(250 BC - 224 AD), which liberated Iran from the Greco-Macedonian Seleucid dynasty, from the very beginning proclaims a connection of its kind with the legendary kings - Avestan heroes - as evidenced by the name of their divine ancestor - Kavi Arshan . According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the ancestors of the dynasty were members of the Parni tribe, who lived east of the Caspian Sea. They entered Parthia soon after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) and gradually gained control over most of Iran and Mesopotamia. Arrian also mentions that the Parthians traced their lineage to the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II. This idea of presenting ourselves as the legitimate successors of the glorious kings of antiquity probably arose as early as the beginning of the 1st century BC. e. (or earlier). For example, Parthian documents found in Nisa mention the Artaxšahrakān vineyard, which, according to the document publishers, “was probably named after the legendary Arsacid ancestor Artaxerxes II.”
Senior branch of the dynasty
Junior branches of the dynasty
- Arshakuni or Armenian Arsacids- dynasty that ruled in Armenia in -428 AD. e.
Sometimes the founder of the dynasty is mistakenly considered to be Vonon I, a Parthian king who was removed from the throne as a result of an internecine war in Parthia and fled to Armenia, where he was proclaimed king by the local nobility (ruled in -15 AD) and removed by the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus. Vonon I, although being a representative of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, was still only a representative of this dynasty, temporarily on the Armenian throne. The direct founder of the ruling dynasty is Trdat I (Tiridat), brother of the Parthian king Vologeses I, who was recognized as the king of Armenia by both Parthia and the Roman Empire (66).
- Arshakuniani or Arsacids of Iberia - a branch of the dynasty that ruled in Iberia. Founder Rev I.
- Arranshahi or Arsacids of Caucasian Albania - a dynasty that ruled in Caucasian Albania from the 4th century AD. e. .
The early history of the dynasty is unknown; according to Movses Kagankatvatsi, the founder of the dynasty was Sanatruk [ ], leader of the Maskuts, but this version is mythical and has been refuted by scientists. The history of the dynasty dates back to the first known representative of this dynasty, Vachagan I the Brave, who hails from the historical region
Hethumids
Lusignans
Mamikonyans
Artsruni
Rshtuni
Kamsarakan
Amatuni
Gnuni
Mandakuni
Bznuni
Varazhnuni
Gntuni
Kyurikyans
Pahlavuni
Zakaryans
Orbelyans
Proshyans
Hasan-Jalalyan
Dopyany
Vahramyans
Vachutyans
Arsacids, or Arsacids- the name of the royal dynasties of Parthian and Armenian origin.
Genealogy
Senior branch of the dynasty
Junior branches of the dynasty
- Arshakuni- dynasty that ruled in Armenia in - gg.
The founder of the dynasty is often mistakenly considered to be Vonon I, the Parthian king, who was removed from the throne as a result of an internecine war in Parthia and fled to Armenia, where he was proclaimed king by the local nobility, and removed by the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus.
Vonon I, although being a representative of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, was still only a representative of this dynasty, temporarily on the Armenian throne. The direct founder of the ruling dynasty is Trdat I (Tiridat), brother of the Parthian king Vologeses I, who was officially appointed by him to rule in Armenia, which was a vassal of Parthia.
- Arshakuniani or Arsacids of Iberia - a branch of the dynasty that ruled in Iberia. Founder Rev I.
- Arsacids- a dynasty that ruled in Caucasian Albania from the 4th century.
The early history of the dynasty is unknown; according to Movses Kalankatuatsi, the founder of the dynasty was Sanatruk, the leader of the Maskuts, but this version is mythical and has been refuted by scientists. The history of the dynasty dates back to the first known representative of this dynasty, Vachagan I the Brave, originally from the historical region of Maskut. He was a descendant of the Maskut (Massaget) leaders who came to power in Caucasian Albania in the 1st century. n. e. He was related to the royal Arsacid dynasty that ruled in Parthia, being a descendant of relatives of the Parthian Arsacids, who established themselves in Eastern Transcaucasia in the ancient era.
Notes
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See what “Arsacids” are in other dictionaries:
I Arsacids, Parthian dynasty in 250 BC. e. 224 n. e. They traced themselves back to Artaxerxes II from the Achaemenid dynasty (historically this is not confirmed). Younger line of the Arsacids The Arsacids are Armenian. II dynasty of kings of Armenia in 62 428. Founder ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Dynasty of kings of Armenia in 62 428. Founder Trdat I ...
