Arsacides

The Arsacides are the dynasty of the kings parthes having reigned on the Iran to form the Parthian Empire.

Founded into -250 by Arsace {{Ier}}, it preserved the throne until year 224 of our era, and was replaced by that of the Sassanides.

The Arsacide last which reigned on Parthes is Artaban V, which was overcome by Ardashir, wire of Sassan.

Historical context

After the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexandre Large the, king of Macedonia, Persia (Iran) was constantly pulled about between the old Persian traditions and the novel mode of life Hellénistique. In Persia, the leaders hellenes were finally unable to solve these problems as well as others, inherent in such a company, mixed and complex, even if there were strong unifying cement between these two cultures.

But, finally, the Greeks and their culture “citizen” could play only one secondary part vis-a-vis the models former to the conquest which remade their appearance, more forts that never, the such persistent use of the language Araméen in the administration and the trade.

The Empire Séleucide reigned on the grounds hellenes of Asia after the death of Alexandre: territory stretched to the extreme which neglected its Persian possessions to prefer the to them Anatolia and the Syria. The Parni, Iranian wandering tribe, were to draw advantage from this situation, favors which increased with the disintegration of the state séleucide, following the quarrels of succession after the death of Antiochos IV Épiphane in -164. The other kingdoms hellenistic out of grounds Iranian woman and Indian, the kingdoms Gréco-Bactriens, underwent the same fate, swept by the migrations of the nomads Yueh-Chih and the rise of the Empire kouchan. First century BC saw the last remainders of the kingdoms hellenistic crumbling and the emergence of those which were going to become the mortal enemies of Parthes: Roman and the Kushan at the time of several wars and conflicts. In -247, two brothers, Arsace (Arschag) and Tiridate, Iranian wandering tribe Parni, coming from banks of the Amou-Daria, occupied the satrapie Parthian séleucide district of Tejen, and killed its governor Andragoras. This preceded the large difficulties and vexations which Séleucos was going to know before losing the control of the Bactrie, whose Greek satrap Diodote was going to direct the rebellion (future Diodote 1st).

Parthes were on the defensive during almost a century, during which the world scenario fur radically transformed. In -190, the king séleucide Antiochos III the Large one undergoes a crushing defeat of the Romans with Magnésie, which marked the inexorable decline of its kingdom. With died of Antiochos IV Épiphane, in -164, internal conflicts burst within the royal dynasty, leaving the free track to the campaigns of Mithridate Ier during its long reign of -171 with -138.

Mithridate 1st annexed the provinces of Médie, Susiane, Persis, Characène, Babylonia, Assyrie, with the west and those of Gédrosie and of the Sistan, in the east. It also seized Séleucie of the Tiger (Séleukia) which was then the second plus big city of the Occidental Asia. Parthes respected the autonomy and the Greek institutions of Séleucie and based, opposite, on left bank of the Tiger, the town of Ctésiphon. It was the new capital of the new empire. Under Démétrios II Nicator, Séleucides tried to reconquer the lost territories but in -139, it lost vis-a-vis the Parthian cavalry and was made prisoner by Mithridate 1st. This last treated it well, giving him even his/her daughter in marriage, but maintained it in captivity in Hyrcanie until its death.

Sovereigns parthes

Warning

To draw up a list of the sovereigns parthes is not easy. With the difference in the Roman or Chinese empires, the Parthian empire did not leave of historical chronicle. We thus know the reigns of the various sovereigns only by the currencies which they struck, some rare inscriptions, papyrus and ostraka like by the historical sources written by other people (Roman historians and Chinese). For the sovereigns having had short reigns, the chronology is sometimes difficult to establish, and remains dubious. On several occasions also the sovereign in place was disputed by competitors, sometimes supported by the Romans: there can thus be several kings for the same period. The numbers making it possible to differentiate the sovereigns parthes bearing the same name were allotted by the modern and contemporary historians, with the wire of the reconstitution of the history of the dynasty and of its sometimes animated successions. Thus more or less recent discoveries - currencies, ostraka of Nisa, inscription of Heraklès de Séleucie of the Tiger - specified episodes hitherto unknown of the Parthian history. Also there exists several system of classification of the kings parthes. For example the sovereign currently known like Vologèse IV, and which had a very long reign of 147 with 191, was a long time known as Vologèse III (because one did not count Vologèse having reigned towards 77-80), and it appears with this number in the majority of the oldest reference books, and sometimes still in recent work of researchers little to the fact of the details of the history of Arsacides (when he is mentioned for example in his reports/ratios with the Roman empire).

