Everything about Parthia totally explained
Parthia (
Middle Persian:
اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran, which at the height of its power covered all of
Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of
Armenia,
Iraq,
Georgia, eastern
Turkey, eastern
Syria,
Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan,
Tajikistan,
Pakistan,
Kuwait, the
Persian Gulf, the coast of
Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain,
Qatar,
Lebanon,
Israel,
Palestine and the
UAE.
The Parthian empire was led by the Arsacid dynasty, which reunited and ruled over the
Iranian plateau, after defeating and disposing the Hellenistic
Seleucid Empire, beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled
Mesopotamia between
150 BC and
224 AD. It was the third native dynasty of ancient Iran (after the
Median and the
Achaemenid dynasties). Parthia was the arch-enemy of the
Roman Empire in the east.
After the
Scythian-
Parni nomads (
Assyrians called them Ashkuz) had settled in Parthia and built a small independent kingdom, they rose to power under king
Mithridates the Great (171-138 BC). Later, at the height of their power, Parthian influence reached as far as
Ubar in
Arabia, the nexus of the
frankincense trade route, where Parthian-inspired ceramics have been found. The power of the early Parthian empire seems to have been overestimated by some ancient historians, who couldn't clearly separate the powerful later empire from its more humble obscure origins. The end of this long-lived empire came in 224 AD, when the empire was loosely organized and the last king was defeated by one of the empire's vassals, the
Persians of the
Sassanid dynasty.
Although the Roman-employed Jewish historian
Josephus connects Parthia to
Israelites formerly deported by the
Assyrian Empire, relatively little is known of the Parthian (
Arsacid) dynasty compared to the
Achaemenids and
Sassanids dynasties, given that little of their own literature has survived. Consequently Parthian history is largely derived from foreign histories, controlled by the evidence of
coins and
inscriptions; even their own name for themselves is debatable due to a lack of domestic records. Several Greek authors, of whom we've fragments, including
Apollodorus of Artemita and
Isidore of Charax, wrote under Parthian rule. Their power was based on a combination of the guerrilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe, with organizational skills to build and administer a vast empire — even though it never matched in power and extent the Persian empires that preceded and followed it. Vassal kingdoms seem to have made up a large part of their territory (see
Tigranes II of
Armenia), and
Hellenistic cities enjoyed a certain autonomy; their craftsmen received employment by some Parthians.
Seleucid satrapy
Parthia was originally designated as a territory southeast of the
Caspian sea encompasing the Kopet Dag mountain range in the north and Dasht-e-Kavir desert in the south. It was a
satrapy of the
Achaemenid Empire from 550 BC when it was subdued by
Cyrus the Great until the conquest of the
Persian Empire by
Alexander the Great in 330 BC . Following Alexander's death, the government of Parthia was given to
Nicanor, at the
Partition of Babylon in 323 BC. At the
Partition of Triparadisus in 320 BC, Parthia was then given to
Philip. Philip in turn was then succeeded by
Peithon. From 311 BC, Parthia then became a part of the
Seleucid empire, being ruled by various
satraps under Seleucid kingdom.
Andragoras (d. 238 BC) was the last
Seleucid satrap of the province of Partahia, under the Seleucid rulers
Antiochus I Soter and
Antiochus II Theos (
Justin, xli. 4). Andragoras tried to wrestle independence from the Seleucid Empire, at a time when the Seleucid were embroiled in conflict with
Ptolemaic Egypt. In defiance, he issued coins in which he wears the royal diadem as well as his name (Will: I, 1966). Andragoras was a neighbour, a contemporary, and probably an ally of
Diodotus I in
Bactria, who also fought the
Seleucids for independence around the same time, giving rise to the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom.
The Parthian Empire
Eastern Iranian
Dahae tribe called the
Parni entered the
Iranian plateau from
Central Asia. They were consummate horsemen, known for the "
Parthian shot": turning backwards at full gallop to loose an arrow directly to the rear. Initially, about 238 BC, their king named
Arsaces (Ashk) toppled
Andragoras and established his
dynasty's independence from the
Seleucid Empire, ruling his kingdom in remote areas of northern Iran in what is today known as Turkmenistan.
» "He (Arsaces) was used to a life of pillage and theft, when he heard about the defeat of
Seleucus against the
Gauls. Relieved from his fear of the king, he attacked the Parthians with a band of thieves, vanquished their prefect Andragoras, and, after having killed him took the power over the nation"
Justin, xli. 4
.
Arsaces' immediate descendants ruled free of the Seleucids until 209 BC, when King
Antiochus III the Great invaded Parthia, occupied the capital at
Hecatompylus, and pushed forward into
Hyrcania. The Parthian king
Arsaces II successfully sued for peace, and recognized Seleucid authority. Antiochus III had so well secured Parthia that he moved further east, where he fought the
Greco-Bactrian king
Euthydemus I for three years and then went into
India.
