Customs of the Parthians--in Religion; in War; in their Embassies and
Dealings with Foreign Nations; at the Court; in Private Life. Extent of
the Refinement to which they reached. Their gradual Decline in Taste and
Knowledge.
Very little is known as to the religion of the Parthians. It seems
probable that during the Persian period they submitted to the
Zoroastrian system, which was generally maintained by the Achaemenian
kings, acquiescing, like the great bulk of the conquered nations, in
the religious views of their conquerors; but as this was not their
own religion, we may conclude that they were at no time very zealous
followers of the Bactrian prophet, and that as age succeeded age they
became continually more lukewarm in their feelings, and more lax
in their religious practice. The essence of Zoroastrian belief was
dualism--recognition of Ormazd as the great Principle of Good, and of
Ahriman as the Principle of Evil. We need not doubt that, in word, the
Parthians from first to last admitted this antagonism, and professed
a belief in Ormazd as the supreme god, and a dread of Ahriman and his
ministers. But practically, their religious aspirations rested, not on
these dim abstractions, but on beings whose existence they could better
realize, and whom they could feel to be less remote from themselves.
The actual devotion of the Parthians was offered to the Sun and Moon,
to deities who were supposed to preside over the royal house, and to
ancestral idols which each family possessed, and conveyed with it from
place to place with every change of habitation. The Sun was saluted at
his rising, was worshipped in temples, under the name of Mithra, with
sacrifices and offerings; had statues erected in his honor, and was
usually associated with the lesser luminary. The deities of the royal
house were probably either genii, ministers of Ormazd, to whom was
committed the special protection of the monarchs and their families,
like the _bagaha vithiya_ of the Persians, or else the ancestors of
the reigning monarch, to whom a qualified divinity seems to have been
assigned in the later times of the empire. The Parthians kings usually
swore by these deities on solemn occasions; and other members of the
royal family made use of the same oath. The main worship, however, of
the great mass of the people, even when they were of the royal stock,
was concentrated upon ancestral images, which had a place sacred to them
in each house, and received the constant adoration of the household.
In the early times of the empire the Magi were held in high repute,
and most of the peculiar tenets and rites of the Magian religion
were professed and followed by the Parthians. Elemental worship was
practised. Fire was, no doubt, held sacred, and there was an especial
reverence for rivers. Dead bodies were not burned, but were exposed to
be devoured by birds and beasts of prey, after which the dry bones were
collected and placed in tombs. The Magi formed a large portion of the
great national council, which elected and, if need were, deposed the
kings. But in course of time much laxity was introduced. The Arsacid
monarchs of Armenia allowed the Sacred Fire of Ormazd, which ought
to have been kept continually burning, to go out; and we can scarcely
suppose but that the Parthian Arsacidae shared their negligence. Respect
for the element of fire so entirely passed away, that we hear of the
later Parthians burning their dead. The Magi fell into disrepute, and,
if not expelled from their place in the council, at any rate found
themselves despised and deprived of influence. The later Parthian
religion can have been little more than a worship of the Sun and Moon,
and of the teraphim, or sacred images, which were the most precious
possession of each household.
While thus lax and changeful in their own religious practice, the
Parthians were, naturally, tolerant of a variety of creeds among their
subjects. Fire altars were maintained, and Zoroastrian zeal was allowed
to nourish in the dependent kingdom of Persia. In the Greek cities the
Olympian gods were permitted to receive the veneration of thousands,
while in Babylon, Nearda, and Nisibis the Jews enjoyed the free exercise
of their comparatively pure and elevated religion. No restrictions seem
to have been placed on proselytism, and Judaism certainly boasted many
converts from the heathen in Adiabene, Charax Spasini, and elsewhere.
Christianity also penetrated the Parthian provinces to a considerable
extent, and in one Parthian country, at any rate, seems to have become
the state religion. The kings of Osrhoene are thought to have been
Christians from the time of the Antonines, if not from that of our Lord;
and a nourishing church was certainly established at Edessa before the
end of the second century. The Parthian Jews who were witnesses of the
miraculous events which signalized the day of Pentecost may have, in
some cases, taken with them the new religion to the land where they had
their residence; or the Apostle, St. Thomas, may (as Eusebius declares)
have carried the Gospel into the regions beyond the Euphrates, and have
planted the Christian Church in the countries out of which the Jewish
Church sprang. Besides the nourishing community of Edessa, which was
predominantly, if not wholly, Christian from the middle of the second
century, many converts were, we are told, to be found among the
inhabitants of Persia, Media, Parthia Proper, and even Bactria. The
infusion, however, was not sufficient to leaven to any serious extent
the corrupt mass of heathenism into which it was projected; and we
cannot say that the general character of the Parthian empire, or of the
manners and customs of its subjects, was importantly affected by the new
religion, though it had an extraordinary influence over individuals.
