BABYLON AND PERSIA

330 MEDIA, BABYLON, AND PERSIA.likely that it should have been celebrated, as a^ mat¬ter of religion, even at the last extremity.26. Kyros could not linger in any one part of hisempire, which was now the most extensive the worldhad ever seen. Yet he spent several months atBabylon, ordering, conciliating, rewarding, and doingall that the most enlightened statesmanship coulddictate to establish his rule, not on the fears, but thegratitude and security of his new subjects. There isnothing that wins a people so rapidly and surely asrespect shown to its religion. Kyros, therefore, didnot scruple to sacrifice in the temples and to thegods of the ancient imperial city, calling himself, aswell as his son KAMBUJIYA (Kambyses), the " wor¬shipper of Marduk the great Lord," and "daily topray to Marduk and Nebo," on behalf of himself andhis son, for length of days and success. As for moresolid tokens of gratitude and favor, we find no recordof such, but it is ea.sy to imagine that, in the flush ofhis easy victory, the conqueror could not be anything but generous to those who had smoothed theway for him. We can infer as much from the royalmagnificence with which he rewarded the Jews fortheir assistance. He delivered them from theirbondage, bade them return to their' own country andthere rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, for whichpurpose he gave them a grant of timber in the Leb¬anon, and restored to them all the sacred gold andsilver vessels which Nebuchadrezzar had carriedaway and distributed among the templet of Babylon.He made a public proclamation to the effect thatsuch was his pleasure, enjoining on all men to help