The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  The conquest of Parthia by Arsaces I alarmed the Seleucid ruler, Seleucus II (r. 246–225 BCE), who organized a military campaign to regain his control over eastern Iran. Arsaces I, however, fought back and scored a victory against the Seleucid forces, a momentous milestone that the Parthians would observe “with great solemnity as the commencement of their liberty” (Justin: XLI.4). When Seleucus II was forced to return west to quell disturbances, Arsaces I used the respite as an opportunity to lay the foundation of the Parthian government, “levy soldiers, fortify castles, and secure the fidelity of his cities” (Justin: XLI.5.1). He built a city called Dara on Mount Apaortenon, which was designed and built in such a way that it did not need a “garrison to defend it” (Justin: XLI.5.1–4). During the reign of Antiochus III (r. 223–187 BCE), the Seleucids tried again to impose their authority over eastern Iran. From 209 to 205 BCE, Antiochus III embarked on an eastern campaign to destroy the Parthian Arsacid state. The Seleucid monarch attacked Hecatompylus (City of a Hundred Gates), present-day Shahr-e Qumis near Damghan in northern Iran. The Arsacid monarch Arsaces II fought the Seleucid forces, estimated at 100,000 men and 20,000 horses, “with great bravery” but eventually made a tactical retreat and “made an alliance” with Antiochus (Justin: XLI.5). Antiochus also “found it prudent to make peace and a treaty of alliance” with the Arsacids (Debevoise: 18). Marching east from Parthia, Antiochus also attempted to neutralize the threat posed by the Greco-Bactrian kingdom based in present-day northern Afghanistan. As with the Parthians, this campaign also resulted in limited success. The Seleucid army failed to capture Bactria, and in return for accepting the nominal sovereignty of the Seleucid king, Euthydemus was allowed to retain his position and title. From Bactria, Antiochus crossed the Hindu Kush mountain range and entered the Kabul Valley in present-day Afghanistan. He then moved on to Arachosia (present-day Qandahar in southern Afghanistan) and, marching through the southeastern Iranian provinces of Drangiana (Sistan-Baluchistan) and Carmania (Kerman), reached Parsa or Persis, the birthplace of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, in 205 BCE. Having reestablished a network of vassal kingdoms in Iran, Antiochus assumed the Persian Achaemenid title “Great King.” His Greek subjects honored him with the title “Antiochus the Great.”

  A decade after the death of Antiochus in 187 BCE, the Arsacids renewed their campaign of territorial expansion. The Arsacid monarch Phraates I, who ruled from 176 to 171 BCE, began the slow process of breaking out of the geographical confines of Parthia and Hyrcania, extending the territorial possessions of his kingdom to the regions lying to the south of the Alborz mountain range. Phraates defeated the Mardi, a tribal group who lived in the eastern regions of the Alborz, and expanded the boundaries of his kingdom to the lands west of the Caspian Gates (Justin: XLI.5). When Phraates I died, he was succeeded by his brother, Mithridates I. Mithridates I, who ruled from 171 to 139/138 BCE, transformed the Arsacid state from a small kingdom in present-day northeastern Iran into a world power, which came to rule a vast territory extending from Central Asia to Syria. Building on his brother’s military successes, Mithridates embarked on an ambitious campaign to expand the territory of the Arsacid kingdom even farther. His first major victory was achieved against the Greco-Bactrian kingdom based in Bactria, in present-day northern Afghanistan. According to the historian Justin, at almost the same time that Mithridates I ascended the throne of Parthia, Eucratides, the last important ruler of the Bactrian kingdom, began his reign (Justin: XLI.6.1). When conflict erupted between the two kingdoms, Mithridates emerged victorious. He defeated the Bactrian Greeks and took away “satrapy Turiva and that of Aspionus” from Eucratides (Strabo: 11.11.2). Mithridates I then pushed westward and conquered Media sometime in 148 or 147 BCE. The Parthian armies then moved into Mesopotamia and captured Babylonia, including the city of Seleucia, by 141 BCE. Before he could complete his conquest of Mesopotamia, however, Mithridates I was forced to shift his focus to the eastern borders of his kingdom, which had been breached by invading nomadic groups from Central Asia. In the absence of their king, Parthian armies continued their military operations in southwestern Iran and southern Mesopotamia, defeating the Elymaeans in southwestern Iran and seizing the important city of Susa, which had served for nearly two centuries as the capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The impressive victories of Mithridates I forced the Seleucid monarch Demetrius II to respond by attacking Mesopotamia and Iran. The campaigns of Demetrius II against Mithridates I proved to be disastrous for the Seleucid monarch, who was defeated and captured by a Parthian army in 139 BCE. The humiliated Demetrius was sent to Mithridates I in Hyrcania. In a show of mercy and compassion, Mithridates treated the defeated Seleucid king with the respect due unto a king (Justin: XXXVIII.9.1–2). Mithridates also arranged for a marriage between Demetrius and his daughter Rhodogune. Despite such gestures Demetrius tried to escape captivity twice, but on both occasions he was captured and sent back to Hyrcania. After the defeat of the Seleucids, the Elymaeans, who had formed an alliance with Demetrius, paid a high price for their disloyalty when Parthian forces plundered their temples. Between 139 and 132 BCE, Parthian armies swept through southwestern Iran and southern Iraq, including the important city of Babylon. Mithridates I, who had assumed the title “Great King,” died either in 139 or 138 BCE and was succeeded by his son Phraates II.