The Parthians were essentially a warlike people; and the chief interest
which attaches to them is connected with their military vigor and
ability. It is worth while to consider at some length the peculiarities
of that military system which proved itself superior to the organization
of the Macedonians, and able to maintain for nearly three hundred years
a doubtful contest with the otherwise irresistible Romans.
We are told that the Parthians had no standing army. When war was
proclaimed and the monarch needed a force, he made his immediate vassals
acquainted with the fact, and requested each of them to marshal their
troops, and bring them to a fixed rendezvous by a certain day. The
troops thus summoned were of two kinds, Parthian and foreign. The
governors of the provinces, whether tributary kings or satraps, called
out the military strength of their respective districts, saw to
their arming and provisioning, and, marching each at the head of his
contingent, brought a foreign auxiliary force to the assistance of
the Great King. But the back-bone of the army, its main strength, the
portion on which alone much reliance was placed, consisted of Parthians.
Each Parthian noble was bound to call out his slaves and his retainers,
to arm and equip them at his own expense, and bring them to the
rendezvous by the time named. The number of troops furnished by each
noble varied according to his position and his means; we bear in one
instance of their amounting to as many as 10,000, while in another
recorded case the average number which each furnished was no more than
125. The various contingents had their own baggage-trains, consisting
ordinarily of camels, in the proportion (as it would seem) of one to
every ten fighting-men.
A Parthian army consisted usually of both horse and foot, but in
proportions unusual elsewhere. The foot soldiers were comparatively few
in number, and were regarded as of small account. Every effort was made
to increase the amount and improve the equipment of the horsemen, who
bore the brunt of every fight, and from whose exertions alone victory
was hoped. Sometimes armies consisted of horsemen only, or rather of
horsemen followed by a baggage train composed of camels and chariots.
The horse were of two kinds, heavy and light. The heavy horsemen wore
coats of mail, reaching to their knees, composed of rawhide covered with
scales of iron or steel, very bright, and capable of resisting a strong
blow. They had on their heads burnished helmets of Margian steel, whose
glitter dazzled the spectator. Their legs seem not to have been
greaved, but encased in a loose trouser, which hung about the ankles
and embarrassed the feet, if by any chance the horseman was forced to
dismount. They carried no shield, being sufficiently defended by their
coats of mail. Their offensive arms were a long spear, which was of
great strength and thickness, and a bow and arrows of unusual size. They
likewise carried in their girdle a short sword or knife, which might be
used in close combat. Their horses were, like themselves, protected by a
defence of scale armor, which was either of steel or bronze.
The light horse was armed with the same sort of bows and arrows as the
heavy, but carried no spear and wore no armor. It was carefully trained
to the management of the horse and the bow, and was unequalled in the
rapidity and dexterity of its movements. The archer delivered his arrows
with as much precision and force in retreat as in advance, and was
almost more feared when he retired than when he charged his foe. Besides
his arrows, the light horseman seems to have carried a sword, and he no
doubt wore also the customary knife in his belt.
We are told by one writer that it was a practice of the Parthians to
bring into battle a number of led horses, and that the riders from time
to time exchanged their tired steeds for fresh ones, thus obtaining a
great advantage over enemies who had no such practice. But the accounts
which we have of Parthian engagements make no reference to this usage,
which we can therefore scarcely suppose to have been adopted to any
large extent. It may be doubted, also, if the practice could ever be
one of much value, since the difficulty of managing led horses amid the
tumult of a battle would probably more than counterbalance the advantage
derivable from relays of fresh steeds.
During the later period of the monarchy, the Parthians, who had always
employed camels largely in the conveyance of stores and baggage, are
said to have introduced a camel corps into the army itself, and to have
derived considerable advantage from the new arm. The camels could bear
the weight of the mailed warrior and of their own armor better than
horses, and their riders were at once more safe in their elevated
position and more capable of dealing effective blows upon the enemy.
As a set-off, however, against those advantages, the spongy feet of
the camel were found to be more readily injured by the _tribulus_, or
caltrop, than the harder feet of the horse, and the corps was thus more
easily disabled than an equal force of cavalry, if it could be tempted
to pass over ground on which caltrops had been previously scattered.
