Herodotus: The Histories, [written c. 430 B.C.]
Book II, '31
This, it is said, was the first outrage which Cambyses committed. The second was the
slaying of his sister, who had accompanied him into Egypt, and lived with him as his wife,
though she was his full sister, the daughter both of his father and his mother. The way
wherein he had made her his wife was the following: It was not the custom of the Persians,
before his time, to marry their sisters---but Cambyses, happening to fall in love with one
of his, and wishing to take her to wife, as he knew that it was an uncommon thing, called
together the royal judges, and asked them, whether there was any law which allowed a
brother, if he wished, to marry his sister? Now the royal judges are certain picked men
among the Persians, who hold their office for life, or until they are found guilty of some
misconduct. By them justice is administered in Persia, and they are the interpreters of
the old laws, all disputes being referred to their decision. When Cambyses, therefore, put
his question to these judges, they gave him an answer which was at once true and safe,
"They did not find any law," they said, "allowing a brother to take his
sister to wife, but they found a law, that the king of the Persians might do whatever he
pleased." And so they neither warped the law through fear of Cambyses, nor ruined
themselves by over stiffly maintaining the law, but they brought another quite distinct
law to the king's help, which allowed him to have his wish. Cambyses, therefore, married
the object of his love [Atossa, the mother of Xerxes], and no long time afterwards he took
to wife another sister. It was the younger of these who went into Egypt, and there
suffered death at his hands.
The Book of Esther, [written c. 300 B.C.]
1:1-3, 10-22:
During the reign of Ahasuerus [Xerxes]--this was the Ahasuerus who ruled over a hundred
and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia--while he was occupying the royal throne
in the stronghold of Susa, in the third year of his reign, , he presided over a feast for
all his officers and ministers. . .On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine,
he instructed Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven
eunuchs who attended King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti into his presence wearing the
royal crown, that he might display her beauty to the populace and the officials, for she
was lovely to behold. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the royal order issued through
the eunuchs. At this the king's wrath flared up, and he burned with fury. He conferred
with the wise men versed in the law, because the king's business was conducted in general
consultation with lawyers and jurists. He summoned Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish,
Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven Persian and Median officials who were in the king's
personal service and held first rank in the realm, and asked them, "What is to be
done by law with Queen Vashti for disobeying the order of King Ahasuerus issued through
the eunuchs?"
In the presence of the king and of the officials, Memucan answered: "Queen Vashti
has not wronged the king alone, but all the officials and the populace throughout the
provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen's conduct will become known to all the women,
and they will look with disdain upon their husbands when it is reported, >King
Ahasuerus commanded that Queen Vashti be ushered into his presence, but she would not
come.' This very day the Persian and Median ladies who hear of the queen's conduct will
rebel against all the royal officials, with corresponding disdain and rancor. If it please
the king, let an irrevocable royal decree be issued by him and inscribed among the laws of
the Persians and Medes, forbidding Vashti to come into the presence of King Ahasuerus and
authorizing the king to give her royal dignity to one more worthy than she. Thus, when the
decree which the king will issue is published throughout his realm, vast as it is, all
wives will honor their husbands, from the greatest to the least.
This proposal found acceptance with the king and the officials, and the king acted on
the advice of Memucan. He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its
own script and to each people in its own language, to the effect that every man should be
lord in his own home.
From: Herodotus, The History, George Rawlinson, trans., (New York: Dutton &
Co., 1862)
The Bible (Douai-Rheims Version), (Baltimore: John Murphy Co., 1914).
Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton.
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© Paul Halsall, August 1998
