BELESIS

BELESIS, or NANYBRUS, said to have been the
founder of the ancient Babylonish empire, and in con-
junction with Arbaces the Mede to have put an end
to the kingdom of the Assyrians by the defeat and
death of Sardanapalus. This first prince is represented
as a crafty and mean-spirited knave; and, at the same
time, as nothing less than an hero. It is said, he was
base enough to circumvent Arbaces his colleague and
friend in the most shameful manner; by pretending a
vow he had, in the midst of the war, made to his god
Belus, That if success was the event of it, and the pa-
lace of Sardanapalus was consumed, as it was, he
would be at the charge and trouble of removing the
ashes that were left, to Babylon; where he would heap
them up into a mount near the temple of his god; there
to stand as a monument to all who should navigate the
Euphrates, of the subversion of the Assyrian empire.
He, it seems, had been privately informed, by an eu-
nuch, of the immense treasure which had been con-
sumed in the conflagration at Nineveh; and, knowing it
to be a secret to Arbaces, his avarice suggested to him
this artifice. Arbaces not only granted him his re-
quest; but appointed him king of Babylon, with an
exemption from all tribute. Belesis, by this artifice,
carried a prodigious treasure with him to Babylon;
but when the secret was discovered, he was called to an
account for it, and tried by the other chiefs who had
been assitant in the war, and who, upon his confession
of the crime, condemned him to lose his head. But
Arbaces, a magnanimous and generous prince, freely
forgave him, left him in possession of the treasure,
and also in the independent government of Babylon,
saying, The good he had done ought to serve as a veil
to his crime; and thus he became at once a prince of
great wealth and dominion.

In process of time, and under the successor of Ar-
baces, he became a man of dress, shew, and effeminacy,
unworthy of the kingdom or province he held. Nany-

brus, for so we must now call Belesis, understanding a
certain robust Mede, called Parfondas, held him in the
utmost contempt, and had solicited the emperor of the
Medes to divest him of his dominions, and to confer
them upon himself, offered a very great reward to the
man who should take Parfondas, and bring him to him.
Parfondas, hunting somewhere near Babylon with the
king of the Medes, and straggling from the company,
happened to fall in with some of the servants of the Ba-
bylonian Nanybrus, who had been tempted with the
promised reward. They were purveyors to the king;
and Parfondas being very thirsty, asked them for a
draught of wine, which they not only granted, but
prevailed upon him to take a meal with them. As he
drank freely, suspecting no treachery, he was easily
persuaded to pass that night in company with some
beautiful women, brought on purpose to detain him.
But, while he was in a profound sleep, the servants
of Nanybrus rushing upon him, bound him, and
carried him to their prince; who bitterly reproached
him for endeavouring to estrange his master the king
of the Medes from him, and by that means place him-
self in his room on the throne of Babylon. Parfon-
das did not deny the charge; but with great intrep-
idity owned, that he thought himself more worthy of a
crown than such an indolent and effeminate prince as
he was. Nanybrus, highly provoked at the liberty he
took, swore by the gods Belus and Molis, or rather
Mylitta, that Parfondas himself should in a short time
become so effeminate as to reproach none with effemi-
nacy. Accordingly, he ordered the eunuch who had
the charge of his music-women, to shave, paint, and
dress him after the manner of those women, to teach
him the art, and in short to transform him by all pos-
sible means into a woman. His orders were obeyed;
and the manly Parfondas soon exceeded the fairest fe-
male in singing, playing, and the other arts of allure-
ment.

In the mean time the king of the Medes, having in
vain fought after his favourite servant, and in vain of-
fered great rewards to such as should give him any in-
formation concerning him, concluded he had been de-
stroyed by some wild beast in the chase. At length,
after seven years, the Mede was informed of his fate
and condition by an eunuch, who, being cruelly scour-
ged by Nanybrus's order, fled, at the instigation of
Parfondas, into Media; and there disclosed the whole
to the king, who immediately dispatched an officer to
demand him. Nanybrus pretended to know nothing
of any such person; upon which, another officer was
sent by the Mede, with a peremptory order to seize on
Nanybrus if he persisted in the denial, to bind him with
his girdle, and lead him to immediate execution. This
order had the desired effect: the Babylonian owned
what he had before denied, promising to comply, with-
out further delay, with the king's demand; and in the
mean time invited the officer to a banquet, at which
150 women, among whom was Parfondas, made their
appearance, singing and playing upon various instru-
ments. But, of all, Parfondas appeared by far the most
charming; insomuch that Nanybrus inquiring of the
Mede, which he liked best, he immediately pointed at
him. At this the Babylonian clapt his hands; and,
falling into an immoderate fit of laughter, told him
who the person was whom he thus preferred to all the
rest;

rest; adding, that he could answer what he had done before the king of the Medes. The officer was no less surprised at such an astonishing change, than his master was afterwards, when Parfondas appeared before him. The only favour Parfondas begged of the king, for all his past services, was, that he would avenge on the Babylonian the base and highly injurious treatment he had met with at his hands. The Mede marched accordingly, at his instigation, to Babylon; and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Nanybrus, urging, that Parfondas had, without the least provocation, endeavoured to deprive him of both his life and kingdom, declared that in ten days time he would pass the sentence on him which he deserved, for presuming to act as judge in his own cause, instead of appealing to him. But Nanybrus having in the mean time gained with a large bribe Mitraperthes the Mede's favourite eunuch, the king was by him prevailed upon to sentence the Babylonian only to a fine; which made Parfondas curse the man who first found out gold, for the sake of which he was to live the sport and derision of an effeminate Babylonian.