Of the state of Persia after the restoration of the monarchy by Artaxerxes
The barbarians of the East and of the North
WHENEVER Tacitus indulges himself in those beautiful episodes, in which he relates some domestic transaction of the Germans or of the Parthians, his principal object is to relieve the attention of the reader from a uniform scene of vice and misery. From the reign of Augustus to the time of Alexander Severus, the enemies of Rome were in her bosom; the tyrants, and the soldiers; and her prosperity had a very distant and feeble interest in the revolutions that might happen beyond the Rhine and the Euphrates. But when the military order had levelled, in wild anarchy, the power of the prince, the laws of the senate, and even the discipline of the camp, the barbarians of the north and of the east, who had long hovered on the frontier, boldly attacked the provinces of a declining monarchy. Their vexatious inroads were changed into formidable irruptions, and, after a long vicissitude of mutual calamities, many tribes of the victorious invaders established themselves in the provinces of the Roman empire. To obtain a clearer knowledge of these great events, we shall endeavour to form a previous idea of the character, forces, and designs of those nations who avenged the cause of Hannibal and Mithridates.
Revolutions of Asia
In the more early ages of the world, whilst the forest that covered Europe afforded a retreat to a few wandering savages, the inhabitants of Asia were already collected into populous cities, and reduced under extensive empires, the seat of the arts, of luxury, and of despotism. The Assyrians reigned over the East, (1) till the sceptre of Ninus and Semiramis dropt from the hands of their enervated successors. The Medes and the Babylonians divided their power, and were themselves swallowed up in the monarchy of the Persians, whose arms could not be confined within the
narrow limits of Asia. Followed, as it is said, by two
millions of men, Xerxes, the descendant of Cyrus, invaded
Greece. Thirty thousand soldiers, under the command of
Alexander, the son of Philip, who was intrusted by the
Greeks with their glory and revenge, were sufficient to
subdue Persia. The princes of the house of Seleucus usurped
and lost the Macedonian command over the East. About the
same time that, by an ignominious treaty, they resigned to
the Romans the country on this side Mount Taurus, they were
driven by the Parthians, an obscure horde of Scythian
origin, from all the provinces of Upper Asia. The formidable
power of the Parthians, which spread from India to the
frontiers of Syrian was in its turn subverted by Ardshir, or
Artaxerxes; the founder of a new dynasty, which, under the
name of Sassanides, governed Persia till the invasion of the
Arabs. This great revolution, whose fatal influence was soon
experienced by the Romans, happened in the fourth year of
Alexander Severus, two hundred and twenty-six years after
the Christian era. (2)
The Persian monarchy restored by Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes had served with great reputation in the armies of
Artaban, the last king of the Parthians, and it appears that
he was driven into exile and rebellion by royal ingratitude,
the customary reward for superior merit. His birth was
obscure, and the obscurity equally gave room to the
aspersions of his enemies and the flattery of his adherents.
If we credit the scandal of the former, Artaxerxes sprang
from the illegitimate commerce of a tanner's wife with a
common soldier. (3) The latter represent him as descended from
a branch of the ancient kings of Persia, though time and
misfortune had gradually reduced his ancestors to the humble
station of private citizens. (4) As the lineal heir of the
monarchy, he asserted his right to the throne, and
challenged the noble task of delivering the Persians from
the oppression under which they groaned above five centuries
since the death of Darius. The Parthians were defeated in
three great battles. In the last of these their king Artaban
was slain, and the spirit of the nation was for ever broken.
(5) The authority of Artaxerxes was solemnly acknowledged in a
great assembly held at Balch in Khorasan. Two younger
branches of the royal house of Arsaces were confounded among
the prostrate satraps. A third, more mindful of ancient
grandeur than of present necessity, attempted to retire,
with a numerous train of vassals, towards their kinsman, the
king of Armenia; but this little army of deserters was
intercepted, and cut off, by the vigilance of the conqueror,
(6) who boldly assumed the double diadem, and the title of
King of Kings, which had been enjoyed by his predecessor.
