Here are some interesting little bits:
If the whole, splendid, visual array of Persepolis were left untouched, it would have been a ready-dressed stage on to which another suitable Achaemenid relative could step, ready to be hailed as king.
While the royal women appear to have had their own private apartments, we have no evidence that they were confined to them. On the contrary, some references suggest that royal and noble women could pursue an education, even in physical skills such as riding and archery. They owned property, travelled with entourages across the empire, and wielded seals in order to conduct business. Nevertheless, the behaviour of royal women ay have been as closely watched as that of the male nobles around the king, since their role in the legitimacy of the royal household was key.
So, was Bagoas a wine-pourer and not a physical eunuch?Similarly confusing are tales of courtiers called eunuchs, who frequently appear in Greek texts as founts of devious intrigue. There had been a tradition of employing some castrated men in earlier Near Eastern courts. Since the Achaemind court inherited many of the interrelated administrative and social networks of their predecessors, it is entirely likely that these specialised roles continued. However, the evidence is ambiguous. The term used for 'eunuch' in Akkadian could have become a standard court title, leaving us no indication whether the [to us] crucial physical definition still applied. Moveover, the term 'eunuch' in Greece can frequently be mistranscribed for the word meaning 'wine-pourer' or 'wine-bearer' another formal position of the inner court, leaving significant scope for later misunderstanding.