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 ( 255 ) CHAPTER V. civil and military architecture. General Characteristics of the Palace. The principal effort of the Persian builder, like that of his Assyrian colleague, was brought to bear upon the palace. Religious beliefs which discountenanced inhumation had not favoured the development of a funerary architecture, and the monotheistic tendencies of a cult whose sanctuaries at the outset were the bare summits of lofty mountains, had retained through- out, even when it could command the resources of a mighty empire, the elementary and primitive form of the temple, an altar set upon a plinth more or less elevated, rising on an esjilanade open to the sky. Such simplicity and uniformity as these were in perfect harmony with the spirit of Magism and in accord with the character of its rites. Hence, the palace, in a society where the monarch played so conspicuous a part, could not fail to assume a paramount importance. It was as if no building could ever be vast enough, beautiful enough to become the resi- dence of the majesty of the monarch, or furnish settings that should enhance the splendour of its pageants and give point thereto, under whatever aspect it was pleased to show itself. Thus it was that the inventive faculty of the architect centred in the palace. He had everywhere repeated, without scarcely ringing a change, the same sepulchral type, the same temple type. But when he was required to produce a stage befitting his princes, so as to singl(f out royalty from the rank and file, he knew how to vary his theme so as to derive therefrom several subordinate patterns, each with a distinct arrangement and individual physiognomy. This he did because he had ample opportunities for exercising his art, correcting, re-doing, and trying