- (Arsacids) Parthian dynasty in 250 BC. e. 224 n. uh... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
1 . (Arsacids) Parthian dynasty that ruled the Parthian kingdom in 250 BC. e. 224 n. e. A. traced their family back to the Persians. King Artaxerxes II and considered themselves, therefore, the successors of the Achaemenid dynasty. However, this genealogy is completely... Soviet historical encyclopedia
I Arsacids (Arshakuni) Armenian, royal dynasty (62,428), related to the Arsacids (See Arsacids) Parthians. Founded by Tiridates I [from 62, officially from 66 to 80]. Under Khosrow I the Great, the power of Armenia became hereditary. Under Tiridates... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Arsacids, a Parthian dynasty that ruled Persia from approximately 250 BC. to 227 AD The Arsacids considered themselves descendants of the Achaemenids (the former royal dynasty of Persia), but the founder of the dynasty, Arshak, traced his origins to the nomadic Scythian... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
Arsacids- Dynasty of Parthian kings. They received their dynastic name from King Arshak I in the 2nd century. BC e. Mithridates I (Arshak VI) conquered Mesopotamia, Persia and part of Media. Beginning with Mithridates II, endless wars were fought with the Romans. The capital of Parthian... ... Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book.
ARSHAKIDS Dictionary-reference book on Ancient Greece and Rome, on mythology
ARSHAKIDS- Dynasty of Parthian kings. They received their dynastic name from King Arshak I in the 2nd century. BC e. Mithridates I (Arshak VI) conquered Mesopotamia, Persia and part of Media. Beginning with Mithridates II, endless wars were fought with the Romans. The capital of the Parthian kingdom... ... List of Ancient Greek names
Arsacids- 1. (Arsacids) Parthian dynasty that ruled the Parthian kingdom in 250 BC. 224 AD A. traced their family back to the Persians. King Artaxerxes II and considered themselves, therefore, to continue. Achaemenid dynasty. However, this genealogy of phenomena. committed lawsuit... Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary
Dynasty of Parthian kings. They received their dynastic name from King Arshak I in the 2nd century. BC e. Mithridates I (Arshak VI) conquered Mesopotamia, Persia and part of Media. Beginning with Mithridates II, endless wars were fought with the Romans. The capital of the Parthian kingdom was the city of Ecbatana (currently Hamadan). The Arsacids professed the cult of Mithra. The Arsacid dynasty is overthrown by the Iranian Sassanids.
(Modern dictionary-reference book: Ancient world. Compiled by M.I. Umnov. M.: Olimp, AST, 2000)
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Arsacids
dynasty of rulers of the Parthian kingdom, dating back to its beginning. from the leaders of the Parni tribe (approximately 250 BC - 230 AD). A. got their name. on behalf of King Arshak I., which became the official dynastic. name. All R. 2nd century BC BC Mithridates I (Arshak VI) extended his power to part of Media and Persia and took possession of Mesopotamia. Under Mithridates II, A. encountered the Romans, with whom they fought in large numbers in subsequent years. war. The capital of the kingdom was the city of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan), and the winter residence of the rulers was Ctesiphon on the Tigris. On the one hand, A. adhered to the traditions of the Achaemenid kings, for example, they adopted Iran. language (Pahlavi) and the cult of Mithra, on the other hand, borrowed many. from Hellenistic heritage. The A. dynasty was overthrown by Iran. Sassanids.
