Excerpt from Quintus Curtius Rufus’s History of Alexander
Next, at a distance of one stade, came Sisigambis, the mother of Darius [Darius III], drawn in a carriage, and in another came his wife. A troop of women attended the queens on horseback. Then came the fifteen so-called “Armamaxae” [enclosed wagons used especially for carrying women and children] in which rode the king’s children, their nurses and a herd of eunuchs (who are not at all held in contempt by these people). Next came the carriages of the 360 royal concubines, these also dressed in royal finery, and behind them 600 mules and 300 camels carried the king’s money, with a guard of archers in attendance. After this column rode the wives of the king’s relatives and friends, and hordes of camp-followers and servants. At the end, to close up the rear, were the light-armored troops with their respective leaders.
Source: Quintus Curtius Rufus, The History of Alexander, Book 3, translated by John Yardley, with an introduction and notes by Waldemar Heckel (London: Penguin, 1984), 22–25.
Excerpt from Plutarch’s Lives
And whereas none usually sat down to eat with the king besides his mother and his wedded wife, the former being placed above, the other below him, Artaxerxes invited also to his table his two younger brothers, Ostanes and Oxathres. But what was the most popular thing of all among the Persians was the sight of his wife Statira’s chariot, which always appeared with its curtains down, allowing her countrywomen to salute and approach her, which made the queen a great favorite with the people.
Source: Arthur Hugh Clough, ed., Plutarch’s Lives, translated by John Dryden et al. (London: J. M. Dent, 1912), http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/674/pg674.html.
Excerpt from Athenaeus’s The Deipnosophists
Among the Persians, the queen tolerates the large number of concubines because the king rules his wife like as absolute monarch, and for another reason, according to Dinon in his History of Persia, because the queen is treated with reverence by the concubines; at any rate they do obeisance before her.
Source: Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, translated by Charles Burton Gulik (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937), XIII:556b.
Excerpt from the Works of Josephus
1. After the death of Xerxes, the kingdom came to be transferred to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks called Artaxerxes. When this man had obtained the government over the Persians, the whole nation of the Jews, with their wives and children, were in danger of perishing; the occasion whereof we shall declare in a little time for it is proper, in the first place, to explain somewhat relating to this king, and how he came to marry a Jewish wife, who was herself of the royal family also, and who is related to have saved our nation: for when Artaxerxes had taken the kingdom, and had set governors over the hundred twenty and seven provinces, from India even unto Ethiopia, in the third year of his reign, he made a costly feast for his friends, and for the nations of Persia, and for their governors, such a one as was proper for a king to make, when he had a mind to make a public demonstration of his riches, and this for a hundred and four score days; after which he made a feast for other nations, and for the ambassadors, at Shushan, for seven days. Now this feast was ordered after the manner following:—He caused a tent to be pitched, which was supported by pillars of gold and silver, with curtains of linen and purple spread over them, that it might afford room for many ten thousands to sit down. The cups with which the waiters ministered were of gold, and adorned with precious stones, for pleasure and for sight. He also gave orders to the servants, that they should not force them to drink by bringing them wine continually, as is the practice of the Persians, but to permit every one of the guests to enjoy himself according to his own inclination. Moreover, he sent messengers through the country, and gave order that they should have a remission of their labors, and should keep a festival many days, on account of his kingdom. In like manner did Vashti the queen gather her guests together, and made them a feast in the palace. Now the king was desirous to show her, who exceeded all other women in beauty to those that feasted with him, and he sent some to command her to come to his feast. But she, out of regard to the laws of the Persians, which forbid the wives to be seen by strangers, did not go to the king; and though he oftentimes sent the eunuchs to her, she did nevertheless stay away, and refused to come, till the king was so much irritated that he broke up the entertainment, and rose up, and called for those seven who had the interpretations of the laws committed to them, and accused his wife, and said, that he had been affronted by her, because that when she was frequently called by him to his feast, she did not obey him once. He therefore gave order that they should inform him what could be done by the law against her.
Source: Josephus, The Complete Works, translated by William Whiston (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), 11.6.1.
Excerpt from Plutarch’s Lives
Darius therefore requested Aspasia, in former time the most prized of the concubines of Cyrus, and now belonging to the king. She was by birth a Phocaean, of Ionia, born of free parents, and well educated. Once when Cyrus was at supper, she was led in to him with other women, who, when they were sat down by him, and he began to sport and dally and talk jestingly with them, gave way freely to his advances. But she stood by in silence, refusing to come when Cyrus called her, and when his chamberlains were going to force her towards him, said, “Whosoever lays hands on me shall rue it;” so that she seemed to the company a sullen and rude-mannered person. However, Cyrus was well pleased, and laughed, saying to the man that brought the women, “Do you not see of a certainty that this woman alone of all that came with you is truly noble and pure in character?” After which time he began to regard her, and loved her above all of her sex, and called her the Wise. But Cyrus being slain in the fight, she was taken among the spoils of his camp.
