Kitap 23
6.35
The number of Magi of this origin in old times was very small, and the Persian potentates made regular use of their services in the worship of their gods. And it was sin to approach an altar, or touch a sacrificial victim, before one of the Magi, with a set form of prayer, poured the preliminary libations. But they gradually increased in number and became a strong clan, with a name of their own; they possessed country residences, which were protected by no great walls,I.e. without walls. and they were allowed to live in accordance with their own laws, and through respect for religion were held in high esteem.
6.36
From this seed of the Magi, as the ancient records relate, seven men after the death of Cambyses mounted the Persian throne, but (we are told), they were overthrown by the party of Darius, who made himself king by the neighing of a horse.The seven men were those who conspired against the usurper Smerdis in 512 B.C., one of whom was Darius. They agreed that the one whose horse neighed first should be king. By a trick of his groom Oebares, Darius was chosen and reigned until 485 B.C. None of the other six mounted the throne. See Hdt. iii. 70 ff.
