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great numbers of scholars resorting to her from all the provinces, and even from the neighbouring kingdoms, did, for their sakes and conveniency, establish messengers, whose business was, not only to bring clothes, silver, and gold for the students, but likewise to carry bags of law proceedings, informations, and inquests; to conduct all sorts of persons, indifferently, to or from Paris, finding them both horses and diet; as also to carry letters, parcels, and packets for the public, as well as the university.

In the university registers of the Four Nations, as they are called, of the faculty of arts, these messengers are often styled Nuntii volantes, to signify the great speed and despatch they were obliged to make. The state, then, is indebted to the university of Paris for the invention and establishment of these messengers and letter carriers. And it was at her own charge and expense that she erected these offices; to the satisfaction both of our kings and the public. She has moreover maintained and supported them since the year 1576, against all the various attempts of the farmers, which has cost her immense sums. For there never were any ordinary royal messengers, till Henry III. first established them in the year 1576, by his edict of November, appointing them in the same cities as the university had theirs in, and granting them the same rights and privileges as the kings, his predecessors, had granted the messengers of the university.

The university never had any other fund or support than the profits arising from the post-office. And it is upon the foundation of the same revenue, that King Louis XV., now on the throne, by his decree of the council of state of the 14th of April, 1719, and by his letters patent, bearing the same date, registered in parliament, and in the chamber of accompts, has ordained, that in all the colleges of the said university the students shall be taught gratis; and has, to that end, for the time to come, appropriated to the university an eight-and-twentieth part of the revenue arising from the general lease or farm of the posts and messengers of France; which eight-and-twentieth part amounted that year to the sum of 184,000 livres or thereabouts.

It is not therefore without reason, that the university, to whom this regulation has restored a part of her ancient lustre, reckons Louis XV. as a kind of new founder, whose bounty has at length delivered her from the unhappy and shameful necessity of receiving wages for her labours; which in some measure dishonoured the dignity of her profession, as it was contrary to that noble, disinterested spirit which becomes it. And, indeed, the labour of masters and professors, who instruct others, ought not to be given for nothing; but neither ought it to be sold. Nec venire hoc beneficium oportet, nec perire.2

SECTION V.-ADMINISTRATION OF THE REVENUES. THE prince is the sword and buckler of the state; by him are the peace and tranquillity thereof secured. But to enable him to defend it, he has occasion for arms, soldiers, arsenals, fortified towns, and ships; and all these things require great expenses. It is moreover just and reasonable, that the king have wherewithal to support the dignity of the crown, and the majesty of the empire; as also to enable him to ensure reverence and respect to his person and authority. These are the two principal reasons that have given occasion for the exacting of tribute and imposition of taxes. As the public advantage, and the necessity of defraying the expenses of the state, have been the first causes of these burdens, so ought they likewise to be the constant standard of their use. Nor is there any thing in the world more just and reasonable than such impositions; since every private person ought to think himself very happy, that he can purchase his peace and security at the expense of so slender a contribution.

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The revenues of the Persian kings consisted partly in the levying of taxes imposed upon the people, and partly in their being furnished with several products of the earth in kind; as corn, and other provisions, forage, horses, camels, or whatever varieties each particular province afforded. Strabo relates, that the satrap of Armenia sent regularly every year to the king of Persia, his master, 20,000 young colts. By this we may form a judgment of the other levies in the several provinces. The tributes, however, were only exacted from the conquered nations: for the natural subjects, that is, the Persians, were exempt from all imposi tions. Nor was the custom of imposing taxes, and of determining the sums each province was yearly to pay, introduced till the reign of Darius; at which time, the pecuniary impositions, as near as we can judge from the computation made by Herodotus, which is attended with great difficulties, amounted to near 44,000,000, French money."

The place wherein was kept the public treasure, was called in the Persian language Gaza. There were treasures of this kind at Susa, at Persepolis, at Pasargada, at Damascus, and other cities. The gold and silver were there kept in ingots, and coined into money, according as the king had occasion. The money chiefly used by the Persians, was of gold, and called Darick, from the name of Darius, who first caused them to be coined, with his image on one side, and an archer on the reverse. The Darick is sometimes also called Stater aureus, because the weight of it, like that of the Altic Stater, was two drachms of gold, which were equivalent to twenty drachms of silver, and consequently were worth ten livres of French money.

