The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  This account by Herodotus has been dismissed by many scholars as purely ahistorical and legendary. Some have also maintained that the story was invented to create a direct familial link between Astyages, the last king of Media, and Cyrus II, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. The story allowed Cyrus to claim that his right to rule Media was not based exclusively on a military victory but also on his legitimate right to succeed his maternal grandfather.

  See also: K&Q, Achaemenid: Cambyses I; Cyrus II the Great; K&Q, Median: Astyages

  Further Reading

  Brosius, M. Women in Ancient Persia, 539–331 BC. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

  Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. New York: Penguin, 2003.

  Schmitt, Rüdiger. “Mandane.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mandane.

  Phraortes

  According to the Greek author Herodotus, Phraortes (Old Persian: Fravartish) was the second monarch of the Median dynasty and the son of Deioces, who had united all Median tribes under his rule before his death. Unlike his father, however, Phraortes “was not content to be king only of Media” (Herodotus: 1:102). Having inherited a strong Median state from his father, he expanded the boundaries of his kingdom at the expense of the neighboring regions and kingdoms. The first country he conquered was Persia. The combined power of Media and Persia allowed Phraortes to embark on the conquest of the ancient Near East. His territorial ambitions eventually brought him face-to-face with the military might of Assyria. In a battle against the kingdom of Assyria, Phraortes was defeated and killed together with many of his troops. The conquest and destruction of Assyria would be left to Phraortes’s son and successor, Cyaxares. There is no agreement on the dates for Phraortes’s reign. Some have argued that he ruled for 22 years, from 675 to 653 BCE, while others have maintained that his rule was considerably longer, extending from 678 to 625 BCE. The name of another Phraortes is mentioned in the inscription of the Achaemenid monarch Darius I in Bisotun in western Iran. Although not Phraortes, the former king of Media, the Phraortes mentioned in the Bisotun inscription is also Median. He is a Median rebel who revolted against the authority of Darius, claiming that he was Khshathrita of the family of Cyaxares, the former king of Media and the son of Phraortes (Kent: 123).

  See also: K&Q, Median: Cyaxares/Huvakhshtra; Deioces; Peoples: Media, Medes, and the Median Empire

  Further Reading

  Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. New York: Penguin, 2003.

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

  Medvesdskaya, I. “Phraortes.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2004, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/phraortes.

  KINGS AND QUEENS OF THE SASANIAN DYNASTY

  OVERVIEW ESSAY

  This chapter presents the reader with entries on the kings and queens of the Persian Sasanian dynasty, the last great Iranian royal house of the pre-Islamic era, which ruled from 224 to 651 CE. The longest entries in this chapter are devoted to the most prominent of Sasanian rulers, namely Ardashir I, founder of the dynasty; his son Shapur I, who fought and defeated three Roman emperors; Shapur II, the longest-reigning Persian monarch who scored several impressive victories against the Roman armies; Kavad I, who tried to reform the empire’s archaic institutions and practices; Khosrow I, who has been identified by some Iranian and Muslim historians as the greatest of all Sasanian monarchs; Khosrow II, under whom the Sasanian Empire reached its greatest extent; and finally Yazdegerd III, whose murder signaled the end of the Sasanian dynasty.

  The Sasanians seized the reins of power after Ardashir, governor of the district of Istakhr (Estakhr) in the Iranian province of Fars and a vassal of the Arsacids, defeated and killed the last Arsacid (Parthian) king, Artabanus IV, on the battlefield in 224 CE. After ascending the throne, Ardashir imposed his authority over the countries and provinces ruled by the Arsacids. In the east, Ardashir and his son, Shapur, forced into submission the Kushans, who ruled the territory of present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of southern Central Asia. Ardashir then moved against Roman-held Mesopotamia, attacking Nisibis in present-day southeastern Turkey. The message to the old nemesis in the west was that in sharp contrast to the Arsacids who had adopted a defensive posture, the new Sasanian dynasty was determined to adopt a more aggressive stance toward Rome. Ardashir’s son, Shapur I, built on his father’s policy and fought three Roman emperors: Gordian III, Philip the Arab, and Valerian. These campaigns culminated in the capture of Roman emperor Valerian by the Persian king in 260.

