In this way the state secured peace on the western boundary. To keep single Libyan robbers in order police were sufficient, with a field guard and a few regiments of regulars disposed along the Canopus arm of the great river. Such a condition of affairs lasted almost two centuries; the last war with the Libyans was carried on by Rameses III., who cut enormous piles of hands from his slain enemies, and brought thirteen thousand slaves home to Egypt. From that time forth no one feared attack on the Libyan boundary, and only toward the end of the reign of Rameses XII. did the strange policy of the priests kindle the flame of war again in those regions. It burst out through the following causes:-- His worthiness, Herhor, the minister of war, and high priest of Amon, because of resistance from his holiness the pharaoh, was unable to conclude with Assyria a treaty for the division of Asia. But wishing, as Beroes had forewarned him, to keep a more continued peace with Assyria, Herhor assured Sargon that Egypt would not hinder them from carrying on a war with eastern and northern Asiatics. And since Sargon, the ambassador of King Assar, seemed not to trust their oaths, Herhor decided to give him a material proof of friendly feeling, and, with this object, ordered to disband at once twenty thousand mercenaries, mainly Libyans. For those disbanded warriors, who were in no way guilty and had been always loyal, this decision almost equalled a death sentence. Before Egypt appeared the danger of a war with Libya, which could in no case give refuge to men in such numbers,--men accustomed only to comforts and military exercise, not to poverty and labor. But in view of great questions of state, Herhor and the priests did not hesitate at trifles. Indeed, the disbanding of the Libyans brought them much advantage. First of all, Sargon and his associates signed and swore to a treaty of ten years with the pharaoh, during which time, according to predictions of priests in Chaldea, evil fates were impending over Egypt. Second, the disbanding of twenty thousand men spared four thousand talents to the treasury; this was greatly important. Third, a war with Libya on the western boundary was an outlet for the heroic instincts of the viceroy, and might turn his attention from Asiatic questions and the eastern boundary for a long time. His worthiness Herhor and the supreme council had calculated very keenly that some years would pass before the Libyans, trained in petty warfare, would ask for peace with Egypt. The plan was well constructed, but the authors of it failed in one point; they had not found Rameses a military genius. The disbanded Libyan regiments robbed along the way, and reached their birthplace very quickly,--all the more quickly since Herhor had given no command to place obstacles before them. The very first of the disbanded men, when they stood on Libyan soil, told wonders to their relatives.