The Old and the Restless - The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories by Robert J. Hagan

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8. Cambyses: Days of Wine and Roses
When Cyrus is killed in his war against the Massagetae, Cambyses accedes to the throne.
Like his predecessor, he is a king against which other kings might measure themselves, but as a
cautionary example. Herodotus, who usually refrains from outright judgments of his subjects,
plainly states his opinion that Cambyses is insane and an alcoholic several times in Book Three
(3.30, 3.37). He exhibits wanton cruelty towards humans, as in the taunting of the Egyptian king
Psammetichus, and even animals in his stabbing of a calf sacred to the Egyptians (3.14; 3.29).
His behavior does stand out amongst the Achaemenids in the Histories as exceedingly crazed
and mean and it is tempting to write it all off as an anomaly of nature. However, in between the
instances of violence and extraordinary despotism particular to Cambyses’ personality, we can
see intimations of the larger theme of the changing Persian identity. To sift out the latter will be
our goal in this section.
When we left the subject of the Persian relationship to wine (see p. 21-23), we had seen
the use of alcohol as a tool to take advantage of and subjugate foreign peoples. In Book Three we
see a continuance of this idea of wine as separating the civilized from the less civilized. When
Cambyses’ dignitaries approach the Ethiopians with the goal of preparing for an invasion, they
bring gifts, one of which is palm wine. Of the gifts given to the Ethiopian king, the wine is the
only one that pleases him, and is deemed “the one thing the Persians did better than them” (3.22).
Cambyses’ personal affinity for drinking aside, the encounter with the Ethiopians shows the
reader how far the Persians have advanced since their initial classification by Croesus’ advisor as
water-drinkers, eating only what can be gleaned from their poor earth (1.71). They are now the
proliferators of the beverage, and seem to be pretty good at making it as well, judging by the
Ethiopian king’s positive reaction. The meeting with the Ethiopians serves as a benchmark for