Besides these tributes which were paid in money,10 there was another contribution made in kind, by furnishing victuals and provisions for the king's table and household, grain, forage, and other necessaries for the subsistence of his armies, and horses for the remounting of his cavalry. This contribution was imposed upon the six-score satrapies, or provinces, each of them furnishing such a part as they were severally taxed at. Herodotus observes, that the province of Babylon, the largest and wealthiest of them all, did alone furnish the whole contribution for the space of four months, and consequently bore a third part of the burden of the whole imposition, whilst all the rest of Asia together did but contribute the other two-thirds.

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[Darius seems to have learned the use and value of coins from the Lydians; for the Medes and Persians had no coined money before they conquered that kingdom; whereas Croesus, king of Lydia, had coined innumerable pieces of gold called Croesei, as before stated. As it was not to be expected that the Lydian coin should continue current after the downfall of that power, it may be supposed that Darius re-coined the Croesei with his own effigies, without altering their weight or value. If it was Darius Hystaspes, and not Darius the Mede or Cyaxares, (for authors are not agreed respecting this,) it may be also that he took up this notion after his conquest of that part of India now called the Punjaub, whence he collected a large tribute in gold; for he received only a small quantity from Africa, (Thalia, or Book iv. chap. 97.) although the rivers of that continent abounded with it, and the Carthaginians trafficked for it. (Melpomene, or Book v. chap. 196.) The after the Babylonish captivity, Adarkonim, and by the TalDaricks were called in those places of Scripture written mudists, Darkomoth, both from the Greek Aapikot, that is, Daricks. Ezra, viii. 7. Buxtor. Talmud. Lex. p. 577.] 10 Herod. l. iii. c. 91-97 and 1. i. c. 192.

armies from the age of twenty to fifty years. And whether in peace or war, they always wore swords, as our gentlemen do, which was never practised among the Greeks or the Romans. They were obliged to enlist themselves at the time appointed; and it was esteemed a crime to desire to be dispensed with in that respect, as will be seen hereafter, by the cruel treatment given by Darius and Xerxes to two young noblemen, whose fathers had desired as a favour, that their sons might be permitted to stay at home, for a comfort to them in their old age."

By what has been already said on this subject, we see the kings of Persia did not exact all their taxes and impositions in money, but were content to levy a part of them in money, and to take the rest in such products and commodities as the several provinces afforded; which is a proof of the great wisdom, moderation, and humanity of the Persian government. Without doubt they had observed how difficult it often is for the people, especially in countries at a distance from commerce, to convert their goods into money, without suffering great losses; whereas nothing can tend so much to render the taxes easy, and to shelter the people from vexation and trouble as well as ex-be the king's guard, who were called The immortals, pense, as the taking in payment from each country such fruits and commodities as that country produces; by which means the contribution becomes easy, natural, and equitable.

There were likewise certain districts assigned and set apart for the maintaining of the queen's toilet and wardrobe; one for her girdle, another for her veil, and so on for the rest of her vestments; and these districts, which were of a great extent, since one of them contained as much ground as a man could walk over in a day: these districts, I say, took their names from their particular use, or part of the garments to which they were appropriated; and were accordingly called, one the queen's girdle, another the queen's veil, and so on. In Plato's time, the same custom continued among the Persians.

The manner in which the king gave pensions in those days to such persons as he had a mind to gratify, was exactly like what I have observed concerning the queen. We read, that the king of Persia assigned the revenues of four cities to Themistocles; one of which was to supply him with wine, another with bread, the third with meats for his table, and the fourth with his clothes and furniture. Before that time, Cyrus had acted in the same manner towards Pytharcous of Cyzicus, for whom he had a particular consideration, and to whom he gave the revenue of seven cities. In following times, we find many instances of a like nature.

ARTICLE II.

OF THEIR WAR.

