History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

CHAP. I.] CYRUS AND CAMBYSES. 7

intervened, and it was left to his successor to bring those two states under Persian authority.

The character of Cyrus has secured the most favourable recognition on all hands. He was as brave as he was active and energetic, and possessed all the qualities which contribute to make a general successful and a king great. He was at the same time endowed with a humane and generous disposition, and was magnanimous even towards his enemies. He was free from the scornful pride of the Oriental despot, and his memory has been always held in high veneration by the Persians.

The other kings of this dynasty, although less celebrated than the conqueror Cyrus, have left some mark in history. Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, conquered Egypt (B.c. 525). But, next to Cyrus, Darius Hystaspes (B.c. 521) was the greatest of the Persian kings. His long reign formed an important epoch in Persian annals. He not only devoted a good deal of his attention to the consolidation and organisation of the empire founded by Cyrus, but by fresh conquests he increased its renown. He extended the empire beyond the point to which Cyrus had carried it in the east, by bringing under the Persian sway the Panjab and the whole valley of the Indus, a conquest which introduced immense wealth into Persia, and resulted in the springing up of a regular

trade by means of coasting vessels between the