BABYLON AND PERSIA

314 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA,fire. And thus was Kroisos saved, and lived henceforth,more friend than prisoner, at the Persiancourt. Now this account bristles with incongruitiesand contradictions. In the first place such a pro¬ceeding is utterly inconsistent with the Persianhero's humane and magnanimous temper, and, be¬sides, we had just before been told that he had givenorder, before the city was taken, to spare the king inbattle. As for the torture and slaughter of fourteeninnocent boys, it is a cruelty which he cannot foia moment have contemplated. Then, again, as aZoroastrian, Kyros could not possibly commit suchan outrage on the most sacred element of fire, evenadmitting that the Zoroastrian religion, as professedby the Persians, was free from the exaggerated fireworshipintroduced by Median Magism. But if afallen foe, a great king, elected to die rather thanbear the ignominy of defeat and bondage, and choseto do so in a sacrificial ceremony sanctioned by thesacred traditions of his country, it was not thevictor's place to prevent him ; his very respect wouldforbid interference, while his presence at the solemnact would be meant as a mark of courtesy and ad¬miration. This then is the now generally acceptedexplanation of a statement which has long puzzledand, one may almo.st say, scandalized every studentof ancient history. Such royal sacrificesin theking's own person or that of his first-born sonwerefamiliar to Oriental religions and of not infrequentoccurrence; still less unusual was the .sacrifice ofyouths or children as expiatory offerings. Everything points to this explanation as the only correct