  The Arsacid kings promoted trade and commerce not only within their own empire but also with foreign powers such as Rome and China. During the reign of the Arsacid monarch Mithridates II (r. 124/123–88/87 BCE), trade between China, Iran, and Rome accelerated. Parthia benefited from being situated on the main trade route, which connected Central Asia to Iran, Mesopotamia, and beyond. In his short account of the overland trade route between the Levant and India, Isidore of Charax mentioned Parthia as one of the provinces lying on the main trade route beyond the Caspian Gates, in which there are 11 villages with stations (Isidore of Charax: 7).

  During the reign of the Sasanian kings (r. 224–651 CE) Parthia became a province of the Persian Empire, which was ruled from Ctesiphon south of modern-day Baghdad. According to the historian Tabari, after defeating the last Arsacid king, Artabanus IV, in 224, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, Ardashir I, embarked on the conquest of the former provinces of the Arsacid Empire. Gorgan and Khorasan were two of the regions that Ardeshir seized and incorporated into his kingdom (Tabari: 2.584). Ardashir’s son and successor, Shapur I (r. 239/240/241/242–270/272 CE), mentioned Abarshahr (Aparshahr) as one of the provinces of the Sasanian Empire in his inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam near Persepolis in southern Iran. In the fifth century CE, the northeastern frontiers of the Sasanian Empire were breached by the Hephthalites, who defeated and killed the Sasanian monarch Peroz in 484 CE. The Hephthalites invaded Khorasan and may have reached as far west as the boundaries of Gorgan, but the extent of their penetration into the territory of the province is unclear. During the reign of the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan (r. 531–579 CE), the Sasanian armies defeated and destroyed the Hephthalites in collaboration with the Western Turk state, which had occupied the region north of the Oxus. To protect Gorgan and Khorasan from further nomadic incursions from Central Asia, Khosrow I built a defensive wall in Gorgan. The Great Wall of Gorgan, which extended for nearly 125 miles (200 kilometers), was the second-longest wall in Asia after the Great Wall of China.

  See also: K&Q, Arsacid/Parthian: Arsaces I; Mithridates I; Phraates I; K&Q, Sasanian: Khosrow I Anushiravan; Peoples: Achaemenid Empire; Arsacids; Sasanian Empire; Primary Documents: Document 21

  Further Reading

  Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. New York: Dorset, 1986.

  Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Colledge, Malcolm A. R. The Parthians. New York: Praeger, 1967.

  Debevoise, Neilson C. A Political History of Parthia
. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.

  Frye, Richard N. “Sassanian Seals and Sealings.” In Memorial Volume of the Vth International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology: Tehran-Isfahan-Shiraz, 11–18th April 1968, edited by A. Tajvidi and M. Y. Kiani, 272–275. Tehran: n.p., 1972.

  Frye, Richard Nelson. The History of Ancient Iran. München: C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.

  Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Books, 2003.

  Herrmann, G., and V. S. Curtis. “Sasanian Rock Reliefs.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2002, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-rock-reliefs.

  Isidore of Charax. Parthian Stations: An Account of the Overland Trade Route between the Levant and India in the First Century B.C. The Greek text with a translation and commentary. Translated by Wilfred H. Schoff. Philadelphia: Commercial Museum, 1914.

  Justin. The History of the World. Translated by G. Turnbull. London, 1742.

  Kent, Roland G. Old Persian. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950.

  Kiani, Mohammad Yusuf. “Excavations on the Defensive Wall of the Gorgan Plain: A Preliminary Report.” Iran 20 (1982): 73–79.

  Kiani, Mohammad Yusuf. Parthian Sites in Hyrcania: The Gurgan Plain. Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran. Berlin: Ergänzungband 9, 1982.

  Lecoq, P. “Aparna.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aparna-c3k.

  Lozinski, B. P. The Original Homeland of the Parthians. The Hague: Mouton, 1959.

  Quintus Curtius Rufus. The History of Alexander. London: Penguin Books, 2004.

  Sauer, Eberhard W., Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Tony J. Wilkinson, and Jebrael Nokandeh. Persia’s Imperial Power in Late Antiquity: The Great Wall of Gorgan and the Frontier Landscapes of Sasanian Iran. British Institute of Persian Studies Archeological Monograph Series, Book 2. London: Oxbow Books, 2013.

  Schippmann, K. “Arsacids II: The Arsacid Dynasty.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-index#pt2.

  Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.

  Tabari. Tarikh-e Tabari, Vol. 2. Translated from Arabic into Persian by Abol Qassem Payandeh. Tehran: Asatir Publications, 1984.

  Sogdiana

  Sogdiana (Avestan: Sughdha; Old Persian: Suguda) was an Iranian-populated region in the southern regions of Central Asia. In antiquity, the territory of Sogdiana extended from the Oxus River (Amu Darya) in the south to the Jaxartes River (Syr Darya) in the north. The Sogdian heartland consisted of the valleys of Zarafshan and the Kashka Darya. The importance of Sogdiana to the ancient Iranians is reflected in the mention of the region (i.e., Sughdha) in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, where it is described as one of the good lands and countries that the great god Ahura Mazda had created, ranked second only to Airyanem Vaejah or Eranvej, the mythical homeland of the Iranian people.

  One of the most important urban centers of Sogdiana was Afrasiyab, or Samarqand, which was called Maracanda by the Greeks. In antiquity, it most probably already existed as a walled city even before the establishment of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BCE. The founder of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, Cyrus II the Great (r. 558–530 BCE), conquered Sogdiana and established the northern frontier of his empire at the Jaxartes River. The exact date of this conquest is unknown. In his inscriptions at Bisotun, Persepolis, and Naqsh-e Rostam, the Achaemenid monarch Darius I (r. 522–486 BCE) mentioned Sogdiana as one of the provinces of the Persian Empire. In another inscription from the Achaemenid capital of Susa, Darius I stated that the lapis lazuli and carnelian used in building and decorating his palace had been brought from Sogdiana. Sogdians were also portrayed on the walls of Persepolis in southern Iran bearing gifts to the Persian king. The Greek historian Herodotus mentions the Sogdians serving in the Persian army during the reign of Darius’s son Xerxes I (r. 486–465 BCE). As a frontier province of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Sogdiana was ruled by the governor of Bactria, the region corresponding with present-day northern Afghanistan.

  After the fall of the Achaemenid dynasty, Alexander the Great invaded Central Asia. Sogdiana resisted the foreign invaders and joined forces with Bessus, the Persian governor of Bactria who had proclaimed himself the new Achaemenid king, assuming the royal name of Artaxerxes V. When Bessus was defeated, the anti-Macedonian resistance continued under Spitaman (Spitamanes), a commander who hailed from Sogdiana and enjoyed the support of the Scythian tribes. Only after the murder of Spitaman at the hands of local tribes could Alexander pacify the region.