The people of Asia in general were naturally of a warlike disposition, and did not want courage; but in time they suffered themselves to be enervated by luxury and pleasure. I must however except the Persians, who even before Cyrus, and still more during his reign, had the reputation of being a people of a very military genius. The situation of their country, which is rugged and mountainous, might be one reason of their hard and frugal manner of living; which is a point of no little importance for the forming of good soldiers. But the good education which the Persians gave their youth, was the chief cause of the courage and martial spirit of that people.

Herodotus speaks of a body of troops appointed to

because this body consisted always of the same num ber, which was 10,000; for as soon as any of the men died, another was immediately put into his place. The establishment of this body probably began with the 10,000 men sent for by Cyrus out of Persia to be his guard. They were distinguished from all the other troops by the richness of their armour, and still more by their courage. Quintus Curtius mentions also this body of men, and another body besides, consisting of 15,000, designed in like manner to be a guard to the king's person: the latter were called, Doryphori, or Spearmen.

II. Their Armour.

The ordinary arms of the Persians were a sabre, or scimitar, acinaces, as it is called in Latin; a kind of dagger, which hung in their belt on the right side; a javelin, or half pike, having a sharp-pointed iron at the end.

It seems that they carried two javelins, or lances, one to fling, and the other to use in close fight. They made great use of the bow, and of the quiver in which they carried their arrows. The sling was not unknown amongst them; but they did not set much value upon it.

It appears from several passages in ancient authors, that the Persians wore no helmets, but only their common caps, which they call tiaras; this is particularly said of Cyrus the younger, and of his army. And yet the same authors, in other places, make mention of their helmets; from whence we must conclude, that this custom had changed according to the times.

The foot for the most part wore cuirasses made of brass, which were so artificially fitted to their bodies, that they were no impediment to the motion and agility of their limbs; no more than the vambraces, or greaves which covered the arms, thighs, and legs of the horsemen. Their horses themselves, for the most part, had their faces, chests, and flanks covered with brass. There were what are called equi cataphracti, barbed horses.

Authors differ very much about the form and fashion of the shields. At first they made use of very small and light ones, made only of twigs of osier, gerra. But it appears from several passages, that they had also shields of brass, which were of a great length.

We have already observed, that in the first ages the

With respect therefore to the manners, and particularly to the article which I am now treating of, we must make some distinction between the different na-light-armed soldiers, that is, the archers and those who tions of Asia. So that in the following account of military affairs, whatever perfection and excellence may be found in the rules and principles of war, is to be applied only to the Persians, as they were in Cyrus's reign; the rest belongs to the other nations of Asia, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Lydians, and to the Persians likewise after they had degenerated from their ancient valour, which happened not long after Cyrus, as will be shown in the sequel.

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used missile weapons, composed the bulk of the armies amongst the Persians and Medes. Cyrus, who had found by experience, that such troops were only fit for skirmishing, or fighting at a distance, and who thought it most advantageous to come directly to close fight, made a change in his army, and reduced those light-armed troops to a very few, arming the far greater number at all points, like the rest of the army.

III. Chariots armed with Scythes.

Cyrus introduced a considerable change likewise with respect to the chariots of war. These had been in use a long while before his time, as appears both 5 Herod. 1. iv. and vi. Sen. de Ira. 1. iii. c. 16, 17. Ibid. 1. vii. c. 83. Lib. iii. c. 3. Xen. de Exped. Cyr. 1. i. p. 263. Xen. Cyrop. 1. vi. p. 152.

from Homer and the sacred writings. These chariots had only two wheels, and were generally drawn by four horses abreast, with two men in each; one of distinguished birth and valour, who fought, and another, who was engaged only in driving the chariot. Cyrus thought this method, which was very expensive, was but of little service; since for the equipping of 300 chariots, were required 1200 horses, and 600 men, of which there were but 300 who really fought, the other 300, though all men of merit and distinction, and capable of doing great service if otherwise employed, serving only as charioteers or drivers. To remedy this inconvenience, he altered the form of the chariots, and doubled the number of the fighting men that rode in them, by enabling the drivers also to fight as well as the others.

