Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/381

 Some more Palaces other than at Persepolis. 359 a disc 56 c. in thickness and 3 m. 50 c. in diameter, attached to the plinth, which was let into a cavity of the rock, in length 5 m. by 2 m. in height. Between the pedestal and the beginning of the cylinder a slight notch was cut into the stone (Figs. 174, 175). Was the disc the beginning of the shaft, or rather a kind of base, a circular platband akin to that upon which rests the Pasargadae pillar (Fig. in)? As a preliminary towards an opinion one way or another, it would be requisite to measure the drums strewing the ground. Another feature the monument bears in common with the unique pillar which rears its head near the tomb of Cyrus resides in this : both shaft and disc were plain. These analogies permit us to infer that both constructions, at Ecbatana and Pasai^iadae, are pretty near of the same age, anterior to the period when the Flca. 174, 175.— Ilamadan. Plan and proHIc of base. and CosTB, Perse atukmut Plate XXV. Flamdin rules which governed what may be called the classical architecture of Persia were fixed. As, during his visits at Ecbatana, the great king was far re- moved from his western provinces, it is probable that he never spent more than a few weeks there, so as to escape from the great summer heat Susa seems to have been the residence of his predilection, where he loved best to hold his court. He was nearer than at Babylon to his cradle-land, that Persia where his entomb- ment was ready prepared by the side of his ancestors, whither news could reach him almost as speedily* across the flat stretches of Mesapotamia and Susiana on a swift horse. Its charms as a winter residence are wellnigh unsurpsissed. Whilst icy-cold winds sweep over the uplands of Iran in storms of snow and rain, sometimes whirling on to the open plains of Chaldaea, the air there is soft and balmy, undisturbed by northern blasts, shielded as it is by the lofty range of mountains in its rear; it has, moreover, the advantage of being much nearer to the sea than Babylonia.' In the estimation of die Gredcs, Susa was the true capital of the empire, i^schylus lays here the scene of his TL4p&w. ; here Greek ' The DIeubfoy Mission spent two winters at Susa. During that time the thermomeler was never below 15°. It sometimes fell to 3** and 4** in the nights Once only a slight white frost was observed before sunrise. Digitized by Google
 * Stnbo, XV. iU. 9.