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ARSHAKIDS
1 . (Arsacids) Parthians - a dynasty that ruled the Parthian kingdom in 250 BC. e. - 224 n. e. A. traced their family back to the Persians. King Artaxerxes II and considered themselves, therefore, the successors of the Achaemenid dynasty. However, this genealogy is completely artificial. Nar. tradition (recorded by al-Biruni) connects A. with the mythical. Khorezmian hero Siyavush. Tradition considers the ancestor of A. to be Arshak, the leader of the Parni tribe (one of the branches of the Dakhs), who lived in the south-east. from the Caspian Sea (in the territory of the modern Turkmenistan SSR). The true founder of the Parthian kingdom was Tiridates I. Some scientists identify him with Arshak I. Main. representatives of the A. dynasty: Arshak I (250-244/247), Tiridates I (248/247-c. 211), Artabanus I (c. 211-191), Prianatus (c. 191-176), Phraates I (c. . 175-170), Mithridates I (c. 170-138/137), Phraates II (138/137-c. 128), Artabanus II (c. 128-124/123), Mithridates II (c. 123-88 /87), Phraates III (70/69-58/57), Orodes II (c. 57-37/36), Phraates V (2 BC-ca. 4 AD), Vonon I ( 7/8-ca. 121, Artabanus III (ca. 12-ca. 38), Gotarzes II (ca. 38-ca. 51), Vologes I (51/52-79/80), Mithridates IV (128/129 -147), Vologes III (148-192), Vologes IV (191-207/208), Vologes V (207/208-222/223), Artabanus V (c. 209-224).In the chronology of Parthian A. remains There is still a lot of controversy. This table is compiled mainly from the works of Debevoise N. C., A political history of Parthia, Chf., 1938; Parker K. and Dubberstein W., Babylonian chronology..., Providence, 1956. About the younger line of A. , established in Armenia, see Armenian Arsacids. 2 . (Arshakuni) Armenian - a royal dynasty related to the Parthian Arshakids. Founded by Tiridates I (from 62, officially from 66 to 80). Parthia sent a contender to the throne upon obligation. Rome sanctions Emperor. After the fall of the Parthian A. and the Sassanids coming to power in Iran (226), Khosrow I the Great A. (217-238) did not recognize their accession; A.'s power became hereditary. During A.'s reign, a feud took shape in Armenia. relationship. Under Tiridates III the Great (287-332), Christianity became a state in 301. religion in Armenia. A. fought against the feud. fragmentation, as well as for the independence of Armenia, but to no avail. After the division of Greater Armenia in 387 between Iran and Rome, Armenia became their vassals; Armenia lost its independence. In 428 A.'s power fell. Lit.: Khalatyants G. (A.), Arm. Arshakids in the “History of Armenia” by Moses Khorensky, part 1, M., 1903; Essays on the history of the USSR, III-IX centuries, M., 1958. bbl.
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ARSHAKIDS
Royal dynasty that ruled 250 BC - 228 in Parthia (Iran).
For several centuries, the Arsacid family supplied from its midst the kings of the Parthian state and turned out to be inextricably linked with many events in world history in the 3rd century. BC e. - III century n. e. Parthia proper, whose name was transferred to one of the greatest Near Eastern monarchies of antiquity, was a small mountainous, wooded country located southeast of the Caspian Sea. The local population belonged in their language to the northern group of Iranian tribes, and in their customs they were close to the Medes (but very different from the Persians). Before becoming independent, Parthia was part of the Persian Achaemenid power, the power of Alexander the Great and the Seleucid kingdom of Syria. During the reign of King Seleucus II (247-226 BC), the Syrians had to fight difficult wars on the western borders of their state. Under these conditions, the Parthian satrap Andragoras proclaimed himself king in 247 BC, but was unable to retain power. According to Strabo, the leaders of the nomadic Parni tribe, the brothers Arshak and Tiridates, hastened to take advantage of the unstable situation and unrest in Parthia, who, after a sudden raid, took possession of the entire country. Arshak soon died in one of the battles, and his place on the throne was taken by Tiridates, who took the name Arshak II (in general, all Parthian kings later bore the throne name Arshak). He can be considered the true founder of the Parthian kingdom. According to Justin, Tiridates I “not only achieved royal power, but also established his kingdom, which is why he became no less memorable for the Parthians than Cyrus (Kurush) for the Persians, Alexander for the Macedonians, and Romulus for the Romans?” Soon after the capture of Parthia, Tiridates managed to subjugate the neighboring region of Hyrcania. In 237 BC, having established peace on the western borders of his power, Seleucus II made an attempt to return the fallen eastern satrapies under his control. However, his campaign ended in complete failure - the Syrians were defeated, and subsequently the Parthians annually celebrated this victory as the day of their independence.
