as
of Halicarnassus.

** The most characteristic instance is that of Hystaspes,
who was satrap of Persia under Oambyses, and of Parthia and
Hyrcania under his own son. One of the brothers of Darius,
Artaphernes, was satrap of Sardes, and three of the king's
sons, Achemenes, Ariabignes, and Masistes, were satraps of
Egypt, Ionia, and Bactriana respectively.

*** To understand how well established was the custom of
bestowing satrapies on those only who were allied by
marriage to the royal house, it is sufficient to recall the
fact that, later on, under Xerxes I., when Pausanias, King
of Sparta, had thoughts of obtaining the position of satrap
in Greece, he asked for the hand of an Achaemenian princess.

**** We know, for example, that Orcotes, satrap of Sardes
under Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, had a body-guard of 1000
Persians.

^ Thus, Artaphernes, satrap of Sardes, had a cadastral
survey made of the territory of the Ionians, and by the
results of this survey he regulated the imposition of taxes,
"which from that time up to the present day are exacted
according to his ordinance."

Attached to each satrap was a secretary of state, who ostensibly acted
as his chancellor, but whose real function was to exercise a secret
supervision over his conduct and report upon it to the imperial
ministers.* The Persian troops, native militia and auxiliary forces
quartered in the province, were placed under the orders, moreover, of
a general, who was usually hostile to the satrap and the secretary.**
These three officials counterbalanced each other, and held each other
mutually in check, so that a revolt was rendered very difficult, if not
impossible. All three were kept in constant communication with the
court by relays of regular couriers, who carried their despatches on
horseback or on camels, from one end of Asia to the other, in the space
of a few weeks.***

* The role played by the secretary is clearly indicated by
the history of Orotes, satrap of Sardes.

** While Darius appoints his brother Artaphernes satrap of
Lydia, he entrusts the command of the army and the fleet to
Otanes, son of Sisamnes. Similarly several generals are met
with at the side of Artaphernes in the Ionic revolt.

*** Xenophon compares their speed in travelling to the
flight of birds. A good example of the