According to Abarim Publications which focuses on complexities of Biblical Scriptures:

“In the New Testament, the Sadducees are proverbially juxtaposed with the Pharisees as the two main Judaic systems of national government (which in turn was manifested in the monarchy, or what was left of it, the Sanhedrin and the Temple complex). The Sadducaic school of thought dominated the government during the Hasmonean era, but lost its position to the competing Pharisaic take on things mere years before the Roman invasion of 63 BC….

The New Testament rules that both the Sadducees and the Pharisees had deviated from the revealed Truth, but in their own distinctive way: the Pharisees by inflating legislation until it became an unbearable load (Matthew 23; and this in turn as an offshoot of the ‘explainers’ instated by Ezra the Reformer — Nehemiah 8:7-8), and the Sadducees by deflating it into barely anything to follow or believe in. In perhaps a too fluidic shorthand it may be suggested that the Pharisees leaned most towards Israel’s Persian legacy (from whence came the Second Temple; 2 Chronicles 36:23, Ezra 6:1-3), whereas the Sadducees embraced Greek's novel hedonism of pleasure and (near) atheism.”

...recall that some scholars view the word Pharisee as a derivative of "Persian" (Parsi / Farsi)… it’s the Pharisees who adopted many of Iranian Zoroastrian views… the Rabbinic traditions are based on Pharisee teachings… 

[pic Sydney Bond @Bible Study: for educational purposes only]

After the 1238 Mongolian invasion of Alania (ancestors of modern Ossetians) in Northern Caucasus, some 30,000 Iranian Alans—renowned warriors—were incorporated into the Mongolian army as elite troops for the Great Khan.  

These Iranian Alanic knights were also part of the Mongolian faction known as the Tartars or the Golden Horde (the faction that controlled medieval Russia).  For these services, Alans may have been rewarded with hereditary grants of land in Moldavia (modern day Iasi in Romania derives its name from Alans).  

Alans fought as a single trained group under their own leadership.  Such Alanic fighting units even served the Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire).  Alans were Christians and resented serving Islamized Mongolians or unbelievers.   

During the Comnenian era Byzantine (11^th-12^th c.), frequent marriage alliances took place between Byzantine noblemen and Alanic princesses.  When the newly-established Turks in Anatolia began to cause problems for Byzantine Empire, the Alans at the borders of Bulgaria offered their help.  The Byzantine Empire sent supplies to ensure that Alans had a safe passage so they could enter their military services.

~ source “Journal of Medieval Military History” (2013) by Clifford Rogers et al.

[pic Wikipedia: Here is map of Iranian Alanic territory in ancient Spain http://geocurrents.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Alan_Kingdom_Iberian_Peninsula_Map.jpg...and as we follow the current affairs in Spain, let's recall that Catalonia is "Goth-Alania"… for educational purposes only]

In an article with 3 pages of references about Indo-Iranian god Mithra—later adopted by Romans as Mithraism which was a major competitor to early Christianity and elements of which were eventually incorporated into Christianity—Manel Sanchez wrote:

From the Age of Antiquity, attire was a key symbol in differentiating people…a typical “Oriental” outfit was the Iranian garment:

* a long & fluttering patterned pants made of cloth or leather with geometric designs (“sara-vara” in Old Persian adopted in Latin as “sarabara”),

* a tunic,

* a long cape (Old Persian “gaunaka” from Iranian Avestan “gaona” which means color or red), and

* “one of the most characteristic articles of Iranian dress,” a so-called Phrygian cap or Persian cap called “kurpasa” in Old Persian (later known as Freedom cap as incorporated in modern Western symbolism seen here https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c1/b9/d3/c1b9d30d56dae4f56a44f39d71116edd--upper-house-the-house.jpg) worn by “a good-looking youth with long hair”…

As stated in earlier postings, Iranian Parthian embassy to Rome, for ex., purposely included good looking individuals…hence, to the Roman psyche, Iranians were “hot”…YES, the ancestors practiced seduction to for the art of the deal…

Sanchez noted that 5^th c. Roman grammarian Lactantius Placidus claimed Iranians were first to worship the Sun in caves “in Persian dress with a tiara”… note “tiara” is an Iranian word itself…

Sanchez marveled at how Romans adopted a “cult of Iranian origin such as Mithraism…while retaining the Iranian garments of the god and his assistants”…

…we may marvel at how little did the ancient Romans know that 21^st c. Mainstream Fake Education, claiming Greco-Roman heritage, would erase Iranian aspects of Western Civilization…

[pic tertullian: Indo-Iranian Sun god, Mithra, adopted by the Romans… Roman white marble statue by sculptor V. Pacetti now at the Vatican...for educational purposes only]