| PLATES | |
| Route of the Ten Thousand[Frontispiece] | |
| To face page | |
| Ruins of the Palace of Persepolis | [2] |
| Ruins of Persepolis: Balustrade of Great Staircase | [26] |
| Hall of the Hundred Columns at Persepolis—Restored | [38] |
| Pillar from Hall of the Hundred Columns | [62] |
| Tomb of Darius I. near Persepolis | [80] |
| The Great King fighting with a Monster | [88] |
| Zeus | [114] |
| The Hill Country East of the Tigris | [126] |
| Among the Carduchian Mountains | [142] |
| Ruins of Persepolis: Gate of Xerxes | [168] |
| Ruins of Persepolis: Gateway with Winged Bulls | [180] |
| Artemis | [190] |
| WOODCUTS IN TEXT | |
| The Great King in Gala Dress | [4] |
| Front of the Palace of Persepolis | [14] |
| Bringing Presents to a Satrap | [16] |
| A Bear Hunt | [17] |
| A Gold Daric | [24] |
| Athenian Helmets | [28], [34] |
| Persian Galley | [36] |
| Ruins of Persepolis: Hall of the Hundred Columns | [47] |
| The Great King hunting | [66] |
| The Great King on his Throne, supported by the Subject Nations | [73] |
| A Fight between Hellenes and Barbarians | [77] |
| Coin of a Satrap, probably Tissaphernes | [90] |
| Archers of the Royal Body-guard | [103] |
| Hellene Horseman: Coin of Alexander of Pheræ | [122] |
| Hoplite singing the Pæan | [155] |
| A Satrap receiving Deputies | [158] |
THE RETREAT
OF
THE TEN THOUSAND
I
THE GREAT KING
From time to time, in the course of the world’s history, the title of Great has been given to some monarch who has distinguished himself, either by the splendour of his victories, or by the value of his services to his fellowmen. We speak, for example, of Alexander the Great, and amongst English kings, of Alfred the Great.
There was however one empire, that of Persia, in which the title of Great carried with it no distinction, for in this country every king was called the Great King, not because it was supposed that his nature was more noble or his actions more splendid than those of other men, but because he was lord of a vast empire, greater than had ever yet been seen upon the face of the earth.
The Persian empire had been founded about a hundred and fifty years before the time of this story, by Cyrus the Great, who, having succeeded by inheritance to the double throne of Persia and Media, had conquered many of the surrounding nations. The kings who came after him extended their sway farther and farther, until at last, in the time of Darius I., there were no less than fifty-six countries subject to the Great King of Persia.
The Great King was looked upon as little less than a god. Every one who entered his presence threw himself flat upon the ground, as if in the presence of a divine being. It was supposed that a mere subject must of necessity be struck to the earth with sudden blindness on meeting the dazzling rays of such exalted majesty.
The court of the Great King was on a scale of the utmost splendour. His chief residence was the city of Susa, but in the hot season he preferred the city of Ecbatana, which was higher and cooler, and he also stayed occasionally at Babylon and at Persepolis. At each of these places there was an immense palace, adorned with every conceivable magnificence, and from the discoveries recently made among the ruins of Persepolis we can form some idea of what the palace of the Great King of Persia must have been like.
The palace of Persepolis stood upon a terrace above the rest of the city, and all round it were houses of a simpler kind, used for lodging the soldiers and the civil and military officers who were attached to the King’s person, and who ate daily at his expense. There must, in all, have been about fifteen thousand of them, including the ten thousand soldiers of the royal body-guard.[1]