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Whether this doctrine was, like many others, imported into Greece from the East, or was the natural growth of the schools, we cannot ascertain. Certain it is that the Greeks themselves believed it to have been taught by Zoroaster in Asia, at least five centuries before the Trojan war; so that it had an existence there long before the name of philosophy was known in the western world.
It was accomplished and, as might have been expected, the result was a curious composition; a religious olla-podrida in which the profound wisdom of Zoroaster and the childish superstition of western barbarians, grand morality and monumental absurdity elbow each other like specters in a delirium in which is heard both "the still small voice" of Omnipotent God and the megalophanous bray of Balaam's Ass.
Indian vultures proved to be too weak, and not sufficiently bloodthirsty, to perform the process of stripping the bones with the despatch prescribed by Zoroaster. We were told that the entire operation of denuding the bones occupies no more than a few minutes. As soon as the ceremony was over, we were led into another building, where a model of the dakhma was to be seen.
If it be the will of the All-Wise that I perish, I will perish before this altar. Go thou quickly, and save thyself while there is yet time." But Nehushta took his hand in hers, that trembled with the great emotion, and gazed into his calm eyes as he spoke her look was very loving and very sad. "Knowest thou not, Zoroaster, that I would rather die with thee than live with any other?
It is supposed that you have learned your letters, and how to make them. It is supposed that you have written the school copies, from Apes and Amazons aim at Art down to Zanies and Zodiacs are the zest of Zoroaster
Atossa had fled to a place of safety, after enjoying the pleasure of tormenting her doomed enemy to the last moment, well knowing that no power would induce Nehushta to accompany her. But one thought filled Nehushta's mind in her instantaneous comprehension of the truth; she must find Zoroaster, and warn him of the danger. They would have time to fly together, yet.
Then he had penetrated further, lower, beneath all that finished, material, limited knowledge; he had, perhaps, risked his soul, and had seated himself in the cavern at that mysterious table of the alchemists, of the astrologers, of the hermetics, of which Averroes, Gillaume de Paris, and Nicolas Flamel hold the end in the Middle Ages; and which extends in the East, by the light of the seven-branched candlestick, to Solomon, Pythagoras, and Zoroaster.
Now the rumour went abroad that Zoroaster would return to the court; and for a space, the two queens kept aloof, for both knew that if he came back, some mortal conflict would of necessity arise between them; and each watched the other, and was cautious. The days passed by, but no one answered the proclamation.
Zoroaster composed the commentary on the Avesta which he called the Zend, and which in the eyes of his followers was revealed to him by God. He subsequently translated it from Pahlavi into Persian. Zoroaster, further, prepared a commentary on the Zend and called it Bazend.
The terms, which are given at length by a writer of the succeeding generation, may be briefly expressed as follows: the Persians were to withdraw from Lazica, to give up all claim to it, and to hand over its possession to the Romans; they were in return to receive from Rome an annual sum of 30,000 pieces of gold, the amount due for the first seven years being paid in advance; the Christians in Persia were guaranteed the full and free exercise of their religion, but were forbidden to make converts from the disciples of Zoroaster; commercial intercourse was to be allowed between the two empires, but the merchants were restricted to the use of certain roads and certain emporia; diplomatic intercourse was to be wholly free, and the goods of ambassadors were to be exempt from duty; Daras was to continue a fortified town, but no new fortresses were to be built upon the frontier by either nation, and Daras itself was not to be made the headquarters of the Prefect of the East, or to be held by an unnecessarily large garrison; all disputes arising between the two nations were to be determined by courts of arbitration; the allies of the two nations were to be included in the treaty, and to participate in its benefits and obligations; Persia was to undertake the sole charge of maintaining the Caspian Gates against the Huns and Alans; the peace was made for a period of fifty years.
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