noon
Never had the two women seemed lovelier than when their hearts ran out to their approaching king . He felt now the power of personal sovranty , how these children of the East awaited not Xerxes the Master , but Xerxes the Omnipotent , God-Manifest , whose decrees were as the decrees of Heaven . And their awe could not fail to awe the Athenian . At noon the multitude caught the first token of the king . Down the road , through the gate , walked a man , bare-headed , bare-footed , alone , -- Artaphernes , despot of all Lydia , going to pay his abject homage . Presently the eunuch priests of Cybele , perched above the gate , clashed their cymbals and raised their hymn of welcome . To the boom of drums the thousand chosen cavalry and as many picked footmen of the Life Guard entered , tall , magnificent soldiers , -- caps and spear butts shining with gold .