Page:History of Greece Vol III.djvu/245

 MEDIANS -FIRST KING DEIOKES. 229 exhibits in brief outline. The story of Dei'okes describes what may be railed the despot's progress, first as candidate, and after- wards as fully established. Amidst the active political discussion carried on by intelligent Greeks in the days of Herodotus, there were doubtless many stories of the successful arts of ambitious despots, and much remark as to the probable means conducive to their success, of a nature similar to those in the Politics of Aris- totle. one of these tales Herodotus has employed to decorate the birth and infancy of the Median monarchy. His Dei'okes begins like a clever Greek among other Greeks, equal, free, and disor- derly. He is athirst for despotism from the beginning, and is forward in manifesting his rectitude and justice, " as beseems a candidate for command ;"' he passes into a despot by the public vote, and receives what to the Greeks was the great symbol and instrument of such transition, a personal body-guard ; he ends by organizing both the machinery and the etiquette of a despot- ism in the Oriental fashion, like the Cyrus of Xenophon, 2 only that both these authors maintain the superiority of 'their Grecian ideal over Oriental reality by ascribing both to IV/okea and Cy- 1 Herodot. i, 96. 'Eovruv 61 avrovofiuv KUVTUV uvfi r;;v ' xnpov, u de avrtf if Tvpavvidaf Kepif/Ador. 'A.vr/p ev roiai Mrjdoiai tyevei > cro^df, Tu ovvopa f/v AqioKijf. ., . Oirof 6 Aijioujjc, IpacdEi? rvpavvidoe, irotee -oiade, etc 'O (5e (5/), ola //vtw/zevof apxyv, ti9tJc re nal diKaiof f/v. book of the Cyropaedia, wherein Xenophon describes the manner in which the Median despotism was put in effective order and turned to useful account by Cyrus, especially the arrangements for imposing on the imagination of his subjects (/carayo^rdjftv, viii, 1,40) (it is a small thing, but marks the cognate plan of Herodotus and Xenophon). Delokes forbids his subjects to laugh or spit in his presence. Cyrus also directs that no one shall spit, or wipe his nose, or turn round to look at anything, when the king is present (Herodot i, 99 ; Xen. Cyrop. viii, 1, 42). Again, viii, 3, 1, about the pom- pous procession of Cyrus when he rides out, Kai jap aiirfis rf^ H-e'kuasur f} aepvoTTis TIIUV 6oKi [iia TUV TC^VOJV elvai TUV (te/M]xavri/tevuv, rf/v upxfjv ur/ ci'KaraQpovjjTov elvai analogous to the Median Defok^s in Herodotus Tavra de Trepl iuvrov iaeftvvve ruvde slveKsv, etc. Cynu f^avi^jv <5e rc2 TOITO OTI Trepl TTO^OV iTTOtEiro, fajSeva pi/Tf. i7.ov u6iKei.v ur/rs ai'fiua%ov^ i/.Kii rb diaaiov laxvpuf apijv (Cyrop. viii, 1, 26,. Deiokts rji> rb tiiKaiov p Aiffffw v ^aAeirof (Herodot. i, 100). Cyrus provides numerous persons wha serve to him as eyes and ears throughout the country (Cyrop. viii, 2, 121 manv /cardoycoTroi and KarfiKnm. (ITerodot. ib.)
 * Compare the chapters above referred to in Herodotus with the eighth