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[10] From this place they marched one
stage, six parasangs, to a great stronghold,
deserted and lying in ruins. The name of this city
was Mespila,* and it was once inhabited by the
Medes. The foundation of its wall was made of
polished stone full of shells, and was fifty feet
in breadth and fifty in height.
[11] Upon this foundation was built a
wall of brick, fifty feet in breadth and a hundred
in height; and the circuit of the wall was six
parasangs. Here, as the story goes, Medea, the
king's wife,** took refuge at the time when the
Medes were deprived of their empire by the
Persians.
[12] To this city also the king of the
Persians laid siege, but he was unable to capture
it either by length of siege or by storm; Zeus,
however, terrified the inhabitants with thunder,
and thus the city was taken.
* = Nineveh, the famous capital of the Assyrian
Empire. It was captured by the Medes around 600 BC
and it remained under the control of the Medes
until the Median Empire was in its turn overthrown
by the Persians in 549 B.CE.
**Astyages, the last king of Media.
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