sess themselves of the towns and strongholds of the enemy, would sooner accomplish the objects they had in view, they would apply themselves to this method in future.

Meanwhile Nitocris, though she did not, like her predecessor,

"Go forth in brazen arms,"

exerted herself to fortify the city of Babylon and adjacent country; and at this period many of the stupendous works begun by Nebuchadnezzar, were completed by the queen-mother, particularly the walls of the city, and the embankments of the river within it.

The Médes and Persians following out the plan which they had adopted, continued the prosecution of the war'; and taking possession of fortresses, and cities, and even provinces, it be came necessary for the Assyrians to adopt strong measures to check the presumption, and repel the assaults of the invaders. For this purpose Belshazzar, in the fifth year of his reign, went into Lydia, to the court of Croesus his ally, carrying with him vast sums of gold and silver; and

concerting measures together, he employed this money in gaining over an immense army of auxiliaries composed of Egyptians, Greeks, Thracians, and all the nations of lesser Asia; and appointing Croesus general of the whole, he sent them to invade Media, while he himself returned to the court and pleasures of Babylon.

Cyrus, having by means of deserters and others, informed himself of the movements and designs of the Asiatic league, made every preparation to encounter the storm; and when all his arrangements were concluded, he put his troops into order to meet the enemy.

After a very long march he came up with the confederate forces at Thymbra, a city of Lydia, not far from Sardis, the capital of the country. And here that battle took place which decided the fate of Asia, and which being in its consequences one of the most important events in antiquity, we shall relate it at some length.

The army of Cyrus amounted in all to one hundred and ninty-six thousand men, horse and foot. Of these there were seventy thousand Persians; consisting of cuirassiers of horse and

cuirassiers of foot, pike-men and light-armed soldiers. The remainder consisted of twenty

six thousand Median, Armenian, and Arabian horse; and one hundred thousand infantry of the same nations.

Besides these troops, Cyrus, had three hundred chariots of war armed with scythes, each drawn by four horses abreast, covered with furniture or caparison of the nature of mail. The horses of the Persian cavalry were also covered in the same

Shot-proof.-Rollin. Query, What kind of shot in the days of Cyrus ?

Sir R. Porter in his description of the inhabitants of the mountains of Curdistan, the ancient Carduchia, describes the plate-mail, to which Xenophon probably alludes, when speaking of the Persians under Cyrus :

"The formidable bow is still in use among them, as well as the spear, dagger, sword, and shield; and also many possess ancient shirts of mail, which they assert, have been handed down in their families from time immemorial. During my passage through Curdistan, several of these suits were shown to me. Mahmod Beg exhibited one with much pride, which he told me he had taken from a Bilbosse, who had plundered it from a Rewandoozi, whe

Cyrus had also a number of chariots of very large construction, upon each of which was placed a tower twenty feet high; each tower contained twenty archers, and each chariot was drawn by sixteen men harnessed abreast of one another. He had also a considerable number of camels in his army, on each of which were mounted two archers, who sat back to back.

had sworn it was made in the time of Dowd, (David) king of Israel.vol. ii. p. 472.

My host's son ordered one of his fathers men to equip himself in armour and show me an old Courdish soldier in complete harness His shirt of mail was bright, and closely rivetted, and ornamented in various parts with small roses embossed in silver. The helmet consisted of a skull-cap of damasked steel. It had a gilt nasal-defence, capable of being lowered or elevated, by means of a screw. A spike projected from the crown; and two small tubes started just over the forehead, for carrying heron's or peacock's feathers. The back of the neck and the ears, in this helmet, were protected by mail attached to it, which fell as low as the shoulders and breast, a narrow shawl or bandeau was wrapped round the cap, at the brows. He was equipped with the full compliment of sword, dagger, shield, spear, and bow-Vol. ii. p. 488.

But while the army of Cyrus was thus immense, it was more than doubled by that under the command of Croesus. For he had upwards of four hundred and twenty thousand men, sixty thousand of whom were cavalry. These troops were composed chiefly of Babylonians, Lydians, Phrygians, Cappadocians and the nations inhabiting the borders of the Hellespont; while the Egyptians alone formed a body of one hundred and twenty thousand men. The latter were armed with bucklers, long pikes, and short swords. The rest of his army were natives of the Isles of the Egean sea, and the congregated nations of Asia minor,

The two armies were drawn up in an extensive plain. That under the command of the king of Lydia occupied forty stadia, or five miles in length; while that of Cyrus extended only the distance of thirty-two stadia, or was half a mile short of the enemy's line at either end.

The army of Croesus, in order of battle, was ranged in one line, the infantry in the centre, and the cavalry on the two wings. All his troops, both horse and foot, were thirty men deep, except