It wasn't until well into the 2nd century BC that the Parthians were able to profit from the continuing decline of the Seleucid Empire. King
Mithridates I defeated King
Eucratides of the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and annexed Bactria's territory west of the
Arius (the regions of
Tapuria and
Traxiane) and gained
Herat. This choked off the the movement of trade along the
Silk Road to China, and effectively doomed the eastern
Hellenistic world of Greco-Bactria and the
Indo-Greeks.
The Seleucid monarchs attempted to hold the line against Parthian expansion;
Antiochus IV Epiphanes spent his last years on a campaign against the newly emerging Iranian states. After his death in 164 BC, the Parthians took advantage of the ensuing dynastic squabbles to make even greater gains.
In 139 BC,
Mithridates I captured the Seleucid monarch
Demetrius II Nicator, holding him captive for ten years while his troops overwhelmed
Mesopotamia and
Media.
By 129 BC, the Parthians were in control of the lands east of the
Tigris and established their winter encampment on its banks at
Ctesiphon, a small suburb directly across the river from
Seleucia on the Tigris, the Seleucid capital of Mesopotamia (downstream from modern
Baghdad). Because of their need of the wealth and trade provided by Seleucia, the Parthian armies limited their incursions to harassment and allowed the city to preserve its independence. In the heat of the Mesopotamian summer, the Parthian army would withdraw to the ancient Persian capitals of
Susa and
Ecbatana (modern
Hamadan).
After 130 BC the Parthians suffered numerous incursions by
Scythian nomads (also called the
Tocharians from
Bactria, possibly the
Yuezhi), in which kings
Phraates II and
Artabanus I were successively killed. Scythians again invaded Parthia around 90 BC, putting king
Sanatruces on the Parthian throne.
Government
After the conquests of
Media,
Assyria,
Babylonia and
Elam, the Parthians had to organize their empire. The former elites of these countries were
Greek, and the new rulers had to adapt to their customs if they wanted their rule to last. As a result, the cities retained their ancient rights and civil administrations remained more or less undisturbed. An interesting detail is coinage: legends were written in the Greek alphabet, a practice that continued until the 2nd century AD, when local knowledge of the language was in decline and few people knew how to read or write the
Greek alphabet.
Another source of inspiration was the
Achaemenid dynasty that had once ruled the
Persian Empire. Courtiers spoke Persian and used the
Pahlavi script; the royal court traveled from capital to capital, and the
Arsacid kings styled themselves "king of kings". It was an apt title, as in addition to his own kingdom the Parthian monarch was the overlord of some eighteen vassal kings, such as the rulers of the city state
Hatra, the kingdom of
Characene and the ancient kingdom of
Armenia.
The empire was, overall, not very centralized. There were several languages, many people, and a number of different economic systems. The loose ties between the separate parts of the empire were a key to its survival. In the 2nd century AD, the most important capital, Ctesiphon, was captured no less than three times by the Romans (in 116, 165 and 198), but the empire survived because there were other centers of power. On the other hand, the fact that the empire was a mere conglomeration of kingdoms, provinces and city-states did at times seriously weaken the Parthian state. This was a major factor in the halt of the Parthian expansion after the conquests of
Mesopotamia and
Persia.
Local potentates played important roles, and the king had to respect their privileges. Several noble families had votes in the Royal council; the
House of Suren had the right to crown the Parthian king, and every aristocrat was allowed and expected to retain an army of his own. When the throne was occupied by a weak ruler, divisions among the nobility became dangerous.
The constituent parts of the empire were surprisingly independent. For example, they were allowed to strike their own coins, a privilege which in antiquity was very rare. As long as the local elite paid tribute to the Parthian king, there was little interference. The system worked well: towns such as Ctesiphon, Seleucia, Ecbatana,
Rhagae,
Hecatompylos,
Nisâ, and Susa flourished.
Tribute was one source of royal income; another was tolls. Parthia controlled the Silk Road, the trade route between the
Mediterranean Sea and China.
Parthian language
Arsacid Pahlavi or more popularly known as
Parthian is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern
Iranian language that originated in
Parthia (a region in the north-eastern part of modern
Iran, including and not limited to
Khorosan,
Mazandaran and southern parts of what is today known as
Turkmenistan). The language was the official state language of the
Arsacid Dynasty (248 BC – 224 AD) and may have served as a secondary language for the
Sassanid dynasty of
Iran in its early years. The language was written using the Pahlavi script.
Contact with China
The Chinese explorer
Zhang Qian, who visited the neighbouring countries of
Bactria and
Sogdiana in 126 BC, made the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named "Ānxī" (Chinese: 安息), a transliteration of "
Arsacid", the name of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization that farmed grain and grapes, made silver coins and leather goods; Zhang Qian equates the level of advancement of Parthia to the cultures of
Dayuan (in
Ferghana) and
Daxia (in Bactria).
