ESSAY II. MAGIAN REVOLUTION. 453 ESSAY II. ON THE MAGIAN REVOLUTION, AND THE REIGN OF THE PSEUDO-SMERDIS. 1. Ordinary theory on the subject-the revolution a Median outbreak. 2. Proofs to the contrary-(i.) from the inscriptions-(ii.) from the general tenor of ancient history. 3. Unsound basis of the theory-the Magi not Medes. 4. The revolution really religious. 5. Proof of this from the inscriptions. 6. Religious ideas connected with the name of Darius. 1. THE character of the revolution which placed Gomates the Magian upon the throne of Cyrus has been represented by most modern writers in a light which is at once inconsistent with the recently discovered Persian monuments, and with the view of the event which the general outline of the history, as presented by the ancient writers, would most naturally suggest to us. Heeren, Niebuhr,' and Grote unite in regarding the accession of the Pseudo-Smerdis as a national revolution, whereby the Medes regained their ancient supremacy over the Persians. This view rests upon certain incidental expressions in Herodotus' which find an echo in later Greek writers of no weight or authority." The expres sions are, undoubtedly, strong, and it must be confessed that in the mind of Herodotus the idea existed which has been put so prominently forward 1 I give him the name which he bears in the native monuments-a trace of which remains in the Cometes of Trogus Pompeius (ap. Justin. i. 9), who however misapplies the appellation, giving it to the other brother, the Patizeithes of Herodotus. 2 Asiatic Nations, vol. i. p. 346, E. T. His words are: "it is usual to consider this revolution as an attempt of the Magians to get possession of the sovereign authority, because the principal conspirators belonged to that caste; but by the express evidence of the most credible authorities" (he refers in a note to Plato [!] and Herodotus)," the conspiracy had a higher object, the re-establishment of the monarchy of the Medes. The Magians, as we have observed, were a Median race; and it was natural for the Medes, when the true stock of Cyrus had ended in Cambyses, to aim at a resumption of their ancient sway." 3 Vorträge über alte Geschichte, vol. i. 157. He says: "Es muss sein, dass es eine wahre politische Revolution war, nicht bloss in der Dynastie, sondern in Regiment, wodurch die Herrschaft von den Persern an die Meder, und unter diesen wieder an die Mager gekommen war." History of Greece, vol. iv. p. 301. "Smerdis represents preponderance to the Medes over the Persians, and comparative degradation to the latter. The Medes and the Magians are in this case identical: for the Magians, though indispensable in the capacity of priests to the Persians, were essentially one of the seven (!) Median tribes. It thus appears that though Smerdis ruled as a son of the great Cyrus, yet he ruled by means of Medes and Magians, depriving the Persians of that supreme privilege and predominance to which they had become accustomed." There are three passages where a Median character is ascribed to the revolt by Herodotus, viz., iii. 65, iii. 73, and iii. 126. 6 Especially Plato in the famous passage of his Laws (iii. 12. D. 695, p. 99, Tauchn.). 454 USURPATION OF GOMATES. APP. BOOK III. by the above-mentioned writers. Still it is worthy of remark, that even in Herodotus, the direct narrative does not convey the idea with any distinctness, and it has to be drawn out from notices dropped incidentally. The advocates of the Median theory themselves admit this. Mr. Grote says: "When we put together all the incidental notices which he (Herodotus) lets drop, it will be found that the change of sceptre from Smerdis to Darius was a far larger political event than his direct narrative would seem to announce. Niebuhr goes yet further, and professes openly to depart from Herodotus, who represents the change (he says) as merely one of dynasty, and does not give it its true political importance, as a transfer of empire from the Persian to the Median nation.* Thus it appears that even in Herodotus himself, the idea that the struggle was one of nationalities, and that Media triumphed in the person of the Pseudo-Smerdis, is not consistently maintained or asserted with that clearness and distinctness which was to have been expected if the usurpation had really possessed the character attributed to it." 2. That the oppressed nationality of the Medes did not triumph by the accession of Gomates to the throne, is apparent, first from the inscriptions of Darius, and secondly from the general tenor of ancient. history. (i.) The evidence of the inscriptions is, of necessity, chiefly negative. Gomates is never said to have been a Mede, nor is there any mention of the Medes as particularly connected with the revolution.' The idea. of a national struggle is manifestly absent from the mind of Darius, who, if he had really wrested the sovereignty from the Medes, and res tored it to the Persians, would undoubtedly have set forth such an exploit with sufficient clearness. The national character of the various revolts which occurred after he ascended the throne, is distinctly stated. But further, there is some positive evidence that the usurpation of Gomates was not a Median triumph. For, 1. Gomates is represented as a native of a region which it is almost certain was in Persia Proper. 7 Hist. of Greece, 1. s. c. "Nach Herodots Erzählung müsste man nun glauben, es wäre bloss dies verändert worden, dass ein Mager unter dem Namen des Persers an der Spitze gestanden, und es wäre dabei geblieben, dass die Perser geherrscht hätten, nur unter einem Könige, der ein Medischer Mager gewesen wäre . . . . Es muss aber hier anders gewesen sein."