134. When they meet one another in the roads, by this you may discern whether those who meet are of equal rank,—for instead of greeting by words they kiss one another on the mouth; but if one of them is a little inferior to the other, they kiss one another on the cheeks, and if one is of much less noble rank than the other, he falls down before him and does worship to him. And they honour of all most after themselves those nations which dwell nearest to them, and next those which dwell next nearest, and so they go on giving honour in proportion to distance; and they hold least in honour those who dwell furthest off from themselves, esteeming themselves to be by far the best of all the human race on every point, and thinking that others possess merit according to the proportion which is here stated, and that those who dwell furthest from themselves are the worst. And under the supremacy of the Medes the various nations used also to govern one another according to the same rule as the Persians observe in giving honour, the Medes governing the whole and in particular those who dwelt nearest to themselves, and these having rule over those who bordered upon them, and those again over the nations that were next to them: for the race went forward thus ever from government by themselves to government through others.
135. The Persians more than any other men admit foreign usages; for they both wear the Median dress judging it to be more comely than their own, and also for fighting the Egyptian corselet: moreover they adopt all kinds of luxuries when they hear of them, and in particular they have learnt from the Hellenes to have commerce with boys. They marry each one several lawful wives, and they get also a much larger number of concubines.
136. It is established as a sign of manly excellence next after excellence in fight, to be able to show many sons; and to those who have most the king sends gifts every year: for they consider number to be a source of strength. And they educate their children, beginning at five years old and going on till twenty, in three things only, in riding, in shooting, and in speaking the truth: but before the boy is five years old he does not come into the presence of his father, but lives with the women; and it is so done for this reason, that if the child should die while he is being bred up, he may not be the cause of any grief to his father.
137. I commend this custom of theirs, and also the one which is next to be mentioned, namely that neither the king himself shall put any to death for one cause alone, nor any of the other Persians for one cause alone shall do hurt that is irremediable to any of his own servants; but if after reckoning he finds that the wrongs done are more in number and greater than the services rendered, then only he gives vent to his anger. Moreover they say that no one ever killed his own father or mother, but whatever deeds have been done which seemed to be of this nature, if examined must necessarily, they say, be found to be due either to changelings or to children of adulterous birth; for, say they, it is not reasonable to suppose that the true parent would be killed by his own son.
138. Whatever things it is not lawful for them to do, these it is not lawful for them even to speak of: and the most disgraceful thing in their estimation is to tell a lie, and next to this to owe money, this last for many other reasons, but especially because it is necessary, they say, for him who owes money, also sometimes to tell lies: and whosoever of the men of the city has leprosy or whiteness of skin, he does not come into a city nor mingle with the other Persians; and they say that he has these diseases because he has offended in some way against the Sun: but a stranger who is taken by these diseases, in many regions they drive out of the country altogether, and also white doves, alleging against them the same cause. And into a river they neither make water nor spit, neither do they wash their hands in it, nor allow any other to do these things, but they reverence rivers very greatly. …
140. So much I am able to say for certain from my own knowledge about them: but what follows is reported about their dead as a secret mystery and not with clearness, namely that the body of a Persian man is not buried until it has been torn by a bird or a dog. (The Magians I know for a certainty have this practice, for they do it openly). However that may be, the Persians cover the body with wax and then bury it in the earth. Now the Magians are distinguished in many ways from other men, as also from the priests in Egypt: for these last esteem it a matter of purity to kill no living creature except the animals which they sacrifice; but the Magians kill with their own hands all creatures except dogs and men, and they even make this a great end to aim at, killing both ants and serpents and all other creeping and flying things.
Source: Herodotus, The History of Herodotus, Vol. 1, Book 1.131–141, translated by G. C. Macaulay (New York: Macmillan, 1890).
22. PERSIAN MENU AND AN EXCERPT RELATING TO PERSIAN DINING
Preparing, serving, and eating food played an important role in the daily life of ancient Iranians. Cooking the food for Iranian kings was one of the most important daily responsibilities of the palace and the imperial kitchen, which during the Achaemenid period (550–330 BCE) served dinner to over 15,000 guests, including members of the royal family, the court, and the imperial government. Iranian kings boasted of their hospitality by organizing lavish banquets, where guests feasted on sumptuous meals that included a variety of dishes and unique spices and were served from elaborately designed plates and drinking vessels, which were so brilliantly ornamented that they gleamed with gold and silver. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE, Alexander the Macedon, who was touring a Persian royal palace, came across a list of ingredients used for the preparation of breakfast and dinner for the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty. The list of ingredients was inscribed on the same bronze pillar where the laws introduced by Cyrus had been written. This list of ingredients demonstrates the richness and variety of Persian cuisine and the large quantity of food prepared for the residents of the royal court.
