Datis is moreover represented, destroying Naxos with his fleet, and Artaphernes besieging Eretria, and Xerxes gaining his famous victories.  You behold the occupation of Athens, and the battle of Thermopylae, and other points still more characteristic of the great Persian war, rivers drunk up and disappearing from the face of the earth, and a bridge stretched across the sea, and a canal cut through Athos....  One chamber for the men has a roof fashioned into a vault like the heaven, composed entirely of sapphires, which are the bluest of stones, and resemble the sky in color.  Golden images of the gods whom they worship, are set up about the vault, and show like stars in the firmament.  This is the chamber in which the king delivers his judgments.  Four golden magic-wheels hang from its roof, and threaten the monarch with the Divine Nemesis, if he exalts himself above the condition of man.  These wheels are called ‘the tongues of the gods,’ and are set in their places by the Magi who frequent the palace.”

The state and pomp which surrounded the monarch seem scarcely to have fallen short of the Achaemenian standard.  Regarded as in some sort divine during his life, and always an object of national worship after his death, the “Brother of the Sun and Moon” occupied a position far above that of the most exalted of his subjects.  Tributary monarchs were shocked, when, in times of misfortune, the “Great King” stooped to solicit their aid, and appeared before them in the character of a suppliant, shorn of his customary splendor.  Nobles coveted the dignity of “King’s Friend,” and were content to submit to blows and buffets at the caprice of their royal master, before whom they prostrated themselves in adoration after each castigation.  The Parthian monarch dined in solitary grandeur, extended on his own special couch, and eating from his own special table, which was placed at a greater elevation than those of his guests.  His “friend” sat on the ground at his feet, and was fed like a dog by scraps from his master’s board.  Guards, ministers, and attendants of various kinds surrounded him, and were ready at the slightest sign to do his bidding.  Throughout the country he had numerous “Eyes” and “Ears”—­officers who watched his interests and sent him word of whatever touched his safety.  The bed on which the monarch slept was of gold, and subjects were forbidden to take their repose on couches of this rich material.  No stranger could obtain access to him unless introduced by the proper officer; and it was expected that all who asked an audience would be prepared with some present of high value.  For the gifts received the monarch made a suitable return, allowing those whom he especially favored to choose the presents that they preferred.