He caused the wheels of the chariots to be made stronger, that they should not be so easily broken; and the axletrees to be made longer, to make them the more firm and steady. At each end of the axletree he caused scythes to be fastened that were three feet long, and placed horizontally; and caused other scythes to be fixed upon the same axletree with their edges turned to the ground, that they might cut in pieces men, or horses, or whatever the impetuous violence of the chariot should overturn. It appears from several passages in authors, that in after-times, besides all this, they added two long iron spikes at the end of the pole, in order to pierce whatever came in the way; and that they armed the hinder part of the chariot with several rows of sharp knives to hinder any one from mounting behind.

These chariots were in use for many ages in all the Eastern countries. They were looked upon as the principal strength of the armies, as the most certain cause of the victory, and as an apparatus the most capable of all other to strike the enemy with consternation and terror.

But in proportion as the military art improved, the inconveniences of them were discovered, and at length they were laid aside. For, in order to reap any advantage from them, it was necessary to fight in vast and extensive plains, where the soil was very even, and where there were no rivulets, gulleys, woods, nor vineyards.

The method used by that great prince in peace, as is fully related in Xenophon's Cyropædia, in order to form his troops, by frequent exercises, to inure them to fatigue by keeping them continually employed in laborious works, to prepare them for real battles by mock engagements, to fire them with courage and resolution by exhortations, praises, and rewards: all this, I say, is a perfect model for all who have the command of troops, to which, generally speaking, peace and tranquillity become extremely pernicious; for a relaxation of discipline, which usually ensues, enervates the vigour of the soldiers; and their inaction blunts that edge of courage, which the motion of armies, and the approach of enemies, infinitely sharpen and excite. A wise foresight of the future ought to make us prepare in time of peace whatever may be needful in time of war.*

Whenever the Persian armies marched, every thing was ordered and carried on with as much regularity and exactness as on a day of battle: not a soldier or officer daring to quit his rank, or remove from the colours. It was the custom amongst all the nations of Asia, whenever they encamped, though but for a day or a night, to have their camp surrounded with pretty deep ditches. This they did to prevent being surprised by the enemy, and that they might not be forced to engage against their inclinations. They usually contented themselves with covering their camp with a bank of earth dug out of these ditches; though sometimes they fortified them with strong palisadoes, and long stakes driven into the ground.

By what has been said of their discipline in time of peace, and in the marching and encamping their armies, we may judge of that which was preserved on the day of battle. Nothing can be more deserving our admiration than the accounts we have of it in the several parts of the Cyropædia. No single family could be better regulated, or pay a more speedy and exact obedience to the first signal, than the whole army of Cyrus. He had long accustomed them to that prompt obedience, on which the success of all enterprises depends. For what avails the best head in the world, if the arms do not act conformably, and follow its directions? At first he had used some severity, which is necessary in the beginning, in order In after-times several methods were invented to ren- to establish good discipline; but this severity was der these chariots absolutely useless. It was enough always accompanied with reason, and tempered with to cut a ditch in their way, which immediately stopped kindness. The example of their leader, who was ⚫their course. Sometimes an able and experienced the first upon all duty, gave weight and authority to general, as Eumenes in the battle which Scipio fought his injunctions, and softened the rigour of his comwith Antiochus, would attack the chariots with a de-mands. The unalterable rule he laid down to himtachment of slingers, archers, and spearmen, who, spreading themselves on all sides, would pour such a storm of stones, arrows, and lances upon them, and at the same time fall a shouting so loud with the whole army, that they terrified the horses, and often made them turn upon their own forces. At other times they would render the chariots useless and incapable of acting, only by marching over the space, which separated the two armies, with an extraordinary swiftness, and advancing suddenly upon the enemy. For the strength and execution of the chariots proceeded from the length of their course, which was what gave that impetuosity and rapidity to their motion, without which they were but very feeble and insignificant. It was after this manner, that the Romans under Sylla, at the battle of Charonæa, defeated and put to flight the enemy's chariots, raising loud peals of laughter, and crying out to them, as if they had been at the games of the Circus, to send more.

