was 61 years old at the taking of Babylon, at which time
Darius the Mede was 62 years old according to Daniel, &
therefore Darius was two generations younger then Asty-
ages the grandfather of Cyrus. For Astyages by the
common consent of Herodotus & Xenophon 1 gave his
daughter Mandane to Cambyses a Prince of Persia,
& by then became the grandfather of Cyrus, & Cyaxer[es]
was the son of Astyages (according to Xenophon 2 ) &
gave his daughter to Cyrus. This daughter, saith
Xenophon, was reported to be very handsome & used
to play with Cyrus when they were both Children,
& to say that she would marry him, & therefore
they were much of the same age. Xenophon saith
that Cyrus married her after the taking of Babylon,
but she was then an old woman. It's more probable
that he married her while she was young & handsom,
& he a young man; & that being the kings son in
law he led the armies of the kingdom till the taking
of Babylon untill he revolted from Darius. So then Astyages,
Cyaxeres & Darius reigned successively over the Medes & Cyrus was
the grandson of Astyages, & married the sister of Darius [&] succeeded [him] \& married the sister of Darius & succeeded him. /

⨳ < insertion from f 104v > Herodotus has inverted [ ¹ ] the order of the kings Astyages & Cyaxeres making
Astyages the father of Mandane to be the son & successor of Cyaxeres.
Xenophon has restored the right order & Daniel has added the true
name of their successor Darius ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ < text from f 105r resumes > Herodotus has inverted the order of the kings Astyages [&]
Cyaxeres, putting Astyages after \making Astyages the father of Mandane to [b] be the son & successor of Astyages / Cyaxeres. Xenophon has restored the
right order, & Daniel had |s| added the true name of th[e]ir
successor Darius# < insertion from f 104v > Or rather Herodotus has named the elder son of Cyaxeres instead of the younger. For
Yet Cyaxeres had a son named Astyages & this son married Ariene
the daughter of Aliattes king of Lydia according to Herodotus: but was not the father of Mandane nor was conquer[e]d by Cyrus. For at his marriage
with Ariene (w^ch was in the year of the total Eclips of the Sun Anno Nabona[ss]
147) He could scarce be less then [30] twenty years old & therefore at the taking
of Babylon must have bee[n] 82 years old \or [a]bove/: whereas Darius was then but 62
years old. Daruis was therefore the younger brother of Astyages & might
succeed him in the [K | k]ingdom. For Pausa[ni]as 3 tells us that Astyages the son
of Cyaxares [sic] reigned in Media in the days of Alyattes king of Lydia.
But whether the younger Astyages reigned \a while/ or died before his father [m]ay
be questioned since Æschylus [he] who lived in those times has [o]mitted him. Cyaxe
res according to Herodotus reigned 40 years & his successor 35, & by this
Cyrus according accor to Xenophon seven. And by this recconing Astyages
the elder reigned 20 years & Cyaxeres began his reign Anno Nabonass.
137 & was contemporary to Nebuchadnezzar who married his sister &
assisted him in his wars; a |A|nd Darius began his reign anno Nabonass
177. For Cyrus dies anno [N]abonass. 219. And by reason of the long
reign of Cyaxeres, his son Astyages \either/ died before him, Or if he came
to the throne he left it quickly to his younger brother Darius. Cyrus died anno Nabonass 219, & therefore Cyaxeres died anno Nabonass
177 & began his reign anno Nabonass 137, & \his father/ Astyages reigned 26 years
beginning with \his reign at/ the death of Phraortes who was slain by the assyrians
about 28 years before [illeg] Cyaxeres [slew] the [Scythians] & took Nineveh. |anno Nabonass. 111 as above. By reason of [the] long reign of Cyaxeres, | his son Astyages might dye before
|him, | or if he came to the throne he soon left it to his younger brother Darius[. ]
I call them brothers because Darius according to Æschylus was the son
of Cyaxeres \of the first great warrior of the Medes. /, & according to Daniel, the son of Assuerus.
< text from f 105r resumes > . Cyaxeres according to Herodotus 4 reigned 40
years & his successor 35, & Cyrus according to Xenophon ~
[seven]. [ And if from the 3 |2|9 years usually ascribed by the Greeks \Herodotus/ to the reign of Cyrus you subduct these seven years, there
will remain 2[ 1 |2| ] years for the reign of Astyages without
altering the duration of the kingdom assigned by Herodotus. ] And \ [illeg] that Astyages was the name both of the father of Asty Cyaxeres who reigned, & of the son of Cyaxeres who [married] \A[rnanda] / the daughter of [Alyattes] but reigned not. For at [his] marriage with A [illeg] |ri| [illeg] [ene] (w^ch was in the year of the great Eclips \of the sun/ Anno Nabonass. 147) he could scarce be less then 20 years old, & therefore, at the taking of Babylon must have been above 82 years old. Whereas Darius was then but 62 years old. And therefore I had rather say that Astyages was then dead, & that Darius was ~ either the younger son of Cyaxeres, or [illeg] his grandson by Astyages & Ariene, born the year after [their] marriage. marriage. Cyaxeres according to Herodotus reigned 40 years & his successor 35, & Cyrus according to Xenophon [seven] / |And| according to this recconing \Astyages reigned 26 years &/ Cyaxeres will begi |a|n his reign anno
Nabonass. 13 [9] |7| & be \was/ contemporary to Nebuchadnezzar who married
his sister & assit |s|ted him in his warrs \And Darius began his reign Anno Nabonass. 1[4 | 7]7. /. |For Cyrus died anno Nabon. 219 And by reason of the long reign of Cyaxeres his son Astyages died before him. Or if he came to the throne he [let] it quickly to his younger brother Darius. |

Of all the kings of the Medes Cyaxeres was the greatest
warrior. Herodotus 5 saith that he was much more valiant then
his ancestors, & that he was the first who divided the kingdom into
Provinces & reduced the irregular & undisciplined forces of the
Medes into discipline & order. And therefore by the testimony of
Herodotus he was that king of the Medes whom Æschylus makes
the first conquerer & founder of the Empire. For Herodotus makes \represents/
him & Astyages \to have been/ the two immediate predecessors of Cyrus, erroneous
ly putting Astyages in the room of Darius. For Astyages being
the grandfather of Cyrus we |a|s certainly \two generations older then Darius & by consequence he was/ the predecessor & father
of A Cyaxeres as is affirmed by Xenophon. This king d[i]d nothing
glorious. In his reign or in the end of his predecessors, a great
body of Scythians commanded by Madyes invaded Media beat the
6 Medes in battel & brought them into subjection & going thence
towards Egypt were met in Phœnicia & bought off by
Psammiticus & returning infested the kingdom of the Medes |& [Parthia] as above & reigned there about 28 years. Whence its probable that [Astyages] might reign near [2]8 [y]ears. But at length his son Cyaxeres as was said above circumvented & [slew] their captains in a feast & made the rest fly to their brethren in Parthia, & immediately |