Arsacids (Parthians)
Osroes II
خسرو دوم اشکانی
- Reign
- c. 190 CE
- Dynasty
- Arsacids (Parthians)
- Persian page
- فارسی
Featured dossier
Osroes II: a king known only from his coins
Osroes II is known only from a few coins. The classification of Parthian coins places him about 190 CE, at the end of Vologases IV’s reign. No historian mentions him and Iranica’s survey of the dynasty does not name him. He may have been a claimant in one of the provinces.
- date of the coins (CE)
- ~190
- mentions in written sources
- 0
Map: the end of Vologases IV’s reign
Administration & economyc. 190 CE1 of 1
Coins in the name of Osroes
Coins attributed to Osroes II are the only sign that he existed. Where they were struck and what he ruled are unclear; the map marker shows only the capital.
Certainty: DisputedHis date and standing come only from coin classification. Iranica (Schippmann) goes straight from Vologases IV to Vologases V.
Sources: D. Sellwood, 1980
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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 king from coins
Numismatists attribute a few coins to a king named Osroes and date them to about 190 CE. No historical text mentions him.
In the second century CE rival kings several times struck coins at the same time (Osroes I and Vologases III, for example). Osroes II may have been a claimant of the same kind, but that is a guess, not a report.
A coin is not proof that a king owned his people’s wealth, but it is proof of his claim to power. Sometimes the only trace of a political claim is the money people traded with.
Sources: D. Sellwood · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica
Synthesis
Osroes II is a name on a few coins. We know nothing more about him.
Bibliography
- 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.
- K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Arsacids ii. The Arsacid dynasty (1986, updated 2016). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-ii/
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