office v.-hich naturally, in those early times, made this caste likewise the chief depositaries of science and cul- tivators of art. Little in detail is known of the magi during the independent existence of the Jledian gov- ernment; but under the IMedo-Persian sway the magi formed a sacred caste or college, which was very famous in the ancient world (Xenoph. Cyrop. viii, 1, 23; Am- mian. Marcell. xxiii, 6 ; Heeren, Idem, i, 451 ; Schlosscr, Vniversal Uehers. i, 278). Porphyry (Abst. iv, 16) says, " The learned men who are engaged among the Persians in the service of the Deity are called magi ;" and Sui- das, "Among the Persians the lovers of wisdom (^iXo- ao(f>oi) and the servants of God are called magi." Ac- cording to Strabo (ii, 108-1, ed. Falcon.), the magi prac- ticed different sorts of divination — 1, by evoking the dead; 2, by cups or dishes (Joseph's divining-cup. Gen. xliv, 5) ; 3, by means of water. By the employment of these means the magi affected to disclose the future, to influence the present, and to call the past to their aid. Even the visions of the night they were accustomed to interpret, not empirically, but according to such estab- lished and systematic rules as a learned priesthood might be expected to employ (Strabo, xvi, 7G2 ; Cic- ero, De Diviii. i, 41 ; ^lian. V. II. ii, 17). The success, however, of their eiforts over the invisible world, as well as the holy office which they exercised, demanded in themselves peculiar cleanliness of body, a due regard to which and to the general principles of their caste would naturally be followed by professional prosperity, and tliis, in its turn, conspired with prevailing supersti- tion to give the magi great social consideration, and make them of high importance before kings and princes (Diog. Laert. ix, 7, 2) — an influence which they appear to have sometimes abused, when, descending from the peculiar duties of their high office, they took part in the strife and competitions of politics, and found themselves sufficiently powerful even to overturn thrones (Herod. iii, 61 sq.). These abuses were reformed by Zoroaster, who appeared, according to many authorities, in the second half of the 7th century before Christ. He was not the founder of a new system, but tlie renovator of an old and corrupt one, being, as he himself intimates (Zend-Avesta, i, 43), the restorer of the word which Or- muzd had formerly revealed, but which the influence of Dews had degraded into a false and deceptive magic. After much and long-continued opposition on the part of the adherents and defenders of existing corruptions, he succeeded in his virtuous purjioses, and caused his system eventually to prevail. He appears to have re- modelled the institute of the magian caste, dividing it into three great classes: 1, Herbeds, or learners; 2, Mobeds, or masters; 3, Destnr Mobeds, or perfect schol- ars (Zend-Av.ii, 171,261). The magi alone he allowed to perform the religious rites ; they possessed the forms of praj'er and worship; they knew the ceremonies which availed to conciliate Ornnizd, and were obligatory in the public offerings (Herod, i, 132). They accordingly be- came the solo medium of communication between the Deity and his creatures, and through them alone Or- muzd made his will known; none but them could see into the future, and they disclosed their knowledge to those only who were so fortunate as to conciliate their good will. Hence the jiower which the magian priest- hood possessed. The general liclief in the trustworthi- ness of tlicir ])redictions, especially when founded on astrological calculations, the all but universal custom of considting the will of the divinity before entering on any important undertaking, and the blind faith which was reposed in all that the magi did, reported, or com- manded, combined to create for that sacerdotal caste a power, both in iniblic and in private concerns, which has ]irobably never lieen exceeded. Indeed the'soothsayer was a |)ul)lic olficer, a mem^jer, if not tli,e president, of tlie privy council in the jMedo-Persian court, demanded alike for show, in order to influence the people, and for use, in order to guide the state. Hence the person of the monarch was surrounded by priests, who, in differ-
ent ranks and with different offices, conspired to sustain the throne, uphold the established religion, and concili- ate or enforce the obedience of the subject. The fitness of the magi for, and their nsefidness to, an Oriental court were not a little enhanced by the pomp of their dress, the splendor of their ceremonial, and the number and gradation of the sacred associates. 'Well may Cy- rus, in uniting the Medes to his Persian sidyects, have adopted, in all its magnificent details, a priesthood which would go far to transfer to him the affections of his con- quered subjects, and promote, more than any other thing, his own aggrandizement and that of his empire. Nei- ther the functions nor the influence of this sacred caste were reserved for peculiar, rare, and extraordinary occa- sions, but ran through the web of human life. At the break of day they had to chant the divine hymns. This office being performed, then came the daily sacrifice to be offered, not indiscriminately, but to the divinities whose day in each case it was — an office, therefore, which none but the initiated could fulfil. As an illustration of the high estimation in which the magi were held, it may be mentioned that it was considered a necessary part of a princely education to have been instructed in the peculiar learning of their sacred order, which was an honor conceded to no other but royal personages, ex- cept in ver\' rare and very peculiar instances (Cicero, De Bwin. i, 23 ; Plutarcli, Themistocles). This magian learning embraced everything which regarded the high- er cidture of the nation, being known in history under the designation of " the law of the Medes and Persians." It comprised the knowledge of all the sacred rites, cus- toms, usages, and observances, which related not merely to the worship of the gods, but to the whole private life of every worshipper of Ormuzd — the duties which, as such, he had to observe, and the punishments which followed the neglect of these obligations, whence may be learned how necessarj' the act of the priest on all oc- casions was. Under the veil of religion the priest had bound himself up with the entire public and domestic life. The judicial office, too, appears to have been, in the time of Cambyses, in the hands of the magi, for from them was chosen the college or bench of royal judges, which makes its appearance in the history of that monarch (Herod, iv, 31 ; vii, 194; comp. Esther i, 13). Men who held these offices, possessed this learn- ing, and exerted this influence with the people, may have proved a check to Oriental despotism no less pow- erful than constitutional, tliough they were sometimes unable to guarantee their own lives against the wrath of the monarch (Herod, vii, 194; compare Dan. ii, 12); and they appear to have been well versed in those court- ly arts by which the hand that bears the sword is won to protect instead of destroying. Thus Cambyses, wish- ing to marry his sister, inquired of the magi (like Henry YIII) if the laws permitted such a union : " We have," they adroitly answered, " no law to that effect ; but a law there is which declares that the king of the Persians may do what he pleases" (Heeren, Ideen, I, i, 451 sq. ; Hyde, Rel. Vet. Persai-um, ch. xxxi, p. 372 sq. ; Brisson, Princip. Pers. p. 179 sq.).