For as the issue of such a marriage would join in one the claims of both royal houses, he would be sure to receive the support of all parties in the state.

Very shortly after the accession of Nabonadius (B.C.

555) he received an embassy from the far north-west.

An important revolution had occurred on the eastern frontier of Babylonia three years before, in the reign of Neriglissar; but its effects only now began to make themselves felt among the neighboring nations.

Had Cyrus, on taking the crown, adopted the policy of Astyages, the substitution of Persia for Media as the ruling Arian nation would have been a matter of small account.