Ancient Persian Menu
(32) In the palace of the Persian monarch Alexander read a bill of fare for the king’s dinner and supper, that was engraven on a column of brass: on which were also other regulations, which Cyrus had directed. It ran thus.
“Of fine wheat flour four hundred artabae (a Median artaba is an Attic bushel). Of second flour three hundred artabae, and of third flour the same: in the whole one thousand artabae of wheat flour for supper. Of the finest barley flour two hundred artabae, of the second four hundred, and four hundred of the third: in all one thousand artabae of barley flour. Of oatmeal two hundred artabae. Of paste mixed for pastry of different kinds ten artabae. Of cresses chopped small, and sifted, and formed into a kind of ptisan, ten artabae. Of mustard-seed the third of an artabae. Male sheep four hundred. Oxen a hundred. Horses thirty. Fat geese four hundred. Three hundred turtles. Small birds of different kinds six hundred. Lambs three hundred. Gosslings a hundred. Thirty head of deer. Of new milk ten marises (a maris contains ten attic choas). Of milk whey sweetened ten marises. Of garlick a talent’s worth. Of strong onions half a talent’s worth. Of knot grass an artaba. Of the juice of benzoin two minae. Of cumin an artaba. Of benzoin a talent worth. Of rich cider the fourth of an artaba. Of millet seed three talents worth. Of anise flowers three minae. Of coriander seed the third of an artaba. Of melon seed two capises. Of parsnips ten artabae. Of sweet wine five marises. Of salted gongylis five marises. Of pickled capers five marises. Of salt ten artabae. Of Ethiopian cumin six capises (a capise is an attic chaenix). Of dried anise thirty minae. Of parsley feed four capises. Oil of Sisamin ten marises. Cream five marises. Oil of cinnamon five marises. Oil of acanthus five marises. Oil of sweet almonds three marises. Of dried sweet almonds three artabae. Of wine five hundred marises. (And if he supped at Babylon or Susa, one half was palm wine, and the other half wine expressed from grapes.) Two hundred load of dry wood, and one hundred load of green. Of fluid honey a hundred square palathae, containing the weight of about ten minae. When he was in Media, there were added—of bastard saffron feed three artabae: of saffron two minae. This was the appointment for dinner and supper. He also expended in largesses five hundred artabae of fine wheat flour. Of
fine barley flour a thousand artabae: and of other kinds of flour a thousand artabae. Of rice five hundred artabae. Of corn five hundred marises. Of corn for the horses twenty thousand artabae. Of straw ten thousand load. Of vetches five thousand load. Of oil of Sisamin two hundred marises. Of vinegar a hundred marises. Of cresses chopped small thirty artabae. All, that is here enumerated, was distributed among the forces, that attended him. In dinner, and supper, and in largessess, the above was the king’s daily expenditure.”
Source: Polyaenus, Stratagems of War, translated by E. Shepherd (London, 1793), http://websfor.org/alexander/polyaenus/intro.asp.
