PERSIAN POMP AND WARFARE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12776, 21 October 1919, Page 10

PERSIAN POMP AND WARFARE.

Warfare was a- spectacular as well a> a bloody enterprise in the days of antiquity. Plain khaki and sieapje busi-ness-liko accoutrements would never hav& suited the ancient Persian soldiers. Silver altars, surrounded hy priest- - chanting sacred songs, r are lir-t m liny of marcli. They were follower, by > youths* dressed in purple garments. A chariot dedicated to the sen was drawn hy snow-white horses, led by grooms wearing white garments and carrying ghlen wauls. Ten chariots embossed with gold and silver preceded iho cavalry of twelve nations, dressed in their various costumes and carrying their peculiar arms. Then came the Perstan Immortals, Id,COO in number, weaving golden chains and robes embroidered with gold and glittering with precious stone 0 .. Following at a show, distance came 15,000 nobles, relative? of linking, dressed in garments wonderfully WTOUght. A company of spearmen preceded the King. Ho rode in an imposing rbr.no'. and relies of surpassing magnificence, and eostlv mitre on his head, ilv his side walked 200 of his most, noble kinsmen- Ten thousand warriors, bearing spears with staffs of silver tipped by heads of gold, followed the royal chariot of Xerxes. The King s l;(vj. - .-ws, forty in number, with, 30.000 footmen, ended tiie procession. At some distance- follow eft the mother and the wife of the King in elm no:-, accompanied by their ladies on horseback. Fifteen cars carried the bine s children, their tutors and mir-es, and CCO camels, guarded by archers, boro the royal treasury. The friends and relatives of th,> ladies followed, with the cooks and servants. Tight-armed troops brought up the rear. Wlieu a king of those- days looked upon his. troops and saw tlieii* strength and splendour it is no wonder he felt proud and wished to lead them to battle. Such an army was not meant to stay at home, where only their countrymen could sec themOther nations must know how powerful a king he was. So ho and his followers marched away, and wars for conquest began. Peoples were forced to give themselves up to a life of war, cither for conquest or defence, and the great highways, which peace would ha>> dedicated to commerce and prosperity, became military roads over which war took its cruel way.—Xcw York “ Herald.’' -