The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient
Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian or New Persian Empire, by George Rawlinson

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Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian or New Persian Empire
The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea,
Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian
or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.

Author: George Rawlinson

Illustrator: George Rawlinson

Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16167]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES ***

Produced by David Widger

THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES

OF THE

ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD;

OR,

THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA

BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN,

OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE.

BY

GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.,

CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOLUME III.

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

THE SEVENTH MONARCHY

HISTORY OF THE SASSANIAN OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE.

[Illustration: MAP]

CHAPTER I.

_Condition of the Persians under the Successors of Alexander--under
the Arsacidce. Favor shown them by the latter--allowed to have Kings
of their own. Their Religion at first held in honor. Power of their
Priests. Gradual Change of Policy on the part of the Parthian Monarchs,
and final Oppression of the Magi. Causes which produced the Insurrection
of Artaxerxes._

"The Parthians had been barbarians; they had ruled over a nation
far more civilized than themselves, and had oppressed them and their
religion."

Niebuhr, Lectures on Roman History, vol. iii. p. 270.

When the great Empire of the Persians, founded by Cyrus, collapsed under
the attack of Alexander the Great, the dominant race of Western Asia did
not feel itself at the first reduced to an intolerable condition. It
was the benevolent design of Alexander to fuse into one the two leading
peoples of Europe and Asia, and to establish himself at the head of a
Perso-Hellenic State, th