affected, and often revolt successfully on such an occasion.  It appears that the circumstances under which Darius obtained the throne were more than usually provocative of the spirit of disaffection and rebellion.  Not only did the governors of remote countries, like Egypt and Lydia, assume an attitude incompatible with their duty as subjects, but everywhere, even in the very heart of the Empire, insurrection raised its head; and for six long years the new king was constantly employed in reducing one province after another to obedience.  Susiana, Babylonia, Persia itself, Media, Assyria, Armenia, Hyrcania, Parthia, Margiana, Sagartia, and Sacia, all revolted during this space, and were successively chastised and recovered.  It may be suspected that the religious element entered into some of these struggles, and that the unusual number of the revolts and the obstinate character of many of them were connected with the downfall of Magism and the restoration of the pure Zoroastrian faith, which Darius was bent on effecting.  But this explanation can only be applied partially.  We must suppose, besides, a sort of contagion of rebellion—­an awakening of hopes, far and wide, among the subject nations, as the rumor that serious troubles had broken out reached them, and a resolution to take advantage of the critical state of things, spreading rapidly from one people to another.

A brief sketch of these various revolts must now be given.  They commenced with a rising in Susiana, where a certain Atrines assumed the name and state of king, and was supported by the people.  Almost simultaneously a pretender appeared in Babylon, who gave out that he was the son of the late king, Nabonidus, and bore the world-renowned name of Nebuchadnezzar.  Darius, regarding this second revolt as the more important of the two, while he dispatched a force to punish the Susianians, proceeded in person against the Babylonian pretender.  The rivals met at the river Tigris, which the Babylonians held with a naval force, while their army was posted on the right bank, ready to dispute the passage.  Darius, however, crossed the river in their dispute, and, defeating the troops of his antagonist, pressed forward against the capital.  He had nearly reached it, when the pretender gave him battle for the second time at a small town on the banks of the Euphrates.  Fortune again declared in favor of the Persians, who drove the host of their enemy into the water and destroyed great numbers.  The soi-disant Nebuchadnezzar escaped with a few horsemen and threw himself into Babylon; but the city was ill prepared for a siege, and was soon taken, the pretender falling into the hands of his enemy, who caused him to be executed.