Ancient Persian Standards.
metal, and probably had some reference to the heavenly bodies, which were the ancient olijects of worship in Persia. The proper royal standard of that country, however, for many centuries, until the Mohammedan conquest, was a blacksmith's leathern apron, around which the Persians had at one time been rallied to a successful opposition against the odious tyranny of Zo- hauk. Many national standards have arisen from sim- ilar emergencies, when any article which happened to be next at hand, being seized and lifted up as a rally- ing-point for the people, was afterwards, out of a sort of superstitious gratitude, adopted either as the common ensign or the sacred banner. Thus also originated the horse-tails of the modern Turks, and the bundles of hay
at the top of a pole which formed the most ancient Ro- man standard, as mentioned in the following extract from the Introduction (p. liv) of Dr. Meyrick's splendid work on Ancient Armor: "Each century, or at least each maniple, of troops had its proper standard and standard-bearer. This was originally merely a bundle of hay on the top of a pole; afterwards a spear, with a cross-piece of wood at tlie top, sometimes with the fig- ure of a hand above, probably in allusion to the word man ipuhiji, and below a small round or oval shield, gen- erally of silver or of gold. On this metal plate were usu- ally represented the warlike deities, Mars or Minerva; but after the extinction of the commonwealth the effi- gies of the emperors and their favorites : it was on this account that the standards were called niimina leyionum, and held in religious veneration. The standards of dif- ferent divisions had certain letters inscribed on them to distinguish the one from the other. The standard of a legion, according to Dio, was a silver eagle with ex- panded wings on the top of a spear, sometimes holding a thunderbolt in its claws; hence the word uquila was used to signify a legion. Tiie place for this standard was near the general, almost in the centre. Before the time of Marius figures of other animals were used. The vexillum, or flag of the cavalry, was, according to Livy, a square piece of cloth fixed to a cross-bar at the end of a spear." These flags had sometimes fringes and ril)- bons, and were used less restrictedly than Dr. Meyrick seems to state. The divisions of a legion had also their particular ensigns, sometimes simply attached to the end of a spear, but sometimes fixed below the images. An infantry flag was red, a cavalry one blue, and that of a consul white. As the Roman standard is in the New Test, mentioned distinctly as "the abomination of des- olation," we have here noticed it particularly under the general subject. As to the huml on the Roman stand- ard, we may observe that at this day the flag-staff of the Persians terminates in a silver hand, as that of the Turks does in a crescent. After Trajan's conquest of the Dacians, the Romans adopted as a trophy the dragon, which was a general ensign among barbarians. The dragons were embroidered in cotton, silk, or purple. Mention is also made of piniue, which seem to have been aigrettes of feathers of different colors, intended for signals or ralh'ing-points. Animals also, fixed upon plinths, with holes through them, are often found, and
Ancient Roman Standards.
STANDARD
984
STANDARD
were ensigns intended to be placed upon the ends of spears. In the East the use of standards fixed upon cars seems to have been long continued. We have ob- served that this was a usage in ancient Persia, and at a period long subsequent we find it existing among the Saracens. Turpin, in his i/iston/ i,f Charhmaijite, men- tions it as belonging to thum. He says, " In the midst of them was a wagon drawn by eight horses, upon which was raised their red banner. Such was its influ- ence that while the banner remained erect no one would ever tly from the field" (Meyrick, Ancient Armor, i, 50). This custom was afterwards introduced into Europe, and found its way to England in the reign of king Stcjihen; after which tiie main standard was borne, sometimes at least, on a carriage with four wheels. The main stand- ard of Henry V at the battle of Agincourt was borne thus upon a car, being too heavy to be carried other- wise.
After this rapid glance at ancient standards, it re- mains to ask to which of all these classes of ensigns that of the Hebrews approached the nearest. We readily confess that we do not know, but the rabbins, who pro- fess to know everything, are very particular in their in- formation on the subject. They leave out of view the ensigns which distinguished the subdivisions of a tribe, and confine their attention to the tribe-standards, and in this it will be well to follow their example. They by no means agree among themselves; but the view which they most generally entertain is illustrated by the distinction given above, and is in accordance with the prevailing notion among the Jewish interpreters. They su])pose that the standards were flags bearing figures derived from the comparisons used by Jacob in his final prophetic blessing on his sons. Thus they have Judah represented by a lion, Dan by a serpent, Benjamin by a wolf, etc. But, as long since observed by Sir Thomas Brown {Vithjur Errors, bk. v, ch. x), the escutcheons of the tribes, as determined by these ingenious triflers, do not in every instance correspond with any possible interpretation of Jacob's prophecy, nor with the analogous prophecy of jNIoses when about to die. The latter Jews were of opinion that, with re- spect to the four grand divisions, the standard of the camp of Judah rei)resented a lion, tliat of Reuben a man, that of Joseph an ox, and that of Dan an eagle ; but this was under the conception that the appearances in the cherubic vision of Ezekiel alluded to this division. The Targumists, however, believe that the banners were distingui^hed by their colors, the color for each tribe being analogous to that of the precious stone for that tribe in the breastplate of the high-priest, and that the great standard of each of the four camps combined the three colors of the tribes which composed it. They add that the names of the tribes appeared on the standards, together with a particular sentence from the law, and, moreover, accompanied with appropriate rei)resenta- lions, a.s of the lion for Judah, etc. Aben-Ezra and other ral)bins a^ree with the Targumists in other re- spects, but they insert other representations than the lat- t«r assign. Lastly, the Cabalists have an opinion that the Ix-arings of the twelve standards corresponded with the months of the year and the signs of the zodiac — the supposed characters of the latter being represented thereon; and that the distinction of the great standards was that tli<y Ijore the cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and ('apricorn, and were also charged each with one Iftler of the tetragrammaton, or (piadriliteral name ofCJod. Thus much for lialiiiinical interpretation. Most moilern expositors seem to incline to the opinion that the en»i(;nH were flags, distinguished by their colors or by the name of the tribe to which each belonged. Tliis is c<rtainly as prol)able in itself as anything that can be offered, unless the instances we have given from the early practice of other nations lead to the conclu- sion that flags were not the earliest, but the ultimate, form which Htandurds assumed. We have in most in- stances ijeen them preceded by any object that would