250 - 248: Arsace I {{er}} Large the
248 - 217: Tiridate I {{er}}
217 - 190: Artaban I {{er}} or Arsace II the Large one.

190 - 175: Phriapetius Arsace III
175 - 171: Phraatès I {{er}} Arsace V
171 - 138: Mithridate I {{er}} Arsace VI the Large one or Philhellène
138 - 127: Phraatès II Arsace VII

132 - 136: Arsace VIII Nicéphore

127 - 124: Artaban II Arsace IX

122 - 121: Arsace X Dikaïos Philhellène

123 - 88: Mithridate II Arsace XI Large the
95 - 87: Gotarzès Ier Arsace XIII
93 - 70: Sanatrocès Arsace XII

80 - 75: Orodès I {{er}}

70 - 58: Phraatès III
58 - 54: Mithridate III
54 - 38: Orodès II

40 - 38: Pacorus I {{er}} associated king

38 av. J. - C. - 2 av. J. - C.: Phraatès IV

30 - 26: Tiridate II

2 av. J. - C. - 4 a. J. - C.: Phraatès V or Phraatacès
4 - 8: Orodès III
8 - 12: Vononès I {{er}}
10 - 40: Artaban III

35 - 36: Tiridate III
35: Phraatès VI

40 - 47: Vardanès I {{er}}
40 - 51: Gotarzès II
51 - 51: Vononès II
51 - 78: Vologèse I {{er}}

55 - 58: Vardanès II

77 - 80: Vologèse II
78 - 105: Pacorus II

80 - 90: Artaban IV

105 - 147: Vologèse III (in the past numbered II)

109 - 129: Chosroès I {{er}}
116 - 117: Parthamaspatès
129 - 140: Mithridate IV

147 - 191: Vologèse IV (in the past numbered III)

190 - 191: Chosroès II claiming in Médie

191 - 207: Vologèse V (in the past numbered IV)
207 - 218: Vologèse VI (in the past numbered V)

216 - 224: Artaban V (sometimes numbered IV)

Kings d' Arménie

Arsacides also reigned on the arménie:

15 - 16: Vononès Ier (former Parthian king) (protectorate of Parthes)
16 - 18: Roman interregnum (Vononès is king in title)
18 - 34: Interregnum (Roman protectorate)
34 - 35: Arsace d' Arménie (wire of the Parthian king Artaban III) (Parthian protectorate)
35 - 35: Orodès d' Arménie (claiming, wire of Artaban III) (vassal of Parthes)
35 - 37: Interregnum (Roman protectorate)
37 - 42: Orodès d' Arménie (this time king) (Parthian protectorate)
42 - 53: Interregnum (Roman protectorate)
53 - 53: Tiridate {{Ier}} (brother of the Parthian king Vologèse Ier) (Parthian protectorate)
53 - 54: Interregnum (Roman protectorate)
54 - 58: Tiridate {{Ier}}
58 - 59: Roman occupation
59 - 62: Tigrane VI of Cappadoce (Roman protectorate)
62 - 63: Tiridate {{Ier}} (Parthian protectorate)
63 - 72: Tiridate {{Ier}} (Roman protectorate)
72 -? : Axidarès (wire of the Parthian king Pacorus II) (Roman protectorate)
? - 114: Parthamasiris (brother of Axidarès) (Parthian protectorate)
114 - 118: Roman province
118 -? : Vologèse {{Ier}} (Roman protectorate)
? - 140 or 144: Aurelios Pakoros
140 or 144 - 161: Sohaemus
161 - 163: Pakoros
163 -? : Sohaemus (for the second time) (Roman protectorate)
? - 185: Sanatruk
185 - 191: Vologès II (wire of the precedent)
191 - 216: Chosroès {{Ier}} (wire of the precedent)
216 - 252: Tiridate II of Arménie (wire of the precedent)
252 - 293: Persian period Sassanides

