The History of Antiquity, Vol. 6 (of 6)

Near the new citadel and city, which Darius added to his home a few years later, he caused the place to be marked out in which his corpse should rest or be exposed. Two leagues to the north-west from the ruins of the citadel of Persepolis, on the further shore of the Pulwar, lies a steep wall of white marble, now called Naksh-i-Rustem, i. e. pictures of Rustem. At an elevation of 60 or 70 feet above the ground this wall is hewn and wrought. The lowest part of this work is a plain surface, which forms the basis for a façade of four pillars, which are cut out of the rock. The capitals, like those in the palaces of Persepolis, are formed of the fore-quarters of two kneeling horses united at the middle. Between the two central pillars is the case of a door. The heavy moulding which these pillars support passes into a toothed plinth, on which rises a sort of catafalque, where are two rows of men, each containing fourteen, in different dresses (among them are three negroes), who support a beam with upraised arms, on which a few steps lead up to a platform. On this stands Darius before an altar, the fire on which is flaming. The left hand rests on the bow which is planted on the platform, the right is raised in prayer. In the centre above the king hovers Auramazda in a winged circle; to the right the sun's disc is visible. The door of the façade does not seem to have been an entrance; but now the lower part of it is opened, and leads behind the façade into a long chamber, and three smaller ones, which are cut out of the mountain. Any one who wishes to have a near view of the façade must be drawn up, as Ctesias says that the parents of Darius were; the corpses also must have been drawn up, as we are told by Diodorus. On the façade under the form of the king we find the following inscription: "I, Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of the lands of all tongues, the king of the great and wide earth, the son of Hystaspes, the Achæmenid, the Persian, the son of a Persian, Ariya, scion of Ariya (in the Babylonia text we have only, a Persian, son of a Persian). Darius the king says: 'By the grace of Auramazda these are the lands which I governed beyond Persia; I ruled over them: they brought me tribute, they did what I commanded them: they obeyed my law: the Medes, Susians, Parthians, Areans, Bactrians, Sogdians, Chorasmians, Sarangians, Arachoti, Gedrosians, Gandarians, Indians, Amyrgian-Sacæ, Sacæ with pointed caps, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Cappadocia, the inhabitants of Sardis, the Ionians, the Sacæ beyond the sea, the Çkudra (the Thracians?) the Ionians who wear knots,449 the Putiya, the Kushiya, the Machiya, the Karka (p. 307). Auramazda gave me these lands when he saw them in rebellion, and granted to me the rule over them; by the grace of Auramazda I have again reduced them to order; what I told them, that was done, because it was my will. If thou thinkest: How many were the lands which Darius ruled? look on the picture of those who bear my throne, in order to know them. Then wilt thou know that the lance of the Persian penetrated far, that the Persian fought battles far from Persia. What I have done, I have accomplished by the grace of Auramazda: Auramazda came to my help, till I accomplished it; may Auramazda protect me, my house and my land. May Auramazda grant me that for which I pray. O man, resist not the command of Auramazda; leave not the right path; sin not.'"450 The mention of the "Knot-bearing" Ionians, and the Putiya (i. e. the Libyans), and the Sacæ beyond the sea on this inscription shows that it was engraved after the campaigns to the Danube and Barca, the subjection of Lemnos and Miletus, and the Greek cities on the coast of Thracia, i. e. after the year 512 B.C.; it was after this year that Darius caused his tomb to be constructed.451 On the frame of the façade, over the pillared portal, we find on each side three figures in long robes placed over each other. These are the six princes of the Persian tribes, the six chiefs of the empire after the king. Above the highest figure on the left of the king we read: "Gaubaruva (Gobryas) the Pateischorean, the lance-bearer of King Darius;"452 over the second "Açpachana (Aspathines), the bow-bearer of King Darius."453

