The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  The Arsacid Empire reached the zenith of its power and emerged as one of the most powerful states in the world during the reign of Mithridates II (r. 124/123–88/87 BCE), one of the most dynamic and successful of all Arsacid kings. After imposing Arsacid rule over Babylonia and Characene, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, Mithridates II marched against Armenia. He defeated the Armenian king Artavasdes I and took his son Tigrenes as a hostage to the Arsacid court. In the east, Mithridates II imposed Arsacid rule over Aria in present-day northwestern Afghanistan, and he brought Sistan (i.e., Sakastan, “the land of the Sakas”) under his control.

  Mithridates II also helped introduce significant changes to the trade and commerce of the ancient world after he received an envoy of the Han Chinese emperor Wudi at the Arsacid court. At the end of his stay, the envoy returned to China accompanied by representatives of the Arsacid monarch, who brought along such royal gifts as ostrich eggs and court magicians. These initial contacts and subsequent negotiations were followed by the first trading caravans between China and the Arsacid Empire. The transcontinental highway, which came to be known in the 19th century as the Silk Road, established direct and unhindered commercial links between China, Central Asia, Iran, and Rome and heralded the exchange of goods, ideas, and technology between East Asia, Central Asia, the Near East, and Europe.

  In 109 BCE, Mithridates II adopted the title “King of Kings.” In 95 BCE when the Armenian king died, Mithridates installed Tigranes II, who had been raised in the Arsacid court, as the new ruler of Armenia. Mithridates II expanded Parthian territory in the west all the way to the Euphrates River, seizing the important city of Dura Europos in present-day eastern Syria. Having thus established himself as the eastern neighbor of Rome, Mithridates II sent an envoy to the Roman general Sulla to negotiate an alliance. As a result of these negotiations, the Euphrates River was established as the border between the two powers.

  After the death of Mithridates II, the Arsacid Empire came under constant pressure in the east from the nomadic groups bursting out of Central Asia and in the west from an aggressive and expansionist Rome. The Greek geographer Strabo wrote that the Parthians at first had hoped for peace with the Romans but instead were forced to defend themselves, first against Crassus in the Battle of Carrhae and then against the Roman general Mark Antony. The relationship between the two empires remained tense. War and conflict between the Romans and the Parthians would continue intermittently until the fall of the Arsacid state in 224 CE.

  The threat from Rome in the west was matched by a new menace to the east, namely the Kushans, who had carved a large and powerful empire stretching from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. The Kushan Empire incorporated present-day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, parts of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, all of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the entirety of northern India as well as parts of eastern and central India. By bringing much of Central Asia under their control, the Kushans benefited enormously from the lucrative trade on the Silk Road while at the same time establishing direct commercial links with China. The Kushan monarch Kanishka also established close diplomatic ties with Rome in an attempt to further isolate the Arsacids. His plan most probably was to divert the flow of precious goods, particularly silk from Iran, to ports on the Indian Ocean where ships carrying Chinese, Central Asian, and Indian goods could sail to Rome without any hindrance and intervention from a third party, such as the Arsacids.

  Beginning in the second century CE, the Arsacid Empire entered a long period of decline. Repeated Roman invasions and internecine struggle among various contenders to the throne undermined the power and stability of the empire, but the Arsacid dynasty did not collapse as a result of Roman invasions. The end of the Arsacid Empire came with the rebellion of a Persian vassal, Ardashir, who ruled as the governor of the district of Istakhr in the province of Fars in southern Iran. Ardashir invaded neighboring provinces in southwestern and southeastern Iran. These military campaigns forced the Arsacid monarch Artabanus IV to confront his rebellious vassal on the battlefield. When the two armies joined battle in 224 CE, it was Ardashir who emerged triumphant. The Arsacid army suffered a humiliating defeat, in which it lost its leader on the battlefield. The death of Artabanus IV signaled the end of Arsacid rule and the beginning of the Sasanian era.

