Hi story of P arthi a based on the Coi ns

P art One: the begi nni ng

Jal al Di l maghani , June 2017

1- Introducti on

History of the Arsacid dynasty, the dynasty which ruled

longest in Iran, is full of contradictions and ambiguities. The
problem is that the Parni tribe, the tribe of the Arsacid family,
was a minor tribe living in the south - east corner of the Caspian
Sea during the third century B.C., and their rise to power was
gradual and slow, in such a way that it did not attract the
attention of the historians of the time. They were not noticed
until Mithradates I managed to defeat the Seleucid monarch
Demetrius II and established the Parthian Empire, even though
the classical authors were busy writing about the Seleucids and
the Romans.
Most of the writings of the ancient historians about the
Parthians were written centuries after the event, and when we
compare their writings of the same event, we find contradictions;
to the extent that it becomes very difficult for the modern
scholars to come to a single conclusion, and often their
conclusions are contradictory. To make the matter worse, the
Parthian history can be grouped in two periods. During the

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period that the Parthian were in contact with the Seleucids and
the Romans, classical authors gave a good account of the
situation, but for the other period the authors were silent, and if
they wrote something it was inadequate.
After reading many books and articles about the Parthian
history and noting many contradictory views expressed by
different authors, I was obsessed with the ancient writings, and I
decided to make my conclusions based on a more secure
foundation. During the past forty years, I was involved in
collecting the Parthian coins, and I have come to the conclusion
that they are the most accurate and the best source for
understanding the Parthian history. First, the Parthians expressed
their important events on their coins, sometimes obvious and
sometimes with implications. Second, the Parthian monarchs
used coins to convey their message to the people, and this could
lead us to more information.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of information, the catalogues
up to about forty years ago were incomplete and for some
periods confusing. During the past forty years, great efforts have
been made by collectors of the Parthian coins and important
information has come to light. The book, “An Introduction to the
coinage of Parthia” by David Sellwood, not only provided new
information, but also produced a comprehensive catalogue of the
coins, and became the basis for further investigations.
Translation of some cuneiform tablets by Farhad Assar,

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expanded our knowledge about the early Parthian monarchs, and
shed light particularly on the Parthian “Dark Age”. The
discovery of a hoard in 1965, containing the coins of the first
two Parthian monarchs which were hitherto unknown, solved
many puzzles in the old catalogues. Now we have a good
understanding of the Parthian numismatics during all their
history.
Recently my book entitled, “Parthian History based on the
Coins”, was published in Farsi, but it has an introduction in
English to guide the readers to understand what is going on. The
book is not a technical one, and has been written in such a way
as to appeal to a wide range of people, even those who have no
knowledge of the Parthian numismatics. Being aware of the
interest in the Parthian history by many scholars all over the
world, I decided to write a series of articles in English, and
upload them in the Academia. edu.

Please note that coins do not tell history as the classical

authors did, but they are useful items by which we can judge
the accuracy of their writings.

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2- Secessi on fo rm the Sel euci d rul e

Coin 1: Tetradrachm Coin 2: Stater

Diodotus was the Satrap of Bactria during the reign of
Antiochus II, and he minted his early coins in the latter‟s name.
(Coin 1) He rebelled against the Seleucid rule in the years 256-250
B.C., and after proclaiming Bactria independent, he minted coins in
his own name (Coin 2). His revolt created a domino effect in the
region, “Diodotus the governor of the thousand cities of the Bactria,
defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the
orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians”
(Justin XLI, 4).

