Armamaxa

“We have a splendid description previous to the battle of Issus of the Persian army, of which the materiel consisted of the sacred fire, borne on silver altars by three hundred and sixty-five magi, clothed in purple robes, the car of Jupiter and the Horse of the Sun, Golden chariots which conveyed the queen and princesses, and the Armamaxa of the royal household. Previous to the battle, Darius addressed his army in an animated harangue; in which he conjured them, by their household gods, by the eternal fire carried on their altars, by the light of the sun and memory of Cyrus, to save the name and nation of the Persians from utter ruin and infamy, and to leave that glory to their posterity which they had received entire from their ancestors. The romance is now occupied with the events of the campaign, the stratagems resorted to by Oroon dates to obtain interviews with Statira after her captivity, and the jealousy excited in her breast, and in that of her lover, by the artifices of Roxana.” [1]

Notes:
[1] The History of Fiction: Being a critical account of the most celebrated prose works of fiction, from the earliest Greek romances to the novels of the present age. By John Dunlop, Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., 1816. (p. 252)