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self, of granting nothing but to merit only, and of refusing every thing to favour, was a sure means of keeping all the officers attached to their duty, and of making them perpetually vigilant and careful. For there is nothing more discouraging to persons of that profession, even to those who love their prince and their country, than to see the rewards, to which the dangers they have undergone, and the blood they have spilt, entitle them, conferred upon others. Cyrus had the art of inspiring even his common soldiers with a zeal for discipline and order, by first inspiring them with a love for their country, for their honour, and their fellow-citizens; and, above all, by endearing himself to them by his bounty and liberality. These are the true and only methods of establishing and supporting military discipline in its full force and vigour.

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V. Their Order of Battle.

As there were but very few fortified places in Cyrus's time, all their wars were little else but field expeditions; for which reason that wise prince found out, by his own reflection and experience, that nothing contributed more to decide a victory, than a numerous and good cavalry; and the gaining of one single pitched battle was often attended with the conquest of a whole kingdom. Accordingly we see, that having found the Persian army entirely destitute of that important and necessary succour, he turned all his thoughts towards remedying that defect; and, by his great application and activity, succeeded in forming a body of Persian cavalry, which became superior to that of his enemies, in goodness, at least, if not in number. There were several breeds of horses in Persia and Media; but in the latter province, those of a place called Nisea, were the most esteemed; and it was from thence the king's stable was furnished. We shall now examine what use they made of their cavalry

and infantry.

1

The celebrated battle of Thymbra may serve to give us a just notion of the tactics of the ancients in the days of Cyrus, and to show how far their ability extended either in the use of arms, or the disposition of armies.

They knew that the most advantageous order of battle was to place the infantry in the centre, and the cavalry, which consisted chiefly of the cuirassiers, on the two wings of the army. By this disposition the flanks of the foot were covered, and the horse were at liberty to act and extend themselves, as occasion should require.

They likewise understood the necessity of drawing out an army into several lines, in order to support one another; because otherwise, as one single line might easily be pierced through and broken, it would not be able to rally, and consequently the army would be left without resource. For which reason they formed the first line of foot heavily armed, twelve men deep, who, on the first onset, made use of the half-pike; and afterwards, when the fronts of the two armies came close together, engaged the enemy body to body with their swords or scimitars.

2

they generally placed in the front of the battle, and some of them they occasionally stationed on the flanks of the army, when they had any reason to fear their being surrounded.

This is nearly the extent to which the ancients carried their knowledge in the military art, with respect to their battles and engagements. But we do not find they had any skill in choosing advantageous posts, in seasonably possessing themselves of a favourable spot, of bringing the war into a close country; of making use of defiles and narrow passes, either to molest the army in their march, or to cover themselves from their attacks; or laying in artful ambuscades; of protracting a campaign to a great length by wise delays; of not suffering a superior enemy to force them to a decisive action, and of reducing him to the necessity of preying upon himself through the want of forage and provisions. Neither do we see, that they had much regard to the defending of their right and left with rivers, marshes, or mountains; and by that means of making the front of a smaller army equal to that of another much more numerous; and of putting it out of the enemy's power to surround or take them in flank.

Yet in Cyrus's first campaign against the Armenians, and afterwards against the Babylonians, there seem to have been some beginnings, some essays, as it were, of this art: but they were not improved, or carried to any degree of perfection in those days. Time, reflection, and experience, made the great commanders in after ages acquainted with these precautions and subtleties of war: and we have already shown, in the wars of the Carthaginians, what use Hannibal, Fabius, Scipio, and other generals of both nations, made of them.

VI. Their manner of attacking and defending strong

Places.

The ancients both devised and executed all that could be expected from the nature of the arms known in their days, as also from the force and the variety of engines then in use, either for attacking or defending fortified places.

The second line consisted of such men as were 1. Their way of attacking Places. lightly armed, whose manner of fighting was to fling The first method of attacking a place was by blocktheir javelins over the heads of the first. These jave-ade. They invested the town with a wall built quite lins were made of a heavy wood, were pointed with iron, and were flung with great violence. The design of them was to put the enemy into disorder, before they came to close fight.

