A Manual of Ancient History. A. H. L. Heeren
a. Herodotus's History of the Medes. Herodotus's Medes are unquestionably the inhabitants of Media, properly so called. Division into six tribes: among these, that of the Magi.—Ruling nation after the overthrow of the Assyrians.—Capital of their empire, Ecbatana.—Boundaries: west, the Tigris and Halys; east, unknown.—Internal organization: graduated subjection of the various nations to one another, according to their distance from the seat of empire; rigid despotism; and imposition of tribute. Line of kings between BC 717—560. Deioces, 53 y. the founder of Ecbatana, d. 657.—Phraortes, 22 y. down to 635. He conquers Persia. Cyaxares I. 40 y. down to 595. He establishes military discipline among the Medes. Wages war with the Lydians, the Assyrians.—Irruption of the Scythians and Cimmerians, 625.—He takes Nineveh, 597. Astyages, 38 y. down to 560, when he was dethroned by Cyrus. According to Xenophon, Astyages was followed by another Median prince, Cyaxares II. b. Ctesias's History of the Medes, deduced from Persian archives, and contained in Diodorus. Probably a different dynasty in eastern Asia. Line of kings, between BC 800 and 560. Arbaces, conqueror of the Assyrians, 18 y. Mandaucus, 50 y. Sosarmes, 30 y. Artias, 50 y. Arbanes, 22 y. Artæus, 40 y. and Artynes, 22 y. Sanguinary wars with the nomad races of the east, the Sacæ, and Cadusii. Artibarnas, 14 y. Astyages, the last king.
Contemporary: Jews, kingdom of Judah alone.—Greeks, yearly archons, Draco, Solon.—Romans, kings from Tullus Hostilius to Servius Tullius.
III. Babylonian monarchy.
Babylonians.
Periods: 1st. Previous to the Chaldæan conquest, which occurred about 630. 2nd. From the Chaldæan conquest to the Persian, 630—538.
1st period, to BC 630.
fragments.
1. Babylon was not only spoken of in the most remote antiquity, but is mentioned in the Jewish traditions as the earliest scene of political treaties, and as the most ancient seat of intercourse for the nations of Asia. Traditions concerning Nimrod—and the erection of the tower of Babel.—Comparison of those traditions with the Babylonian mythology in Berosus.—Scanty historical notices of this period in the later Jewish writers; and probable subjection of Babylon to the Assyrian empire.
2nd period, to 538.
Chaldæans.
2. In the second period, 630—538, the Babylonians were the ruling nation of western Asia.—The Chaldæans take possession of Babylon, there establish themselves, and ultimately extend their empire, by conquest, to the Mediterranean.
Origin of the Chaldæans: whether that name was applied to a distinct nation, or to the northern nomads in general?—Line of Chaldæan kings. In the enumeration of these rulers, as given by Ptolemy, this line begins with Nabonassar, and the era bearing the name of that sovereign, which commences in the year BC 747: (probably because, under the reign of that prince, the adoption of the Egyptian solar year first introduced among the Chaldæans an exact method of reckoning time). Neither Nabonassar himself, nor his twelve immediate successors, are remarkable in history: the six last alone deserve notice. 1. Nabopolassar, 627—604. Settlement in Babylon; and complete establishment of the Chaldæo-Babylonian dominion, by his victory over Pharaoh-Nechoh, near Circesium, in 604. 2. Nebuchadnezzar, 604—561. Brilliant period of the Chaldæo-Babylonian empire. He conquers Phœnicia and Old Tyre about 586: Jerusalem in 587; probable irruptions into Egypt. Construction of immense buildings and canals in and about Babylon. Rapid decline of the empire after his death, under—3. Evil-Merodach, 561—559. 4. Neriglissar, (probably the contemporary of Herodotus's Nitocris;)—555. Labosoarchad murdered, after a few months' reign. Nabonadius, (Herodotus's Labynetus; and probably the Chaldæan Belshazzar;) 555—538. attacked and conquered by Cyrus. Sack of Babylon by the Persians, 538.
See the section concerning the Babylonians in A. H. L. Heeren's Historical Researches, vol. i, part. 2.
Contemporary: Jews, last sovereigns of the kingdom of Judah.—Greeks, Solon, Pisistratus.—Romans, Tarquinius Priscus and Servius Tullius.
IV. States and kingdoms in Asia Minor.
No lasting empire formed in Asia Minor.
The number and variety of the inhabitants of this peninsula, was probably the reason why they never became united into one empire. The most important nations among them, were the Carians in the west; the Phrygians in the centre, reaching as far as the Halys; the Syro-Cappadocians beyond the Halys; and the Thracians in Bithynia. Nevertheless we find here but three kingdoms deserving notice—the Trojan, the Phrygian, and the Lydian.
Troy.
1. The Trojan empire comprised western Mysia: its history consists of mere traditions contained in poets, with very uncertain chronological data.
Kings: Teucer, about 1400.—Dardanus—Erichthonius—Tros (Troja)—Ilus (Ilium)—Laomedon—Priam. The destruction of Troy, after a ten years' war, occurred, it is probable, BC 1190.
Contemporary: Jews, time of the Judges: before the foundation of Rome, 450 years.
Phrygia.
2. The Phrygian empire.—Almost all the kings were named Midas and Gordius; their succession cannot be accurately determined. After the death of the last, called Midas V., Phrygia became a province of the Lydian empire, about 560.
Lydia:
three dynasties there.
3. The Lydian empire.—The Lydians (Mæonians) were a branch of the Carian tribe. According to Herodotus, three dynasties ruled in Lydia; the Atyadæ down to 1232; the Heraclidæ down to 727; and the Mermnadæ down to 557: the two first are almost wholly fabulous, and the proper history of Lydia may be said to commence with the last dynasty.
Kings: Gyges, down to 689. From this period followed almost uninterrupted wars with the Greek settlements on the seacoast. Gyges takes Colophon. Ardys down to 640. He takes Priene. Under his reign, an irruption of the Cimmerians. Sadyattes down to 628. Alyattes down to 571. Expulsion of the Cimmerians. Capture of Smyrna. Crœsus down to 557. He takes Ephesus, and subjugates Asia Minor as far as the Halys. Under his reign, the first rise of a Lydian empire, which however is overthrown by Cyrus. Asia Minor becomes a province of the Persian empire.
Contemporary with which, in Asia, were the Medic and Babylonian empires.—Among the Jews, the last period of the kingdom of Judah.—Among the Greeks, the yearly archons at Athens.—With the Romans, the kings.
V. Phœnicia.
Fragments of Phœnician history.
The Phœnicians may be regarded as one of the most remarkable nations of Asia during this period; yet we have no complete, or even connected history of this people. But though a few scattered fragments are all we possess, we may from these trace out a general outline.
The peculiar sources of Phœnician history.—How far Sanchoniathon deserves to be mentioned here?—Hebrew writers, particularly Ezekiel; Greek writers; Josephus—Eusebius, etc. and the fragments which he has preserved of Menander of Ephesus, and Dius, historians of Tyre.
Mignot, Mémoires sur les Phéniciens; inserted in Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscript. t. xxxiv—xlii. A series of twenty-four papers.
The section concerning the Phœnicians in A. H. L. Heeren's Researches on the Politics, etc.
Phœnician federation of cities.
1. Observations on the internal state of Phœnicia. It did not constitute one state, or, at least, one single empire; but consisted of several, and their territories. Alliances, however, were naturally formed between them, and hence a kind of supremacy of the more powerful, particularly of Tyre.
Each city independent, but Tyre the first.
2. But though Tyre stood at the head, and claimed a certain degree of superiority, each separate state still