The earlier Persian kings acknowledged the various religions of the petty peoples; they were also patrons of their temples and would take care to preserve an ancient right of asylum or the privileges of long-established cults.'
The law established the ancient customs, at the same time eliminating anything that was contrary to the spirit of Christianity; it proclaimed the peace of the churches, whose possessions it guaranteed and whose right of asylum it recognized.
The penalties in the canon law included, in addition to restitution, penance, fines and excommunication; and right of asylum was denied to the culprit.
His tenure of the bishopric was troubled not only by domestic bereavements but also by barbaric invasions of the country (in repelling which he proved himself a capable military organizer) and by conflicts with the prefect Andronicus, whom he excommunicated for interfering with the Church's right of asylum.
Extradition treaties are undertakings between states curtailing the exercise of the right of asylum in respect of refugees from justice, but the conditions therein laid down invariably show that nations regard the maintenance of this right of asylum as intimately connected with their right of independent action, however weak as states they may be, on their own soil.