After the death of Tiridates I, his son Artaban I had to repel a new Seleucid offensive. During these years, the Syrian kingdom experienced a short-term rise under the leadership of the energetic Antiochus III. Having defeated his opponents in the west, Antiochus invaded Parthia in 209 BC. Soon the Syrians captured Hekatompylos, which was the Parthian capital at that time. Artabanus, not accepting the battle, retreated with his army to Hyrcania. To prevent Antiochus from going there, he carefully fortified the mountain passes, placing his troops on high places, from where they could suddenly attack the enemy and hit him from above with stones. But, despite all the obstacles, Antiochus managed to lead his army through dangerous gorges and saddled the pass. Here the Parthians offered stubborn resistance to the Syrians, but were defeated. Having driven back the enemy, Antiochus led his army to the plains of Hyrcania and captured the royal city of Timbraxa. Then, after a stubborn siege, Syrinx was taken. Artaban was forced to enter into negotiations with Antiochus and recognized his supreme power over himself. At the same time, he retained all his possessions and royal title as an ally of the Seleucid power.
However, this dependence was short-lived - in 190 BC Antiochus III was defeated by the Romans at Magnesia, after which the Syrian kingdom began to quickly weaken. Priapates, who ruled Parthia at that time, immediately declared his independence and began conquests in Media, neighboring Parthia (here he apparently took possession of the Greek colony of Apamea). These conquests continued successfully under his successors - Phraates I and Mithridates I, about whose reign we know very little. By the end of the 140s. BC, the Parthians, having captured Media, advanced to the borders of Mesopotamia. The Syrian king Demetrius II tried unsuccessfully to resist this invasion. He made several trips to Media, but was eventually defeated and captured in 140 BC. After this, Mithridates I captured Elymaida (Elam) and Persis (Persia). In the early 130s. BC, the son of Mithridates I, Phraates II, had already waged wars in Mesopotamia and captured its most important centers - Seleucia and Babylon. In 130 BC, the Syrian king Antiochus VII tried to return Mesopotamia. First, the Parthians were defeated in three battles and retreated from Babylon. However, when Antiochus placed his army in winter quarters in the cities, a powerful uprising swept the country. Those Syrians who did not have time to escape were killed. Antiochus himself also died. Phraates finally took possession of Mesopotamia. But in 128 BC he was defeated and fell in battle with a new formidable enemy - the nomadic Sakas, who had recently conquered Bactria.
The successor of the deceased king, his uncle Artaban II, could not force the nomads to retire to their steppes. In 124 BC he received a mortal wound in a battle with the Tocharians and died the next year. Meanwhile, the Sakas captured a number of Iranian regions in the east and settled in them. In the west, Elymaids and Persida fell away from the Arsacids. In the Lower Mesopotamia the independent kingdom of Iospasin was formed, which at one time even controlled Babylon. In the north-west, the Parthians began to be pushed back by the Armenian king Artavazd I. The difficult task of restoring the Parthian state fell to the lot of the son of Artabanus II, Mithridates II. Having inherited from his father a state that was in a state of complete anarchy, he first of all made peace with the Saks, even agreeing to pay them tribute for this purpose. To successfully fight against mobile detachments of nomads, he organized a mounted militia. Instead of heavy infantry, from that time on the main core of the Parthian army became detachments of heavily armed, armored horsemen. Having carried out a military reform, Mithridates a few years later resumed the war with the Sakas, inflicted several defeats on them and forced them to recognize their power around 115 BC. (However, it is apparently impossible to talk about the conquest of the Sakas; rather, we should talk about a mutually beneficial compromise and the integration of the Saka tribes into the structure of the Parthian state. Subsequently, the leaders of the Sakas occupied a very high position at the Parthian court. Only they, for example , belonged to the right to place a diadem on the head of the newly elected king.) At the same time, around 120 BC, the kingdom of Jospasin was conquered. Then Elymaid and Persida were subjugated. At the beginning of the 1st century. BC the Parthians inflicted several defeats on the Armenians, and then Mithridates resumed his wars of conquest in the west. In 90 BC, the ruler of Coelesyria and Phenicia, Antiochus X, was defeated. In 88 BC, another Seleucid, the ruler of Damascus, Demetrius III, was captured by the Parthians. Mithridates himself no longer participated in these wars - having moved to the east of his state, he appointed a certain Gotarz (probably his son) as ruler of its western regions. In 87 BC, Mithridates died, and Gotarzes I was proclaimed the new Parthian king. He had to fight a difficult war with the Armenian king Tigran II. In 88 BC, the Armenians conquered Media, and by 85 BC, all of Northern Mesopotamia came under their rule (Gotarz retained only a small region of Central Mesopotamia with Babylon). There is little information about the last years of Gotarz's reign. It seems that turmoil has begun in Parthia. Another contender for the throne, Orodes I, opposed Gotarz. In 80 BC, he proclaimed himself king. But in 77 BC he was replaced by a representative of the senior branch of the Arsacids - Santruk (it is believed that this was one of the sons of Mithridates I, who spent many years in captivity among the nomadic Sakarauks). Santruk was already an elderly man and did not rule for long. In 70 BC he died. He was succeeded by his son Phraates III. Under this king, the Romans conquered Syria in 64 BC and became the western neighbors of Parthia.
