glow against the dark-green conifer trees that cover the mountains behind the city.
The afternoon that we entered Ecbatana, we were able to enjoy its legendary beauties for nine hours—the length of time that it took to get all of us through the seven gates. For turmoil and confusion, there is nothing to compare with the Persian court arriving at a capital city.
During those long hours before the gates of Ecbatana, I learned from Thessalus a number of Greek phrases that have since given me much pleasure in the saying.
6
IN MY TIME, SCHOOL LIFE WAS STRENUOUS. We were up before dawn. We were taught to use every kind of weapon. We were even taught farming and husbandry as well as mathematics and music. We learned to read and even to write, if necessary. We were taught how to build not only bridges and fortresses but palaces, too. We were given only one meager meal a day.
By the time a Persian noble is twenty, there is very little that he cannot do for himself if he has to. Originally, this educational system was much simpler: a youth was taught to ride, to draw the bow, to tell the truth; and that was that. But by the time of Cyrus, it was plain that the Persian nobility would have to know a great deal about nonmilitary matters, too. Finally, by the time of Darius, we were being deliberately educated for the sole purpose of administering the better part of the world.
But there was one aspect of governance that was kept secret from us—the harem. Although many of our instructors were eunuchs, none of us was ever told anything about the inner workings of the harem, that mysterious world forever closed to all Persian males except the Great King—and me. I have often thought that my relatively long sojourn in the harem was enormously helpful to my later career.
When I finally moved into the quarters of the royal princes, I had spent nearly three years in the harem. Ordinarily, a young noble is removed from his mother at least three years before puberty and sent to the palace school. I was an exception. As a result, I got to know not only the wives of Darius but the harem eunuchs who work closely with their counterparts in the first and second rooms of the chancellery.
Democritus wants to know what these rooms are. The first room is always located at the back of the first courtyard of whatever palace the Great King happens to be occupying. At long tables a hundred clerks receive the Great King’s correspondence as well as all petitions. After these documents are sorted out, the clerks of the second room then decide what should be shown the Great King or, more likely, which letter or petition should be given to this or that councilor of state or law-bearer. The second room exerts enormous power. Needless to say, it is in the hands of eunuchs.
In later life, Xerxes used to tease me by saying that I had all the subtlety and craft of a harem eunuch. I teased him by saying that if he had stayed longer in the harem, he might have learned statecraft from his mother. He would laugh; and agree. Later, there was nothing to laugh about.
I should note here that until the reign of Darius, married women of the ruling class could mingle with men, and it was not uncommon for a rich widow, say, to, manage her own estates just as if she were a man. In Cyrus’ time, women were not sequestered except, of course, during menstruation. But Darius had different notions from Cyrus. He kept the royal ladies entirely from public view. Naturally, the nobles imitated him, and theirwives were also sequestered. Today it is not possible for a Persian lady to see and talk to any man except her husband. Once married, she can never again look upon her father or her brothers—or even her sons, once they have left the harem. I am not sure why Darius was so intent on removing the royal ladies from public life. I know that he feared them politically. Even so, I don’t know why he thought that they would be less dangerous if confined to the harem. Actually,
The afternoon that we entered Ecbatana, we were able to enjoy its legendary beauties for nine hours—the length of time that it took to get all of us through the seven gates. For turmoil and confusion, there is nothing to compare with the Persian court arriving at a capital city.
During those long hours before the gates of Ecbatana, I learned from Thessalus a number of Greek phrases that have since given me much pleasure in the saying.
6
IN MY TIME, SCHOOL LIFE WAS STRENUOUS. We were up before dawn. We were taught to use every kind of weapon. We were even taught farming and husbandry as well as mathematics and music. We learned to read and even to write, if necessary. We were taught how to build not only bridges and fortresses but palaces, too. We were given only one meager meal a day.
By the time a Persian noble is twenty, there is very little that he cannot do for himself if he has to. Originally, this educational system was much simpler: a youth was taught to ride, to draw the bow, to tell the truth; and that was that. But by the time of Cyrus, it was plain that the Persian nobility would have to know a great deal about nonmilitary matters, too. Finally, by the time of Darius, we were being deliberately educated for the sole purpose of administering the better part of the world.
But there was one aspect of governance that was kept secret from us—the harem. Although many of our instructors were eunuchs, none of us was ever told anything about the inner workings of the harem, that mysterious world forever closed to all Persian males except the Great King—and me. I have often thought that my relatively long sojourn in the harem was enormously helpful to my later career.
When I finally moved into the quarters of the royal princes, I had spent nearly three years in the harem. Ordinarily, a young noble is removed from his mother at least three years before puberty and sent to the palace school. I was an exception. As a result, I got to know not only the wives of Darius but the harem eunuchs who work closely with their counterparts in the first and second rooms of the chancellery.
Democritus wants to know what these rooms are. The first room is always located at the back of the first courtyard of whatever palace the Great King happens to be occupying. At long tables a hundred clerks receive the Great King’s correspondence as well as all petitions. After these documents are sorted out, the clerks of the second room then decide what should be shown the Great King or, more likely, which letter or petition should be given to this or that councilor of state or law-bearer. The second room exerts enormous power. Needless to say, it is in the hands of eunuchs.
In later life, Xerxes used to tease me by saying that I had all the subtlety and craft of a harem eunuch. I teased him by saying that if he had stayed longer in the harem, he might have learned statecraft from his mother. He would laugh; and agree. Later, there was nothing to laugh about.
I should note here that until the reign of Darius, married women of the ruling class could mingle with men, and it was not uncommon for a rich widow, say, to, manage her own estates just as if she were a man. In Cyrus’ time, women were not sequestered except, of course, during menstruation. But Darius had different notions from Cyrus. He kept the royal ladies entirely from public view. Naturally, the nobles imitated him, and theirwives were also sequestered. Today it is not possible for a Persian lady to see and talk to any man except her husband. Once married, she can never again look upon her father or her brothers—or even her sons, once they have left the harem. I am not sure why Darius was so intent on removing the royal ladies from public life. I know that he feared them politically. Even so, I don’t know why he thought that they would be less dangerous if confined to the harem. Actually,
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