ve been manufactured in that country for the use of
the Persian monarch, which were transmitted to the Court, and became
part of the toilet furniture of the palace.330 [PLATE XXXIV., Fig. 3.]

Among the officers of the Court, less closely attached to the person of
the monarch than those above enumerated, may be mentioned the steward
of the household; the groom or master of the horse; the chief eunuch,
or keeper of the women; the king's "eyes" and "ears," persons whose
business it was to keep him informed on all matters of importance;
his scribes or secretaries, who wrote his letters and his edicts; his
messengers, who went his errands; his ushers, who introduced strangers
to him; his "tasters," who tried the various dishes set before him lest
they should be poisoned; his cupbearers who handed him his wine, and
tasted it; his chamberlains, who assisted him to bed; and his musicians,
who amused him with song and harp. Besides these, the Court comprised
various classes of guards, and also doorkeepers, huntsmen, grooms,
cooks, and other domestic servants in great abundance, together with
a vast multitude of visitors and guests, princes, nobles, captives of
rank, foreign refugees, ambassadors, travellers. We are assured that
the king fed daily within the precincts of his palace as many as fifteen
thousand persons, and that the cost of each day's food was four hundred
talents. A thousand beasts were slaughtered for each repast, besides
abundance of feathered game and poultry. The beasts included not only
sheep, goats, and oxen, but also stags, asses, horses, and camels. Among
the feathered delicacies were poultry, geese, and ostriches.

The monarch himself rarely dined with his guests. For the most part he
was served alone. Sometimes he admitted to his table the queen and two
or three of his children. Sometimes, at a "banquet of wine," a certain
number of privileged boon companions were received, who drank in the
royal presence, not, however, of the same wine, nor on the same terms.

The monarch reclined on a couch with golden feet, and sipped the rich
wine of Helbon; the guests drank an inferior beverage, seated upon the
floor. At a great banquet, it was usual to divide the guests into two
classes. Those of lower degree were entertained in an outer court or
chamber to which the public had access, while such as were of higher
rank entered the private apartments, and drew near to the king. Here
they were feasted in a chamber