The Selucid Rule of Iran
The conquest of Iran by Alexander marked the end of the Hakhamanian Empire. Alexander died in 323 BCE and Iran was ruled by one of his generals Seleucus Nicator, who founded the Seleucid Dynasty. From 312 BCE to 250 BCE Iran was part of the Seleucid Empire. During this time considerable Greek influence entered into Iran’s culture, religion and language. At the same time Iranian culture also influenced the Greeks. Many Zoroastrian books were taken away to Greece and they influenced Greek philosophy, science and culture and through the Greeks all Western culture.
The Parthian Empire.
In 250 BCE in Parthia a man of Iranian origin named Arsaces (Arshak) rebelled against the Seleucid Greeks and started his own kingdom in Parthia. He started a long line of Iranian kings who built an empire almost as large as the Hakhamanian empire. This was known as the Parthian or Arshakian empire. Originally the Parthians were a warlike people. During the first 123 years the Parthian kings Arsaces (250-247 BCE), Tridates (247-211 BCE), Artabanus (211-191 BCE), Priapatus (191-176 BCE) and Phrates I (176-171 BCE), slowly drove the Greeks out of Iran.
The next king Mithradates I (171- 138 BCE) really established the Parthian empire, he conquered Babylonia and Mesopotamia and then entered Persia. Mithradates I issued his own coinage. The next king Phrates II (138-128 BCE) completed the task of throwing the Seleucid Greeks out of Iran. He was followed by Artabanus II (128-123 BCE) and then Mithradates II (123-87 BCE). Mithradates II brought the Parthian empire to its height extending it from the Indus river in the east through Afghanistan and Iran to the Oxus river in the north and south to the Persian gulf. In the west it extended to modern day Turkey. At this time in the west Greece had been replaced by Rome as the super power. Mithradates II was the first Parthian king to come into contact with the Romans. Ambassadors were exchanged between the two countries.
After Mithradates II the kings were Sinaturkes (80-69 BCE), Phrates III (69-57 BCE) and Orodes II (57-37 BCE). During the reign of Orodes II, the Roman proconsul of the east, Crassus decided to conquer the Parthian empire. He crossed the Euphrates and entered Parthian territory and defeated the army of the Parthian Satrap (governor). The central Parthian army under General Suren attacked the Romans and in the battle of Carrhae (53 BCE) the Roman army was crushed. The Parthians refrained from chasing the Romans beyond the Euphrates. This began a period of conflict with Rome that would last beyond the Parthian empire into the Sassanian period of Iranian history. In 37 BCE Mark Anthony, general under Julius Caesar attacked Parthia and like Crassus suffered a resounding defeat from the Parthian army. Again the Parthians remained east of the Euphrates.
During the reign of Phrates IV (38-2 BCE) Rome and Parthia were friends again during the time when Augustus was consul of Rome. Phrates V (2 BCE-4 CE) was king of Parthia at the time of Jesus’ birth in Palestine which was part of the Roman empire.
During the reign of Vologese I (51-80 CE), Nero was emperor of Rome, they fought a bitter war over Armenia and after several Parthian victories, Rome agreed to Vologeses’ brother Tridates to be king of Armenia. Tridates was a devout Zoroastrian and during his time Zoroastrianism became the official religion of Armenia. Vologeses I ordered the collection of all the oral and written texts of the Zoroastrian religion, which had been scattered since the time of Alexander’s invasion.
The Roman emperor Trajan attacked Iran and came across the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and captured the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. The Parthian emperor fled to the east, raised an army and drove the Romans back across the Euphrates. The Roman emperor Hadrian signed a peace treaty with Parthia, which lasted only a short while.
In the time of Parthian emperor Vologeses II (148-192 CE) war broke out again. Ctesiphon was again captured by the Romans under emperor Severus in 198 CE, when Vologeses IV was emperor of Parthia.
In 218 CE Artabanus V (Ardavan) defeated emperor Macrinus of Rome. He was the last Parthian emperor. He was defeated by the king of Persia Ardeshir Papakian who founded the Sasanian Dynasty.
Changes in the Zoroastrian Religion from Zarathushtra's Birth to the End of the Parthian Period
Zarathushtra brought his religion to the Iranian people around 1200 BCE, in the time of the Kyanian king Vishtaspa. Before his time the Iranians worshipped a large number of gods associated with different aspects of nature, such as the sea, moon, water, fire, wind, rain etc. The form of worship involved offering sacrifices to these gods, who in return would be pleased and reward the worshipper with good fortune. The priests of that time performed these sacrifices and sang hymns of praise to the gods.
Zarathushtra taught an entirely new way of looking at life. He was the first to teach that there was only one powerful, almighty, wise God, who was the creator, the law-giver and the final judge. Zarathushtra called him Ahura-Mazda, the wise lord. Ahura Mazda did not want sacrifices of animals or food made to him. He required that mankind for its own happiness, live a life of righteousness and actively fight for the good and fight against evil. If man chose to do only that, he would be happy and bring about the perfection of God’s creation. By this act he would become a co-worker with God.
Zarathushtra introduced the concept of the six Amesha Spenta, the personified attributes of Ahura Mazda, which are: Asha-righteousness, Vohu Mano-wisdom, Kshathra Variya- the good power, Aramaity- benevolence or right mindedness, Houravat- perfection and Ameretat- immortality. He also introduced the concept of Spenta Mainyu the spirit of goodness and Angre Mainyu the spirit of evil. These are two opposing forces that pull creation towards perfection or away from it.
