[432] The Chaldees appear in Hebrew under the name of _Casdim_, who seem to have originally dwelt in Carduchia, the northern part of Assyria. The Assyrians transported these rude mountaineers to the plains of Babylonia (Isa. xxiii. 13). The name of Casdim, or Chaldees, was applied to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia (Gen. xi. 28); the inhabitants of the Arabian desert in the vicinity of Edom (Job i. 17); those who dwelt near the river Chaboras (Ezek. i. 3; xi. 24); and the priestly caste who had settled at a very early period in Babylon, as we are informed by Diodorus and Eusebius. Herodotus says that these priests were dedicated to Belus. It is proved by inscriptions that the ancient language was retained as a learned and religious literature. This is probably what is meant in Daniel i. 4 by “the book and tongue of the Casdim.” Cf. _Diodorus_ (ii. 29-31); _Ptolemy_ (v. 20, 3); and Cicero (_De Divinatione_, i. 1). See Fürst’s _Hebrew Lexicon_, sub voce כֶּֽשֶׂד. [433] In the Bible this city is called Shushan. Near it was the fortress of Shushan, called in our Bible _the Palace_ (Neh. i. 2; Esth. ii. 8). Susa was situated on the Choaspes, a river remarkable for the excellence of its water, a fact referred to by _Tibullus_ (iv. 1, 140) and by Milton (_Paradise Reg._, iii. 288). The name Shushan is derived from the Persian word for lily, which grew abundantly in the vicinity. The ruins of the palace mentioned in Esther i. have recently been explored, and were found to consist of an immense hall, the roof of which was supported by a central group of thirty-six pillars arranged in the form of a square. This was flanked by three porticoes, each containing two rows of six pillars. Cf. _Strabo_ (xv. 7, 28). [434] The name of the viceroy was Abulites (_Curtius_, v. 8). [435] If these were Attic talents, the amount would be equivalent to £11,600,000; but if they were Babylonian or Aeginetan talents, they were equal to £19,000,000. Cf. Plutarch (_Alex._, 36, 37); _Justin_ (xi. 14); and _Curtius_ (v. 8). _Diodorus_ (xvii. 66) tells us that 40,000 talents were of uncoined gold and silver, and 9,000 talents of gold bearing the effigy of Darius. [436] Cf. _Arrian_ (vii. 19); _Pausanias_ (i. 8, 5); Pliny (_Nat. Hist._, xxxiv. 9); _Valerius Maximus_ (ii. 10, 1). For Harmodius and Aristogeiton see _Thucydides_, vi. 56-58. [437] Polis meant in early times a particular part of Athens, viz. the citadel, usually called the Acropolis. Cf. Aristophanes (_Lysistrata_, 245 et passim). [438] Demeter and Persephone. [439] About £730,000. [440] Antipater had been left by Alexander regent of Macedonia. Agis III., king of Sparta, refused to acknowledge Alexander’s hegemony, and after a hard struggle was defeated and slain by Antipater at Megalopolis, B.C. 330. See _Diodorus_, xvii. 63; _Curtius_, vi. 1 and 2.