Coin 3: Tetradrachm Coin 4: Stater

Andragoras was the satrap of Parthia under Antiochus I and
Antiochus II, and he also revolted. “In Justin‟s account, Seleucid
hegemony in Iran and central Asia suddenly collapsed because

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of the Parthian and the Bactrian simultaneously revolted while
Seleucus II was preoccupied by fighting his brother, Antiochus
Hierax “(ref. 2, p 2). Afterwards he minted gold and silver coins
in his name.
Now the question is, “where the above coins were minted?” I
am not aware of any mints operating in Parthia at that time, and
taking the quality and the work-man-ship of the coins, they
should have been produced in an established mint and by a
highly specialized die-engraver. A point of interest is the control
mark on his coins which is very much similar to the one on the
coin of Diodotus I (Coin 1); if so, possibly Andragoras‟s coins
were minted somewhere in Bactria under the supervision of
Diodotus, taking into account that all the coins of Andragoras
have come from the Oxus treasure (ref.12). The coins seem not
to have been produced for circulation, but to proclaim his
independence. This indicates that the two needed their alliance to
cope with the power of the Seleucids kings, and confirmed their
close relation and alliance through simultaneous defection in the
years 256-250 B.C. “He revolted soon after the Greco - Bactrian
kingdom had broken away from the Seleucids , and Andragoras
may have allied with the new Bactrian king Diodotus I,”(ref. 5).
But, Justin also says that the Parthians revolted during the
consulship of Lucius Manlius Vulso and Marcus Attilius
Regulus, i.e. 256 B.C.E, (ref.2, p6). F.Assar and M. Bagloo
concluded that the Parthians “attempted more than once to break

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away from the Seleucid domination, …and the first one occurred
in the year 250 B.C.” (ref.3, p27) So, the first Parthian revolt
occurred under Andragoras in alliance with Diodotus in the
years 256-250 B.C.

3- The co mi ng of the P arni tri be

Parni was one of the three tribes forming the federation of

Dahae. “In various classical sources the Dahae was listed in the
roster of the Persian army that fought against Alexander the
Great at Gaugaumela … According to his biographer, Alexander
latter also incorporated Dahae into his own cavalry (Arrian,
Anabasis 5.12.2 I ef. Curtius Rufus, 7.7.32). They were
described as „horse riding‟ bowmen (cf. Appian, Syriaca 167)
and were said to have lived in the wastes north east of Bactria
and east of sogdia. At least some of Dahae must thus be placed
along the eastern fringes of the Karakum desert, near ancient
Margiana, a conclusion confirmed by information found in some
other classical sources (.e.g. Ptolemy, Geography 6.10.2; Tacitus
Annals 11.10)” (ref. 11). So, late forth century or early third
century B.C., Dahae was stationed along the Oxus River in a
triangle between Bactria, Sogdia and Karakum desert.
As stated before, Diodotus the governor of Bactria revolted in
256-250 B.C. and proclaimed independence. There is also an
indication of conflict between Diodotus and Arsaces, “Arsaces,

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the chieftain of the nomadic (Dahae) tribe of the Parni, fled
before him into Parthia and there defeated and killed
Andragoras, the former satrap and self-proclaimed king of
Parthia, and became the founder of the Parthian Empire, (Strabo
I.c)” (ref.6). Although the above statement is very general, we
can conclude that after 247 B.C., the Dahae including Parni
moved west: “The spread of Dahae further west, at least by the
third century B.C., is indicated by other sources, which refer to
Dahae who settled in the land of ancient Hyrcania, along the
southern shores of the Caspian Sea. This area was latter known
as Dahistan (Dehestan). In this connection Strabo (11.508, 11.
515) referred to the (S) Parni (cf. Justin 41.1.10)” (ref.7). This
puts Dahae very close to the state of Parthia, and there is also an
indication that Parni moved south and came in contact with the
Parthians. “The tribe of Dahae disintegrated after the fall of the
Achaemenid Empire. Other sub-tribal formation became
independent tribes, such as Xanthiance and Pissyri. Another tribe
was that of Parni, who went south in the third century B.C. and
founded the Parthian Empire” (ref.10).
“Parthia roughly corresponds to a region northeast of Iran.
It was bordered by Karakum desert in the north, included Kpot
Dag mountain range and Dasht - Kavir desert in the south. It
bordered Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north west,
Margiana on the north east, and Aria on the south east…” (ref.8)