Source: Arthur Hugh Clough, ed., Plutarch’s Lives, translated by John Dryden et al. (London: J. M. Dent, 1912), http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/674/pg674.html.
Excerpt from Athenaeus’s The Deipnosophists
And so three hundred women watch over him. … These sleep throughout the day in order to stay awake at night, but at night they sing and play on harps continuously while the lamps burn; and the king takes his pleasure with them as concubines.
Source: Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, translated by Charles Burton Gulik (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937), XII:514b.
21. EXCERPTS FROM VARIOUS WRITERS DESCRIBING IRANIAN CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES
The rock reliefs from the Achaemenid period depict Darius I dressed in his royal garb seated on a high chair. These reliefs do not, however, describe the ceremonial activities during the royal investiture. The excerpt below from the Greek author Plutarch provides a very brief and fleeting description of the royal coronation of Artaxerxes II after the death of his father, Darius II. This excerpt also indicates that long after the death of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid state, and the transfer of the empire’s capital from Pasargadae to Persepolis, Susa, and Ecbatana, Achaemenid kings returned to Pasargadae to inaugurate their reign.
Excerpt from Plutarch’s Lives on the Investiture of a Persian Achaemenid King
It was not long after the decease of Darius that the king, his successor [Artaxerxes II], went to Pasargadae, to have the ceremony of his inauguration consummated by the Persian priests. There is a temple dedicated to a warlike goddess, whom one might liken to Minerva; into which when the royal person to be initiated has passed, he must strip himself of his own robe, and put on that which Cyrus the first wore before he was king; then, having devoured a frail of figs, he must eat turpentine, and drink a cup of sour milk. To which if they add any other rites, it is unknown to any but those that are present at them.
Source: Arthur Hugh Clough, ed., Plutarch’s Lives, translated by John Dryden et al. (London: J. M. Dent, 1912), http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/674/pg674.html.
Excerpt from Quintus Curtius Rufus’s History of Alexander on Imperial Grandeur and Royal Costume
Source: Quintus Curtius Rufus, The History of Alexander, Book 3, translated by John Yardley, with an introduction and notes by Waldemar Heckel (London: Penguin, 1984), 17–21.
Excerpt from Plutarch’s Themistocles on Making Obeisance to the King
Out of all the excellent laws we possess, we take most pride in honoring the king, and prostrating ourselves before him as the image of God who rules the universe. So, if you approve our customs and will make obeisance to him, you may see and speak to the king. But if you do not accept this, you will need to use other intermediaries to communicate with him; because it is against our customs for the king to grant audience to a man who refuses to pay him obeisance.
(28) When Themistocles was led into the king’s presence, he kissed the ground in front of him and waited in silence.
Source: Plutarch, “Themistocles,” in Plutarch’s Lives, edited by Arthur Hugh Clough, translated by John Dryden et al. (London: J. M. Dent, 1912).
Excerpt from Athenaeus’s The Deipnosophists on the King and His Chariot
Whenever the king descended from his chariot, Dinon says, he never leaped down, although the distance to the ground was small, nor did he lean on anyone’s arm; rather, a golden stool was always set in place for him, and he descended by stepping on this; and the king’s tool bearer attended him for this purpose.
Source: Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, translated by Charles Burton Gulik (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937), XII:514a.
Excerpt from Xenophon’s Oeconomicus on the Gardener King
Thereupon Critobulus: Well, Socrates (said he), if such is his conduct, I admit that the great king does pay attention to agriculture no less than to military affairs.
And besides all this (proceeded Socrates), nowhere among the various countries which he inhabits or visits does he fail to make it his first care that there shall be orchards and gardens, parks and “paradises,” as they are called, full of all fair and noble products which the earth brings forth; and within these chiefly he spends his days, when the season of the year permits.
Crit. To be sure, Socrates, it is a natural and necessary conclusion that when the king himself spends so large a portion of his time there, his paradises should be furnished to perfection with trees and all else beautiful that earth brings forth.
Soc. And some say, Critobulus, that when the king gives gifts, he summons in the first place those who have shown themselves brave warriors, since all the ploughing in the world were but small gain in the absence of those who should protect the fields; and next to these he summons those who have stocked their countries best and rendered them productive, on the principle that but for the tillers of the soil the warriors themselves could scarcely live. And there is a tale told of Cyrus, the most famous prince, I need not tell you, who ever wore a crown, how on one occasion he said to those who had been called to receive the gifts, “it were no injustice, if he himself received the gifts due to warriors and tillers of the soil alike,” for “did he not carry off the palm in stocking the country and also in protecting the goods with which it had been stocked?”
Crit. Which clearly shows, Socrates, if the tale be true, that this same Cyrus took as great a pride in fostering the productive energies of his country and stocking it with good things, as in his reputation as a warrior.
