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.