  Arsaces I

  Arsaces I (Arshak I) was the founder of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty (247/238 BCE–224 CE), which at its zenith ruled a powerful empire extending from Central Asia to Syria. Arsaces I ruled from 247/238 to 217 BCE. The origins of the Arsacid dynasty and the events that led to the rise of Arsaces I are shrouded in mystery. The absence of reliable historical sources has forced scholars of ancient Iran to rely exclusively on the fragmented and scanty accounts of Greek and Roman writers, who exhibited considerable hostility and disdain toward the Parthians, portraying them as “treacherous, bellicose and arrogant barbarians with curious and distasteful customs” (Colledge: 13). The Roman historian Justin wrote that Arsaces, the founder of the dynasty, was a man of “tried valour, though of uncertain extraction” who, “accustomed to live by robbery,” invaded Parthia “with a band of robbers, defeated and killed Andragoras [the governor of Parthia who had proclaimed his independence] … and seized the government of the whole country” (Justin: XLI.IV.2). Not long after, he made himself master of Hyrcania on the southeastern shores of the Caspian Sea (Justin: XLI.IV.2). Another Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, claimed that Arsaces I was “a man of low birth” who had been a “brigand chief during his younger days, but since his ideals gradually changed for the better, by a series of brilliant exploits he rose to greater heights” (Ammianus Marcellinus: 23.6, 1–5). The Greek author Strabo stated that Arsaces was a Scythian chief who emerged as the leader of the Parni or Aparni, a branch of the Dahae or Daae confederacy, a nomadic group who lived along the Ochus (Strabo: 11.9.2). In his account of Alexander’s campaigns in Central Asia, the historian Arrian mentions the Dahae or Daae as a group living in close proximity to the Jaxartes River (Syr Darya) in Central Asia (Arrian: 3.28). By 250 BCE the Parnis had established themselves on the shores of the Atrek River. A short time later in 247 BCE, Arsaces I was crowned as king in Asaac. This event marked the beginning of the Parthian era. The exact location of Asaac is unknown, but some scholars have suggested that it was located near the present-day town of Quchan in the upper Atrek River Valley in northeastern Iran (Debevoise: 10–11).

  The rise of Arsaces I corresponded with the growing decline of the Seleucid state, which had ruled Iran since 305 BCE. The incessant military campaigns against the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt exhausted the Seleucid treasury and diverted the attention of its rulers from the distant eastern provinces of their empire. The city of Antioch, which served as the capital of the Seleucid kings, was situated on the western borders of the empire and a long way away from Iran and Central Asia. Sometime between 250 and 239 BCE, two important rebellions erupted against the authority of the Seleucid state. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, and Andragoras, the governor of Parthia, revolted and proclaimed their independence. In 238 BCE, the Parni under the leadership of Arsaces I took advantage of the chaos in the eastern provinces of the Seleucid state and invaded and conquered Parthia. The self-proclaimed independent ruler of Parthia, Andragoras, was killed, and his small kingdom emerged as the new home and operational base for Arsaces I and his successors. With the conquest of Parthia, the Arsacids came to be known as Parthians, or as those who hail from Parthia, a name the Greek and Roman authors used when referring to them and their empire. A short time after the conquest of Parthia, Arsaces seized Hyrcania (Justin: XLI.4). The acquisition of Parthia and Hyrcania allowed Arsaces to raise a large army to defend himself against attacks from the Seleucids to the west and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom to the east. After Theodotus I, the founder of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, died, Arsaces I made peace and entered into an alliance with his son, Theodotus II (Justin: XLI.4). When Seleucus II (r. 246–225 BCE) invaded eastern Iran to punish the Parthians, Arsace
s I scored a victory against the Seleucid monarch, a momentous milestone that the Parthians would observe “with great solemnity as the commencement of their liberty” (Justin: XLI.4). When Seleucus II was forced to return west to quell disturbances, Arsaces I used the respite as an opportunity to lay the foundation of the Parthian government, “levy soldiers, fortify castles, and secure the fidelity of his cities” (Justin: XLI.5.1). He built a city called “Dara,” which was designed and built in such a way that it did not need a “garrison to defend it and so fertile was the adjacent soil, that it was abundantly furnished with all necessaries, by its own riches” (Justin: XLI.5.1–2). There were also so much woods and so many fountains “that there was never any scarcity of water and it had a vast store of game” (Justin: XLI.5). Having “at once acquired and established a kingdom,” Arsaces I died “in a good old age” circa 217 BCE (Justin: XLI.5). He was succeeded by his son, Arsaces II. Under his successors, beginning with the capable Arsacid monarchs Phraates I and his brother, Mithridates I, who was proclaimed king in 171 BCE, Arsaces’s small kingdom broke out of northeastern Iran and gradually emerged as a major power. The significance of Arsaces I as the founder of a vast and powerful empire persisted. Out of respect and admiration for his accomplishments, all Arsacid monarchs after him assumed the title “Arsaces” upon ascending the throne. Strabo wrote that it is the custom of the Parthians that all their rulers are called Arsaces, “although personally one king is called Orodes, another Phraates, and another something else” (Strabo: 7.63).

  See also: Cultures: Aparni; K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Arsaces II; Peoples: Arsacid Parthian Empire; Arsacids; Primary Documents: Document 21

  Further Reading

  Ammianus Marcellinus. 3 vols. Translated by John C. Rolfe. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937.

  Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. New York: Dorset, 1986.

  Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Colledge, Malcolm A. R. The Parthians. New York: Praeger, 1967.

  Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.

  Justin. The History of the World. Translated by G. Turnbull. London, 1746.

  Lecomte, Oliver. “Vehrânkâ and Dehistan: Late Farming Communities of South-West Turkmenistan from the Iron Age to the Islamic Period.” In Parthica, Incontri Di Culture Nel Mondo Antico, 135–170. Pisa: Istituti Editoriali Poligrafici Internazionali, 1999.

  Rawlinson, George. The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy. Tehran: Imperial Organization for Social Services, 1976.

  Schippmann, K. “Arsacids II: The Arsacid Dynasty.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-index#pt2.

  Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.

  Wolski, J. “The Decay of the Iranian Empire of the Seleucids and the Chronology of the Parthian Beginnings.” Berytus 12 (1956–1958): 35–52.

  Arsaces II

  We know very little about the early history of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty (247/238 BCE–224 CE). What we know about the first four rulers of the Arsacid state is fraught with uncertainty and confusion because of the absence of reliable historical information. Traditional historical accounts maintained that upon the death of the dynasty’s founder, Arsaces I, his brother, Tiridates I, succeeded him on the Arsacid throne and ruled until 211 BCE. In the wake of discovery of new coinage and other artifacts, a more recent and revised account, however, has surfaced. These findings have led some scholars to conclude that Arsaces II was the son of Arsaces I, the founder of the Arsacid dynasty. Arsaces II ascended the throne after the death of his father in 217 BCE and ruled until 191 BCE.

  In 209 BCE, the Seleucid king Antiochus III embarked on his eastern campaign and marched to Iran to reimpose his authority over Parthia and Bactria. One of the principal goals of this campaign was to neutralize the threat posed by the newly emerging Arsacid state, which had established itself in present-day northeastern Iran during the reign of Arsaces II’s father, Arsaces I. Arsaces I had conquered Parthia in 238 BCE. From Parthia, he had attacked and seized Hyrcania. To reimpose his authority over eastern Iran, the Seleucid monarch Seleucus II (r. 246–225 BCE) attacked Parthia and Hyrcania, but he failed to destroy the Arsacid state.

