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The standard is described by Xenophon of Athens in Cyropaedia (Book VII, C.1) as: "...and the word went down the lines, "Eyes on the standard and steady marching!". The standard was a golden eagle, with outspread wings, borne aloft on a long spear-shaft, and to this day such is the standard of the Persian king." (however here he is describing Artaxerxes II's standard at Cunaxa).