Arsacids (Parthians)
Artabanus I
اردوان یکم
- Reign
- c. 127–124/123 BCE
- Dynasty
- Arsacids (Parthians)
- Persian page
- فارسی
Featured dossier
Artabanus I: a wound in the arm fighting the Tocharians
Uncle of Phraates II and a son of Phriapatius, who came to the throne old. His short reign was Parthia’s hardest years: in the east the nomads (Yuezhi and Saka) pressed, and in the south Hyspaosines of Characene took Babylon. Artabanus stayed in the east and, Justin says, took a wound in the arm fighting the Tocharians and “immediately died”. Older books call him “Artabanus II”.
- years of reign
- ~3
- kings in a row killed in the east
- 2
Map: two fronts
Administration & economyc. 127 BCE1 of 3
The king’s uncle on the throne
“In his stead Artabanus, his uncle, was made king” (Justin 42.2.1). Since his father Phriapatius died in 176, Artabanus must have been old.
Certainty: DisputedThe numbering is disputed: older books call him “Artabanus II”, because another Artabanus was identified with Arsaces II. He is now counted Artabanus I, and the Artabanus of 12–38 CE is “Artabanus II” (“III” in the old count).
Sources: Justin, tr. J. S. Watson, 1853 · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, updated 2016
BattleCampaignBuildingAdministration & economyReligionArrow keys, Home/End and Space work.
Three separate layers
Each section has three layers: “Historical evidence” is only what the sources say; “Philosophical interpretation” is our reading by the standard of property and liberty; “Modern cultural meaning”. Quotations come only from published translations, with references.
Historical evidencePhilosophical interpretationModern cultural meaning
Dossier · 1
A kingdom between two fires
Iranica notes that both Phraates II and Artabanus I died fighting the nomads. Unlike his predecessors’ coins, Artabanus’ show him in Parthian trousered dress with a long beard, with the title “Philhellene” (friend of the Greeks).
Artabanus, making war upon the Tocharii, received a wound in the arm, of which he immediately died.
Choosing the eastern front shows the nomads were thought more dangerous than the southern princes; rightly, for the Yuezhi wave had swept away all of Greek Bactria.
Border security is the first condition of secure property; a farmer plundered every year does not invest.
Sources: K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica · D. Sellwood
Synthesis
Artabanus I reigned in Parthia’s deepest crisis and died in it. But his successor Mithridates II, whom Justin calls his son, built from that wreck the greatest Parthian kingdom yet.
Bibliography
- Justin, tr. J. S. Watson, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus, books 38–42 (books 40–44 online) (1853). https://www.attalus.org/translate/justin7.htmlA Roman digest of the lost history of Pompeius Trogus (1st century BCE); the most continuous account of the early Parthians, but Roman in outlook and full of “Scythian” clichés.
- A. J. Sachs, H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, vol. III (164–61 BC) (1996). Contemporary notebooks of Babylonian astronomers that also logged political events; the firmest calendar for the period.
- K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Arsacids ii. The Arsacid dynasty (1986, updated 2016). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-ii/
- D. Sellwood, An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia, 2nd ed. (1980). The standard numbering of Parthian coins (“S”); some of its attributions have since been revised.
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; licence and author were checked on each file page.
Phraates II, his nephewMithridates II, his successorThe Arsacid dynasty