No sovereign, however, besides Longimanus or Di-
razdest, is ever noticed by Oriental writers under the
name of Ardccheer; it is therefore highly probable,
that Mnemon is the Darab 1.
razdest, is ever noticed by Oriental writers under the
name of Ardccheer; it is therefore highly probable,
that Mnemon is the Darab 1.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
After a campaign
of no decisive result in Tbcssaly, the war was trans-
ferred to the plains of Pieria in Macedonia, where Per-
seus encamped in a strong position on the banks of the
river Enipeus. But the consul Paulus -l^imlius hav-
ing despatched a chosen body of troop; across the
mountains to attack him in the rear, he was compell-
ed to retire to Pydna, where a battle took place, which
terminated in his entire defeat, 20,000 Macedonians
having fallen on the field. This single battle decided
the fate of the ancient and powerful kingdom of Mace-
donia, after a duration of 530 years. Perseus fled al-
? ? most alone, without wailing for the end of the conflict.
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remans, Axaifitft/c, Hepatic. Ammianus Marcelli-
nu;> (19, 2), in the common text of his history, gives
Aehamenium as equivalent, in the Persian tongue, to
"Rex regihus imperans;" but Valois (Valesius) cor-
rects tbe common reading by the substitution of Saan-
taan, which closely resembles the modern title of roy-
alty in Persia, Schaahinschaah. --The name Achamcma
comes ill reality from that of Achamcncs, the founder
of the royal line of Persia. In the word Achamencs,
the last two syllables (-cues) an: a mere Greek append-
age, owing their existence to the well-known custom,
on tbe part of the Greeks, of altering foreign, and par-
ticularly Oriental names, in such a way as to adapt
them to their own finer organs of hearing. (Compare
Jo3cphus. Anl. Jud. , \,6. --Plm. ,Ep. ,S,i ) We have,
then, Achaem ('Axatp) remaining. The initial letter
w merely the Oriental alif pronounced as a soft breath-
ing, and the root of the word is Ckaem (Xatft). On
comparing this with the Oriental name Djemschid (in
which the final syllabic, schid, is a mere addition of a
later age), we cannot fail to be struck by the resem-
blance. And this resemblance will become still more
marked if we consider that Djcm(Djocmo in the Zend-
Avesta) begins properly with a species of sibilant G,
which, being pronounced more roughly in some dia-
lects than in others, approximates very closely to the
sound of C'h. Besides, all that the Greeks tell us of
Achsmenes corresponds very exactly with what the
East relates of its Djemschid. Achxmenes was the
founder of the royal line of Persia, and to him Cyrus,
Darius, and Xerxes were proud of tracing their origin.
With the Persians of the present day, the name of
Djemschid is held in the highest veneration as that of
the founder of Pcrsepolis, and a great and glorious
monarch. --Herodotus (7, 61) states that the Persians
were anciently (-u? . at) called by the Greeks Ccphcnct
{Knty'/vee;). but by themselves and their neighbours Ar-
/<<i ('ApTaioi). As regards the name Cephenes, there
is an evident mistake on the part of the historian, and
the appellation beyond a doubt belongs only to certain
tribes of the ancient Northern Chaldsea, who actually
hore this name. With respect to the term Artia it
may be remarked, that it merely designates a brave
and warrior-people, being derived from the Persian art
or ard, "strong," " brave. " (Consult remarks at the
end of the article Artaxcrxes. )--One of the earliest
riam. -s of Persia and the Persian empire, and the one
mos'. usual with the Persians themselves up to the
present day, is Iran, while all the country beyond the
Oxus was denominated Turan. The former of these
appellations is identical with the Eericne of the Zend-
Avesta, and will be alluded to again in the course of
the present article. --The name Persia would seem to
have come from that of the province of Faarsi-stan or
Paarsi-stan, called also Faars or Paars, and the same
with the Persis (Tiipoic) of the Greeks. (Compare
the Scripture Paras already mentioned. ) In this prov-
ince we find the genuine race of Iranians; and it was
here that the magnificent city of Istakhar, which the
Greeks have made known to Europe by the name of
Perscpolis, was built by the monarchs of Iran. The
origin of the term Paars or Paars has been much dis-
puted by philologists (Vt'ahl, Vorder und Millel-Asien,
p. 235, scqq); the root is evidently to be sought for
in the term Aria or Eericne, and this would bring Iran
and Persia, as names of the same country, in close
approximation- ( Vid. Aria. ) One explanation of the
? ? name ? '? Persian" will be given farther on.
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m generally conceded, however, that the Bactrians,
Medes, and Persians bore at first the common name
of Arii, which recalls to mind that of Iran; but with
respect to the primitive country of these Arii there is
little unanimity of opinion. Some make them to have
come from Caucasus; others seek for their earliest
settlement among the mountains to the northeast of
India, and, it must be confessed, with great proba-
bility. Gorres persists in his hypothesis of making
toe Assyrians, Medes, and Persians to have descend-
ed from the chain of Caucasus, speaking the same lan-
guage, and forming one and the same race; and to
cis race, thus combined, he assigns a great monarchy
Iran, extending from Caucasus to the Himmalayan
Mountains. He brings together and compares with
each other the names Iran, Aria, Aluria, Assyria,
Assur, dec, and appears to identify Shcm with Djem
or Djemschid, the first mythic chief of this early em-
pire. (Mythengesch. , vol. 1, p. 213, seqq. --Compare
Schah. Nameh, Einleil, p. vi. , seqq. ) Another sys-
tem has been more recently started by Rhode, and has
been developed with great ability. According to this
writer, the Bactrians, Medes, and Persians composed
the common and primitive Iran, speaking the Zend
language or its different dialects, and coming origin-
ally from Eeriene Veedjo, and from Mount Albordj,
which he finds near the sources of the Oxus and the
mountains to the north of India, the names of which
were transferred in a later age to Caucasus and Ar-
menia. The arguments adduced by this writer in
support of his hypothesis are drawn from the Zend
books, and in particular from the Vendidad, at the
commencement of which latter work an account is
given of the creation, or. as Rhode expresses it, of
the successive inhabitings of various countries, and in
the number of which we find, after Eeriene Veedjo,
Soghdo (Sogdiana), Moore (Merou), Bakhdi (probably
Balk), Neva (Nysa), Haroiou (Herat), <5cc. Rhode
sees in this enumeration an ancient tradition respect-
ing the migrations of a race, for a long period of no-
madic habits, who kept moving on gradually towards
the south, under the conduct of Djemschid, as far as
Vsr or Var, a delightful country, where they finally
established themselves, and where Djemschid built a
city and palace, Var-Djemsgherd, which Rhode, after
Herder, takes for Persia proper (Persis) or Pars,
with its capital Persepolis, identifying at the same
time Achsmenes with Djemschid. M. Von Hammer
adopts, in genersl, this opinion of Rhode in regard to
the geography of the Vendidad, with the exception of
. he last point. He thinks that Vcr and Var-Djcms-
chid cannot be Pars or Fars and Persepolis, but the
country more to the north, where are at the present
day Damaghan and Kanwin, and where stood in for-
mer days Hecatompylos, the true city of Djemschid.
The celebrated traveller and Orientalist, Sir W. Ouse-
ly, without identifying Var and Pars as Khode does,
inclines, nevertheless, to the belief that it is to Persep-
olis, its edifices, and the plain in which it is situated,
t'? at the Zend-Avesta refers under the names already
mentioned, as well as under that of Djcmkand. With-
out presuming to offer any opinion on this disputed
point, we may take the liberty of remarking, that the
Greeks themselves speak of the Arii as a large family
of nations, to which the Magi, and, in general, all the
Median tribes or castes were considered as belonging.
tfiayoi di xai jrdv ro 'Apetov yevoc. -- Damasc. ,ap.
? ? Wolf, Anecd. Grctc. 3, p. 289. --Compare Herod. , 7,
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? PERSIA.
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pets into four castes, and during three hundred years
reijrned in the utmost prosperity and power, until his
pride impelled him to revolt against the deity. Dzo-
hak' was at this time prince of the Tati, and held
communication with the evil genii. He collected to-
gether the subjects of Djemschid, who had abandoned
their sovereign since his altered course of conduct,
put himself at their head, dethroned Djemschid, and
deprived him of axistence after a reign of seven hun-
dred years. Dtohdk' reigned a thousand years. His
tyranny reduced Persia to the utmost wretchedness.
