part of Media, towards Susiana; and by the Parycanii, we conclude are meant the Paretacæni, the people of the eastern province of Media, which extended from Persis to the Caspian straits'.

Media magna, or Media proper, occupies the midland and elevated tract, between the approximating parts of the Caspian sea, and the Persian gulf; having the low lands of Susiana on the south, and the hollow semicircular tract, which embraces the south part of the Caspian sea, (and which contains the provinces that may with propriety be termed Caspian,) on the opposite side. It formed also the central part of the GREAT PERSIAN EMPIRE, of that day; and was, from climate, verdure, and richness of soil, the most beautiful of its provinces. In the descriptions of modern travellers and geographers, Media is more commonly reckoned the western part of Persia; it being in reality its most western province; mount Zagros forming the common boundary between Persia and Turkey. Ispahan, the present capital, is situated in the south-east corner of the division of ancient Media.

Thus, occupying the space between the two seas, on the north and south, and forming a kind of pass between the cultivated parts of Eastern and Western Asia, Media, no less from its geographical position, than from its fertility and temperature, was one of the most important and interesting tracts in Asia.

MEDIA may be deemed the cradle of what was

1 The Paretacæni were one of the tribes of Media; in Clio, 101. Pliny says, that the Pratite, or Paredoni, kept possession of the Caspian strait. Lib. vi. c. 15.

afterwards denominated the Persian power; for it produced not only a hardy race of men, but also a numerous breed of the finest horses, from whence was formed the best cavalry of Asia; which were in fact, Median, although the superior fortune of Persia communicated its name to those, in common with the empire at large. It is also well known, that the Medes held the sovereignty of Asia, previous to the Persians. The horses in question were those bred in the Nisaan pastures; and which were so much famed for size, and for beauty and swiftness, in almost every ancient historian and geographer. These pastures are recognized in the beautiful country above mount Zagros, between Ghilanee and Kermanshah2.

The Medes had both cavalry and infantry in the army of Xerxes; and they were armed and clothed like the Persians. Herodotus indeed says, that the military dress of the Persians was, properly speak

* See the Travels of M. Otter, Vol. i. p. 178, et seq.; Vol. ii. p. 11. et seq.

Niscus was a district in Media, remarkable for producing horses of an extraordinary size. Xerxes' chariot was drawn by them and the sacred horses in the procession were Nisæan; Polym. 40. Alexander gave a Nisæan horse to Calanus, to carry him to the funeral pile. The king of Parthia sacrificed one to the sun, when Apollonius of Tyana visited his court. Masistius rode a Nisæan horse at the decisive battle of PLATEA. The Nisæan pastures are spoken of in Diodorus, lib. xvii. c. 11.; and in Arrian, lib. vii.

Ghilanee has been already mentioned, as the Celona of Diodorus, where the Boeotians were placed by Xerxes. See above, page 355.

ing, Median, and not Persian; Polym. 61, 62 3. With the Greeks of his time, MEDIAN was applied generally to the united empire of Medes and Persians, as having from habit been applied to the power which held the sovereignty of Asia. This appears throughout his work. He says moreover, that in ancient times the Medes were universally named ARII (Polym. 62.); which agrees with Strabo; for by him, it appears, as if the whole tract between Assyria and India, had originally been called ARIA, by the Greeks.

Media boasted of the splendid city of Ecbatana, the summer capital of the Persian monarchs, now Hamadan. Also that of Rages, perhaps of equal antiquity; afterwards revived under the modern

This ascendancy of the Median fashions, in so important an article as the military habit, serves to shew, that, although the fortune of Persia, under Cyrus, had risen superior to that of the Medes, yet that the latter were far more advanced in the arts.

* The city of Ecbatana was unquestionably on or near the site of Hamadan, in Al Jebal. A great number of authorities concur in proving this, although many refer it to Tauris, or Tebriz, in Aderbigian; Mr. Gibbon, and Sir W. Jones, amongst the rest. The authorities are too numerous to be adduced here; we shall only mention that Isidore of Charax places it on the road from Seleucia to Parthia; that Pliny says, that Susa is equidistant from Seleucia and Ecbatana; and that the capital of Atropatia (Aderbigian) is midway between Artaxata and Ecbatana. And finally, that it lay in the road from Nineveh to Rages, or Rey. (Tobit, ch. v. and vi.)

For the account of the foundation, as well as the description, of Ecbatana, the reader is referred to Herodotus, Clio, 98; Polybius, lib. x. Ex. 4.; Diodorus, lib. ii. c. 1.; and to the book of Judith, ch. i. ver. 2.

name of Rey, by the Mahomedans; and which was one of the largest and finest cities of the East, but is now a mass of ruins 5. This province is moreover famous for being the place of captivity of the ten tribes, or rather that part of them which was carried away by the Assyrians of Nineveh .

5 The ruins of two cities of the name of Rey are noticed by travellers, in the plain, at about 50 miles to the west of the Caspian strait; which was the position of Rages. For Rages, see Tobit, throughout; Strabo, 524, 525; and Polybius, lib. x. Ex. 4.

6 See section XV.

SECTION XII.

THE SATRAPIES CONTINUED.

Caspian and Hyrcanian provinces; and Dahestan-Bows made of Bamboo-Eastern Armenia and Matiene-Colchians not subjected to tribute, but present gratuities-attend Xerxes as auxiliaries-Caucasus, the limit of the Persian power—contains an infinite number of languages-Western Armenia peopled by Phrygians-Mines of gold, silver, lead, copper, and iron, in Mount Taurus-Vallies of Sophene and Diarbekir—Tribes along the south-east coast of the Euxine-Chalybes and Mosynœcians-Mardi, or Anthropophagi-Persia Proper; its tribes emancipated from tribute by CYRUS-Pasagardæ and Persepolis-Artæi, a name of the Persians-Germanians, or Carmanians-Sagartii taken for a tribe from Zagatai-Sarangæans the Euergetæ of Cyrus and the Greeks-Utians, or Uxians-The Persians-the flower of the army of XerxesIslands of the Persian gulf; their various uses-Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians-Bactrians-Sacæ, distinguished warriors; conquered by Cyrus-Ethiopians of Asia— Indians-vast tribute levied on them; and in gold-Herodotus knew few particulars of India, and misrepresented the natives of it-Vindication of their characters; as well from ancient Authors as from the conduct of Alexander-The Ganges not known to Herodotus-his Padæi, the same with the Gangarida of others-Calanus, the friend and companion of AlexanderDeath of Calanus, on a funeral pile-Indian widow burns herself with the body of her husband, in the camp of EumenesAggregate sum of the tribute-Proportions of gold to silver -The southern nations recruited from Caucasus, from remote