But these pompous titles, instead of gratifying the vanity
of the Persian, served only to admonish him of his duty, and
to inflame in his soul the ambition of restoring, in their
full splendour, the religion and empire of Cyrus.
Reformation of the Magian religion
I. During the long servitude of Persia under the Macedonian
and the Parthian yoke, the nations of Europe and Asia had
mutually adopted and corrupted each other's superstitions.
The Arsacides, indeed, practised the worship of the Magi;
but they disgraced and polluted it with a various mixture of
foreign idolatry. The memory of Zoroaster, the ancient
prophet and philosopher of the Persians, (7) was still revered
in the East; but the obsolete and mysterious language in
which the Zendavesta was composed (8) opened a field of
dispute to seventy sects, who variously explained the
fundamental doctrines of their religion, and were all
indifferently derided by a crowd of infidels, who rejected
the divine mission and miracles of the Prophet. To suppress
the idolaters, re-unite the schismatics, and confute the
unbelievers, by the infallible decision of a general
council, the pious Artaxerxes summoned the Magi from all
parts of his dominions. These priests, who had so long
sighed in contempt and obscurity, obeyed the welcome
summons; and on the appointed day appeared, to the number of
about eighty thousand. But as the debates of so tumultuous
an assembly could not have been directed by the authority of
reason, or influenced by the art of policy, the Persian
synod was reduced, by successive operations, to forty
thousand, to four thousand, to four hundred, to forty, and
at last to seven Magi, the most respected for their learning
and piety. One of these, Erdaviraph, a young but holy
prelate, received from the hands of his brethren three cups
of soporiferous wine. He drank them off, and instantly fell
into a long and profound sleep. As soon as he waked, he
related to the king and to the believing multitude his
journey to Heaven, and his intimate conferences with the
Deity. Every doubt was silenced by this supernatural
evidence; and the articles of the faith of Zoroaster were
fixed with equal authority and precision. (9) A short
delineation of that celebrated system will be found useful,
not only to display the character of the Persian nation, but
to illustrate many of their most important transactions,
both in peace and war, with the Roman empire. (10)
Persian theology; two principles
The great and fundamental article of the system was the
celebrated doctrine of the two principles; a bold and
injudicious attempt of Eastern philosophy to reconcile the
existence of moral and physical evil with the attributes of
a beneficent Creator and Governor of the world. The first
and original Being, in whom, or by whom, the universe
exists, is denominated in the writings of Zoroaster, Time
without bounds; but it must be confessed that this infinite
substance seems rather a metaphysical abstraction of the
mind, than a real object endowed with self-consciousness, or
possessed of moral perfections. From either the blind or the
intelligent operation of this infinite Time, which bears but
too near an affinity with the chaos of the Greeks, the two
secondary but active principles of the universe were from
all eternity produced, Ormusd and Ahriman, each of them
possessed of the powers of creation, but each disposed by
his invariable nature, to exercise them with different
designs. The principle of good is eternally absorbed in
light; the principle of evil eternally buried in darkness.
The wise benevolence of Ormusd formed man capable of virtue,
and abundantly provided his fair habitation with the
materials of happiness. By his vigilant providence, the
motion of the planets, the order of the seasons, and the
temperate mixture of the elements are preserved. But the
malice of Ahriman has long since pierced Ormusd's egg; or,
in other words, has violated the harmony of his works. Since
that fatal irruption the most minute articles of good and
evil are intimately intermingled and agitated together; the
rankest poisons spring up amidst the most salutary plants;
deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations, attest the
conflict of Nature, and the little world of man is
perpetually shaken by vice and misfortune. Whilst the rest
of human kind are led away captives in the chains of their
infernal enemy, the faithful Persian alone reserves his
religious adoration for his friend and protector Ormusd, and
fights under his banner of light, in the full confidence
that he shall, in the last day, share the glory of his
triumph. At that decisive period, the enlightened wisdom of
goodness will render the power of Ormusd superior to the
furious malice of his rival. Ahriman and his followers,
disarmed and subdued, will sink into their native darkness;
and virtue will maintain the eternal peace and harmony of
the universe. (11)
Religious Worship
The theology of Zoroaster was darkly comprehended by
foreigners, and even by the far greater number of his
disciples; but the most careless observers were struck with
the philosophic simplicity of the Persian worship.
