y much in
earnest; and they had no knowledge, but only faith: so they
stood in peculiar danger. And presently a Teacher came to them,
and they rejected him.

His name was Mani; he was born in Ctesiphon, of noble Persian
family, probably in 215; and came forward as a Teacher (according
to the Mohammedan tradition, which is the most trustworthy)
at the coronation of Sapor I, Ardashir's successor, in 242.
Sapor at first was disposed to hear him; but the Magi moved
heaven and earth to change that disposition. Ardashir had
bound church and state together in the closest union: no worship
but the Zoroastrian was allowed in his dominions. This was
mainly aimed at the Christians, and must have caused them much
discomfort. But Mani, it would seem, rose against all this
narrow-ness. It has been said that he taught Reincarnation, and
again denied;--this much he taught certainly,--that all religions
are founded on one body of truth. He drew his own doctrine from
Zoroistrianism, Christianity (chiefly Gnostic), and Buddhism;
taking from each what he found to be true. Manichaeism spread
quickly, through the Roman world as well as through Persia; in
the former it replaced Mithraism, another Persian growth, that
had come to be preeminently the religion of the Roman soldier.
Sapor looked on him favorably; Hormizd, the heir apparent, was
more or less a disciple; but the Magi agitated. They arranged a
great debate before the king, and therein convinced him;
persuaded him, at least, to withdraw from the Teacher the light
of his countenance;--and Mani found it expedient, or perhaps was
compelled, to go into exile. In China; where the fimily of the
Ts'ao Ts'ao who expelled the Eastern Hans, was reigning as the
House of Wei in the north. There Mani busied himself, less in
teaching his religion than in studying Chinese civilization,--
especially its arts and crafts, and most of all, carpet-weaving.
Presently he ventured back to Persia, with a large knowledge of
Chinese methods and a large collection of specimens;--with which
he gave a new impetus to Persian art and manufactures. Hormizd
came to the throne in 271, and befriended him and his doctrine;
but reigned only a single year. His successor Bahram I in the
name of Zoroastrianism had him flayed and crucified.

So Sassanian history is, on the whole, uninteresting. Their
culture stood for no great ideas; only for a narrow persecuting
church. West Asia was not ready yet for