II? the malice of the evil spirits, two serpents sprang
from his shoulders and remained attached to them.
To appease their craving appetites, they had to be fed
every day with the brains of men. By an adroit strat-
agem, the cooks of the palace saved each day one of the
two persons destined thus to afford nourishment to the
serpents, and sent him to the mountains: it is from these
fugitives, say the traditions of Persia, that the Kurds
of the present day derived their origin. A dream fore-
warned the sanguinary Dzohak' of the lot that awaited
him, and of the vengeance that would be inflicted on him
by Feridoun, the son of one of his victims. He caused
diligent search to be made for the formidable infant,
but the mother of Feridoun, who had given him to the
divine cow Pour-maych to be nursed, saved herself
and her child by fleeing to Mount Albrouz, in the north
of India. There Feridoun was brought up by a Parsi.
Having attained tho age of sixteen years, he descend-
ed from the mountain and rejoined his mother, who
made him acquainted with the story of his birth and
misfortunes: for he was a member of the royal line,
which bad been driven from the throne of Persia by
the sanguinary Dzohak'. Burning with the desire of
avenging his wrongs, he seized the first opportunity
tl. at presented itself. A sedition broke out in Persia,
leaded by a smith, who affixed his apron to the point
of a spear, and made it the standard cf revolt. The
continued searches ordered by Dzohak' had apprized
the people both of the dream of the tyrar. t and the ex-
istence of the young prince whom he persecuted. The
Persians ran in crowds to their deliverer, who caused
the apron of the smith to be profusely adorned with
gold and precious stones, adopted it as the royal stand-
ard, and named it Dircfch-gawdny; and this standard
continued to be in after ages an object of the greatest
veneration throughout all the empire of Persia. Feri-
doun immediately marched against the tyrant, crossed
the Tigris where Bagdad now stands, proceeded to
Beit-ul-makaddes, the residence of Dzohak', conquered
his antagonist, and confined him wilh massive fetters
in a cavern of Mount Damtrucend. The two sisters of
Djemschid, Chehrnius and Amcvas, had been the fav-
ourite wives of Dzohak'. Feridoun found them, though
after the lapse of a thousand years, still young enough
to espouse. He had by them three sons, whom he
married to three princesses of Yemen. The eldest
was Sclm, the second Tour, and the youngest Iredj.
He divided the earth among them. Sclm received
Rnum and Khdwcr, that is lo say, Greece, Asia Minor,
and Egypt. Ttnir obtained Tourdn and Djitt, that is,
the country beyond the Oxus and China. Iredj be-
came master of Persia (Iran) and Arabia. Dissatis-
fied with this division, trie first two made an inroad, at
the head of an army, into Persif. ; ilew Iredj, who
bad come to their camp for the purpose of appeasing
them, and sent his head to Fcdoun. The afflicted
? ? father prayed the gods to p'jlong his life until he
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? PERSIA.
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? vertftrew the Assyrian empire. The Assyria i priuct s,
or Tasi, did not inhabit Jerusalem, as one might be
inclined to suppose from the name Bcit-ul-makaddcs,
"the holv dwelling," given by Firdousi to their resi-
dence, and which is that by which the Arabs designate
the capital of the Jews. The Persian poet himself
gives us the requisite information on this point, by
adding that Jieil-ulmakaddes also bore the Tasi name
of liamch-el-Harran. It was probably, therefore,
Harran, in Mesopotamia, in the region called Dior
Modzar. According to traditions still existing, this
city was built a short time after the deluge; and it is
regirdcd by the people of the East as one of the most
ancient in the world. Albrouz is the ancient name of
the great chain of mountains which commences on the
west of the Cimmerian Bosporus, borders the Cas-
pian Sea to the southeast and south, and, proceeding
eastward, joins the Himalayan chain which separates
Hitidoostan from Thibet. It comprehends, there-
fore, the Caucasus of our days, the mountains of Ghi-
Ian, Mount Damavend, the chain of Chorasan, and
'. he Paropamisus or Hendu-Khos. Feridoun, coming
from Media to found the new Median empire on the
ruins of the Assyrian, descended Mount Albrouz.
Eastern Persia, comprising Sedjcstan and Zaboulis-
Idn, which is the country of Ghiznch, was subject to
the schah, but governed under him by the princes of
the race of Sam. As to Kaloul, it was only tributary,
and belonged to a branch of the family of Dzohdk'.
that is, to princes of Assyrian origin who had treated
with the Medes. The third analogy between the
Greek and Persian traditions is found in the inroads
of barbarous tribes from Eastern Persia. The incur-
sions of the Scythian Noinades, mentioned by the
Greek writers, will agree very well with those of the
princes of Touran, coming from beyond the Djihoun
or Oxus. From the earliest periods, Persia has been
imposed to invasion from the tribes in the direction of
Jaucasus, the Caspian, and the Oxus. The Greeks
. ailed all these tribes Scythians, because they had no
other name by which to designate these barbarous
communities. The Persians call them Turan and
Djin ;Turks and Chinese), although at this lime (700
B. C. ) neither the one nor the other of the two last-
mentioned people were to be found on the eastern
borders of Persia. When, however, the Schah-nameh
was composed, the Persians knew only the Turks and
Chinese, and they gave their nameB to all those who
had at any time preceded them. The ancient enemies
of Persia, in this quarter, were probably Minnie and
Tudesc tribes, to whom, about the era of the Sassan-
ides, succeeded the Turks and Chinese. --The main
fact that results from a comparison of these traditions
is, that two empires followed in succession: one, com-
ing from Assyria, ruled over Media and ell Eastern
Asia; the other, coming from Media, reacted on the
first, and drove the Semitic communities across the
Tigris and Euphrates; and, finally, to these two great
revolutions were joined frequent inroads on the part of
the barbarous tribes coming from Caucasus, Scylhia,
and the banks of the Oxus. --To the Pischdadian suc-
ceeded the Kaianian dynasty. The recital of the
Sohah-nameh respecting this second dynasty is as dis-
figured by fable as that which treats of the first; and
it would be of no use to seek in it any exact coinci-
dences with the narratives of Xenophon and Herodo-
tus. The Dejoces of the latter historian was, like Kai
? ? ICobad, chosen king on account of his justice and
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end subdued . his hereditary province, put him to death
with his family, on the pretext of avenging the blood
of his father. The general facts, that Koustem, a
powerful chief, slew Isfundeer, yet protected his son;
that a civil contest attended the accession of Arde-
cheer: and that it terminated in the massacre of Rous-
tem and his family, so far accord with what the Greek
historians state respecting the character and fate of
Anabanus, as to leave little doubt that both stories re-
late to the same personages. Of the identity of Ar-
decheer with Artazerxes Maxpo^cip or Longimanus,
there can be no doubt. His surname, Dirazdest
(" Long arms") is a full proof of this. The author of
the Tarikh Tabrce states, that under this monarch, to
whom he erroneously ascribes the overthrow of Bel-
shazzar, the Jews had the privilege granted them of
beiog governed by a ruler of their own nation; and the
favours they experienced, it is added, were owing to
the express orders of Bahmen, whose favourite lady
was of the Jewish nation. Josephus expressly affirms,
that Artaxerxes Longimanus was the husband of Es-
ther; and the extraordinary favour which he showed
to tho Jews strengthens this testimony. He would
seem, indeed, to have been the first monarch of Persia
who, strictly speaking, by the subjugation of Segistan,
"reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred
and twenty-seven provinces. " Persian historians as-
sign to this great monarch a reign of a hundred and
twelve years, but the Greek writers limit it to forty,
tnd his death is fixed in the year B. C. 424. He was
succeeded, according to the Persian annals, by his
daughter Homai, who, after a reign of thirty-two years,
resigned the crown to her son, Darab I. , the Darius
Nothus of the Greeks. . It is natural that no notice
should be taken of the ephemeral reigns of Xerxes II.
and Sogdianus, which together occupied only eight
months; and in Ptolemy's canon, Darius Ncthus is
made the immediate successor of Artaxerxes Longi-
manus, his reign extending from 424 B. C. to 405.
