An outline, era by era

Parthian Empire, then Sasanian Empire (from 224 CE)

Classical Antiquity · ~500 BCE – ~500 CE

The Parthian Empire was founded by Arsaces I, leader of the Parni, around 247 BCE in the north-east of the old Persian world. Over the following centuries the Arsacid dynasty took Iran and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids and ruled a wide territory from the Euphrates eastward. The Parthians were the great rival of Rome in the east, and their cavalry defeated a Roman army at Carrhae in 53 BCE. Their capital in later times was Ctesiphon on the Tigris.

In 224 CE the last Parthian king, Artabanus IV, was defeated by Ardashir I, a ruler from Fars, who founded the Sasanian Empire. The Sasanians ruled Iran and neighbouring lands until the Arab conquests of the seventh century. They promoted Zoroastrianism as a state religion, built up a strong central administration, and fought long wars with Rome and then Byzantium. In 260 CE Shapur I captured the Roman emperor Valerian. Sasanian art, court ceremony and ideas of kingship influenced later Islamic and Central Asian cultures.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Ardashir defeats Artabanus IV at Hormozdgan

    Event

    What happened

    In the early 220s CE Ardashir, a local ruler in Fars, expands his power across southern Iran at the expense of the Arsacid kings. Around 224 CE he defeats the last Parthian king, Artabanus IV, in battle at Hormozdgan, in western Iran. Ardashir then takes Ctesiphon on the Tigris and is crowned there as King of Kings, probably by about 226 CE.

    The rest is history

    This victory ended Arsacid rule and began the Sasanian dynasty, which held Iran and neighbouring lands until the Arab conquests of the seventh century. Ardashir presented his rule as a restoration of Persian kingship and tied it to Ahura Mazda, as his rock reliefs show. His son Shapur I carried the wars against Rome much further. Some Parthian noble families kept great influence under the new rulers. How far the change was a sudden conquest and how far a gradual shift in power is still discussed by historians, and the exact dates of the battle and the coronation are debated. The empire Ardashir founded lasted until the 650s CE.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryRes Gestae Divi Saporis. Trilingual inscription of Shapur I, Ka'ba-ye Zardosht, Naqsh-e Rostam, c. 260 CE.Shapur names his father Ardashir as the founder of the new royal line.
    2. BookDaryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.Short account of Ardashir's victory and the early Sasanian state.
    3. BookWiesehöfer, Josef. Ancient Persia from 550 BC to 650 AD. London: I.B. Tauris, 1996.

  2. Ardashir, Papak and the dream of kingship

    Origin story

    The legend

    Ardashir is raised at the court of the Parthian king Artabanus, but flees after a quarrel. He is pursued, and a ram's fortune, a divine glow, follows and protects him. He defeats Artabanus, marries his daughter, and founds the Sasanian line, which is said to descend from the hero Sasan.

    The rest is history

    The story is told in the Middle Persian Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Papakan, written down in the late Sasanian period, perhaps in the sixth or seventh century CE. It is a romance rather than a chronicle, and it blends folktale motifs with dynastic propaganda. What is well established is that Ardashir came from Fars, where his family were local rulers linked to the temple of Anahita at Istakhr. He defeated Artabanus IV around 224 CE and was crowned at Ctesiphon, and his rock reliefs at Naqsh-e Rostam and Firuzabad show him receiving the ring of kingship from Ahura Mazda. The claim that he descended from the old Persian kings is Sasanian self-presentation, not demonstrated fact.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryKar-Namag i Ardashir i Papakan. Middle Persian prose romance, late Sasanian period, written down c. 6th to 7th century CE.The legendary life of Ardashir.
    2. BookDaryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.Short account of the dynasty's founding and its myths.
    3. BookWiesehöfer, Josef. Ancient Persia from 550 BC to 650 AD. London: I.B. Tauris, 1996.

  3. Crassus and the molten gold

    Folk tale

    The legend

    After the Roman general Crassus is killed in the east, the Parthians pour molten gold down his throat. They do this to mock his famous greed, and the gold is said to be what he wanted in life.