  Ardashir I and Shapur I reorganized the administratively decentralized and politically fragmented empire they had inherited from the Arsacids and established an absolutist monarchy. Local rulers and vassals who disobeyed the Sasanian king of kings were replaced by members of the Sasanian royal family, usually the sons of the ruling monarch. The Sasanians did not, however, destroy the powerful landowning families who had enjoyed a close alliance with the Arsacid ruling family. These families retained their vast landholdings and special privileges, and as the power of the Sasanian central government declined, they began to play a central role in the daily political life of the Sasanian Empire.

  The Sasanians also reversed the tolerant attitude of the Arsacids toward the religious communities of the empire and imposed Zoroastrianism as the state religion. Beginning in the reign of Bahram I (r. 273–276 CE), the members of non-Zoroastrian communities, including Jews, Christians, and Buddhists, were at times persecuted. The Iranian prophet Mani was also denounced and imprisoned, and his followers were either persecuted or forced to flee the Sasanian domains. The power of the Zoroastrian priesthood reached a new height when the Zoroastrian chief priest was granted the right to place the imperial crown on the head of the Sasanian monarch at coronation.

  Throughout the reign of the Sasanian dynasty, the conflict with Rome flared up intermittently. The wars between Rome and Persia were centered on the control of Armenia and Mesopotamia. In sharp contrast to the Arsacids, the Sasanians were generally successful in their wars against Roman armies, scoring impressive victories on the battlefield. In 298, however, the Romans surprised the Sasanian monarch Narseh and defeated the Sasanian army in eastern Asia Minor. Narseh fled the battlefield to safety, but his queen, his sisters, and several of his children were seized by the Romans. As the Roman armies began to advance toward Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital, Narseh was forced to sue for peace. According to the peace agreement between the two powers, the Sasanian monarch ceded five provinces in Mesopotamia to the Romans. The pro-Roman ruler of Armenia was reinstated under Roman suzerainty. The Sasanian monarch also agreed to renounce his claims on Iberia (present-day Republic of Georgia) in the Caucasus, which emerged as a Roman protectorate. The Tigris River was established as the boundary between the two empires. Narseh never recovered from the defeat he had suffered at the hands of the Romans.

  In response to these humiliating concessions, a grandson of Narseh who ascended the Sasanian throne as Shapur II (r. 309–379 CE) embarked on a systematic campaign to reverse the losses sustained during the reign of his grandfather. Shapur II began his reign by organizing a campaign against Arab tribesmen who had invaded the southern and southwestern provinces of the Sasanian Empire, raiding cities, towns, and villages. He then shifted his focus to Central Asia, where a Hunnic people called the Chionites were threatening to invade the eastern provinces of the Sasanian state. After several military campaigns between 353 and 358, Shapur pacified the Chionites and formed an alliance with their king, who agreed to join the Persian monarch in his campaigns against the Romans.

  Much of Shapur II’s reign was spent in wars against Roman armies. For 27 years, Shapur II fought numerous battles against the Romans and emerged victorious from all of them. His considerable courage and perseverance would allow him by 363 to restore Persia to a higher status than that it had enjoyed under the rule of his grandfather, Narseh. Shapur II was determine
d to regain the five provinces of Mesopotamia that Narseh had lost to the Romans and had other reasons as well for his numerous campaigns to defeat the Romans. The Roman emperor Constantine had proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. He had also appointed himself as the protector of all Christians in the world, including those living in the Sasanian domains. Additionally, the Romans were trying to interfere in the internal affairs of the Sasanian state and undermine Shapur’s authority by supporting a Sasanian prince named Hormozd, who had sought refuge at the Roman court.

