The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  See also: Ancient Provinces: Abar Shahr; Cultures: Middle Persian; Peoples: Sasanian Empire

  Further Reading

  Barthold, W. An Historical Geography of Iran. Translated by Svat Soucek. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

  Brunner, C. “Geographical and Administrative Divisions and Economy.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(2), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 747–777. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Christensen, Peter. The Decline of Iranshahr. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press, 1993.

  Daryaee, Touraj. “Šahrestānhā-ī Ērānšahr.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2008, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sahrestaniha-i-eransahr.

  Frye, R. N. “The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 116–180. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Hedayat, Sadeq. Sharestanha-ye Iranshahr. Tehran: Mehr Publications, 1941.

  Markwart, J. A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of Eranshahr, Pahlavi Text, Version and Commentary. Edited by G. Messina. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1931.

  Spitaman

  An Iranian Sogdian dignitary during the reign of the last Achaemenid king, Darius III (r. 336–330 BCE), who successfully fought Alexander the Great and his Macedonian armies in Bactria and Sogdiana before he was betrayed by his Scythian allies, who murdered him. In the modern historiography of the Persian Tajik people of Central Asia, Spitaman is celebrated as a national hero who fought foreign invaders to preserve the independence of his country.

  The birthplace and much of the career of Spitaman as a Persian official and commander in the late Achaemenid period is unknown. His name appears in the context of Alexander’s invasion of the Persian Empire and the occupation of the provinces of Bactria and Sogdiana by the Macedonian armies. After the death of Darius III and the fall of the Achaemenid state, Spitaman, known to the Greeks as Spitamanes, was for a time an ally of Bessus, the governor of Bactria. Bessus was one of the Persian generals who fought Alexander when the latter invaded the Persian Achaemenid Empire. After the defeat of the Achaemenid forces in the Battle of Gaugamela or Arbela in present-day northern Iraq in 331 BCE, Darius III, accompanied by several of his generals, including Bessus, fled first to the Achaemenid capital, Hagmatana/Ecbatana (modern-day Hamedan), in present-day western Iran, and then east toward Parthia in northeastern Iran and Bactria in present-day northern Afghanistan. The ill-fated king was, however, murdered by Bessus. Freed from all his obligations to the Persian king, Bessus proclaimed himself the king of Asia, “wearing the royal mantle and the cap with the point erect, in royal fashion,” and adopted the royal title “Artaxerxes” (Arrian: 3.25). Hoping to delay Alexander’s march against Bactria and Central Asia, Bessus adopted a scorched-earth policy, laying waste to the land and burning the crops. Despite Bessus’s best efforts, however, Alexander continued with his march, capturing Aria in present-day northwestern Afghanistan, moving to Drangiana and then turning north and attacking Bactria, forcing Bessus to seek refuge in Sogdiana, the region lying north of the Oxus River and south of the Jaxartes. Throughout the conflict between Alexander and Bessus, Spitaman stood by the Bactrian governor and provided him with necessary support. Indeed, the Greek historians of Alexander’s campaign wrote that aside from his own troops, Bessus also had fighting units from the armies of Spitaman and Oxyartes as well as cavalry units from Sogdiana and the Daae tribal units under his command. For reasons unknown to us, at the very moment when they were organizing a formidable army to fight Alexander, Spitaman and another general, Dataphernes, arrested Bessus and contacted Alexander to negotiate the process of handing the rebel governor over to the Macedonians (Arrian: 3.30). According to one account, at the last moment Spitaman changed his mind and refused to betray Bessus by handing him over to the Macedonians, while a second source maintained that Bessus was in fact sent to Alexander by Spitaman and Dataphernes. Regardless, Bessus was seized and brought to Alexander. After humiliating and torturing him in public, Alexander ordered his men to execute the Persian general.

  In 329 BCE Spitaman, who had probably betrayed Bessus to avoid a confrontation with Alexander, revolted against the Macedonian invaders. The center of the revolt was his home province of Sogdiana, located immediately to the north of Bactria. Spitaman and his army laid siege to Maracanda (Samarqand), forcing Alexander to dispatch an army under the command of his general, Pharnuches, to suppress the rebellion. When the battle was joined, Spitaman inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Macedonian force, which was destroyed after suffering heavy casualties. When Alexander hurried to Maracanda to relieve the city, he was informed that Spitaman had already departed for Bactria. In 328 BCE Spitaman attacked Bactria, but the governor of the province, Artabazus, managed to drive him off. Now Spitaman, joined by the Massagetae, a Scythian group, attacked one of the forts in Bactria and seized it. Emboldened by this success, Spitaman then attacked Zariaspa, and though he could not capture the city, his army managed to seize “a lot of livestock” and carry it off as booty (Arrian: 4.16). When the Macedonian cavalry stationed in Zariaspa tried to recover the livestock, they were ambushed and defeated by Spitaman. Despite his best efforts to rally the Sogdians and Scythians against the Macedonian invaders, Spitaman was finally defeated by Alexander’s general Coenus, who had succeeded Artabazus as the governor of Bactria. After this defeat, Spitaman was deserted by most of his Bactrian and Sogdian units. He was eventually betrayed by his allies, the Massagetae Scythians, who murdered him and sent his head to Alexander, suing for peace with the Macedonian conqueror (Arrian: 4.17).

