Available information on the Median and Achae­menid imperial courts is very limited and not entirely reliable. From Herodotus’ report (1.114) of the child Cyrus’ playing at being king it seems that the Median court included bodyguards, messengers, the “king’s eye” (a kind of secret agent; see below), and builders, for it is likely that the game was modeled on the existing court (Hirsch, p. 105). When the boy became Cyrus the Great (559-30 b.c.e.) he probably continued Median courtly organization and practices, including forms of etiquette, ceremonial, and diplo­matic protocol that the Medes had in turn inherited from Assyria, though there is no explicit information on this point (Root, pp. 264-66, 283-84). According to Ctesias, one of the Median court offices was that of royal cupbearer (König, p. 177). Although the tablets from the Persepolis fortifica­tions and treasury furnish little direct evidence on the Achaemenid court, the reliefs depicting the royal trib­ute ceremonies on the Apadāna are a major source.