Sun was saluted at
his rising, was worshipped in temples, under the name of Mithra, with
sacrifices and offerings; had statues erected in his honor, and was
usually associated with the lesser luminary. The deities of the royal
house were probably either genii, ministers of Ormazd, to whom was
committed the special protection of the monarchs and their families,
like the _bagaha vithiya_ of the Persians, or else the ancestors of
the reigning monarch, to whom a qualified divinity seems to have been
assigned in the later times of the empire. The Parthians kings usually
swore by these deities on solemn occasions; and other members of the
royal family made use of the same oath. The main worship, however, of
the great mass of the people, even when they were of the royal stock,
was concentrated upon ancestral images, which had a place sacred to them
in each house, and received the constant adoration of the household.

In the early times of the empire the Magi were held in high repute,
and most of the peculiar tenets and rites of the Magian religion
were professed and followed by the Parthians. Elemental worship was
practised. Fire was, no doubt, held sacred, and there was an especial
reverence for rivers. Dead bodies were not burned, but were exposed to
be devoured by birds and beasts of prey, after which the dry bones were
collected and placed in tombs. The Magi formed a large portion of the
great national council, which elected and, if need were, deposed the
kings. But in course of time much laxity was introduced. The Arsacid
monarchs of Armenia allowed the Sacred Fire of Ormazd, which ought
to have been kept continually burning, to go out; and we can scarcely
suppose but that the Parthian Arsacidae shared their negligence. Respect
for the element of fire so entirely passed away, that we hear of the
later Parthians burning their dead. The Magi fell into disrepute, and,
if not expelled from their place in the council, at any rate found
themselves despised and deprived of influence. The later Parthian
religion can have been little more than a worship of the Sun and Moon,
and of the teraphim, or sacred images, which were the most precious
possession of each household.

While thus lax and changeful in their own religious practice, the
Parthians were, naturally, tolerant of a variety of creeds among their
subjects. Fire altars were maintained, and Zoroastrian zeal was allowed
to nourish in the dependent kingdom of Persia. In the