"David Drake - Belisarius 3 - Destiny's Shield" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran."
The ambassador spoke loudly, so everyone in the huge throne room could hear.
His voice was very deep, as deep as anyone's the Emperor had ever heard except
church singers.
"My name is Baresmanas," continued the ambassador. "Baresmanas, of the Suren."
The Emperor heard a whispering rustle sweep the throne room. He understood the
meaning of that rustle, and felt a moment's pride in his understanding. For
weeks, now, his tutors had drilled him mercilessly in the history and
traditions of Persia. The Emperor had not forgotten his lessons.
Officially, the Suren were one of the sahrdaran, the seven greatest noble
families of Persia. Unofficially, they were the greatest. Rustam, the
legendary hero of the Aryans -- their equivalent of Hercules -- was purported
to have been of that family. And the Persian general who shattered Crassus'
Roman army at Carrhae had been a Suren.
Sending a Suren ambassador, the Emperor knew, was the Shahanshah's way of
indicating his respect for Rome. But the knowledge did not allay his fear.
He's going to be mean to me.
The stern, haughty, aristocratic face of the Persian ambassador broke into a
sudden smile. White teeth flashed in a rich, well-groomed beard.
"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty," said the ambassador.
Baresmanas bowed toward Theodora. "And your mother, the Regent Theodora."
The Emperor reached out his hand to take the scroll. After unrolling the
parchment, he saw with relief that the document was written in Greek. The
Emperor could read, now, though still with no great facility. And this
document was full of long-winded words that he didn't recognize at all. He
began studying it intently until he heard a slight cough.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Emperor saw the Empress Regent nodding
graciously. Remembering his instructions, the Emperor hastily rolled up the
parchment and followed her example. Then, seeing the hint of a frown on
Theodora's brow, he belatedly remembered the rest of her coaching.
"We welcome the representative of our brother," he piped, "the Basileus of
Pers -- "
The Emperor froze with fear at his blunder.
By long-standing protocol, the Emperor of Rome always called the Emperor of
Persia the "Basileus" rather than the "King of Kings." By using the same title
as his own, the Roman Emperor thereby indicated the special status of the
Persian monarch. No other ruler was ever granted that title by Romans, except,
on occasion, the negusa nagast of Ethiopia.
But Persians never called themselves Persians. That term was a Greek
bastardization of the Persian province of Fars, the homeland of the old
Achaemenid dynasty. Persians called their land Iran -- land of the Aryans.
They were immensely snooty on the matter, too, especially the distinction
between Aryans and all lesser breeds. Many non-Aryan nations were ruled by the
Shahanshah, but they were not considered part of the land of the Aryans
itself. Those were simply "non-Iran."
The Emperor's paralysis was broken by the slight, encouraging smile on the
ambassador's face.
" -- the Basileus of Iran and non-Iran," he quickly corrected himself.
The ambassador's smile widened. A very friendly gleam came into his brown
eyes. For a moment -- a blessed moment -- the Roman Emperor was reminded of