The Parthian

Előszó

Author's Note
This much and little more is known about the Parthians: they came late to history since there is no mention of them in the Zend-Avesta or the Scriptures of the Old Testament nor do the Assyrian inscriptions note them as a people. They were known to Darius as the Parthva of one of the provinces of the Persian Empire. Certainly they were related, if obscurely, to the Scythians, and it is believed that they were of Turanian origin as is shown by the prevalence of the terminals ac and ak in their names that characterizes the primitive Babylonian, the Basque and most of the Turanian tongues.
No more than a trace of the Parthian language has survived, but it is known that many of the people spoke-Greek and that they wrote in their own language on strips of linen. Their religion was Zoroastrian (possibly degenerate) with the recognition of the principles of good and evil, as expressed by the twin deities Ormazd and Ahriman. Many of the religious establishments of this period of history fostered orgies that provided for a selection of brides for the gods and involved religious trumperies that were designed to awe the people and establish the strength of the priestly class.
The degree of civilization attained by the Parthians is not known with exactness. Although it was barbaric, it had many liberal usages that were somewhat unusual for the age. The Parthians treated prisoners of war with decency and often admitted foreigners to positions of high trust. They were scrupulous in matters involving truces of war, and they appeared at such parleys with bows unstrung. They were faithful to treaty obligations. They excelled the Romans in these matters, and they were their equals in material prosperity. In the long period between 65 B.C. and 226 A.D., they were the only nation that could stop the Roman legions, and for three centuries they were the second-ranking military power of the world.
During the period of history covered by this narrative China lay serene and huge in the east, and the population of eighty million people was nearly identical with that of the Roman Empire. The Han Dynasty was in nominal control
9 Vissza