“And so to provide me with this splendid armor and dress, you have been depriving yourself of all your finest and most beautiful ornaments!”
“No,” lovingly replied Panthea; “you are yourself my finest ornament, if you appear in the eyes of others as you do in mine; and I have not deprived myself of you.”
There were many spectators present to see Abradates mount in his gorgeous chariot and drive away; but the attention of the beholders was centred upon the exquisite beauty of Panthea, as she stood by the side of his chariot to bid adieu to her husband. This was their last parting.
As Panthea turned away from the royal train, her husband waved her a fond farewell.
On the field of battle Abradates displayed heroic courage. His chariot was observed by Cyrus, in the thickest of the fight, rushing fearlessly into the places of the greatest danger.
The victory was gained by Cyrus; but Abradates was killed in his chariot; and when Cyrus inquired about him, it was reported that Panthea was then attending to the interment of the body on the banks of a river which flowed near the field of battle.
Cyrus immediately went to the spot, where Panthea sat weeping over the remains of her beloved husband. Cyrus leaped from his horse, and knelt beside the corpse, exclaiming, —
“Alas! thou brave and faithful soul, and art thou gone?”
Cyrus said what he could to console Panthea; but she was unconsolable. He gave directions that everything should be furnished for her comfort. Panthea thanked him for his kindness.
After Cyrus had left her, Panthea sent away all her servants but her waiting-maid, saying that she wished to be alone with the dead body of her husband. She then drew forth a small dagger, which she had kept concealed beneath her robe; and telling her maid to envelop her dead body in the same mantle with her husband, and to have them buried together in the same grave, she pierced her heart with the weapon before her affrighted servant could prevent the fatal wound. Abradates and Panthea were buried together in one grave, as the heart-broken wife had requested, over which Cyrus erected a lofty monument to their memory.
Cyrus, finding himself master of all the East by the taking of Babylon, did not imitate the example of most other conquerors, who sully the glory of their victories by their cruelties and wicked lives. Cyrus is justly considered one of the wisest conquerors and one of the most accomplished of the princes to be found in profane history. He was possessed of all the qualities necessary to make a great man. Cicero observes, that during the entire time of the rule of Cyrus he was never heard to speak one rough or angry word.
Cyrus, according to his belief, was very religious. He was, to be sure, a pagan; but he reverenced sacred things, and as his deliverance of the Jews showed, he acknowledged the power of Jehovah, even though we have no account of his complete conversion from idolatry. But his devotion to what he held to be religion is an example for the worshippers of the one true God.
Cyrus, having established himself in the midst of his wide kingdom, with his chief residence at Babylon, resolved to appear before the people in an august religious ceremony, by marching in a grand cavalcade to the places consecrated to the gods, in order to offer sacrifices to them. He ordered the superior officers of the Persians and allies to attend him; and he presented each one with a suit of clothes of the Median fashion. These were long garments, of various colors, of the finest and brightest dyes, richly embroidered with gold and silver. One of the historians gives this description of this gorgeous pageant.
“When the time appointed for the ceremony was come, the whole company assembled at the king’s palace by break of day. Four thousand of the guards, drawn up four deep, placed themselves in front of the palace, and two thousand on the two sides of it, ranged in the same order. All the cavalry were also drawn out, the Persians on the right, and that of the allies on the left. The chariots of war were ranged half on one side and half on the other. As soon as the palace gates were opened, a great number of bulls of exquisite beauty were led out, by four and four. These were to be sacrificed to Jupiter and other gods, according to the ceremonies prescribed by the Magi. Next followed the horses that were to be sacrificed to the sun. Immediately after them a white chariot, crowned with flowers, the pole of which was gilt; this was to be offered to Jupiter. Then came a second chariot of the same color, and adorned in the same manner, to be offered to the sun. After these followed a third, the horses of which were caparisoned with scarlet housings. Behind came the men who carried the sacred fire in a large hearth.
“When all these were on the march, Cyrus himself made his appearance upon his car, with his upright tiara upon his head, encircled with the royal diadem. His under-tunic was of purple mixed with white, which was a color peculiar to kings; over his other garments he wore a large purple cloak. His hands were uncovered. A little below him sat the master of the horse, who was of a comely stature, but not so tall as Cyrus, for which reason the stature of the latter appeared still more advantageously.
“As soon as the people perceived the prince, they all fell prostrate before him and worshipped him; whether it was that certain persons appointed on purpose, and placed at proper distances, led others by their example, or that the people were moved to do it of their own accord, being struck by the appearance of so much pomp and magnificence, and with so many awful circumstances of majesty and splendor.
“The Persians had never prostrated themselves in this manner before Cyrus till on this occasion. When Cyrus’ chariot was come out of the palace, the four thousand guards began to march; the other two thousand moved at the same time, and placed themselves on each side of the chariot.
“The eunuchs, or great officers of the king’s household, to the number of three hundred, richly clad, with javelins in their hands and mounted upon stately horses, marched immediately after the chariot. After them were led two hundred horses of the king’s stable, each of them having embroidered furniture and bits of gold. Next came the Persian cavalry divided into four bodies, each consisting of ten thousand men; then the Median horse, and after those the cavalry of the allies. The chariots of war, four abreast, brought up the rear and closed the procession. When they came to the fields consecrated to the gods, they offered their sacrifices first to Jupiter and then to the sun. To the honor of the first, bulls were burnt, and to the honor of the second, horses. They likewise sacrificed some victims to the earth, according to the appointment of the Magi; then to the demigods, the patrons and protectors of Syria. In order to amuse the people after this grave and solemn ceremony, Cyrus thought fit that it should conclude with games and horse and chariot races.
“The place chosen for them was large and spacious. He ordered a certain portion of it to be marked out, and proposed prizes for the victors of each nation, which were to encounter separately and among themselves. He himself won the prize in the Persian horse-races, for nobody was so complete a horseman as he. The chariots ran but two at a time, one against another. Some days after, Cyrus, to celebrate the victory he had obtained in the horse-races, gave a great entertainment to all his chief officers, as well strangers as Medes and Persians. They had never yet seen anything of the kind so sumptuous and magnificent. At the conclusion of the feast he made every one a noble present, so that they all went home with hearts overflowing with joy, admiration, and gratitude; and all-powerful as he was, master of all the East and so many kingdoms, he did not think it descending from his majesty to conduct the whole company to the door of his apartment.
“Such were the manners and behavior of those ancient times, when men understood how to unite great simplicity with the highest degree of human grandeur.”
There are two accounts given of the death of Cyrus. Herodotus relates that Cyrus made war against the Scythians, and after having attacked them, made a feint of retreating, leaving a great quantity of provisions and wine behind him. The Scythians,