When a thieving miller murdered Yazdegird III [r. 632-651 Common Era (CE)], the 26-year-old stubborn and reportedly thickheaded Emperor of Persia on the run, the millennium old Persian Empire went out with a whimper. What started with the much hyped Achemenids [550-330 Before Common Era (BCE)], and revived with the longest ruling Arsacids (Parthian) (247 BCE to 224 CE), ended with the squabbling Sasanians (224 CE to 651 CE). How Zoroastrian were these three empires? Was Persia ever a Zoroastrian theocracy? And how many of its kings were practicing Zoroastrians? Was there really a pristine, pure Persian Zoroastrian heritage?
These are......