Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women. The celebration was double; because, as according to the Oriental fashion the sexes do not intermingle in society, the court ladies were entertained in a separate apartment by the queen. She was in circumstances to provide a sumptuous entertainment on an extensive scale; because the dignified rank of queen was supported by ample revenues, not dependent on the good-will of the king, but fixed by the law and usage of the country (Herodotus, b. 2:, 98; 'Athen. Deipn.,' b. 1:, p. 33). She possessed great power over the women of the court-amounting, according to some authorities, to from 330 to 360 concubines-and frequently exercised it in a very despotic manner in the harem (Quintus, Curtius, 'Exped. Alex.,' b. 3:, p. 28). Although the queen could, to a certain extent, use great freedom, she was as completely at the will of the king as the veriest slave in the country (Herodotus, b. 9:, p. 111).