In 57 BC, the sons of Phraates III, Mithridates III and Orodes II, killed their father. At first, Mithridates was declared king, but a year later the Parthian nobility deposed him (according to Justin, because of his cruelty). Orodes became king. Mithridates did not accept this. He fled to Roman Syria, recruited an army here and began a war with his brother. The Greek population of Mesopotamian cities supported him. Mithridates quickly captured Mesopotamia and forced Orodes to retreat to Parthia proper in 56 BC. However, the eastern satrapies remained loyal to their younger brother. Relying on them, Orod went on the offensive and, after a short siege, captured the most important cities of Mesopotamia - Seleucia and Babylon. In 55 BC Mithridates was captured and executed.
The capital of Parthia under Orodes II became the small town of Ctesiphon, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris, not far from Seleucia. Another important event during his reign was the beginning of the Roman-Parthian wars, which then continued for several centuries and had a huge impact on the history of both great powers. They began with the campaign of the Roman triumvir Crassus in 53 BC. To repel the enemy, Orodes divided his forces into two armies. The first of them, consisting of infantry formations and led by the king himself, went to the borders of Armenia, where the mountainous terrain made it difficult for large masses of cavalry to operate. The second army, the main core of which were 10 thousand heavily armed horsemen, under the command of the hereditary commander-in-chief Surena, remained in Northwestern Mesopotamia. In May 53 BC, the Romans crossed the Euphrates at Zevgana and moved through the desert into the depths of Mesopotamia. Near the Belissa River, Surena suddenly attacked Crassus and defeated him. The Romans retreated to the town of Carrha, but since it was impossible to hold a defense there, Crassus decided to retreat to the borders of Armenia. Not far from the Sinnaka mountain range, the remnants of his frustrated army were surrounded by Surena and completely defeated. More than 20 thousand Romans died, 10 thousand were captured. However, the Parthians were unable to take advantage of their brilliant victory. Soon after returning to Ctesiphon, Orodes executed Surena. The invasion of Syria began only in 51 BC, when the Romans had already recovered from their defeat. Gaius Cassius, one of the few surviving generals of Crassus, drove the Parthians back from Antioch. They also failed to break through to Cappadocia. Without having accomplished anything outstanding, the Parthian army (at its head was the son and co-ruler of Orodes, Pacorus I) retreated beyond the Euphrates.
The next war between Rome and Parthia began in 40 BC during the years of the second triumvirate, when the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire were under the rule of Mark Antony. Having crossed the Euphrates, the Parthians, led by Pacorus I, broke into Syria. Apamea and the capital of Syria, Antioch, were taken without difficulty. Pacorus captured Sidon and Ptolemais, invaded Judea and captured Jerusalem. Another Parthian army, under the command of the Roman emigrant Labienus, invaded Asia Minor. But this success was short-lived. In 38 BC, Antony's commander Publius Ventideus defeated Labienus, and then moved to Syria and defeated Pacorus near Gindar. In this battle the flower of the Parthian army was destroyed. King Pacor also fell in the battle. Upon learning of the death of his son, the elderly Orodes abdicated the throne in favor of his other son Phraates IV. The new king ordered to immediately kill all his half-brothers (Orod had 30 sons from his wives and concubines), and then ordered his father to be killed. These and other atrocities gave rise to a wave of protest. Media rebelled against Phraates, and the king began a stubborn war with the rebels.
