The Garden of Wisdom Book 2, Part 12 – Part 13
¶ Of Darius kynge of the Persians.
After the death of Cambyses, the chief lordes assembled togither and began to consulte, whome they might beste make theyr hed & kynge. Seuen were appointed to deliberat vponupon thys moste weyghtye matter. Fyrst, stode vp Otanes, & coūsayled, that no mo kynges shulde be chosen, but that by leage and sure cōfederacie made betwene them, all the lordes myght rule alyke, so shuld libertie be maynteyned and kept one eueryevery syde and eueryevery mā at fredom. For before, it was wel proued by examples, that where one man is Lorde of so many, and so great thynges, he maye easyly be to proude and hawtye, and sone growe out of kynde and degendre vntounto tyrannye, euen as nowe of late it was seen of Cambyses.
After hym stode vp Megabysus, whyche disalowynge thys counsayle of Otanes, affyrmed, that suche lybertie was moche more hurtfull and pestiferous to the comon weale, then tyrannye shuld be. For noble men and cities yf they lacke a lorde and hedde they can not but abuse thys libertye vntounto priuate offection and lust. But to thentent no suche thynge shulde ensue, his counsayle and aduise was, not to chose some one Kynge, but to appointe certayne noble men, wyth whom mighte alwayes remayne the tytle, prerogatyue, and ryght of the Imperiall power.
The sentences of these bothe, the thyrd lord named Darius disalowed & coūsayled to chouse one kynge. For albeit in thys kynde of gouernaunce lyke as in al other humane thynges, many and greate incōmodities maye chaunce, yet no rule, no gouernaunce is so stable, so sure, as is a monarchie that is to saye, where one ruleth in whose handes is put the charge of the hole kyngdom. Uerily albeit these thre counsayles be all bothe honeste and good, yet yf they be compared togyther, sure it is, that nothynge can be founde eyther fayrer or more profytable then the gouernaunce of one person called a Monarchie, for as moche as it moste resembleth the diuine and heuenly kyngdome of God. Furthermore it can not be, that concorde can longe be kepte amonges free prynces & cities, or there, where to the administration of a moste ample and myghty empyre, be a sorte of lordes chosen in lieu of one Kynge, and that bycause of the diuersitie of moste graue and wyghtye affayres, which euer amonge, in so large a dominion shulde chaunce, vponupon whych ye princes shulde not euer agree within them selfes. Besydes all thys, there shulde not want also amonges these selfe princes an inordinat studie and desyre of dignitie & dominion aboue the reste, ouer whom some one wold labour to hauehave power as ouer hys subiectes or iferiours. And these were in effecte the causes, whyche Darius brought forthe for the proue of hys purpose, vntounto whych the other foure prynces subscribed, and so at laste it was determyned after the olde vsage to chouse a kynge. But least any dissentiō might aryse betwen ye seuē princes, they thought it best, to committe the lotte of the election vntounto God. It was a greed vponupon, that vponupon a mornynge very erly the prynces on horsbacke shulde mete togyther at a certaine place, & that he whose horse first neyghed, shuld be forthwith proclaymed king. The princes retourned eueryevery one to hys home. Darius shewed the counsayle and determination of the princes vntounto the Stuard of hys howse, who forthwith toke the mater vponupon hym, to brynge hys lordes purpose to good passe. Wherfore the euenynge before the daye appoynted, he bryngeth hys lordes horse and a mare vntounto the place appoynted, and there commytted the horse and mare togyther, to thentent, that the nexte mornynge, the place knowē, the horse myghte for desyre of the mare, which then shulde be absent, neyghe accordynge to hys propertie.
The mornynge ensuynge, accordyng to thappoyntmēt, at the howre prescribed, yt sayd princes do marche forward on horsbacke vntounto the sayd place. They were not soner there, but loo forthwith Darius horse begynneth to neyghe, and that they shulde not doubt, but it was the diuine prouidence of God to hauehave Darius to theyr kynge, incontinent in an open and clere wether without any maner tempest, it both lyghtened and thondered whyle the horse neyghed. By and by the other princes leapynge of from theyr horses exhibited vntounto Darius kyngly honours, and saluted hym kynge. Thus by thys accasyon was Darius auaunced to the kyngdome and empyre of the Perssans, whyche he afterwarde wyth hyghe prayse administred.
Kyng Darius was wont in prayse of hym selfe to saye, that by warres & aduersities, he was made the wyser and more prudent. Certeynlye, though this be comōly true, for experiēce is mother of prudence, yet suche prudence & wysedom cost the comon weale moch. Warres for defence of ye coūtrey be necessary & moch to be preferred afore cowardly peax & quiete. And agayne, I graunte, suche troubles and stormes do engendre wysdome and experience of thynges. But doubtles, out of the case of necessitie farre better it were and also moche more godly, to fetche wisedom out of wyse mens bookes, then to gather wretched prudence wyth experimentes and suche hasardes as putte the hole countrey in daunger.
The same Darius, whē he had imposed layd & a tribute vpō his subiectes, he sent sodeynly for hys collectours, and asked them, whether the trybute whyche he had assesed, semed to greuouse and ouerchargeable to the commons. When they aunswered that it semed meane and indyfferent, he cō maunded they shulde demaunde but the half of yt which was assessed. The prudent kyng in dede intended at the begynning to hauehave had nomore. But yf he shuld hauehave taxed thē forthwyth at nomore, he perceyued they shulde not hauehave bene so wel wylling to hauehave payde it, as they were now, when he assesed them at the double and after released them of the one halfe.
When thys kynge had cut a very great pome granate, one asked hym, of what thynge he wolde wyshe to hauehave so greate a nōbre as there were graynes or kernels, he aunswered, of zopyres. Thys zopyre was the sonne of Megabyses, which was one of the sayd seuen princes, a very good man, & a ryght trusty and assured frend to kyng Darius. Signifyeng by thys, that to a kyng nothynge ought to be dearer nor more preciouse, thē good & faithful frendes. This zopire dyd cut of hys owne nose & eares, & so, not be yng aknowen whom he was, fledde away, like a fugitiue person, vntounto the Babiloniās, which at yt time were at mortal warre wt kyng Darius, faynynge that he was most cruelly hand led of Darius. The Babiloniās beleuyng hym, & beyng persuaded by his colorable wordes, that hys tale was true, espyeng him a very wyse & hardye mā, made him one of theyr chiefe captaynes. He sekyng his occasion, delyuered vp ye hole cytie of Babylō vntounto Darius. After which feate, Darius was accustomed oftētimes to say yt he had rather hauehave one zopyre hole & soūde, thē to cōquere an hūdred Babylones Babylon at that tyme was a cytie moste floryshyng, & flowynge full of all richesse, yet preferred he one frende, afore an hundred Babylones.
¶ Of quene Semiramis.
SEmiramis quene of ye Cariās which is cronicled to hauehave buylded Babylon, caused to be wrytten vpō her tōbe this saynge: What kynge so euer shall hauehave nede of money, let hym open my graue & take so moche, as he woll desyre. Darius after he had wonne the citie, gyuynge credite to the tytle, wyth moch ado at last remouyug awaye ye great stone, wherwyth the graue was couered, money he foūde none at all, but on the other syde of ye stone, he founde thys inscripciou. Onles thou haddest bene an euell man & wyth money vnsatisfyable, thou woldest neuer hauehave moued the graues of the deade.