|
Cyrus was now reduced to great perplexity, as time went on and he made
no progress against the place. In this distress either some one made
the suggestion to him, or he bethought himself of a plan, which he
proceeded to put in execution. He placed a portion of his army at the
point where the river enters the city, and another body at the back of
the place where it issues forth, with orders to march into the town by
the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow enough: he
then himself drew off with the unwarlike portion of his host, and made
for the place where Nitocris dug the basin for the river, where he did
exactly what she had done formerly: he turned the Euphrates by a canal
into the basin, which was then a marsh, on which the river sank to
such an extent that the natural bed of the stream became fordable.
Hereupon the Persians who had been left for the purpose at Babylon by
the, river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to
reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had
the Babylonians been apprised of what Cyrus was about, or had they
noticed their danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to
enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly; for they would
have made fast all the street-gates which gave upon the river, and
mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream, would so have
caught the enemy, as it were, in a trap. But, as it was, the
Persians came upon them by surprise and so took the city. Owing to
the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as
the residents at Babylon declare) long after the outer portions of the
town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were
engaged in a festival, continued dancing and revelling until they
learnt the capture but too certainly. Such, then, were the
circumstances of the first taking of Babylon.
|
|