The History of Antiquity, Vol. 6 (of 6)Duncker, Max
History
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 6 (of 6)
Duncker, Max
History, Ancient
"Smerdis, the brother of Cambyses," so Herodotus further narrates, "was
with him in Egypt. Cambyses sent him back out of jealousy, because he
was able to draw the bow of the Ethiopians further than all the rest of
the Persians. When Smerdis had returned to Persia, Cambyses saw in a
dream a messenger from Persia, who told him, that his brother sat up on
the throne and that his head touched heaven. He was afraid that his
brother would slay him and take possession of the kingdom; hence he sent
Prexaspes the Persian in whom he had most confidence to Persia to put
him to death. Prexaspes went to Susa, and slew Smerdis as some say,
while hunting with him, but according to others, by taking him out on
the Red Sea (the Persian Gulf) and throwing him into the water. This was
the first evil deed which Cambyses committed immediately after his crime
against Apis. The second he committed against his own sister, by the
same father and mother (_i.e._ against the youngest of the three
daughters whom Cassandane bore to Cyrus; her name has not come down to
us with certainty). He was seized with a passion for one of his sisters,
and desired to have her to wife; but as he saw that this was unusual,
for up to this time the Persians had not taken sisters to wife, he asked
the royal judges (p. 105) whether there was any law which stood in the
way of his wish to marry his sister. The judges made a reply which was
both just and safe; they could find no law which bade the brother marry
the sister, but they had found a law which allowed the king of the
Persians to do as he pleased. Then Cambyses married the sister whom he
loved, and after this a second younger sister. The latter followed him
to Egypt. Here she witnessed, together with Cambyses, a young lion
fighting against a young dog, and when the dog was being beaten, its
brother broke its chain and came to its aid, and the two together got
the better of the lion. Cambyses was delighted at the sight, but his
sister wept. When Cambyses perceived this he asked the cause of her
tears; she replied that she wept because she thought of Smerdis when she
saw the brother running to help the brother, and knew that no one would
come to help him (Cambyses). For this speech, the Greeks say, Cambyses
put his sister to death. The Egyptian account is that at table she took
a lettuce, stripped off the leaves and asked Cambyses whether it looked
better when bare or when full of leaves, and when he replied that it
looked better when full of leaves, she retorted: 'And yet you have made
it bare by desolating the house of Cyrus.' In a rage Cambyses gave her a
kick, and as she was pregnant, she miscarried and died. Such was the
fury of Cambyses against his own family, and he was guilty of similar
acts against the Persians. He asked those Persians who sat with him and
Croesus what sort of a man he appeared to be in comparison with his
father. They replied that he was greater than his father; for he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account