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PARTHIA
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PARTHIA , the mountainous See also:country S.E. of the See also:Caspian See also:Sea, which extends from the See also:Elburz See also:chain eastwards towards See also:Herat, and is bounded on the N. by the fertile See also:plain of See also:Hyrcania (about Astrabad) at the See also:foot of the mountains in the corner of the Caspian and by the Turanian See also:desert; on the S. by the See also:great See also:salt desert of central See also:Iran. It corresponds to the See also:modern See also:Khorasan. It was inhabited by an Iranian tribe, the Parthava of the See also:inscriptions of See also:Darius; the correct See also:Greek See also:form is Ilap8eaioc. Parthia became a See also:province of the Achaemenian and then of the Macedonian See also:Empire. Seleucus I. and See also:Antiochus I. founded Greek towns: Soteira, Charis, See also:Achaea, See also:Calliope (See also:Appian, Syr. 57; Plin. vi. 15; cf. See also:Strabo xi. 516); the See also:capital of Parthia is known only by its Greek name Hecatompylos (" The See also:Hundred-gated ") from the many roads which met there (Polyb. x. 28), and was, according to Appian, founded by Seleucus I. (cf. See also:Curtius vii. 2)., In 208 many Greek inhabitants are found in the towns of Parthia and Hyrcania (Polyb. x. 31, 11).
When about 255 B.C. See also:Diodotus had made himself See also: 120 (cf. Appian, Syr. 65; Justin, xli. 4, gives wrongly 256 B.C.), is confirmed by numerous Babylonian tablets dated simultaneously from the Seleucid and Arsacid eras (cf. Mahler, in Wiener Zeitschrift See also:fur See also:die Kunde See also:des Morgenlands, 1901, xv. 57 sqq.; See also:Lehmann See also:Haupt in Beitrage zacr See also:alten Geschichte, 1905, v. 128 sqq.). The origin and See also:early See also:history of the Parthian kingdom, of which we possess only very scanty See also:information, is surrounded by fabulous legends, narrated by See also:Arrian in his Parthica (preserved in See also:Photius, See also:cod. 58, and See also:Syncellus, p. 539 seq.). Here, Arsaces and his See also:brother See also:Tiridates are derived from the royal See also:house of the Achaemenids, probably from See also:Artaxerxes II.; the See also:young Tiridates is insulted by the See also:prefect See also:Agathocles or Pherecles; in revenge the See also:brothers with five companions (corresponding to the seven Persians of Darius) slay him, and Arsaces becomes king. He is killed after two years and succeeded by his brother Tiridates, who reigns 37 years. There is scarcely anything See also:historical in this See also:account, perhaps not even the name Tiridates, for, according to the older tradition, Arsaces himself ruled for many years. The troubles of the Seleucid empire, and the See also:war of Seleucus II. against See also:Ptolemy III. and his own brother Antiochus See also:Hierax, enabled him not only to maintain himself in Parthia, but also to conquer Hyrcania; but he was constantly threatened by Diodotus of Bactria (Justin xli. 4). When, about 238 B.C., Seleucus II. was able to See also: 46), now Kelat still farther eastward; the centre of his See also:power evidently See also:lay on the See also:borders of eastern Khorasan and the Turanian desert. The See also:principal institutions of the Parthian kingdom 1 Strabo xi. 515; cf. Justin xli. 4; the Parni are said by Strabo [ibid.] to have immigrated from See also:southern See also:Russia, a tradition wrongly transferred to the Parthians themselves by Justin xli. 1, and Arrian ap. Phot. cod. 58. were created by him (cf. Justin xli. 2). The Scythian nomads became the ruling See also:race; they were invested with large landed See also:property, and formed the See also:council of the king, who appointed the successor. They were archers fighting on horseback, and in their See also:cavalry consisted the strength of the Parthian See also:army; the See also:infantry were mostly slaves, bought and trained for military service, like the See also:janissaries and mamelukes. But these Scythians soon amalgamated with the Parthian peasants. They adopted the Iranian See also:religion of Zoroaster (in the royal See also:town Asaak an eternal See also:fire was maintained), and " their See also:language was a mixture of Scythian and Median " (i.e., Iranian). Therefore their language and See also:writing are called by the later Persians " Pehlevi," i.e. Parthian (Pehlevi is the