At the height of this turmoil, in 36 BC, Parthia was attacked by Antony's huge army, consisting of 16 legions. Remembering the sad outcome of Crassus' enterprise, Antony chose the northern route for the attack - through the mountainous Media Anthropatena and the rebellious Media. In this way, the Romans hoped to weaken the effect of the Parthian cavalry. But in the mountains they encountered another difficulty - they had to transport their heavy convoy and siege weapons along narrow roads, through steep slopes and passes. Because of this, the army moved very slowly. In the end, Anthony left the convoy under the guard of two legions, and he himself with the main forces hurried to the capital of Media Antropatena, the city of Fraaspe. He hoped that the rebels would come over to his side, but he was mistaken - he found Fraasp ready for a long siege. Meanwhile, in the absence of Anthony, Phraates suddenly attacked the Roman convoy, killed the legions guarding it, seized food supplies and burned all the siege weapons. It was a heavy blow that decided the fate of the entire campaign. Anthony's army soon suffered from famine, and due to the constant raids of the Parthian cavalry it was very difficult to forage. In addition, without siege equipment, the assault on Fraasp turned out to be impossible. With winter approaching, Anthony had to begin a retreat to Armenia. This campaign along mountain roads, when the Romans, severely suffering from hunger and thirst, had to continually repel attacks by the Parthian cavalry, turned out to be very difficult. During the 27 days of the campaign, Anthony lost more than 30 thousand people. Thus, the campaign, conceived and launched on a grand scale, ended in nothing. However, due to internal turmoil, Phraates was unable to take advantage of the favorable situation when, at the end of the 30s. BC, the Romans, busy with civil war, weakened the defense of their eastern borders. In 36 BC, the king, with great difficulty, restored his control over Media Anthropatena. But already in 30 BC he was forced to leave Ctesiphon and flee to the distant northeastern regions of his power. His place on the royal throne was taken by another Arsacid - Tiridates II. However, he did not last long in power. Having recruited an army in the northeastern satrapies of the Parthian state and among the nomads of the Central Asian steppes, Phraates returned to Mesopotamia. In 25 BC, the defeated Tiridates II fled to Rome. But the turmoil did not stop there. In 12 BC Phraates had to cede Ctesiphon to a new contender for the throne - Mithridates IV. Two years later, Phraates drove him out of the capital, but his position remained precarious. To reduce the number of his opponents, the king handed over some of his closest relatives (including several sons and grandsons) to the Romans as hostages. But even with these unprecedented measures he could not protect himself - in 2 AD the king was killed by his beloved son and heir Phraates V. Having seized the throne, he declared his mother Muse (Greek by birth) to be the goddess and queen and soon entered into an official marriage with her . Two years later he was deposed and killed.
A representative of another branch of the Arsacid dynasty, Orod III, became king. He ruled for three years and was very cruel. In 7 AD, the conspirators killed him during a hunt. He was replaced from Rome by the brother of Phraates V, Vonon I, who was held hostage there for about 15 years. That same year he was proclaimed king. But it soon turned out that during the years of living in Rome, Vonon adopted the customs and habits of the local aristocracy. According to Tacitus, he did not like hunting and noisy feasts - the usual entertainment of the Parthian nobility, and did not like horses. He wore Greek dress and preferred to travel in a stretcher. In dealing with his subjects, he was extremely simple and friendly. The Parthian nobility quickly developed contempt for Vonon. In 12, the ruler of Media Artabanus, son-in-law of Phraates V, opposed him. Vonon was defeated and fled to Armenia, and Artabanus was proclaimed king. The reign of the Pakhlava branch of the Arsacids begins with him.