  Spitaman had a daughter named Apame (Apama). In 324 BCE, a year before his death, Alexander organized a mass wedding party at Susa in present-day southwestern Iran and ordered his generals to marry Iranian wives. He hoped that these marriages would create unity between the Macedonians and Iranians. The Macedonian general Seleucus was ordered to marry Apame. The Seleucid dynasty was formed by this union between Apame and Seleucus, who would emerge as the founder of the Seleucid state after 312 BCE (Bickerman: 4). Seleucus I Nicator and Apame had a son, Antiochus, who would succeed his father as Antiochus I (Soter), the second monarch of the Seleucid dynasty.

  See also: K&Q, Achaemenid: Darius III; K&Q, Seleucid: Apame/Apama; Peoples: Bessus

  Further Reading

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

  Bickerman, E. “The Seleucid Period.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 3–20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  PROPHETS, POETS, SCIENTISTS, HISTORIANS, AND ARTISTS

  OVERVIEW ESSAY

  This chapter includes entries about a variety of distinguished individuals who played important roles in the social and cultural history of ancient Iran and also includes entries describing historians and others who directly or indirectly contributed to our understanding of the political, cultural, and artistic achievements of ancient Iranians. The first group includes great prophets of ancient Iran such as Zarathustra (Zoroaster) and Mani as well as influential members of the Zoroastrian religious establishment such as the Sasanian high priest Kartir and the radical reformer Mazdak. The second group comprises representatives of Iran’s intellectual class, namely prominent scientists, artists, and writers. These include the Persian scientist, traveler, and translator Borzuye, who sought out and brought back to the Sasanian court great classics of Indian literature, and the prominent Sasanian court musician, Barbad, who became the confidant of kings.

  The great Persian epic poet Ferdowsi is also described here. Given the paucity of other original Persian sources, Ferdowsi’s works are particularly valuable. His writings, including the epic poetry of the Shahnameh, have allowed us to develop a better understanding of the complex history and traditions of the people who populated and sustained the great empires of ancient Persia. In this chapter we have also incl
uded entries on notable Greek historians and authors whose writings have contributed to a better understanding of key events in the ancient world and Iran’s role and significance in them. Such authors include Herodotus, whose work The Histories offered an account of the rise of the Achaemenid Empire and the reigns of its most powerful kings; Agathias, a historian and poet who also composed The Histories, an account of the Sasanian dynasty; and the Achaemenid royal physician Ctesias of Knidos, whose book Persica, written in his retirement, offered sometimes fanciful accounts of Achaemenid court intrigues. Finally, we come to the Greek officer, author, and historian Xenophon, whose numerous histories offered accounts of the Achaemenid Empire and its rulers. Among his best-known works is Cyropaedia [The Education of Cyrus], a partly fictional biography of the Persian king Cyrus II.

  Agathias

  Agathias, also known as Agathias Scholasticus, was a Greek historian and poet whose writings include an important historical account of the Persian Sasanian dynasty and the Roman–Sasanian wars during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I and the Persian king of kings Khosrow I Anushiravan. Agathias was born in 530, or according to some sources 536 or 537, in the village of Myrina (Mysia) in western Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). He studied law in Alexandria and completed his studies in Constantinople. After completing his legal training, he remained in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and began to practice law as an advocate, or scholasticus. He also wrote poetry. He put together an anthology of his own epigrams along with those of other past and contemporary poets. After the death of the Roman emperor Justinian in 565 CE, Agathias began to write a history of his times, which came to be known as the History of Justinian. The five-volume book covers the important events that took place during the reign of Justinian from 553 to 559. Agathias died in 580 or 582 before completing his work.

  Agathias’s writings provide historians with highly valuable and relevant information about several major events, which took place in the sixth century CE. He offers a comprehensive and thorough account of the Frankish invasion of Italy in the 550s. This invasion was defeated by the Roman general Narses. Agathias also wrote about the invasion of Asia Minor and the attack on the city of Constantinople by the Huns under the leadership of Zabergan and how this was thwarted by a small force of Roman officers and soldiers commanded by the hero of the hour, Belisarius.

  The importance of Agathias’s five-volume history for historians of ancient Iran is his coverage of the wars between the Byzantine emperor Justinian and the Persian monarch Khosrow I, known by his title “Anushiravan” (immortal soul). Agathias did not, however, confine himself to covering the military confrontations between the two empires and their armies. He also added highly valuable information on the Sasanian dynasty, which had seized power in 224 CE after defeating and overthrowing the ruling Arsacids. Through his contact with a Syrian translator and interpreter who worked for the Sasanian court, Agathias acquired access to the Persian royal archives and used the annals and documents he had studied in his narrative. He provided his readers with a chronological list of Sasanian kings beginning with Ardashir I, the founder of the dynasty, and ending with Khosrow I, who died as Agathias was writing his history. Though there are many factual mistakes in his account, Agathias’s history is extremely valuable and indeed essential for those studying the history of the Sasanian period, particularly for events relating to the reign of Khosrow I, who was undoubtedly one of the most important rulers of the Sasanian dynasty.

