ir heads had been fellow-conspirators
with Darius Hystaspis; but there is reason to suspect that the rank
of the families was precedent to the conspiracy in question, certain
families conspiring because they were great, and not becoming great
because they conspired. At any rate, from the time of Darius I.,
there seem to have been seven great families, including that of the
Achaemenidae, whose chiefs had the privilege of free communication
with the monarch, and from which he was legally bound to choose his
legitimate wives. The chiefs appear to have been known as "the Seven
Princes," or "the Seven Counsellors," of the king. They sat next to him
at public festivals; they were privileged to tender him their advice,
whenever they pleased; they recommended important measures of state, and
were, in part, responsible for them; they could demand admission to the
monarch's presence at any time, unless he were in the female apartments;
they had precedence on all great occasions of ceremony, and enjoyed
a rank altogether independent of office. Sometimes--perhaps most
commonly--they held office; but they rather conferred a lustre on the
position which they consented to fill, than derived any additional
splendor from it.

It does not appear that the chiefs of the seven great families had any
peculiar insignia. Officers of the Court, on the contrary, seem to have
always carried, as badges marking their position, either wands about
three feet in length, or an ornament resembling a lotos blossom, which
is sometimes seen in the hands of the monarch himself. Such officers
wore, at their pleasure, either the long Median robe and the fluted cap,
or the close-fitting Persian tunic and trousers, with the loose felt
[Greek name]. All had girdles, in which sometimes a dagger was placed;
and all had collars of gold about their necks, and earrings of gold in
their ears. The Median robes were of various colors--scarlet, purple,
crimson, dark gray, etc. Over the Persian tunic a sleeved cloak, or
great coat, reaching to the ankles, was sometimes worn; this garment was
fastened by strings in front, and descended loosely from the shoulders,
no use being commonly made of the sleeves, which hung empty at the
wearer's side. [PLATE XXXVI., Fig. 1.]

[Illustration: PLATE XXXVI.]

An elaborate Court ceremonial was the natural accompaniment of the ideas
with respect to royalty embodied in the Persian system. Excepting
the "Seven Princes," no one coul