The Parthian tactics were of a simple kind, and differed little from
those of other nations in the same region, which have depended mainly on
their cavalry. To surround their foe, to involve him in difficulties,
to cut off: his supplies and his stragglers, and ultimately to bring him
into a position where he might be overwhelmed by missiles, was the aim
of all Parthian commanders of any military capacity. Their warfare was
suited for defence rather than for attack, unless against contemptible
enemies. They were bad hands at sieges, and seldom ventured to engage in
them, though they would do so if circumstances required it. They wearied
of long campaigns, and if they did not find victory tolerably easy,
were apt to retire and allow their foe to escape, or baffle him by
withdrawing their forces into a distant and inaccessible region. After
their early victories over Crassus and Antony, they never succeeded in
preventing the steady advance of a Roman army into their territory,
or in repulsing a determined attack upon their capital. Still they
generally had their revenge after a short time. It was easy for the
Romans to overrun Mesopotamia, but it was not so easy for them to hold
it; and it was scarcely possible for them to retire from it after an
occupation without disaster. The clouds of Parthian horse hung upon
their retreating columns, straitened them for provisions, galled them
with missiles, and destroyed those who could not keep up with the main
body. The towns upon the line of their retreat revolted and shut their
gates, defying even such commanders as Severus and Trajan. Of the six
great expeditions of Rome against Parthia, one only, that of Avidius
Cassius, was entirely successful. In every other case either the
failure of the expedition was complete, or the glory of the advance was
tarnished by disaster and suffering during the retreat.
The results of invading Parthia would have been even more calamitous
to an assailant but for one weak point in the military system of the
Parthians. They were excessively unwilling to venture near an enemy
at night, and as a general rule abstained from all military movements
during the hours of darkness. As evening approached, they drew off to a
considerable distance from their foe, and left him unmolested to retreat
in any direction that he pleased. The reason of this probably was, not
merely that they did not fortify their camps; but that, depending wholly
on their horses, and being forced to hobble or tether them at night,
they could not readily get into fighting order on a sudden during
darkness. Once or twice in the course of their history, we find them
departing from their policy of extreme precaution, and recommencing
the pursuit of a flying foe before dawn; but it is noted as an unusual
occurrence.
It was also a general principle of Parthian warfare to abstain from
campaigning during the winter. So much depended upon the tension of
their bow-strings, which any dampness relaxed, that their rule was to
make all their expeditions in the dry time of their year, which lasted
from early in the spring until late in the autumn. The rule was,
however, transgressed upon occasions. Phraates II. made his attack
upon Antiochus Sidetes, while the snow was still upon the ground; and
Volagases I. fell upon Paetus after the latter had sent his troops into
winter quarters. The Parthians could bear cold no less than heat; though
it was perhaps rather in the endurance of the latter than of the former
that they surpassed the Romans. The sun’s rays were never too hot for
them; and they did not need water frequently or in large quantities. The
Romans believed that they increased their ability of bearing thirst by
means of certain drugs which they consumed; but it may be questioned
whether they really employed any other remedies than habit and
resolution.
We find no use of chariots among the Parthians, except for the
conveyance of the females, who accompanied the nobles upon their
expeditions. The wives and concubines of the chiefs followed the camp
in great numbers; and women of a less reputable class, singers, dancers,
and musicians, swelled the ranks of the supernumeraries. Many of these
were Greeks from Seleucia and other Macedonian towns. The commissariat
and transport departments are said to have been badly organized; but
some thousands of baggage camels always accompanied an army, carrying
stores and provisions. Of these a considerable portion were laden with
arrows, of which the supply was in this way rendered inexhaustible.
The use of the elephant in war was still more rare in Parthia than that
of the chariot. While the Seleucid kings employed the animal to a large
extent, and its use was also probably known to the Greek princes of
Bactria, the Arsacidae appear to have almost entirely neglected it. On
one occasion alone do we find their employment of it mentioned, and
then we hear of only a single animal, which is ridden by the monarch.
Probably the unwieldy creature was regarded by the Parthians as too
heavy and clumsy for the light and rapid movements of their armies,
and was thus disused during the period of their supremacy, though again
employed, after Parthia had fallen, by the Sassanidse.
The Parthians entered into battle with much noise and shouting. They
made no use of trumpets or horns, but employed instead the kettledrum,
which resounded from all parts of the field when they made their onset.