Homai appears to be the Parysatis whom the Greek
writers make to be the queen of her half-brother Da-
rius, and to whom they attribute a very prominent part
in the transactions of his reign. Her son Arsaces is
stated to have succeeded to the throne under tho title
of Artaxerxes, to which the Greeks added the surname
of Mncmon, on account of his extraordinary memory.
No sovereign, however, besides Longimanus or Di-
razdest, is ever noticed by Oriental writers under the
name of Ardccheer; it is therefore highly probable,
that Mnemon is the Darab 1. of the Persian annals,
and that he succeeded his mother Homai or Parysa-
tis, who might reign conjointly with Darius Noihus,
whether as her husband or her son. The banishment
of Queen Parysatis to Babylon, in the reign of her son
Artaxerxes. may answer to the abdication of Queen
Homai. This is a most obscure epoch in the native
annals. The Egyptian war which broke out in the
reign of Darius Nothus, the revolt of the Medes, and
the part taken by Persia in the Peloponnesian war, are
not referred to. Even the name of the younger Cyrus
is not noticed by any of the Oriental writers, nor is
the slightest allusion made to the celebrated expedi-
tion which has given immortality to its commander.
The pages of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon
leave little room, however, for regret that these events
have not found an Oriental historian. With respect
>o the second Darab of the Persians, who is made the
? ? immediate successor of the first, his identity with the
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ine mention of which falls naturally une'er the present
article, from the circumstance of the Parthians being
designated as Persians by many of the Roman writer*,
particularly the poets, although they were, in fact, of
Scythian rather than Persian origin. --Seleucus was
succeeded in his Asiatic empire by his son Antiochus
Soter; who reigned nineteen years, and left his throne
to his son Antiochus Theos. In bis reign (B. C. 250)
? man of obscure origin, whom some, however, make
to have been a tributary prince or chief, and the native
writers a descendant of one of the former kings of Per-
sia, slew the viceroy of Parthia, and raised the standard
of revolt. His name was Ashk, or Arsac. es, aa the
Western historians write it. After having slain the
viceroy, he fixed his residence at Rht'i, where he in-
vited all the chiefs of provinces to join him in a war
against the Seleucids; promising at the same time to
exact from them no tribute, and to deem himself only
the head of a confederacy of princes, having for their
common object to maintain their separate independ-
ence, and to free Persia from a foreign yoke. Such
was the commencement of that era of Persian history
which is termed by the Oriental writers the Moulouk
ul Towdcif, or commonwealth of tribes, and which ex-
tends over nearly five centuries. Pliny states that the
Parthian (meaning the Persian) empire was divided
ijto eighteen kingdoms. The accounts of this period
jiven by Persian writers are vague and contradictory.
"They have evidently," Sir John Malcolm remarks,
"no materials to form an authentic narrative; and it
s too near the date at which their real history com-
mences to admit of their indulging in fable. Their
pretended history of the Ashkanians and Ashganians
is, consequently, little more than a mere catalogue of
names; and even respecting these, and the dates they
assign to the different princes, hardly two authors are
agreed. Ashk the First is said to have reigned fifteen
years: Khondemir allows him only ten. Some au-
thors escribe the defeat and capture of Seleucus Cal-
'inicus, king of Syria, to this monarch; and others to
? lis sen, \shk II. The latter prince was succeeded
iy fcjj orother Shahpoor (or Sapor), who, after a long
contest <<vith Antiochus the Great, in which he expe-
. ienced several reverses, concluded a treaty of peace
with that monarch, by which his right to Parthia and
Ilyrcania was recognised. From the death of this
prince there appears to be a lapse of two centuries in
'he Persian annals; for they inform us that his suc-
cessor was Baharam Gudurz; and if this is the prince
whom the Western writers term Gutarzcs, as there is
every reason to conclude it is, we know from authen-
tic history that he was the third prince of the second
dynasty of the Arsaciflae. --From the death of Alexan-
der till the reign of Artaxerxes (Ardechecr Bobigan)
is nearly five centuries; and the whole of that remark-
iible era may be termed a blank in Eastern history.
And yet, when we refer to the pages of Roman writers,
we find this period abounds with events of which the
vainest nation might be proud, and that Parthian mon-
? irchs, whose names cannot now be discovered in the
history of their own country, were the only sovereigns
upon whom the Roman army, when that nation was in
the very zenith of its power, could make no impression.
But this, no doubt, may be attributed to other causes
than the skill and valour of the Persians. It was to
the nature of their country, and their singular mode of
warfare, that they owed those frequent advantages
? ? which tdey gained over the disciplined legions of
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reciprocal calamities. (Gibbon, c. 8. )--The subse-
quent history of the dynasty of the Sassanidte will be
found detailed in part rinder the articles Sapor, Chos-
roes, cYc.
6. Remarks en the Constitution of the Persian Em-
pire in the time of Darius.
Cyrus and Cambyses had conquered nations: Da-
rius was the true founder of the Persian state. The
dominions of his predecessors were a mass of coun-
tries only united by their subjection to the will of a
iorninon ruler, which expressed itself by arbitrary and
irregular exactions. Darius first organized them into
an empire, where every member felt its place and knew
its functions. His realm stretched from the . 'Egean
to the Indus, from the steppes of Scythia to the cata-
racts of the Nile. He divided this vast tract into 20
satrapies or provinces, and appointed the tribute which
each was to pay to the royal treasury, and the propor-
tion in which they were to supply provisions for the
army and for the king's household. A high road, on
which distances were regularly marked, and spacious
buildings were plsced at convenient intervals to re-
ceive all who travelled in lh<<s king's name, connected
the western coast with the seat of government: along
this road, couriers trained to extraordinary speed suc-
cessively transmitted the king's messages. The sa-
traps were accountable for the imposts of their several
provinces, and were furnished with forces sufficient to
carry the king's pleasure into effect. --Compared with
the rude government of his predecessors, the institu-
tions of Darius were wise and vigorous; in them-
selves, however, unless they are considered as founda-
tions laid for a structure that was never raised, as out-
lines that were never filled up, they were weak and
barbarous. He had done little more than cast a bridge
across the chaos over which he ruled: he had intro-
duced no real uniformity or subordination among its
elements. The distribution of the provinces, indeed,
may have been grounded on relations which we do not
perceive, and may, therefore, have been less capricious
Ulan it seems, but it answered scarcely any higher
end than that of conveying the wealth of Asia into the
royal treasury, and the satraps, when they were most
faithful and assiduous in their office, were really no-
thing more than farmers of the revenue. Their ad-
ministration was only felt in the burdens they imposed:
in every other respect the nations they governed re-
tained their peculiar laws and constitution. The Per-
sian empire included in it the dominions of several
vassal kings, and the seats of fierce, independent
hordes, who preyed on its more peaceful subjects with
impunity. In this, however, there was much good and
Comparatively little mischief. The variety of institu-
tions comprehended within the frame of the monarchy,
though they were suffered to stand, not from any en-
larged policy, but because it would have been difficult
or dangerous to remove them, and there was nothing
better to substitute for them, did not impair, but rather
increased its strength; and the independence of a few
wild tribes was more a symptom than a cause of weak-
ness. The worst evil arose from the constitution of
tbe satrapies themselves. The provinces were taxed
not only for the supply of the royal army and house-
bold, but also for the support of their governors, each
of whom had a standing force in his pay, and of whom
some kept up a court rivalling in magnificence that of
the king himself. The province of Babylon, besides
? ? its regular tribute and the fixed revenue of its satrap,
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P ? R
twt fills thv, Persian chronicles with their most horrid
it iries: and we learn from the same sources the dread-
/u) depravity of their character, and he vast extent of
their influence. Cramped by the rigid forms of a
pompous and wearisome ceremonial, surrounded by
the ministers of their artificial wants, and guarded from
every breath of truth and freedom, the auccessors of
Cyrus must have been more than men if they had not
become the slaves of their priests, their eunuchs, and
their wives. The contagion of these vices undoubt-
edly spread through the nation: the Persians were
most exposed to it, as they were in the immediate
neighbourhood of the court. Yet there is no difficul-
ty in conceiving that, long after the people had lost
the original purity and simplicity of their manners, the
noble youth of Persia may have been still educated ill
the severe discipline of their ancestors, which is rep-
resented as nearly resembling the Spartan. They may
Wave been Bccustomed to spare diet and hard toil, and
trained to the use of horses and arms. These exer-
cises do not create and are not sufficient to keep alive
the warlike spirit of a nation, any more than rulers and
precepts to fornr. its moral character. The Persian
youth may still have been used to repeat the praises
of truth and justice from their childhood, in the later
period of their history, as they had when Cyrus up-
braided the Greeks with their artifices and lies: and
yet in their riper years they might surpass them, as at
Cunaxa, in falsehood and cunning, aa much as they
v-ero below them in skill and courage. Gradually,
however, the ancient diacipline either became wholly
obsolete or degenerated into empty forms; ami the
nation sank into that state of utter corruption and im-
becility which Xenophon, or, rather, the author of the
chapter that concludes his historical romance, has
painted, not from imagination, but from the very life.
