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Parthians and their eastern neighbors, the Sogdians, became the
best-known foreign figures in imperial China, not just in the world
of business but in other domains as well. Many of the first Buddhist
scholars and missionaries to make their appearance in China had
Parthian surnames. Collectively, Iranians and other foreigners arriving
via the Silk Road were referred to by the derisive Chinese term “Hu,”
which meant “Western barbarians”; Iranians nevertheless figure prom-
inently in Chinese history well into the Tang period (618–917 ce).
The Parthians, like the Medes eight centuries earlier, were over-
thrown from within. In a later legend preserved in the
Book of the
Deeds of Ardeshir Papakan
, the Parthian king Artabanus (Ardawan) V
has a falling out with a young courtier named Ardeshir. This courtier
is from the family of Sasan who live at the opposite end of the country,
in Parsa, where they are custodians of an important temple to the god-
dess Anahita. The king’s favorite maid falls in love with Ardeshir; she
raids the royal treasury and persuades Ardeshir to run away with her,
telling him of a prophecy that he will soon become king. Artabanus
sets off in pursuit the next day, and along the road he encounters a
pair of women who tell him they have seen the fleeing couple followed
Pa r t h i a n s , S a s a n i a n s , a n d S o g d i a n s
33
by a ram. The king’s chief priest nervously explains the significance of
this: the ram symbolizes the divine blessing of kingship (
khvaraneh
),
which has abandoned Artabanus and will attach itself to Ardeshir.
Although the
Book of the Deeds
is not a historical source as such,
in 224 ce Ardeshir the Sasanian does indeed defeat Artabanus and
bring about the fall of the Parthians. The dynastic transition from
the Parthian Arsacids to the Persian Sasanians bears a number of fur-
ther similarities to the shift from the Medes to the Persians. In both
cases, the local ruling house of Parsa (Persia) rises up and overthrows
an imperial government of culturally related Iranians, takes over their
existing empire, and expands its boundaries. Also, in both cases the
new imperial government replaces a loose federal administration with
one that is more centralized, systematic, and ultimately more powerful
and effective. In another significant parallel, just as important Mede
families retained their position under the Achaemenids, Sasanian sta-
bility rested on the support of the seven major Parthian clans, all of
whom transferred their allegiance to the new regime.
In terms of the dynamics of world history, the establishment of
the Sasanian Empire as successors to the Parthians maintained the
geopolitical balance between East and West. Successive incarnations
of Graeco-Roman versus Iranian civilizations divided West Asia
between two great empires, roughly along a north-south axis marked
by the Euphrates River. The lands of the Eastern Mediterranean,
Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Caucasus were border regions that
vacillated endlessly between these two hegemonic powers—and, sadly
for them, were repeatedly scorched and trampled as the rival imperial
armies marched back and forth.
This general framework, which endured for more than a millen-
nium, would persist even after the seventh-century Arab conquests,
albeit in an altered form. The bureaucrats, merchants, and craftsmen
of the towns had to be constantly alert so as to stay on the side of the
winners, while the farmers of the fields were repeatedly forced to supply
food, shelter, and women to passing battalions. Nomads, being difficult
to pin down, did their best to stay out of the way of imperial forces but
often joined up temporarily as mercenaries if they were promised booty.
Iran held the upper hand over Rome throughout much of the third
century. Ardeshir’s successor, his son Shapur I, began his long and
illustrious career with a decisive victory over the Romans in 244.
The Roman emperor, Gordian III, was killed during (or shortly after)
the battle, and his successor, Philip the Arab, was forced to accept
Shapur’s terms.
I r a n i n Wo r l d H i s t o r y
34
In 260 Shapur defeated the Roman army once again, this time
capturing Emperor Valerian I and several important Roman officials.
Valerian was deported to Iran, along with large numbers of Greek- and
Syriac-speaking soldiers, where most spent the remainder of their lives.
Roman mosaics—presumably done by Greek artists—have been found
at Bishapur (Shapur’s City, built by Roman slave labor) in southern
Pars, and captive Roman engineers built Iran’s first bridge-dam, known
as “Caesar’s Dam,” across the Karun River in the city of Shushtar.
Shapur’s reign was also a period of religious ferment, during
which several major religions began to assume their definitive shape.
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