The mention of “disobedient and bellicose tribes” appears to refer to the vari ous swarms of nomadic groups, such as Hephtalites, Huns, Turks, Avars, and Khazars, overrunning the land of Iran (Ērānšahr) in the last two centuries of Sasanian rule. In the present case, it is possible that this references hinted at Turkic peoples vanquished by Bahrām Chubin, an ethnic component fre quently recorded in apocalyptic narratives (Cereti 2000; 2013).
Furthermore, the “most malicious demons (βλαπτικώτατοι δαίμονες)” attack ing the Persian state (πολῖτεία) and the “malignant and evil demons abounding in the world” are but the Iranian dēwān (disguised foreigners) of the Mazdæan vocabulary. Even the series of contrasts—between slaves and masters (δούλους κατὰ δεσποτών), subjects and kingdom (κατὰ βασιλείας οἱκέτας), disorder (ἀταξίαν) and order (ταξέως)—recalls examples of reversals in apocalyptic texts that record dark times, such as the Zand ī Wahman Yasn, the Ayādgār ī Jāmāspīg, and the Jāmāsp-nāmag (Agostini 2013a; 2013b).
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