The ruins of Susa and Persepolis, the only remains of ancient west Iranian architecture which have come down to us, show that it was indeed founded upon Babylonian and Assyrian patterns, but that it was by no means mere imitation. Neither in Ecbatana nor in Persepolis was the use of brick necessary; stone was at hand; and even in Susa, at a distance of 50 miles from the mountains, stone was used. The ruins give evidence of a skill in smoothing and fitting the stones, which can only have been attained by long practice. If the platform, on which the buildings rest, belongs to the Babylonian and Assyrian style, the ruins of Persepolis and Susa nevertheless exhibit a perfectly independent style, which seems to have arisen out of an earlier practice of building in wood, and a peculiar manner of treating the ornamentation. We have seen that the plan of the palace at Ecbatana presupposed the use of wood, that the pillars there were wooden posts covered with precious metals. In Persepolis stone took the place of wood. The outer walls of the building are strong, the blocks and mouldings over the windows and doors are high and massive, but along with this massiveness, strength, and permanence, the buildings show a tendency to run into great height. The pillars are slender, reminding us of tent-posts; though of more than 60 feet in height they have a diameter of only four feet, and the inter-columniations are often more than 30 feet. The socles and capitals (which are either the fore-quarters of horses or bulls or inverted cups) are high and delicate. The socles do not project far, the capitals are slender; the buildings, which were covered by roofs of beams, overlaid no doubt with plates of gold and silver, thus acquired, along with their solidity, the impression of imposing elevation and delicate lightness. The sculptures also are distinguished from those of Babylon and Assyria, not merely by the fact that they are carried out in harder material, but they have also greater repose in the expression, the figures are less compressed, the muscles less prominent, the development of the forms more noble and free, the fall of the folds simple and natural. Animals are represented with extraordinary vigour and life. The execution in detail is careful, but flatter and duller than at Nineveh. The expression of the heads does not possess the energy and life which the sculptures of Assyria present; even in the most excited action it is ceremonious. It is solemn, massive, earnest, dignified, and restrained, but wanting in character. Beside the sculptures which symbolically represent the dignity, business, or deeds of the officers of the empire, the remaining reliefs of Persepolis give no chronicle of the reign of Darius and Xerxes; we find neither battles nor sieges; they merely glorify the splendour and greatness of the monarchy; they exhibit the throne of the king which the subject nations carry, surrounded by the princes of the kingdom, and protected by the body-guard. We see the subject nations bringing tribute, and thus we have a picture of established power, and secure majesty, but not of the individual acts and victories of the king. The only historical sculpture which is at present known, is the inscription of Darius at Behistun. The style is simple and severe, the treatment far less minute than on the reliefs of Persepolis and Naksh-i-Rustem, but naïve and vigorous.

Susa, so Strabo tells us, was adorned more than other cities by the kings of the Persians; each built a separate dwelling there as a memorial of his reign; after Susa they honoured the palaces of Persepolis and Pasargadae; at Gabae also in upper Persia and at Taoke on the coast they had castles.454 From Xenophon we learn that "the kings of Persia, it is said, pass the spring and the summer in Susa and Ecbatana."455 We may conclude from these statements, and from the fact that the Achæmenids not only preserved but multiplied the gold and silver ornaments of the citadel of Ecbatana, as well as the buildings of the palace (V. 315), that Susa remained the ordinary residence even under the successors of Darius, but that in the height of summer – in order to avoid the heat of the plains of Elam – the court sought the cooler air of the ancient residence of Phraortes and Cyaxares – a change advisable on political grounds also. Even a short residence in Ecbatana showed that Media did not occupy the last place in the kingdom. The Persian kings also resided at times in Babylon. The Sassanids pursued the same course. Ardeshir built Shahabad in Elam, his successors resided in Madain, but during the summer in Hamadan.456 The palaces in the mother country were visited by Darius and his successors from time to time, who like himself caused their sepulchres to be cut either in the rocks of Naksh-i-Rustem, or on Mount Rachmed, immediately to the east of the citadel. There are three sepulchres by the side of that of Darius, and three on Mount Rachmed.