Their attack was furious. The mailed horsemen charged at speed, and
often drove their spears through the bodies of two enemies at a blow.
The light horse and the foot, when any was present, delivered their
arrows with precision and with extraordinary force. But if the
assailants were met with a stout resistance, the first vigor of the
attack was rarely long maintained. The Parthian warriors grew quickly
weary of an equal contest, and, if they could not force their enemy to
give way, soon changed their tactics. Pretending panic, dispersing, and
beating a hasty retreat, they endeavored to induce their foe to pursue
hurriedly and in disorder, being ready at any moment to turn and take
advantage of the least appearance of confusion. If these tactics failed,
as they commonly did after they came to be known, the simulated flight
was generally converted into a real one; further conflict was avoided,
or at any rate deferred to another occasion.
When the Parthians wished to parley with an enemy, they unstrung their
bows, and advancing with the right hand outstretched, asked for a
conference. They are accused by the Romans of sometimes using treachery
on such occasions, but, except in the single case of Crassus, the charge
of bad faith cannot be sustained against them. On solemn occasions, when
the intention was to discuss grounds of complaint or to bring a war
to an end by the arrangement of terms of peace, a formal meeting
was arranged between their representatives and those of their enemy,
generally on neutral ground, as on an island in the Euphrates, or on a
bridge constructed across it. Here the chiefs of the respective nations
met, accompanied by an equal number of guards, while the remainder of
their forces occupied the opposite banks of the river. Matters were
discussed in friendly fashion, the Greek language being commonly
employed as the vehicle of communication; after which festivities
usually took place, the two chiefs mutually entertaining each other,
or accepting in common the hospitalities of a third party. The terms of
peace agreed upon were reduced to writing; hands were grasped as a
sign that faith was pledged; and oaths having been interchanged,
the conference broke up, and the chiefs returned to their respective
residences.
Besides negotiating by means of conferences, the Parthian monarchs often
sent out to neighboring states, and in return received from them formal
embassies. The ambassadors in every case conveyed, as a matter of
course, gifts to the prince to whom they were accredited, which might
consist of articles of value, or of persons. Augustus included an
Italian slave-girl among the presents which he transmitted to Phraates
IV.; and Artabanus III. sent a Jewish giant to Tiberius. The object
of an embassy was sometimes simply to congratulate; but more often the
ambassadors were instructed to convey certain demands, or proposals,
from their own prince to the head of the other nation, whereto his
assent was required, or requested. These proposals were commonly
formulated in a letter from the one prince to the other, which it was
the chief duty of the ambassadors to convey safely. Free powers to
conclude a treaty at their discretion were rarely, or never, entrusted
to them. Their task was merely to deliver the royal letter, to explain
its terms, if they were ambiguous, and to carry back to their own
monarch the reply of the foreign sovereign. The sanctity of the
ambassadorial character was invariably respected by the Parthians, who
are never even taxed with a violation of it.
As a security for the performance of engagements, or for the permanent
maintenance of a friendly attitude, it was usual in the East during the
Parthian period to require, and give, hostages. The princes who occupied
the position of Parthian feudatories gave hostages to their suzerain,
who were frequently their near relations, as sons or brothers. And a
practice grew up of the Parthian monarchs themselves depositing their
own sons or brothers with the Roman Emperor, at first perhaps merely for
their own security, but afterwards as pledges for their good behavior.
Such hostages lived at the expense of the Roman court, and were usually
treated with distinction. In the event of a rupture between their
country and Rome, they had little to fear. Rome found her advantage in
employing them as rivals to a monarch with whom she had quarrelled,
and did not think it necessary to punish them for his treachery or
inconstancy.
The magnificence of the Parthian court is celebrated in general terms
by various writers, but not very many particulars have come down to us
respecting it. We know that it was migratory, moving from one of the
chief cities of the empire to another at different seasons of the year,
and that owing to the vast number of the persons composing it, there was
a difficulty sometimes in providing for their subsistence upon the road.
The court comprised the usual extensive harem of an Oriental prince,
consisting of a single recognized queen, and a multitude of secondary
wives or concubines. The legitimate wife of the prince was commonly
a native, and in most cases was selected from the royal race of the
Arsacidae but sometimes she was the daughter of a dependent monarch,
and she might even be a slave raised by royal favor from that humble
position. The concubines were frequently Greeks. Both wives and
concubines remained ordinarily in close seclusion, and we have little
mention of them, in the Parthian annals. But in one instance, at any
rate, a queen, brought up in the notions of the West, succeeded in
setting Oriental etiquette at defiance, took the direction of affairs
out of the hands of her husband, and subsequently ruled the empire in
conjunction with her son. Generally, however, the Parthian kings were
remarkably free from the weakness of subservience to women, and managed
their kingdom with a firm hand, without allowing either wives or
ministers to obtain any undue ascendency over them. In particular, we
may note that they never, so far as appears, fell under the baleful
influence of eunuchs, who, from first to last, play a very subordinate
part in the Parthian history.