  In military campaigns extending from 337 to 363, the Persian and Roman armies repeatedly fought over the control of Mesopotamia and Armenia. Despite heavy casualties, the Persians managed to capture the Roman-held Sanjara (Sinjar) in present-day northern Iraq and Amida (present-day Diyarbakir) in southeastern Turkey. The Romans struck back in 363, when the Roman emperor Julian marched at the head of a large army toward Mesopotamia. Accompanying Julian and his army was the pretender Persian prince Hormozd, who intended to replace Shapur II. Though he defeated a small Persian force outside the gates of Ctesiphon, Emperor Julian could not penetrate the defenses of the city. As Shapur and the Persian army approached Ctesiphon, Julian marched eastward to confront the Sasanian king in an open battle. Shapur avoided an open confrontation and instead resorted to surprise attacks waged by the Persian cavalry. In the Battle of Samara, fought between a unit of the Persian cavalry and Roman forces, Julian received a mortal wound and died three days later. The Romans had no choice but to sue for peace and agree to territorial concessions. Julian’s successor, Jovian (r. 363–364 CE), signed a peace treaty, which returned to Shapur II the five provinces that his grandfather, Narseh, had lost to the Romans. The Romans also ceded the strategic outposts of Nisibis and Sanjara and promised to cease their interference in the internal affairs of Armenia. Persian rule over Armenia was restored. As a direct consequence of these Persian victories, a large number of Roman prisoners of war, including many skilled craftsmen, builders, and engineers, were settled in the interior of the Sasanian Empire. Shapur II also settled a large number of Persians in the newly conquered cities, particularly in Nisibis, which served as an outpost against future Roman incursions.

  In 303 the Armenian king Tiridates, who had allied himself with Rome, converted to Christianity. Then in 312, Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity and began to promote his new faith as the state religion of the Roman Empire. In 330, Constantine transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium (later Constantinople) on the shores of the Bosporus. One of the reasons for moving the capital from Rome to Byzantium was the proximity of the new capital to the borders of the Sasanian state. Constantine proclaimed himself as the king of all Christians, including Christians living in the Sasanian territory. These developments convinced the Sasanian monarch Shapur II to view the Christians of the Sasanian Empire as the allies of his most formidable foe. These events also augmented Shapur’s support for Zoroastrianism as the national religion of Persia. Despite the growing tension between the Sasanian state and its Christian community, the Persian Empire remained a religiously heterogeneous state containing significant non-Zoroastrian communities, including Jews, Christians, and Buddhists.

  Although the Roman Empire remained the principal adversary of the Sasanian state, beginning in the fifth century CE a new threat emerged from Central Asia. The nomadic Kidarites and Hephthalites invaded the eastern provinces of the Sasanian state and forced the Sasanian monarchs Bahram V (r. 421–439 CE), Yazdegerd II (r. 439–457 CE), and Peroz I (r. 459–484 CE) to spend much of their reigns on defending the eastern provinces of their empire. These efforts, however, failed to neutralize the threat posed by these nomadic invasions. In 484, the Hephthalites defeated and killed the Sasanian monarch Peroz on the battlefield. This victory over the Sasanian army and the death of the Persian king allowed the Hephthalites to invade eastern Iran, forcing the Sasanians to sue for peace and pay an annual tribute.

  These defeats at the hands of the Hephthalites, combined with the growing dissatisfaction of the subject classes, particularly the peasant farmers, forced elements within the ruling elite to propose fundamental social and economic reforms. The Sasanian monarch Kavad I realized the need for institutional reforms that could curtail the power of the Persian nobility and the powerful Zoroastrian priesthood. Not surprisingly, therefore, Kavad quickly became attracted to the teachings of Mazdak, a member of the Zoroastrian religious hierarchy who preached against the greed, arrogance, and unrestrained power of the country’s ruling classes. Mazdak believed that to create a just and peaceful society free of competition and violence, human beings had to abandon greed and selfishness and share the existing resources of their society, including private property and women.

  Kavad’s support for Mazdak’s ideas posed a direct threat to the privileges of the Persian nobility and the Zoroastrian religious leadership, which came together to depose and imprison Kavad I in 496. After escaping his prison, Kavad sought refuge with the Hephthalites, among whom he had lived as a hostage after his father’s defeat. In 499, Kavad raised an army with assistance and support from the Hephthalites. Once he had regained his throne, he tried to appease the anti-Mazdak courtiers and nobles. The Sasanian royal family was divided between pro-Mazdak and anti-Mazdak factions. Mazdak and his followers apparently favored the older son of Kavad, Kavus, as his father’s successor. The opponents of Mazdak, both inside and outside the court, supported the younger prince, Khosrow, who was ultimately designated as the successor to his father. Khosrow suppressed the Mazdakite movement and executed Mazdak and many of his followers.

