Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/58

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IN OLD IRÂN.
43

effect which the latter produced upon that weak-minded king by preaching his abominable creed. "All men," Mazdak said, "were by God's providence born equal—none brought into the world any property, or any natural right to possess more than another. Property and marriage were mere human inventions, contrary to the will of God, which required an equal division of the good things of this world among all, and forbade the appropriation of particular women by individual men. In communities based upon property and marriage, men might lawfully vindicate their natural rights by taking their fair share of the good things wrongfully appropriated by their fellows. Adultery, incest, theft, were not really crimes, but necessary steps towards re-establishing the laws of nature in such societies." (Vide Rawlinson, "The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy," pp. 342, seq.)

Such being the teaching of Mazdak, it is easy to see what attractions it would have for a licentious prince who would willingly substitute

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