By Theseustoo

CHAPTER 6:  The Persians Revolt

Astyages was conferring with his astrologers in his throne room. On a large table the Magi had spread extensive charts of the heavens, which their tribe had painstakingly compiled over the course of many centuries. Explaining their analyses, they pointed out the meanings of the aspects between the various planets on these charts as they expounded their prognostications to their king. Currently an opposition to the planet Ares, the god of War, they felt, indicated a threat to the national security.
Suddenly the door burst open and a man whom Astyages instantly recognized as one of his spies, now dressed in a herald’s uniform, hurriedly entered the room, flanked by two guards. The spy threw himself to his knees at Astyages’ feet and touched the floor with his forehead in ritual abasement. The king was furious at the interruption,
“How dare you interrupt our conference?” the monarch demanded of the intruder; “If your reason is not a good one, your life will be forfeit!”
The spy trembled with fear; but he was undeterred and responded instantly, “The Persians are in revolt Majesty; I have come as quickly as I could to warn you; Cyrus is raising an army…”
“What’s this?” Astyages was incredulous, “In revolt you say? Very well; you may keep your head. Now, you may take a message to Cyrus for me; he is to come at once to attend me here in Agbatana!”
“At once Sire!” The spy replied, and then swiftly bowed deeply, turned and left, to return immediately to Persia with the King’s message. When he had gone, Astyages turned round to address his servant.
“Harpagus! Tell the tribal princes to assemble their armies! And have my army assemble too; you will be Commander in Chief of this expedition; take the armies and slaughter these Persian rebels.” Then, with an evil glint in his eye, he added, “Show them no mercy!”
“At once Sire!” his servant replied. Harpagus could not conceal his delight; but he didn’t have to; the king, he knew, would undoubtedly interpret his visible pleasure simply as happiness at his promotion to the position of Commander in Chief of all the Median armies; and the chance to lead this most important expedition against Persia

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The message from Astyages was not unexpected; indeed Cyrus was well prepared for this ultimatum even before the herald delivered it. His response was instantaneous and very brief:
“Tell Astyages that I shall appear in his presence sooner than he will like!” he declared. Then, as soon as the spy had left the room, he turned to the captain of his guards, “Guard! Call the Assembly! To arms!”

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The ‘battle’ went just as Harpagus and the Princes of the Tribes had planned, much to the astonishment of Artabarzanes, the captain of the king’s own regiment. As the commanding officer of the king’s regiment he was one of very few of the Median king’s officers who had been kept ignorant of the princes’ plot. Even his own subordinate officers had known of the plan, he very soon realised, when they too deserted to the Persians. But these, he knew, were all good men, whose loyalty, not only to their country, but, he would have sworn, also their personal loyalty to himself as their commander, he would never have questioned… Yet they had kept this plot entirely secret from him. Of course; in retrospect, he realized that they really had no choice; his integrity was too well-known for the conspirators to risk being caught by attempting to subvert him.
As he watched the Median armies either feign fear and flee, or else desert en masse to their enemy, he knew he should be outraged at this betrayal, of himself as well as their country. Yet somehow, after the event, he found he could not bring himself to blame them; for he too thought of Astyages as a tyrant. Nonetheless he still felt just as bound to protect his king as he had always been by his sense of duty, as well as by his own personal sense of honour.
From earliest childhood he had been taught, like all noble Median men, that their loyalty was due first to the King, then to the people of Media and then to their own families. Yet, as he now witnessed the rout which was happening all around him, it occurred to him, even in the midst of battle, that most Medians were loyal to their families first, then to the people of Media, and only then to their king.
For what seemed like an age but which in reality was only a few minutes, Artabarzanes and his regiment bravely resisted the overwhelming Persian forces, armed with Assyrian bows and bronze-tipped arrows as well as long, bronze-tipped spears and short, wickedly-pointed daggers, also of sharpened bronze; and protected by their light wickerwork shields. The Persians, for their part, did their best to keep this small pocket of serious resistance busy without doing them any real damage, until they were finally ordered to lay down their arms by their own Commander in Chief, Harpagus, who soon arrived at the head of a large Median contingent, which had just been reinforced by a battalion of Persian troops.
When Artabarzanes and his men finally saw that Astyages’ forces had openly deserted to the Persians or else had feigned terror at the size of the Persian horde and fled, they quickly obeyed. Since further resistance was clearly futile, even Artabarzanes finally decided that discretion was the better part of valour and capitulated.
Though defeated, he felt that at least he had dishonoured neither himself, nor his position. But Artabarzanes knew that Harpagus too was a man of honour; and when he discovered that the purpose of the rebellion was to install a legitimate heir on the throne of Media, and not merely to advance the ambitions of either Harpagus or the tribal princes, he found that when given the choice, he could only support the new cause.

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