The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3)

and to the eastern parts of the country. Alexander burnt the palace at Persepolis, to avenge the Greeks, whose temples and cities the Persians had destroyed by fire and sword.

7. He next came to Pasargadæ,[454] which also was an ancient royal residence. Here he saw in a park the tomb of Cyrus. It was a small tower, concealed within a thick plantation of trees solid below, but above consisting of one story and a shrine which had a very narrow opening; Aristobulus says, he entered through this opening, by order of Alexander, and decorated the tomb. He saw there a golden couch, a table with cups, a golden coffin, and a large quantity of garments and dresses ornamented with precious stones. These objects he saw at his first visit, but on a subsequent visit the place had been robbed, and everything had been removed except the couch and the coffin which were only broken. The dead body had been removed from its place; whence it was evident that it was the act not of the Satrap,[455] but of robbers, who had left behind what they could not easily carry off. And this occurred although there was a guard of Magi stationed about the place, who received for their daily subsistence a sheep, and every month a horse.[456] The remote distance to which the army of Alexander had advanced, to Bactra and India, gave occasion to the introduction of many disorderly acts, and to this among others.

Such is the account of Aristobulus, who records the following inscription on the tomb. “O MAN, I AM CYRUS,[457] I ESTABLISHED THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND WAS KING OF ASIA. GRUDGE ME NOT THEREFORE THIS MONUMENT.”

Onesicritus however says that the tower had ten stories, that Cyrus lay in the uppermost, and that there was an inscription in Greek, cut in Persian letters, “I CYRUS, KING OF KINGS, LIE HERE.” And another inscription to the same effect in the Persian language.

8. Onesicritus mentions also this inscription on the tomb of Darius: “I WAS A FRIEND TO MY FRIENDS, I WAS THE FIRST OF HORSEMEN AND ARCHERS, I EXCELLED AS HUNTER, I COULD DO EVERYTHING.”

[CAS. 730] Aristus of Salamis, a writer of a much later age than these, says, that the tower consisted of two stories, and was large; that it was built at the time the Persians succeeded to the kingdom (of the Medes); that the tomb was preserved; that the above-mentioned inscription was in the Greek, and that there was another to the same purport in the Persian language.

Cyrus held in honour Pasargadæ, because he there conquered, in his last battle, Astyages the Mede, and transferred to himself the empire of Asia; he raised it to the rank of a city, and built a palace in memory of his victory.

9. Alexander transferred everything that was precious in Persis to Susa, which was itself full of treasures and costly materials; he did not, however, consider this place, but Babylon, as the royal residence, and intended to embellish it. There too his treasure was deposited.

They say that, besides the treasures in Babylon and in the camp of Alexander, which were not included in the sum, the treasure found at Susa and in Persis was reckoned to amount to 40,000, and according to some writers to 50,000, talents. But others say, that the whole treasure, collected from all quarters, and transported to Ecbatana, amounted to 180,000 talents, and that the 8,000 talents which Darius carried away with him in his flight from Media became the booty of those who put him to death.

10. Alexander preferred Babylon, because he saw that it far surpassed the other cities in magnitude, and had other advantages. Although Susis is fertile, it has a glowing and scorching atmosphere, particularly near the city, as he (Aristobulus?) says. Lizards and serpents at mid-day in the summer, when the sun is at its greatest height, cannot cross the streets of the city quick enough to prevent their being burnt to death midway by the heat. This happens nowhere in Persis, although it lies more towards the south.