The dress of the monarch was commonly the loose Median robe, which had
been adopted from the Medes by the Persians. This flowed down to the
feet in numerous folds, enveloping and concealing the entire figure.
Trousers and a tunic were probably worn beneath it, the latter of linen,
the former of silk or wool. As head-dress, the king wore either the mere
diadem, which was a band or ribbon, passed once or oftener round the
head, and terminating in two long ends which fell down behind, or else a
more pretentious cap, which in the earlier times was a sort of Scythian
pointed helmet, and in the later a rounded tiara, sometimes adorned with
pearls or gems. His neck appears to have been generally encircled with
two or three collars or necklaces, and he frequently wore ear-rings in
his ears. The beard was almost always cultivated, and, with the hair,
was worn variously. Generally both hair and beard were carefully curled;
but sometimes they depended in long straight locks, Mostly the beard was
pointed, but occasionally it was worn square. In later times a fashion
arose of puffing out the hair at either side extravagantly, so as to
give it the appearance of a large bushy wig.
In war the monarch seems to have exchanged his Median robe for a short
cloak, reaching half way down the thigh. His head was protected by a
helmet, and he carried the national arm of offence, the bow. He usually
took the field on horseback, but was sometimes mounted on an elephant,
trained to encounter the shock of battle. Gold and silver were
abundantly used in the trappings of his steed and in his arms. He
generally took the command, and mingled freely in the fight, though he
might sometimes shrink without reproach from adventuring his own person.
His guards fought about him; and he was accompanied by attendants, whose
duty it was to assist him in mounting on horseback and dismounting.
The status of the queen was not much below that of her royal consort.
She wore a tiara far more elaborate than his, and, like him, exhibited
the diadem. Her neck was encircled with several necklaces. As the title
of Theos, “God,” was often assumed by her husband, so she was allowed
the title of “Goddess”, or “Heavenly Goddess”.
Separate apartments were of course assigned to the queen, and to the
royal concubines in the various palaces. These were buildings on a
magnificent scale, and adorned with the utmost richness. Philostratus,
who wrote in Parthian times, thus describes the royal palace at Babylon.
“The palace is roofed with brass, and a bright light flashes from it.
It has chambers for the women, and chambers for the men, and porticos,
partly glittering with silver, partly with cloth-of-gold embroideries,
partly with solid slabs of gold, let into the walls, like pictures. The
subjects of the embroideries are taken from the Greek mythology, and
include representations of Andromeda, of Amymone, and of Orpheus, who
is frequently repeated.... Datis is moreover represented, destroying
Naxos with his fleet, and Artaphernes besieging Eretria, and Xerxes
gaining his famous victories. You behold the occupation of Athens, and
the battle of Thermopylae, and other points still more characteristic of
the great Persian war, rivers drunk up and disappearing from the face
of the earth, and a bridge stretched across the sea, and a canal cut
through Athos.... One chamber for the men has a roof fashioned into a
vault like the heaven, composed entirely of sapphires, which are the
bluest of stones, and resemble the sky in color. Golden images of the
gods whom they worship, are set up about the vault, and show like stars
in the firmament. This is the chamber in which the king delivers his
judgments. Four golden magic-wheels hang from its roof, and threaten
the monarch with the Divine Nemesis, if he exalts himself above the
condition of man. These wheels are called ‘the tongues of the gods,’ and
are set in their places by the Magi who frequent the palace.”
The state and pomp which surrounded the monarch seem scarcely to have
fallen short of the Achaemenian standard. Regarded as in some sort
divine during his life, and always an object of national worship after
his death, the “Brother of the Sun and Moon” occupied a position far
above that of the most exalted of his subjects. Tributary monarchs
were shocked, when, in times of misfortune, the “Great King” stooped
to solicit their aid, and appeared before them in the character of a
suppliant, shorn of his customary splendor. Nobles coveted the dignity
of “King’s Friend,” and were content to submit to blows and buffets
at the caprice of their royal master, before whom they prostrated
themselves in adoration after each castigation. The Parthian monarch
dined in solitary grandeur, extended on his own special couch, and
eating from his own special table, which was placed at a greater
elevation than those of his guests. His “friend” sat on the ground at
his feet, and was fed like a dog by scraps from his master’s board.
