Time passes over the great and the small alike, yet blessed is the sage who sows the eternal seeds of poetic vision across the earth. King Khosrow Parviz resolved to erect a palace arch in Ctesiphon of such unmatched grandeur that neither rain, nor snow, nor scorching sun could erode its beauty for two centuries. Envoys were dispatched across the known world—to Rome, India, China, and every prosperous realm—gathering three thousand master artisans. From among them, thirty grand architects were selected, but it was a master Roman engineer whose brilliant grasp of geometry surpassed all peers, earning him the monumental task.
The Roman master excavated the foundations ten royal cubits deep into the earth and raised massive walls five cubits thick, bound with heavy stone and mortar. When the walls rose skyward, he twisted a fine silk cord, measured the precise height of the wall before an assembly of nobles and Mobads, and sealed the cord inside the royal treasury. He then requested forty days of patience from Khosrow, explaining that the massive wall needed time to settle under its own immense weight before the high arch could be crowned. But Khosrow, consumed by haste, refused the delay and demanded immediate vaulting. Knowing that premature construction would cause the magnificent arch to crack and collapse, the master architect vanished secretly into the night.
When Khosrow learned of the Roman’s flight, his fury flared. He ordered the remaining Roman craftsmen imprisoned and commanded that new builders complete the work. Yet every architect who beheld the colossal wall fled in awe and terror. For three long years, the project stood paralyzed. In the fourth year, the Roman master voluntarily returned to court. He offered to prove that his flight was not treason, but the preservation of architectural truth. Accompanied by royal inspectors, he retrieved the sealed silk cord and measured the wall once more—demonstrating that the immense structure had naturally settled by seven full cubits. Had the arch been closed earlier, the entire structure would have collapsed into catastrophic ruin.
Realizing the engineer's supreme honesty and wisdom, Khosrow pardoned him, freed all the imprisoned Roman artisans, and showered the master with lands, gold, and royal praise. After seven years of meticulous craftsmanship, the glorious Arch of Ctesiphon was completed—a breathtaking miracle of engineering featuring a suspended golden crown above an ivory throne, where Khosrow held court, dispensed justice, and celebrated Nowruz in peerless majesty.