-Vorträge, 1. s. c. If the Medes at this time regained their supremacy over the Persians, the alteration of relation should have been noticed in Book i. ch. 130. Not only is there no mention of the reign of the Pseudo-Smerdis in that place, but we are plainly given to understand that the subjection of the Medes to the Persians continued uninterruptedly until the revolt from Darius, which happened (we know) in the third year of his reign. Even in the third Book the Median character of the revolt is not put prominently forward. This is what Mr. Grote, in the passage above quoted, confesses. Media indeed is mentioned, but it is only in connexion with Persia and the other provinces. Col. i. par. 10, § 10: "Then the lie became abounding in the land, both in Persia and in Media, and in the other provinces." Col. i. par. 11, §7: "From Cambyses the state went over to him (Gomates), both Persia and Media, and the other provinces." Col. i. par. 12, § 3: "After Gomates the Magian had dispossessed Cambyses both of Persia and Media, and the dependent provinces, he did according to his desire." ESSAY II. GOMATES NOT A MEDE. 3 455 "He arose from Pissiachádá, the mountain's name Aracadres, from thence." " Pissiachádá, it appears from another passage, was towards the extreme east of Persia, not far from Parga, the modern Fahraj, which lies between Shiraz and Kermán. He was therefore, at least by birth, if not by descent, a Persian. 2. Persia, not Media, is represented as taking the most prominent part in the revolt. "The whole state went over to Gomates," we are told, both Persia and Media, and the other provinces." And again, "Gomates the Magian dispossessed Cambyses both of Persia, and Media, and the dependent provinces." 3. Equal surprise is expressed that the Medes did not rise against the usurper, as that the Persians submitted to him. "There was not a man," says Darius, "neither Persian, nor Median, nor any one of our family, who would dispossess that Gomates the Magian of the crown." (ii.) The general tenor of ancient history leads to the same result. 1. The facts related by Herodotus, as distinguished from his opinion of the national character of the revolution. There is nothing in the course of events, setting aside the speeches supposed to be made, which would indicate that the Medes have any particular interest in the struggle. No special favour is shown to the Medes by the Pseudo-Smerdis; there is no transfer of the seat of empire from Susa to Ecbatana -no removal of Persian governors -no resistance is offered by the Medes to the counter-revolution-no brand of disgrace set upon the Medes by way of punishment. Everything, as will be shown hereafter, concurs to indicate that the revolution was social, not national-Magian not Median the ascendancy of a religion, not the revolt of a people. 2, The authority of other writers of weight, whose testimony is independent of Herodotus. Among these the first place is due to Eschylus, who wrote within 50 years of the event (20 years earlier than Herodotus), and whose play of the Persæ indicates very exact acquaintance with Persian history. Eschylus, enumerating the sovereign lords of Asia, when he comes to the Pseudo-Smerdis, says: "The fifth was Mardus, a disgrace to his country, unworthy occupant of the ancient throne;" an Ibid., Col. iii. par. 7, § 2. Ib., Col. i. par. 13, § 2. He exempts from taxation and military service for three years, not Media specially, but the whole empire (Herod. iii. 67). Susa is mentioned as still the capital (Herod. iii. 70). Oroetes certainly retained his command during the Magian usurpation (Herod. iii. 126). He was a Persian (avǹр Пépons, iii. 120). Hystaspes is represented as continuing to be satrap of Persia (iii. 70). Aryandes, whom Cambyses had made satrap of Egypt, remained undisturbed in his office (iv. 166). The revolt of Media, three years afterwards, in conjunction with Armenia and Assyria (Beh. Ins., Col. ii. pars. 5-13; Herod. i, 130), cannot with any fairness be connected with the downfall of the Magus. The success of the conspiracy leads to a general massacre, not of the Medes, but of the Magi; and is commemorated by an annual festival-the Magophonia, not Medophonia. 1 Eschylus, who fought at Marathon (Marm. Par. 63, Müller), would have his information from the prisoners taken at that battle, who might many of them have been grown up at the time of the Magian revolution, thirty-one years earlier. 456 THE MAGI NOT REALLY MEDES. APP. BOOK III. expression which has no meaning if the Magus was a Mede, and his usurpation raised his country, Media, from the condition of a subject to that of a sovereign state,-but which has a very pregnant meaning if he was a Persian of inferior rank and position, who, to effect a religious revolution, established himself on the throne. To the authority of Eschylus may be added that of Ctesias, by whom the Magus is never said to have been a Mede.' Ctesias here is not (so far as appears) designedly opposing Herodotus, which makes his testimony the more valuable. 