Mark Gagnon

I mean, imagine that walking into Perzopolis at dawn.

You know, an ancient New Year festival of Nowruz.

And, you know, Nowruz is a more cultural celebration than a religious one.

So a bunch of different people would basically come together to celebrate the birth of the New Year.

And as you can imagine, the most impressive and bountiful Nowruz celebration was right in the heart of Perzopolis.

So you would have delegates from...

Every single nation filing through the gate in their native dress, you know, Babylonian robes or, you know, everyone would have their different thing.

Ethiopians would have the ivory, you'd have incense and roasted meat, you know, all these different people talking different languages, you know, with these massive columns.

And it wasn't just a palace.

It was like this statement.

It was like, we have the best festivals.

It's everything you can imagine now, right?

It's what you would do if you were having, you know, like Times Square, right?

New Year's Eve, like right in the heart of New York City, you got everyone coming together, trying to show off, and this is what they were doing even back then.

Xerxes also began construction of what is known as the Hall of 100 Columns, also known as the Throne Hall, which when completed was one of the largest roof structures in the entirety of the ancient world.

100 stone columns, each over 60 feet tall, supporting this massive roof made of cedar wood.

The doorways were carved with these elaborate designs showing the king in combat with these mythical beasts.

This was a visual representation of the king's role as a protector of the cosmic order, so to speak.

He also expanded the Apadana, which is the name of the great audience hall that his father had started to build.

He added to its magnificent reliefs, which depicted images of all