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 Parni was a nomadic tribe. Nomads live in tents, breed horses
and raise cattle. They were great horse riders, specialized in
archery even on horseback, and were great hunters; thus, they
were used as light cavalry in the armies. Horse was very
important to them, Justin states: “They (Parthians) ride on
horseback in all occasions, on horses they go to war, and to
feasts… on horses they go abroad, meet together, traffic, and
converse.” (ref.1, p 8 )
Nomads were also great traders and usually lived adjacent to
settled people and were involved in commercial transactions.
Settled people needed their horses, and were ready to pay great
sum for them. Nomads needed artisan products, and in this way
they usually had a good relation with each other.
The notion that nomads were war-like people is misleading,
they only attack settled communities when they are threatened,
and this happens when attacked by other nomads. If defeat is
unavoidable, they choose to migrate and mass- displacement
occurs.
No doubt there was not a clear border line north of the
Parthia, and patrol was not always done, so a constant interaction
and overflow was possible with the people of the Parni tribe. As
stated before, trade was an important aspect of the nomadic life;
thus, as Parni came close to Parthia some sort of commercial
interaction must have occurred. This no doubt resulted in a

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friendly relation between the two, which can be inferred from
their close friendship in the future.

4- P ersi an upri si ng
The province of Pars is located south of Iran and was the seat
of the Achaemenid kings. Ever since the conquest of Alexander
the Great, no doubt Iranian were thinking to free themselves
from the Macedonian yoke and it is not surprising that their first
attempt occurred in that province shortly after the death of
Seleucus I in the year 280 B.C.

Their first ruler was Bagadates. On the obverse of his coins

he is shown wearing kyrbasia and pendant earing. On the reverse
he is seen praying in front of a fire temple, and there is a
standard in the right field. Please note that his hat is similar to
the one worn by the Magi shown on a gold piece from the Oxus
treasure. Clearly, he wanted to depict himself as both the
political and the religious head of the state. The legend is in

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 Aramic and is very interesting; it
reads, Bagadates, Frataraka by the
will of God, son of Bagawart.
Frataraka was the title of the
administrative head or the governor
of the state. His message is very
clear, he wanted to say that his
authority is bestowed upon him by
the will of God, and not by the
Seleucid monarchs; it seemed a
mild declaration of independence,
and did not convey defection from
the Seleucid rule.

Their true intentions became apparent on the coins of his heir

and son Oborozes. On the obverse he is shown wearing a Magi
hat, on the reverse the king (Oborozes) in Achaemenid dress is
slaying a Macedonian soldier. In fact an uprising occurred during

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his reign and all the Greek soldiers were slaughtered, a total of
about 3000. This no doubt was a sign of rebellion, and clearly
intolerable by the Seleucid monarchs. Although two more
Fratarakas ruled afterwards, it did not take long for the Seleucids
to suppress the revolt and install a Greek governor of their own.
“During the 220s BCE, the satrap there was a Greek named
Alexander, a brother of Molon” (ref.9), and their mint stopped
operation. By noting the scarcity of their coins, we can guess a
total of twenty to twenty five years of reign for Fratrakas. No
doubt their lack of military strength was the cause of their
failure.
It is interesting to note that most, or perhaps all of their coins,
were overstruck over the coins of Alexander the Great, a sign of
their hatred. Evidently they had not forgotten the burning of the
Persepolice. This sometimes produced some interesting
specimens.

Alexander coin overstruck by Autophradates‟

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5- Arsaces 1
In the year 247 B.C., Arsaces was chosen as the chieftain of
the Parni tribe. As stated before, due to a conflict with Diodotus,
he fled west and settled somewhere close to the province
of Parthia. This puts him in contact with the Parthians and a
close relation was established between the two.
In the year 239 B.C., Diodotus I died and Andragoras lost a
close ally. No doubt the Parthians were also thinking to free
themselves from the Seleucid rule, so they thought that the time
was ripe to start with Andragoras; but they did not have the
military strength to do so, clearly they had learned their lesson
from the Persian uprising. Because of their good relation with
Arsaces they persuaded him for alliance. This required a very
bold and courageous decision by Arsaces; but he accepted their
proposal, entered Parthia in the year 238 B.C., and with the help
of the Parthians attacked the Seleucid forces stationed there and
in the ensuing bottle Andragoras was killed.
I made the above conclusion based on the very close and
friendly relation between the Parthians and the Parni in the
future, they didn‟t look as conquered and conqueror. They
seemed so united that they entered history as one unit; thus, they
are called Parthians. Arsaces was chosen as the ruler and head of
the army of the province, and no doubt he proclaimed
independence from the Seleucid suzerainty. His main concern
was the retaliation of Diodotus II, the heir and son of Diodotus I,