Guards, ministers, and attendants of various kinds surrounded him,
and were ready at the slightest sign to do his bidding. Throughout the
country he had numerous “Eyes” and “Ears”--officers who watched his
interests and sent him word of whatever touched his safety. The bed on
which the monarch slept was of gold, and subjects were forbidden to take
their repose on couches of this rich material. No stranger could obtain
access to him unless introduced by the proper officer; and it was
expected that all who asked an audience would be prepared with some
present of high value. For the gifts received the monarch made a
suitable return, allowing those whom he especially favored to choose the
presents that they preferred.
The power and dignity of the Parthian nobles was greater than that
usually enjoyed by any subjects of an Oriental king. Rank in Parthia
being hereditary and not simply official, the “megistanes” were no
mere creatures of the monarch, but a class which stood upon its own
indefeasible rights. As they had the privilege of electing to the throne
upon a vacancy, and even that of deposing a duly elected monarch, the
king could not but stand in wholesome awe of them, and feel compelled to
treat them with considerable respect and deference. Moreover, they were
not without a material force calculated to give powerful support to
their constitutional privileges. Each stood at the head of a body
of retainers accustomed to bear arms and to serve in the wars of the
Empire. Together these bodies constituted the strength of the army; and
though the royal bodyguard might perhaps have been capable of dealing
successfully with each group of retainers separately, yet such an
_esprit de corps_ was sure to animate the nobles generally, that they
would make common cause in case one of their number were attacked,
and would support him against the crown with the zeal inspired by
self-interest. Thus the Parthian nobility were far more powerful and
independent than any similar class under the Achaemenian, Sassanian,
Modern Persian, or Turkish sovereigns. They exercised a real control
over the monarch, and had a voice in the direction of the Empire. Like
the great feudal vassals of the Middle Ages, they from time to time
quarrelled with their liege lord, and disturbed the tranquillity of the
kingdom by prolonged and dangerous civil wars; but these contentions
served to keep alive a vigor, a life, and a spirit of sturdy
independence very unusual in the East, and gave a stubborn strength to
the Parthian monarchy, in which Oriental governments have for the most
part been wanting.
There were probably several grades of rank among the nobles. The highest
dignity in the kingdom, next to the Crown, was that of Surena, or
“Field-Marshal;” and this position was hereditary in a particular
family, which can have stood but a little below the royal house in
wealth and consequence. The head of this noble house is stated to have
at one time brought into the field as many as 10,000 retainers and
slaves, of whom a thousand were heavy-armed. It was his right to place
the diadem on the king’s brow at his coronation. The other nobles lived
for the most part on their domains, but took the field at the head
of their retainers in case of war, and in peace sometimes served the
offices of satrap, vizier, or royal councillor. The wealth of the class
was great; its members were inclined to be turbulent, and, like
the barons of the European kingdoms, acted as a constant check and
counterpoise to the royal dignity.
Next to war, the favorite employment of the king and of the nobles
was hunting. The lion continued in the wild state an occupant of the
Mesopotamian river-banks and marshes; and in other parts of the empire
bears, leopards, and even tigers abounded. Thus the higher kinds of
sport were readily obtainable. The ordinary practice, however, of
the monarch and his courtiers seems to have fallen short of the true
sportsman’s ideal. Instead of seeking the more dangerous kinds of
wild beasts in their native haunts, and engaging with them under the
conditions designed by nature, the Parthians were generally content
with a poorer and tamer method. They kept lions, leopards, and bears in
enclosed parks, or “paradises,” and found pleasure in the pursuit and
slaughter of these denaturalized and half-domesticated animals. The
employment may still, even under these circumstances, have contained
an element of danger which rendered it exciting; but it was a poor
substitute for the true sport which the “mighty Hunter before the Lord”
had first practised in these regions.
The ordinary dress of the Parthian noble was a long loose robe reaching
to the feet, under which he wore a vest and trousers. Bright and
varied colors were affected, and sometimes dresses were interwoven or
embroidered with gold. In seasons of festivity garlands of fresh flowers
were worn upon the head. A long knife or dagger was carried at all
times, which might be used either as an implement or as a weapon.