Zarathushtra was the first to teach that man’s soul exists after death and that man is responsible for his actions while living. After death, man will be judged for his actions while living. He also taught that there would be a final judgment at the end, before which a savior would appear and would bring about the total triumph of good over evil.
Soon after the death of Zarathushtra and king Vishtaspa, the Kyanian dynasty ended. The special protection granted to Zoroastrianism as a state religion also came to an end. The new ideas of Zarathushtra were accepted by the people of north eastern Iran, but the older Iranian tradition of multiple gods could not be drawn out of their culture. The priests who became Zoroastrian priests incorporated the older gods into Zoroastrianism making them the Yazatas or Adorable ones, aspects of God associated with various aspects of nature such as wind, fire water etc. or qualities such as justice, victory etc. The hymns that used to be sung to the older gods were modified to fit Zoroastrian philosophy and these became our prayers that are called Niyayeshs and Yasht. This was the state of Zoroastrianism when the Hakhamanian dynasty came to power in 559 BCE.
During the rule of the Hakhamanian kings, Zoroastrians spread out to many different parts of the empire and came into contact with other cultures and religions which were often older than theirs. Hakhamanian kings respected the religions of the territories they conquered. There is no evidence that Zoroastrianism was forced upon the subjects of any conquered lands. On the contrary we know that Cyrus the Great paid his respects to the god Marduk of Babylon, soon after he conquered the city. Because, the Hakhamanian kings, who were Zoroastrians (we know that from the inscriptions of Darius, Xerxes and the later kings) were open minded about the religion of their subjects, many Zoroastrians started to respect the gods of other religions. There appears to be a considerable mixing of religious beliefs. The Yazata, Anahaita, the female Yazata associated with water, became synonymous with the Greek goddess Artemis and the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Similarly, the Yazata, Mehr, and the god Mithra became synonymous. The later Hakhamanian kings regarded Anahaita and Mithra almost as important as Ahura-Mazda.
Just as Zoroastrianism was influenced by other religions, it influenced the other religions of the empire. Cyrus had liberated the Jews from Babylon and allowed them to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish scholars studied the religion of their new rulers, a religion which like theirs believed in one God. They were profoundly influenced by the ideas introduced by Zarathushtra. It is after this period that we see, in Judaism the idea of a universal God, as opposed to a tribal God, the soul existing after death, the idea of a judgment after death, the coming of a savior (Zoroastrian Soshyant) and the final judgment of creation. Through Judaism these ideas were introduced into Christianity and into Islam. These ideas are the central tenets of all three religions.
When Alexander conquered the Hakhamanian empire, the central library at Persepolis was destroyed, the religious books were scattered and many were taken away to Greece. Aristotle who was the tutor of Alexander and had accompanied him on his conquests is said to have gathered up most of the Zoroastrian books and was influenced by Zoroastrian philosophy. Through Aristotle and other Greek philosophers who studied these religious books, Zoroastrian ideas spread into western culture.
The invasion of Iran by Alexander was a set back to Zoroastrianism. Many temples were destroyed and learned priests who had memorized the religious literature were killed and both the written and the oral tradition suffered a great loss. Under these circumstances, the tendency of Zoroastrians believing in foreign gods seems to have increased. One of the religions that became very powerful, was Mithraism. It believed in a war-like god Mithra (in Zoroastrianism the Yazata Mehr) associated with the sun and victory in battle. Mithraism spread in Iran and spread to Greece and then to Rome. It contained many of the ideas of Zoroastrianism. It believed in the ideas of a supreme creator, an immortal soul, which is judged after death, a final victory of good over evil, and a savior at the end of time who is the god Mithra himself. In Mithraism, Ahura-Mazda is still respected but not as the supreme god. In Mithraism, time (Zurvan) is the supreme creator, Mithra acts as mediator between God and mankind. The winter solstice, after which the days become longer again, when the sun appears to grow stronger again, was celebrated as a great Mithraic festival by the Romans. When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire, this same festival was celebrated as the birthday of Christ.
In spite of these many influences, Zoroastrianism did not die out. In eastern Iran and in Pars it was still the dominant religion. The Parthian kings, at least the later ones were staunch Zoroastrians. Like the Hakhamanian kings they were tolerant not only of other religions but also different forms of Zoroastrianism. At this time there were two kinds of Zoroastrian temples. One kind had a consecrated fire which was worshipped as a symbol of Ahura-Mazda, this kind of temples were started in Hakhamanian rule around 400 BCE. The other kind of temples had statues of the Yazatas and Ahura-Mazda as the central focus of worship. The Parthian king Vologeses I, ordered the collection and bringing together for safe-keeping every existing oral and written pieces of the Avesta. The Parthian dynasty kept the Greeks and Romans out of Iran and prevented these western influences from spreading in Iran. In this way it allowed Zoroastrianism to flourish again. Since the Parthian kings did not interfere in the religious practices of their subjects, Zoroastrianism existed in many different forms of practice and belief from place to place in the empire. This was the state of our religion at the end of the Parthian rule in 226 CE, when Ardeshir Papakian overthrew the Parthian emperor and started the Sasanian dynasty which was to change Zoroastrianism profoundly.