--{7'Airlcall's Greece, vol. 2, p. 185, teqq. )
PersTcus Sinus, a part of the Indian Ocean, on tho
coast of Persia and Arabia, now called the Persian
Gulf.
Pkbsis, or Peksu Proper, the original province of
the Persians. (Vid. Persia. )
PkrsTus, or Aui. ua Persius Flaccos, a Roman sat-
irist, was born at Volaterrsa, a town of Etruria, about
the 20th year of the reign of Tiberius, A. D. 34. He
was of equestrian rank. He lost his father at the age
if six years, and his mother, Fulvia Sisenna, married
t second time, but the stepfather whom she gave her
ton lived only a short period. Persius appears to have
? hown towards his mother tbi strongest filial affection.
He was trained at Volaterraj till his twelfth year, and
he then proceeded to Rome, where he studied gram-
mar under Rhemniua Palemon, and rhetoric under Vir-
ginia Flaccus. At the age of sixteen he became a
pupil of A nnajus Cornutus, a Stoic philosopher, who
had come from Lcptis in Africa to settle at Rome.
Lucan, the poet, was his fellow-disciple in the school
of Cornutus. Persius and Cornutus were bound to
each other by feelings more like those of father and
son, than such as usually subsist between preceptor
and scholar. This friendship continued without inter-
ruption till the death of Persius, which took place in
his 28lh or 30th year. The poet bequeathed his books
and a large aum of money to Cornutus, who, however,
declined to receive the latter, and gave it up to the
siators of Persius. The materials for a life of Per-
sius are scanty, but they are aufficient to show him
? ? in a very favourab/. igh't. Amid prevailing corrup-
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? PER
PES
! y, and his father's patronus, he was promoted to a
comma' id. He was sent to Syria at the head of n co-
hort, ai d served with distinction against the Parthians,
nnder L Verus, the colleague of Marcus Aurelius.
lie was afterward sent to Britain, where he remained
for sumo time. He subsequently served in Mcesia,
fJcrruany, and Dacia, but, upon some suspicion of his
tdclity, he was recalled by Marcus Aurelius. Having
rleared himself, he was made praetor, and commander
of the first legion, and obtained the rank of senator.
Being sent to Rhaetia and Noricum, he drove away the
hoatile German tribes. His next promotion was to the
consulate, and he publicly received the praise of Mar-
cus Aurelius, in the senate and in the camp, for his
distinguished services. In Syria he assisted in re-
pressing the revolt of Avitus Cassius. He was next
removed to the command of the legions on the Dan-
ube, arid was made governor of Mcesia and Dacia, and
afterward returned to Syria as governor, where he re-
mained until the death of Marcus. Capitolinus says,
that his conduct was irreprehensible till the time of his
? Syrian government, when he enriched himself, and his
sonduct became the subject of popular censure. On
his return to Home, be was banished by Perennis, the
favourite of Commodus, to his native country, Ligu-
ria. Here he adorned Villa Martis with sumptuous
buildings, in the midst of which, however, he left his
humble, paternal cottage untouched. He remained
throe years in Liguria. After the death of Perennis,
Commodus commissioned him to proceed to Britain,
where the licentiousness of the troops had degenerated
into mutiny. On his arrival, the soldiers wished to sa-
lute him as emperor, and were with difficulty prevent-
ed by Pcrtinax, who seems to have found the disci-
pline of the legions in a most deplorable state. One of
the legions revolted against him; and, in trying to re-
press the revolt, he was wounded and left among the
dead. On his recovery he punished the mutineers,
and solicited the emperor for his recall, as his attempts
it restoring discipline had rendered him obnoxious to
the army. He was then sent as proconsul to Africa,
and was afterward made prefect of Home, in which of-
fice he showed much moderation and humanity. Af-
ter the murder of Commodus, (wo of the conspirators,
Lntus and Electus, went to Pertinax and offered him
the empire, which the latter at first refused, but after-
ward accepted, and was proclaimed emperor by the
senate on the night previous to the first of January,
A. D. 193. In the speech which Pertinax delivered
on the occasion, he said something complimentary to
Lastus, to whom he owed the empire, on which Q.
Sosius Falco, one of the consuls, observed, tl. " it was
easy to foresee what kind of an emperor he vould
make, if he allowed the ministers of the atrocit -s of
Commodus to retain their places. Pertinax mildly re-
plied, " You are but a young consul, and do not yet
know the necessity of forgiving. These men have
obeyed the orders of their master Commodus, but they
did it reluctantly, as they have shown whenever they
had an opportunity. " He then repaired to the impe-
rial palace, where he gave a banquet to the magistrates
and principal senators, according to ancient custom.
The historian Dio Cassius was one of the guests.
Pertinax recalled those who had been exiled for trea-
son under Commodus, arid cleared from obloquy the
saencry of those who bad been unjustly put to death.
But his attempts to restore discipline in the army alien-
? ? ited the affections of the soldiers, who had been ac-
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? PET
PET
6*j: , s r. 'A,)<<9ufn. ) Herodiau and Ainmianus give
various derivations of the name of Pessinus, which are
not worth repeating. {Herod. , 1, 11. --Ammian. Mar-
cell. , 22. 22. --Compare Steph. Byz. , s. v. Ueontvovc. )
It would seem that the inhabitants of Pessinus, after
parting with the image of their goddess to the Ro-
mans, had still another one in store, for we learn from
Livy, that the worship of Cybele was still observi i in
tins city after its occupation by the Gauls, since the
priests of the goddess are said to have sent a deputa-
tion to the army of Manlius, when on the banks of the
Sangaxius. {Livy, 38, 18. ) Polybius mentions the
names of the individuals who then presided over the
worship and temple of Cybele. {Polyb. , fragm. , 20,
4. ) In the fourth century, also, the Emperor Julian
turned away from his line of march against the Per-
sians, for the purpose of visiting the shrine. {Amm.
Marccll. , 22, 9. )--Pessinus was the chief city of the
Tolistoboii, who settled in this part of the country,
and, according to Strabo's account, was a place of
considerable trade. It sank in importance under the
Romans; and although Constantino the Great, in his
new arrangement of the provinces, made Pessinus the
capital of Western Galatia {Galatia Sal u tans. --Hicr-
oclcs, p. 697), yet the city gradually disappeared from
notice after the commencement of the sixth century. --
Great uncertainty exists with regard to the site of this
place, since its ruins have not been explored by any
modern traveller. From the Antonine Itinerary we
know that it was ninety-three miles from Ancyra, with
which it communicated through Germa, Vindia, and
Papiria. Germa, the first of these stations, is known
to answer to Ycrma, on the modern road leading from
Eskr clur to Ancyra: the Itinerary would lead us to
place t sixteen miles from that site, towards the San-
garius The Table Itinerary, on the other hand, gives
a rouu from DoryUeum to Pessinus, by Midasum and
Tricon^ i, and allows seventy-seven miles for the whole
distance. But the road from Dorylaaum to Ancyra
did not pass by Pessinus, but by Archelaiutn and Gcr-
xoa, as appears from another route in the Antoninc
Itinerary (p. 202), so that it is evident that Pessinus
could not have been situated where Colonel Leake
would place it, beyond Juliopolis, or Gordium, on the
right bank of the Sangarius, and near its junction with
the Hierus, as it would then have been exactly on the
road to Ancyra, and such a route as that by Germa
would never have been given in the Antonine Itine-
rary. We ought therefore, perhaps, to look for the
ruins of Pessinus not far from the left bank of the
Sangarius, somewhere in the great angle it makes be-
tween its junction with the Ycrma and the Pursek.