In the earlier period of the empire the Parthian was noted as a spare
liver; but, as time went on, he aped the vices of more civilized
peoples, and became an indiscriminate eater and a hard drinker. Game
formed a main portion of his diet; but he occasionally indulged in pork,
and probably in other sorts of butcher’s meat. He ate leavened bread,
with his meat, and various kinds of vegetables. The bread, which was
particularly light and porous, seems to have been imported sometimes by
the Romans, who knew it as _panis aquaticus_ or _panis Parthicus_. Dates
were also consumed largely by the Parthians, and in some parts of the
country grew to an extraordinary size. A kind of wine was made from
them; and this seems to have been the intoxicating drink in which
the nation generally indulged too freely. That made from the dates of
Babylon was the most highly esteemed, and was reserved for the use of
the king and the higher order of satraps.
Of the Parthian feasts, music was commonly an accompaniment. The flute,
the pipe, the drum, and the instrument called eambuca, appear to have
been known to them; and they understood how to combine these instruments
in concerted harmony. They are said to have closed their feasts with
dancing--an amusement of which they were inordinately fond--but this was
probably the case only with the lower class of people. Dancing in the
East, if not associated with religion, is viewed as degrading, and,
except as a religious exercise, is not indulged in by respectable
persons.
The separation of the sexes was very decided in Parthia. The women took
their meals, and passed the greater portion of their life, apart from
the men. Veils were commonly worn, as in modern Mohammedan countries;
and it was regarded as essential to female delicacy that women, whether
married or single, should converse freely with no males but either their
near relations or eunuchs. Adultery was punished with great severity;
but divorce was not difficult, and women of rank released themselves
from the nuptial bond on light grounds of complaint, without much
trouble. Polygamy was the established law; and every Parthian was
entitled, besides his chief wife, to maintain as many concubines as he
thought desirable. Some of the nobles supported an excessive number; but
the expenses of the seraglio prevented the generality from taking much
advantage of the indulgence which the law permitted.
The degree of refinement and civilization which the Parthians reached
is difficult to determine with accuracy. In mimetic art their remains
certainly do not show much taste or sense of beauty. There is some
ground to believe that their architecture had merit; but the existing
monuments can scarcely be taken as representations of pure Parthian
work, and may have owed their excellence (in some measure, at any rate)
to foreign influence. Still, the following particulars, for which there
is good evidence, seem to imply that the nation had risen in reality far
above that “barbarism” which it was the fashion of the Greek and Roman
writers to ascribe to it. In the first place, the Parthians had a
considerable knowledge of foreign languages. Plutarch tells us that
Orodes, the opponent of Crassus, was acquainted with the Greek language
and literature, and could enjoy the representation of a play of
Euripides. The general possession of such knowledge, at any rate by the
kings and the upper classes, seems to be implied by the use of the Greek
letters and language in the legends upon coins and in inscriptions.
Other languages were also to some extent cultivated. The later kings
almost invariably placed a Semitic legend upon their coins; and there is
one instance of a Parthian prince adopting an Aryan legend of the
type known as Bactrian. Josephus, moreover, regarded the Parthians as
familiar with Hebrew, or Syro-Chaldaic, and wrote his history of
the Jewish War in his own native tongue, before he put out his Greek
version, for the benefit especially of the Parthians, among whom he
declares that he had many readers.
Though the Parthians had, so far as we can tell, no native literature,
yet writing was familiar to them, and was widely used in matters of
business. Not only were negotiations carried on with foreign powers
by means of despatches, but the affairs of the empire generally were
conducted by writing. A custom-house system was established along the
frontier, and all commodities liable to duty that entered the country
were registered in a book at the time of entry by the custom-house
officer. In the great cities where the Court passed a portion of the
year, account was kept of the arrival of strangers, whose names and
descriptions were placed upon record by the keepers of the gates. The
orders of the Crown were signified in writing to the satraps; and they
doubtless corresponded with the Court in the same way. In the earlier
times the writing material commonly used was linen; but shortly before
the time of Pliny, the Parthians began to make paper from the papyrus,
which grew in the neighborhood of Babylon, though they still employed in
preference the old material.
There was a considerable trade between Parthia and Rome, carried on
by means of a class of merchants. Parthia imported from Rome various
metals, and numerous manufactured articles of a high class. Her
principal exports were textile fabrics and spices. The textile fabrics
seem to have been produced chiefly in Babylonia, and to have consisted
of silks, carpets, and coverlets. The silks were largely used by the
Roman ladies. The coverlets, which were patterned with various colors,
fetched enormous prices, and were regarded as fit adornments of the
Imperial palace. Among the spices exported, the most celebrated wore
bdellium, and the _juncus odoratus_ or odoriferous bulrush.
