[1: An ancient chronologist, quoted by Valleius
Paterculus, (l. i. c. 6,) observes, that the Assyrians, the
Medes, the Persians, and the Macedonians, reigned over Asia one
thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years, from the accession
of Ninus to the defeat of Antiochus by the Romans. As the latter
of these great events happened 289 years before Christ, the
former may be placed 2184 years before the same aera. The
Astronomical Observations, found at Babylon, by Alexander, went
fifty years higher.]
[A: The Parthians were a tribe of the Indo-Germanic
branch which dwelt on the south-east of the Caspian, and belonged
to the same race as the Getae, the Massagetae, and other nations,
confounded by the ancients under the vague denomination of
Scythians. Klaproth, Tableaux Hist. d l'Asie, p. 40. Strabo (p.
747) calls the Parthians Carduchi, i.e., the inhabitants of
Curdistan. - M.]
[2: In the five hundred and thirty-eighth year of the
aera of Seleucus. See Agathias, l. ii. p. 63. This great event
(such is the carelessness of the Orientals) is placed by
Eutychius as high as the tenth year of Commodus, and by Moses of
Chorene as low as the reign of Philip. Ammianus Marcellinus has
so servilely copied (xxiii. 6) his ancient materials, which are
indeed very good, that he describes the family of the Arsacides
as still seated on the Persian throne in the middle of the fourth
century.]
[B: The Persian History, if the poetry of the Shah
Nameh, the Book of Kings, may deserve that name mentions four
dynasties from the earliest ages to the invasion of the Saracens.
The Shah Nameh was composed with the view of perpetuating the
remains of the original Persian records or traditions which had
survived the Saracenic invasion. The task was undertaken by the
poet Dukiki, and afterwards, under the patronage of Mahmood of
Ghazni, completed by Ferdusi. The first of these dynasties is
that of Kaiomors, as Sir W. Jones observes, the dark and fabulous
period; the second, that of the Kaianian, the heroic and
poetical, in which the earned have discovered some curious, and
imagined some fanciful, analogies with the Jewish, the Greek, and
the Roman accounts of the eastern world. See, on the Shah Nameh,
Translation by Goerres, with Von Hammer's Review, Vienna Jahrbuch
von Lit. 17, 75, 77. Malcolm's Persia, 8vo. ed. i. 503. Macan's
Preface to his Critical Edition of the Shah Nameh. On the early
Persian History, a very sensible abstract of various opinions in
Malcolm's Hist. of Persian. - M.]
[3: The tanner's name was Babec; the soldier's, Sassan:
from the former Artaxerxes obtained the surname of Babegan, from
the latter all his descendants have been styled Sassanides.]
[4: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Ardshir.]
[C: In the plain of Hoormuz, the son of Babek was hailed
in the field with the proud title of Shahan Shah, king of kings -
a name ever since assumed by the sovereigns of Persia. Malcolm,
i. 71. - M.]
[5: Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. Herodian, l. vi. p. 207.
Abulpharagins Dynast. p. 80.]
[D: See the Persian account of the rise of Ardeschir
Babegan in Malcolm l 69. - M.]
[6: See Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 65 - 71.]
[E: Silvestre de Sacy (Antiquites de la Perse) had
proved the neglect of the Zoroastrian religion under the Parthian
kings. - M.]
[7: Hyde and Prideaux, working up the Persian legends
and their own conjectures into a very agreeable story, represent
Zoroaster as a contemporary of Darius Hystaspes. But it is
sufficient to observe, that the Greek writers, who lived almost
in the age of Darius, agree in placing the aera of Zoroaster many
hundred, or even thousand, years before their own time. The
judicious criticisms of Mr. Moyle perceived, and maintained
against his uncle, Dr. Prideaux, the antiquity of the Persian
prophet. See his work, vol. ii.
Note: There are three leading theories concerning the age of
Zoroaster: 1. That which assigns him to an age of great and
almost indefinite antiquity - it is that of Moyle, adopted by
Gibbon, Volney, Recherches sur l'Histoire, ii. 2. Rhode, also,
(die Heilige Sage, &c.,) in a very ingenious and ably-developed
theory, throws the Bactrian prophet far back into antiquity 2.
Foucher, (Mem. de l'Acad. xxvii. 253,) Tychsen, (in Com. Soc.
