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The Arsacid Empire or Parthian Empire (247 BC - 226 AD) was a powerful empire that ruled the Iranian Plateau, the Persian Gulf coast, Mesopotamia and Armenia, after the collapse of the Seleucid Empire. Parthian leaders originally came from the region located south-east of the Caspian Sea, between the Kopet Dag mountains and the Dasht-e-Kavir desert, also known as Parthia.[1] The empire was established by Arsaces I in 247 BC and ended in 226 AD when Ardeshir I, a rebellious vessel, defeated Artabanus IV and went on to establish the Sassanid Empire. In 247 BC Arsaces I, a general in the Seleucid army seized control between the Caspian Sea and Central Asia from the Seleucid Empire.[2] Between 247 BC and 171 BC the Arsacid dynasty that ruled Parthia expanded it's borders to include Greater Khorasan and the eastern Elburz Mountains. During Mithradates I's reign between 171 BC and 138 BC he conquered Bactria and Seleucid-controlled Media, Persia, Elam and Babylon. He also captured Demetrius II, the ruler of the Seleucid kingdom.[2][3] EtymologyHistoryOrigin
Ancient Assyrian texts mention a country named Partakka or Partukka in the seventh century BC.[1] At some point it was subjugated by the Medes, who were later overthrown in 550 BC by their Persian vassals, led by Cyrus the Great. For the next two centuries the satrapy of Parthia was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. In 522 BC, Parthia joined King Phraortes of Media in a rebellion that was suppressed by Darius the Great[1]. They fought with King Darius III of Persia during the Battle of Gaugamela against the Macedonians led by Alexander the Great (October 1st, 331 BC). They were commanded by Phrataphernes, who surrendered his satrapy to Alexander in the summer of 330. Phrataphernes was reappointed Satrap and also given control over Hyrcania in 323 BC. After Alexander's death, his Argead dynasty controlled Parthia during the reigns of Philip III of Macedon and Alexander IV of Macedon. After the empire's unity was shattered during the wars of the Diadochi, Parthia became part of the Seleucid Empire of Seleucus I Nicator. During the reigns of Seleucus I and Antiochus I Soter the Parni nomads moved from Central Asia into Parthia and seem to have adopted the Parthian language and been absorbed into the settled population.[4] Between 280 BC and 250 BC the Seleucid Empire was occupied by ongoing conflicts on it's western borders, and as long as Parthia, and Bactria, paid their tributes and supplied troops for the Seleucid's wars, the empire was content.[5] As a result, around 245 BC the Parthian Satrap Andragoras allied with Diodotus I of Bactria and revolted against the Seleucids to form his own kingdom. Early history
Arsaces I became the leader of the Parni tribe. Under pressure from the Bactrians, the Parni sought refuge in Parthia. In 238 BC Arsaces killed Andragoras, the rebellious satrap of Parthia.[6] According to Arrian, Arsaces was then killed and was succeeded by his brother; however modern historians believe that he ruled Parthia until 211 BC, when he was succeeded by his son Arsaces II. In 209 BC, Antiochus the Great invaded Parthia during his campaign to restore the Seleucid Empire's eastern territories. Antiochus occupied Parthia's capital at Hecatompylus, then pushed into Hyrcania before King Arsaces II recognized Seleucid authority. With Parthia secured, Antiochus moved against the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and fought King Euthydemus I for 3 years before securing peace. Antiochus concluded his eastern campaign with an expedition into India. Soon afterwards Antiochus was defeated by the Romans, which severely weakened the Seleucids and allowed Parthia to maintain its freedom from the Seleucids. Arsaces II died in 191 BC and was succeeded by Phriapatius. In 171 BC, King Phraates I subdued the Mardi tribe, but was killed in battle against Scythians nomads. His brother Mithridates I survived the battle and became one of Parthia's greatest Kings. Profiting from the continuing erosion of the Seleucid Empire, Mithridates captured Herat in 167 BC, which disrupted the trade routest to India and effectively split the Hellenistic world into two parts. The Seleucid monarchs resisted Parthian expansion as best as they could; Antiochus IV Epiphanes spent his last years campaigning against the newly emerging Iranian states. After initial successes in Armenia, his sudden death in 164 BC allowed the Parthians to take advantage of the ensuing dynastic squabbles to make even greater gains. Golden Age In 139 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I captured the Seleucid monarch Demetrius II