In Lapic's map. the ruins of Pessinus are laid down in
the direction which we have just mentioned, on a site
called Kahi, but the authority for this is not given.
{Cramer'i Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 86, seqq.
of no decisive result in Tbcssaly, the war was trans-
ferred to the plains of Pieria in Macedonia, where Per-
seus encamped in a strong position on the banks of the
river Enipeus. But the consul Paulus -l^imlius hav-
ing despatched a chosen body of troop; across the
mountains to attack him in the rear, he was compell-
ed to retire to Pydna, where a battle took place, which
terminated in his entire defeat, 20,000 Macedonians
having fallen on the field. This single battle decided
the fate of the ancient and powerful kingdom of Mace-
donia, after a duration of 530 years. Perseus fled al-
? ? most alone, without wailing for the end of the conflict.
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
remans, Axaifitft/c, Hepatic. Ammianus Marcelli-
nu;> (19, 2), in the common text of his history, gives
Aehamenium as equivalent, in the Persian tongue, to
"Rex regihus imperans;" but Valois (Valesius) cor-
rects tbe common reading by the substitution of Saan-
taan, which closely resembles the modern title of roy-
alty in Persia, Schaahinschaah. --The name Achamcma
comes ill reality from that of Achamcncs, the founder
of the royal line of Persia. In the word Achamencs,
the last two syllables (-cues) an: a mere Greek append-
age, owing their existence to the well-known custom,
on tbe part of the Greeks, of altering foreign, and par-
ticularly Oriental names, in such a way as to adapt
them to their own finer organs of hearing. (Compare
Jo3cphus. Anl. Jud. , \,6. --Plm. ,Ep. ,S,i ) We have,
then, Achaem ('Axatp) remaining. The initial letter
w merely the Oriental alif pronounced as a soft breath-
ing, and the root of the word is Ckaem (Xatft). On
comparing this with the Oriental name Djemschid (in
which the final syllabic, schid, is a mere addition of a
later age), we cannot fail to be struck by the resem-
blance. And this resemblance will become still more
marked if we consider that Djcm(Djocmo in the Zend-
Avesta) begins properly with a species of sibilant G,
which, being pronounced more roughly in some dia-
lects than in others, approximates very closely to the
sound of C'h. Besides, all that the Greeks tell us of
Achsmenes corresponds very exactly with what the
East relates of its Djemschid. Achxmenes was the
founder of the royal line of Persia, and to him Cyrus,
Darius, and Xerxes were proud of tracing their origin.
With the Persians of the present day, the name of
Djemschid is held in the highest veneration as that of
the founder of Pcrsepolis, and a great and glorious
monarch. --Herodotus (7, 61) states that the Persians
were anciently (-u? . at) called by the Greeks Ccphcnct
{Knty'/vee;). but by themselves and their neighbours Ar-
/<<i ('ApTaioi). As regards the name Cephenes, there
is an evident mistake on the part of the historian, and
the appellation beyond a doubt belongs only to certain
tribes of the ancient Northern Chaldsea, who actually
hore this name. With respect to the term Artia it
may be remarked, that it merely designates a brave
and warrior-people, being derived from the Persian art
or ard, "strong," " brave. " (Consult remarks at the
end of the article Artaxcrxes. )--One of the earliest
riam. -s of Persia and the Persian empire, and the one
mos'. usual with the Persians themselves up to the
present day, is Iran, while all the country beyond the
Oxus was denominated Turan. The former of these
appellations is identical with the Eericne of the Zend-
Avesta, and will be alluded to again in the course of
the present article. --The name Persia would seem to
have come from that of the province of Faarsi-stan or
Paarsi-stan, called also Faars or Paars, and the same
with the Persis (Tiipoic) of the Greeks. (Compare
the Scripture Paras already mentioned. ) In this prov-
ince we find the genuine race of Iranians; and it was
here that the magnificent city of Istakhar, which the
Greeks have made known to Europe by the name of
Perscpolis, was built by the monarchs of Iran. The
origin of the term Paars or Paars has been much dis-
puted by philologists (Vt'ahl, Vorder und Millel-Asien,
p. 235, scqq); the root is evidently to be sought for
in the term Aria or Eericne, and this would bring Iran
and Persia, as names of the same country, in close
approximation- ( Vid. Aria. ) One explanation of the
? ? name ? '? Persian" will be given farther on.
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
m generally conceded, however, that the Bactrians,
Medes, and Persians bore at first the common name
of Arii, which recalls to mind that of Iran; but with
respect to the primitive country of these Arii there is
little unanimity of opinion. Some make them to have
come from Caucasus; others seek for their earliest
settlement among the mountains to the northeast of
India, and, it must be confessed, with great proba-
bility. Gorres persists in his hypothesis of making
toe Assyrians, Medes, and Persians to have descend-
ed from the chain of Caucasus, speaking the same lan-
guage, and forming one and the same race; and to
cis race, thus combined, he assigns a great monarchy
Iran, extending from Caucasus to the Himmalayan
Mountains. He brings together and compares with
each other the names Iran, Aria, Aluria, Assyria,
Assur, dec, and appears to identify Shcm with Djem
or Djemschid, the first mythic chief of this early em-
pire. (Mythengesch. , vol. 1, p. 213, seqq. --Compare
Schah. Nameh, Einleil, p. vi. , seqq. ) Another sys-
tem has been more recently started by Rhode, and has
been developed with great ability. According to this
writer, the Bactrians, Medes, and Persians composed
the common and primitive Iran, speaking the Zend
language or its different dialects, and coming origin-
ally from Eeriene Veedjo, and from Mount Albordj,
which he finds near the sources of the Oxus and the
mountains to the north of India, the names of which
were transferred in a later age to Caucasus and Ar-
menia. The arguments adduced by this writer in
support of his hypothesis are drawn from the Zend
books, and in particular from the Vendidad, at the
commencement of which latter work an account is
given of the creation, or. as Rhode expresses it, of
the successive inhabitings of various countries, and in
the number of which we find, after Eeriene Veedjo,
Soghdo (Sogdiana), Moore (Merou), Bakhdi (probably
Balk), Neva (Nysa), Haroiou (Herat), <5cc. Rhode
sees in this enumeration an ancient tradition respect-
ing the migrations of a race, for a long period of no-
madic habits, who kept moving on gradually towards
the south, under the conduct of Djemschid, as far as
Vsr or Var, a delightful country, where they finally
established themselves, and where Djemschid built a
city and palace, Var-Djemsgherd, which Rhode, after
Herder, takes for Persia proper (Persis) or Pars,
with its capital Persepolis, identifying at the same
time Achsmenes with Djemschid. M. Von Hammer
adopts, in genersl, this opinion of Rhode in regard to
the geography of the Vendidad, with the exception of
. he last point. He thinks that Vcr and Var-Djcms-
chid cannot be Pars or Fars and Persepolis, but the
country more to the north, where are at the present
day Damaghan and Kanwin, and where stood in for-
mer days Hecatompylos, the true city of Djemschid.
The celebrated traveller and Orientalist, Sir W. Ouse-
ly, without identifying Var and Pars as Khode does,
inclines, nevertheless, to the belief that it is to Persep-
olis, its edifices, and the plain in which it is situated,
t'? at the Zend-Avesta refers under the names already
mentioned, as well as under that of Djcmkand. With-
out presuming to offer any opinion on this disputed
point, we may take the liberty of remarking, that the
Greeks themselves speak of the Arii as a large family
of nations, to which the Magi, and, in general, all the
Median tribes or castes were considered as belonging.
tfiayoi di xai jrdv ro 'Apetov yevoc. -- Damasc. ,ap.
? ? Wolf, Anecd. Grctc. 3, p. 289. --Compare Herod. , 7,
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
pets into four castes, and during three hundred years
reijrned in the utmost prosperity and power, until his
pride impelled him to revolt against the deity. Dzo-
hak' was at this time prince of the Tati, and held
communication with the evil genii. He collected to-
gether the subjects of Djemschid, who had abandoned
their sovereign since his altered course of conduct,
put himself at their head, dethroned Djemschid, and
deprived him of axistence after a reign of seven hun-
dred years. Dtohdk' reigned a thousand years. His
tyranny reduced Persia to the utmost wretchedness.
II? the malice of the evil spirits, two serpents sprang
from his shoulders and remained attached to them.
