 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 ] Next Last |
The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE.
The Parthians were an illiterate nomadic people, thought to have spoken an Indo-Iranian languages, who arrived at 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. Later, at the height of their power, Parthian influences reached as far as Ubar in Arabia, the nexus of the frankincense 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 could not clearly separate the latter, very strong empire from its rather obscure origins.
Little is known of the Parthians: they had no literature of their own and consequently their written history consists of biased descriptions of conflicts with Romans, Greeks, Jews and — at the far end of the Silk Road — the Chinese empire. Even their own name for themselves is up for debate due to a lack of domestic records; the best guess is that they called their empire Eranshahr. Their strength was a combination of the guerilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe with sufficient organisation to build a vast empire, even if it never matched the two Persian empires in strength. 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.
Initially, a king named Arsaces (possibly of a nomad tribe named Parni, a name whose relation to the word Parthian is much debated, or according to Armenian sources of White Hun origins) made himself independent of SeleucidThe Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexander's empire. The partition of Alexander's empire (323-281 BC) Alexander the Great left a huge empi rule in remote areas of northern Iran ca 250 BCE, where his descendants of the same name ruled until Antiochus III the GreatAntiochus III the Great (ruled 223 187 BC), younger son of Seleucus II Callinicus, became ruler of the Seleucid kingdom as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. His traditional designation, the Great stems from a misconception of Megas Basileus (Great king briefly made them submit to the Seleucid empire again in 206 BCE.
Coin of the 6th Arsacid, Mithridates I (171-138BC)
It was not until the second century BC that the Parthians profited from the increasing Seleucid weakness and gradually captured all of their territories east of SyriaThe Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Southwest Asia, bordering (from south to north) on Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. The border with Israel is subject to dispute, pending the resolution of outstanding conflicts over possession of the Gola. Once the Parthians had captured HeratHert is a city in western Afghanistan, in the valley of the Hari Rud river in the province also known as Herat and was traditionally known for wine. The inhabitants are mainly Tajiks. It is an ancient city with many historic buildings, although these have, the movement of trade along the Silk Road to China was effectively choked off, and the post-Alexandrian Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was doomed.
It fell to the Seleucid monarchs to hold the line against the Parthians.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes spent his last years fruitlessly battling the Parthians in the endless war, until he died in 163 BCE. The Parthians were able to take advantage of Seleucid weakness during the dynastic squabbles that followed Antiochus' death.In 139 BCE, the Parthian king Mithridates I captured the Seleucid monarch, Demetrius Nicator, and held him captive for ten years, while the Parthians overwhelmed Mesopotamia and Media.
Vologases III (105-147AD) on a silver drachm
By 129 BCE the Parthians were in control of all the lands right to the Tigris River, and established their winter encampment at Ctesiphon on the banks of the Tigris downstream from modern Baghdad. Ctesiphon was a small suburb directly across the river from Seleucia, the most populous Hellenistic city of western Asia. Seleucia they only harassed; they needed its wealth and trade, and the city preserved its independence and Greek culture. In the heat of the Mesopotamian summer, the Parthian horde would withdraw to the ancient Persian capitals of Susa and Ecbatana (modern Hamadan).
In the 1st century BCE, the Parthians intervened frequently in eastern Mediterranean politics from their capital at Ctesiphon. They clashed with the Romans, gaining respect when they managed to defeat the army of Roman general Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae ( 53 BCE). Having established themselves across most of the old Persian Empire, the Parthians became arch-enemies of Rome, whose Eastern campaigns (for instance under Trajan and Septimius Severus) never crushed the resilient and somewhat de-centralized Parthian 'empire,' but bled capital from Rome.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|