"That people," says Herodotus, (12) "rejects the use of temples, of altars, and of statues, and smiles at the folly of those nations who imagine that the gods are sprung from, or bear any affinity with, the human nature. The tops of the highest mountains are the places chosen for sacrifices. Hymns and prayers are the principal worship; the Supreme God who fills the wide circle of Heaven is the object to whom they are addressed."
Yet, at the same time, in the true spirit of a polytheist, he accuses them of adoring Earth, Water, Fire, the Winds, and the Sun and Moon. But the Persians of every age have denied the charge, and explained the equivocal conduct, which might appear to give a colour to it. The elements, and more particularly Fire, Light, and the Sun, whom they called Mithra, were the objects of their religious reverence, because they considered them as the purest symbols, the noblest productions, and the most powerful agents of the Divine Power and Nature. (13)
Ceremonies and moral precepts
Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting
impression on the human mind, must exercise our obedience,
by enjoining practices of devotion; and must acquire our
esteem, by inculcating moral duties analogous to the
dictates of our own hearts. The religion of Zoroaster was
abundantly provided with the former, and possessed a
sufficient portion of the latter. At the age of puberty, the
faithful Persian was invested with a mysterious girdle, the
badge of the divine protection, and from that moment all the
actions of his life, even the most indifferent, or the most
necessary, were sanctified by their peculiar prayers,
ejaculations, or genuflections; the omission of which, under
any circumstances, was a grievous sin, not inferior in guilt
to the violation of the moral duties. The moral duties,
however, of justice, mercy, liberality, etc.; were in their
turn required of the disciple of Zoroaster, who wished to
escape the persecution of Ahriman, and to live with Ormusd
in a blissful eternity, where the degree of felicity will be
exactly proportioned to the degree of virtue and piety. (14)
Encouragement of agriculture
But there are some remarkable instances, in which Zoroaster
lays aside the prophet, assumes the legislator, and
discovers a liberal concern for private and public
happiness, seldom to be found among the grovelling or
visionary schemes of superstition. Fasting and celibacy, the
common means of purchasing the Divine favour, he condemns
with abhorrence, as a criminal rejection of the best gifts
of Providence. The saint, in the Magian religion, is obliged
to beget children, to plant useful trees, to destroy noxious
animals, to convey water to the dry lands of Persia, and to
work out his salvation by pursuing all the labours of
agriculture. We may quote from the Zendavesta a wise and
benevolent maxim, which compensates for many an absurdity.
"He who sows the ground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious merit, than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers." (15)
In the spring of every year a festival was celebrated, destined to represent the primitive equality, and the present connection, of mankind. The stately kings of Persia, exchanging their vain pomp for more genuine greatness, freely mingled with the humblest but most useful of their subjects. On that day the husbandmen were admitted, without distinction, to the table of the king, and his satraps. The monarch accepted their petitions, inquired into their grievances, and conversed with them on the most equal terms.
"From your labours," was he accustomed to say (and to say with truth, if not with sincerity), "from your labours, we receive our subsistence; you derive your tranquillity from our vigilance; since, therefore, we are mutually necessary to each other, let us live together like brothers in concord and love." (16)
Such a festival must indeed have degenerated, in a wealthy and despotic empire, into a theatrical representation; but it was at least a comedy well worthy of a royal audiences and which might sometimes imprint a salutary lesson on the mind of a young prince.