To appease their craving appetites, they had to be fed
every day with the brains of men. By an adroit strat-
agem, the cooks of the palace saved each day one of the
two persons destined thus to afford nourishment to the
serpents, and sent him to the mountains: it is from these
fugitives, say the traditions of Persia, that the Kurds
of the present day derived their origin. A dream fore-
warned the sanguinary Dzohak' of the lot that awaited
him, and of the vengeance that would be inflicted on him
by Feridoun, the son of one of his victims. He caused
diligent search to be made for the formidable infant,
but the mother of Feridoun, who had given him to the
divine cow Pour-maych to be nursed, saved herself
and her child by fleeing to Mount Albrouz, in the north
of India. There Feridoun was brought up by a Parsi.
Having attained tho age of sixteen years, he descend-
ed from the mountain and rejoined his mother, who
made him acquainted with the story of his birth and
misfortunes: for he was a member of the royal line,
which bad been driven from the throne of Persia by
the sanguinary Dzohak'. Burning with the desire of
avenging his wrongs, he seized the first opportunity
tl. at presented itself. A sedition broke out in Persia,
leaded by a smith, who affixed his apron to the point
of a spear, and made it the standard cf revolt. The
continued searches ordered by Dzohak' had apprized
the people both of the dream of the tyrar. t and the ex-
istence of the young prince whom he persecuted. The
Persians ran in crowds to their deliverer, who caused
the apron of the smith to be profusely adorned with
gold and precious stones, adopted it as the royal stand-
ard, and named it Dircfch-gawdny; and this standard
continued to be in after ages an object of the greatest
veneration throughout all the empire of Persia. Feri-
doun immediately marched against the tyrant, crossed
the Tigris where Bagdad now stands, proceeded to
Beit-ul-makaddes, the residence of Dzohak', conquered
his antagonist, and confined him wilh massive fetters
in a cavern of Mount Damtrucend. The two sisters of
Djemschid, Chehrnius and Amcvas, had been the fav-
ourite wives of Dzohak'. Feridoun found them, though
after the lapse of a thousand years, still young enough
to espouse. He had by them three sons, whom he
married to three princesses of Yemen. The eldest
was Sclm, the second Tour, and the youngest Iredj.
He divided the earth among them. Sclm received
Rnum and Khdwcr, that is lo say, Greece, Asia Minor,
and Egypt. Ttnir obtained Tourdn and Djitt, that is,
the country beyond the Oxus and China. Iredj be-
came master of Persia (Iran) and Arabia. Dissatis-
fied with this division, trie first two made an inroad, at
the head of an army, into Persif. ; ilew Iredj, who
bad come to their camp for the purpose of appeasing
them, and sent his head to Fcdoun. The afflicted
? ? father prayed the gods to p'jlong his life until he
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
? vertftrew the Assyrian empire. The Assyria i priuct s,
or Tasi, did not inhabit Jerusalem, as one might be
inclined to suppose from the name Bcit-ul-makaddcs,
"the holv dwelling," given by Firdousi to their resi-
dence, and which is that by which the Arabs designate
the capital of the Jews. The Persian poet himself
gives us the requisite information on this point, by
adding that Jieil-ulmakaddes also bore the Tasi name
of liamch-el-Harran. It was probably, therefore,
Harran, in Mesopotamia, in the region called Dior
Modzar. According to traditions still existing, this
city was built a short time after the deluge; and it is
regirdcd by the people of the East as one of the most
ancient in the world. Albrouz is the ancient name of
the great chain of mountains which commences on the
west of the Cimmerian Bosporus, borders the Cas-
pian Sea to the southeast and south, and, proceeding
eastward, joins the Himalayan chain which separates
Hitidoostan from Thibet. It comprehends, there-
fore, the Caucasus of our days, the mountains of Ghi-
Ian, Mount Damavend, the chain of Chorasan, and
'. he Paropamisus or Hendu-Khos. Feridoun, coming
from Media to found the new Median empire on the
ruins of the Assyrian, descended Mount Albrouz.
Eastern Persia, comprising Sedjcstan and Zaboulis-
Idn, which is the country of Ghiznch, was subject to
the schah, but governed under him by the princes of
the race of Sam. As to Kaloul, it was only tributary,
and belonged to a branch of the family of Dzohdk'.
that is, to princes of Assyrian origin who had treated
with the Medes. The third analogy between the
Greek and Persian traditions is found in the inroads
of barbarous tribes from Eastern Persia. The incur-
sions of the Scythian Noinades, mentioned by the
Greek writers, will agree very well with those of the
princes of Touran, coming from beyond the Djihoun
or Oxus. From the earliest periods, Persia has been
imposed to invasion from the tribes in the direction of
Jaucasus, the Caspian, and the Oxus. The Greeks
. ailed all these tribes Scythians, because they had no
other name by which to designate these barbarous
communities. The Persians call them Turan and
Djin ;Turks and Chinese), although at this lime (700
B. C. ) neither the one nor the other of the two last-
mentioned people were to be found on the eastern
borders of Persia. When, however, the Schah-nameh
was composed, the Persians knew only the Turks and
Chinese, and they gave their nameB to all those who
had at any time preceded them. The ancient enemies
of Persia, in this quarter, were probably Minnie and
Tudesc tribes, to whom, about the era of the Sassan-
ides, succeeded the Turks and Chinese. --The main
fact that results from a comparison of these traditions
is, that two empires followed in succession: one, com-
ing from Assyria, ruled over Media and ell Eastern
Asia; the other, coming from Media, reacted on the
first, and drove the Semitic communities across the
Tigris and Euphrates; and, finally, to these two great
revolutions were joined frequent inroads on the part of
the barbarous tribes coming from Caucasus, Scylhia,
and the banks of the Oxus. --To the Pischdadian suc-
ceeded the Kaianian dynasty. The recital of the
Sohah-nameh respecting this second dynasty is as dis-
figured by fable as that which treats of the first; and
it would be of no use to seek in it any exact coinci-
dences with the narratives of Xenophon and Herodo-
tus. The Dejoces of the latter historian was, like Kai
? ? ICobad, chosen king on account of his justice and
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
end subdued . his hereditary province, put him to death
with his family, on the pretext of avenging the blood
of his father. The general facts, that Koustem, a
powerful chief, slew Isfundeer, yet protected his son;
that a civil contest attended the accession of Arde-
cheer: and that it terminated in the massacre of Rous-
tem and his family, so far accord with what the Greek
historians state respecting the character and fate of
Anabanus, as to leave little doubt that both stories re-
late to the same personages. Of the identity of Ar-
decheer with Artazerxes Maxpo^cip or Longimanus,
there can be no doubt. His surname, Dirazdest
(" Long arms") is a full proof of this. The author of
the Tarikh Tabrce states, that under this monarch, to
whom he erroneously ascribes the overthrow of Bel-
shazzar, the Jews had the privilege granted them of
beiog governed by a ruler of their own nation; and the
favours they experienced, it is added, were owing to
the express orders of Bahmen, whose favourite lady
was of the Jewish nation. Josephus expressly affirms,
that Artaxerxes Longimanus was the husband of Es-
ther; and the extraordinary favour which he showed
to tho Jews strengthens this testimony. He would
seem, indeed, to have been the first monarch of Persia
who, strictly speaking, by the subjugation of Segistan,
"reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred
and twenty-seven provinces. " Persian historians as-
sign to this great monarch a reign of a hundred and
twelve years, but the Greek writers limit it to forty,
tnd his death is fixed in the year B. C. 424. He was
succeeded, according to the Persian annals, by his
daughter Homai, who, after a reign of thirty-two years,
resigned the crown to her son, Darab I. , the Darius
Nothus of the Greeks. . It is natural that no notice
should be taken of the ephemeral reigns of Xerxes II.
and Sogdianus, which together occupied only eight
months; and in Ptolemy's canon, Darius Ncthus is
made the immediate successor of Artaxerxes Longi-
manus, his reign extending from 424 B. C. to 405.
Homai appears to be the Parysatis whom the Greek
writers make to be the queen of her half-brother Da-
rius, and to whom they attribute a very prominent part
in the transactions of his reign. Her son Arsaces is
stated to have succeeded to the throne under tho title
of Artaxerxes, to which the Greeks added the surname
of Mncmon, on account of his extraordinary memory.
