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.

[Illustration: 269.jpg THE KING ON HIS THRONE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Plandin and Coste.

Having reached the terrace, the curtains of the _apadana_ were suddenly
parted, and in the distance, through a vista of columns, they perceived
a motionless figure, resplendent with gold and purple, before whom
they fell prostrate with their faces to the earth. The heralds were
the bearers of their greetings, and brought back to them a gracious or
haughty reply, as the case may be. When they rose from the ground, the
curtains had closed, the kingly vision was eclipsed, and the escort
which had accompanied them into the palace conducted them back to the
town, dazzled with the momentary glimpse of the spectacle vouchsafed to
them.

[Illustration: 270.jpg A VIEW OF THE APADANA OF SUSA, RESTORED]

Drawn by Boudier, from the restoration by Marcel Dieulafoy.

The Achaeemenian monarchs were not regarded as gods or as sons of gods,
like the Egyptian Pharaohs, and the Persian religion forbade their
ever becoming so, but the person of the king was hedged round with such
ceremonial respect as in other Oriental nations was paid only to the
gods: this was but natural, for was he not a despot, who with a word
or gesture could abase the noblest of his subjects, and determine the
well-being or misery of his people? His dress differed from that of his
nobles only by the purple dye of its material and the richness of the
gold embroideries with which it was adorned, but he was distinguished
from all others by the peculiar felt cap, or _kidaris_, which he wore,
and the blue-and-white band which encircled it like a crown;