All the king's servants and the people of the king's
provinces
do know
Not only the princes and courtiers, but all the king's subjects,
the meanest of them; there is scarce a person throughout the
whole empire, to whom the following law is not known; this is
said, to show how notorious it was:
that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the
king into
the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his
to put
him to death;
according to the former Targum, Human got this law to be made
now, to prevent any application to the king about this affair;
but then it would not have been so universally known as before
declared; and it appears that there was such a law among the
Medes, made by Dejoces, that none should go into the king's
presence, but all should be done by messengers F2; and
this was altered among the Persians, for the seven princes that
slew Smerdis made an agreement, that whoever of them was chosen
king, the rest should have the liberty of going unto him when
they pleased, without a messenger to introduce them F3; it
seems by this account it was death to go into the inner parlour,
where the king usually was, without leave, or being called; this
was made both for the king's safety, and for awe and reverence of
his majesty, and to prevent any insinuations into him by
ill-designing persons:
except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden
sceptre, that
he may live;
which, whether he would or not, was very precarious; so that a
person ran a great risk to go in uncalled:
but I have not been called to go in unto the king these
thirty days;
which looked as if the king had not that fond affection for her
he formerly had; and therefore there was greater danger in going
in to him uncalled, and the less hope of success.
F2 Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 99.
F3 Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 84.