The tone of the court was somewhat muted following the arrival of King Tiridates of Armenia in Ashur. The usual infighting constantly occurring between the nobility, the traditional jockeying for power and favor, it had all ceased, for all were awed by the foreign monarch and somewhat apprehensive about what they were about to do. Some, of course, had taken to currying favor with the King even before he was crowned Emperor. Others simply showed him the courtesy due a foreign dignitary, and still others had left court to avoid being associated with the possible fallout of what was about to occur. Many of the nobles were still uneasy about the coronation of a foreigner to rule their land.
Such was not the attitude of the people of Ashur. King Tiridates had been greeted by an outpouring of devotion and loyalty upon first passing through the city walls. It had seemed as though the entire capital city had turned out to see the mighty King of Armenia. In the streets, women gossiped openly about his great strength and dashing good looks, and some children had taken to chanting his name in their games. The arrival of the Emperor-to-be had lifted the depressed spirits of many common Assyrians, who knew of by way of rumor the depredations of the Hittite barbarians in the west and who still mourned the death of Ashurbanipal IV. Tiridatess was young and healthy unlike the late Emperor, and had proven himself already in military campaigns along the Georgian coast and against a minor noble insurrection. Things would be safe once he was Emperor.
The coronation ceremony was to be held in the large open square before the palace. The golden crown of the Assyrian Emperors had been taken from its resting place crowning the stone statue upon Ashurbanipal IVs tomb and brought forth into the palace. The King stood with the Imperial Court around him, smiling down from the steps at the enormous crowd that had gathered below the steps to the palace. The crown was brought forth from the depths of the imperial vaults, where it had been stored since being removed from the tomb by the Governor of the Imperial household, an old, stooped man who had been appointed to the position by Ashurbanipal III, before Tiridatess birth. The King knelt on the steps, and the crowd watched with bated breath.
Do you solemnly swear by the Eight Faces of God and the Books of the Prophet that you will uphold the laws of the Empire of Assyria and see her strength continued and increased?
I do.
The Governor gently lowered the crown onto the Kings head.
Long live Tiridates the First, Emperor of Assyria!
The Emperor rose from kneeling, and the crowd let out a tumultuous cheer.