g out the hair at either side extravagantly, so as to
give it the appearance of a large bushy wig.

In war the monarch seems to have exchanged his Median robe for a short
cloak, reaching half way down the thigh. His head was protected by a
helmet, and he carried the national arm of offence, the bow. He usually
took the field on horseback, but was sometimes mounted on an elephant,
trained to encounter the shock of battle. Gold and silver were
abundantly used in the trappings of his steed and in his arms. He
generally took the command, and mingled freely in the fight, though he
might sometimes shrink without reproach from adventuring his own person.
His guards fought about him; and he was accompanied by attendants, whose
duty it was to assist him in mounting on horseback and dismounting.

The status of the queen was not much below that of her royal consort.
She wore a tiara far more elaborate than his, and, like him, exhibited
the diadem. Her neck was encircled with several necklaces. As the title
of Theos, "God," was often assumed by her husband, so she was allowed
the title of "Goddess", or "Heavenly Goddess".

Separate apartments were of course assigned to the queen, and to the
royal concubines in the various palaces. These were buildings on a
magnificent scale, and adorned with the utmost richness. Philostratus,
who wrote in Parthian times, thus describes the royal palace at Babylon.
"The palace is roofed with brass, and a bright light flashes from it.
It has chambers for the women, and chambers for the men, and porticos,
partly glittering with silver, partly with cloth-of-gold embroideries,
partly with solid slabs of gold, let into the walls, like pictures. The
subjects of the embroideries are taken from the Greek mythology, and
include representations of Andromeda, of Amymone, and of Orpheus, who
is frequently repeated.... Datis is moreover represented, destroying
Naxos with his fleet, and Artaphernes besieging Eretria, and Xerxes
gaining his famous victories. You behold the occupation of Athens, and
the battle of Thermopylae, and other points still more characteristic of
the great Persian war, rivers drunk up and disappearing from the face
of the earth, and a bridge stretched across the sea, and a canal cut
through Athos.... One chamber for the men has a roof fashioned into a
vault like the heaven, composed entirely of sapphires, which are the
bluest of stones, and resemble the sky in color. Golden images of the