The feeling of the Persian towards his king is one of which moderns can with difficulty form a conception.  In Persia the monarch was so much the State, that patriotism itself was, as it were, swallowed up in loyalty; and an absolute unquestioning submission, not only to the deliberate will, but to the merest caprice of the sovereign, was, by habit and education, so engrained into the nature of the people that a contrary spirit scarcely ever manifested itself.  In war the safety of the sovereign was the first thought, and the principal care of all.  The tales told of the self-devotion of individuals to secure the preservation of the monarch may not be true, but they indicate faithfully the actual tone of men’s sentiments about the value of the royal person.  If the king suffered, all was lost; if the king escaped, the greatest calamities seemed light, and could be endured with patience.  Uncomplaining acquiescence in all the decisions of the monarch—­cheerful submission to his will, whatever it might chance to be—­characterized the conduct of the Persians in time of peace.  It was here that their loyalty degenerated into parasitical tameness, and became a defect instead of a virtue.  The voice of remonstrance, of rebuke, of warning, was unheard at the Court; and tyranny was allowed to indulge unchecked in the wildest caprices and extravagances.  The father, whose innocent son was shot before his eyes by the king in pure wantonness, instead of raising an indignant protest against the crime, felicitated him on the excellence of his archery.  Unfortunates, bastinadoed by the royal orders, declared themselves delighted, because his majesty had condescended to recollect them.  A tone of sycophancy and servility was thus engendered, which, sapping self-respect, tended fatally to lower and corrupt the entire character of the people.

In considering the manners and customs of the Persians, it will be convenient to follow the order already observed in treating of Assyria and Media—­that is to say, to treat, in the first instance, of their warlike, and subsequently of their peaceful usages.  On the latter the monuments throw considerable light; on the former, the information which they supply is comparatively scanty.

The Persians, like the Medes, regarded chariots with disfavor, and composed their armies almost entirely of foot and horse.  The ordinary dress of the foot-man was, in the earlier times, a tunic with long sleeves, made of leather, and fitting rather tightly to the frame, which it covered from the neck to the knee.  Under this was worn a pair of trousers, also of leather, and tolerably tight-fitting, especially at the ankles, where they met a sort of high shoe, or low boot.  The head was protected by a loose round cap, apparently of felt, which projected a little in front, and rose considerably above the top of the head.  Round the waist was worn a double girdle or belt, from which depended a short sword. [PLATE XXVIII Fig. 4.]