Parthian Empire: history in a nutshell

While Rome and China emerged as the two great cultures of the ancient world, the former being the great empire of Europe and the latter the largest population of Asia, there was a point in between from both regions, this area being halfway through the parturition. To get to know this important civilization that communicated with both Asia and Europe, in this lesson from a Professor we must talk about the summary history of the Parthian Empire.

Index

1. Origin of the Parthian Empire with map
2. Parthian expansion
3. Enemies of the Parthian Empire: Romans and Armenians
4. End of the Parthian Empire

The births were born when its first king, Arsaces I, A member of the Parno tribes, he conquered the Iranian region, the area that had belonged to the Achaemenids and Seleucids.

In the early years of Parthia as a new civilization, these had to confront the nearby towns, who wanted to take the lands of that new culture. The Seleucids were the people that caused the most problems for the Parthians, as they wanted to regain the lands they had lost in front of them. But the numerous fronts of the Seleucids, together with the number of nomadic peoples who joined the Parthians, allowed Parthia to maintain its constant borders for years.

During the government of King Arsaces II there was a turning point for Parthia, since when realizing the Seleucid king that he could not take the region, partly because of all the conflicts his empire I had, decided to give the title of king to Arsaces II and to promise not to meddle further in his affairs, as long as King Arsanes said that the Seleucids were superior and Parthia were his subjects.

It was from this moment that Parthia could begin to prosper without fear of being conquered.

For years, the various monarchs of Parthia began a series of conquests throughout the region in order to form a great empire. During this great expansion, alliances and annexations with nearby clans, uniting kingdoms and passing these small kings to be vassals of the monarchs of Parthia, similar to what years before the Seleucids had done.

With the end of the Seleucids, it was the Parthians who occupied its main areas of influenceThe kings of Parthia being the ones who said they were the successors of the Seleucids, and they called themselves King of Kings for this reason. In an area where there was a huge power vacuum, the Parthians took the opportunity to increase your influence around the area and achieve rapid and efficient expansion.

With the intention of forming the largest known empire, the Parthians conquered the areas of Babylon and Half, being the territory of what had been Persia, and being a very important point of influence due to its location. At this point of maximum extension, the Parthians had a vast empire which ranged from the north of the Euphrates, in the Turkish zone, to the east of Iran.

Due to this enormous extension Parthia was in the center of the well-known Silk Road, making it the center of trade between Rome and China.

Image: History Wiki

The great advances and expansion of Parthia caused great enemies to be created who did not see with good eyes that a region had so much power, these two being enormous enemies Rome and Armenia.

The confrontations between Armenia and Parthia were very uneven and ended with the victory of the Parthians, causing himArmenian kings will become subordinates of the Parthians. This situation did not please Rome, which considered that it should attack Parthia to stop her advances.

For 3 long centuries the clashes between Parthians and Romans they were a constant, with several breaks between each war, but without total peace between the two regions. The main areas that were in dispute was Armenia, Mesopotamiaand Syria, being regions that were changing hands depending on how the battles between the regions were.

Of the war between Romans and Parthians some of the most important moments of the Old Age emerged. One of them was the defeat of Crassus, Roman leader who served as a counterpoint between the disputes of Julius Caesar and Pompey, and that he was totally humiliated by the Parthians, which would cause in part the end of the Roman Republic and the passage to the Empire.

Rome would take revenge shortly after invading the main cities of Parthia, although the Parthians would strike back, and thus the disputes between Parthia and Rome would be maintained in the so-called Partic Wars during centuries.

To finish this lesson on the history of the Parthian Empire, we must talk about how the end of Parthia was, to understand the decline of what had been the great enemy of Rome and the fulcrum between the West and East.

Over the years, Roman power became too strong for the Parthians and these were retreating towards the center of the empire, leaving dozens of cities in Roman hands due to the impossibility of defending them.

The kings of the regions that were losing they were joining the Romans, but also the regents who still belonged to the Parthians began to think that at any moment they could lose their cities due to the weakness of the Parthians.

The power of the Parthian king was diminishing and the rulers of the great regions of Parthia began to think that the king's power was limited and that it was they who should rule the empire. In this situation Ardacher I, king of the Istajr region, rebelled against the Parthians and killed the last king of these.

After that, the Parthian Empire had its end, becoming the Sassanid empire and ending forever with one of the greatest empires in history.

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• Ballesteros Pastor, L. (2018). From King of Pontus to King of Kings: the empire of Mithridates Eupátor in the context of the late-Hellenistic East. From King of Pontus to King of Kings: the Empire of Mithridates Eupátor in the context of the late-Hellenistic East, 139-170.