The Parthians

The Forgotten Empire

Uwe Ellerbrock

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9780367473099
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000358520
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the history and culture of the Parthian Empire, which existed for almost 500 years from 247 BC to 224 AD.

The Parthians were Rome's great opponents in the east, but comparatively little is known about them. The Parthians focuses on the rise, expansion, flowering and decline of the Parthian Empire and covers both the wars with the Romans in the west and the nomads in the east. Sources include the small amount from the Empire itself, as well as those from outside the Parthian world, such as Greek, Roman and Chinese documents. Ellerbrock also explores the Parthian military, social history, religions, art, architecture and numismatics, all supported by a great number of images and maps.

The Parthians is an invaluable resource for those studying the Ancient Near East during the period of the Parthian Empire, as well as for more general readers interested in this era.

1

The Parthian Empire

A first approach

The Parthian Empire existed for almost 500 years (c. 247 BC–224 AD) and, at its peak, it extended from today’s Syria to India and from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. The Parthians were Rome’s great opponents in the east, who were able to check the supremacy of the Roman Empire. But while the Roman Empire is always present in today’s historical consciousness, little is known to the European reader about the great empire of the Parthians. Under the Parthian king of kings, Orodes II, the Romans were defeated in the famous Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). Twenty thousand Romans fell, 10,000 were captured, and only a small part of the Roman army returned to Rome. Parthia could never be conquered by Rome, despite numerous border wars. Why has this great empire been so largely forgotten and only in recent decades came increasingly into the limelight?

A. Invernizzi, a major researcher into the Parthian kingdom, emphasises in his writings, that the Parthian Empire, which spread between Europe and Asia 2000 years ago, constitutes not only one of the most important periods in Iranian history, but also one of the most significant sections of ancient history ever.¹ At the time of the great Parthian king Mithradates II (c. 121–91 BC), trade along the Silk Road² stretched from Europe as far as China, Parthia being an important trading partner between east and west. In modern terms, one could say that Parthia was at the centre of a globalisation that extended from Rome to China.

The Parthian Empire arose from a small group of Scythian nomads, the Parni, who lived south-east of the Caspian Sea and who from c. 250 BC onwards invaded the Seleucid satrapy Parthia, which lay west of their settlement area. Their leader was Arsaces I, who gradually took control of this satrapy. It took another 70 years for the Parthian Empire to develop and consolidate from these beginnings. The name ‘Parthian’ is often equated with the term ‘Arsacids’. The name ‘Arsacids’ derives from the first ruler of the Parthians, Arsaces I, while the name ‘Parthian’ has its roots in the province Parthia, which the nomadic Parni once invaded.

The Parthian Empire consisted during its peak period of individual kingdoms dependent on the Parthian king of kings, where for the most part no Parthians or Iranians lived. At least at the beginning of the conquests, the local rulers remained on their thrones, while just a small number of Parthian government officials took control of government affairs and Parthian troops took over military control.

Historians have wondered whether the term ‘empire’ is the correct name for such a political entity. Sommer defines an ‘empire’ as follows: ‘In empires, power radiates, hierarchically stratified, from the center to the periphery. Power decreases with distance.’³ But does such a definition apply to the Parthian Empire? The situation described – of various kingdoms integrated into Parthia – does not correspond to the definition of an empire. To take this into account, the more fitting term ‘Parthian Commonwealth’ has recently been introduced.⁴ More about this can be found in Chapter 4. Since the term ‘Parthian Empire’ is still anchored in the general knowledge of history and because this book aims for a wider public, this term has been retained for the sake of simplicity.

Fig. 1.1The Parthian Empire c. 114 AD.

1.1Documentary sources from within the Parthian world

Our knowledge of the history and culture of the Parthian Empire is minimal. The reason for this is the lack of sources from within the Parthian world. Those sources include all archaeological finds, be these city remains, works of art or written documents. Many of the cities, which the Parthians built or took over from their predecessors, have been destroyed. Such is the case with Ctesiphon, once the Parthian capital in Mesopotamia. Archaeological finds are rare; written documents are rarer still.

For the 3rd/2nd century BC, the outstanding finds from Nisa (in today’s Turkmenistan, near its capital Ashgabat), a royal residence and sanctuary of the Parthians, are some of the most important and almost the only sources available to us (see 7.2.1 and 10.1). Thus, we have hardly any significant sources for the first 100–150 years of the whole Parthian Empire. The situation for archaeological finds dating to the 1st century BC in Iran and Mesopotamia is better, but still not adequate. Only for the period after the turn of the century is the number of better excavated Parthian towns larger, and the find material more extensive.

