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 Themes and their Situations. 409 degree of sameness in a succession of people whose business being very similar obliged them to make the same gestures, and assume a uniform attitude, except those attending on animals. Our descrip- tion of the Hall of a Hundred Columns will show what resources he found in the other theme of his adoption ; namely, the repre- sentations of the monarch. As the principal doorways open upon the portico, the sculptures which adorn the inner faces of the door- frames transcend all others in rich- ness of composition. Here the king is seated on an elevated throne (Fig. 190). On his head is the cydaris, the smooth flat- topped tiara, which none but the monarch could wear, and in shape not unlike the undress cap of Russian and Prussian officers.' His beard, which is curled, falls low on the chest, and is somewhat longer than that of the other figures. The purple candys, the dignified Median robe, descends to the ankles and on the feet, which are supported by a foot- stool. In one hand is held the sceptre and in the other a flower. Behind him stands an attendant waving a fly-chaser over his head. The originality of the picture re- sides above all in the accessories. The regal seat is placed upon an elevated stage, or takhte, as it now is called in Persia ; the upper part of which is upheld by uprights of fine workmanship, whilst fourteen figures bear its cross-beams on their heads and raised arms. We recognize the representatives of the conquered nations in the variety of costume and type figured here. Processions of ' The shape of the cydaris, despite the small scale of our illustration, is well seen in Fig. 156. . 1 -mm l- io. 107. — ^erse|)oli-^. l're>eniaUL»ii ol elephant's tusk. After a cast at the Louvre.