The size and splendour of the palaces at Susa, Ecbatana, Persepolis, and Pasargadae were matched by the numbers and brilliance of the court. The ceremonies and the arrangement of the service were taken from the pattern of the Median court, but not without considerable variations, and the Medes, in turn, had imitated the style of the Assyrian and Babylonian court. The prominent position of the six tribal princes, the supreme judges, the "kinsmen and table companions of the king," were without a parallel among the Medes; it was they who immediately surrounded the king next to the occupants of the great offices of state or honour. It was the opinion of Cyrus, Xenophon tells us, that the ruler should not only be superior to his subjects in valour, but he must exert a charm over them also. Thus he accustomed both himself and his officers to give commands with dignity, and for himself and for them he adopted the Median dress, as being more imposing and majestic. On solemn occasions the king appeared in a long purple robe, bordered with white – such as no one but himself might wear,457 a Kaftan (Kandys) of brilliant purple was thrown over it.458 The embroidery exhibited falcons and hawks, the birds of the good god, which dwell in the pure air nearest to heaven. This garment was held together by a golden girdle, in which was a sabre adorned with precious stones. The trowsers were of purple; the shoes of the colour of saffron.459 The head was covered by the upright tiara or kidaris,460 of a white and blue colour, or by a band of the same colours, and also by a crown, as we see from the picture of Darius on a seal at Behistun.461 Plutarch tells us that the king's attire was valued at 12,000 talents (nearly £3,000,000); his ornaments and attire on solemn occasions are no doubt meant.462 If the royal court of the Sassanids was arranged after that of the Achæmenids, the attire of the king was even more extravagant. As the Greeks inform us, the king of the Persians was a sight seldom seen by the Persians.463 Only the six tribal princes could enter without being announced. The attempt in any other person would be punished with death, unless the king forgave the offence.464 It required time and trouble, and even special favour, to make way through the troops of body-guards, servants, eunuchs, under-officers, and court nobles; and when this was done it was necessary to be announced by the officers who introduced strangers, or by the chief door-keeper. The king sat on a golden throne when he gave audience. Over this was stretched a baldachino of vari-coloured purple, supported by four golden pillars adorned with precious stones.465 It was the custom among the Persians for the lower to bow to the earth before the more honourable,466 no one approached the king without falling in the dust before him.467 Any one who spoke to the king was compelled to keep his hands hidden in the long sleeves of his upper garment, in order to show that he neither could nor would use them.468

According to Xenophon the king of the Persians at day-break praised the powers of heaven, sacrificed daily to the gods, whom the Magians indicated. Plutarch tells us that he was awaked daily by a chamberlain with the words: "Arise, O king, and think of the things which Auramazda has given thee to think of."469 At table the queen-mother and the queen sat beside him. The first sat above him, the second below, the king was in the middle of the table.470 Like all the Persians, he ate but one meal a day, but this lasted a long time. The princes, the "kinsmen" and "table companions" of the king, as a rule, ate in an ante-chamber, but at banquets they were in the same hall with him, in their proper order, the king on a rich divan with a golden frame, the companions on pillows or carpets on the floor,471 so arranged that those whom the king trusted most were on his left, the others on his right; "because the king," as Xenophon says, "could in case of need defend himself better with his right hand."472 Before it was brought to the king the food was tested by tasters; and before handing the goblet to the king, the butler drank a few drops out of it with a spoon, to prove that it was not poisoned.473 Many kinds of food were set on the table, but only a moderate portion of each was placed before every person. Xenophon praises the abstinence of the well-bred Persians at table; they regarded it as low and brutish to show desire for food or drink.474 Plutarch says: "Not only the friends, and commanders, and body-guard of the king had portions from his table, but also what the slaves and dogs ate was put upon the board, so that the kings of the Persians made all who were in their service the companions of their table and their hearth."475 What was left from the table of the king was carried into the courts and distributed in equal portions among the body-guard and the servants.476 If the meal was followed by any drinking, the queen-mother and the queen retired, before the concubines entered to play and sing.477 The table-companions might not look at the concubines, and the eunuchs, who brought the women into the hall, took care that they should not. Even at night, when the king retired to rest, the concubines played and sang by the light of burning lamps.478 On the festival of Mithra, the king was allowed to dance in Persian fashion, and to be intoxicated;479 on his birthday he gave a great banquet, which, as Herodotus tells us, was called among the Persians the perfect banquet. On this day the king gave presents to the Persians (i. e. they received a largess of money), and at the banquet, in which the women took part, he could not refuse any petition.480 In accordance with the doctrine of the Avesta the king celebrated the day which had called him into life, and, as Plato tells us, all Asia celebrated with sacrifices and feasts the day which had given them their ruler.481