No sovereign, however, besides Longimanus or Di-
razdest, is ever noticed by Oriental writers under the
name of Ardccheer; it is therefore highly probable,
that Mnemon is the Darab 1. of the Persian annals,
and that he succeeded his mother Homai or Parysa-
tis, who might reign conjointly with Darius Noihus,
whether as her husband or her son. The banishment
of Queen Parysatis to Babylon, in the reign of her son
Artaxerxes. may answer to the abdication of Queen
Homai. This is a most obscure epoch in the native
annals. The Egyptian war which broke out in the
reign of Darius Nothus, the revolt of the Medes, and
the part taken by Persia in the Peloponnesian war, are
not referred to. Even the name of the younger Cyrus
is not noticed by any of the Oriental writers, nor is
the slightest allusion made to the celebrated expedi-
tion which has given immortality to its commander.
The pages of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon
leave little room, however, for regret that these events
have not found an Oriental historian. With respect
>o the second Darab of the Persians, who is made the
? ? immediate successor of the first, his identity with the
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA.
ine mention of which falls naturally une'er the present
article, from the circumstance of the Parthians being
designated as Persians by many of the Roman writer*,
particularly the poets, although they were, in fact, of
Scythian rather than Persian origin. --Seleucus was
succeeded in his Asiatic empire by his son Antiochus
Soter; who reigned nineteen years, and left his throne
to his son Antiochus Theos. In bis reign (B. C. 250)
? man of obscure origin, whom some, however, make
to have been a tributary prince or chief, and the native
writers a descendant of one of the former kings of Per-
sia, slew the viceroy of Parthia, and raised the standard
of revolt. His name was Ashk, or Arsac. es, aa the
Western historians write it. After having slain the
viceroy, he fixed his residence at Rht'i, where he in-
vited all the chiefs of provinces to join him in a war
against the Seleucids; promising at the same time to
exact from them no tribute, and to deem himself only
the head of a confederacy of princes, having for their
common object to maintain their separate independ-
ence, and to free Persia from a foreign yoke. Such
was the commencement of that era of Persian history
which is termed by the Oriental writers the Moulouk
ul Towdcif, or commonwealth of tribes, and which ex-
tends over nearly five centuries. Pliny states that the
Parthian (meaning the Persian) empire was divided
ijto eighteen kingdoms. The accounts of this period
jiven by Persian writers are vague and contradictory.
"They have evidently," Sir John Malcolm remarks,
"no materials to form an authentic narrative; and it
s too near the date at which their real history com-
mences to admit of their indulging in fable. Their
pretended history of the Ashkanians and Ashganians
is, consequently, little more than a mere catalogue of
names; and even respecting these, and the dates they
assign to the different princes, hardly two authors are
agreed. Ashk the First is said to have reigned fifteen
years: Khondemir allows him only ten. Some au-
thors escribe the defeat and capture of Seleucus Cal-
'inicus, king of Syria, to this monarch; and others to
? lis sen, \shk II. The latter prince was succeeded
iy fcjj orother Shahpoor (or Sapor), who, after a long
contest <<vith Antiochus the Great, in which he expe-
. ienced several reverses, concluded a treaty of peace
with that monarch, by which his right to Parthia and
Ilyrcania was recognised. From the death of this
prince there appears to be a lapse of two centuries in
'he Persian annals; for they inform us that his suc-
cessor was Baharam Gudurz; and if this is the prince
whom the Western writers term Gutarzcs, as there is
every reason to conclude it is, we know from authen-
tic history that he was the third prince of the second
dynasty of the Arsaciflae. --From the death of Alexan-
der till the reign of Artaxerxes (Ardechecr Bobigan)
is nearly five centuries; and the whole of that remark-
iible era may be termed a blank in Eastern history.
And yet, when we refer to the pages of Roman writers,
we find this period abounds with events of which the
vainest nation might be proud, and that Parthian mon-
? irchs, whose names cannot now be discovered in the
history of their own country, were the only sovereigns
upon whom the Roman army, when that nation was in
the very zenith of its power, could make no impression.
But this, no doubt, may be attributed to other causes
than the skill and valour of the Persians. It was to
the nature of their country, and their singular mode of
warfare, that they owed those frequent advantages
? ? which tdey gained over the disciplined legions of
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? PERSIA.
PERSIA
reciprocal calamities. (Gibbon, c. 8. )--The subse-
quent history of the dynasty of the Sassanidte will be
found detailed in part rinder the articles Sapor, Chos-
roes, cYc.
6. Remarks en the Constitution of the Persian Em-
pire in the time of Darius.
Cyrus and Cambyses had conquered nations: Da-
rius was the true founder of the Persian state. The
dominions of his predecessors were a mass of coun-
tries only united by their subjection to the will of a
iorninon ruler, which expressed itself by arbitrary and
irregular exactions. Darius first organized them into
an empire, where every member felt its place and knew
its functions. His realm stretched from the . 'Egean
to the Indus, from the steppes of Scythia to the cata-
racts of the Nile. He divided this vast tract into 20
satrapies or provinces, and appointed the tribute which
each was to pay to the royal treasury, and the propor-
tion in which they were to supply provisions for the
army and for the king's household. A high road, on
which distances were regularly marked, and spacious
buildings were plsced at convenient intervals to re-
ceive all who travelled in lh<<s king's name, connected
the western coast with the seat of government: along
this road, couriers trained to extraordinary speed suc-
cessively transmitted the king's messages. The sa-
traps were accountable for the imposts of their several
provinces, and were furnished with forces sufficient to
carry the king's pleasure into effect. --Compared with
the rude government of his predecessors, the institu-
tions of Darius were wise and vigorous; in them-
selves, however, unless they are considered as founda-
tions laid for a structure that was never raised, as out-
lines that were never filled up, they were weak and
barbarous. He had done little more than cast a bridge
across the chaos over which he ruled: he had intro-
duced no real uniformity or subordination among its
elements. The distribution of the provinces, indeed,
may have been grounded on relations which we do not
perceive, and may, therefore, have been less capricious
Ulan it seems, but it answered scarcely any higher
end than that of conveying the wealth of Asia into the
royal treasury, and the satraps, when they were most
faithful and assiduous in their office, were really no-
thing more than farmers of the revenue. Their ad-
ministration was only felt in the burdens they imposed:
in every other respect the nations they governed re-
tained their peculiar laws and constitution. The Per-
sian empire included in it the dominions of several
vassal kings, and the seats of fierce, independent
hordes, who preyed on its more peaceful subjects with
impunity. In this, however, there was much good and
Comparatively little mischief. The variety of institu-
tions comprehended within the frame of the monarchy,
though they were suffered to stand, not from any en-
larged policy, but because it would have been difficult
or dangerous to remove them, and there was nothing
better to substitute for them, did not impair, but rather
increased its strength; and the independence of a few
wild tribes was more a symptom than a cause of weak-
ness. The worst evil arose from the constitution of
tbe satrapies themselves. The provinces were taxed
not only for the supply of the royal army and house-
bold, but also for the support of their governors, each
of whom had a standing force in his pay, and of whom
some kept up a court rivalling in magnificence that of
the king himself. The province of Babylon, besides
? ? its regular tribute and the fixed revenue of its satrap,
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? PER
P ? R
twt fills thv, Persian chronicles with their most horrid
it iries: and we learn from the same sources the dread-
/u) depravity of their character, and he vast extent of
their influence. Cramped by the rigid forms of a
pompous and wearisome ceremonial, surrounded by
the ministers of their artificial wants, and guarded from
every breath of truth and freedom, the auccessors of
Cyrus must have been more than men if they had not
become the slaves of their priests, their eunuchs, and
their wives. The contagion of these vices undoubt-
edly spread through the nation: the Persians were
most exposed to it, as they were in the immediate
neighbourhood of the court. Yet there is no difficul-
ty in conceiving that, long after the people had lost
the original purity and simplicity of their manners, the
noble youth of Persia may have been still educated ill
the severe discipline of their ancestors, which is rep-
resented as nearly resembling the Spartan. They may
Wave been Bccustomed to spare diet and hard toil, and
trained to the use of horses and arms. These exer-
cises do not create and are not sufficient to keep alive
the warlike spirit of a nation, any more than rulers and
precepts to fornr. its moral character. The Persian
youth may still have been used to repeat the praises
of truth and justice from their childhood, in the later
period of their history, as they had when Cyrus up-
braided the Greeks with their artifices and lies: and
yet in their riper years they might surpass them, as at
Cunaxa, in falsehood and cunning, aa much as they
v-ero below them in skill and courage. Gradually,
however, the ancient diacipline either became wholly
obsolete or degenerated into empty forms; ami the
nation sank into that state of utter corruption and im-
becility which Xenophon, or, rather, the author of the
chapter that concludes his historical romance, has
painted, not from imagination, but from the very life.
