Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/574

562 PSAMMITICHUS. twelve kings reigned for a time in perfect harmony, and executed some great works in common, among which was the wonderful labj'rinth near the lake Moeris. But an oracle had predicted, that who- ever should pour a libation out of a brazen helmet in the temple of Hephaestus should become king of Egypt. Now it came to pass, that as the twelve kings were assembled on one occasion in the temple of Hephaestus, the priest, by accident, brought out only eleven golden goblets, and Psammitichus, who happened to be standing last, took off his brazen helmet, and used it as a sub- stitute. The other kings, thinking that the oracle had been fulfilled by Psammitichus, stript him of his power, and drove him into the marshes. In these difficulties he sent to consult the oracle of Leto at Buto, and was told, " that vengeance would come by brazen men appearing from the sea." This answer staggered his faith, but no long time afterwards word was brought to him, that brazen men had landed from the sea, and ■were plundering the country. These were Ionian and Carian pirates, who were dressed in an entire suit of brazen armour, which appears to have been unknown in Egypt. Believing that these were the men whom the oracle had foretold, he took them into his service, and with their aid conquered the other eleven kings, and became sole ruler of Egypt. (Herod, ii. 149—152.) The account of Herodotus, as Mr. Grote remarks, bears evident marks of being the genuine tale which he heard from the priests of Hephaestus, however little sa- tisfactory it may be in an historical point of view. Diodorus (i. 66, 67) makes a more plausible his- torical narrative, which, however, is probably a corruption, by the later Greeks, of the genuine story. According to him, Psammitichus was king of Sais, and by his possession of the sea-coast, was enabled to carry on a profitable commerce with the Phoenicians and Greeks, by which he acquired so much wealth that his colleagues became jealous of him, and conspired against him. Psammitichus raised an army of mercenaries from Arabia, Caria, and Ionia, and defeated the other kings near Mo- memphis. Polyaenus (vii. 3) gives another version of the story about the Carian mercenaries. But whatever may have been the way in which Psammitichus obtained possession of the kingdom, there can be no doubt that Greek mercenaries ren- dered him most important assistance, and that he relied mainly upon them for preserving the power which he had gained by force. He accordingly provided for them a settlement on the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile, a little below Bubastis, the lonians on one side of the river, cand the Carians on the other ; and as the place, where they were stationed, was fortified, it was called Stratopeda^ or the Camps. In order to facilitate intercourse be- tween the Greeks and his other subjects, Psammi- tichus ordered a number of Egyptian children to live with them, that they might learn the Greek language ; and from them sprung the class of interpreters (Herod, ii. 154). Strabo tells us (xvii. p. 801) that it was in the reign of Psammi- tichus that the Milesians, with a fleet of thirty ships, sailed up the Canopic or western branch of the Nile, and founded the city of Naucratis, which became one of the great eraporia for commerce. It is certainly untrue that the Milesians founded Naucratis, as the city was of Egyptian origin ; and it appears to have been the opinion of Herodotus PSELLUS. that the Greeks first settled at Naucratis in the reign of Aniasis. Still there are several circum- stances which lead us to conclude that the Greeks had settled at Nauci-fitis before the reign of the latter monarch, and it is therefore very probable that the western branch was opened in the reign of Psammitichus, for purposes of commerce. It appears, likewise, from the writers of the Old Tes- tament, that many Jews settled in Egypt about this time. (Is. xix. 18 ; Jer. xliv. 1.) The employment of foreign mercenaries by Psam- mitichus appears to have given great offence to the military caste in Egypt, and the king, relying on his Greek troops, did not consult the feelings and wish(!s of the native soldiery. It had been the previous practice to station the Egyptian troops on actual service at three different places : at Daphne, near Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, at Marea on the north-western frontier, and at Elephantine on the southern or Ethiopian frontier. As Psammi- tichus had no need of their services on the eastern frontier, which was guarded by his Greek mer- cenaries, he stationed a greater number than usual at the two other posts, and let them remain there unrelieved for the space of three years. Indignant at this treatment, and also because they were assigned a less honourable place in the line of battle than the Greek mercenaries, they emigrated in a body of 240,000 men, into Ethiopia, where settlements were assigned to them by the Ethiopian king (Herod, ii. 30 ; Diod. i. 67). It must, there- fore, have been chiefly with his Ionian and Carian troops that Psammitichus carried on his wars against Syria and Phoenicia, with the hope of bringing those rich and fertile countries under his dominion, an object which was followed up by his son and successor Neco. It is related of Psammi- tichus that he laid siege to the city of Azotus (the Ashod of Scripture) for twenty-nine years, till he took it (Herod, ii. 157) ; and he was in Syria, when the Scythians were advancing against Egypt, and induced them by large presents to abandon their undertaking. (Herod, i. 105.) As Psammitichus had displeased a large portion of his subjects by the introduction of foreigners, he seems to have paid especial court to the priesthood. He built the southern propylaea of the temple of Hephaestus at Memphis, and a splendid aula, with a portico round it, for the habitation of Apis, in front of the temple (Herod, ii. 153). (On the reign of Psammitichus, see }leev(tr, African Nations. vol. ii. p. 385, &c. ; Bunsen, Aegyptens Stelle in der WeltgescUchte, vol. iii. p. 130, &c. ; Bockh, Manetho und die Hundstern-Periode, p. 341, &c.; Grote, Hist, of Greece, vol. iii, p. 429, &c.) 2. The father of Inaros, who defeated and slew Achaemenes, the son of Dareius Hystaspis. (Herod, vii, 7.) [Inaros.] PSAON (^awj/), of Plataeae, a Greek writer, who continued the history of Diyllus in 30 books. (Diod. xxi. 5, p. 490, ed. Wesseling ; Dionys. Comp. Verb. c. 4.) [Diyllus.] PSELLUS (VeAos). There are several Greek writers of this name, concerning whom Leo AUa- tius wrote a valuable dissertation, which was ap- pended by Fabricius to the fifth volume of his Bibliotheca Graeca, and is repeated by Harless in an abridged form, but with additions and corrections, in the second edition (vol. x. pp. 41, &c.). 1. Simon, surnaraed Psellus, though a Hebrew,