There were in the
same satrapy peoples who differed much in language, customs, and
beliefs; but each satrapy was to pay a fixed annual tribute, partly in
gold and silver, partly in natural products (wheat, horses, ivory).
The satrap, or governor, had the tribute collected and sent it to the
king.
=Revenues of the Empire.=--The total revenue of the king amounted to
sixteen millions of dollars and this money was paid by weight. This
sum was in addition to the tributes in kind. These sixteen millions of
dollars, if we estimate them by the value of the metals at this time,
would be equivalent to one hundred and twenty millions in our day.
With this sum the king supported his satraps, his army, his domestic
servants and an extravagant court; there still remained to him every
year enormous ingots of metal which accumulated in his treasuries.
The king of Persia, like all the Orientals, exercised his vanity in
possessing an immense treasure.
=The Great King.=--No king had ever been so powerful and rich. The
Greeks called the Persian king The Great King. Like all the monarchs
of the East, the king had absolute sway over all his subjects, over
the Persians as well as over tributary peoples.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115