  Sogdiana (Sogdia), the Iranian-speaking region extending from the Oxus River (Amu Darya) in the south to the river Jaxartes (Syr Darya) in the north, was one of the most important centers of Iranian culture and civilization in the pre-Islamic era. Afrasiab (Afrasiyab), outside of modern-day Samarqand, was situated on the famed Silk Road. The city played a prominent role in the intercontinental trade and commerce that linked China to Persia and Rome. (Geoff A. Howard/Alamy Stock Photo)

  After the death of Alexander in 323 BCE, his generals fought over the control of the vast and short-lived empire he had left behind. After numerous battles, one of Alexander’s commanders, Seleucus, managed to impose his rule over Iran, Mesopotamia, and much of Asia Minor after 305 BCE. The Seleucids, or the dynasty founded by Seleucus I, however, could not establish direct control over Sogdiana. The sheer distance between Sogdiana and the capital of the Seleucid Empire in Syria allowed a Greco-Bactrian dynasty, which relied on support from the local Greek military colonists, to impose its rule over Bactria and Sogdiana after 150 BCE.

  There is little information on Sogdiana after the end of the Greco-Bactrian period. Sometime during the second century BCE, Sogdiana was invaded by nomadic groups from the north. By the beginning of the first century BCE, Sogdiana had been overrun by an Iranian-speaking people who were called Yüeh-chih (Yuezhi) in Chinese and Tochari in Western sources. A branch of the Tochari would eventually establish the Kushan Empire. It was during the Kushan period that Buddhism spread throughout present-day Afghanistan and Central Asia. The most powerful and influential of all Kushan monarchs, Kanishka I, was a great defender of Buddhism, but he also adopted a highly tolerant attitude toward non-Buddhist religious communities, including the Zoroastrians, Hindus, and those who worshipped Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.

  Kanishka expanded his empire in Central Asia and seized the important urban centers of the region, including those on the southern and western rims of the Tarim Basin. This conquest allowed the Kushans to benefit from the lucrative trade on the Silk Road while at the same time establishing direct commercial links with China. Bactria and Sogdiana, situated between India to the south and Central Asia to the north, were the principal beneficiaries of Kushan expansionism. The Kushan rule also provided Buddhist monks with direct access to the urban centers of Central Asia, where they built monasteries and spread the teachings of their religion.

  The Persian Sasanian dynasty overthrew the Arsacid dynasty in 224 CE and a short time later forced the Kushans to accept their suzerainty. In his inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam in southern Iran, the second Sasanian monarch, Shapur II, listed Sogdiana as a province of the Sasanian Empire (Frye: 371). In the middle of the fifth century, a people called Hephthalites invaded Sogdiana and Tokharestan (formerly called Bactria). They repeatedly fought the Sasanian armies and in 484 inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Persian king of kings Peroz, killing him on the battlefield. During the reign of the Persian monarch Khosrow I (r. 531–579 CE), the Western Turk and Sasanian Empires formed an alliance against the Hephthalites. In a series of military campaigns between 560 and 563 CE, the two powers attacked the Hephthalites, with the Turk forces crossing the Jaxartes into Sogdiana and pushing the Hephthalites south, where the Sasanian forces were awaiting them. Squeezed between the Western Turks in the north and the Persian Sasanians in the south, the Hephthalite state disintegrated.

  Althoug
h the two empires had collaborated on destroying their common enemy, the Western Turks and the Sasanians were soon locked in a battle over the lucrative trade on the Silk Road. The Sogdian merchants who played a central role in linking the economies of China to Central Asia, Persia, and the Byzantine Empire were now ruled by the Western Turk state. They sought permission from the Persian king of kings to sell and distribute their silk within the boundaries of the Sasanian Empire. The Persians, who suspected the Sogdian merchants as being close allies of the Turk state, turned down the request and insisted on retaining full control over the sale of silk within their territory. The conflict over control of the silk trade forced the Western Turk state to seek an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, which was the principal nemesis of the Sasanian state. The Sogdian merchants who led a delegation to Constantinople in 568–569 proposed the idea of bypassing Persian territory entirely and instead exporting the silk from China and Central Asia to Asia Minor and Byzantium through the Caucasus. The Byzantine emperor reciprocated and sent an embassy to the ruler of the Western Turk state. The alliance between the Byzantine and Western Turk Empires lasted for nearly 10 years.