lavishly wasted, and the result was a
military force inefficient and badly accoutred. No security was taken
that the soldiers possessed their proper equipments or could discharge
the duties appropriate to their several grades. Persons came before the
paymaster, claiming the wages of a cavalry soldier, who possessed
no horse, and had never learned to ride. Some, who called themselves
soldiers, had no knowledge of the use of any weapon at all; others
claimed for higher grades of the service than those whereto they really
belonged; those who drew the pay of cuirassiers were destitute of a coat
of mail; those who professed themselves archers were utterly incompetent
to draw the bow. The established rates of pay varied between a hundred
dirhems a year and four thousand, and persons entitled to the lowest
rate often received an amount not much short of the highest. The evil
was not only that the treasury was robbed by unfair claims and unfounded
pretences, but that artifice and false seeming were encouraged, while
at the same time the army was brought into such a condition that no
dependence could be placed upon it. If the number who actually served
corresponded to that upon the rolls, which is uncertain, at any rate all
the superior arms of the service fell below their nominal strength, and
the lower grades were crowded with men who were only soldiers in name.

As a remedy against these evils, Chosroes appointed a single
paymaster-general, and insisted on his carefully inspecting and
reviewing each body of troops before he allowed it to draw its pay. Each
man was to appear before him fully equipped and to show his proficiency
with his weapon or weapons; horse soldiers were to bring their horses,
and to exhibit their mastery over the animals by putting them through
their paces, mounting and dismounting, and performing the other usual
exercises. If any clumsiness were noted, or any deficiency in the
equipment, the pay was to be withheld until the defect observed had been
made good. Special care was to be taken that no one drew the pay of a
class superior to that whereto he really belonged--of an archer, for
instance, when he was in truth a common soldier, or of a trooper when he
served not in the horse, but in the foot.

A curious anecdote is related in connection with these military reforms.
When Babek, the new paymaster, was about to hold his first review, he
issued an order that all persons belonging to the army then presen