ence
exercised by Hellenism as far as the uplands of Central Asia has frequently
been pointed out,[2] but the prestige retained by Persia throughout the
ages and the extent of area influenced by its energy has not perhaps been
shown with as much accuracy. For even if Mazdaism was the highest
expression of Persian genius and its influence in consequence mainly
religious, yet it was not exclusively so.

After the fall of the Achemenides the memory of their empire long haunted
Alexander's successors. Not only did the dynasties which claimed to be
descended from Darius, and which ruled over Pontus, {137} Cappadocia and
Commagene, cultivate political traditions that brought them nearer to their
supposed ancestors, but those traditions were partly adopted even by the
Seleucides and the Ptolemies, the legitimate heirs of the ancient masters
of Asia. People were fond of recalling the ideals of past grandeur and
sought to realize them in the present. In that manner several institutions
were transmitted to the Roman emperors through the agency of the Asiatic
monarchies. The institution of the _amici Augusti_, for instance, the
appointed friends and intimate counselors of the rulers, adopted in Italy
the forms in use at the court of the Diadochi, who had themselves imitated
the ancient organization of the palace of the Great Kings.[3]

The custom of carrying the sacred fire before the Caesars as an emblem of
the perpetuity of their power, dated back to Darius and with other Persian
traditions passed on to the dynasties that divided the empire of Alexander.
There is a striking similarity not only between the observance of the
Caesars and the practice of the Oriental monarchs, but also between the
beliefs that they held. The continuity of the political and religious
tradition cannot be doubted.[4] As the court ceremonial and the internal
history of the Hellenistic kingdoms become better known we shall be able to
outline with greater precision the manner in which the divided and
diminished heritage of the Achemenides, after generations of rulers, was
finally left to those Occidental sovereigns who called themselves the
sacrosanct lords of the world as Artaxerxes had done.[5] It may not be
generally known that the habit of welcoming friends with a kiss was a
ceremony in the {138} Oriental formulary before it became a familiar custom
in Europe.[6]

It is very difficult to trace the hidden paths by which pure ideas travel
from one peo