No one ever saw the king on foot; if he passed through the courts of the palace carpets of Sardis were spread before him, on which no other foot might step.482 Outside the palace the king was sometimes seen on horseback, but more frequently in his chariot. It was a much-envied distinction among the princes of Persia to be allowed to assist the king to his horse.483 If he descended from his chariot, no one might reach out his hand to support him; it was the duty of the bearer of the royal stool to place a golden stool for him to descend. At solemn processions, the roads on which the royal train passed were cleansed, as in India, strewn with myrtle and made odorous with frankincense; a string of guards and whip-bearers were placed along the way to prevent any one from coming forward to the chariot of the king.484 The body-guard in their golden ornaments with crowned tiaras led the way and brought up the rear. The chariot of Mithra, yoked with eight Nisaean greys, went before the king; the sacred fire was carried before him by the Magians; and beside the chariot of the king, which was drawn by six or four Nisaean horses, marched staff-bearers. The chiefs of the tribes, the Achæmenids, the great officers of the court, the "kinsmen and table companions" of the king followed. In the train in the rear no doubt the royal horses, two or four hundred in number, were, no doubt, led in splendid trappings.485

Darius was married before he ascended the throne of the Magian. His wife was the daughter of Gobryas, the chief of the Pateischoreans. She had borne him three sons before he came to the throne: Artabazanes, Arsamenes, and Ariabignes.486 When he had acquired the throne, he made Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, his queen, i. e. his legitimate wife; the younger line of Achæmenes was thus yet more closely united with the elder. The daughter of Gobryas fell into the rank of the second wives; Atossa took the place which Cassandane had held beside Cyrus, and which she herself had previously occupied with Cambyses. The second daughter of Cyrus, Artystone, and Parmys the only daughter whom Smerdis had left, passed into the harem of Darius. Atossa bore him four sons: Xerxes, Hystaspes, Masistes, and Achæmenes; Artystone bore Arsames and Gobryas, and Parmys Ariomardus. Darius had also sons by other women, as Phratagune, the daughter of his brother, Artanes; "he had many sons," is the remark of Justin.487 The secondary wives of the king ranked above the concubines. The number of the latter was, at any rate under the successors of Darius, very considerable; it is given at 300, 350, and 360. After the battle of Issus, 329 concubines of the last Darius were discovered among the captives.488 These women, as Diodorus informs us, were sought out from the most beautiful maidens in Asia; for the new-comers, according to the book of Esther, a year's preparation was necessary. This went on in a special department of the seraglio, and consisted in the use of ointments, spices, and perfumes.489 They were so far beneath the queen, that they were compelled to prostrate themselves before her when she looked at them;490 at no time, except at the table of the king, could they be seen by men. If they accompanied the king on the chase or on journeys, and, as became usual at a later time, to the field, they were always in closed conveyances. Any one who touched one of the concubines was put to death, and even any one who approached their waggons, or passed through the train.491 The queen enjoyed greater liberty. We are told of Stateira, the consort of Artaxerxes II., that she always travelled with her hangings drawn back, and allowed the women of the people to come up to her car and greet her.492

