Now, this Cyrus had before overthrown the Median king, Astyages, whose daughter was his own mother.  For her father, fearing a dream, wedded her to a Persian, and when she bore a child, he gave order for its slaying.  But the babe was taken away and brought up by a herdsman of the hill-folk.  But in course of time the truth became known to Astyages, and to Harpagus, the officer who had been bidden to slay the babe, and to Cyrus himself.  Then Harpagus, fearing the wrath of Astyages, bade Cyrus gather together the Persians—­who in those days were a hardy people of the mountains—­and made himself king over the Medians; which things Cyrus did, overthrowing his grandfather Astyages.  And in this wise began the dominion of the Persians.

The Ionian cities of Asia were zealous to make alliance with Cyrus when he had overthrown Croesus.  But he held them of little account, and threatened them, and the Lacedaemonians also, who sent him messengers warning him to let the Ionians alone.  And he sent Harpagus against the cities of the Ionians, of whom certain Phocaeans and Teians sailed away to Rhegium and Abdera rather than become the slaves of the barbarians; but the rest, though they fought valiantly enough, were brought to submission by Harpagus.

While Harpagus was completing the subjugation of the West, Cyrus was making conquest of Upper Asia, and overthrew the kingdom of Assyria, of which the chief city was Babylon, a very wonderful city, wherein there had ruled two famous queens, Semiramis and Nitocris.  Now, this queen had made the city wondrous strong by the craft of engineers, yet Cyrus took it by a shrewd device, drawing off the water of the river so as to gain a passage.  Thus Babylon also fell under the sway of the Persian.  But when Cyrus would have made war upon Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, who dwelt to the eastward, there was a very great battle, and Cyrus himself was slain and the most part of his host.  And Cambyses, his son, reigned in his stead.

II.—­Wars of Egypt and Persia

Cambyses set out to conquer Egypt, taking in his army certain of the Greeks.  But of all that I shall tell about that land, the most was told to me by the priests whom I myself visited at Memphis and Thebes and Heliopolis.  They account themselves the most ancient of peoples.  If the Ionians are right, who reckon that Egypt is only the Nile Delta, this could not be.  But I reckon that the whole Egyptian territory is.  Egypt, from the cataracts and Elephantine down to the sea, parted into the Asiatic part and the Libyan part by the Nile.

For the causes of the rising and falling of the Nile, the reasons that men give are of no account.  And of the sources whence the river springs are strange stories told of which I say not whether they be true or false:  but the course of it is known for four months’ journey by land and water, and in my opinion it is a river comparable to the Ister.