» "Anxi is situated several thousand
li west of the region of the Great
Yuezhi (in
Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land, cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make wine out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of
Dayuan (
Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face of the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies
Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (
Hyrcania)." (
Shiji, 123, Zhang Qian quote, trans. Burton Watson).
Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial relations between China, Central Asia, and Parthia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BC:
» "The largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members... In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out." (Shiji, trans. Burton Watson).
The Parthians were apparently very intent on maintaining good relations with China and also sent their own embassies, starting around 110 BC: "When the
Han envoy first visited the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia), the king of Anxi dispatched a party of 20,000 horsemen to meet them on the eastern border of the kingdom... When the Han envoys set out again to return to China, the king of Anxi dispatched envoys of his own to accompany them... The emperor was delighted at this." (Shiji, 123, trans. Burton Watson).
In 97 BC, the
Han Chinese general
Ban Chao formed direct military contacts with the Parthian Empire and establish military bases as far west as the
Caspian Sea with his cavalry of 70,000 men during expeditions against the
Xiongnu, while protecting the trade routes now known as the
Silk Road.
Parthians also played a role in the
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China.
An Shih Kao, a Parthian nobleman and
Buddhist missionary, went to the Chinese capital
Luoyang in
148 where he established temples and became the first man to translate Buddhist scriptures into
Chinese.
Conflicts with Rome
During the earlier part of the first century BC, Parthia pursued a peaceful policy of non-entanglement with the west. Parthian relations with Imperial Rome largely consisted in intermittent warfare separated by periods of stalemate truce and exchange of gifts and hostages, with Trajan's Parthian campaign as a watershed, until the recognition of Parthia as co-equal in the fourth century, followed the final stages of fierce fighting under
Macrinus, and the tribute sent by
Philip the Arab and the humiliation of
Valerian. No official documents in the form of official inscriptions of treaties survive; the sources are largely Roman and literary. Protocol developed during the fourth century provided the basis on which the Eastern Empire would address the
Sassanians
In 53 BC, the Roman general
Marcus Licinius Crassus invaded Parthia in search of desperately needed gold to fund Roman military campaigns. The Parthian armies included two types of
cavalry, heavily-armed and armored
cataphracts and lightly armed but highly-mobile
mounted archers. For the Romans, who relied on heavy
infantry, the Parthians were difficult to defeat, as both types of cavalry were much faster and more mobile than foot soldiers. Furthermore, the Parthians used strategies during warfare unfamiliar to the Romans, such as the famous "Parthian shot", firing arrows backwards at the gallop. Crassus having never encountered such an army or strategic warfare before was defeated decisively at the
Battle of Carrhae by a Parthian commander called
Surena in the Greek and Latin sources. This was the beginning of a series of wars that were to last for almost three centuries. After the defeat Crassus was fed molten gold, a symbolic gesture for his greed. On the other hand, the Parthians found it difficult to conquer Roman eastern provinces completely.
In the years following the battle of Carrhae, the Romans were divided in
civil war between the adherents of
Pompey and those of
Julius Caesar and hence unable to campaign against Parthia. Although Caesar was eventually victorious against Pompey and was planning a campaign against Parthia, his subsequent murder led to another Roman civil war. The Roman general
Quintus Labienus, who had supported Caesar's murderers and feared reprisals from his heirs,
Mark Antony and
Octavian (later
Augustus), sided with the Parthians under
Pacorus I. In 41 BC Parthia, led by Labienus, invaded Syria,
Cilicia, and
Caria and attacked
Phrygia in
Asia Minor. A second army intervened in
Judaea and captured its king
Hyrcanus II. The spoils were immense, and put to good use: King
Phraates IV invested them in building up
Ctesiphon.
In 39 BC, Antony retaliated, sending out general
Publius Ventidius Bassus and several legions to secure the conquered territories. The Parthian King Pacorus was killed along with Labienus, and the
Euphrates again became the border between the two nations. Hoping to further avenge the death of Crassus, Antony invaded Mesopotamia in 36 BC with the
Legion VI Ferrata and other units. Having cavalry in support, Antony reached Armenia but failed to make much impact and withdrew with heavy losses.
Antony's campaign was followed by a break in the fighting between the two empires as Rome was again embroiled in civil war. When Octavian defeated Mark Antony, he ignored the Parthians, being more interested in the west. His son-in-law and future successor
Tiberius negotiated a peace treaty with Phraates (20 BC).
At the same time, around the year 1, the Parthians became interested in the valley of the
Indus, where they began conquering the kingdoms of
Gandhara. One of the Parthian leaders was
Gondophares, king of
Taxila; according to an old and widespread
Christian tradition, he was baptized by the apostle
Thomas. While it may sound far-fetched, the story isn't altogether impossible: adherents of several religions lived together in Gandara and the
Punjab, and there may have been an audience for a representative of a new
Jewish sect.
