1. Introduction and Index
1. INTRODUCTION.
For a long time, I’ve been interested in the history of ancient Iran. And one part of this history that has interested me specially is the demise of the Arsacid dynasty as rulers of Iran and their replacement with the Persian Sasanians. So, I’ve decided to write a series of posts dealing with this subject. I have a penchant for writing long walls of text, so I apologize in advance if I cause any fellow forumites any undue annoyance.
The posts will be divided in three major series. First, a block of posts dealing with the political, demographic, geographical, cultural and economic realities of ancient Iran. Then, a second part dealing with the events that led to the fall of the Arsacids and the rise of the Sasanians. And finally, a third part dealing with the reigns of Ardašir I and his son Šābuhr I.
As anybody minimally acquainted with Roman history should know, the only polity that the Romans of the Principate deigned themselves to consider even remotely comparable to their own res publica was the Regnum Parthorum, the Iranian empire ruled by the Arsacid dinasty and centered in the Iranian plateau. Before I go into further discussion, I should make clear that scholars don’t know much about that empire which rivaled Rome and that lasted for five centuries in the Iranian plateau. The Arsacid dinasty was created by an adventurer called Aršak (Arsaces in Greek and Latin), that according to the writings of the Greek and Latin chroniclers Arrian, Justin and Strabo (with some differences in details) had fled from the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom and sought refuge among the Parni tribe, a part of the Dahae tribal confederation that dwelled in the ancient land of Khwarazm, now in western Turkestan. Aršak eventually managed to convince some of the Parni tribesmen to accept him as a leader and invaded the Seleucid satrapy of Parthiene, then governed by a satrap called Andragoras (who despite his Greek name seems to have been an Iranian) and who for the last ten years had been independent from Seleucid rule following the successful secession of the satrapy of Bactriana under the Greek satrap Diodotus, who’d proclaimed himself king. Aršak managed to conquer Parthiene and kill Andragoras, after which he also proclaimed himself king, thus he gave his name to a dinasty and his people became known to Greeks and Romans as “Parthians” due to their first conquest in the Iranian plateau. The Parni were also an Iranian people, but they seem to have quickly lost their own Iranian language (a member of the eastern Iranian language family, close to Scythian) and adopted as their own the language of Parthiene (Parthava in Achaemenid Old Persian, Parthia in Latin), which was the Parthian language (Pahlav in Parthian), a northwestern Iranian language close to Median and Azeri.
In turn, five centuries later, the Arsacid dinasty would lose its throne to another parvenu, Ardašir I, a scion from a foreign family that had recently settled in the southern Iranian province known to the Greeks and Romans as Persis / Persia (Old Persian Pārsa, Middle Persian Pārs, Modern Persian Fārs). The dinasty he founded, the Sasanians, would rule the Iranian plateau for four more centuries until the Muslim invasion.
The main reason for the lack of knowledge of Arsacid history and society is the total lack of written historical texts written in Iran in that time. This is a strange fact, because Iranians were not illiterate at the time. Apart from Greek, which was the language mostly employed by Arsacid kings in their coins until the Augustan era, Iranian languages were written using the Pahlavi script, an evolution of the Imperial Aramaic script used by the Achaemenid kings to write their Old Persian texts. Lots of short texts written in Parthian using Pahlavi script have survived, written on coins, ceramic fragments (especially the ostrakha from Old Nisa) and other materials, suggesting that Iranians had no trouble writing, but there’s no trace of historical, literary or religious texts. This puzzling fact can only be explained resorting to cultural bias. Zoroastrianism seems to have displayed a strong dislike and mistrust towards written texts, probably due to its intimate relationship with the “dirty” activity of trade. The Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta, was not written down until the IV or V centuries CE, and then only because the pressure of the new “bookish” religions like Christianity convinced the priesthood that they needed to do so or go under.
This peculiar, and unfortunate, situation means that the only sources extant for reconstructing the history of Arsacid Iran and the rise of the Sasanians are foreign ones, mainly Greek and Latin ones, with Armenian, Syriac and late Middle Persian sources that add some elements to the rise of the Sasanians that are not found in Greek and Latin sources.
To this utter scarcity of texts we should add the exhaustive practice of the Sasanians, followed along all their 400 years of history, of erasing the memory of the Arsacids, condemning them to an implacable damnatio memoriae more far-reaching in its effects than anything practiced by the Romans. When Abu’l-Qāsem Ferdowsī wrote in the late X century CE his monumental Šāh-nāma, his encompassing recollection of Iranian history since the founding of the world until the coming of Islam, compiling informations from all kind of oral and written sources now lost to us, the memory of the Arsacids had been so utterly defaced and erased by the Sasanians that they are completely absent from Ferdowsī’s epic poem, even their name was lost.
NOTE: for the Romanisation of Iranian words, I’ll be following the spelling used by Encyclopaedia Iranica.
NOTE: following Herbert West's suggestion, I'll add here an index for the thread, which I'll keep updated regularly:
0. SOURCES.
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT.
3. DEMOGRAPHICS.
5. THE ARSACID MILITARY.
8. THE REVOLT OF ARDAXŠIR I.
10.0 THE ROMAN EMPIRE BETWEEN 217 AND 228 CE.
11. THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I.
13. ARDAXŠIR I’S INTERNAL POLICIES. IDEOLOGY OF KINGSHIP, RELIGION, ART AND ECONOMY.
14. THE EARLY SASANIAN ARMY.
15. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I.
17. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB.
20. ŠĀBUHR I'S SECOND CAMPAIGN.
23. IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I.
For a long time, I’ve been interested in the history of ancient Iran. And one part of this history that has interested me specially is the demise of the Arsacid dynasty as rulers of Iran and their replacement with the Persian Sasanians. So, I’ve decided to write a series of posts dealing with this subject. I have a penchant for writing long walls of text, so I apologize in advance if I cause any fellow forumites any undue annoyance.
The posts will be divided in three major series. First, a block of posts dealing with the political, demographic, geographical, cultural and economic realities of ancient Iran. Then, a second part dealing with the events that led to the fall of the Arsacids and the rise of the Sasanians. And finally, a third part dealing with the reigns of Ardašir I and his son Šābuhr I.
As anybody minimally acquainted with Roman history should know, the only polity that the Romans of the Principate deigned themselves to consider even remotely comparable to their own res publica was the Regnum Parthorum, the Iranian empire ruled by the Arsacid dinasty and centered in the Iranian plateau. Before I go into further discussion, I should make clear that scholars don’t know much about that empire which rivaled Rome and that lasted for five centuries in the Iranian plateau. The Arsacid dinasty was created by an adventurer called Aršak (Arsaces in Greek and Latin), that according to the writings of the Greek and Latin chroniclers Arrian, Justin and Strabo (with some differences in details) had fled from the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom and sought refuge among the Parni tribe, a part of the Dahae tribal confederation that dwelled in the ancient land of Khwarazm, now in western Turkestan. Aršak eventually managed to convince some of the Parni tribesmen to accept him as a leader and invaded the Seleucid satrapy of Parthiene, then governed by a satrap called Andragoras (who despite his Greek name seems to have been an Iranian) and who for the last ten years had been independent from Seleucid rule following the successful secession of the satrapy of Bactriana under the Greek satrap Diodotus, who’d proclaimed himself king. Aršak managed to conquer Parthiene and kill Andragoras, after which he also proclaimed himself king, thus he gave his name to a dinasty and his people became known to Greeks and Romans as “Parthians” due to their first conquest in the Iranian plateau. The Parni were also an Iranian people, but they seem to have quickly lost their own Iranian language (a member of the eastern Iranian language family, close to Scythian) and adopted as their own the language of Parthiene (Parthava in Achaemenid Old Persian, Parthia in Latin), which was the Parthian language (Pahlav in Parthian), a northwestern Iranian language close to Median and Azeri.
