s of the Order, we should have
grounds for considering that religious zeal was, at any rate, a leading
motive of his conduct. It is certain that among the principal changes
consequent upon his success was a religious revolution--the substitution
for Parthian tolerance of all faiths and worships, of a rigidly enforced
uniformity in religion, the establishment of the Magi in power, and the
bloody persecution of all such as declined obedience to the precepts of
Zoroaster. But the conjecture has been made, and cannot be refuted,
that the proceedings of Artaxerxes in this matter should be ascribed to
policy rather than to bigotry, and in that case we could not regard him,
as originally inspired by a religious sentiment. Perhaps it is best to
suppose that, like most founders of empires, he was mainly prompted
by ambition; that he saw in the distracted state of Parthia and in
the awakening of hope among the subject races, an occasion of which
he determined to avail himself as far as he could, and that he
was gradually led on to enlarge his views and to effect the great
revolution, which he brought about, by the force of circumstances, the
wishes of others, and the occurrence of opportunities which at first he
neither foresaw nor desired.

It has been observed, that Parthia was, during the whole reign of
Artaxerxes, distracted by the claims of a pretender, Volagases V.
According to Moses of Chorene, two branches of the Arsacid family, both
of them settled in Bactria, were at feud with the reigning prince; and
these offended relatives carried their enmity to such a length as to
consider submission to a foreigner a less evil than subjection to the
_de facto_ head of their house. The success of Artabanus in the war
against Rome had no effect upon his domestic foes; and Artaxerxes
undoubtedly knew that, if he raised the standard of revolt, he might
count on a certain amount of support from discontented Arsacids and
their followers. But his main reliance must have been on the Persians.
The Persians had, in the original arrangements of the Parthian empire,
been treated with a certain amount of favor. They had been allowed to
retain their native monarchs, a concession which naturally involved
the continuance of the nation's laws, customs, and traditions. Their
religion had not been persecuted, and had even in the early times
attracted a considerable amount of Court favor. But it would seem that
latterly the privileges of the nation ha