--{7'Airlcall's Greece, vol. 2, p. 185, teqq. )
PersTcus Sinus, a part of the Indian Ocean, on tho
coast of Persia and Arabia, now called the Persian
Gulf.
Pkbsis, or Peksu Proper, the original province of
the Persians. (Vid. Persia. )
PkrsTus, or Aui. ua Persius Flaccos, a Roman sat-
irist, was born at Volaterrsa, a town of Etruria, about
the 20th year of the reign of Tiberius, A. D. 34. He
was of equestrian rank. He lost his father at the age
if six years, and his mother, Fulvia Sisenna, married
t second time, but the stepfather whom she gave her
ton lived only a short period. Persius appears to have
? hown towards his mother tbi strongest filial affection.
He was trained at Volaterraj till his twelfth year, and
he then proceeded to Rome, where he studied gram-
mar under Rhemniua Palemon, and rhetoric under Vir-
ginia Flaccus. At the age of sixteen he became a
pupil of A nnajus Cornutus, a Stoic philosopher, who
had come from Lcptis in Africa to settle at Rome.
Lucan, the poet, was his fellow-disciple in the school
of Cornutus. Persius and Cornutus were bound to
each other by feelings more like those of father and
son, than such as usually subsist between preceptor
and scholar. This friendship continued without inter-
ruption till the death of Persius, which took place in
his 28lh or 30th year. The poet bequeathed his books
and a large aum of money to Cornutus, who, however,
declined to receive the latter, and gave it up to the
siators of Persius. The materials for a life of Per-
sius are scanty, but they are aufficient to show him
? ? in a very favourab/. igh't. Amid prevailing corrup-
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? PER
PES
! y, and his father's patronus, he was promoted to a
comma' id. He was sent to Syria at the head of n co-
hort, ai d served with distinction against the Parthians,
nnder L Verus, the colleague of Marcus Aurelius.
lie was afterward sent to Britain, where he remained
for sumo time. He subsequently served in Mcesia,
fJcrruany, and Dacia, but, upon some suspicion of his
tdclity, he was recalled by Marcus Aurelius. Having
rleared himself, he was made praetor, and commander
of the first legion, and obtained the rank of senator.
Being sent to Rhaetia and Noricum, he drove away the
hoatile German tribes. His next promotion was to the
consulate, and he publicly received the praise of Mar-
cus Aurelius, in the senate and in the camp, for his
distinguished services. In Syria he assisted in re-
pressing the revolt of Avitus Cassius. He was next
removed to the command of the legions on the Dan-
ube, arid was made governor of Mcesia and Dacia, and
afterward returned to Syria as governor, where he re-
mained until the death of Marcus. Capitolinus says,
that his conduct was irreprehensible till the time of his
? Syrian government, when he enriched himself, and his
sonduct became the subject of popular censure. On
his return to Home, be was banished by Perennis, the
favourite of Commodus, to his native country, Ligu-
ria. Here he adorned Villa Martis with sumptuous
buildings, in the midst of which, however, he left his
humble, paternal cottage untouched. He remained
throe years in Liguria. After the death of Perennis,
Commodus commissioned him to proceed to Britain,
where the licentiousness of the troops had degenerated
into mutiny. On his arrival, the soldiers wished to sa-
lute him as emperor, and were with difficulty prevent-
ed by Pcrtinax, who seems to have found the disci-
pline of the legions in a most deplorable state. One of
the legions revolted against him; and, in trying to re-
press the revolt, he was wounded and left among the
dead. On his recovery he punished the mutineers,
and solicited the emperor for his recall, as his attempts
it restoring discipline had rendered him obnoxious to
the army. He was then sent as proconsul to Africa,
and was afterward made prefect of Home, in which of-
fice he showed much moderation and humanity. Af-
ter the murder of Commodus, (wo of the conspirators,
Lntus and Electus, went to Pertinax and offered him
the empire, which the latter at first refused, but after-
ward accepted, and was proclaimed emperor by the
senate on the night previous to the first of January,
A. D. 193. In the speech which Pertinax delivered
on the occasion, he said something complimentary to
Lastus, to whom he owed the empire, on which Q.
Sosius Falco, one of the consuls, observed, tl. " it was
easy to foresee what kind of an emperor he vould
make, if he allowed the ministers of the atrocit -s of
Commodus to retain their places. Pertinax mildly re-
plied, " You are but a young consul, and do not yet
know the necessity of forgiving. These men have
obeyed the orders of their master Commodus, but they
did it reluctantly, as they have shown whenever they
had an opportunity. " He then repaired to the impe-
rial palace, where he gave a banquet to the magistrates
and principal senators, according to ancient custom.
The historian Dio Cassius was one of the guests.
Pertinax recalled those who had been exiled for trea-
son under Commodus, arid cleared from obloquy the
saencry of those who bad been unjustly put to death.
But his attempts to restore discipline in the army alien-
? ? ited the affections of the soldiers, who had been ac-
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? PET
PET
6*j: , s r. 'A,)<<9ufn. ) Herodiau and Ainmianus give
various derivations of the name of Pessinus, which are
not worth repeating. {Herod. , 1, 11. --Ammian. Mar-
cell. , 22. 22. --Compare Steph. Byz. , s. v. Ueontvovc. )
It would seem that the inhabitants of Pessinus, after
parting with the image of their goddess to the Ro-
mans, had still another one in store, for we learn from
Livy, that the worship of Cybele was still observi i in
tins city after its occupation by the Gauls, since the
priests of the goddess are said to have sent a deputa-
tion to the army of Manlius, when on the banks of the
Sangaxius. {Livy, 38, 18. ) Polybius mentions the
names of the individuals who then presided over the
worship and temple of Cybele. {Polyb. , fragm. , 20,
4. ) In the fourth century, also, the Emperor Julian
turned away from his line of march against the Per-
sians, for the purpose of visiting the shrine. {Amm.
Marccll. , 22, 9. )--Pessinus was the chief city of the
Tolistoboii, who settled in this part of the country,
and, according to Strabo's account, was a place of
considerable trade. It sank in importance under the
Romans; and although Constantino the Great, in his
new arrangement of the provinces, made Pessinus the
capital of Western Galatia {Galatia Sal u tans. --Hicr-
oclcs, p. 697), yet the city gradually disappeared from
notice after the commencement of the sixth century. --
Great uncertainty exists with regard to the site of this
place, since its ruins have not been explored by any
modern traveller. From the Antonine Itinerary we
know that it was ninety-three miles from Ancyra, with
which it communicated through Germa, Vindia, and
Papiria. Germa, the first of these stations, is known
to answer to Ycrma, on the modern road leading from
Eskr clur to Ancyra: the Itinerary would lead us to
place t sixteen miles from that site, towards the San-
garius The Table Itinerary, on the other hand, gives
a rouu from DoryUeum to Pessinus, by Midasum and
Tricon^ i, and allows seventy-seven miles for the whole
distance. But the road from Dorylaaum to Ancyra
did not pass by Pessinus, but by Archelaiutn and Gcr-
xoa, as appears from another route in the Antoninc
Itinerary (p. 202), so that it is evident that Pessinus
could not have been situated where Colonel Leake
would place it, beyond Juliopolis, or Gordium, on the
right bank of the Sangarius, and near its junction with
the Hierus, as it would then have been exactly on the
road to Ancyra, and such a route as that by Germa
would never have been given in the Antonine Itine-
rary. We ought therefore, perhaps, to look for the
ruins of Pessinus not far from the left bank of the
Sangarius, somewhere in the great angle it makes be-
tween its junction with the Ycrma and the Pursek.
In Lapic's map. the ruins of Pessinus are laid down in
the direction which we have just mentioned, on a site
called Kahi, but the authority for this is not given.
{Cramer'i Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 86, seqq.