Gott. ii. 112), Heeren, (ldeen. i. 459,) and recently Holty,
identify the Gushtasp of the Persian mythological history with
Cyaxares the First, the king of the Medes, and consider the
religion to be Median in its origin. M. Guizot considers this
opinion most probable, note in loc. 3. Hyde, Prideaux, Anquetil
du Perron, Kleuker, Herder, Goerres, (Mythen-Geschichte,) Von
Hammer. (Wien. Jahrbuch, vol. ix.,) Malcolm, (i. 528,) De
Guigniaut, (Relig. de l'Antiq. 2d part, vol. iii.,) Klaproth,
(Tableaux de l'Asie, p. 21,) make Gushtasp Darius Hystaspes, and
Zoroaster his contemporary. The silence of Herodotus appears the
great objection to this theory. Some writers, as M. Foucher
(resting, as M. Guizot observes, on the doubtful authority of
Pliny,) make more than one Zoroaster, and so attempt to reconcile
the conflicting theories. - M.]
[8: That ancient idiom was called the Zend. The
language of the commentary, the Pehlvi, though much more modern,
has ceased many ages ago to be a living tongue. This fact alone
(if it is allowed as authentic) sufficiently warrants the
antiquity of those writings which M d'Anquetil has brought into
Europe, and translated into French.
Note: Zend signifies life, living. The word means, either
the collection of the canonical books of the followers of
Zoroaster, or the language itself in which they are written.
They are the books that contain the word of life whether the
language was originally called Zend, or whether it was so called
from the contents of the books. Avesta means word, oracle,
revelation: this term is not the title of a particular work, but
of the collection of the books of Zoroaster, as the revelation of
Ormuzd. This collection is sometimes called Zendavesta,
sometimes briefly Zend.
The Zend was the ancient language of Media, as is proved by
its affinity with the dialects of Armenia and Georgia; it was
already a dead language under the Arsacides in the country which
was the scene of the events recorded in the Zendavesta. Some
critics, among others Richardson and Sir W. Jones, have called in
question the antiquity of these books. The former pretended that
Zend had never been a written or spoken language, but had been
invented in the later times by the Magi, for the purposes of
their art; but Kleuker, in the dissertations which he added to
those of Anquetil and the Abbe Foucher, has proved that the Zend
was a living and spoken language. - G. Sir W. Jones appears to
have abandoned his doubts, on discovering the affinity between
the Zend and the Sanskrit. Since the time of Kleuker, this
question has been investigated by many learned scholars. Sir W.
Jones, Leyden, (Asiat. Research. x. 283,) and Mr. Erskine,
(Bombay Trans. ii. 299,) consider it a derivative from the
Sanskrit. The antiquity of the Zendavesta has likewise been
asserted by Rask, the great Danish linguist, who, according to
Malcolm, brought back from the East fresh transcripts and
additions to those published by Anquetil. According to Rask, the
Zend and Sanskrit are sister dialects; the one the parent of the
Persian, the other of the Indian family of languages. - G. and M.
But the subject is more satisfactorily illustrated in Bopp's
comparative Grammar of the Sanscrit, Zend, Greek, Latin,
Lithuanian, Gothic, and German languages. Berlin. 1833-5.
According to Bopp, the Zend is, in some respects, of a more
remarkable structure than the Sanskrit. Parts of the Zendavesta
have been published in the original, by M. Bournouf, at Paris,
and M. Ol. shausen, in Hamburg. - M.
The Pehlvi was the language of the countries bordering on
Assyria, and probably of Assyria itself. Pehlvi signifies valor,
heroism; the Pehlvi, therefore, was the language of the ancient
heroes and kings of Persia, the valiant. (Mr. Erskine prefers
the derivation from Pehla, a border. - M.) It contains a number
of Aramaic roots. Anquetil considered it formed from the Zend.
Kleuker does not adopt this opinion. The Pehlvi, he says, is
much more flowing, and less overcharged with vowels, than the
Zend. The books of Zoroaster, first written in Zend, were
afterwards translated into Pehlvi and Parsi. The Pehlvi had
fallen into disuse under the dynasty of the Sassanides, but the
learned still wrote it. The Parsi, the dialect of Pars or
Farristan, was then prevailing dialect. Kleuker, Anhang zum Zend
Avesta, 2, ii. part i. p. 158, part ii. 31. - G.
