At the entrance to the British Museum's Persian exhibition, Forgotten Empire (on until 8 January), the King of Many Peoples looms high on a rectangular relief. He dwarfs the attendant who reaches up from behind to shade his big imperial head, ready with a towel to dab away the imperial sweat. His Highness (probably Xerxes) sits rod-spined on a high-backed throne, sceptre in one hand, lotus in the other, a footstool protecting his feet from the ignominy of contact with the ground. And the throne is itself enthroned, sitting on a greatly magnified image of itself, big enough to accommodate three tiers of subject peoples underneath: Armenians, Libyans, Greeks, Egyptians etc, arms upraised to bear his imperial weight - discretion not being one of the many qualities for which the ancient Persians are here being celebrated.

LRB 22 September 2005 | PDF Download