Hreodotus and Xenophon are our main authorities, though not to be fully relied upon. Of modern works Rawlinson’s Ancient Monarchies and Rawlinson’s Herodotus are the most valuable. Ragozin has written interesting books on Media, Persia, Assyria, and Chaldæa, making special note of the researches of European travellers in the East. Fergusson, Layard, Sayce, and George Smith have shed light on all this ancient region. Johnson’s work is learned but indefinite. Benjamin is the latest writer on the history of Persia; but a satisfactory life of Cyrus has yet to be written.
