king of Egypt, ascended the throne B.C. 569, and commenced his reign with the death of his former master Apries. King Apries having sent an army to the assistance of the Libyans, which was totally routed, and great multitudes put to death, the common people conceived the idea, that the tyrannical prince had sent them to the field of battle, for no other purpose but to destroy great numbers of them, so he might reign over the remainder with uncontrolled oppression. The consequence was, that a general insurrection arose, and all the multitude were in an uproar. Informed of this tumult, Apries sent Amasis, whom he deemed one of his most faithful adherents; but instead of endeavouring to reconcile the disaffected people to their prince, he secured them to his own interest; and while he was pretending to reproach their disloyalty, and endeavouring to recall them to duty, a folder stepped in behind him, and placing a helmet upon his head, saluted him king of Egypt. Amasis instantly took the field against his royal master, and prepared to drive him from his throne. Apprised of the treachery of Amasis, he sent another in whom he confided, to bring Amasis before him, to give an account of his conduct. This messenger met him on horseback, and having delivered his message, Amasis after some insolent behaviour, replied, that he was preparing to visit the king, but thought it proper to bring a suitable equipage to attend him. When the messenger hastened back to inform his master, that he might consult for himself, his only reward was to have his ears and nose cut off, by the order of the tyrant, because he brought not Amasis along with him. In this, as in numerous other instances, tyranny procured its own destruction; for the rest of the nobles who still remained obedient to the king, seeing the barbarous manner in which he had treated the messenger, they all went over to the standard of the usurper. Now all the nation was in commotion. The usurper on the one hand, with the whole body of the natives marshalled under his banner, and the tyrant on the other hand, with a body of foreigners and mercenaries, which he had engaged in his service. The two armies met in a field in the vicinity of Memphis, and the tyrant was made captive and his forces defeated. The usurper treated the captive tyrant with great lenity and respect, and assigned him the palace of Saïs for his confinement. But the hatred of the people was too violent towards their old king, to permit him to live; Amasis was therefore forced to deliver him into their hands, and they instantly put him to death by strangling him.

The plebeian extraction of Amasis deprived him for some time of that respect, to which he was entitled as a prince; but observing this, he contrived a stratagem to induce them to pay him suitable honour. He ordered a golden cistern, in which his visitants were accustomed to wash their feet, to be melted and cast in the form of a god, and set it up in the most frequented part of the city, and all the inhabitants did it homage. He then called an assembly of the people, and reminded them, that the gold they now venerated in the form of a god, was once a cistern, and consequently that although he was formerly a person of low rank, yet now that he was their king, they ought to give him the respect and homage due to his station.

Having by this means provided for the gratification of his vanity, he began to exert himself to act for the general good of his people. It was his constant practice to attend to business in the mornings, and in the evenings he indulged in amusement and pleasure; but in these he sometimes tarnished the dignity of a king. Indeed Amasis loved his wine and his companion too much, previous to his elevation, that it is reported that he lived by theft, and when denying upon detection, he was carried to the oracle of the place, who sometimes condemned and sometimes acquitted him. Recollecting the conduct of the oracles after he ascended the throne, he conceived a disrespect for them, because they were not able at all times to detect his robberies.

To prevent the evil consequences of an indolent populace, he enacted a law, that every person, under the penalty of capital punishment, should appear before the governor of his respective province, and declare by what occupation he acquired his subsistence. Thus, under the prudent government of Amasis, Egypt enjoyed for many years, great fertility and extensive population. He also employed his industry in the erection of several public works; among which were a portico to the temple of Minerva at Saïs, and the removal of a house, all of one stone, to the temple. He also