Dining with the Persians
Heracleides of Cumae, author of the Persian History, writes, in the second book of the work entitled Equipment: “All who attend upon the Persian kings when they dine first bathe themselves and then serve in white clothes, and spend nearly half the day on preparations for the dinner. Of those who are invited to eat with the king, some dine outdoors, in full sight of anyone who wishes to look on; others dine indoors in the king’s company. Yet even these do not eat in his presence, for there are two rooms opposite each other, in one of which the king has his meal, in the other the invited guests. The king can see through the curtain at the door, but they cannot see him. Sometimes, however, on the occasion of a public holiday, all dine in a single room with the king, in the great hall. And whenever the king commands a symposium (which he does often), he has about a dozen companions at the drinking. When they have finished, that is, the king by himself, the guests in the other room, these fellow drinkers are summoned by one of the eunuchs; and entering they drink with him, though even they do not have the same wine; moreover, they sit on the floor, while he reclines on a couch supported by feet of gold; and they depart after having drunk to excess. In most cases the king breakfasts and dines alone, but sometimes his wife and some of his sons dine with him. And throughout the dinner his concubines sing and play the lyre; one of them is the soloist, the others sing in chorus. And so, Heracleides continues, the ‘king’s dinner,’ as it is called, will appear prodigal to one who merely hears about it, but when one examines it carefully it will be found to have been got up with economy and even with parsimony; and the same is true of the dinners among other Persians in high station. For one thousand animals are slaughtered daily for the king; these comprise horses, camels, oxen, asses, deer, and most of the smaller animals; many birds also are consumed, including Arabian ostriches—and the creature is large—geese; and cocks. And of all these only moderate portions are served to each of the king’s guests, and each of them may carry home whatever he leaves untouched at the meal. But the greater of these meats and other foods are taken out into the courtyard for the body-guard and light-armed troopers maintained by the king; there they divide all the half-eaten remnants of meat and bread and share them in equal portions. Just as hired soldiers in Greece receive their wages in money, so these men receive food from the king in requital for services. Similarly among other Persians of high rank, all the food is served on the table at one and the same time; but when their guests have done eating, whatever is left from the table, consisting chiefly of meat and bread, is given by the officer in charge of the table to each of the slaves; this they take and so obtain their daily food. Hence the most highly honoured of the king’s guests go to court only for breakfast for they beg to be excused in order that they may not be required to go twice, but may be able to entertain their own guests.”
Source: Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, translated by Charles Burton Gulick (London: William Heinemann, 1927), 4.145–146.
23. PARTHIA AND THE RISE OF THE ARSACID (PARTHIAN) DYNASTY ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL SOURCES
The origins of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty and the events that led to the rise of the Arsacid monarch Arsaces I (Arshak I) (r. 247/238–217 BCE), founder of the Arsacid state (247/238 BCE–224 CE), are shrouded in mystery. The absence of reliable Arsacid (Parthian) sources has forced historians of ancient Iran to rely almost exclusively on the accounts of Greek and Roman writers, who were resolute and unyielding in their hostility and disdain toward the Parthians, portraying them as vulgar, uncultured, and backward barbarians with eccentric and repugnant customs and traditions. The rise of Arsaces I corresponded with the growing decline of the Seleucid state, which had ruled Iran since 305 BCE after the disintegration of the short-lived empire of Alexander the Macedon and a civil war that subsequently erupted among his Macedonian generals. The incessant military campaigns against the Ptolemaic dynasty centered in Egypt exhausted the Seleucid treasury and diverted the attention of its rulers from the eastern provinces of their empire. Antioch, which served as the capital of the Seleucid kings, was situated on the western borders of the empire and a long way away from Iran and Central Asia. In 238 BCE, Arsaces I took advantage of the chaos in the eastern provinces of the Seleucid state and invaded and conquered Parthia. With the conquest of Parthia, the Arsacids came to be known as Parthians, or as those who hailed from Parthia. The seven short accounts below provide a synopsis of how Greek and Roman sources portrayed the rise of Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty, and the process through which the Arsacid (Parthian) kingdom was founded. They also offer noteworthy albeit highly biased information on the Parthian government, army, and culture.
Arrian’s Account of the Rise of Arsaces (Arshak), the Founder of the Arsacid or Parthian Empire
Read Arrian’s Parthica (History of Parthia) in seventeen books. In the Parthica he gives an account of the wars between Parthia and Rome during the reign of Trajan. He considers the Parthians to have been a Scythian race, which had long been under the yoke of Macedonia, and revolted, at the time of the Persian rebellion, for the following reason. Arsaces and Tiridates were two brothers, descendants of Arsaces, the son of Phriapetes. These two brothers, with five accomplices, slew Pherecles, who had been appointed satrap of Parthia by Antiochus Theos, to avenge an insult offered to one of them; they drove out the Macedonians, set up a government of their own, and became so powerful that they were a match for the Romans in war, and sometimes even were victorious over them.
Source: J. H. Freese, ed., Translations of Christian Literature: The Library of Photius, Vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1920).