    The rest is history

    The story is told by later Roman writers such as Cassius Dio and in Plutarch's Life of Crassus, in slightly different forms. Crassus invaded Parthia in 53 BCE and was defeated near Carrhae by the Parthian general Surena, using horse archers and heavily armoured cavalry. Crassus was killed during a parley, and Plutarch says his head was brought to the Parthian king Orodes II. Plutarch's version has the head used as a prop in a performance of Euripides' Bacchae. The gold detail is not securely attested as fact. The defeat itself was a major shock to Rome.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Crassus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. Loeb Classical Library, Plutarch's Lives vol. 3.Account of Carrhae and the fate of Crassus.
    2. PrimaryCassius Dio. Roman History, book 40. Greek history, early 3rd century CE. Loeb Classical Library.Gives the gold story.
    3. BookSampson, Gareth C. The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2008.

  4. Valerian as Shapur's footstool

    Folk tale

    The legend

    When the Roman emperor Valerian is taken prisoner by the Persian king Shapur I, he is humiliated for the rest of his life. Shapur uses him as a footstool to mount his horse. When he dies, his skin is stuffed with straw and hung in a Persian temple.

    The rest is history

    The footstool and stuffed skin are told by Christian writers such as Lactantius, who wished to show that persecutors of Christians came to a bad end. They are not found in Shapur's own record. That record is the great trilingual inscription on the Ka'ba-ye Zardosht at Naqsh-e Rostam, which says that Shapur captured Valerian at Edessa in 260 CE with a large army. Roman sources agree that Valerian was captured, which was unprecedented for a Roman emperor. Rock reliefs at Bishapur and Naqsh-e Rostam show Shapur triumphant over Roman emperors, and the fate of Valerian after capture is unknown.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryRes Gestae Divi Saporis. Trilingual inscription of Shapur I, Ka'ba-ye Zardosht, Naqsh-e Rostam, c. 260 CE.Shapur's own account of the capture of Valerian.
    2. PrimaryLactantius. De Mortibus Persecutorum. Latin treatise, c. 314 CE.Source of the footstool story.
    3. BookPotter, David S. The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-395. London: Routledge, 2004.

  5. Khosrow and the justice of the chain

    Folk tale

    The legend

    Khosrow I, called Anushirvan, hangs a chain with bells outside his palace so that any wronged subject can ring it and be heard. He is remembered as the just king who treats rich and poor alike.

    The rest is history

    The image of Khosrow as the model just ruler grew in Islamic-era Persian and Arabic writing, including Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, finished around 1010 CE. The chain of justice is a motif told of several rulers and is not recorded in Sasanian sources. Khosrow I ruled 531 to 579 CE and is known to have reformed taxation, reorganised the army, and supported scholars at Gundeshapur. He also fought the Byzantines, capturing Antioch in 540. His reputation for justice was partly a literary tradition, which later rulers used as a model.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryFerdowsi. Shahnameh. Persian epic, completed c. 1010 CE.Reign of Khosrow Anushirvan.
    2. BookDaryaee, Touraj. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009.
    3. BookPourshariati, Parvaneh. Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008.

  6. The Parthian shot

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Parthian horsemen pretend to flee, then turn in the saddle and shoot their pursuers. The phrase 'a parting shot' is said to come from this trick.

    The rest is history

    The tactic is real and was described by Roman writers, including Plutarch on Carrhae and Virgil and Pliny in passing. Parthian horse archers, supported by heavily armoured cavalry called cataphracts, used mobility and a supply of arrows carried by camels to wear down the enemy. The turn in the saddle is also attested in earlier steppe peoples such as the Scythians. The English phrase 'parting shot' is probably an alteration of 'Parthian shot', though its exact development is uncertain. It is the Parthian skill with the bow, not any single battle, that this saying recalls.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPlutarch. Life of Crassus. Greek biography, c. 100 CE. Loeb Classical Library, Plutarch's Lives vol. 3.Describes Parthian tactics at Carrhae.
    2. BookBrosius, Maria. The Persians: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2006.
    3. BookCurtis, Vesta Sarkhosh, and Sarah Stewart, eds. The Age of the Parthians. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.

← Back to the outline