Transcript apworldchapter5parthia

PERSIA
Parthians - Sassanids
Challenges to Rome, India, and
Ptolemaic Egypt
• Parthia – in northeast
•
modern Iran
Controlled by the
Persians/Achaemenids,
the area came under the
control of Alexander the
Great when he defeated
Darius II at the Battle of
Guagamela in 331 B.C.E.
The Diadochi – the successors
Greatest Extent
• After the PARTITION OF
•
BABYLON 323 B.C.E.,
Parthia came under the
control of the Selucids.
Seleucus I Nicator had
been one of the military
successors of Alexander
who jostled for power
after his death. In 312
B.C.E. he established an
empire at Babylon and
conquered the nearby
states.
Mithridates I r. 171-138 B.C.E.
• The Arsacids took control
•
•
of most of Parthia and
Iran from the Selucids.
Internal revolts, wars
with Rome, nomadic
invasions, vassalaries
weakened Arsacid
control.
The empire was
eventually conquered by
the Persian Sassanids.
1 C.E.
Sassanid Empire 224-651 C.E.
• Under the Sassanids, Persia experienced
periods known as “Golden Ages” with
advances in the arts and sciences.
• Trade between Byzantine Rome, India,
and China led to great prosperity.
• The Sassanids were eventually defeated
when the first armies of Islam moved
across the Middle East.
• Legacy and Importance
• The influence of the Sassanid Empire continued
long after it ceased to exist. The empire through
the guidance of several able emperors prior to
it's fall had achieved a renaissance that became
a driving force behind the civilization of the
newly established religion of Islam. In modern
Iran the Sassanid period is regarded as one of
the high points of Iranian civilization.
• Sassanid culture and military structure had a significant influence on Roman
•
civilization. The structure and character of the Roman army was affected by
the methods of Persian warfare. In a modified form, the Roman Imperial
autocracy imitated the royal ceremonies of the court of the Sassanids, and
those in turn had an influence on the ceremonial traditions of the courts of
modern Europe. The origin of the formalities of European diplomacy is
attributed to the diplomatic relations between the Persian governments and
Roman Empire. Through the late Roman Empire’s cavalry, the principles of
the European knighthood - heavily armored cavalry- of the Middle Ages can
be traced to the Sassanid.
In Jewish history, the Sassanid Empire is a very important chapter in the
expansion of the Judaism. The Sassanid period saw major developments
such as the construction of the Babylonian TALMUD and the establishment
of several Jewish orientated schools which were for centuries the most
influential in Jewish scholarship. Several individuals of the Imperial family
significantly contributed to the close relations between the Jews of the
empire and the government in the capital Ctesiphon.
• The collapse of the Sassanid Empire caused the state religion to be
switched from Zoroastrianism to Islam. Zoroastrianism slowly
became the religion of most in Iran, to a persecuted minority. For
the survival of their faith and their lives, a large number of
Zoroastrians chose to immigrate. According to the Qissa-i Sanjan,
one group of those refugees landed in what is now Gujarat, India,
where they were allowed greater freedom to observe their old
customs and to preserve their faith. The descendants of those
Zoroastrians, now known as the Parsis, would play a significant role
in the development of India. Today there are around 70,000 Parsis
in India.
• The Parsis, as Zoroastrians, still use a variant of the religious
calendar instituted under the Sassanids.
Sassanid Trade Routes