Mr. Erskine (Bombay Transactions) considers the existing
Zendavesta to have been compiled in the time of Ardeschir
Babegan. - M.]
[9: Hyde de Religione veterum Pers. c. 21.]
[10: I have principally drawn this account from the
Zendavesta of M. d'Anquetil, and the Sadder, subjoined to Dr.
Hyde's treatise. It must, however, be confessed, that the
studied obscurity of a prophet, the figurative style of the East,
and the deceitful medium of a French or Latin version may have
betrayed us into error and heresy, in this abridgment of Persian
theology.
Note: It is to be regretted that Gibbon followed the post-
Mahometan Sadder of Hyde. - M.]
[F: Zeruane Akerene, so translated by Anquetil and
Kleuker. There is a dissertation of Foucher on this subject, Mem.
de l'Acad. des Inscr. t. xxix. According to Bohlen (das alte
Indien) it is the Sanskrit Sarvan Akaranam, the Uncreated Whole;
or, according to Fred. Schlegel, Sarvan Akharyam the Uncreate
Indivisible. - M.]
[G: This is an error. Ahriman was not forced by his
invariable nature to do evil; the Zendavesta expressly recognizes
(see the Izeschne) that he was born good, that in his origin he
was light; envy rendered him evil; he became jealous of the power
and attributes of Ormuzd; then light was changed into darkness,
and Ahriman was precipitated into the abyss. See the Abridgment
of the Doctrine of the Ancient Persians, by Anquetil, c. ii
Section 2. - G.]
[11: The modern Parsees (and in some degree the Sadder)
exalt Ormusd into the first and omnipotent cause, whilst they
degrade Ahriman into an inferior but rebellious spirit. Their
desire of pleasing the Mahometans may have contributed to refine
their theological systems.]
[H: According to the Zendavesta, Ahriman will not be
annihilated or precipitated forever into darkness: at the
resurrection of the dead he will be entirely defeated by Ormuzd,
his power will be destroyed, his kingdom overthrown to its
foundations, he will himself be purified in torrents of melting
metal; he will change his heart and his will, become holy,
heavenly establish in his dominions the law and word of Ormuzd,
unite himself with him in everlasting friendship, and both will
sing hymns in honor of the Great Eternal. See Anquetil's
Abridgment. Kleuker, Anhang part iii. p 85, 36; and the
Izeschne, one of the books of the Zendavesta. According to the
Sadder Bun-Dehesch, a more modern work, Ahriman is to be
annihilated: but this is contrary to the text itself of the
Zendavesta, and to the idea its author gives of the kingdom of
Eternity, after the twelve thousand years assigned to the contest
between Good and Evil. - G.]
[12: Herodotus, l. i. c. 131. But Dr. Prideaux thinks,
with reason, that the use of temples was afterwards permitted in
the Magian religion.
Note: The Pyraea, or fire temples of the Zoroastrians,
(observes Kleuker, Persica, p. 16,) were only to be found in
Media or Aderbidjan, provinces into which Herodotus did not
penetrate. - M.]
[I: Among the Persians Mithra is not the Sun: Anquetil
has contested and triumphantly refuted the opinion of those who
confound them, and it is evidently contrary to the text of the
Zendavesta. Mithra is the first of the genii, or jzeds, created
by Ormuzd; it is he who watches over all nature. Hence arose the
misapprehension of some of the Greeks, who have said that Mithra
was the summus deus of the Persians: he has a thousand ears and
ten thousand eyes. The Chaldeans appear to have assigned him a
higher rank than the Persians. It is he who bestows upon the
earth the light of the sun. The sun, named Khor, (brightness,)
is thus an inferior genius, who, with many other genii, bears a
part in the functions of Mithra. These assistant genii to
another genius are called his kamkars; but in the Zendavesta they
are never confounded. On the days sacred to a particular genius,
the Persian ought to recite, not only the prayers addressed to
him, but those also which are addressed to his kamkars; thus the
hymn or iescht of Mithra is recited on the day of the sun,
(Khor,) and vice versa. It is probably this which has sometimes
caused them to be confounded; but Anquetil had himself exposed
this error, which Kleuker, and all who have studied the
Zendavesta, have noticed. See viii. Diss. of Anquetil. Kleuker's
Anhang, part iii. p. 132. - G.