The third line consisted of archers, whose bows being bent with the utmost force, carried their arrows over the heads of the two preceding lines, and extremely annoyed the enemy. These archers were sometimes mixed with slingers, who slung great stones with a terrible force; but, in after-time, the Rhodians, instead of stones, made use of leaden bullets, which the slings carried a great deal farther.

A fourth line, formed of men armed in the same manner as those of the first, formed the rear of the main body. This line was intended for the support of the others, and to keep them to their duty, in case they gave way. It served likewise for a rear guard, and a body of reserve to repulse the enemy, if they should happen to penetrate so far.

They had besides moving towers, carried upon huge waggons, drawn by sixteen oxen each, in which were twenty men, whose business was to discharge stones and javelins. These were placed in the rear of the whole army, behind the body of reserve, and served to support their troops, when they were driven back by the enemy, and to favour their rallying when in disorder.

They made great use too of their chariots armed with scythes, as we have already observed. These

1 Herod. l. vii. c. 40. Strab. 1. xi. p. 530. Before Cyrus's time it was of twenty-four men.

round of it, and in which, at proper distances, were made redoubts and places of arms; or else they thought it sufficient to surround it completely by a deep trench, which they strongly fenced with pallisadoes, to hinder the besieged from making a sally, as well as to prevent succours or provisions from being brought in. In this manner they waited till famine did what they could not effect by force or art. From hence proceeded the length of the sieges related in ancient history; as that of Troy, which lasted ten years; that of Azotus by Psammeticus, which lasted twenty-nine; that of Nineveh, where we have seen that Sardanapalus defended himself for the space of seven. And Cyrus might have lain a long time before Babylon, where they had laid in a stock of provisions for twenty years, if he had not used a different method for taking it.

As they found blockades extremely tedious from their duration, they invented the method of scaling, which was done by raising a great number of ladders against the walls, by means whereof a great many files of soldiers might climb up together, and force their way in.

To render this method of scaling impracticable, or at least ineffectual, they made the walls of their city extremely high, and the towers, wherewith they were flanked, still considerably higher, that the ladders of the besiegers might not be able to reach the top of them. This obliged them to find out some other way

8 Homer makes no mention of the battering-ram, or any warlike engine.

VII. The Condition of the Persian Forces after Cyrus's

of getting to the top of the ramparts; and this was by | follow, that any of the fundamental rules of fortification building moving towers of wood, still higher than the are changed? By no means. The ancients made as walls, and by approaching them with those wooden much of the solidity of bodies, and the mechanic powers towers. On the top of these towers, which formed a of motion, as art and ingenuity would admit. kind of platform, was placed a competent number of soldiers, who, with darts, and arrows, and the assistance of their balista and catapulta, scoured the ramparts, and cleared them of the defenders; and then from a lower stage of the tower, they let down a kind of drawbridge, which rested upon the wall, and gave the soldiers admittance.

A third method, which extremely shortened the length of their sieges, was that of the battering-ram, by which they made breaches in the walls, and opened themselves a passage into the places besieged. This battering-ram was a vast beam of timber, with a strong head of iron or brass at the end of it; which was pushed with the utmost force against the walls. Of these there were several kinds.

They had still a fourth method of attacking places, which was that of sapping and undermining; and this was done two different ways; that is, either by carrying on a subterranean path quite under the walls, into the heart of the city, and so opening themselves a passage into it; or else, after they had sapped the foundation of the wall, and put supporters under it, by filling the space with all sorts of combustible matter, and then setting that matter on fire, in order to burn down the supporters, calcine the materials of the wall, and throw down part of it.