The number of Parthian inscriptions found on rock reliefs, other reliefs, sculptures and seals is small. The available written documents are in no way sufficient for us to elicit historical or cultural statements about the Parthian Empire. And while in Nisa, over 2500 ostraca (inscribed potsherds), with inscriptions mostly relating to winegrowing and its administration, were found (see 8.4), they date from the 1st century BC, and therefore give information only about a limited period and a small segment of daily life.⁵

We get significant information from cuneiform tablets, especially from the astronomical diaries found in Babylon and Uruk. The texts date from the 7th century BC to the 1st century AD. These writings provide information about meteorological phenomena or observations of the sun, moon and stars. Based on the Babylonian calendar, important political or social events are also mentioned. Regarding the Parthian Empire, the texts provide information about the conquest of Mesopotamia (141 BC) by Mithradates I and list names of the Parthian kings up to the year 75 AD. However, we lack the records of many years, so that information is only available for a total of 54 years of Parthian rule.⁶ We have hardly any information about the administrative structure of the Parthians in Babylonia. From the available written records, however, we can see that the Parthians did not intervene in Babylonian culture and allowed the local population to practise their own religion.

The number of texts on parchment or leather from Parthian times is also extremely low. The best-known are the three Avroman parchments found in Iranian Kurdistan, of which two are written in Greek and only one in Parthian.⁷ These documents record the sale of a vineyard at various times to three different owners. In the year 88 BC, half of the vineyard cost 30 silver drachms. By 53 AD, the price had risen to 65 silver drachms.⁸ Only a Greek-Parthian inscription on a statue of Heracles from Seleucia on the Tigris (Fig. 11.7 A + B) names a historic event (150/151 AD): the victory over and expulsion of Miradate (Meredat), king of Characene (c. 130–151 AD), by the Parthian king Vologases IV.⁹ An extensive collection of Parthian texts and their translation into German can be found in the three-volume work Quellen zur Geschichte des Partherreiches by U. Hackl, B. Jacobs and D. Weber. This extensive work contains the most important other Roman, Greek and Chinese sources, also in German translation.

Parthian coins are among the most important sources for the Parthian Empire. Like no other finding, these give information about the whole period of the Parthian Empire. The sequence of Parthian kings could not have been adequately clarified without the analysis of Parthian coins. Despite recent research, however, many details remain unresolved; they are mainly discussed in 8.1 (genealogy of the Parthian kings). Coins are not only important for the genealogy of Parthian kings, but also for giving us clues to the culture of the Parthians by showing clothing, weapons, gods or inscriptions. Because of the importance of the coins for understanding the history and culture of the Parthian Empire, a separate section of the book (8.1) is devoted to them.

1.2Greek – Roman – Chinese literary sources

Since documentary sources from within the Parthian world are inadequate for gaining a satisfactory insight into the Parthian Empire with its culture, politics and religion, we must focus on ancient literary sources from outside the Parthian world, such as Greek, Roman or Chinese documents.

The problem with these sources, however, is that in most cases the authors themselves had never been to Parthia. In addition, most of them were authors who were not eyewitnesses themselves but reported on past events and therefore had to rely on older reports. Another difficulty arises from the fact that information from the beginning of the Parthian Empire is inadequate. The same, albeit to a lesser extent, also applies to the final phase of the empire. Most of what we know about the history of the Parthian Empire and its culture comes from Roman sources, which are much more extensive than the Greek reports.

Among the most important Greek written sources about the Parthians are the works of Strabo, Plutarch and Polybius. Strabo (c. 63/64 BC–25 AD) informs us about the geography of Parthia, and Plutarch (45 AD–c. 120 AD) describes the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC), which was the first great confrontation between Parthia and Rome. Although Plutarch sees the Parthians as barbarians (see 1.3), we still get hints regarding the Parthian military and its tactics. Polybius (c. 200–120 BC) became famous by writing the Historiai, containing the history of the Romans and mentioning the Parthians.

The most famous Roman writers from whom we learn the most about the Parthians are Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, Suetonius and Justin. Whenever wars raged between Rome and the Parthians, these writers provided references to the political situation between the two empires.

As described in more detail in the following section (1.3), it should always be remembered that such writings do not always reflect reality. It can often be observed that in these works political statements are made that only serve the writers’ own political interests. For example, Justin (Latin: M. Junianus Justinus Frontinus) tries to portray the Roman defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC as a Roman success.¹⁰ Another example is Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c. 56/57–120 AD), who was an important Roman historian and politician. His focus on the Parthians is influenced by Roman politics and it is not sur...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Detailed table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Image credits
• Foreword
• Glossary of historic place names
• 1 The Parthian Empire: A first approach
• 2 History of the great empires in Iran
• 3 History of the Parthian Empire
• 4 The structure of the Parthian Empire
• 5 Vassal states and kingdoms under Parthian influence
• 6 The Parthian Empire and the peoples of Eurasia
• 7 Cities and architecture in the Parthian Empire
• 8 Trade and business in the Parthian Empire
• 9 Insights into social life in Parthia
• 10 Parthian art: art in the Arsacid kingdom
• 11 The Parthian Empire and its religions
• Bibliography
• Recommended websites
• General Index
• Names index
• Geographical names index