Results 1 to 1 of 1

Thread: [History] Early Years of the Sassanid Empire

  1. #1
    Tom Paine's Avatar Mr Common Sense
    Patrician

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Silver Spring, Maryland (inside the Beltway)
    Posts
    33,698

    Default [History] Early Years of the Sassanid Empire



    Author: Final Frontier
    Original Thread: Early Years of the Sassanid Empire

    Early Years of the Sassanid Empire
    Faravahar*

    The Sassanid Empire was not only the rival of the Roman Empire, but was also the last native Persian empire before the conquest by the Arabs in the 7th century A.D. This empire had strong leaders throughout its existence, men like Shapur I and Khosrau I. The main focus of this thread will be the beginning and early years of the Sassanids.

    A Look at the Antecedents
    The Parthian Empire was founded in 250 B.C. by Arsaces, and it “was subject to the same disruptions as the Roman Empire: internal unrest, external threats and the ever-present possibility of usurpation” (Southern, 227). This empire was a confederation of different people and tribes that were not always loyal to the Parthians. The Romans were always aware of the Parthians, and they would occasionally go to war, which would sometimes end up with disaster for one side. (Carrhae, for example) “Tremendous resources and effort went into Rome’s eastern campaigns, sometimes without tangible rewards” (Southern, 227). These two uneasy neighbors were constantly striking at each other’s backs, but the distance between Rome and the East prevented both empires from permanently holding onto any bordering lands. Instead, these lands often had men installed who were favorable of either side; Armenia, Media, Mesopotamia, and Osroene are examples of areas with constant change in rule. Septimius Severus was the first Roman emperor to invalidate the statement above, and he created two provinces named Osroene and Mesopotamia, though the latter did not include the entire Mesopotamia.


    The Eastern Front, 200 A.D.

    From Rags to Riches
    By the late 2nd century Parthia had devolved into anarchy, and two major threats were pointing daggers at its heart. The first were the Romans, who, under Severus and Caracalla, had conducted campaigns against Parthia. This kept the king at the western front while other threats arose at his rear. The second threat came around 208 A.D., in the form of an Iranian noble named Pabag and his two sons Ardashir and Shapur. The Parthian king at this time was Artabanus IV, but there was little he could do about Pabag while Caracalla was campaigning. Soon Pabag died, followed by Shapur due to an “accident.” (Supposedly, a dislodged stone fell on him, but it may have been thrown) With total control, Ardashir began to ally with dissatisfied vassals of the Parthians and began to conquer. Seleucia-Ctesiphon on the Tigris was taken 220 A.D., which would then become his capital. He eliminated Artabanus’ brother Vologaeses around 222 A.D., and Artabanus himself defeated and killed at a place called Hormizdagan a few years later, effectively ending the Parthian Royal House, and, more importantly, the Empire itself.

    The Government and Beliefs of Ardashir I, the first Sassanid King
    Ardashir I was Shahanshah, or ‘king of kings,’ in 226 A.D. The term ‘Sassanid’ comes from Ardashir’s grandfather, who was named Sasan/Sassan. There is an interesting tale to Ardashir’s origins: “Persian tradition imbues Ardashir with recognizable heroic traits even before he was born; the story was told that Sasand was a guest of Pabag, who predicted that any offspring of this illustrious guest would achieve great successes, so he lent him his wife for the night and the result of the union was Ardashir” (Southern, 230). Ardashir’s new empire was more centralized than the Parthian one, though it did not have the provinces or manned frontiers that the Romans had. The armies were controlled by the Royal Family, and the worship of Mazda was spread to help unify the empire. Mazdeism (Zoroastrianism) was already deeply established in Persia, so it was not hard to have the religion become dominant. The rulers were also tolerant of other religions; the exception would be a high priest named Kartir who had any non-believers of Zoroastrianism persecuted. Ardashir is also held responsible for the composition of the texts of the Avesta, which contained Zoroastrian canon and lessons.