  During the reign of Khosrow I (r. 531–579 CE) the Sasanian state introduced a series of important reforms, which were aimed at curtailing the power of the Persian nobility and the Zoroastrian religious establishment. They also were intended to increase the power of the Sasanian central government by increasing its size and strengthening the position of the Sasanian king of kings vis-à-vis the provincial power centers. The most important of these reforms was restructuring the tax-collection system. In the traditional system, taxes were levied on the yield of land. Therefore, from year to year the amount of the tax varied. Khosrow abolished the system based on yearly variation and replaced it with a fixed sum. The Sasanian monarch also reorganized the administrative structure of his empire. He created a governmental system based on a council of ministers headed by a chief minister. Khosrow also curtailed the influence of the powerful landowning families who frequently interfered in the decision-making process at the Sasanian court. The Sasanian army was another important institution reorganized by Khosrow. To centralize the decision-making process and bring it under his direct control, Khosrow abolished the post of the supreme commander in chief and replaced it with four commanders responsible for order and security in the eastern, western, northern, and southern regions of the empire. Each commander reported directly to the Sasanian king. Khosrow I also appointed margraves, or commanders of the frontiers, who also received orders directly from their royal master.

  During the reign of Khosrow’s grandson Khosrow II Parvez (Parviz), the Sasanian Empire reached its greatest extent. Beginning in 603, Persian armies attacked and captured Roman-held fortresses and towns in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. In response to these Persian victories, the new Byzantine emperor, Heraclius (r. 610–641 CE), dispatched a delegation to the Persian court to sue for peace, but Khosrow II refused to negotiate a peace treaty and denounced Heraclius as an illegitimate ruler. The Persian armies went on the offensive again and reached the Mediterranean coast in 612. In 613, the Sasanian forces inflicted a humiliating defeat on a Byzantine force under the command of Heraclius. This victory allowed Khosrow to occupy Syria and Palestine, including the holy city of Jerusalem, where his forces seized the True Cross of Christian tradition and transported it back to the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon. To the north, a Sasanian army marched west from Cappadocia and quickly reached the Asian shores of the Bosporus in
614. Once again a Byzantine embassy arrived in the Persian court to negotiate a peace agreement, but Khosrow II rejected them.

  In 618, Khosrow succeeded in his campaign to invade Egypt and captured the city of Alexandria in 619. The conquest of Egypt, which was completed in 620, allowed Khosrow to concentrate his main forces in Asia Minor and attack the heartland of the Byzantine state and eventually its capital. Meanwhile, Persian naval forces seized the island of Rhodes and several other islands in the eastern Aegean. In response to this multipronged invasion, Byzantine emperor Heraclius organized a counterattack. He surprised the Persians with a swift attack against their positions in eastern Asia Minor. The surprised Sasanian army panicked, and Khosrow fled the battlefield. A Byzantine army entered Azerbaijan; seized the Zoroastrian temple at Shiz, which contained the sacred fire of Adur Gushnasp (Azar Goshnasp); and destroyed it. In response to the Byzantine invasion, the Persians mounted their own counterattack, pushing Heraclius out of Azerbaijan. They then attacked the Byzantine forces in southeastern Anatolia and northern Syria, forcing them to retreat. The Sasanian army continued with its westward march, targeting the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, which it reached in the summer of 626.

  In the end, however, the battles fought in the summer of 626 would prove devastating for the Persians. As the Sasanian armies began to suffer significant losses, large Turkish armies allied with the Byzantine emperor invaded the Caucasus and Azerbaijan. A Byzantine army also pushed south toward Azerbaijan and northern Iraq where, in the Battle of Nineveh, it defeated the Sasanian forces, which had been sent to block Heraclius’s advance against the Persian capital of Ctesiphon in southern Iraq.