ori

Spirit of

CHA P. The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsoicable genius of their faith, to the practice of ancient kings, and even to the expersecution, ample of their legislator, who had fallen a victim to a religious war, excited by his own intolerant zeal. By an edict of Artaxerxes, the exercise of every worship, except that of Zoroaster, was severely prohibited. The temples of the Parthians, and the statues of their deified monarchs, were thrown down with ignominy §. The sword of Aristotle (such was the name given by the Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy of the Greeks) was easily broken; the flames of persecution soon reached the more stubborn Jews and Christians; nor did they spare the heretics of their own nation and religion. The majesty of Ormusd, who was jealous of a rival, was seconded by the despotism of Artaxerxes, who could not suffer a rebel; and the schismatics within his ~ vast empire were soon reduced to the inconsiderable number of eighty thousand **. This spirit

of

* Mr. Hume, in the Natural History of Religion, sagaciously remarks, that the most refined and philosophic sects are constantly the most intolerant.

+ Cicero de Legibus, ii. 10. Xerxes, by the advice of the Magi, destroyed the temples of Greece.

Hyde de Relig. Persar. c. 23, 24. D'Herbelot Bibliotheque, Orientale Zerdusht, Life of Zoroaster in tom. . of the Zendavesta.

Compare Moses of Chorene, 1. ii. c. 74, with Ammian. Marcellin, xxiii. 6. Hereafter I shall make use of these passages. Rabbi Abraham in the Tarikh Schickard, p. 108, 109.

1 Basnage Histoire des Juifs, 1. viii. c. 3. Sozomen, l. ii. c. 1, Manes, who suffered an ignominious death, may be deemed a Magian as well as a Christian heretic.

** Hyde de Religione Persar. c. 21.

of persecution reflects dishonour on the religion CHA P. of Zoroaster; but as it was not productive of any NIU. civil commotion, it served to strengthen the new monarchy, by uniting all the various inhabitants of Persia in the bands of religious zeal.set

2..

royal au

the pro

bai II. Artaxerxes, by his valour and conduct, had Establishwrested the sceptre of the East from the ancient ment of the. royal family of Parthia. There still remained thority in the more difficult task of establishing, throughout vinces. the vast extent of Persia, a uniform and vigorous administration.The weak indulgence of the Arsacides had resigned to their sons and brothers the principal provinces, and the greatest offices of the kingdom, in the nature of hereditary possessions. The vitaxæ, or eighteen most powerful satraps, were permitted to assume the regal title; and the vain pride of the monarch was delighted with a nominal dominion over so, many vassal kings. Even tribes of barbarians in their mountains, and the Greek cities of Upper Asia *, within their walls, scarcely acknowledged, or seldom obeyed, any superior; and the Parthian empire exhibited, under other names, a lively image of the feudal system † which has since prevailed in Europe. But the active vic

tor,

* These colonies were extremely numerous. Seleucus Nicator founded thirty-nine cities, all named from himself, or some of his relations, (see Appian in Syriac. p. 124.) The æra of Seleucus. (still in use among the Eastern Christians) appears as late as the year 308, of Christ 196, on the medals of the Greek cities within the Parthian empire. See Moyle's works, vol. i. p. 273, &c. and M. Freret, Mem. de l'Academie, tom, xix.

+ The modern Persians distinguish that period as the dynasty of the kings of the nations. See Plin, Hist, Nat. vi. 25,

VIIK

CHAP for, at the head of a numerous and disciplined viik army, visited in person every province of Persia. The defeat of the boldest rebels, and the reduct tion of the strongest fortifications*, diffused the terror of his arms, and prepared the way for the peaceful reception of his authority. An obstinate resistance was fatal to the chiefs; but their fol lowers were treated with lenity A cheerful Submission was rewarded with honours and riches; but the prudent Artaxerxes, suffering no person except himself to assume the title of king, abo lished every intermediate power between the Extent and throne and the people. His kingdom, nearly of Persia. equal in extent to modern Persia, was, on every side, bounded by the sea, or by great rivers 3 by the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Araxes, the Oxus, and the Indus, by the Caspian Sea, and the Gulph of Persia ‡. That country was computed

population

t

dnsf Eutychius (tom. i. p. 367. 371. 375.) relates the siege of Send bes the island of Mesenh in the Tigris, with some circumstances not unlike the story of Nisus and Scylla.

