Studies in Ancient Persian History. By P. Kershasp. (Kegan Paul,
Trench, and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)—The motto awl); alteram partem is always receiving now applications. We have all been brought up on the Greek story of Persian affairs ; Mr. Kershasp bide us hear the Persian. Ho boldly denies the fact of the two invasions. "They must be relegated to the realm of fiction, or at the most regarded as insignificant skirmishes on the outskirts of the Empire." There is a courage in this which entitles him to rank with Hardouin himself, who thought the classics forgeries, and with Mr. Christie, who denied the very existence of the ancient Jews. Of course, a good deal more must go if the Persian Wars disappear from history. It becomes difficult, for instance, to account for the Delian Confederacy, and the Greek politics of the latter decades of the fifth century become unintelligible. If Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea are figments, we must revise our ideas about the peace of Antalcidas and the Persian element generally in Greek affairs. The career of Alexander, too, becomes impossible. There is, in fact, no end to the havoc which is wrought in history.
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