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sent out to neighboring states, and in return received from them formal
embassies. The ambassadors in every case conveyed, as a matter of
course, gifts to the prince to whom they were accredited, which might
consist of articles of value, or of persons. Augustus included an
Italian slave-girl among the presents which he transmitted to Phraates
IV.; and Artabanus III. sent a Jewish giant to Tiberius. The object
of an embassy was sometimes simply to congratulate; but more often the
ambassadors were instructed to convey certain demands, or proposals,
from their own prince to the head of the other nation, whereto his
assent was required, or requested. These proposals were commonly
formulated in a letter from the one prince to the other, which it was
the chief duty of the ambassadors to convey safely. Free powers to
conclude a treaty at their discretion were rarely, or never, entrusted
to them. Their task was merely to deliver the royal letter, to explain
its terms, if they were ambiguous, and to carry back to their own
monarch the reply of the foreign sovereign. The sanctity of the
ambassadorial character was invariably respected by the Parthians, who
are never even taxed with a violation of it.

As a security for the performance of engagements, or for the permanent
maintenance of a friendly attitude, it was usual in the East during the
Parthian period to require, and give, hostages. The princes who occupied
the position of Parthian feudatories gave hostages to their suzerain,
who were frequently their near relations, as sons or brothers. And a
practice grew up of the Parthian monarchs themselves depositing their
own sons or brothers with the Roman Emperor, at first perhaps merely for
their own security, but afterwards as pledges for their good behavior.
Such hostages lived at the expense of the Roman court, and were usually
treated with distinction. In the event of a rupture between their
country and Rome, they had little to fear. Rome found her advantage in
employing them as rivals to a monarch with whom she had quarrelled,
and did not think it necessary to punish them for his treachery or
inconstancy.

The magnificence of the Parthian court is celebrated in general terms
by various writers, but not very many particulars have come down to us
respecting it. We know that it was migratory, moving from one of the
chief cities of the empire to another at different seasons of the year,
and that owing to the vast number of th