Creation by Gore Vidal Page A

their power increased once they were removed from public gaze. In perfect secrecy they used the eunuchs, and the eunuchs used them. During the reign of Xerxes, many of the great offices of state were controlled by eunuchs in close partnership with one or another of the royal wives. This was not always a good thing. To say the least.
    But even in the strict era of Darius, there were exceptions to his rules. Queen Atossa received whomever she pleased: man, woman, child or eunuch. Curiously enough, there was never any scandal about her—in my day. Years before, it was whispered that she had had an affair with Democedes, the physician who removed her breast. I rather doubt this. I knew Democedes, and he was far too clever and too nervous a man to get himself involved with a royal lady.
    In her youth, Atossa preferred eunuchs to men. Most ladies do. After all, if a eunuch is sexually mature at the time of his castration, he is still capable of a normal erection. Handsome eunuchs are much fought over by the ladies of the harem. Wisely, our Great Kings choose to ignore these goings-on: women are sequestered not so much for their moral good as to make certain that their children will be legitimate. Whatever a lady may do with her eunuch or with another lady is of no concern to her master, if he be wise.
    Another exception to the harem’s rules was Lais. Because she was my only relative at court, she and I saw each other regularly in her apartments, which were always just outside the precinct of the harem. A lusty woman, Lais did not feel obliged to avail herself of eunuchs or women. She was pregnant at least twice that I know of. Each time, she arranged for an abortion, which is a capital crime in Persia. But Lais has the courage of a lion. Although anyone could have denounced her, no one did. She would attribute this to the fact that she had, literally, enchanted the court. Perhaps she had. Certainly, she enthralled the tyrant Histiaeus, with whom she had a long affair.
    It is curious that I have no memory of my first meeting with the most important figure in my life, Xerxes. He could never remember that meeting either. But then, why should he? Xerxes was a royal prince who was already spoken of as Darius’ heir, while I was neither noble nor priest, an anomaly at court. No one knew my rank, or what to do with me. Nevertheless, I had two powerful protectors—Hystaspes and Atossa.
    Obviously, Xerxes and I met that summer at Ecbatana. Obviously, we must have seen each other at the first state reception that I ever attended: the wedding between Darius and one of his nieces, an occasion forever vivid to me because that was when I saw, at last, the Great King Darius.
    For weeks the harem was in an uproar. The ladies spoke of nothing else but the marriage. Some approved the match between Darius and his niece—an eleven-year-old granddaughter of Hystaspes; some thought that the Great King should have married outside the imperial family this time. Endless and, to me, boring discussions filled the three houses of the harem.
    Democritus wants to know what the three houses are. I thought everyone knew that the harem is divided into three sections. The so-called third house is occupied by the queen or the queen mother. If there is a queen mother, she will outrank the queen consort. The next house is for the women the Great King has already known. The first house contains the virgins, new acquisitions still being trained in music, dance, conversation.
    On the day of the wedding there was a military display in front of the palace. To my disgust, while the rest of my schoolmates were at the palace gate attending the Great King, I was obliged to watch maneuvers from the roof of the harem.
    Crushed in a mob of ladies and eunuchs, I watched with fascination the intricate drill of the ten thousand immortals, as the Great King’s personal guard are known. In the bright sun their armor looked like the silver scales of fresh-caught fish. When they