Power of the Magi
Had Zoroaster, in all his institutions, invariably supported
this exalted character, his name would deserve a place with
those of Numa and Confucius, and his system would be justly
entitled to all the applause which it has pleased some of
our divines, and even some of our philosophers, to bestow on
it. But in that motley composition, dictated by reason and
passion, by enthusiasm and by selfish motives, some useful
and sublime truths were disgraced by a mixture of the most
abject and dangerous superstition. The Magi, or sacerdotal
order, were extremely numerous, since, as we have already
seen, four-score thousand of them were convened in a general
council. Their forces were multiplied by discipline. A
regular hierarchy was diffused through all the provinces of
Persia; and the Archimagus, who resided at Balch, was
respected as the visible head of the church, and the lawful
successor of Zoroaster. (17) The property of the Magi was very
considerable. Besides the less invidious possession of a
large tract of the most fertile lands of Media, (18) they
levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of the
Persians. (19)
"Though your good works," says the interested prophet, "exceed in number the leaves of the trees, the drops of rain, the stars in the heaven, or the sands on the seashore, they will all be unprofitable to you, unless they are accepted by the destour, or priest. To obtain the acceptation of this guide to salvation, you must faithfully pay him tithes of all you possess, on your goods, of your lands, and of your money. If the destour be satisfied, your soul will escape hell tortures you will secure praise in this world and happiness in the next. For the destours are the teachers of religion; they know all things, and they deliver all men." (20)
These convenient maxims of reverence and implicit faith were doubtless imprinted with care on the tender minds of youth; since the Magi were the masters of education in Persia, and to their hands the children even of the royal family were intrusted. (21) The Persian priests, who were of a speculative genius, preserved and investigated the secrets of Oriental philosophy and acquired, either by superior knowledge or superior art, the reputation of being well versed in some occult sciences, which have derived their appellation from the Magi. (22) Those of more active dispositions mixed with the world in courts and cities; and it is observed, that the administration of Artaxerxes was in a great measure directed by the counsels of the sacerdotal order, whose dignity, either from policy or devotion, that prince restored to its ancient splendour. (23)
Spirit of persecution
The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the
unsociable genius of their faith, (24) to the practice of
ancient kings, (25) and even to the example of their
legislator, who had fallen a victim to a religious war,
excited by his own intolerant zeal. (26) 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. (27) The sword of Aristotle (such
was the name given by the Orientals to the polytheism and
philosophy of the Greeks) was easily broken ; (28) the flames
of persecution soon reached the more stubborn Jews and
Christians; (29) 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. (30) This spirit of persecution reflects
dishonour on the religion of Zoroaster; but as it was not
productive of any civil commotion, it served to strengthen
the new monarchy, by uniting all the various inhabitants of
Persia in the bands of religious zeal.
Establishment of the royal authority in the provinces
II. Artaxerxes, by his valour and conduct, had wrested the
sceptre of the East from the ancient royal family of
Parthia. There still remained the more difficult task of
establishing, throughout 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
vitaxae, 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, (31) 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 (32) which has since prevailed in Europe.
But the active victor, at the head of a numerous and
disciplined army, visited in person every province of
Persia. The defeat of the boldest rebels, and the reduction
of the strongest fortifications, (33) 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 followers were treated with lenity. (34) A
cheerful submission was rewarded with honours and riches;
but the prudent Artaxerxes, suffering no person except
himself to assume the title of king, abolished every
intermediate power between the throne and the people.
Extent and population of Persia
His kingdom, nearly equal in extent to modern Persia, was, on
every side, bounded by the sea, or by great rivers, by the
Euphrates, the Tigris, the Araxes, the Oxus, and the Indus,
by the Caspian Sea, and the Gulf of Persian. (35) That country
was computed to contain, in the last century, five hundred
and fifty-four cities, sixty thousand villages, and about
forty millions of souls. (36) If we compare the administration
of the house of Sassan with that of the house of Sefi, 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
agriculture 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.
