Costume of a Persian Priest
(After Du Sommerard)
It is certain from history that the Median priest-caste became established among the Persians as early as the foundation of their monarchy by Cyrus. Not only do Herodotus and Ctesias describe them as an order of priests under the first Persian princes, but the express testimony of Xenophon in the Cyropædia leaves no further question, possessing as it does an historical value from an observation appended by the author. Having described the etiquette of the Persian court as copied from that of the Medes, he adds: “Cyrus also first appointed the Magi to chant sacred hymns at the rising of the sun, and to offer daily sacrifices to the deities, to whom it was enjoined by their law. This state of things continues to be maintained by each successive monarch; and the rest of the Persian nation followed the example of their prince, conceiving that they should in the same way be more likely to prosper, if they worshipped the gods as their monarch did.”
Thus the first consequence of their appointment was the introduction of a certain religious ceremonial in the court of Persia. It by no means, however, follows from this that the Persians at once laid aside the manners and customs of their forefathers, and, as it were, suddenly became converted into Medes; but rather, that a mixture and union of their ancient and newly-adopted opinions and customs took place. The laws of the Persians, in consequence, came to be cited in connection with those of the Medes; their national deities were still reverenced as before; and in his time Herodotus remarks certain diversities observable in the ceremonies of the Persians as compared with those of the Magians. We must not therefore be surprised at not finding a complete correspondence between the precepts of the Zendavesta and the customs of the Persians; on the contrary, this very diversity is one mark of the genuineness of that composition.
Nor are we authorised to conclude from the expressions of Xenophon that the whole Persian nation at once adopted the Magian religion. This appears to be sufficiently contradicted by the totally different way of life of the various Persian tribes; besides, as we have already had occasion to remark, and shall presently see confirmed, by the Persians Xenophon means the nobler tribes, and possibly only that of the Pasargadæ. Far less are we entitled to suppose that the creed of Zoroaster was at once introduced in the conquered countries as the universal religion of the state; for although strongly marked by the character of intolerance, this religion appears never, like that of Mohammed, to have been propagated by fire and sword: its author was himself neither a conqueror nor a warrior, nor did the princes who embraced it esteem it a duty to provide for its dissemination by the power of the sword.
It is much nearer to the truth to suppose that the reception of this religion was at first confined to the court, of which the caste of Magi, as priests, as soothsayers, and as councillors of the king, formed an important part, and next to the wives and eunuchs of the monarch, had nearest access to his person. It was a principal part of the education of the monarch to be instructed in the lore of the Magi, a privilege communicated to very few personages besides, and those highly favoured. This doctrine of the Magi, mixed up with the hereditary opinions of the Persians, was designated as the law of the Medes and Persians, and embraced a knowledge of all these sacred customs, precepts, and usages which concerned, not only the worship of the deity, but the whole private life of every worshipper of Ormuzd, respecting the duties which he was bound to perform, and the penalties which he would incur by transgressing them. In proportion as the ritual prescribed was extensive and multifarious, so was it open to cases of doubtful interpretation, when the counsel of the Magi was needed, and consequently was not neglected. From a comparison of several passages, it appears probable that they composed the council of the king’s judges, of which mention is made as early as the time of Cambyses. The very notion of a religious legislation, such as we have described, implies that the priests should be also judges, and the individual cases which have been recorded as brought before this tribunal appear to fortify such a conjecture. This court of judicature consisted of men distinguished for their wisdom no less than their justice, possessing their places for life, unless proved guilty of some act of injustice. When this happened, they were punished with strictness, and cruelty. Examples, however, are not wanting to prove that although it was esteemed a duty by the monarch to take the opinion of this council, yet he was by no means necessarily bound to abide by their sentence. Cambyses demanded whether it was lawful for him to marry his sister, and the council, knowing that it was his purpose to do so, replied that there was no law which permitted it, but that there did exist a law which made it allowable for the king of the Persians to do what seemed to him good. Notwithstanding, therefore, the apparent limitation set to the royal authority by the separation of the judicial power from the administrative, the answer of this high tribunal makes it plain that the authority of the kings of Persia was as unlimited as that of any other oriental despot at any period.
In like manner, the idea which has been adopted by several eminent modern authors, that the Persian constitution was modelled after the hierarchy of the kingdom of Ormuzd, appears, at all events, to require strong limitations. Appeal is continually made to the seven princes who stood about the throne of the king, in like manner as the Amshaspands surrounded the throne of Ormuzd; as well as to other less striking analogies. But, at the most, this analogy applied only to the economy of the court and did not extend to the kingdom at large: of the former the Magi composed an important part, and it is very possible that this may have influenced the character of the whole. When, however, we come to compare the picture which Zoroaster has sketched of the constitution of the kingdom in which he lived with that of Persia, we remark similarities which exist in all great despotic governments: a prince, whose mandates are irrevocable, a division of the empire into provinces, and a departmental administration by satraps; while we discover at the same time some striking dissimilitudes. The general distinction of castes, on which the legislative system of Zoroaster is founded, was never completely established among the Persians, although the foundation of such a system was laid in the diversity of occupations and modes of life pursued by the different tribes. We find among them the tribes of nobles or warriors, and of agriculturists, but none of artisans, which indeed could hardly exist among a race of conquerors; nor is it certain that in the cases of the former their occupations were necessarily restricted to individuals of that tribe.
ORGANISATION OF THE PERSIAN COURT