During the years of unrest, centralization in the Parthian state weakened. Within it, independent regions emerged, ruled by local dynasties. Under Artabanus III this process was formalized. Some relatives of the new king were given control over entire countries, as a result of which they turned into semi-independent rulers. But, despite the fact that Artaban met the wishes of the Parthian nobility, his position remained precarious. In 35, several nobles opposed to the king asked the Roman Emperor Tiberius to release to his homeland one of the grandsons of Phraates IV, Tiridates, who had long lived in Rome as a hostage. As soon as Tiridates appeared in Parthia, his supporters rebelled. The satrap of Mesopotamia, Ornospades, came over to his side. Tiridates easily captured Ctesiphon. But a year later, having gathered his strength, Artaban III recaptured the capital from him. Tiridates III fled back to Rome. But Artaban did not know peace until his death. The Parthian satraps, dissatisfied with his cruelty, elevated his adopted son Kinnam to the throne. The elderly king had to seek refuge with one of his vassals - King Adiabene. He helped him regain the throne. But soon Artaban III died. He was succeeded by his sons Gotarz II and Vardan. For ten years they either made peace with each other, then started the war again. In 48, Vardan was killed during a hunt by conspirators, and Gotarz seized all power. In 49 he managed to successfully defeat Meherdat, son of Vonon I, supported by the Romans. But in 51 he was killed, and the satrap of Media, brother of Artaban III, Vonon II, became king. A few months later he died, the throne passed to his son, the energetic and far-sighted Vologeses I. After a difficult war with the Romans, he managed to place his younger brother Tiridates on the Armenian throne, who became the founder of the Armenian Arsacids. However, in Parthia itself, royal power weakened even more during his reign. According to Pliny, Parthia at the end of the 1st century. broke up into 18 semi-independent kingdoms. In fact, the Parthian kings had real power only in Ctesiphon and Parthia proper. But even here they could not feel calm.
Vologeses I's successor, Pacorus II, had to fight every now and then with other claimants to the throne. In 80-81 Artaban IV challenged his power. In 105, Pacorus' brother Vologeses II proclaimed himself king. Foreign wars did not stop either. From the east, Parthia was threatened by the Kushan kingdom, and from the north by the nomadic Alans. But the greatest danger still came from the west - from the Roman Empire. In 109 Pacorus ceded power to his other brother, Oroz. Under him, relations with Rome, where the energetic and warlike Emperor Trajan ruled at that time, worsened to the limit. The reason for the outbreak of war was the Armenian events. In 113, Oroz removed Ashhadar (son of Pacor II), who ruled in Armenia, and gave the throne to his protege Partimasir. Trajan responded to this by declaring war. In 114 the Romans captured Armenia, in 115 they occupied Mesopotamia. In 116, Trajan crossed the Tigris near the Corduena Mountains and captured Corduena. Oroz did not have the strength to resist this invasion, as he was distracted by the suppression of the rebellion in Elymaid and Persida. Having surrendered Ctesiphon without a fight, he fled north. The Romans occupied Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Babylon and reached the Persian Gulf. But their power in this territory was fragile. In the autumn of the same year, while Trajan was sailing the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia rebelled. After a difficult and stubborn war, Trajan in 117 was forced to begin a retreat from Mesopotamia. He died that same year. His successor Hadrian hastily withdrew the Roman army back beyond the Euphrates. He made peace with Oroz and returned to him his daughter, captured by Trajan.
In 128, Oroses was replaced on the throne by his elder brother Vologeses II, who had been at enmity with him since 105. His reign took place in the struggle with another king, Mithridates V. Vologeses II was succeeded in 148 by his son Vologeses III, an extremely ambitious and warlike man . In 161 he made an attempt to capture Roman Syria. The Roman army was surrounded near Elegea and was completely defeated. But in 163 the Romans went on the offensive and captured Armenia. In 164, another army crossed the Euphrates. At Dura-Europos, in a stubborn, bloody battle, the Parthians suffered a complete defeat. Then there was another battle - at Sura, which also ended in victory for the Romans. They took Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and only the outbreak of the plague stopped their further advance to the east. According to the peace treaty of 166, northwestern Mesopotamia with the cities of Edessa, Carrhae, Nisibinus and Dura-Europos went to the Romans.
In 197, taking advantage of another civil war in Rome, Vologeses III's son, Vologeses IV, attempted to recapture Northern Mesopotamia, but was repulsed by the new emperor Septimius Severus. Having built ships, he quickly descended the Tigris to the Lower Mesopotamia and captured Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Babylon. All three cities were given over to soldiers for plunder, and more than 100 thousand of their inhabitants were turned into slaves. However, the Romans did not even try to secure the captured lands for themselves - the eastern border of the Roman Empire remained the same (it ran along the Euphrates and Khabr rivers).