    The Army of Sassania
    The Parthians and Sassanids never created a standing army like Rome, which would be to their disadvantage. Men would be drawn up for campaigns and disbanded when they were not needed anymore. Mercenaries were used to some extant, and, thought Rome’s armies were “superior,” the Sassanids held their own against them. They would have slow responses to any invasions, but they would also avoid fighting battles and could hamper Roman movement. The Romans were able to reach Ctesiphon multiple times, but because they did not hold onto the region they retreated under the harassment of the Sassanids.

    Ardashir and Severus Alexander
    In 230 Ardashir invaded Mesopotamia and besieged Nisibis, a city important for communication and trade. Severus Alexander had to assemble a campaign army and led it in person to meet the threat. The result was a stalemate in 232, though the Romans may have been able to gain the upper hand had they tried again a few years later. In 239 the Sassanids gained several Roman cities in Syria/Mesopotamia. Hatra was among them, and it fell around 240. Ardashir died in 241, however, and Gordian III prepared a campaign in 243.

    *

    Shapur I
    Shapur had to quell rebellious subjects before becoming Shahanshah in 242, and he was well-prepared to face the Romans. He defeated and killed Gordian at Meshike, and from Philip the Arab he was able to extract 500,000 denarii for a truce. Around the 250s Shapur took control of Armenia and added it to the realm of Sassania. In 253 he sacked Antioch, but in 254 the Emperor Valerian had control over it once again. The major highlight was the capture of Valerian in 259 while he was besieging Edessa and Carrhae. *The picture above depicts Shapur with Gordian dead beneath his horse’s hooves, Philip bowing before him in submission, and Valerian held by the hands of Shapur. The Sassanids were not involved in the Roman conflict with the Palmyrene Empire, which ended in 272 by Aurelian’s conquest.


    The Sassanid Empire under Shapur I*

    272-379
    There were a total of seven kings from 272-379, with Shapur II (309-72) having the longest reign. Hormizd I (272-3) and Vahram I (273-6) had short reigns and were not able to do much for the empire. Vahram II (276-93) had to deal with an uprising from his brother Hormizd in the eastern half of the empire, and the Roman Emperor Carus was able to pentrate the Sassanid Empire to Ctesiphon, where he died “because he promised that he would reach the Persian capital, but his ambitions were for even greater things and he had exceeded his brief from the gods” (Southern, 241). During Vahram's reign the high priest Kartir rose to power, which resulted in the persecution of Jews, Christians, Manichaeans, and other religions/sects that would not convert to Zoroastrianism. Around 287 the Romans were able to install a pro-Roman man named Tiridates III on the Armenian throne, which was followed by gifts from the Sassanids in a sort of “submission.” Vahram III ruled only in 293, and he was followed by Narses (293-302), who twice fought with Galerius. The first time he was able to defeat the Romans close to Carrhae, but the second campaign resulted in the capture of the Persian treasury, which led to the Romans regaining lands lost to the Sassanids prior. Hormizd II (302-9) does not have much written about him, though he seems to have kept the peace during his brief reign. Shapur II led armies against Arab tribesmen in the Persian Gulf and was able to avoid a war with Constantine the Great. In 363 Julian the Apostate led a campaign against the Sassanids, but he was killed and the Persians regained lands lost under the reign of Narses.*


    Shapur II

    *The Faravahar, Farohar or Fravashi is a symbolic image in the Zoroastrian religion, representing the human soul. (Link)
    *Asia Minor was only held for a short time before being withdrawn from.
    *The names of the kings are in cyan because the Sassanids are depicted as Cyan (Light Blue, perhaps) in Barbarian Invasion. Please refrain from screaming if the color hurts your eyes.
    --------------------

    Sources
    The Roman Empire From Severus to Constantine by Pat Southern
    Wikipedia for pictures and reinforcement
    Euratlas and various sites that can be found by looking at the properties of the pictures
    Last edited by Sir Adrian; December 29, 2013 at 11:26 AM. Reason: updated author username and fixed hyperlink

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •