| Arsaces | |
|---|---|
![Coin of Arsaces I. The reverse shows a seated archer carrying a bow. A Greek inscription on the right reads ΑΡΣΑΚ[ΟΥ] (from the outside). The inscription below the bow is in Aramaic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coin_of_Arsaces_I_of_Parthia.jpg) |
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| Reign | ca. 250 BC to either 246 BC or 211 BC |
| Died | 246 BC or 211 BC |
| Successor | Arsaces II |
| Dynasty | Arsacid dynasty |
Arsaces I was the founder of the Arsacid dynasty, and after whom all 30+ monarchs of the Arsacid empire officially named themselves. A celebrated descent from antiquity (the Bagratid line) begins with Arsaces.[n 1]
Information on Arsaces I comes solely from non-contemporaneous (1st century) Greek and Latin reiterations of Arsacid legends (Arrian i, preserved in Photius and Syncellus, and Strabo xi). The dates of Arsaces birth and death are unknown, as is also his real name.
In contrast, the circumstances of Arsaces' ascent to power are relatively well known. Around 250 BC, Andragoras, the governor of the Seleucid province of Parthia, proclaimed his independence from the Seleucid monarchs, and made his governate an independent kingdom. At about the same time, Arsaces – who was of Scythian or Bactrian origin (and may even have been a Bactrian prince) – was elected leader of the Parni, an eastern Iranian tribe. With the Parni, Arsaces seized Astabene, i.e. northern Parthia. Andragoras was killed during his attempts to recover it, which left the Parni in control over the rest of Parthia as well. A recovery expedition by the Seleucids under Seleucus II did not succeed, and Arsaces and the Parni succeeded in holding Parthia proper during Arsaces lifetime. (Arsaces II lost it in 209 BC to Antiochus III, to whom the Arsacids became vassals for the next 25 years).
The line of succession is unclear since his successors adopted the name Arsaces as well, making it difficult to distinguish them from the founder of the dynasty. From legend and secondary accounts, it seems that - at least from 246 BC onwards - Arsaces brother Tiridates I either ruled in Arsaces' name or co-ruled with him. Then, after 211 BC, when another Arsaces is seen on coinage, either the brother ruled as Arsaces II, or Arsaces II is Arsaces son (or nephew). Other combinations, e.g. that Tiridates killed his brother (as recalled by the later Arrian), have also been suggested.
Arsaces issued coins from silver drachms to copper dichakloi. All issues bear some similarity in style to the Seleucid pieces of the same time, although the headdress on the Parthian coinage is notably different. The commonest inscription is ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ, translating as Arsaces the Autocrat, however there are many variations on this.
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Arsaces I of Parthia
Born: Unknown Died: 211 BC |
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| Preceded by Seleucus II of the Seleucid Kingdom |
King of Parthia c. 250–211 BC with Tiridates? (c. 246–211 BC) |
Succeeded by Arsaces II |
Notes
- ^ A 1st century AD tradition (preserved by Arrian) casts Arsaces as descending from the 5th century BC Achaemenid monarch Artaxerxes II. The Seleucids (and virtually everyone else after them) propagated the very same myth, and such contrived genealogies were used as a justification to the right to rule.
References
- Bivar, A.D.H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan, Cambridge History of Iran, 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 21-99, esp. p. 31.
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