The systematic devastation by the Romans of the richest Parthian satrapies led to the weakening of their kingdom, which at the end of the 2nd century. finally broke up into many virtually independent principalities. Internal strife hastened the final fall of the Arsacid dynasty. In 208, after the death of Vologeses IV, his son Vologeses V became king. In 213, his brother Artabanus V came out against him. After a stubborn war, he captured Media, Parthia and part of Mesopotamia with Ctesiphon. But Vologeses firmly held Seleucia, Babylon and several other cities. In 216, a Roman army led by Emperor Caracalla invaded Mesopotamia. For the Parthians, this attack came as a complete surprise, and Artabanus was able to gather sufficient forces to repel the enemy only in 217. In Roman Mesopotamia, in the Nisibina region, a fierce three-day battle took place, which did not bring victory to either side.
This was the last war between Rome and Parthia. In 220, the ruler of Persia, Artashir I from the Sassanid family, broke away from the Arsacids. In 224, on the Ormizdacan plain in Media, he defeated Vologeses V (the latter died in battle). In 228, the Persians also defeated Artabanus V. The king fled to the mountains of Iran, but was captured and executed in Ctesiphon. The Arsacid dynasty and four hundred years of Parthian rule in the Middle East were ended. The Persian Sassanid dynasty came to power.
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ARSHAKIDS (Armenian dynasty)
ARSHAKIDS (Arshakuni) Armenian, dynasty of kings of Great Armenia (cm. GREAT ARMENIA) in 62-428 Founder - Tiridates I, younger brother of the Parthian king Vologes I from the Parthian Arsacid dynasty (cm. ARSHAKIDS (Parthian dynasty)). Ruled from 62 AD. e. (officially from 66) to 80.
The first attempt of the Parthian Arsacids to gain a foothold on the Armenian throne was made back in 12 AD. e., when, after a long period of palace turmoil, Erato, the last queen from the Artashesid dynasty (she had no direct heirs), died under unclear circumstances. Then the Parthian king Vonon I, expelled from Parthia for his pro-Roman position, proclaimed himself king of Greater Armenia. However, August (cm. AUGUST (emperor)) made concessions to the new Parthian king Artaban II, who threatened war if Vonon remained king of Armenia. Vonon, at the behest of Augustus, was exiled to Syria, peace was concluded with Parthia, and Zeno, the son of the Pontic king Polemon I, became king of Armenia. The period before his death in 34 AD. e. was one of the most peaceful in the history of Great Armenia.
In 34, Artaban II decided to proclaim his eldest son Arshak king of Armenia. In addition, Artaban's youngest son, Orodes, also began to lay claim to the throne. Over the next 30 years, Armenia was to become a rock of contention between the powerful Parthia and the even more powerful Rome. Tiberius concentrated significant troops on the border with Parthia and found his “candidate” - the Iberian Mithridates, who soon occupied it, driving out Arshak and devastating the country. However, Mithridates soon fell out of favor with the emperor and was taken into custody. The youngest son of Artaban, Orodes, was elevated to the Armenian throne. After the death of Artabanus, Mithridates was released and, with the help of the Iberian princes, again took the throne; After this, a civil war began in the country. The Armenian population objected to the Iberian king, and as a result, the Parthian Vologeses was forced to give the throne to his younger brother, Tiridates I. Emperor Nero was dissatisfied with such arbitrariness, and troops were sent against Armenia. In 62 AD e. Tiridates I agreed to become an ally of Rome, and was soon crowned in Rome by Nero himself (cm. NERO).
Tiridates III belonged to the Arshakuni dynasty, during whose reign (about 301) Christianity became the official religion of Armenia. The Arshakuni kings tried to unite the country and achieve its independence, but without much success. In the 3rd century, under the Sassanian ruler Ardashir I, a significant part of Armenia became part of the Sassanid state, the other part was ruled by kings vassal to Rome. The struggle between Rome and the Sassanids for the territory of Armenia began. In 387, Greater Armenia was finally divided between Persia and Rome (vassal kingdoms were created in both - Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia). In 428 the Arshakuni dynasty fell. The period of the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots (about 405) dates back to the reign of the dynasty.
The most prominent representatives of the dynasty were Tiridates I (62-80); Ashkadar (Aksidares), son of Pacorus II, king of Parthia (100-114); Sanatruk II (178-193); Vagharsh II (Vagharshak; 193-217); Tiridates II (217-238); Khosrow I (238-253); Tiridates III the Great (293-330); Khosrow II Kotak (330-38); Tyrant (Tigran; 338-51); Arshak II (351-67).
encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .
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