Comments on: An Iranian perspective on Christians in Sassanid Iran

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:19:44 +0000

Thanks for your comment! But I’m not sure that the Persian King of Kings would have shared your point of view, you know? By the late 6th century Nestorian Christianity was just as Persian as Zoroastrianism, in a way that Islam is not.

I’ve never heard of Vartaan Magmonian. Do you have a reference for this? I’d like to know more.

By: rustom

rustom — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:37:19 +0000

The fact that even though the Zoroastrians allowed the christians to practise their faith, The likes of Vartaan Magmonian and others described Zoroastrians as Heathens and Un godly. This because they did not convert to christianity. Also many a treatise were broken once the christians re grouped after facing defeat at first.

The same thirst to convert zoroastrians and Persia out of Zoroastrianism was /is shared by the Islamists. History has passages where the christians and Islamists in later days even supported each other to overthrow Zoroastrianism.

Ironically 2000 years hence since the christian thirst to overthrow zoroastrianism and laters Islam doing the same, both the Christian and Islamic world are at wars in Zoroastrian lands, each still trying to wrestle power and convert the world!

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:05:21 +0000

David, thank you very much for this! Glad to hear that it is in the Chronicle of Seert, and I appreciate the translation. It really does sound like a striking and original phrase, and it marks a significant shift in Sassanid policy, doesn’t it?

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:03:56 +0000

Thank you, Maureen!

The “haves and have-nots” motif in modern education is striking, isn’t it? And then they complain about piracy!

By: David Wilmshurst

David Wilmshurst — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 06:52:47 +0000

Hormizd’s ‘two-legs, four-legs’ trope is very striking, and was evidently remembered. I may be wrong, as I don’t have all the relevant references to hand, but I think the earliest extant Christian text to retail this anecdote is the Chronicle of Seert, probably written towards the end of the ninth century. Here’s the relevant passage:

“Khusro Anushirwan died after a reign of forty-seven years. Hormizdad, who succeeded in the Persian empire, showed himself very favourable to the Christians. The magi, unable to bear this, complained of it to him. The king, in order to make them understand that the empire could not rest on the magi alone, quoted them this proverb: ‘Just as a throne, which has four legs, cannot stand only on the front two legs but needs the two back legs also, so the religion of the magi cannot stand without another religion opposed to it. Beware, beware, do not violate the ordinances which I have made for the protection of the Christians, for the conservation of their laws and for the practice of their customs; for they are loyal and obedient.’ Hormizdad greatly honoured the catholicus Ezekiel. Anushirwan had designated him his successor, just as his father Qavad had earlier done for him. He was crowned after the death of his father, in the days called Pirozdejan, in a fire temple at Jundishapur. His brothers honoured him with their esteem. May God have mercy upon him.” (Scher’s edition, ii. 102-4, my translation).

By: Maureen

Maureen — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:44:36 +0000

Palgrave Connect’s FAQ page says that they don’t sell subscriptions or access to individuals.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:42:33 +0000

Your wish is my command! Macmillan/Palgrave Connect Ebook Collections.

By: Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:47:11 +0000

I suspect the latter is the real answer. I wish I knew more about these backdoor collections of e-books.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:37:31 +0000

1. It’s part of an academic series about Iran.

2. Some libraries have bought some kind of ebook version, or it’s part of some kind of ebook collection for library use.