ASIA. moon, earth and winds. Aphrodite in ancient times. At a later period they learnt from the Aegyptians and Arabians to sacrifice to the ce- CHÁP. III. lestial Aphrodite, whom they called Mitra.' At their sacrifices they neither erected altars nor kindled fire, water, fires, nor did they use libations, flutes, fillets, or Later worsacrificial cakes. The sacrificer wreathed his turban ship of with myrtle, and leading his victim to a consecrated or Mitra. spot, he invoked the god, and prayed not only for sacrifice. blessings on himself, but also for the prosperity of the sacri all the Persians and their king. The victim was ficer. next cut into small pieces, and the flesh boiled, and laid upon a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil; and one of the Magi standing by sang an ode con- Ode sung This ode was cerning the origin of the gods. said to be an incantation, and unless a Magian was present it was unlawful to sacrifice. After a short time the sacrificer took away the flesh and disposed of it as he thought proper.2 Mode of by the Magi. toms. days. at meals but Birthdays were celebrated by the Persians above Social cusevery other day, and on these occasions the people Celebration were accustomed to furnish their tables in a more of birthplentiful manner than at any other time. The wealthier classes would serve up an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass roasted whole; but the poorer sort produced smaller cattle. At their meals they were Moderation not immoderate in their eating, but they partook of profusion of many after-dishes, which were served up at intervals: after-dishes. hence the Persians said "that the Greeks rose hungry from table because they had nothing worth mentioning brought in after dinner, and that if other things were served up they would never leave off eating." The Persians were much addicted to Addiction wine, but their manners were refined in the presence of each other. They debated upon the most im- Debate portant affairs whilst they were drunk, and again and again the next day when they were sober; and if they when sober. approved of the measure when sober which they had resolved on when drunk, they adopted it, but The Assyrians called her Mylitta, and the Arabians named her Alitta. i. 131. 2 i. 132. to wine. when drunk ASIA. otherwise they rejected it. Also whatever they re CHAP. III. solved on when sober they reconsidered when in Modes of according to imity to Persia. customs. concubin age, and pederasty. toxicated.' 4 3 In their salutations it was easy to discover their resalutation lative rank. Equals kissed each other on the mouth. rank. If one was a little inferior they kissed the cheek. If one was of very much lower degree he prostrated Respected himself at the feet of the other. The Persians neighbouring nations esteemed themselves to be the most excellent of manaccording to their proxkind, and considered those to be the worst who lived the farthest from them. Thus they honoured their neighbours according to their distance off. It was Attachment however very remarkable that they were the readiest to foreign of all nations to adopt foreign customs. Thus they wore the Median costume because they considered it handsomer than their own, and in war they used Polygamy, the Acgyptian cuirass. Unfortunately they learnt and practised all kinds of voluptuousness, such as pederasty, which they adopted from the Greeks. They also married many wives, whom they visited in turns, and kept a still greater number of concuRespect for bines. Next to valour they considered that the large fami- exhibition of a number of children was the greatest proof of manliness, and the kings sent presents every year to those who had the largest families. Education Sons from the fifth to the twentieth year were only taught three things, namely, to ride, to shoot with a bow, and to speak the truth. Before the fifth year they lived entirely with the women, and were not admitted into their father's presence, so that they might not in case of early death occasion him any affliction.5 Herodotus very much approves of this custom, as he does also of the following, namely, that no one could be put to death for a single crime, not even by the king; but if on examination it were found that his misdeeds were greater and more numerous than his services, the criminal might be executed. Parricide or matricide were considered impossible. to be impossible crimes, and the murderers in these apparent cases were always declared to be of ille fathers of lies. of sons. Trial of criminals. Parricide considered 1 i. 133. 2 i. 134. 3 iii. 69. 4 i. 135. 5 i. 136. Lying and debt horred. geons ex cities. for rivers. gitimate or of supposititious birth.' Conversation ASIA. upon unlawful things was strictly prohibited. Tell- CHAP. III. ing a lie they considered to be the most disgraceful action, and next to that getting into debt, for they getting into considered that debtors must of necessity be liars. cially ab Citizens afflicted with leprosy or scrofula were not Lepers and allowed to reside in towns, or mix with others; and white pithe Persians generally maintained that a leper must pelled from have been so afflicted as a punishment for some offence against the Sun. Strangers attacked with leprosy were obliged to leave the country, and white pigeons were also expelled for a similar reason. Rivers were held in great veneration, and no Per- Veneration sian would either wash his hands in one, spit in it, or otherwise defile it, nor would he suffer any one else to do so.2 Other things which related to the Ceremonies dead were not publicly known, but only men- dead bodies. tioned in private: namely, that the dead body of a Persian was never buried until it had been torn by some bird or dog. The Magi however practised this custom openly. The body was subsequently covered with wax and concealed in the ground.3 The Persians never burned their dead, because they considered fire to be a god. Their skulls were so remarkably weak that a hole might be made in one sian skull. by casting a single pebble at it: this, Herodotus supposed, was occasioned by their wearing turbans." The longest period of human life amongst them was estimated by themselves at eighty years. 