was never excelled in any
respect except by one later building. The palace of Asshur-bani-pal,
built on the same platform by the grandson of Sennacherib, was, it must
be allowed, more exquisite in its ornamentat