Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/208

 176 HISTORY OF GREECE. to the citadel. A host of mules, with 5000 camels, were seat for from Mesopotamia and elsewhere, to carry off this prodigious treasure ; the whole of which was conveyed out of Persis pro- per, partly to be taken along with Alexander imself in his ulte- rior marches, partly to be lodged in Susa and Ekbatana. Six thousand talents more, found in Pasargadoe, were added to the spoil.^ The persons and property of the inhabitants were aban- doned to the license of the soldiers, who obtained an immense booty, not merely in gold and silver, but also in rich clothing, furniture, and ostentatious ornaments of every kind. The male inhabitants were slain,^ the females dragged into servitude ; ex- cept such as obtained safety by flight, or burned themselves with their property in their own houses. Among the soldiers them- selves, much angry scrambling took place for the possession of precious articles, not without occasional bloodshed.* As soon as d^penses iiidisipensables qui n'en absorbent pas la moitie. Le rcstc est con verti en lingots, en pierreries, et en divers objets d'une grande valeur et d'un transport facile en cas d'evfenement : ce qui doit suffire pour empecher qu'on ne trouve exageres les rapports que tous les voyageurs ont fails de la magnificence de la cour de Perse. Les Perses sont assez clairvoyans pour penetrer les motifs re'els qui portent Futteh Ali Sbah a tbesauriscr." When Nadir-Shah conquered tbe Mogul Emperor Mohammed, and entered Delhi in 1739, — the imperial treasure and effects which fell into his hands is said to have amounted to £32,000,000 sterling, besides heavy contributions levied on the inhabitants (Mill, History of British India, vol. li B. iii. ch. 4, p 403). — Runjeet Sing left at his death (1839) a treasure of £8,000,000 sterling : with jewels and other effects to several millions more. [The Punjaub, by Col. Steinbach, p. 16. London, 184.5]. Mr. Mill remarks in another place, that "in Hindoslan, gold, silver, and gems are most commonly hoarded, and not devoted to production " (vol.i. p. 254, B. ii. ch. o). Herodotus (iii. 96) tells us that the gold and silver brought to the Per- sian regal treasure was poured in a melted state into eartliern vessels ; when it cooled, the earthern vessel was withdrawn, and the solid metallic mass left standing; a portion of it was cut off when occasion required for disbursements. This practice warrants the supposition that a large por- tion of it was habitually accumulated, and not expended. ' Arrian, iii. 18, 17. He does not give the amount which I transcribe from Curtius. V. 6, 10. ovTEf, T(if dh KTi/aeic dtapTafovrff, etc. Curtius, v. 6, 6.
 * Diodor. xvii. 70. Oi MaKcdoveg emjeaav, rove ukv uvSpa^ ttuv-qc ovev-
 * Diodor. xvii. 70, 71 ; Curtius, v. 6, 3-7. These two authors concur in