Arsacids (Parthians)
Phraates V (Phraataces) and Musa
فرهاد پنجم (فرهادک)
- Reign
- 2 BCE–4 CE
- Dynasty
- Arsacids (Parthians)
- Persian page
- فارسی
Featured dossier
Phraataces and Musa: the only Parthian queen on the coins
Phraataces, son of Phraates IV and the Italian slave-girl Musa, killed his father with his mother’s help, according to Josephus, and became king. Musa is the only woman whose portrait appears with her name and the title “queen” on Parthian coins. Phraataces quarrelled with Augustus over Armenia, then made a deal with Gaius Caesar on an island in the Euphrates. After a few years the nobles drove him out.
- years of reign
- ~6
- Parthian queen portrayed on coins
- 1
Map: between Ctesiphon and the Euphrates
Administration & economy2 BCE1 of 4
Parricide and the throne
Josephus: Phraataces killed his father with his mother Musa’s help. His Parthian name, Frahātak, appears in the Nisa ostraca, and his coins are dated from summer 2 BCE.
Certainty: ProbableThe parricide story is only Josephus’.
Sources: Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston, 1737 · M. J. Olbrycht, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2021
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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
Musa on the coins
The reverse of Phraataces’ coins shows Musa with a tall crown and the Greek legend “Of Goddess, Heavenly, Musa, Queen”. Iranica says the Chinese Hanshu’s report of Parthian coins with “the king’s face… [and] that of his consort” probably refers to these coins. Josephus says Phraataces married his mother.
Only Josephus mentions the marriage and it may be hostile propaganda; some see it as a form of royal close-kin marriage. A woman’s bust from Susa is sometimes called “Musa”, but that is a guess. The Avroman II document names four queens.
Musa rose from slavery to the throne and put her name on the kingdom’s money. But power won through the palace, not through the support of the nobles and the people, collapses at the first revolt.
Sources: M. J. Olbrycht, Encyclopaedia Iranica · Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston · D. Sellwood
Synthesis
Phraataces and Musa ruled briefly, but their coins are unique. The Parthian nobles, unhappy, says Josephus, with “the marriage with an Italian concubine”, drove them out.
Bibliography
- Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston, Antiquities of the Jews 13.14.3 (13.384–386); 18.2.4 (18.39–52) (1737). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2848
- Cassius Dio, tr. E. Cary, Roman History 36.1–3, 37.5–7, 39.56, 40.12–30, 48.24–41, 49.19–33, 54.8, 55.10 (1914–1927).
- Velleius Paterculus, tr. F. W. Shipley, Roman History 2.101–102 (1924).
- Augustus, tr. T. Bushnell, Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of the Divine Augustus) §§ 27, 29, 32–33 (1998). https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Deeds_of_the_Divine_AugustusAugustus’ own account of his deeds: official propaganda, not a neutral record.
- M. J. Olbrycht, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Phraates V (Phraataces) (2021). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/phraates-v/
- 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.
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Phraates IV, his fatherOrodes III, his successorThe Arsacid dynasty