understood by the Parthians in the sense assigned to it. Of
these two, the latter, which is undoubtedly Arian, may have been adopted
from the Persians: the former is non-Arian, but has no known Turanian
congeners.

If, however, the consideration of the Parthian language does not help
us to determine their race, a consideration of their manners and customs
strengthens much the presumption that they were Turanians. Like the
Turkoman and Tatar tribes generally, they passed almost their whole
lives on horseback, conversing, transacting business, buying and
selling, even eating on their horses. They practised polygamy, secluded
their women from the sight of men, punished unfaithfulness with extreme
severity, delighted in hunting, and rarely ate any flesh but that which
they obtained in this way, were moderate eaters but great drinkers, did
not speak much, but yet were very unquiet, being constantly engaged in
stirring up trouble either at home or abroad. A small portion of the
nation alone was free; the remainder were the slaves of the privileged
few. Nomadic habits continued to prevail among a portion of those who
remained in their primitive seats, even in the time of their greatest
national prosperity; and a coarse, rude, and semi-barbarous character
attached always even to the most advanced part of the nation, to the
king, the court, and the nobles generally, a character which, despite a
certain varnish of civilization, was constantly showing itself in
their dealings with each other and with foreign nations. "The Parthian
monarchs," as Gibbon justly observes, "like the Mogul (Mongol)
sovereigns of Hindostan, delighted in the pastoral life of their
Scythian ancestors, and the imperial camp was frequently pitched in the
plain of Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris." Niebuhr
seems even to doubt whether the Parthians dwelt in cities at all. He
represents them as maintaining from first to last their nomadic habits,
and regards the insurrection by which their empire was brought to an
end as a rising of the inhabitants of towns--the Tadjiks of those
times--against the Ilyats or wanderers, who had oppressed them for
centuries. This is, no doubt, an over statement; but it has a foundation
in fact, since wandering habits and even tent-life were affected by the
Parthians during the most flourishing period of their empire.

On the whole, the Turanian character of the Parthians, though not
absolutely proved, appears to be i