War broke out again between Rome and Parthia in the 60s AD. Armenia had become a Roman vassal kingdom, but the Parthian king
Vologases I invaded and installed his own brother as king of Armenia. This was too much for the Romans, and their commander
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo invaded Armenia. The result was that the Armenian king received his crown again in Rome from the emperor
Nero. A compromise was worked out between the two empires: in the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but his appointment required approval from the Romans.
Expansion to India
Also during the 1st century BC, the Parthians started to make inroads into eastern territories that had been occupied by the
Indo-Scythians and the
Yuezhi. The Parthians gained control of parts of
Bactria and extensive
South Asian territories in modern day
Pakistan, after defeating local rulers such as the
Kushan Empire ruler
Kujula Kadphises, in the
Gandhara region.
The ruins of the ancient port city of
Siraf are in the process of excavation, and its historical importance to ancient trade is only now being realized. Discovered there in archaeological excavations are ivory objects from east
Africa, pieces of stone from
India, and
lapis from
Afghanistan. Sirif dates back to the Parthian era.
Around
20 AD, Gondophares, one of the Parthian conquerors, declared his independence from the Parthian empire and established the
Indo-Parthian Kingdom in the conquered territories.
Decline and fall
The Armenian compromise served its purpose, but nothing in it covered the deposition of an Armenian king. After 110 AD, the Parthian king
Vologases III dethroned the Armenian ruler, and the Roman emperor
Trajan decided to invade Parthia in retaliation. War broke out in 114 AD and the Parthians were severely beaten. The Romans conquered Armenia, and in the following year, Trajan marched to the south, where the Parthians were forced to evacuate their strongholds. In 116, Trajan captured Ctesiphon, and established new provinces in Assyria and
Babylonia. Later that year, he took the Parthian capital,
Susa, deposed the Parthian King
Osroes I and put
Parthamaspates as a puppet ruler on the throne.
Rebellions soon broke out due to the continuing loyalty of the population to Parthia. At the same time, the
diasporic Jews revolted and Trajan was forced to send an army to suppress them. Trajan overcame these troubles, but his successor
Hadrian gave up the territories (117).
Parthian weaknesses also contributed to the disaster. In the first century AD, the Parthian nobility had become more powerful due to concessions by the Parthian king granting them greater powers over the land and the peasantry. Their power now rivaled the king's, while at the same time internal divisions in the
Arsacid family had rendered them vulnerable.
But the end wasn't near, yet. In 161, king
Vologases IV declared war against the Romans and reconquered Armenia. The Roman counter-offensive was slow, but in 165, Ctesiphon fell, and the Parthians were only saved by the outburst of a catastrophic epidemic (probably the
measles or
smallpox) which temporarily crippled the two empires. The Roman emperors
Lucius Verus and
Marcus Aurelius added northern Mesopotamia to their realm (partly as a vassal-kingdom), but as it was never secure enough for them to
demilitarize the region between the Euphrates and Tigris, it remained an expensive burden.
The deciding blow came thirty years later. King
Vologases V had tried to reconquer Mesopotamia during another Roman civil war (193), but was repulsed when general
Septimius Severus counter-attacked. Again, Ctesiphon was captured (198), and large spoils were brought to Rome. According to a modern estimate, the gold and silver were sufficient to postpone a
European economic crisis for three or four decades, and the consequences of the looting for Parthia were dire.
Parthia, now impoverished and without any hope to recover the lost territories, was demoralized. The kings were forced to concede greater powers to the nobility, and the vassal kings began to waver in their allegiance. In 224, the Persian vassal king
Ardašir revolted. Two years later, he took Ctesiphon, and this time it meant the end of Parthia, replaced by a third Persian Empire, ruled by the
Sassanid dynasty.
Gallery
Image:Sarbaz Nysa.jpg|A second century BC helmet with hellenistic influences protects the head of a Parthian warrior from Nysa, capital of the Parthian homeland.
Image:Parthian Queen Bust.jpg|A bust from The National Museum of Iran of Queen Musa, wife of Phraates IV of Parthia.
Image:Coin of Phraates IV of Parthia.jpg|Coin of Phraates IV (38 BC). The inscripton reads: Benefactor Arsaces, Civilized friend of Greeks.
Image:Pegasus iran.jpg|Parthian era Bronze plate with Pegasus depiction ("Pegaz" in Persian). Excavated in Masjed Soleiman, Khuzestan.
Image:ParthianWaterSpoutWithFaceOfIranianMan1-2ndCenturyCE.jpg|Parthian waterspout with face of Iranian man, 1-2nd century CE.
Parthian rulers
| Ashkanid (Parthian) Dynasty |
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| Ruler |
Year |
| row 2, cell 1 |
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