Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

420 HISTORY OF PERSIA chap.
ing blow, and, although it revived under Julian, the
victory of Theodosius the Great in 394 it brought virtually
to an end in Europe.
It must not be supposed that Mithras was the
only
from Persia. At the head of the divine
god imported
hierarchy stood Cronus or Saturn, representing Infinite
Time. Heaven and Earth were his
offspring and they in
turn begat Ocean. Mithras was miraculously born out of
a rock and immediately undertook to subdue all created
beings. His most famous exploit was an encounter with
the sacred bull of Ormuzd, which he finally overcame and
sacrificed ; from the dying animal sprang the life of the
earth. In the sculptures Mithras is represented as slaying
the bull ; a dog is leaping to drag it down, and a serpent,
a symbol of the earth, is being made fertile by drinking
the blood of the victim.
To turn to the mysteries of the religion, there were
seven degrees corresponding to the seven planets ; an
oath or sacramentum was administered to all initiates, and
women were excluded absolutely. Special ceremonies included
a sacred communion of bread, water, and possibly
wine.
The religion of Mithras appealed to mankind through
its mystic ceremonies, but still more through the expecta-
tion of a better life beyond the grave. As in the parent
doctrine of Zoroaster, truth, courage, and purity were
needed for the everlasting struggle against the powers of
evil. Mithras was the champion of Good and the faith-
ful were assured of final victory. Towards the close of
the third century of our era, Mithraism, a purely Iranian
religion, and Christianity, a religion of Jewish origin,
but not without Iranian elements derived probably from
to its
Judaism, stood face to face. But, owing largely
exclusion of women, its toleration of polytheism in a monotheistic
system, and a certain barbarous note, Mithraism
rapidly fell before the attacks of Christianity, after a^
struggle which was the more obdurate because of the manyJ
doctrines which the two religions possessed in common.
Summary.—The Parthian dynasty cannot claim to b(
great in the sense that it bestowed on the world any of th