erally avoided them. The Romans might overrun a portion of their territory, but they could seldom hold it long; and it was not possible for them to retire from Parthian soil without disaster. Clouds of Parthian horse would hang upon the retreating columns, and almost ruin them. Of the six great expeditions of Rome against Parthia, one only, that of Avidius Cassius (A.D. 163–165), 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.1 Many of the details of the connection of Parthia with Rome are of unusual interest, but we have not space to give them here. The policy of Rome was profoundly influenced by the existence of Parthia, its formidable neighbor. When Crassus was defeated and the Parthian hordes began to push westward, it looked, for a time, as if Rome was to have a master. It cost Rome a general (Crassus) and a splendid army before she would admit Parthia as her rival. Yet impartial history presents the Parthian empire to us as for three centuries "a counterpoise to the power of Rome," -"a rival state, dividing with Rome the attention of mankind and the sovereignty of the known earth." Some of the best generals of the Roman empire measured swords with the Parthian monarchs, and were worsted in the encounter. The three days' battle of Nisibis, already referred to, fierce and bloody enough, was a fair trial of skill and strength between the East and the West, and in it the Asiatic army did not suffer, but gained in the comparison. Rome found that she could buy a peace (as she did here) better than she could furnish men and generals to conquer one. Yet her writers, too proud to chronicle the truth, endeavored to represent every disgrace and disaster as a triumph of her policy or arms. Notice their interpretation, already quoted in this Article, of this affair of purchasing a peace. Notice again their account of the affair of the standards which the Parthians had taken from Crassus and Antony. They were surrendered to Rome from policy, and not because Rome was the stronger, and could take them by force if they were not surrendered. The fact that the enemy held these standards was a sore one for the Romans, and their recovery 66 was celebrated in jubilant chorus by many of the Roman writers." Yet they represented the return of these standards as an evidence of weakness in the Parthian king, and as an act of submission to Rome. 7. Their Strength and Power of Endurance. In this Scythic race we must not expect much culture or refinement. Compared with Western nations they were always a coarse, rude people. Yet in their national character there were inherent elements of strength. The fact that they resisted every effort of Rome to subdue them, and maintained their national independence for five centuries-existing for Parthia, p. 407. 2 Parthia, Preface, p. v. 8 Parthia, p. 209, note. three centuries of that time side by side with Rome, as a rival power, during her most flourishing period — would lead the historian to look upon them with respect, and to study carefully the causes of their greatness. Military science, as they understood it, was carried to great perfection. The spectacle of the small Parthian people matched against the forces of the vast Syrian empire (B.C. 256) and achieving their independence, is one which has but few parallels in history, and which commands our admiration. We could refer also to the terrible defeat which Sidetes suffered from the Parthians (B.C. 128), when three hundred thousand men were slaughtered, as evincing the valor of the Asiatic soldiers. Moreover, the Parthians surpassed the Romans in the power of physical endurance. They could bear both cold and heat, and on long marches did not suffer from thirst like the Romans. Indeed the Romans reported that they made use of certain drugs to increase their ability of bearing thirst; when, probably, the only remedies employed, were habit and resolution, combined with hardy constitutions. We shall not be just to history if we consider these people merely a wild tribe of the wild regions about the Caspian Sea. They were not that; they were a nation of character, of strength, and permanence. - 8. Their Learning and Arts. a. Literature. If they had a literature no remains of it have been preserved. Yet in business and diplomacy they constantly made use of writing. They had a perfect custom-house system, which required accurate records to be kept. A kingdom made up of so many separate governments and peoples would require a knowledge of several foreign languages. Among these we know that Greek and Aramaic were extensively used in the empire. Orodes (Crassus' opponent) was acquainted with Greek, and could enjoy a play of Euripides. But there is evidence that towards the close of the empire the knowledge of Greek had nearly died out (A.D. 130). b. For writing material they used linen at first, but about Pliny's time they began to make paper from papyrus, which grew in the neighborhood of Babylon, though they still employed, in preference, the old material.5 c. Manufactures. Of these, perhaps, silks, carpets, coverlets, and linen cloth were the most prominent. The silks were largely used by the Roman ladies, while the coverlets, highly wrought, commanded extravagant prices, and were deemed fit adornments of the imperial palace at Rome." d. Coinage. Their coinage had from first to last somewhat of a rude character, which is an indication that it is native, and not the production of Greek artists, as Lenormant, and Eckhel less decidedly, have claimed. The Parthian coins that have been preserved are quite numerous. Eckhel devotes twenty-eight quarto pages to the subject; and, since his time, 2 Parthia, p. 105. 1 Parthia, p. 50. * Parthia, p. 408. Ibid. 426, and note. many more coins have been found. They bear Greek, Semitic, and even Arian (or Bactrian) legends. e. Architecture and ornamental art. The Parthians were not builders. "They did not aim at leaving a material mark upon the world by means of edifices, or other great works." Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia covered Western Asia with monuments of their pride and wealth; but the Parthians seem to have "affected something of primitive rudeness and simplicity in their habits and style of life, their dwellings and temples, their palaces and tombs." Yet they left sufficient remains to enable us to form a tolerably correct estimate of their general ideas of architecture, sculpture, and the other ornamental arts. The most extensive remains are found at Hatra, between the Tigris and Euphrates, an important city of the Parthian empire. Other remains were found by Mr. Loftus at Warka (the ancient Erech). Among them are columns, Ionic capitals, arches, and friezes variously ornamented. Their houses had windows; their palaces had large, lofty halls for public occasions, and extensive paved courts; and their tombs were cut out of rock or built of hewn stone in an elegant and costly style. Large numbers of coffins have also been found. These are "slipper-shaped," and are ornamented in various ways. A few bas-reliefs have been recovered. Also terra-cotta statuettes, earthen drinking vessels and lamps, copper bowls, glass lachrymatories, jugs, jars, vases, and other domestic utensils, besides many personal ornaments, such as armlets, bangles, beads, rings, ear-rings, and head-dresses. The personal ornaments are made of gold, silver, copper, and brass. Tall, pointed head-dresses of gold are sometimes found. But art, especially aesthetic art, was not what the Parthian people excelled in. Their power lay chiefly in the direction of conquest and organization. In war, hunting, and government they excelled. 9. Their Commerce. Their custom-house system, already referred to, indicates considerable traffic with surrounding nations. Then we learn from history that Parthia "imported from Rome various metals, and numerous manufactured articles of a high class." The costly silks, carpets, and coverlets which she exported to Rome have been already mentioned. She also exported spices, among which were bdellium, and the "odoriferous bulrush." Borsippa (the modern Birs Nimrud) was a centre for linen goods. And in B.C. 54 the Parthian flags were made of silk." 10. Their Manners and Customs. Of these we can note but a few: a. Polygamy was common; b. Adultery 1 Eckhel, Doct. Num. Vet., 1795, iii. 522-550. See Loftus's Chaldea and Susiana, 212 (American edition). Parthia, p. 428, and note. 2 Parthia, p. 371 et sq. See Loftus, all of chap. xviii. pp. 198–220. * Parthia, pp. 425, 426, and note. was punished with great severity; c. Divorces could be obtained without much difficulty; and it is noticeable that in this respect the women had equal rights with the men; d. The position of the queen was not much below that of her royal consort. He bore the title "theos," god, and she adopted the corresponding one of "thea," or "thea ourania," goddess, or heavenly goddess. The Parthian kings and court were remarkably free from the influence of women and eunuchs. In one case, however, a queen was known to take "the direction of affairs out of the hands of her husband and to rule the empire in conjunction with her son." But women, for the most part, lived in seclusion; e. Music and dancing were accompaniments of their feasts; and of dancing it is said that the lower class of people especially were inordinately fond; f. Hunting was the favorite employment of the king and nobles. Game was very abundant,2 and lions, bears, leopards, and tigers were the kinds considered royal, or alone suitable to be hunted by monarchs and lords; g. Temperance. In the earlier period of the empire the Parthian was noted as a spare liver; but later he adopted the habits of more civilized peoples, and indulged to excess in eating, and especially in drinking. A singular habit, not unknown at the present day, prevailed among them, of chewing citron pips to disguise their breath after they had been drinking. Intoxicating drink was made from dates, and for this purpose the dates of Babylon were the most highly esteemed. 11. Their Sincerity. The Romans charged them with treachery and with being unfaithful to treaty obligations. The sentiment among the Romans is expressed by the sneer of Horace, "Parthis mendacior"; but this "is contradicted by the whole tenor of Parthian history." Except in the single instance of Crassus, the charge of bad faith cannot be sustained against them. They gave hostages freely from the members of their own families. They treated prisoners well; gave an asylum to royal refugees; and were scrupulous observers of their pledged word. 12. Their Religion and their Spirit of Toleration. Very little is known definitely as to the religion of the Parthians. They acquiesced in that mixed religion produced by the contact of Zoroastrianism with Magism, which prevailed from the time of Xerxes downwards. But this was not their own religion. Their actual worship, however, was offered to the sun and moon, to which temples were built and sacrifices were made. But, perhaps, the ancestral images which existed in every household received more divine homage than the heavenly bodies. The most that can be said is, that the Parthians were always lukewarm devo1 Parthia, p. 414. 2 Ibid. pp. 53, 420. 8 Ibid. p. 422, note. 4 Hor. Ep. I. 11. 112; Parthia, pp. 411, 413, 426. tees of the Persian religion, and were lax and changeful in their religious practice. To a great extent they were indifferent as to their religious faith. Hence we find them unusually tolerant of a variety of creeds among their subjects. In dependent Persia, Zoroastrian zeal was allowed to flourish. In the numerous Greek cities, the gods of that Pantheon had as safe a home as in the temples of Athens itself. In Babylon, Nearda, Nisibis, and wherever else there were Jewish colonies, the Jews enjoyed the free exercise of their comparatively pure and elevated religion. Within the limits of this empire, Judaism boasted many converts from the heathen, and here were found Jewish missionaries laboring without restriction of any kind. "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 Osrhoëné are thought to have been Christian from the time of the Antonines, if not from that of our Lord; and a flourishing church was certainly established at Edessa before the close of the second century." And it is reported that many converts were found among the inhabitants of Persia, Media, Parthia Proper, and even Bactria.1 Mr. Rawlinson says in conclusion: "The Parthians 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 classical writers. Speaking broadly, the position they occupied was somewhat similar to that which the Turks hold in the system of modern Europe..... 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." a 1 Parthia, pp. 398–402. 2 Parthia, pp. 427, 428. |