PERSIANStificatory clothing worn by the members of each class. Movement from
one class to another was supposed to be exceptional and subject to
the approval of the monarch himself. Instructors and teachers were
appointed to train the members of each class or subclass in their
profession. 14
However, this structure which depends largely on Sas ani an royal,
religious, and legal traditions is presented in an abstract, generalized
and idealized form, and it is difficult to find such a society in actual
operation. Although the professions certainly existed and tended to
be hereditary, this schematic division into caste-like classes arbitrarily
assigned by the state hardly seems to be a valid reflection of the long-
term realities of Sasanian society. Rather, it is part of the Sasanian
theory of the state. The rationale behind it is provided in the salutation
of a letter ascribed to Ardashlr I and addressed to his subjects as
follows: "To the secretaries who are in charge of the administration
of affairs, to the priests who are the preservers of religion, to the
cavalrymen who are the defenders of the state, to the laborers who
make the state prosperous."15 The success of the state depended on
the performance by each class of its responsibilities, as expressed in
die classic Sasanian formulation of the "circle of power," again as-
cribed to Ardashlr, that there is no ruler without men, no men without
money, no money without prosperity, and no prosperity without jus-
tice and good administration.^16 Consequently, this picture of Sasanian
society should be regarded as a statement of policy, associated with
the restoration of order after the MazdakI risings in the late Sasanian
period when there may have been a real attempt under Khusraw I
Aniishirvan to freeze society in this fashion for the benefit of the state.^1?
In practice, the official classes overlapped a good deal. Peasants also
served in the army as infantry. Bureaucrats (Ar. kuttiib) wore the
clothing of their class in town, but when they accompanied the king
on campaign they wore the clothing of soldiers.1s There does not seem
to have been any hindrance to marriage among the members of the
first three estates, with a resulting confusion over the profession of
the children. The aristocratic sixth-century administrator, Babai, who
14 Boyce, Tansar, pp. 38-41; S. J. Bulsara, The Laws of the Ancient Persians as Found
in the "Matikan E Hazar Diitastiin" or "The Digest of a Thousand Points of Law"
(Bombay, 1937), p. 49; Taj, p. 25; Jahshiyari, Wuzara', p. 3.
IS Mas'iidi, Muruj, I, 289-90.
16 Tha'aJibi, Ghurar, p. 482.
17 R. C. Zaehner, The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism (London, 1961), p. 176.
18 Jahshiyari, Wuzara', p. 3.