M. Guizot is unquestionably right, according to the pure and
original doctrine of the Zend. The Mithriac worship, which was
so extensively propagated in the West, and in which Mithra and
the sun were perpetually confounded, seems to have been formed
from a fusion of Zoroastrianism and Chaldaism, or the Syrian
worship of the sun. An excellent abstract of the question, with
references to the works of the chief modern writers on his
curious subject, De Sacy, Kleuker, Von Hammer, &c., may be found
in De Guigniaut's translation of Kreuzer. Relig. d'Antiquite,
notes viii. ix. to book ii. vol. i. 2d part, page 728. - M.]
[13: Hyde de Relig. Pers. c. 8. Notwithstanding all
their distinctions and protestations, which seem sincere enough,
their tyrants, the Mahometans, have constantly stigmatized them
as idolatrous worshippers of the fire.]
[14: See the Sadder, the smallest part of which consists
of moral precepts. The ceremonies enjoined are infinite and
trifling. Fifteen genuflections, prayers, &c., were required
whenever the devout Persian cut his nails or made water; or as
often as he put on the sacred girdle Sadder, Art. 14, 50, 60.
Note: Zoroaster exacted much less ceremonial observance,
than at a later period, the priests of his doctrines. This is
the progress of all religions the worship, simple in its origin,
is gradually overloaded with minute superstitions. The maxim of
the Zendavesta, on the relative merit of sowing the earth and of
prayers, quoted below by Gibbon, proves that Zoroaster did not
attach too much importance to these observances. Thus it is not
from the Zendavesta that Gibbon derives the proof of his
allegation, but from the Sadder, a much later work. - G]
[J: See, on Zoroaster's encouragement of agriculture,
the ingenious remarks of Heeren, Ideen, vol. i. p. 449, &c., and
Rhode, Heilige Sage, p. 517 - M.]
[15: Zendavesta, tom. i. p. 224, and Precis du Systeme
de Zoroastre, tom. iii.]
[16: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 19.]
[17: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 28. Both Hyde and
Prideaux affect to apply to the Magian the terms consecrated to
the Christian hierarchy.]
[18: Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 6. He informs us (as far
as we may credit him) of two curious particulars: 1. That the
Magi derived some of their most secret doctrines from the Indian
Brachmans; and 2. That they were a tribe, or family, as well as
order.]
[19: The divine institution of tithes exhibits a
singular instance of conformity between the law of Zoroaster and
that of Moses. Those who cannot otherwise account for it, may
suppose, if they please that the Magi of the latter times
inserted so useful an interpolation into the writings of their
prophet.]
[20: Sadder, Art. viii.]
[K: The passage quoted by Gibbon is not taken from the
writings of Zoroaster, but from the Sadder, a work, as has been
before said, much later than the books which form the Zendavesta.
and written by a Magus for popular use; what it contains,
therefore, cannot be attributed to Zoroaster. It is remarkable
that Gibbon should fall into this error, for Hyde himself does
not ascribe the Sadder to Zoroaster; he remarks that it is
written inverse, while Zoroaster always wrote in prose. Hyde, i.
p. 27. Whatever may be the case as to the latter assertion, for
which there appears little foundation, it is unquestionable that
the Sadder is of much later date. The Abbe Foucher does not even
believe it to be an extract from the works of Zoroaster. See his
Diss. before quoted. Mem. de l'Acad. des Ins. t. xxvii. - G.
Perhaps it is rash to speak of any part of the Zendavesta as the
writing of Zoroaster, though it may be a genuine representation
of his. As to the Sadder, Hyde (in Praef.) considered it not
above 200 years old. It is manifestly post-Mahometan. See Art.
xxv. on fasting. - M.]
[21: Plato in Alcibiad.]
[22: Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. xxx. c. 1) observes, that
magic held mankind by the triple chain of religion, of physic,
and of astronomy.]
[23: Agathias, l. iv. p. 134.]
[24: Mr. Hume, in the Natural History of Religion,
sagaciously remarks, that the most refined and philosophic sects
are constantly the most intolerant.