Recapitulation of the war between the Parthian and Roman empire
As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed
over the resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the
neighbouring states, who, during the long slumber of his
predecessors, 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 moderation, had succeeded the victories of
Trajan. During the period that elapsed from the 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 contended 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
expense of near two millions of our money; (37) but the
generals of Marcus, the emperor Severus, and his son,
erected many trophies 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.
Cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon
Seleucia, on the western bank of the Tigris, about
forty-five miles to the north of ancient Babylon, was the
capital of the Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia. (38) 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 hundred thousand citizens the walls were
strong, and as long as concord prevailed among the several
orders of the state, they viewed with contempt the power of
the Parthian: but the madness of faction was sometimes
provoked to implore the dangerous aid of the common enemy,
who was posted almost at the gates of the colony. (39) The
Parthian monarchs, like the Mogul sovereigns of Hindostan,
delighted in the pastoral life of their Scythian ancestor;
and the Imperial camp was frequently pitched in the plain of
Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, at the
distance of only three miles from Seleucia. (40) The
innumerable attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to
the court, and the little village of Ctesiphon insensibly
swelled into a great city. (41) Under the reign of Marcus, the
Roman generals (A.D. 165) penetrated as far as Ctesiphon and
Seleucia. They were received as friends by the Greek colony;
they attacked as enemies the seat of the Parthian kings; yet
both cities experienced the same treatment. The sack and
conflagration of Seleucia, with the massacre of three
hundred thousand of the inhabitants, tarnished the glory of
the Roman triumph. (42) Seleucia, already exhausted by the
neighbourhood of a too powerful rival, sunk under the fatal
blow; but Ctesiphon (A.D. 198), in about thirty-three years,
had sufficiently recovered its strength to maintain an
obstinate siege against the emperor Severus. The city was;
however, taken by assault; the king, who defended it in
person, escaped with precipitation; an hundred thousand
captives, and a rich booty, rewarded the fatigues of the
Roman soldiers. (43) Notwithstanding these misfortunes,
Ctesiphon succeeded to Babylon and to Seleucia, as one of
the great capitals of the East. In summer, the monarch of
Persia enjoyed at Ecbatana the cool breezes of the mountains
of Media; but the mildness of the climate engaged him to
prefer Ctesiphon for his winter residence.
Conquest of Osrhoene by the Romans
From these successful inroads, the Romans derived no real or
lasting benefit; nor did they attempt to preserve such
distant conquests, separated from the provinces of the
empire by a large tract of intermediate desert. The
reduction of the kingdom of Osrhoene was an acquisition of
less splendour indeed, but of a far more solid advantage.
That little state occupied the northern and most fertile
part of Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Edessa, its capital, was situated about twenty miles beyond
the former of those rivers, and the inhabitants, since the
time of Alexander, were a mixed race of Greeks, Arabs,
Syrians, and Armenians. (44) The feeble sovereigns of
Osrhoene, placed on the dangerous verge of two contending
empires, were attached from inclination to the Parthian
cause; but the superior power of Rome exacted from them a
reluctant homage, which is still attested by their medals.