3. It may be observed further, that the whole notion of the Magian revolution being a transfer of empire from the Persians to the Medes, both in the mind of Herodotus and in that of the recent authors who have so prominently put it forward, rests upon the assumption that the Magi at this time were exclusively a Median race. "The Magians," says Mr. Grote, "though indispensable in the capacity of priests to the Persians, were essentially one of the seven Median tribes." And Heeren more briefly lays it down:-"The Magians, as we have observed, were a Median race." But was this really so? Is it true that at any time the Magi were exclusively Median? Herodotus certainly enumerates the Magi among the six (not seven) tribes of Media, and does not mention them among the ten tribes of Persia.' And this proves no doubt that Magism had been received into greater favour in the one country than in the other. But Magism itself was, as has been already shown, the old Scythic religion, and was professed wherever there was a Scythic population, which was certainly the case in Persia as much as in Media. If the success of the Pseudo-Smerdis was a national triumph at all, it was the triumph of the Scyths over their conquerors, not of one Arian people over another. But in fact there was nothing national, scarcely anything even political in the change, which was a religious revolution, not a revolt or a transfer of empire. 8 9 4. The truth seems to be that the Arians who overran Asia from the Hindoo Koosh to the shores of the Persian Gulf, were everywhere but a small element in the population of the countries subdued by them; and thus, although in the first flush of conquest they succeeded in imposing their religion, which was Dualism, upon the vanquishednations, very shortly, in every country which they occupied, a reaction set in. The religion of the mass refused to be crushed or stifled, and gradually rose from its depression and made head against the invading worship. Such reactions are common whenever sudden conquests are made, and may be traced in the language and manners, as well as in the religion of the conquered countries. In some places, as in Media, the period of struggle was short, and the victors readily yielded, and became the disciples of the vanquished in religious matters.' In Persia the 3 Excerpt. Persic. §§ 10-14. 4 Hist. of Greece, 1. s. c. 5 Asiatic Nations, 1. s. c. Herod. i. 101. Ibid. i. 125. See Appendix to Book i. Essay v., "On the Religion of the Ancient Persians." and Nakhsh-i-Rustam, have a Scythic transcript. "See Appendix to Book i. Essay v., § 6, and note ". ESSAY II. THE MAGOPHONIA. 457 case was different. The Achæmenian monarchs were staunch upholders of their ancestral creed,' and showed no favour towards a belief which was that of the great mass of their subjects. Yet despite the frowns of the court, Magism made progress. The Arian Persians, a simple and impressionable people, gradually inclined towards it. The Magi grew in power and influence. At last all seemed ripe for a change, and the priests of the old religion, taking advantage of the prolonged absence of the Great King in Egypt, resolved to strike the final blow, and to substitute for the existing State religion, which was Arian Dualism, the old Magian belief and worship, to which the bulk even of the dominant Persians were well-disposed. A professor of the Magian religion, himself (according to all accounts) a Magus, was placed upon the throne of Cyrus. Perhaps the Magi feared to trust any but a member of their own body-perhaps they looked further, and designed a transference of the supreme power from the warrior to the priest caste of the nation. In any case they seem to have surpassed the limits of discretion, and to have over-reached themselves on the occasion. The Persians, indifferent, or, it may be, well-inclined to a religious change, could not tolerate the political novelty of a Priest-King. As soon as it became known that the successor of Cambyses was not his brother Smerdis, but a Magus, the nobles conspired. Darius, the young head of the house of the Achæmenidæ, by right of his birth, took the lead. Gomates was slain, and a general massacre, like that which the Jews were allowed by Ahasuerus, struck terror into the Magi and their adherents. The Arian religion was restored; the temples were rebuilt; and the annual festival of the Magophonia was instituted, to deter the Magian priests from ever again repeating their bold adventure. Magism remained under a cloud, from which it only gradually emerged, as the Arian faith, which it had not been able to displace, became corrupted by intermixture with it. 5. The religious character of the revolution is clearly marked in the great inscription of Darius. The origin of the troubles is ascribed to the fact, that "when Cambyses had proceeded to Egypt, then the state became wicked. Then the lie became abounding in the land, both in Persia and in Media, and in the other provinces." "The god Ormazd," as it is expressed in another place," created lies, that they should deceive the people." The acts recorded of Gomates-and it 2 See the Inscriptions passim. And note the absence from the Persepolitan sculptures of any representation of sacrificial worship. This is apparent from the statement of Darius: "When Cambyses had gone to Egypt, then the state became heretical: then the lie became abounding in the land, both in Persia and in Media, and in the other provinces. Afterwards there was a certain man, a Magian, named Gomates" (Beh. Ins., Col. i. pars 10, 11). The Magi, it is probable, were an actual caste. The pastoral, agricultural, and warrior tribes of Persia, were not perhaps strictly castes, since all were soldiers upon occasion, but the profession of arms was limited to the warriors. Esther, ch. ix. Niebuhr makes this comparison (Vorträge, vol. i. p. 158), but without regarding the narrative in the book of Esther as historical. Ctesias agrees with Herodotus both as to the origin and the continuance of this strange observance (Exc. Pers. § 15). 7 Beh. Ins., Col. iv. par. 4. · |