Note: Hume's comparison is rather between theism and
polytheism. In India, in Greece, and in modern Europe,
philosophic religion has looked down with contemptuous toleration
on the superstitions of the vulgar. - M.]
[25: Cicero de Legibus, ii. 10. Xerxes, by the advice
of the Magi, destroyed the temples of Greece.]
[26: Hyde de Relig. Persar. c. 23, 24. D'Herbelot,
Bibliotheque Orientale, Zurdusht. Life of Zoroaster in tom. ii.
of the Zendavesta.]
[27: Compare Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 74, with
Ammian. Marcel lin. xxiii. 6. Hereafter I shall make use of
these passages.]
[28: Rabbi Abraham, in the Tarikh Schickard, p. 108,
109.]
[29: Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. viii. c. 3.
Sozomen, l. ii. c. 1 Manes, who suffered an ignominious death,
may be deemed a Magian as well as a Christian heretic.]
[30: Hyde de Religione Persar. c. 21.]
[L: It is incorrect to attribute these persecutions to
Artaxerxes. The Jews were held in honor by him, and their schools
flourished during his reign. Compare Jost, Geschichte der
Israeliter, b. xv. 5, with Basnage. Sapor was forced by the
people to temporary severities; but their real persecution did
not begin till the reigns of Yezdigerd and Kobad. Hist. of Jews,
iii. 236. According to Sozomen , i. viii., Sapor first
persecuted the Christians. Manes was put to death by Varanes the
First, A. D. 277. Beausobre, Hist. de Man. i. 209. - M.]
[M: In the testament of Ardischer in Ferdusi, the poet
assigns these sentiments to the dying king, as he addresses his
son: Never forget that as a king, you are at once the protector
of religion and of your country. Consider the altar and the
throne as inseparable; they must always sustain each other.
Malcolm's Persia. i. 74 - M]
[31: These colonies were extremely numerous. Seleucus
Nicator founded thirty-nine cities, all named from himself, or
some of his relations, (see Appian in Syriac. p. 124.) The aera
of Seleucus (still in use among the eastern Christians) appears
as late as the year 508, of Christ 196, on the medals of the
Greek cities within the Parthian empire. See Moyle's works, vol.
i. p. 273, &c., and M. Freret, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xix.]
[32: The modern Persians distinguish that period as the
dynasty of the kings of the nations. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vi.
25.]
[33: Eutychius (tom. i. p. 367, 371, 375) relates the
siege of the island of Mesene in the Tigris, with some
circumstances not unlike the story of Nysus and Scylla.]
[34: Agathias, ii. 64, [and iv. p. 260.] The princes of
Segestan de fended their independence during many years. As
romances generally transport to an ancient period the events of
their own time, it is not impossible that the fabulous exploits
of Rustan, Prince of Segestan, many have been grafted on this
real history.]
[35: We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy
the sea-coast of Gedrosia or Macran, which extends along the
Indian Ocean from Cape Jask (the promontory Capella) to Cape
Goadel. In the time of Alexander, and probably many ages
afterwards, it was thinly inhabited by a savage people of
Icthyophagi, or Fishermen, who knew no arts, who acknowledged no
master, and who were divided by in-hospitable deserts from the
rest of the world. (See Arrian de Reb. Indicis.) In the twelfth
century, the little town of Taiz (supposed by M. d'Anville to be
the Teza of Ptolemy) was peopled and enriched by the resort of
the Arabian merchants. (See Geographia Nubiens, p. 58, and
d'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 283.) In the last
age, the whole country was divided between three princes, one
Mahometan and two Idolaters, who maintained their independence
against the successors of Shah Abbas. (Voyages de Tavernier, part
i. l. v. p. 635.]
[36: Chardin, tom. iii c 1 2, 3.]
[37: Dion, l. xxviii. p. 1335.]
[38: For the precise situation of Babylon, Seleucia,
Ctesiphon, Moiain, and Bagdad, cities often confounded with each
other, see an excellent Geographical Tract of M. d'Anville, in
Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xxx.]
[39: Tacit. Annal. xi. 42. Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 26.]
[40: This may be inferred from Strabo, l. xvi. p. 743.]
[41: That most curious traveller, Bernier, who followed
the camp of Aurengzebe from Delhi to Cashmir, describes with
great accuracy the immense moving city. The guard of cavalry
consisted of 35,000 men, that of infantry of 10,000. It was
computed that the camp contained 150,000 horses, mules, and
elephants; 50,000 camels, 50,000 oxen, and between 300,000 and
400,000 persons. Almost all Delhi followed the court, whose
magnificence supported its industry.]
[42: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1178. Hist. August. p. 38.
Eutrop. viii. 10 Euseb. in Chronic. Quadratus (quoted in the
Augustan History) attempted to vindicate the Romans by alleging
that the citizens of Seleucia had first violated their faith.]
[43: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1263. Herodian, l. iii. p. 120.
Hist. August. p. 70.]
[44: The polished citizens of Antioch called those of
Edessa mixed barbarians. It was, however, some praise, that of
the three dialects of the Syriac, the purest and most elegant
(the Aramaean) was spoken at Edessa. This remark M. Bayer (Hist.
Edess. p 5) has borrowed from George of Malatia, a Syrian
writer.]
[45: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1248, 1249, 1250. M. Bayer has
neglected to use this most important passage.]
[46: This kingdom, from Osrhoes, who gave a new name to
the country, to the last Abgarus, had lasted 353 years. See the
learned work of M. Bayer, Historia Osrhoena et Edessena.]
[47: Xenophon, in the preface to the Cyropaedia, gives a
clear and magnificent idea of the extent of the empire of Cyrus.
Herodotus (l. iii. c. 79, &c.) enters into a curious and
particular description of the twenty great Satrapies into which
the Persian empire was divided by Darius Hystaspes.]
[48: Herodian, vi. 209, 212.]
[49: There were two hundred scythed chariots at the
battle of Arbela, in the host of Darius. In the vast army of
Tigranes, which was vanquished by Lucullus, seventeen thousand
horse only were completely armed. Antiochus brought fifty-four
elephants into the field against the Romans: by his frequent wars
and negotiations with the princes of India, he had once collected
a hundred and fifty of those great animals; but it may be
questioned whether the most powerful monarch of Hindostan evci
formed a line of battle of seven hundred elephants. Instead of
three or four thousand elephants, which the Great Mogul was
supposed to possess, Tavernier (Voyages, part ii. l. i. p. 198)
discovered, by a more accurate inquiry, that he had only five
hundred for his baggage, and eighty or ninety for the service of
war. The Greeks have varied with regard to the number which
Porus brought into the field; but Quintus Curtius, (viii. 13,) in
this instance judicious and moderate, is contented with
eighty-five elephants, distinguished by their size and strength.
In Siam, where these animals are the most numerous and the most
esteemed, eighteen elephants are allowed as a sufficient
proportion for each of the nine brigades into which a just army
is divided. The whole number, of one hundred and sixty-two
elephants of war, may sometimes be doubled. Hist. des Voyages,
tom. ix. p. 260.
Note: Compare Gibbon's note 10 to ch. lvii - M.]
[50: Hist. August. p. 133.
Note: See M. Guizot's note, p. 267. According to the
Persian authorities Ardeschir extended his conquests to the
Euphrates. Malcolm i. 71. - M.]
[51: M. de Tillemont has already observed, that
Herodian's geography is somewhat confused.]
[52: Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 71)
illustrates this invasion of Media, by asserting that Chosroes,
king of Armenia, defeated Artaxerxes, and pursued him to the
confines of India. The exploits of Chosroes have been magnified;
and he acted as a dependent ally to the Romans.]
[53: For the account of this war, see Herodian, l. vi.
p. 209, 212. The old abbreviators and modern compilers have
blindly followed the Augustan History.]
[54: Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 180, vers. Pocock. The
great Chosroes Noushirwan sent the code of Artaxerxes to all his
satraps, as the invariable rule of their conduct.]
[55: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, au mot Ardshir.
We may observe, that after an ancient period of fables, and a
long interval of darkness, the modern histories of Persia begin
to assume an air of truth with the dynasty of Sassanides.
Note: Compare Malcolm, i. 79. - M.]
[56: Herodian, l. vi. p. 214. Ammianus Marcellinus, l.
xxiii. c. 6. Some differences may be observed between the two
historians, the natural effects of the changes produced by a
century and a half.]
[57: The Persians are still the most skilful horsemen,
and their horses the finest in the East.]