In turn, five centuries later, the Arsacid dinasty would lose its throne to another parvenu, Ardašir I, a scion from a foreign family that had recently settled in the southern Iranian province known to the Greeks and Romans as Persis / Persia (Old Persian Pārsa, Middle Persian Pārs, Modern Persian Fārs). The dinasty he founded, the Sasanians, would rule the Iranian plateau for four more centuries until the Muslim invasion.
The main reason for the lack of knowledge of Arsacid history and society is the total lack of written historical texts written in Iran in that time. This is a strange fact, because Iranians were not illiterate at the time. Apart from Greek, which was the language mostly employed by Arsacid kings in their coins until the Augustan era, Iranian languages were written using the Pahlavi script, an evolution of the Imperial Aramaic script used by the Achaemenid kings to write their Old Persian texts. Lots of short texts written in Parthian using Pahlavi script have survived, written on coins, ceramic fragments (especially the ostrakha from Old Nisa) and other materials, suggesting that Iranians had no trouble writing, but there’s no trace of historical, literary or religious texts. This puzzling fact can only be explained resorting to cultural bias. Zoroastrianism seems to have displayed a strong dislike and mistrust towards written texts, probably due to its intimate relationship with the “dirty” activity of trade. The Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta, was not written down until the IV or V centuries CE, and then only because the pressure of the new “bookish” religions like Christianity convinced the priesthood that they needed to do so or go under.
This peculiar, and unfortunate, situation means that the only sources extant for reconstructing the history of Arsacid Iran and the rise of the Sasanians are foreign ones, mainly Greek and Latin ones, with Armenian, Syriac and late Middle Persian sources that add some elements to the rise of the Sasanians that are not found in Greek and Latin sources.
To this utter scarcity of texts we should add the exhaustive practice of the Sasanians, followed along all their 400 years of history, of erasing the memory of the Arsacids, condemning them to an implacable damnatio memoriae more far-reaching in its effects than anything practiced by the Romans. When Abu’l-Qāsem Ferdowsī wrote in the late X century CE his monumental Šāh-nāma, his encompassing recollection of Iranian history since the founding of the world until the coming of Islam, compiling informations from all kind of oral and written sources now lost to us, the memory of the Arsacids had been so utterly defaced and erased by the Sasanians that they are completely absent from Ferdowsī’s epic poem, even their name was lost.
NOTE: for the Romanisation of Iranian words, I’ll be following the spelling used by Encyclopaedia Iranica.
NOTE: following Herbert West's suggestion, I'll add here an index for the thread, which I'll keep updated regularly:
0. SOURCES.
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT.
3. DEMOGRAPHICS.
3.1. GENERAL OUTLINE.
3.2. THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK.
3.3. THE MAGNATES.
3.4. POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE IRANIAN PLATEAU.
3.5. THE WESTERN TERRITORIES.
3.6. THE EASTERN TERRITORIES.
4. RELIGION AND TRADITIONS. 3.2. THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK.
3.3. THE MAGNATES.
3.4. POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE IRANIAN PLATEAU.
3.5. THE WESTERN TERRITORIES.
3.6. THE EASTERN TERRITORIES.
5. THE ARSACID MILITARY.
5.1. GENERAL OVERWIEV OF THE ARSACID MILITARY.
5.2. WEAPONS AND TACTICS.
5.3. THE ARSACID MILITARY. COMPARISON WITH THE ROMAN ARMY.
5.4. THE ARSACID MILITARY. STRATEGIC COMPARATIVE WITH ROME.
6. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY.5.2. WEAPONS AND TACTICS.
5.3. THE ARSACID MILITARY. COMPARISON WITH THE ROMAN ARMY.
5.4. THE ARSACID MILITARY. STRATEGIC COMPARATIVE WITH ROME.
6.1. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE ANCIENT SOURCES.
6.2. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE FIRST PARTHIAN WAR OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AGAINST WALAXŠ V.
6.3. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE SECOND PARTHIAN WAR OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AGAINST WALAXŠ V.
6.4. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE PARTHIAN WAR OF CARACALLA AGAINST ARDAWĀN V.
