by a wall of enormous polygonal blocks of masonry.  The terrace was reached by a double flight of steps, the lateral walls of which are covered with bas-reliefs, representing processions of satellites, slaves, and tributaries, hunting scenes, fantastic episodes of battle, and lions fighting with and devouring bulls.  The area of the raised platform was not of uniform level, and was laid out in gardens, in the midst of which rose the pavilions that served as dwelling-places.  The reception-rooms were placed near the top of the flight of steps, and the more important of them had been built under the two preceding kings.  Those nearest to the edge of the platform were the propylae of Xerxes—­gigantic entrances whose gateways were guarded on either side by winged bulls of Assyrian type; beyond these was the apadana, or hall of honour, where the sovereign presided in state at the ordinary court ceremonies.  To the east of the apadana, and almost in the centre of the raised terrace, rose the Hall of a Hundred Columns, erected by Darius, and used only on special occasions.  Artaxerxes I. seems to have had a particular affection for Susa.  It had found favour with his predecessors, and they had so frequently resided there, even after the building of Persepolis, that it had continued to be regarded as the real capital of the empire by other nations, whereas the Persian sovereigns themselves had sought to make it rather an impregnable retreat than a luxurious residence.  Artaxerxes built there an apadana on a vaster scale than any hitherto designed.

[Illustration:  267.jpg THE PROPYLAEA OF XERXES I. AT PERSEPOLIS]

     Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Marcel Dieulafoy.

It comprised three colonnades, which, taken together, formed a rectangle measuring 300 feet by 250 feet on the two sides, the area being approximately that of the courtyard of the Louvre.  The central colonnade, which was the largest of the three, was enclosed by walls on three sides, but was open to the south.  Immense festoons of drapery hung from the wooden entablature, and curtains, suspended from rods between the first row of columns, afforded protection from the sun and from the curiosity of the vulgar.

[Illustration:  268.jpg BAS-RELIEF OF THE STAIRCASE LEADING TO THE APADANA OF XERXES]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Marcel Dieulafoy.

At the hour appointed for the ceremonies, the great king took his seat in solitary grandeur on the gilded throne of the Achaemenids; at the extreme end of the colonnade his eunuchs, nobles, and guards ranged themselves in silence on either side, each in the place which etiquette assigned to him.  Meanwhile the foreign ambassadors who had been honoured by an invitation to the audience—­Greeks from Thebes, Sparta, or Athens; Sakae from the regions of the north; Indians, Arabs, nomad chiefs from mysterious Ethiopia-ascended in procession the flights of steps which led from the town to the palace, bearing the presents destined for its royal master.