252 - 283: Artavazde VI
279 or 280 - 282: Khosrov II of Arménie (wire of Tiridate II) in the west of Arménie
287 - 298: Tiridate d' Arménie (brother of the precedent) in the west of Arménie

298 - 330: Tiridate III, known as Photogravure Large (Roman protectorate) the
330 - 339: Khosrov III Small the (wire of the precedent)
339 - C. 350: Tigrane VII (wire of the precedent)
C. 350 - 368: Arshak II (wire of the precedent)
368 - 370: Persian occupation
368 - 369: Cylax (Guy) (governor)
368 - 339: Artaban (Karen) (governor)
369 - 370: Vahan Mamikonian (governor)
369 - 370: Merujan Ardzruni (governor)
370 - 374: PAP (wire of Archak II)
374 - 378: Varazdat (grandson of Arshak II)
378 - 379: Zarmandukht (widowed of PAP)
378 - 379: Manual Mamikonian ( sparapit ) (provisional government)
379 - 379: Persian period
379 - C. 380: joint government of the marzban (governor) Persian, the Zarmandukht queen and Enmanuel Mamikonian
C. 380 - 384: joint government of Zarmandukht and Enmanuel Mamikonian
384 - 386: Arshak III (wire of PAP and Zarmandukht), jointly with Valarchak
384 - 386: Valarchak (brother of the precedent), jointly with Arshak III
387 - 390: Zik (regent)
387 - 392: Khosrov IV (wire of Varazdat)
392 - 414: Vram Shapuh (brother of Khosrov IV)
414 - 415: Khosrov IV (for the second time)
415 - 421: Shahpur (crown prince to Persia)
421 - 421: provisional government of Narses Djidjrakatsi
421 - 423: independent local governments
423 - 428: Artaxias IV or Ardachès IV (wire of Vram Shapuh)

Taken refuge descendants with Byzance

If the arsacides disappear from the international scene into 628, certain descendants take refuge in Byzance to avoid the risks of executions because of their dynastic statute. Documentation is insufficient to attest of a continuous filiation, but their quality of prince arsacides is mentioned on several occasions, by contemporary or later texts.

The historian Michael Čamč `ean, at the 18th century, mentions a prince arsacide name of Artabanès which emigrated in Byzance into 471, probably accompanied by his Keinès brother. From a writing of Procope, one deduces that these princes came from the king Arsakès III.

Between 538 and 554 is quoted Artabanès, prince arsacide, wire of Iohannes, brother of Iohannes (Byzantine captain died into 545) and general of the emperor Justinien Ier. This Artabanès is probably grandson of the precedent.

In 646, the Sebeos chronicler mentions the marriage of Smbat V Bagratouni with a princess arsacide, girl of the magistros Manouel and relationship of the emperor Constant II. The study of the relationships of the emperor show that it is his Fausta wife who is arsacide, like her Valentinos father, who was associated with the throne from 641 to 644. Valentinos and Manouel could be brothers and grandson of the Artabanès general very well.

The last descendants were Artabasde, strategist of Arméniaques and curopalate into 717, Byzantine emperor from 741 to 743, and his/her cousin Tiridate (v. 700 † 743), Patrice in 743.

Sources

Parthes, history of an ignored, rival empire of Rome, Files of archeology , n°271, March 2002.
Andre Verstandig, History of the Parthian Empire (- 250 to 227), the Cry History edition (Belgium) 2001 ISBN 2-87106-279-X
List of the kings parthes on livius.org
, pages 106 to 130.

Random links: