Antiochus in Persia, and founded, in B.C. 256, what is called by western writers the Parthian dynasty of the Ársacidæ, which probably was of Scythic origin. Ársaces invited all the chiefs of provinces to join him in a move against the Seleucidæ, with a view to maintain their independence and free Persia from a foreign yoke. For this reason the era is called by eastern authors the "Mulook-uTuaif," or commonwealth of tribes. The detailed history given by them is a mere catalogue of names. The western writers divide the epoch into three distinct periods—namely, (1) the Syrian period, which extended from B.C. 256 to 130, and embraced the reign of seven kings, and was distinguished by reiterated wars with the Seleucidæ, till the Parthian empire was for ever freed from the attacks of the Syrian kings; (2) the period of the eastern nomad wars, extending from B.C. 130 to 53, and embracing the reign of five kings, during which violent wars were waged by Parthia with the nomad tribes of Central Asia, and its power greatly weakened; and (3) the Roman period, extending from B.C. 53 to A.D. 226, and embracing the reign of seventeen kings, which was mainly occupied by wars with Rome. Regarding this last period the Persian historians furnish no information whatever; but the accounts given by the western writers show that all the efforts made by the Romans to reduce Parthia were effectually repulsed, and that one Roman army, commanded by Crassus the Triumvir in person, was completely massacred in the reign of Orodes, the Parthian king, by his general named Surena. Eventually, however, the Parthians got divided amongst themselves, and this produced a state of anarchy, which led to the rebellion of Árdisheer Babigan (Ártaxerxes, the son of Babek), a common soldier, but said to be descended from Isfundear, or Xerxes I. He had served for some time as a general of Ártaban, the last Parthian king, and only rebelled on being driven into exile, after which he defeated Ártaban in three great battles, in the last of which Ártaban was slain; and thus was founded the Sassanian dynasty, in A.D. 226.

Árdisheer proved to be a great king, and extended his dominions considerably. The name of Parthia, which the western writers had given to Persia after the death of Alexander, ceased on his elevation, and his own countrymen hailed him as the restorer of the old empire, which was created by Cyrus and lost by Darius Codomanus. The disobedient satraps of the empire, who under the reign of the Ársacidæ had arrogated feudal independence, were reduced by him; and every intermediate power between the throne and the people was abolished. He also restored to the country the doctrines of Zoroaster, which had given way to idol-worship for several years. At last, sated with success, he resigned the government, in A.D. 240, to his son Shahpoor, a worthy successor, who carried his arms into the Roman territories, defeated and took captive the Emperor Valerian, and raised an emperor himself, namely, Cyriades, a fugitive of Antioch, who wore the royal honours for a short period. The next king of any note was Nársi, or Nárses, who at first subdued the whole of Armenia, and gave the Emperor Galerius a signal defeat, but was in the end obliged to submit to Rome, and to surrender the province of Media, then known as Aderbiján. His grandson, Sháhpoor II., was more fortunate. He first chastised the Arabs, who had been committing many atrocities in Persia; and then, turning his arms against the Romans, recovered from the emperor, the territory that had been given up by Nárses, obtaining with it the city of Nisibis, and again reducing Armenia into a province of Persia. After three or four intermediate princes of little note, Bahrám V., commonly known as Bahrám Gor, ascended the throne, in A.D. 420. His munificence, his virtue, and his valour have all been very highly praised. He repulsed an attack of the Tartars conducted by the khán of Transoxianá, made a successful incursion into the Arabian territories, and maintained an unequal contest with the Emperor Theodosius, which ended in a truce. He is also reported to have visited India in disguise, where he was discovered, and married to a princess of Kanouj. The ruling passion of his life was the love of the chase; his favourite game being the

pursuit of the Gor, or wild ass, which accounts for his peculiar surname. He met his death by a fall from his horse, and was succeeded by his son Yezdijird II.

The reigns of Yezdijird II. and Hoormuzd may be passed over as eventless. Firoze (Perosis), the next king, is best known for his alliances and wars with the chief of the White Huns, who possessed Transoxianá, and who at last defeated and killed him. He was succeeded by Pallas (Valens) and Kobád (Cabades), the last of whom carried on a successful war with the Emperor Anastasius, till the Romans, weary of the constant inroads of the Persians, founded a colony and impregnable fortress at Dárá, at a distance of fourteen miles from Nisibis, which the Persians complained of as a direct violation of the treaties subsisting between the two nations.

The son of Kobád was Noshirwán, surnamed the Just, better known to the Romans by the formidable name of Chosroes I., whose reign was celebrated as well for military exploits as for a wise and useful reorganization of the government. Noshirwán fought with three Roman emperors-Justinian, Justin II., and Tiberius II., reduced Syria, captured Antioch, and extended his empire to the shores of the Mediterranean. He at the same time conquered from the Tartars all the countries beyond the Oxus, as far as Fergháná; from India, all the provinces west of the Indus; and several districts from Arabia. In regulating his empire, he divided it into four great governments, established a fixed and moderate land-tax, and instituted strict regulations for preserving the discipline of his army. Over and above all this, he encouraged letters and learned men; collected and translated the literature of Greece and Rome; and borrowed from the Hindus the Hitopadesa, which for several ages was recognised as an original Persian production. It was during the time of this sovereign that Mahomet was born at Meccá; and it is said that the latter used to boast of his good fortune in coming to the earth when so good a king was reigning on it. The empire of Persia began to break down after the

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death of Noshirwán. His son, Hoormuzd IV., was not equal to the government, and was, after a short reign, set aside by his general, Bahrám; but Khoosroo Purvez (Chosroes II.), the son of Hoormuzd, having obtained the aid of an army from the Emperor Maurice, was able to defeat Bahrám and to ascend the throne. Khoosroo was grateful to Maurice for the assistance given to him; and, on Maurice being slain, he took the side of his son, invaded the Roman territories, and subdued several strong places, while he pillaged the rest. This hostility was repaid by the Emperor Heraclius, who compelled Khoosroo to fly, and the opportunity was taken by his own son Schironeh (Siroes) to seize and consign him to a dungeon, where he was famished and tortured to death. The reign of the parricide was extremely brief, only eight months, within which time he killed eighteen of his half-brothers, and made love to several of his stepmothers, one of whom killed herself to elude him. After this followed four years of anarchy, during which two females, Pooran-dokht and Árzem-dokht, were raised to the throne. In A.D. 632, Yezdijird (Isdegertes III.), a grandson of Khoosroo, obtained the crown; and it was in his reign that the empire of Persia was subverted by the Arabians, or, as the Persian authors report it, "by a band of lizard-eaters," the last representatives of the Sassanian dynasty finding refuge in the distant court of China. The first attacks of the Arabs were made during the reign of Pooran-dokht, but were twice repelled by her general, Mehrán, the celebrated Durufsh Kawáni, or apron of Kawáh, being displayed on both occasions. The standard was afterwards captured by Syed-ben-Wákáss, the general of Omar, upon which reverses followed; and Persia submitted to the Arabs after two signal defeats at Kudseáh and Nahávand, the last battle being fought in A.D. 641. The subsequent history of the dynasties of the Arabs, the Turks or Seljuk Tartars, and the Moguls do not affect our present inquiry.

In the account, as given above, we have not referred to the version of Josephus and the Bible, that Persia was anciently called Elam, from Elam the son of Shem, by

whom it was peopled. This stands as an unsupported statement, without throwing any light on the subject beyond what is afforded by the mention of the name of Chedorlaomer as one of the ancient kings of the country who was defeated by Abraham. It does not at all explain the peopling of a large kingdom, having an antiquity quite as remote as that of India and China, with both of which it must have been co-existent. We have therefore preferred to rely on the records of the ancient Persians themselves, and such other profane annals as were accessible to us, which, if they be dark to some extent from an unnatural mixture of fables and pretensions, are not barren of information. It will be seen from what we have stated that the Persian writers, though giving the history of their country from the commencement of time, do not betray the knowledge of any deluge, partial or complete. It may be safely presumed from this that Irán, which was their original country, did not suffer from the flood, and this exemption from the visitation must also have extended to Turán (Scythia or Tartary), the high table-land of Central Asia, from which all the nomad hordes that peopled Persia appear to have been drawn. The total ignorance of both races of an event so generally recognised by other ancient nations is thus easily accounted for.

Curiously enough, however, the Persian writers acknowledge the general depravation of mankind at about the time when the deluge occurred in other countries, and assert that in their own country the human race was nearly extirpated by mutual slaughter and destruction. The account given by the Zendávestá is somewhat different. It says that on Airyana Veijo (Irán) being selected by Áhoormazd (God) for the residence of the Persians, Áhriman (the author of evil) visited it with a plague and depopulated it, upon which the remnants of the population were compelled to emigrate to Fárs, or Pársis. But, in point of fact, we do not see that Irán was given up in this way it was migrated from, not abandoned. What really occurred was probably this, that the two contiguous coun