Parthian empire 247 BC-AD 224

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=10 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="1eac2580.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="1e310200.jpg" border=0 width="528" height="800" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>LeKnight at Bluewater</B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="005f4010.png" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Parthian empire 247 BC-AD 224</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id123_parthians.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Flower Girl"><U><B>back < < < </B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>According to tradition, the first ruler of the Parthians and founder of the Parthian empire was Arsaces I ,who had been a governor under Diodotus,king of the Bactrian Greecs,and who revolted and fled westward to establish his own rule.By 200 BC Arsaces's successors were firmly established along the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.Later, through the conquest of Mitridates I (regned 171-138 BC) and Artabanus (128-124 BC) all of the Iranian Plateau and the Tigris-Euphrates valley came under Parthian control. The Parphians, however, were troubled by nomad attacks on their northeastern borders , as well as attacks by the Scythians. Mithridates II the Great (r. 123-88 B.C), by defeating the Scythians, restored for a while the power of Arsacids.He also defeated Artavases, king of greater Armenia, whose son Tigranes became hostage in Parthian hands and was redeemed only for considerable territory.In 92 BC ,.Mithridates II whose forces were advancing into northern Syria against the declinning Seleucids, concluded the first treaty between Parthia and Rome.Though beset insurrections and border wars, .Mithridates II continued to control Iran and northern Mesopotamia until his death, after which rival dynastic claimants fought for major territories. The confusion came to an end about 76/75 BC, when the octogenarian king Sanatruces was set on the Parthian throne by the central Asian tribe of the Sacaraucae.Yet it was not untill Sanatruces son and successor, Phraates III (r.70-58 BC), that the empire was again in a fairly settled state. The earliest Parthian capital was probably at Dara (modern Abivard) one of the later capitals was Hecatompilos,(probably near modern Damghan).The empire was governed by a small Parthian aristocracy, which successfully made use of the social organization established by the Seleucids and which tolerated the development of vassal kingdoms.Parthians controlled most of the trade routes between Asia and Greco-Roman world , and this control brought them great wealth, which they used on theyr extensive building activities. The feudal and decentralized structure of the Parthian empire may help to explain why,though founded on annexation and perpetually menaced by hostile armies it never took a strong offensive after the days of Mitridates II.Parthia tended to remain on the offensive and even in this role was frequently lacking in energy.The wars between Parthia and Rome were initiated not by the Parthians- deeply injured though they were by encroachments of Pompey- but by Rome itself.Rome considered itself obliged to enter upon the inheritance of Alexander the Great and, from the time of Pompey, continually attempted the subjection of the Hellenistic counties as far as Euphrates and had ambitions to go even farther eastward.With this objective, Marcus Licinius Crassus, the Roman triumvir in 54 BC took the offensive against Parthia; his armia,however,was routed at Carrhae the following year.After this battle,Mesopotamia was regained by the Parthians,but ,apart of the ravaging of Syria (51 BC),the threatened Parthian attack on the Roman empire never materialized. For more than two centuries, Rome ocassionally pressed the Parthians and supported one or another claimant to the Parthian throne.After the reign (AD 51-80) of Vologeses I there came a period of great disturbances in the history of Parthia, during which at certain times there were two or more kings who regned concurrently.The Roman emperors Trajan in 115-117 and Septimius Severus in 198, penetrated deep into Parthian territory,and these and other foregn invaders appear to crippled the Parthian kingdom.Finally, in the southern Iran the new dynasty of the Sasanids, under the leadership of Ardashir I(r.224-241), overthrew the Parthian princes,ending the history of Parthia.</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id123_parthians.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Flower Girl"><U><B>back < < < </B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>