After the conclusion of the Parthian war under Marcus, it
was judged prudent to secure some substantial pledges of
their doubtful fidelity. Forts were constructed in several
parts of the country, and a Roman garrison was fixed in the
strong town of Nisibis. During the troubles that followed
the death of Commodus, the princes of Osrhoene attempted to
shake off the yoke; but the stern policy of Severus
confirmed their dependence, (45) and the perfidy of Caracalla
completed the easy conquest. Abgarus, the last king of
Edessa, was (A.D. 216) sent in chains to Rome, his dominions
reduced into a province, and his capital dignified with the
rank of colony and thus the Romans, about ten years before
the fall of the Parthian monarchy, obtained a firm and
permanent establishment beyond the Euphrates. (46)
Artaxerxes claims the provinces of Asia, and declares war against the Romans
Prudence as well as glory might have justified a war on the
side of Artaxerxes, had his views been confined to the
defence or the acquisition of a useful frontier. But the
ambitious Persian openly avowed a far more extensive design
of conquest; and (A.D. 230) he thought himself able to
support his lofty pretensions by the arms of reason as well
as by those of power. Cyrus, he alleged, had first subdued,
and his successors had for a long time possessed, the whole
extent of Asia, as far as the Propontis and the AEgean sea;
the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their empire, had
been governed by Persian satraps, and all Egypt, to the
confines of Ethiopia, had acknowledged their sovereignty. (47)
Their rights had been suspended, but not destroyed, by a
long usurpation; and as soon as he received the Persian
diadem, which birth and successful valour had placed upon
his head, the first great duty of his station called upon
him to restore the ancient limits and splendour of the
monarchy. The Great King, therefore (such was the haughty
style of his embassies to the emperor Alexander), commanded
the Romans instantly to depart from all the provinces of his
ancestors, and, yielding to the Persians the empire of Asia,
to content themselves with the undisturbed possession of
Europe. This haughty mandate was delivered by four hundred
of the tallest and most beautiful of the Persians; who, by
their fine horses, splendid arms, and rich apparel,
displayed the pride and greatness of their master. (48) Such
an embassy was much less an offer of negotiation than a
declaration of war. Both Alexander Severus and Artaxerxes,
collecting the military force of the Roman and Persian
monarchies, resolved in this important contest to lead their
armies in person.
Pretended victory of Alexander Severus
If we credit what should seem the most authentic of all
records, an oration, still extant, and delivered by the
emperor himself to the senate, we must allow that the
victory of Alexander Severus was not inferior to any of
those formerly obtained over the Persians by the son of
Philip. The army of the Great King consisted of one hundred
and twenty thousand horse, clothed in complete armour of
steel; of seven hundred elephants, with towers filled with
archers on their backs; and of eighteen hundred chariots,
armed with scythes. This formidable host, the like of which
is not to be found in eastern history, and has scarcely been
imagined in eastern romance, (49) was (A.D. 233) discomfited
in a great battle, in which the Roman Alexander approved
himself an intrepid soldier and a skilful general. The Great
King fled before his valour; an immense booty, and the
conquest of Mesopotamia, were the immediate fruits of this
signal victory. Such are the circumstances of. this
ostentatious and improbable relation, dictated, as it too
plainly appears, by the vanity of the monarch, adorned by
the unblushing servility of his flatterers, and received
without contradiction by a distant and obsequious senate. (50)
Far from being inclined to believe that the arms of
Alexander obtained any memorable advantage over the
Persians, we are induced to suspect that all this blaze of
imaginary glory was designed to conceal some real disgrace.
More probable account of the war.
Our suspicions are confirmed by the authority of a
contemporary historian, who mentions the virtues of
Alexander with respect, and his faults with candour. He
describes the judicious plan which had been formed for the
conduct of he war. Three Roman armies were destined to
invade Persia at the same time, and by different roads. But
the operations of the campaign, though wisely concerted,
were not executed either with ability or success. The first
of these Armies, as soon as it had entered the marshy plains
of Babylon, towards the artificial conflux of the Euphrates
and the Tigris, (51) was encompassed by the superior numbers,
and destroyed by the arrows, of the enemy. The alliance of
Chosroes, king of Armenia, (52) and the long tract of
mountainous country, in which the Persian cavalry was of
little service, opened a secure entrance into the heart of
Media to the second of the Roman armies. These brave troops
laid waste the adjacent provinces, and by several successful
actions against Artaxerxes, gave a faint colour to the
emperor's vanity. But the retreat of this victorious army