6 practised on Weakness of the Per Aegyptian The Magi differed very much from all other men, Magi a peand particularly from the Aegyptian priests; for unlike the whilst the latter would not kill anything which had priests. life excepting the sacrificial victims, the Magi would kill anything with their own hands except a dog or a man, and they even thought that killing ants, serpents, and other reptiles, and birds, was a meri torious action." ignorance of The Persians knew nothing of navigation, and Persian they were unable to achieve anything on the sea navigation. ASIA. Contempt Special honour paid to valour. until they had subdued the Phoenicians.' 3 5 Just as 6 CHAP. III. little did they understand markets, and Cyrus considered them to be places set apart in the midst of a for markets city for people to collect together and cheat each and traders. other. Like the Aegyptians and others, they held those citizens who followed a trade in the least reEquipment. spect. Their equipment was similar to that of the Medes, who wore turbans and loose trousers, and were protected by variously coloured breastplates with sleeves or armlets, and with iron scales like those of a fish. In war they used the Aegyptian cuirass.1 In ancient times the trousers and other garments were made of leather. The cavalry were armed like the infantry, excepting that some wore on their heads embossed brass and steel ornaments. The people generally paid great honour to valour, even when it had been exercised by their enemies;7 and though Xerxes ordered the head of Leonidas to be fixed upon a pole, yet that must be regarded as an exception to the general rule, and merely an instance of the extent to which the Persian kings indulged in their inveterate hatred against the Spartans. On the other hand, to be called more cowardly than a woman was the greatest affront a Persian could receive, and the general Artayntes drew his scimetar against Masistes, the brother of Xerxes, in return for such opprobrium. Burying people alive was one of their most horrible customs. At the place called Nine Ways they buried alive nine sons and nine daughters of the inhabitants; and when Amestris, the wife of Xerxes, grew old, she caused fourteen children of the best families in Persia to suffer the same fate, as an offering of thanks to the deity below the earth. 10 11 Horrible custom of burying alive in honour of Ahriman. 1 i. 143. 8 2 i. 153. 3 ii. 167. 9 4 i. 135; v. 49; vii. 61, 62. 5 j. 71. 6 vii. 84. 7 vii. 181. 8 vii. 238. 9 ix. 107. 10 vii. 114. 11 By this deity Ahriman is probably intended, the angel of darkness, the author and director of all evil. No trace however of any permission to offer human victims is to be found in the Zendavestas; we must therefore suppose that the sacrifice here mentioned was in accordance with those horrible magical and superstitious practices which, though severely forbidden by the reformer of the Magian philosophy, were nevertheless on certain occasions resorted to as part of the more ancient ASIA. CHAP. III. Persian sys The Persian system of post, called Angareïon, was the most rapid in the world, and was planned as follows. The same number of horses and men were provided as there were days' journey to per- tem of post. form, and one mounted courier was placed at the station which terminated each day's journey. The first comer gave his message to the second, the second to the third, and so on to the end, similar to the torch race of Hephaestus among the Hellenes; and neither snow nor rain, nor heat nor night, prevented them from performing their appointed stage with the utmost rapidity.' 4 9taining to Celebration obliged him benefactors. The king on his birthday every year gave a feast, Matters perwhich was named in the Persian language "tycta," the king. but in the Hellenic "rétov," or "perfect;" and on of his birththat occasion he washed his head with soap, and day. gave presents to the Persians, which sometimes included the command of an army. Those who had Those who obliged the king in any way were called benefactors, called Oroand were named in the Persian language Orosan-or gae. The king himself drank no other water than Drank only what was procured from the river Choaspes at Susa; the water of and this water was boiled in silver vessels, and carried Choaspes. after him in four-wheeled carriages drawn by mules wherever he marched." He always was regarded as Regarded the master of all Asia, and the barbarous nations who ter of Asia. inhabited it; and he stood especially high in the love General and veneration of the Persians. When the latter heard for him. of the defeat at Salamis, they were thrown into the utmost consternation, and rent their garments and lamented entirely on his account; and Herodotus relates, though disbelieving the story, that when the ship in which Xerxes escaped to Asia was threatened by a storm, many of the Persians on board voluntarily plunged into the sea, and sacrificed their lives, in order to lighten the vessel and save their king. Of the royal harem Herodotus says but 8 6 form of worship previous to Zoroaster. Kleuker, Appendix to the Zen- 1 viii. 98. 2 ix. 110. 6 i. 4; ix. 116. 5 i. 188. as the mas veneration |