From his royal throne in Persia’s capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.
Wow. The entire known world at that time.
For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty.
I suppose that more than anything is the objective to accumulate riches. I can do without.
After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace.
Marvellous. Truly.
Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.
Very arab!
On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants… He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests.
Indeed, an extention of the show: riches, splendor and majesty.
But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king’s command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.
One can well imagine that the queen, surrounded by all her female friends, wanted to stand up to her husband. She wasn’t going to be put on display before those men! Both she and her husband the king were operating out of pride. He, however, was the one with all the power…