was imprudent, or at least unfortunate. In repassing the
mountains great numbers of soldiers perished by the badness
of the roads, and the severity of the winter season. It had
been resolved, that whilst these two great detachments
penetrated into the opposite extremes of the Persian
dominions, the main body, under the command of Alexander
himself, should support their attack by invading the centre
of the kingdom. But the inexperienced youth, influenced by
his mother's counsels, and perhaps by his own fears,
deserted the bravest troops and the fairest prospect of
victory; and after consuming in Mesopotamia in inactive and
inglorious summer, he led back to Antioch an army diminished
by sickness, and provoked by disappointment. The behaviour
of Artaxerxes had been very different. Flying with rapidity
from the hills of Media to the marshes of the Euphrates, he
had everywhere opposed the invaders in person; and in either
fortune had united with the ablest conduct the most
undaunted resolution. But in several obstinate engagements
against the veteran legions of Rome, the Persian monarch had
lost the flower of his troops. Even his victories had
weakened his power. The favourable opportunities of the
absence of Alexander, and of the confusions that followed
that emperor's death, presented themselves in vain to his
ambition. Instead of expelling the Romans, as he pretended,
from the continent of Asia, he found himself unable to wrest
from their hands the little province of Mesopotamia. (53)
Character and maxims of Artaxerxes
The reign of Artaxerxes, which from the last defeat of the
Parthians (A.D. 240) lasted only fourteen years, forms a
memorable era in the history of the East, and even in that
of Rome. His character seems to have been marked by those
bold and commanding features that generally distinguished
the princes who conquer, from those who inherit, an empire.
Till the last period of the Persian monarchy his code of
laws was respected as the groundwork of their civil and
religious policy. (54) Several of his sayings are preserved. One of them in particular discovers a deep insight into the constitution of government.
"The authority of the prince," said Artaxerxes, "must be defended by a military force; that force can only be maintained by taxes; all taxes must, at last, fall upon agriculture; and agriculture can never flourish except under the protection of justice and moderation." (55)
Artaxerxes bequeathed his new empire, and his ambitious designs against the Romans, to Sapor, a son not unworthy of his great father; but those designs were too extensive for the power of Persia, and served only to involve both nations in a long series of destructive wars and reciprocal calamities.
Military power of the Persians.
The Persians, long since civilised and corrupted, were very
far from possessing the martial independence and the
intrepid hardness, both of mind and body, which have
rendered the northern barbarians masters of the world. The
science of war, that constituted the more rational force of Greece and Rome, as it now does of Europe, never made any considerable progress in the East. Those disciplined evolutions which harmonise and animate a confused multitude
were unknown to the Persians. They were equally unskilled in the arts of constructing, besieging, or defending regular fortifications. They trusted more to their courage than to their discipline. Their infantry contemptible The infantry was a half-armed spiritless crowd of peasants, levied in haste by the allurements of plunder, and as easily dispersed by a victory as by a defeat. The monarch and his nobles transported into the camp the pride and luxury of the seraglio. Their: military operations were impeded by a useless train of women, eunuchs, horses, and camels, and in the midst of a successful campaign the Persian host was often separated or destroyed by an unexpected famine. (56)
Their cavalry excellent.
But the nobles of Persia, in the bosom of luxury and
despotism, preserved a strong sense of personal gallantry
and national honour. From the age of seven years they were
taught to speak truth, to shoot with the bow, and to ride;
and it was universally confessed, that in the two last of
these arts they had made a more than common proficiency. (57)
The most distinguished youth were educated under the
monarch's eye, practised their exercises in the gate of his
palace, and were severely trained up to the habits of
temperance and obedience in their long and laborious parties
of hunting. In every province the satrap maintained a like
school of military virtue. The Persian nobles (so natural is
the idea of feudal tenures) received from the king's bounty
lands and houses, on the condition of their service in war.
They were ready on the first summons to mount on horseback,
with a martial and splendid train of followers, and to join
the numerous bodies of guards, who were carefully selected
from amongst the most robust slaves, and the bravest
adventurers of Asia. These armies, both of light and of
heavy cavalry, equally formidable by the impetuosity of
their charge, and the rapidity of their motions, threatened,
as an impending cloud, the eastern provinces of the
declining empire of Rome. (58)
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