With respect to religion we may note that the hAkamAnashiya were “vIra” adherents of the Zoroastrian counter religion. However, the Parthians seem much more open to elements of the original Iranic religion & this very much influenced even the orthodox dastUr-s, like the family from which the Sassanians came. In the Eastern Iranic realm of shaka-s& kuShANa-s para-zoroastrian (e.g. the cult of zurvan) and non-zoroastrian Iranic religion (directly descending from our shared old religion, e.g. the cult of the rudra-class vAyu) were dominant. While the Iranians made the orthodox zoro dastUrs their focal religious figures, they were relatively lenient in the rest of the empire for these other Iranic and even H expressions. This tension can be repeatedly seen the claims that their old heroes rustam & faramarz debated v1s & victoriously upheld the zoro view. -MT