We have mentioned already how numerous were the persons about the court. The Greeks call attention to the splendid attire of the servants, and remark that the preparation of the king's table and the waiting gave them a great deal of trouble: in fact half the day was taken up with this. Each of the great court officers had a large number of subordinates. The chief door-keeper had at his disposal a number of eunuchs, who watched over the inner courts of the palace and the harem, waited on the women and carried messages. The degrading use of castration was unknown to the nations of the Arians, and contrary to their religion, which put so high a value on life, and the preservation of the germs of life. It was from the princes of the Semites, the Assyrian and Babylonian court, that the use of eunuchs for guarding the harem, for waiting on the king and his women, and service in the inner chambers, was borrowed by the Median kings. In addition to other burdens, Babylonia supplied each year 500 mutilated boys to Darius. Eunuchs were never employed in the Persian army for commanders, or for officers of state, as was the case in Assyria and Babylonia; but personal attendance on the king, which even in the time of Cyrus devolved on eunuchs, brought some of them into favour and influence under him, and subsequently under Cambyses.493 Beside the chief door-keeper and his eunuchs, was the chief staff-bearer with his subordinates. It was his duty to introduce strangers and those who came to ask for assistance; the envoys from countries and cities; to preserve order in the palaces, to superintend and punish the servants. The chief butler was at the head of a large number of butlers and waiters. The chamberlains, the valets of the king with their subordinates, the spreaders of pillows and carpets, the carvers and table-dressers, the cooks and bakers, the preparers of ointment, the weavers of crowns, the lamp-lighters and palace-sweepers formed a considerable body. In addition there was the chief groom with his subordinates, the master of the hunt, the hunters and dog-keepers. Physicians also were at hand, chiefly from Egypt, who had the greatest reputation in the east; then came the Greeks.494

Long caravans, surrounded by the body-guard, conducted the court, when a change of residence was made, from Susa to the palaces of Persia or Ecbatana. A large amount of splendid furniture, cattle for slaughter, food and drink of special quality, were taken with them. Herodotus tells us that the king of Persia drank only the water of the Choaspes, i. e. the Kerkha, which was boiled and carried in silver vessels on four-wheeled cars both into the field, and on journeys.495 Beside numerous waggons the conveyance of the court required 1200 camels.496 Along with the military equipage of the last Darius 277 cooks, 29 pastry-cooks, 13 preparers of milk diet, 17 preparers of liquors, 70 cellarmen, 40 preparers of ointment, and 41 chaplet-makers were captured.497

CHAPTER XX

RETROSPECT

The arrangement which Darius had given to his vast empire allowed the character, laws, manners, and religion of the subject nations to remain as far as possible unchanged, and only interfered, exceptionally, in the hereditary local customs of the provinces. Adequate provision for the maintenance of the central government, the establishment of rapid combinations, care for the training of the generals and officers, ample and obvious rewards for service, a system of taxation far removed from extortion, regulations for the advancement of agriculture, development of the trade on the southern sea, or by land, since the caravans could pass unharmed and even protected from Miletus to Susa, from Cyrene to the Indus, seemed to give a solid foundation, an adequate support, and abiding power to the empire of Cyrus and Darius. Yet for the security and continuance of it, it was of the first importance, whether the national feeling of the subject peoples, in spite of or owing to the tolerance of the empire, was still sufficiently vigorous and strong to create in them the desire to rise from the subjection in which they were, to win back their independence, and develop their national existence; whether the controlling power of the ruling people was sufficient to maintain itself for a length of time over such wide regions; whether, in fine, the ruling house would preserve, amid the splendour of its new palaces, and the brilliance of extraordinary success, the vigour and force required to sustain the heavy task of administering the empire in the manner of Darius.

Under his sceptre the national civilizations of Asia which had hitherto been separated were united into a great whole. Beside the ancient civilization of Babylon stood the yet more ancient civilization of Egypt; beside the Lydians and Syrians, and the Hellenes of the Anatolian coast, stood the forms of life existing on the Indus, all united in equal rights; above these, and yet owing to the formation of this empire, side by side with them, was the characteristic civilization of the Bactrians, Medes, and Persians. The ancient communities of Egypt, Babylonia, and Phoenicia were able, it is true, to make attempts, and even stubborn attempts, at resistance, but they did not succeed in effecting a new departure. On the contrary, the various forms of civilization united together began by degrees to exercise a mutual influence, and each wore down the other. Only the religious feeling of that Syrian tribe, whose states had been crushed beneath the armies of the kings of Asshur and Babylon, remained free from this assimilation, and self-secluded; in the native soil, which Cyrus had once more allowed the exiles to occupy, they struck new and deeper roots, which promised the noblest fruits from the old sturdy stock.

