Persia became a remarkably successful empire precisely because it combined and reproduced the best ideas—dress, religion, art, technology—from every culture it absorbed rather than imposing uniformity.

94:53Herodotus describes this Persian ability to  synthesize the ways of others. No race is so ready to adopt foreign ways as the Persian.  For instance, they wear the Median costume, as they think it handsomer than their own,  and their soldiers wear the Egyptian armor. Persia was an empire that combined  and reproduced the best ideas from each culture it absorbed, and in that  way it was remarkably successful. For the Greek writers who encountered Persians  and described them, one of the most remarkable

95:41aspects of their appearance was their clothing, as Herodotus describes. Around their heads they wore something called a tiara of soft felt,  while on their body they wore a multicolored sleeved garment and a piece of armor in appearance  like fish scales made of iron. Around their legs they wore trousers. Trousers were an innovation  developed on the Eurasian Steppe, designed to protect the legs while riding a horse night and  day. In the years after the conquest of Babylon,

96:22the Persians would combine these with fine fabrics  and expensive dyes to create new, stylish garments. The Greek writer Xenophon describes the  appearance of the Persian prince. Upon a chariot he appeared in the gates, wearing his tiara  upright, a purple tunic shot with white, trousers of scarlet dye about his  legs, and a mantle all of purple. Greeks had for centuries worn simple  tunics and cloaks, and always left their