BABYLON AND PERSIA

240 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.monarch, the great capital had been taken thrice byforce of arms, once after a long siege.12. It is curious that the works which we know tohave been carried out by Nebuchadrezzar shouldhave been credited by the Greeks of almost the nextgeneration not to him, but to two queens, one ofthem entirely fabulous, even mythical, and the other,if not exactly unreal, still more or less apocryphal.The legend of Semiramis (see " Story of Assyria,"p. 198) ascribes to her the building of Babylon gen¬erally, the construction of the hanging gardens, thegreat walls, the temple of Bel, and the bridge.He¬rodotus, on the other hand (Book I., 184- 1 86), claimsthe latter, as well as the basin at Sippar, and theturning of the Euphrates, for a certain queen,Nitokris, of whom contemporary records knownothing whatever.This perversion of history is themore to be wondered at, that there certainly wasintercourse between Babylon and Greece at thetime, since we know of Greek volunteers serving inNebuchadrezzar's army, and among these of at leastone illustrious namea brother of the poet Alkman.13. The pride which Nebuchadrezzar took in thecity wellnigh created by him, has become proverbialfrom the celebrated passage in which the prophetDaniel presents the lifelike picture of the king walk¬ing upon the terraces of his palace, surveying theunspeakably gorgeous prospect around him and athis feet, and exclaiming :" Is not this great Babylon,which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, bythe might of my power, and for the glory of mymajesty?"How well these words, reported by the