The End of Mazdak

Two days ago I promised you a grisly end to Mazdak and his followers. Yesterday was the set-up: Iranian Emperor Kavad tried to be tolerant of Mazdak, a priest who preached a doctrine that was not in line with orthodox Zoroastrianism.

Kavad reached a point where support of Mazdak was detrimental to Kavad's rule. He arranged a debate over the tenets of Mazdakism. Not only Zoroastrian priests, but also Jewish and Christian representatives were invited to all denigrate Mazdak and his beliefs.

Kavad sent Mask and all his followers to his son, Khosrow (who would later succeed Kavad as emperor). Kavad's eldest son, Kawus, was a supporter of Mazdakism, and could not be entrusted to do what had to be done.

What happened next was not recorded at the time. The Shahnameh, an epic poem by a Persian in the 10th century (in fact, the longest epic poem in the world created by a single author), tells us what transpired. Khosrow took 3000 followers to a walled garden, where he had them "planted" head-down in the ground, with only their legs showing.

Mazdak himself was then invited by Khosrow, who supposedly said "You will find trees there that no-one has ever seen and no-one ever heard of even from the mouth of the ancient sages." Upon viewing the scene, Mazdak cried out, then fainted. He was then hanged and shot with arrows.

Cool story, if true. There is a Jewish tradition that says the Jewish community under a revolutionary named Mar-Zutra II rose up to defeat Mazdak and the Mazdakites and then established a Jewish kingdom that lasted seven years.

"The End of Mazdak" was not necessarily the end of his ideas. Mazdakism survived, however, because a few survivors went to remote areas. An author in the 17th century claimed to have met Mazdakites practicing their beliefs secretly among the Muslims.

Religious tolerance in the Iranian Empire took a worse turn after Khosrow's son succeeded him. That's a story for tomorrow.

Mazdak and Kavad

During the reign of the Sassanian dynasty's Emperor Kavad I (r. 488–531), Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion. An Iranian priest named Mazdak started preaching a different version that came to be called Mazdakism.

The Zoroastrian clergy were very powerful, wealthy through donations at a time when the empire was having economic problems due to the need to provide tributes to some of their neighbors who had defeated them in some military struggles. The control of the Zoroastrian clergy meant the population was ready to embrace something new, but also meant that something new would not be received well by those in the upper class.

Mazdakism preached a dualistic Manichaeism cosmology, that there was a struggle between a good spiritual world of light, and an evil material world of darkness. Mazdakism also opposed war, consumption of meat, and said greed should be eliminated by eliminating personal property. It also said women should be held in common, which may have been an attempt by Mazdak to promote polygamy.

During a famine, grain was being hoarded by the wealthy nobility. Mazdak urged Kavad to help the people by sharing the grain. Kavad was dealing with an increasingly powerful nobility and Zoroastrian clergy, and saw helping the people as a way to garner more popular support to himself.

Kavad was actually deposed by the nobles for his support of Mazdak. He was imprisoned, and his brother Jamasp was enthroned in 496. Procopius tells the story that Kavad's wife went to the man guarding Kavad, offering herself to the guard for sex in exchange for getting to speak to her husband. While in his cell, Kavad and his wife exchanged clothes. An Iranian officer and friend of Kavad had horses ready nearby, helping him escape.

Kavad returned two years after his imprisonment with an army at his back. Fearing a devastating civil war, Jamasp stepped down with the promise that he would not be harmed. Those who plotted the usurpation were executed, however.

Kavad instituted several reforms that were influenced by Mazdakism: pacifism, anti-clericalism, and aid for the poor.

The Zoroastrian clergy were still powerful, however. When Kavad died, they asserted control over the succession. His elder son, Kawus, who had been a supporter of Mazdak, was considered unsuitable. The youngest, Khosrow, became Emperor Khosrow I. Under Khosrow, Mazdakism (and Mazdak) would come to a grisly end. Yesterday's post promised that today, but we will have to wait until tomorrow for the details.

Khosrow I

I thought we should learn about the man who was causing such trouble for Justinian I and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.

Khosrow was the supreme ruler of Iran from 531 to 579, a very long reign during which he instituted important reforms and created prosperity that survived after his death. Because of the lasting effects of his reign he gained the epithet Anushirvan, Middle Persian for "the Immortal Soul."

When he succeeded his father, Kavad I, Khosrow was still a teenager. As a child he would have started school young and learned reading, writing, riding, archery, and military strategy. As the youngest of four sons, he would not have been expected to become ruler after his father.

About 520, when the Byzantines and the Persians were fighting without definitive victories and therefore making peace treaties, Khosrow's father Kavad suggested to Emperor Justin I (Justinian's father) that Justin adopt Khosrow as a Roman citizen. This was at a time when it seemed highly unlikely that Khosrow would be in the line of succession. This idea of fostering Khosrow at the Byzantine court was a move toward creating more understanding and amity between the two empires. Justin and Justinian were for this, but an advisor warned against it, lest circumstance lead to Khosrow trying to take over the Byzantine throne. Instead they offered to take Khosrow, but only with the rights offered to outsiders, barbarians. Khosrow was insulted, which probably colored his attitude toward the empire to the west in the decades to come.

As it turned out, his three older brothers all had strikes against them that prevented them becoming king.

The eldest, Kawus, was the likeliest heir presumptive, but after a revolt by followers of an offshoot of Zoroastrianism led by a man named Mazdak, and the support that Kawus gave to Mazdak, he was considered disqualified for the succession by the nobles who were all strict Zoroastrians. (Khosrow was a Zoroastrian.)

The next, Jamasp, lost an eye in a battle and was therefore considered unsuitable. The third, Xerxes, led an army that defeated Byzantines in 528 at the Battle of Thannuris. Although a victory, Xerxes was disgraced by Kavad because 500 of his own soldiers were killed.

So when Kavad died, Khosrow became the obvious choice. Before we get into the start of his long and impressive reign however, let's take a departure into the invention of two popular table games connected with him. See you tomorrow.

General Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius (c.500 - March 565) was Byzantine Emperor Justinian's favorite military commander. He successfully managed to gain control of Northern Italy from the Ostrogoths during the Gothic Wars, and then was sent back to Italy when the Lombards invaded.

He was probably born in what is now Bulgaria, and a part of the Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople still thought of itself as the Eastern Roman Empire; the Gothic wars were Justinian's attempt to re-unite with the Western Roman Empire). In his 20s he was a guardsman for Justinian, who at the time was not emperor but a prince and the nephew of Emperor Justin. Belisarius later was given the command to create a regiment of heavy cavalry armed with lances, bows, and long swords. This later grew to be 7000 men.

Although his early career saw him defeated many times, he retained Justinian's confidence. When Emperor Justin died in 527, Justinian took the throne and gave Belisarius command of the armies in the east. In the summer of 530, Belisarius managed an impressive defeat over the Sassanids (Persians) by digging trenches that forced the Persian cavalry into a vulnerable position. The Sassanid leader, King Kavad I, requested peace negotiations with the Byzantines.

A later loss to the Persians, however, caused him to be recalled to Constantinople and charged with incompetence.

Justinian was attempting some reforms against corruption that led ultimately to the Nika Riots, where Belisarius distinguished himself. They've been mentioned before, but it's time to explain how they came about, the intense rivalry between the Blues and the Greens, and the definitive way Belisarius dealt with the riots.