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Then the king's orders were obeyed; and the army marched out between
the two halves of the carcase. First of all went the
baggage-bearers, and the sumpter-beasts, and then a vast crowd of
many nations mingled together without any intervals, amounting to more
than one half of the army. After these troops an empty space was
left, to separate between them and the king. In front of the king
went first a thousand horsemen, picked men of the Persian nation -
then spearmen a thousand, likewise chosen troops, with their
spearheads pointing towards the ground - next ten of the sacred horses
called Nisaean, all daintily caparisoned. (Now these horses are
called Nisaean, because they come from the Nisaean plain, a vast
flat in Media, producing horses of unusual size.) After the ten
sacred horses came the holy chariot of Jupiter, drawn by eight
milk-white steeds, with the charioteer on foot behind them holding the
reins; for no mortal is ever allowed to mount into the car. Next to
this came Xerxes himself, riding in a chariot drawn by Nisaean
horses, with his charioteer, Patiramphes, the son of Otanes, a
Persian, standing by his side.
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