Arsacid Dynasty: Encyclopedia - Arsacid Dynasty

Arsacid Dynasty

The Arsacid Dynasty ruled Persia. Their realm is also called Parthia, which included the Iranian plateau and intermittently Mesopotamia, from 253 BC until their overthrow by the Sassanid Dynasty in AD 226. At certain times Arsacid Kings also ruled over Armenia.

Arsacid Dynasty - Historical Background

After the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander III, king of Macedonia, Iran became in a constant conflict between the Iranian traditions and the Hellenistic way of life, between civic life and oriental monarchy. In Persia the Hellenistic rulers were ultimately unable to solve these and other problems inherent in such a mixed and complex society, even if there was a strong level of contamination between the two cultures. But the Greeks and their culture ultimately ended up occupying a secondary if important role, while pre-conquest patterns re-emerged stronger than ever, like the persistent use of the Aramaic language for administrative reasons.

The Hellenistic lands in Asia after the death of Alexander were kept by the Seleucid Empire; an overextended domain, which neglected its Iranian possessions in favour of Anatolia and Syria. The Parni, an Iranian nomadic tribe, were to gain advantage of this, and later of the disintegration of the Seleucids amid the dynastic squabbles which followed the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 BC. Things didn't go better for the other hellenistic kingdom on the Iranian soil, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, sweeped away by the migrations of the Yueh-Chih tribe.

The 1st century BC, with the fall of the last remains of the hellenistic kingdoms, saw the emergence of what were to be the Parthians' mortal enemies; the Romans and the Kushan Empire, with whom the Parthians were to be engaged in many conflicts, without forgetting all the fights against the nomads from north-east.

Arsacid Dynasty - The birth of an Empire

In 247 BC two brothers, Arsaces (Arschag) and Tiridates, members of the nomad iranic tribe of the Parni, first mentioned in this century and migrating south from the banks of the Amu-Darya, occupied the Seleucid satrapy of Parthia (the district of Tejen) by defeating and killing its governor Andragoras. They were years of great tumult and difficulties for the House of Seleucus, which had also a few years before lost control of Bactria with the rebellion of the Greek satrap Diodotus.

The Parthians remained on the defensive for nearly a century; a century in which the world scenery was radically transformed. In particular, in 190 BC the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great suffered a crushing defeat from the Romans at Magnesia, starting the unarrestable decline of his kingdom. And when Antiochus IV Epiphanes died in 164 BC internecine conflicts exploded in the royal dynasty, opening the road for Mithridates I' campaigns in his long reign from 171 to 138 BC.

Mithridates I annexed the provinces of Media, Susiana, Persis, Characene, Babylonia and Assyria in the west and of Gedrosia and Sistan in the east, and also took Seleucia on the Tigris, which was the second largest city of Western Asia. The autonomy and Greek institutions of Seleucia was respected. Immediately facing the city, on the left bank of the Tigris, the Parthians founded Ctesiphon, the new capital of the empire. The Seleucids tried with Demetrius II Nicator to reconquered the lost ground, but in 139 BC he lost his battle against the Parthian cavalry and fell into the hands of Mithridates I. The Parthian king treated him gently, also giving him one of his daughter in marriage, but kept him captive in Hyrcania where he remained prisoner till his death. A later attempt in 129 BC to reconquer the former Seleucid dominions by Antiochus VII Sidetes met with no more luck. In this way, Mithridates I created an empire which extended itself from the Euphrates to the Indian Caucasus, which had in itself a vast motley of people and traditions.

Another great king was to prove himself Mithridates II, who went to power about 123 BC. He reported important victories both on the West, where he kept the Seleucids in check, and on the East, where he defeated the the nomad Sakae expanding his power to the Oxus.

Mithridates II was also the first Parthian king to enter in contact with the world's greatest empires, the Chinese and the Roman: around 110 BC Chinese and Parthians both sent embassies to the respective courts with the object of facilitating the commerce with the west. As for the Romans, the first contacts were also friendly since they had a common enemy, Tigranes the Great king of Armenia.

Arsacid Dynasty - Arsacid Parthian Kings of Persia 250 BC - AD 226

• Arsaces I c. 247–211 BC
  • (In some histories, Arsaces's brother Tiridates I is said to have ruled c. 246–211 BC.)
• Arsaces II c. 211–191 BC (frequently called Artabanus by early scholars)
• Phriapatius c. 191–176 BC
• Phraates I c. 176–171 BC
• Mithridates I c. 171–138 BC
• Phraates II c. 138–127 BC
• Artabanus I c. 127–124 BC
• Mithridates II c. 123–88 BC
  • Gotarzes I c. 95–90 BC
• Orodes I c. 90–80 BC
  • Unknown king c. 80 BC
• Unknown king, c. 80–70 BC
  • Sanatruces c. 77–70 BC
• Phraates III c. 70–57 BC
• Mithridates III c. 57–54 BC
• Orodes II c. 57–38 BC
  • Pacorus I c. 39–38 BC (co-ruler with his father Orodes II)
• Phraates IV c. 38–2 BC
  • Tiridates II c. 30–26 BC
• Phraates V (Phraataces) c. 2 BC–AD 4
  • Musa c. 2 BC–AD 4 (co-ruler with her son Phraates V)
• Orodes III c. AD 6
• Vonones I c. 8–12
• Artabanus II c. 10–38
  • Tiridates III c. 35–36
• Vardanes I c. 40–47
• Gotarzes II c. 40–51
  • Sanabares c. 50–65
• Vonones II 51
• Vologases I c. 51–78
  • Vardanes II c. 55–58
• Vologases II c. 77–80
• Pacorus II c. 78–105
  • Artabanus III c. 80–90
• Vologases III c. 105–147
  • Osroes I c. 109–129
  • Parthamaspates c. 116
  • Mithridates IV c. 129–140
  • Unknown king c. 140
• Vologases IV c. 147–191
  • Osroes II c. 190 (rival claimant)
• Vologases V c. 191–208
• Vologases VI c. 208–228
  • Artabanus IV c. 216–224

Arsacid Dynasty - Reference

THE EMPIRE OF PARTHIAN DYNASTY 248BCE to 28th April CE224, edited by Shapour Suren-Pahlav

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Arsacid Dynasty", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki