Arsacids (Parthians)
Vologases V
بلاش پنجم
- Reign
- 190/193–208/209 CE
- Dynasty
- Arsacids (Parthians)
- Persian page
- فارسی
Featured dossier
Vologases V: the sack of Ctesiphon and the stand of Hatra
Under Vologases V the Roman emperor Septimius Severus invaded Parthia (195–199 CE). In January 198 the Romans took and sacked Ctesiphon; the king fled with a few horsemen and women and children were carried off. But the Arab city of Hatra held out against Severus, and lack of food forced him to withdraw. Rome made two new provinces, Osrhoene and Mesopotamia. Iranica says this Parthian distraction in the west gave Pāpak his chance to revolt in Persis.
- sack of Ctesiphon (Herodian)
- 28 Jan 198
- new Roman provinces
- 2
- Severus’ war (CE)
- 195–199
Map: the campaign of Septimius Severus
Administration & economy190/191 or 193 CE1 of 7
Accession
Vologases V succeeded Vologases IV. His first Seleucia tetradrachms date from 192 or 193 CE.
Certainty: DisputedIranica (Schippmann) gives 190/191 or 193 CE; its “Ardašīr I” article calls him “Vologeses IV (192–207)”.
Sources: K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, updated 2016 · D. Sellwood, 1980
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
Ctesiphon, 198 CE
Herodian, a contemporary, says that after the failure at Hatra the current carried Severus’ fleet to the Parthian shore, a few days’ march from Ctesiphon. The Romans burned villages, reached Ctesiphon and sacked it. He calls the king “Artabanus”, but the king at the time was Vologases V. Iranica gives a different order: first Seleucia and Ctesiphon, then the failed siege of Hatra.
The Romans fell upon the unsuspecting barbarians, killing all who opposed them. Taking captive the women and children, they looted the entire city. After the king fled with a few horsemen, the Romans plundered the treasuries, seized the ornaments and jewels, and marched off.
Thus, more by luck than good judgment, Severus won the glory of a Parthian victory.
Herodian calls the victory “more by luck than good judgment”. That verdict may be more a sneer at Severus than a report. What is clear is that the Parthian capital lay defenceless before an army coming down the river, for the second time in thirty years.
In this war the people of Ctesiphon had nothing to fight for and everything to lose: their homes, their property and their freedom. The king fled; they stayed and paid.
Sources: Herodian, tr. E. C. Echols · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica
Dossier · 2
Hatra: the city that turned Rome back
Herodian: Hatra stood on a height, with a high, strong wall manned by many archers. The Romans tried every engine and tactic of siege. The defenders rained stones and arrows and threw down clay pots full of stinging insects. The hot air and disease killed more Romans than the enemy did, and Severus withdrew for fear of losing his whole army.
Hatra was an Arab, semi-independent city inside the Parthian realm. Iranica notes that Trajan failed at Hatra before Severus, and Ardashir I after him (c. 226–227 CE). The number and order of the sieges differ between sources.
A small city whose people fought for their own homes held out against the greatest army of the age. People defending their own property fight harder than soldiers who have come for plunder.
Sources: Herodian, tr. E. C. Echols · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica · J. Wiesehöfer, Encyclopaedia Iranica
Synthesis
Under Vologases V the Parthian capital was sacked for the second time in a generation and Rome made two new provinces in Mesopotamia. But Hatra held and Severus went home. According to Iranica, this distraction in the west was the opening that Pāpak’s family in Persis used.
Bibliography
- Herodian, tr. E. C. Echols, History of the Roman Empire 3.9, 4.10–11, 4.14–15, 6.2 (1961). https://www.livius.org/sources/content/herodian-s-roman-history/A contemporary, but more rhetorical than exact; he sometimes confuses names and the order of events.
- K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Arsacids ii. The Arsacid dynasty (1986, updated 2016). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-ii/
- J. Wiesehöfer, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Ardašīr I i. History (1986, updated 2011). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-i/
- 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.
Vologases IVVologases VI, his sonArtabanus IV, his sonThe Arsacid dynasty