6.5. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE LAST BATTLE BETWEEN THE ARSACIDS AND ROME: NISIBIS 217 CE.
7. PERSIA UNDER THE SELEUCIDS AND ARSACIDS.6.2. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE FIRST PARTHIAN WAR OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AGAINST WALAXŠ V.
6.3. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE SECOND PARTHIAN WAR OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AGAINST WALAXŠ V.
6.4. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE PARTHIAN WAR OF CARACALLA AGAINST ARDAWĀN V.
6.5. THE END OF THE ARSACID DYNASTY. THE LAST BATTLE BETWEEN THE ARSACIDS AND ROME: NISIBIS 217 CE.
8. THE REVOLT OF ARDAXŠIR I.
8.1 THE REVOLT OF ARDAXŠIR I. THE OBSCURE ORIGINS OF THE HOUSE OF SĀSĀN IN PĀRS.
8.2 THE REVOLT OF ARDAXŠIR I. THE POSSIBLE EASTERN ORIGINS AND CONNECTIONS OF THE HOUSE OF SĀSĀN.
9.0 THE CONSOLIDATION OF ARDAXŠIR I’S RULE.8.2 THE REVOLT OF ARDAXŠIR I. THE POSSIBLE EASTERN ORIGINS AND CONNECTIONS OF THE HOUSE OF SĀSĀN.
10.0 THE ROMAN EMPIRE BETWEEN 217 AND 228 CE.
11. THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I.
11.1 THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I. FIRST ROMAN REACTIONS.
11.2 THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I. THE ROMAN ARMY MOVES TO THE EAST.
11.2 THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I. THE CAMPAIGN OF 233 CE.
12. THE FINAL YEARS OF ARDAXŠIR I’S REIGN.11.2 THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I. THE ROMAN ARMY MOVES TO THE EAST.
11.2 THE WAR OF SEVERUS ALEXANDER AGAINST ARDAXŠIR I. THE CAMPAIGN OF 233 CE.
13. ARDAXŠIR I’S INTERNAL POLICIES. IDEOLOGY OF KINGSHIP, RELIGION, ART AND ECONOMY.
14. THE EARLY SASANIAN ARMY.
15. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I.
15.1. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I. THE SITUATION IN ROME AT THE START OF GORDIAN III’S REIGN.
15.2. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I. THE ROMAN ARMY MOVES TO THE EAST.
15.3. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I. THE 243-244 CE MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN.
16. THE AFTERMATH OF GORDIAN III’S EASTERN EXPEDITION.15.2. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I. THE ROMAN ARMY MOVES TO THE EAST.
15.3. THE CAMPAIGN OF GORDIAN III AGAINST ŠĀBUHR I. THE 243-244 CE MESOPOTAMIAN CAMPAIGN.
17. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB.
17.1. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. INTRODUCTION
17.2. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. POLITICAL OVERVIEW
17.3. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. FINANCIAL POLICIES.
17.5. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND EPIDEMICS.
17.6. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. THE FALL OF PHILIP.
18. THE REIGN OF DECIUS.17.2. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. POLITICAL OVERVIEW
17.3. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. FINANCIAL POLICIES.
17.5. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND EPIDEMICS.
17.6. THE REIGN OF PHILIP THE ARAB. THE FALL OF PHILIP.
18.1. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. FIRST MEASURES.
18.2. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE CHANGING SITUATION IN THE EMPIRE’S NORTHERN BORDERS.
18.3. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE START OF THE GOTHIC WAR.
18.4. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE EMPEROR MOVES TO THE LOWER DANUBE.
18.5. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE FALL OF PHILIPPOPOLIS AND CNIVA’S RETREAT.
18.6. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE BATTLE OF ABRITUS.
19. THE AFTERMATH OF ABRITUS.18.2. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE CHANGING SITUATION IN THE EMPIRE’S NORTHERN BORDERS.
18.3. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE START OF THE GOTHIC WAR.
18.4. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE EMPEROR MOVES TO THE LOWER DANUBE.