  When the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III attacked eastern Iran in 209 BCE, he first captured Hecatompylos (City of a Hundred Gates) in Shahr-e Qumis, near the city of Damghan in present-day northern Iran, before marching to Hyrcania. Arsaces II fought the Seleucid army, estimated at 100,000 men and 20,000 horses, “with great bravery,” but he eventually made a tactical retreat and “made an alliance” with Antiochus (Justin: XLI.5). Antiochus III also “found it prudent to make peace and a treaty of alliance” with the Arsacids (Debevoise: 18). Thus, the Arsacid dynasty survived. Upon his death, Arsaces II was succeeded by his son Priapatius, who ruled from 191 to 176 BCE. Beginning in the reign of Phraates I (r. 176–171 BCE), a grandson of Arsaces II, the Arsacid state broke out of northeastern Iran and began to expand its territory into the regions south of the Alborz mountain range. Another grandson of Arsaces II, Mithridates I (r. 171–139/138 BCE), converted the Arsacid kingdom into a major world power.

  See also: K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Arsaces I; Priapatius; Peoples: Arsacid Parthian Empire; Arsacids

  Further Reading

  Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Colledge, Malcolm A. R. The Parthians. New York: Praeger, 1967.

  Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.

  Justin. The History of the World. Translated by G. Turnbull. London, 1746.

  Schippmann, K. “Arsacids II: The Arsacid Dynasty.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-index#pt2.

  Artabanus I

  Artabanus I (Ardavan I) was a monarch of the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty. There is, however, no agreement on the exact dates of his reign. One group of historians maintains that he ascended the Arsacid throne after the death of his father, Tiridates, in 211 BCE. A second group of scholars believes that Artabanus I was the Parthian king who ascended the throne after the death of his nephew Phraates II on the battlefield in 130 BCE.

  Our knowledge of the early history of the Arsacid dynasty (r. 247/238 BCE–224 CE) is limited to a few unreliable accounts. What we know about the first four rulers of the Arsacid state is fraught with uncertainty and confusion because of the absence of reliable sources. Therefore, a great variety of opinion exists among scholars regarding the identity of the early Arsacid kings. One group of scholars has maintained that Artabanus I was the third king of the Arsacid state and ascended the throne in 211 BCE after the death of his father, Tiridates I, who was the brother of Arsaces I, the founder of the dynasty. According to these scholars, Artabanus I was forced to defend his kingdom against Antiochus III when the Seleucid king embarked on his eastern campaign in 209 BCE. The military objective of this campaign was to neutralize the threat posed by the emerging Arsacid kingdom as well as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in present-day northern Afghanistan. Antiochus intended to punish the Parthians for extending their territory to the region south of the Alborz mountain range in northern Iran. Antiochus managed to occupy Hecatompylos or Sad Darvazeh (City of a Hundred Gates) in Shahr-e Qumis near present-day Damghan in northern Iran. The Parthians made a tactical retreat and acknowledged Seleucid sovereignty.

  Aside from the Parthians, Antiochus also attempted to destroy the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in present-day northern Afghanistan. As with the Parthians, this campaign also resulted in limited success. A Seleucid army failed to capture Bactria, and in return fo
r accepting the nominal sovereignty of the Seleucid king, the ruler, Euthydemus, was allowed to retain his position and title. In late 190 BCE, Antiochus and his army of 70,000 suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of 30,000 Romans. In the Treaty of Apamea signed in 188 BCE, Antiochus renounced his claims to all territories north and west of the Taurus mountain range in Asia Minor. He also agreed to send a group of hostages, including his son, the future Antiochus IV, to Rome; pay a heavy war indemnity to the Romans; and surrender his fleet and elephants (Appian: 11.8.38–40). With the defeat at the hands of the Romans, the Seleucid kingdom was reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and parts of Iran. The defeat at Magnesia undermined the credibility of the Seleucids and convinced the pretenders to power in the east, particularly the Arsacids based in northeastern Iran and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in northern Afghanistan, to resume their campaigns of territorial expansion. Meanwhile, Artabanus I had died in 191 BCE and was succeeded by his son Priapatius.