King's Ears

...The satraps were the king's representatives in charge of administration, law and order, and the courts of the provinces, commanded the conscripted military forces of the provinces, and collected a set amount of taxes and paid them to the king. To supervise the satraps, who had vast powers, the king's eyes (patrolmen) and the king's ears (spies) were dispatched, but it was difficult to suppress their independent tendencies, and during the reign of Artaxerxes II, rebellions occurred in the western provinces for about 10 years. Alexander the Great, who conquered Persia, inherited the satrapy system in order to control the empire, but he also tried to suppress its power, and this policy was passed down to the Hellenistic states.

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "King's Ears" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…サトラップは王の代理として州の行政，治安，裁判をつかさどり，州民の召集軍を指揮し，定められた額の税を徴収して王に納めた。広大な権限を有するサトラップを監督するために〈王の目〉(巡察官)や〈王の耳〉(密偵)が派遣されたが，その自立的傾向を抑えることは難しく，アルタクセルクセス2世時代には約10年間にわたって西部諸州の反乱が起きている。ペルシアを征服したアレクサンドロス大王は帝国支配のためにサトラップ制を継承するとともに権限の抑制につとめ，その政策はヘレニズム諸国家に受けつがれた。…

※「王の耳」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報