Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/143

141 sense Persepolitan, is far less conventional than its prototypes, and much superior in both design and execution to anything in Persia, so far as I can ascertain. The Persepolitan capital long continued to be used as a decorative element in Indian sculpture, and is common in the reliefs from Gantlhara, the so called Graeco-Buddhist school.

The idea of issuing long proclamations engraved on the rocks most likely was suggested by the practice of Darius, and the special variation of using the proclamations as sermons may have been originated by the inscription of that monarch at Naksh-i-Rustam, which is supposed to be 'preceptive not historical,' and to contain 'the last solemn admonition of Darius to his countrymen with respect to their future conduct in policy, morals, and religion.' But the text of that document, apparently, has not been published, so it cannot be compared in detail with the Edicts of Asoka. The opening phrases of the Edicts, 'Thus saith his Sacred and Gracious Majesty,' and the like, recall, as has often been observed, the style of the Achaemenian records.

Several minor details conﬁrm the impression that the Maurya court was very sensible to the influence of the great empire to the West, so recently conquered