Histories

The question was at once propounded: Whom should they make king? Then every man was loud in putting Deioces forward and praising Deioces, until they agreed that he should be their king.

He ordered them to build him houses worthy of his royal power, and strengthen him with a bodyguard. The Medes did so. They built him a big and strong house wherever in the land he indicated to them, and let him choose a bodyguard out of all the Medes.

And having obtained power, he forced the Medes to build him one city and to fortify and care for this more strongly than all the rest. The Medes did this for him, too. So he built the big and strong walls, one standing inside the next in circles, which are now called Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, AsiaEcbatana.[*](Modern Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, Asia Hamadan, probably; but see Rawlinson's note.)

This fortress is so designed that each circle of walls is higher than the next outer circle by no more than the height of its battlements; to which plan the site itself, on a hill in the plain, contributes somewhat, but chiefly it was accomplished by skill.

There are seven circles in all; within the innermost circle are the palace and the treasuries; and the longest wall is about the length of the wall that surrounds the city of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.[*](About eight miles, according to a scholiast's note on Thucyd. ii. 13; but this is disputed.) The battlements of the first circle are white, of the second black, of the third circle purple, of the fourth blue, and of the fifth orange:

thus the battlements of five circles are painted with colors; and the battlements of the last two circles are coated, the one with silver and the other with gold.