The King Who Couldn't Take It Back: A Tale from Ancient Persia

In the Book of Esther, it is told that what is sealed with the king's signet ring cannot be revoked. Some historians mocked this claim. How could it be? After all, the signature on the king's ring is the king's himself. Could he not undo his own law?

However, Persian sources reveal that this is indeed how the Persian mind worked. Historian Diodorus Siculus describes an event at the court of Darius III. Darius ordered Charidemos to be executed. "When the king's anger subsided, he immediately repented and blamed himself for making such a grave error, but what was done could not be undone by royal authority." Sounds familiar – a drunken king decides to kill someone, and from then on, no court can help. The king might sober up, stand on his head, but he can't undo his decree...

An even stranger event is described by historian Herodotus. Xerxes (perhaps Ahasuerus?) met a woman and promised her with the seal of his ring to give her whatever she asked. She requested a particular robe. The king realized he had made a mistake; this robe would greatly anger the queen because the king dared to give it to another woman. The king offered the lady palaces, mountains, and hills instead, but she knew what she wanted... she insisted on the robe, the queen was furious, and a scandal was born.

And so went the wild lives in the Persian kingdom...