The wives of the late king were likely to be acquainted with the person of the king's brother; Atossa, at any rate, could not fail to know him intimately.

If the Magus allowed them to associate together freely, according to the ordinary practice, they would detect his imposture and probably find a way to divulge it.
He therefore introduced a new system into the seraglio.

Instead of the free intercourse one with another which the royal consorts had enjoyed previously, he established at once the principle of complete isolation.
Each wife was assigned her own portion of the palace; and no visiting of one wife by another was permitted.

Access to them from without was altogether forbidden, even to their nearest relations; and the wives were thus cut off wholly from the external world, unless they could manage to communicate with it by means of secret messages.

But precautions of this kind, though necessary, were in themselves suspicious; they naturally suggested an inquiry into their cause and object.