Now Those Tablets Of Authority, Of Which I Have Spoken, Are Ordered In
This Way.
The officer who is a captain of 100 hath a tablet of silver; the
captain of 1000 hath a tablet of gold or silver-gilt; the commander of
10,000 hath a tablet of gold, with a lion's head on it.
And I will tell
you the weight of the different tablets, and what they denote. The tablets
of the captains of 100 and 1000 weigh each of them 120 saggi; and the
tablet with the lion's head engraven on it, which is that of the commander
of 10,000, weighs 220 saggi. And on each of the tablets is inscribed a
device, which runs: "By the strength of the great God, and of the great
grace which He hath accorded to our Emperor, may the name of the Kaan be
blessed; and let all such as will not obey him be slain and be
destroyed." And I will tell you besides that all who hold these tablets
likewise receive warrants in writing, declaring all their powers and
privileges.
I should mention too that an officer who holds the chief command of
100,000 men, or who is general-in-chief of a great host, is entitled to a
tablet that weighs 300 saggi. It has an inscription thereon to the same
purport that I have told you already, and below the inscription there is
the figure of a lion, and below the lion the sun and moon.
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