Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 2).djvu/38

 the Persian monarch to assume in his epistles; he was brother of the sun and moon, a god among men, and in merely mundane affairs the King of kings, the lord of all nations, as well as everything else expressive of unlimited power and success. When he made a progress out of doors the streets were cleansed and decorated in the manner already described as customary during the passage of the Eastern Emperor. Personal reverence was, of course, carried to the extreme point, and even officials of the highest rank kissed the ground before venturing to address the Shah. The succession to the throne was strictly hereditary and, although several revolutions occurred during the four

(359) Sapor wore a golden ram's head instead of a crown; Ammianus, xix, 1. Theophylactus (who is noted for his turgidity) gives a description of Hormidz IV sitting in state on his throne (590). "He was clad with a regal robe of precious material. His tiara of gold and jewels was brilliant with the effulgence of carbuncles. A profusion of pearls glittered around the crest, scintillating on a sea of smaragdite, so that the eyes were almost blinded by the dazzling exuberance of the gems. His trousers, a priceless sample of the weaver's art, were embroidered on cloth of gold"; iv, 3. Cedrenus (i, 721) also furnishes some curious details as what was found when Heraclius broke into the treasure city of Gazaca and rifled the palace of Chosroes Parviz (622). The contents of a private fire-temple astonished them. "On entering the spherical chamber he found the impious effigy of Chosroes sitting, as it were, in the heavens among the sun, moon, and stars, whom the fanatic worshipped as gods. Sceptre-bearing angels stood around, and the wretch had devised machines which discharged water like rain, and emitted a sound as of thunder. All this was consumed by fire."]
 * [Footnote: by a pedunculated ball of considerable size. At the siege of Amida