18.5. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE FALL OF PHILIPPOPOLIS AND CNIVA’S RETREAT.
18.6. THE REIGN OF DECIUS. THE BATTLE OF ABRITUS.
20. ŠĀBUHR I'S SECOND CAMPAIGN.
20.1. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE PRELIMINARIES.
20.2. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE DISASTROUS REIGN OF TREBONIANUS GALLUS.
20.3. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE BATTLE OF BARBALISSOS.
20.4. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE RAVAGING OF SYRIA AND THE FIRST CAPTURE OF ANTIOCH.
21. VALERIAN'S REIGN.20.2. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE DISASTROUS REIGN OF TREBONIANUS GALLUS.
20.3. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE BATTLE OF BARBALISSOS.
20.4. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND CAMPAIGN. THE RAVAGING OF SYRIA AND THE FIRST CAPTURE OF ANTIOCH.
21.1. VALERIAN´S REIGN. THE PROMISING BEGINNINGS.
21.2. ŠĀBUHR I’S RETREAT.
21.3. VALERIAN’S REIGN. THE APPEARANCE OF CONSOLIDATION AND THE ILLUSION OF STABILITY.
21.4. VALERIAN’S REIGN. THE BATTLE OF EDESSA.
22. THE AFTERMATH OF EDESSA. ŠĀBUHR I’S SECOND ONSLAUGHT AGAINST THE ROMAN EAST.21.2. ŠĀBUHR I’S RETREAT.
21.3. VALERIAN’S REIGN. THE APPEARANCE OF CONSOLIDATION AND THE ILLUSION OF STABILITY.
21.4. VALERIAN’S REIGN. THE BATTLE OF EDESSA.
23. IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I.
23.1 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. ECONOMY AND DEMOGRAPHY.
23.2 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. THE SOCIETY OF ĒRĀNŠĀHR.
23.3 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. RELIGION AND ŠĀBUHR I’S PLACE IN IRAN’S “NATIONAL TRADITION”.
23.4 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. ŠĀBUHR I’S COURT, FAMILY AND SUCCESSION.
24. THE SUCCESSORS OF ŠĀBUHR I AND THE ROMAN RECOVERY. THE REIGNS OF HORMAZD I, BAHRĀM I AND BAHRĀM II.23.2 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. THE SOCIETY OF ĒRĀNŠĀHR.
23.3 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. RELIGION AND ŠĀBUHR I’S PLACE IN IRAN’S “NATIONAL TRADITION”.
23.4 IRAN UNDER ŠĀBUHR I. ŠĀBUHR I’S COURT, FAMILY AND SUCCESSION.
24.1 THE RISE OF THE ILLYRIAN EMPERORS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ROMAN RECOVERY.
24.2 THE FALL OF PALMYRA.
24.3 THE END OF THE GALLIC EMPIRE AND THE DEATH OF AURELIAN.
24.4 TACITUS AND PROBUS.
24.5 EVENTS IN THE SASANIAN EMPIRE AFTER ŠĀBUHR I’S DEATH. THE REIGN OF CARUS.
24.6 THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ROMAN DEFENSES IN THE EAST BY DIOCLETIAN.
24.7 THE REIGN OF NARSĒ AND THE ROAD TO WAR.
24.8 THE WAR BETWEEN NARSĒ AND DIOCLETIAN AND THE FIRST PEACE TREATY OF NISIBIS.
24.2 THE FALL OF PALMYRA.
24.3 THE END OF THE GALLIC EMPIRE AND THE DEATH OF AURELIAN.
24.4 TACITUS AND PROBUS.
24.5 EVENTS IN THE SASANIAN EMPIRE AFTER ŠĀBUHR I’S DEATH. THE REIGN OF CARUS.
24.6 THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ROMAN DEFENSES IN THE EAST BY DIOCLETIAN.
24.7 THE REIGN OF NARSĒ AND THE ROAD TO WAR.
24.8 THE WAR BETWEEN NARSĒ AND DIOCLETIAN AND THE FIRST PEACE TREATY OF NISIBIS.
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