"Chastity and manners were cast to the dogs. They came to the fore who had neither no-
bility nor character, nor acted uprightly, nor had any ancestral property; utterly indifferent
to their families and the nation, they had no trade or calling; and being completely heartless
they were ever willing to get into mischief, to mince the truth, vilify and malign others; for
this was the only profession they knew for achieving wealth and fame."
Arthur Christensen concludes in Iran under the Sasanids:
"The result was that the peasants rose into revolt in many places, bandits started breaking
into the houses of nobles to prey upon their property and to abduct their womenfolk. Gang-
sters took over the possession of landed estates and gradually the agricultural holdings
became depopulated since the new owners knew nothing about the cultivation of land."
(Iran ba 'Ahd-i-Sasaniyan, p.477)
Ancient Iran had always had a strange proclivity to subscribe to the extremist calls and
radical movements, since; it has ever been under the influence of irreconcilable political and
religious concepts. It has often been swinging as if by action and reaction, between Epicu-
reanism and strict celibacy; and at others, either yielded passively to despotic feudalism and
kingship and preposterous priesthood, or drifted to the other extreme of unruly and licen-
tious communism; but has always missed that moderate, poised and even temper which is
so vital for a heal Your and wholesome society.
Towards the end of the Sasaniyan Empire during the sixth century, all civil and military
power was concentrated in the hands of the Emperors who were alienated from the people
by an impassable barrier. They regarded themselves as the descendants of celestial gods;
Khosrau Parviz or Chosroes II had lavished upon himself this grandiose surname: "The Im-
mortal Soul Among the Gods and Peerless God Among Human Beings; Glorious is whose
name; Dawning with the Sunrise and Light of the Dark Eyed Night." (Iran ba 'Ahd-i-
Sasaniyan, p.604)
The entire wealth of the country and its resources belonged to the Emperor. The kings,
grandees and nobles were obsessed with amassing wealth and treasure, costly gems and
curios; were interested only in raising their own standard of living and luxuriating in mirth
and merriment to an extent that it is now difficult for us to understand their craze for fun
and festivity. He can alone visualize their dizzy rounds of riotous living who has studied the
history, literature and poetry of the ancient Iran and is also well informed about the splen-
dor of Ctesiphon, Aiwan-i-Kisra and Bahar-i-Kisra, tiara of the emperors, the awe striking
court ceremonials, the number of queens and concubines, slaves, cooks and bearers, pet
birds and beasts owned by the emperors and their trainers and all. The life of ease and
comfort led by the kings and nobles of Persia can be judged from the way Yazdagird III fled
from Ctesiphon after its capture by the Arabs. He had with him, during his flight, one thou-
sand cooks, one thousand singers and musicians, and one thousand trainers of leopards and
a thousand attendants of eagles besides innumerable parasites and hangers on but the
Emperor still felt miserable for not having enough of them to enliven his drooping spirits.