trani baik + Agathias, ii. 164. The princes of Segestan defended their independence during many years. As romances generally port to an ancient period the events of their own time, it is not impossible that the fabulous exploits of Rustan prince of Segestan may have been grafted on this real history.

We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy the seacoast of Gedrosia or Macran, which extends along the Indian Ocean from Cape Jask (the promontory Capella) to Cape Goadel. In the time of Alexander, and probably many ages afterwards, it thinly inhabited by a savage people of Icthyophagi, or Fishermen, who knew no arts, who acknowledged no master, and who were divided by inhospitable deserts from the rest of the world. (See Arrian de Reb. Indicis.) In the twelfth century, the little town of Taiz (supposed by M. d'Anville to be the Tesa of Ptolemy) was peopled and enriched by the resort of the Aravade to armIRSODUR

to contain, in the last century, five hundred and CHAP. fifty four cities, sixty thousand villages, and about VIII. forty millions of souls*. If we compare the administration of the house of Sassan with that of the house of Sesi, the political influence of the Magian with that of the Mahometan religion, we shall probably infer, that the kingdom of Artaxerxes contained at least as great a number of cities, villages, and inhabitants. But it must likewise be confessed, that in every age the want of harbours on the sea-coast, and the scarcity of fresh water in the inland provinces, have been very unfavourable to the commerce and agri ka* Posts culture of the Persians; who, in the calculation of their numbers, seem to have indulged one of the meanest, though most common, articles of national vanity.

Parthian

empire.

As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes Recapitulation of the had triumphed over the resistance of his vassals, war behe began to threaten the neighbouring states, tween the who, during the long slumber of his predecessors, and Roman had insulted Persia with impunity. He obtained some easy victories over the wild Scythians and the effeminate Indians; but the Romans were an enemy, who, by their past injuries and present power, deserved the utmost efforts of his arms. A forty years tranquillity, the fruit of valour and modera

bian merchants. (See Geographie Nubiens, p. 58, and d'Anville Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p, 283.) In the last age the wholę country was divided between three princes, one Mahometan and two Idolaters, who maintained their independence against the successors of Shaw Abbas. (Voyages de Tavernier, part. i. l. v. p. 635.)

* Chardin, tom. iii. c, 1, 2, 3.

CHA P. moderation, had succeeded the victories of TraVIII. jan. During the period that elapsed from the

Cities

Selcucia

phon.

accession of Marcus to the reign of Alexander, the Roman and the Parthian empires were twice engaged in war; and although the whole strength of the Arsacides contented with a part only of the forces of Rome, the event was most commonly in favour of the latter, Macrinus, indeed, prompted by his precarious situation, and pusillanimous temper, purchased a peace at the expence of near two millions of our money * but the generals of Marcus, the emperor Severus, and his son, erected many tropies in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Among their exploits, the imperfect relation of which would have unseasonably interrupted the more important series of domestic revolutions, we shall only mention the repeated calamities of the two great cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon.

Seleucia, on the western bank of the Tigris, and Ctesi- about forty-five miles on the north of ancient Babylon, was the capital of the Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia †. Many ages after the fall of their empire, Seleucia retained the genuine characters of a Grecian colony, arts, military virtue, and the love of freedom. The independent republic was governed by a senate of three hundred nobles; the people consisted of six

* Dion, 1. xxviii. p. 1335.

For the precise situation of Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Modain, and Bagdad, cities confounded with each other; see an excellent Geographical Tract of M. d'Anville, in Mem. de l'Aca demie, tom. xxx.