  Agathias’s account of the wars between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires focuses primarily on the military campaigns organized and fought by the two powers in Lazica. The kingdom of Lazica was situated on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, corresponding with the western regions of the present-day Republic of Georgia in the southern Caucasus. Because of its proximity to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Caspian Sea, the kingdom of Lazica played an important role in the strategic calculations of both the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. The Byzantine emperors could not afford losing Lazica, because it provided their empire with a natural barrier against any Persian advance toward the Black Sea coast. For the Persians, the conquest of the strategic kingdom provided access to the trade and commerce of the western Caucasus and the Black Sea, from which they could also threaten the Byzantine provinces of Asia Minor and the city of Constantinople itself. The so-called Lazic War lasted for two decades, beginning in 541 and ending in 562. In his description, Agathias portrayed the Persian Sasanians as the invaders and the Lazi and their Byzantine allies as the defenders of peace and the status quo. Agathias wrote about the murder of the ruler of Lazica, Gubazes, by two Byzantine commanders and how the Sasanian forces were eventually defeated by the Byzantine generals Martin and Justin. Of great importance is Agathias’s tendency to depart from the main narrative to discuss various aspects of Persian culture and religion, including the prevailing customs and traditions among the ruling Sasanians. As with the majority of the Greek authors of antiquity, Agathias displayed a deep-seated hatred of and disdain for the Persians, whom he branded as “barbarians.” He reserved his deepest contempt and scornful remarks, however, for the Persian monarch Khosrow I, ridiculing the Sasanian king as a phony philosopher-king.

  See also: K&Q, Sasanian: Khosrow I Anushiravan; Peoples: Sasanian Empire

  Further Reading

  Agathias. The Histories. Translated by Joseph D. Frendo. Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 1975.

  Chaumont, M.-L. “Agathias.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1984, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/agathias-byzantine-historian-b.

  Daryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Iran (224–651 CE): Portrait of a Late Antique Empire. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2008.

  Barbad

  Barbad was a musician and poet in the court of Khosrow II Parvez (the Victorious), who ruled the Persian Sasanian Empire from 590 to 628 CE. Barbad was originally from the city of Marv in the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan. Legendary accounts of his rise to prominence claim that despite his exceptional talents, Barbad was prevented from realizing his dream of becoming the king’s musician and singer by Sargis (Sarkash), the royal court’s jealous minstrel, who feared that he would lose his privileged status if Barbad performed in front of the king. To convince the king of his talent as a musician, Barbad, having dressed all in green, concealed himself among the leaves of a tree in the royal garden during a reception attended by the Sasanian monarch and his guests. At an opportune time during the banquet Barbad began to play and sing, performing several songs, which delighted the king, who asked him to come down from the tree and identify himself. The Sasanian monarch showered the young and talented musician with royal praise and gifts.

  Illustration from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh [Book of Kings] depicts the Sasanian monarch Khosrow II Parvez (Parviz) listening to the music of Barbad, who is concealed in a tree. As the most accomplished poet and musician of the late Sasanian era, Barbad emerged as an influential member of the Sasanian court during the long reign of Khosrow II. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

  Barbad was quickly elevated to the status of court musician. Aside from taking great delight in his songs, the king enjoyed Barbad’s company. During the Islamic era many legendary accounts and stories developed about the close friendship between the king and his musician. According to these accounts, those who wished to receive a favor from the king requested Barbad to intercede on their behalf. When the king’s favorite horse, Shabdez (Shabdiz), died suddenly, no one dared to convey the terrible news to the king. The frightened courtiers agreed that the only individual who could break the bad news would be Barbad. The court musician composed a poem and a song that contained verses informing the king of the demise of his horse. Barbad’s relationship with the king was so friendly that the Christian Sasanian queen Shirin asked Barbad to remind her royal husband through a song of the castle he had promised to build for her. As a court musician, Barbad performed at royal banquets and at the great national festivals, including the Persian
New Year (Nowruz) and Mihragan (Mihrgan). The close relationship between king and musician ended abruptly, however, when Khosrow II was overthrown and subsequently executed by his own son, Kavad II Shiruya (Shiroy). Barbad, who was traveling at the time, rushed back to the capital city of Ctesiphon, where he recited elegies about the deceased monarch. The Persian epic poet Ferdowsi wrote that Barbad was so grief-stricken by the death of his royal patron that he cut off four of his fingers and burned all of his instruments. Several historians of the Islamic era claimed that Barbad died after he was poisoned by his longtime rival, Sargis. However, at least one historian rejected this story and countered that it was Barbad who poisoned Sargis and put an end to the life of a rival who had persistently tried to block his rise to power. These stories reflect the fascination surrounding the life and career of Barbad, a fascination that persisted for centuries after his death. Barbad remains a highly esteemed cultural and artistic icon in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. In Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, the largest concert hall, which serves as the venue for major cultural programs and musical performances, is named after the Persian musician who stole the heart of an emperor through his music while sitting concealed among green leaves atop a tree.