modern form of Parthawa) and the magnates themselves Pehlevans, i.e. " Parthians," a See also:term transferred by Firdousi to the heroes of the old Iranian See also:legend. But the Arsacid kingdom never was a truly See also:national See also:state; with the Scythian and Parthian elements were See also:united some elements of Greek See also:civilization. The successors of Arsaces I. even founded some Greek towns, and when they had conquered Babylonia and See also:Mesopotamia they all adopted the epithet " Philhellen." To Arsaces I. probably belong the earliest Parthian coins; the See also:oldest simply See also:bear the name Arsaces; others, evidently struck after the See also:coronation in Asaak, have the royal title ((3aanXfws 'Ap thIcev). The See also:reverse shows the seated See also:archer, or occasionally an See also:elephant; the See also:head of the king is beardless and wears a See also:helmet and a diadem; only from the third or See also:fourth king they begin to See also:wear a See also:beard after the Iranian See also:fashion. In See also:honour of the founder of the See also:dynasty all his successors, when they came to the See also:throne, adopted his name and officially (e.g. on the coins) are almost always called Arsaces, whereas the historians generally use their individual names. Of the successors of Arsaces I. we know very little. His son, Arsaces II., was attacked by Antiochus III., the Great, in 209, who conquered the Parthian and Hyrcanian towns but at last granted a See also:peace. The next king, whom Justin calls Priapatius, ruled 15 years (about 190-175); his successor, Phraates I., subjected the mountainous tribe of the Mardi (in the Elburz). He died early, and was succeeded not by one of his sons but by his brother, See also:Mithradates I., who became the founder of the Parthian empire. Mithradates I. (c. 170-138) had to fight hard with the Greeks of Bactria, especially with See also:Eucratides (q.v.); at last he was able to conquer a great See also:part of eastern Iran. Soon after the See also:death of Antiochus IV. Epiphanes (163) he conquered See also:Media, where he refounded the town of Rhagae (Rai near See also:Teheran) under the name of Arsacia; and about 141 he invaded Babylonia. He and his son Phraates II. defeated the attempts of See also:Demetrius II. (139) and Antiochus VII. (129) to regain the eastern provinces, and extended the Arsacid dominion to the See also:Euphrates. For the later history of the Parthian empire reference should be made to See also:PERSIA: See also:Ancient History, and See also:biographical articles on the See also:kings. The following is a list of the kings, as far as it is possible to establish their See also:succession. The names of pretenders not generally acknowledged are put in brackets. Arsaces I. . 248-c. 21I See also:Vonones I. . . . 8-11 (perhaps Tiridates I.) See also:Artabanus II. C. Io-4o Arsaces II. .c. 211-190 (Tiridates III. . 36) Priapatius . . . .c. 190–175 (See also:Cinnamus . . . 38) Phraates I. .c. 175-170 (See also:Vardanes I.. • 40-45) Mithradates I. . .c. 170–138 See also:Gotarzes . . . . 40–51 Phraates II. . . . c. 138-127 Vonones II 51 Artabanus I. .c. 127–124 See also:Vologaeses I. . 51–77 Mithradates II. the (Vardanes II. . . . • . 55) Great . . co. 124–881 Vologaeses II. 77–79 ; I11–147 See also:Sanatruces I. . 76–70 See also:Pacorus . . 78–c. 105 Phraates III. . . 70-57 (Artabanus III. . . 8o-81) See also:Orodes I 57–37 Orrdes Io6–129 (Mithradates III.. . 57–54) (Mithradates IV. and his son Phraates IV 37–2 Sanatruces II., 115; Partha- (Tiridates I I. 32–31 and 26) maspates, 116–117; and other Phraates V. (Phraa- pretenders.) i The names of the following kings are not known; that one of them was called Artabanus II. is quite conjectural. Vologaeses IV. 191-209 Artabanus IV. . . 209-229 (Vologaeses V. . 209–C. 222) The principal See also:works on the Arsacid coinage are (after the earlier publications of Longperier, Prokesch-Ostan, &c.) : See also:Percy Gardner, The Parthian Coinage (See also:London, 1877), and especially W. Wroth, See also:Catalogue of the Coins of Parthia in the See also:British Museum (London, 1903), who carefully revised the statements of his predecessors. Cf. also Petrowicz, Arsacidenmiinzen (See also:Vienna, 1904), and Allotte de la Fuye, " Classement des monnaies arsacides," in Revue numismatique, 4 seiie, vol. viii., 1904. (ED. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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