2. Their manner of defending Places. With respect to the fortifying and defending of towns, the ancients made use of all the fundamental principles and essential rules now practised in the art of fortification. They had the method of overflowing the country round about, to hinder the enemy's approaching the town; they made deep and sloping ditches, and fenced them round with pallisadoes, to make the enemy's ascent or descent the more difficult; they made their ramparts very thick, and fenced them with stone or brick-work, that the battering-ram should not be able to demolish them; and very high, that the scaling of them should be equally impracticable; they had their projecting towers, from whence our modern bastions derive their origin, for the flanking of the curtains; they invented with much ingenuity different machines for the shooting of arrows, throwing of darts and lances, and hurling of great stones with vast force and violence; they had their parapets and battlements in the walls for the soldier's security, and their covered galleries, which went quite round the walls, and served as casements; their intrenchments behind the breaches and necks of the towers; they made their sallies too, in order to destroy the works of the besiegers, and to set their engines on fire; as also their countermines to render useless the mines of the enemy; and, lastly, they built citadels, as places of retreat in cases of extremity, to serve as the last resource to a garrison upon the point of being forced, and to make the taking of the town of no effect, or at least to obtain a more advantageous capitulation. All these methods of defending places against those that besieged them, were known in the art of fortification as it was practised among the ancients; and they are the very same as are now in use among the moderns, allowing for such alteration as the difference of arms has occasioned.

I thought it necessary to enter into this detail, in order to give the reader an idea of the ancient manner of defending fortified towns; as also to remove a prejudice which prevails among many of the moderns, who imagine, that because new names are now given to the same things, the things themselves are therefore different in nature and principle. Since the invention of gunpowder, cannon indeed have been substituted in the place of the battering-ram; and musketshot in the room of balista, catapulta, scorpions, javelins, slings, and arrows. But does it therefore

Time.

I have already observed, more than once, that we must not judge of the merit and courage of the Persian troops at all times, by what we see of them in Cyrus's reign. I shall conclude this article of war with a judicious reflection made by Monsieur Bossuet, bishop of Mcaux, on that subject. He observes that, after the death of that prince, the Persians, generally speaking, were ignorant of the great advantages that result from severity, discipline, skill in drawing up an army, order in marching and encamping; and, in short, that happiness of conduct, which puts those great bodies in motion without disorder or confusion. Full of a vain ostentation of their power and greatness, and relying more upon strength than prudence, upon the number rather than the choice of their troops, they thought they had done all that was necessary, when they had drawn together immense numbers of people, who fought indeed with resolution enough, but without order, and who found themselves encumbered with the vast multitudes of useless persons, who formed the retinue of the king and his chief officers. For to such a height was their luxury grown, that they would needs have the same magnificence, and enjoy the same pleasures and delights in the army, as in the king's court; so that in their wars the kings marched accompanied with their wives, their concubines, and all their eunuchs. Their silver and gold plate, and all their rich furniture, were carried after them in prodigious quantities; and, in short, all the equipage and utensils so voluptuous a life requires. An army composed in this manner, and already clogged with the excessive number of troops, was overburthened with the additional load of vast multitudes of such as did not fight. In this confusion, the troops could not act in concert: their orders never reached them in time; and in action every thing went on at random, as it were, without the possibility of any commander's being able to remedy this disorder. Add to this, the necessity they were under of finishing an expedition quickly, and of passing into an enemy's country with great rapidity; because such a vast body of people, greedy not only of the necessaries of life, but of such things also as were requisite for luxury and pleasure, consumed every thing that could be met with in a very short time: nor indeed is it easy to comprehend from whence they could procure subsistence.

However, with all this vast train, the Persians astonished those nations that were not better acquainted with military affairs than themselves; and many of those that were more expert, were yet overcome by them, being either weakened by their own dissensions, or overpowered by the numbers of the enemy. And by this means Egypt, proud as she was of her antiquity, her wise institutions, and the conquests of Sesostris, became subject to the Persians. Nor was it difficult for them to conquer the lesser Asia, and even such Greek colonies as the luxury of Asia had corrupted. But when they came to engage with Greece itself, they found what they had never met with before, regular and well-disciplined troops, skilful and experienced commanders, soldiers accustomed to temperance, whose bodies were inured to toil and labour, and rendered both robust and active, by wrestling and other exercises practised in that country. The Grecian armies indeed were but small; but they were like strong, vigorous bodies, that seem to be all nerves and sinews, and full of spirits in every part; at the same time they were so well commanded, and so prompt in obeying the orders of their generals, that one would have thought all the soldiers had been actuated by one soul; so perfect a harmony was there in all their motions.

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