Nicator, holding him captive for ten years while Parthian troops overwhelmed Mesopotamia and Media. By 129 BC, the Parthians were in control of the lands east of the Tigris river, and established a winter encampment at Ctesiphon, downstream from modern Baghdad. Ctesiphon was then a small suburb directly across the river from Seleucia on the Tigris, the most Hellenistic city of western Asia. Because of their need of the wealth and trade provided by Seleucia, the Parthian armies limited their incursions to harassment, allowing 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). From around 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. In the early part of the first century BC, the Parthian empire seems to have suffered a very short and intense dark age, where little in writing survived. 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. DeclineThe 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. CultureAnother 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. See also
Median and Achaemenid Empire (650 BC–248 BC) In 646 BC The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal sacked Susa, which ended Elamite supremacy in the region.[7] For over 150 years Assyrian kings of nearby Northern Mesopotamia were seeking to conquer Median tribes of Western Iran.[8] Under pressure from the Assyrian empire, the small kingdoms of the western Iranian plateau coalesced into increasingly larger and more centralized states.[7] In the second half of the 7th century BC, the Median tribes gained their independence and were united by Deioces. In 612 BC Cyaxares, Deioces' grandson, and the Babylonian king Nabopolassar invaded Assyria and laid siege to and eventually destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the fall of theNeo-Assyrian Empire.[9] The Medes are credited with the foundation of Iran as a nation and empire, and established the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians leading to the Achaemenian Empire (648–330 BC). After his father's death in 559 BC, Cyrus the Great became king of Anshan but like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Mede overlordship. In 552 BC Cyrus led his armies against the Medes and captured Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire and also inheriting Assyria. Cyrus later conquered Lydia and Babylon. Cyrus the Great created the Cyrus Cylinder, considered to be the first declaration of human rights and was the first king whose name has the suffix "Great". After Cyrus' death, his son Cambyses ruled for seven years (531-522 BC) and continued his father's work of conquest, making significant gains in Egypt. A power struggle followed Cambyses' death and, despite his tenuous connection to the royal line, Darius was declared king (ruled 522-486 BC). He was to be arguably the greatest of the ancient Persian rulers.  Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building programme at Persepolis. He built a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a forerunner of the modern Suez Canal. He improved the extensive road system, and it is during his reign that mention is first made of the Royal Road (shown on map), a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to Sardis with posting stations at regular intervals. Major reforms took place under Darius. Coinage, in the form of the daric (gold coin) and the shekel (silver coin) was introduced (coinage had already been invented over a century before in Lydia ca. 660 BCE),[10] and administrative efficiency was increased. The Old Persian language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of cuneiform. Under Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest empire in human history up until that point, ruling and administrating over most of the then known world.[11] Their greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first superpower.[12] [13] that was based on a model of tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions.[14] In 499 BC Athens lent support to a revolt in Miletus which resulted in the sacking of Sardis. This led to an Achaemenid campaign against Greece known as the Greco-Persian Wars which lasted the first half of the 5th century BC. During the Greco-Persian wars Persia made some major advantages and razed Athens in 480 BC, But after a string of Greek victories the Persians were forced to withdraw. Fighting ended with the peace of Callias in 449 BC. In 404 BC following the death of Darius II Egypt rebelled under Amyrtaeus. Later Egyptian Pharaohs successfully resisted Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt until 343 BC when Egypt was reconquered by Artaxerxes III. References
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