The Parthians had many liberal usages which imply a fairly advanced
civilization. Their tolerance of varieties in religion has been already
mentioned. Even in political matters they seem to have been free from
the narrowness which generally characterizes barbarous nations. They
behaved well to prisoners, admitted foreigners freely to offices of high
trust, gave an asylum to refugees, and treated them with respect and
kindness, were scrupulous observers of their pledged word, and eminently
faithful to their treaty obligations. On the other hand, it must be
admitted that they had some customs which indicate a tinge of barbarism.
They used torture for the extraction of answers from reluctant persons,
employed the scourge to punish trifling offences, and, in certain
cases, condescended to mutilate the bodies of their dead enemies. Their
addiction to intemperance is also a barbaric trait. They were, no doubt,
on the whole, less civilized than either the Greeks or Romans; but the
difference does not seem to have been so great as represented by the
classical writers.
Speaking broadly, the position that they occupied was somewhat similar
to that which the Turks hold in the system of modern Europe. They had a
military strength which caused them to be feared and respected, a vigor
of administration which was felt to imply many sterling qualities. A
certain coarseness and rudeness attached to them which they found it
impossible to shake off; and this drawback was exaggerated by their
rivals into an indication of irreclaimable barbarity. Except in respect
of their military prowess, it may be doubtful if justice is done them by
any classical writer. They were not merely the sole rival which dared to
stand up against Rome in the interval between B.C. 65 and A.D. 226, but
they were a rival falling in many respects very little below the great
power whose glories have thrown them so much into the shade. They
maintained from first to last a freedom unknown to later Rome;
they excelled the Romans in toleration and in liberal treatment
of foreigners, they equalled them in manufactures and in material
prosperity, and they fell but little short of them in the extent and
productiveness of their dominions. They were the second power in the
world for nearly three centuries, and formed a counterpoise to Rome
which greatly checked Roman decline, and, by forcing the Empire to exert
itself, prevented stagnation and corruption.
It must, however, be confessed, that the tendency of the Parthians
was to degenerate. Although the final blow was struck in an unexpected
quarter, and perhaps surprised the victors as much as the vanquished,
still it is apparent that for a considerable space before the revolt of
Artaxerxes the Parthian Empire had shown signs of failing strength, and
had tended rapidly towards decay and ruin. The constant quarrels among
the Arsacidae and the incipient disintegration of the Empire have been
noticed. It may be added here that a growing barbarism, a decline in art
and letters, is observable in the Parthian remains, such as have usually
been found to accompany the decrepitude of a nation. The coinage has
from first to last a somewhat rude character, which indicates that it
is native, and not the production of Greek artists. But on the earlier
coins the type, though not indicative of high art, is respectable, and
the legends are, with few exceptions, perfectly correct and classical.
Barbarism first creeps in about the reign of Gotarzes, A.D. 42-51. It
increases as time goes on, until, from about A.D. 133, the Greek legend
upon the coins becomes indistinct and finally unintelligible, the
letters being strewn about the surface of the coin, like dead soldiers
over a field of battle. It is, clear that the later directors of
the mint were completely ignorant of Greek, and merely attempted to
reproduce on the coin some semblance of a language which neither they
nor their countrymen understood. Such a condition of a coinage is almost
without parallel, and indicates a want of truth and honesty in the
conduct of affairs which implies deep-seated corruption. The Parthians
must have lost the knowledge of Greek about A.D. 130, yet
still a pretence of using the language was kept up. On the
tetra-drachms--comparatively rare coins--no important mistake was
committed; but on the more usual drachm, from the time of Gotarzes, the
most absurd errors were introduced, and thenceforth perpetuated. The
old inscription was, in a certain sense, imitated, but every word of it
ceased to be legible: the old figures disappeared in an indistinct
haze, and--if we except the head and name of the king (written now in a
Semitic character)--the whole emblazonment of the coin became unmeaning.
A degeneracy less marked, but still sufficiently clear to the numismatic
critic, is observable in the heads of the kings, which, in the earlier
times, if a little coarse, are striking and characteristic; while in the
later they sink to a conventional type, rudely and poorly rendered, and
so uniform that the power of distinguishing one sovereign from
another rests no longer upon feature, but upon mere differences in the
arrangement of hair, or beard, or head-dress.