The Persians, and especially the upper orders, could not remain uninfluenced by the privileged position of the ruling people and reigning class in such a wide empire, and by the pattern of the court. The fruits of dominion flowed in upon them; their lives were opulent and full of enjoyment. The Greeks can tell us a great deal of the splendour and luxury of the Persians, which were introduced in the time of Darius and subsequently. They inform us that the Persians adopted a richer style of dress. Like the Indians, the Medes and the Persians after them delighted to adorn themselves; but according to the Greeks the Persians were even more anxious to give themselves a dignified and imposing appearance. They wore the loose dress of the Medes, in blue and red purple; they also followed the Medes in wearing chains, and armlets, and earrings of gold.498 The hair and beard received careful attention. In summer the parasol-bearers were always at hand, in winter gloves were worn.499 The houses were adorned with costly carpets; the Persians lay on beds with golden feet, and soft cushions; and on the tables of the higher classes glittered goblets, bowls, and pitchers of gold and silver. The servants were numerous, trained butlers, bakers, and cooks were kept.500 The table of the Persians, as the Greeks tell us, presented but few kinds of farinaceous food, but whole animals were served up, and the dessert was plentiful and in various courses.501 The hereditary moderation in wine was not observed. Herodotus tells us that: "The Persians readily accept foreign customs. They wear the Median dress because they consider it more beautiful, and in war they use Egyptian coats of mail. They adopt any customs which please them, and in addition to a large number of wives, they have many concubines."502 About the year 500 B.C. the Persians were so accustomed to convenience in their domestic economy, that they took even into the field of battle their servants together with their cooks and maid-servants, their entire harem with costly furniture, partly in closed waggons and partly on camels; even the men of the guard were followed by their women and furniture. The nobles encamped under tents splendidly wrought with gold and silver.503 But in spite of this luxury, self-control and military vigour were never eradicated in the Persians. They were always seen in a becoming attitude. They were never observed to eat or drink greedily; they never laughed loud, or quarrelled, or gave way to passion.504 The education which the sons of the nobles received under the eye of the king and the satraps, and the rich rewards in store for eminent valour, kept up a manly spirit. We have more than one instance of acts of rare devotion to the king and the empire. The remembrance of the conflicts of Cyrus, of the wars which Darius carried on, the consciousness of great successes, the proud feeling that they governed the nations of Asia, formed strong counterpoises to the advance of effeminacy. Even those who lived most delicately at home eagerly joined in the chase, in the prescribed extirpation of the animals of Angromainyu, and the princes did not disdain to do garden-work with their own hands day by day. At that time, as Xenophon observes, the old Persian sobriety and force existed beside the Median dress and luxury, and Heracleides of Pontus tells us that the Persians and Medes, who loved luxury and excess above others, were also the bravest and most magnanimous of the barbarians.505 Artaxerxes Mnemon, in spite of his golden ornaments and purple kaftan, dismounted from his horse, and marched on foot, shield on arm and quiver on shoulder, day by day at the head of his soldiers, through the roughest and steepest mountain paths, though the day's march reached 25 miles or more. In spite of armlets and purple hose the leading Persians long after the time of Darius leapt from their horses into the mud, in order to extricate a baggage-cart, which prevented the march of the army; and the common soldier, even when frozen with cold, hesitated to lay the axe to beautiful trees which would be consumed merely to warm him by his watch-fire. The prescripts of religion were not without effect. The kings kept their word when given; every Persian regarded it as shameful to break the pledge of plighted hands, to refuse reverence to his parents – his mother especially – to speak falsely, and to seek for gains by trade. Thucydides says of them that they liked better to give than to receive.506 The pride of the Persians preferred to serve the king with arms and receive favour and presents from him, than to carry on any kind of trade. A great number of the Persians were constantly under arms in the standing army; the rest tended their flocks and cultivated their fields in the hereditary way. They kept to the old Persian dress, the close and short garment of leather; their coats reached only half way down the thigh, and instead of the tiara they wore a low band round the head. Along with their dress and mode of life, they kept true to the manners and moderation of their forefathers, and practised the old arts of riding and archery.