Soc. Why, yes indeed, had Cyrus lived, I have no doubt he would have proved the best of rulers, and in support of this belief, apart from other testimony amply furnished by his life, witness what happened when he marched to do battle for the sovereignty of Persia with his brother. Not one man, it is said, deserted from Cyrus to the king, but from the king to Cyrus tens of thousands. And this also I deem a great testimony to a ruler’s worth, that his followers follow him of their own free will, and when the moment of danger comes refuse to part from him. Now this was the case with Cyrus. His friends not only fought their battles side by side with him while he lived, but when he died they too died battling around his dead body, one and all, excepting only Ariaeus, who was absent at his post on the left wing of the army. But there is another tale of this same Cyrus in connection with Lysander, who himself narrated it on one occasion to a friend of his in Megara.
Lysander, it seems, had gone with presents sent by the Allies to Cyrus, who entertained him, and amongst other marks of courtesy showed him his “paradise” at Sardis. Lysander was astonished at the beauty of the trees within, all planted at equal intervals, the long straight rows of waving branches, the perfect regularity, the rectangular symmetry of the whole, and the many sweet scents which hung about them as they paced the park. In admiration he exclaimed to Cyrus: “All this beauty is marvelous enough, but what astonishes me still more is the talent of the artificer who mapped out and arranged for you the several parts of this fair scene.” Cyrus was pleased by the remark, and said: “Know then, Lysander, it is I who measured and arranged it all. Some of the trees,” he added, “I planted with my own hands.” Then Lysander, regarding earnestly the speaker, when he saw the beauty of his apparel and perceived its fragrance, the splendour also of the necklaces and armlets, and other ornaments which he wore, exclaimed: “What say you, Cyrus? did you with your own hands plant some of these trees?” whereat the other: “Does that surprise you, Lysander? I swear to you by Mithres, when in ordinary health I never dream of sitting down to supper without first practicing some exercise of war or husbandry in the sweat of my brow, or venturing some strife of honour, as suits my mood.” “On hearing this,” said Lysander to his friend, “I could not help seizing him by the hand and exclaiming, ‘Cyrus, you have indeed good right to be a happy man, since you are happy in being a good man.’”
Source: Xenophon, “The Economist,” in The Works of Xenophon, Vol. 3, Part 1, translated by H. G. Dakyns (New York: Macmillan, 1897), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1173/1173-h/1173-h.htm.
Excerpt from Herodotus’s Histories Describing Persian Customs from a Greek Perspective
131. These are the customs, so far as I know, which the Persians practice:—Images and temples and altars they do not account it lawful to erect, nay they even charge with folly those who do these things; and this, as it seems to me, because they do not account the gods to be in the likeness of men, as do the Hellenes. But it is their wont to perform sacrifices to Zeus going up to the most lofty of the mountains, and the whole circle of the heavens they call Zeus: and they sacrifice to the Sun and the Moon and the Earth, to Fire and to Water and to the Winds: these are the only gods to whom they have sacrificed ever from the first; but they have learnt also to sacrifice to Aphrodite Urania, having learnt it both from the Assyrians and the Arabians; and the Assyrians call Aphrodite Mylitta, the Arabians Alitta, and the Persians Mitra.
132. Now this is the manner of sacrifice for the gods aforesaid which is established among the Persians:—they make no altars neither do they kindle fire; and when they mean to sacrifice they use no libation nor music of the pipe nor chaplets nor meal for sprinkling; but when a man wishes to sacrifice to any one of the gods, he leads the animal for sacrifice to an unpolluted place and calls upon the god, having his tiara wreathed round generally with a branch of myrtle. For himself alone separately the man who sacrifices may not request good things in his prayer, but he prays that it may be well with all the Persians and with the king; for he himself also is i
ncluded of course in the whole body of Persians. And when he has cut up the victim into pieces and boiled the flesh, he spreads a layer of the freshest grass and especially clover, upon which he places forthwith all the pieces of flesh; and when he has placed them in order, a Magian man stands by them and chants over them a theogony (for of this nature they say that their incantation is), seeing that without a Magian it is not lawful for them to make sacrifices. Then after waiting a short time the sacrificer carries away the flesh and uses it for whatever purpose he pleases.
133. And of all days their wont is to honour most that on which they were born, each one: on this they think it right to set out a feast more liberal than on other days; and in this feast the wealthier of them set upon the table an ox or a horse or a camel or an ass, roasted whole in an oven, and the poor among them set out small animals in the same way. They have few solid dishes, but many served up after as dessert, and these not in a single course; and for this reason the Persians say that the Hellenes leave off dinner hungry, because after dinner they have nothing worth mentioning served up as dessert, whereas if any good dessert were served up they would not stop eating so soon. To wine-drinking they are very much given, and it is not permitted for a man to vomit or to make water in presence of another. Thus do they provide against these things; and they are wont to deliberate when drinking hard about the most important of their affairs, and whatsoever conclusion has pleased them in their deliberation, this on the next day, when they are sober, the master of the house in which they happen to be when they deliberate lays before them for discussion: and if it pleases them when they are sober also, they adopt it, but if it does not please them, they let it go: and that on which they have had the first deliberation when they are sober, they consider again when they are drinking.
The Persian Empire Page 97