Page:Herodotus and the Empires of the East.djvu/58

52 names unfamiliar the Greeks were conspicuous. It must be considered very remarkable if, at the time of Herodotus (about 450), the name of Nebuchadrezar, as the builder of such mighty works, had vanished from the memory of the Persians dwelling in Babylon. Hence, in the name Nitocris, there may be preserved a recollection of that great king who made Babylon splendid.

Although Herodotus reserves the discussion of Assyrian history for his work on that subject, yet we find in the first book of his History an account of the beginning and the duration of the Assyrian power: " Five hundred and twenty years the Assyrians ruled Upper Asia. The first to revolt from them were the Medes, . . . after them the other peoples did likewise, and all the tribes of Asia became free and independent; but not for long, since they fell again under a despotic government." (I., 96.) Herodotus goes on to narrate the history of Deïoces, who first united the Median tribes into a confederation (I., 101), and through whose successor the peoples who had just