Emergence of the Parthian Empire in the East: Arsaces and His Immediate Successors in Justin’s History of the World
Chap I. The Parthians, who are now in possession of the empire of the East, having, as it were, divided the world with the Romans, came originally from Scythian exiles. … Being thrice attack’d by the Romans, under the conduct of their greatest generals, in the most flourishing times of the Republic, they alone, of all nations, were not only a match for them, but came off victorious, yet perhaps it was still greater glory for them to be able to rule, amidst the Assyrian, Median, and Persian kingdoms, so famous of old, and the most opulent empire of Bactria, consisting of a thousand cities, than that they defeated a people that came from so remote a part of the world, especially when at that time they were incessantly alarmed by the Scythians, and their other neighbours, and exposed to so many uncertainties of war. They being forced to leave Scythia, by seditions at home, did, by stealth, possess themselves of the departs between Hyrcania, and Dahae, the Arians, the Spartans, and the Margians. After which, their neighbours, not resisting at first, they, at last, in spite of their opposition, when they came too late to hinder them, so far extended their frontiers, that they not only took possession of vast plains, but also of craggy hills, and steep mountains. And hence it comes, that the heat and cold are excessive in several provinces of Parthia; for the snow is troublesome in the mountainous parts, and the heat in the plains. …
Chap II. This nation was under kingly government after the revolt from the Macedonian empire. With them the chiefs of the populace were next in power to the king. Out of them were chosen their generals in war, and their governors in peace. Their language is a mixture of the Median and Scythian, borrowing words from both. …
Chap IV. And aft
erwards, when the Macedonians were involved in a civil war, they with the rest of the nations of Upper Asia, followed Eunenes; and when he was defeated, they went over to Antigonus. After him, they were under Nicator Seleucus, and soon after, under Antiochus, and his successors, from whose grandson Seleucus, they first revolted in the first Punic war, … the divisions of the two brothers, Seleucus and Antiochus, procured them an impunity for this revolt, who, during their contentions to wrest the scepter out of one another’s hands, neglected to pursue the revolters. At the same time, Theodotus too, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria revolted, and commanded himself to be called King, which example, all the Eastern nations soon followed, and shook off the Macedonian yoke. There was, at this time, one Arsaces, a man of tried valour, though of uncertain extraction. He, being accustomed to live by robbery and plunder, having heard that Seleucus had been overthrown by the Gauls in Asia, fearing the king no longer, entered the country of the Parthians with a band of robbers, defeated and killed Andragoras, his lieutenant, and seized the government of the whole country. Not long after, he likewise made himself master of Hyrcania; and being now in possession of two kingdoms, he raised a great army, for fear of Seleucus, and Theodotus king of the Bactrians. But being soon delivered from his fears, by the death of Theodotus, he makes peace, and enters into an alliance with his son, who was … named Theodotus, and not long after, engaging with king Seleucus, who came to punish the revolters, he had a victory; and this day the Parthians observe ever since with great solemnity, as the commencement of their liberty.
Chap V. Some new disturbances obliging Seleucus to return into Asia, some respite was, by this means, given to Arsaces, who took this opportunity to establish the Parthian government, levy soldiers, fortify castles, and secure the fidelity of his cities. He built a city too, called Dara. … Thus Arsaces having at once acquired and established a kingdom, was no less memorable among the Parthians, than Cyrus among the Persians, Alexander among the Macedonians, or Romulus among the Romans, and he died in a good old age. To his memory the Parthians paid this honour with you, that from him they called all their kings by the name Arsaces. His son and successor in the kingdom, who was Arsaces by name, fought with great bravery against Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, who came against him with a hundred thousand foot, and twenty thousand horse, and, at last, made an alliance with him. The third king of the Parthians was Priapatius, but he too was named Arsaces, for, as was said above, they called all their kings by that name, as the Romans do theirs Caesar and Augustus. He died, after he had reigned fifteen years, leaving two sons, Mithridates and Phraates, the elder of whom, Phraates, being, according to the custom of this nation, heir of the kingdom, subdued, by his arms, the Mardians, a strong nation, and died not long after, leaving several sons behind him whom he passed by, and left his kingdom to his brother Mithridates, a man of uncommon abilities, judging that more was due to the name of the king, than that of father; and that he ought to prefer the interest of his country to the grandeur of his children.
The Persian Empire Page 98
