this circumstance from Suetonius and Aurelius Victor[1]. A comet had appeared in the war with Persia, and was looked upon by the Romans as a bad omen. Vespasian laughed at it, and said, if it portended any ill it was to the king of Persia, because, like him, it wore long hair.
The diadem was, with the Persians, a mark of royalty, as with the Abyssinians, being composed of the same materials, and worn in the same manner. The king of Abyssinia wears it, while marching, as a mark of sovereignty, that does not impede or incommode him, as any other heavier ornament would do, especially in hot weather. This fillet surrounds his head above the hair, leaving the crown perfectly uncovered. It is an offence of the first magnitude for any person, at this time, to wear any thing upon his head, especially white, unless for Mahometans, who wear caps, and over them a large white turban; or for priests, who wear large turbans of muslin also.
This was the diadem of the Persians, as appears from Lucian[2], who calls it a white fillet about the forehead. In the dialogue between Diogenes and Alexander, the head is said to be tied round with a white fillet[3]; and Favorinus, speaking of Pompey, whose leg was wound round with a white bandage, says, It is no matter on what part of the body he wears a diadem. We read in Justin[4], that Alexander, leaping from his horse, by accident wounded Lysimachus in the forehead with the point of his spear, and the bloodgushed