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for the killing of their close ally; however, he made a pact with
him and Arsaces was relieved from the threat of the Bactrians.
Shortly afterwards he invaded and annexed Hyrcania, started to
raise an army and built the fortress of Mithradatkart. People of
Parni gradually entered Parthia and settled somewhere there.
For the time being Seleucid monarchs were busy fighting in
the west, but Arsaces knew that they would come to him sooner
or latter. In the year 228 B.C., Seleucus II momentarily
relieved from engagement in the west, invaded Parthia to
recapture his lost territory. Arsaces aware of his inability to cope
with the Seleucid army wisely run north to the steppes east of the
Caspian sea, and Seleucid army not having the mobility of the
Parni tribe did not follow them. Fresh troubles west caused
seleucus II to return empty handed. No sooner that he left
Parthia, Arsaces returned and once again secured his realm.
This time he knew that the Seleucid Kings could not invade
Parthia for a long time to come.
Finally, a passage from Justin records: “Seleucus being then
recalled into Asia by new disturbances, and respite thus given to
Arsaces, he settled the Parthian government, levied soldiers,
built fortresses, and strengthens his towns” (ref.1,p18)
In the words of Merlijn Veltman “This hardly seems the
behavior of a nomadic chieftain, but rather the behavior of a
ruler with a good understanding of ruling a „sedentary‟ kingdom.
In fact, here, Arsaces has clearly made a transition from

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marauder to strong, just, and above all, consolidating leader”
(ref.1,18). “The above sketches the case of the province of
Parthia most clearly, as a heterogeneous, unfixed amalgam of
both „nomadic‟ and „sedentary‟ culture, which is reflected in the
further development of the Parthian state” (ref.1,p21).

Now, the Parthian mint started to operate and for the first
time we can gaze at the portrait of Arsaces I. He seems a young
and handsome man, wearing a nomadic hat. On the reverse of his
coin he is shown wearing nomadic cloth: tight coat, tight trouser
and tight boots, holding a bow in his right hand. His initial
title was “Autocrat” implying in Seleucid protocol “elected
general” (Coin 5), but latter was changed to its‟ Aramic
equivalent “Krny”. A monogram is visible under the stool
which is known to be for Mithradatkart, so we conclude that the
fortress of Mithradatkart was completed by that time (Coin 6).

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 Coin 5: Drachm Coin 6: Drachm
It reminds me of a passage by Arrian, although full of errors,
indicates that Arsaces and Teridates were two brothers. Teridates
was very handsome and the governor of Bactria fell in love with
him, so the brothers fled to Parthia and established the Parthian
Empire. (156, Arrianus, Partica) Could this be the cause of the
confliet between Arsaces and Diodotus I?

It has been stated by some scholars that Arsaces I was merely

a satrap of a vassal state of the Seleucid Empire. As a proof, it
was mentioned that he wore a governor‟s cap, and that he didn‟t
have the title “king” on his coins. Above picture from Persepolis
shows a group of nomads who lived on the north-east corner of
the Achaemenid Empire bringing gifts to the Great King.

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Their hats are similar to the one worn by Arsaces, and clearly
show that it was a regular hat worn by the people of their tribe.
Arsacid rulers had the title “king”
on the ostracons discovered in the
ruined city of the old Nisa. A very
important one is a well preserved
ostracon 2L which reads “King
Arsaces, son (of) grandson (of)
Arsaces, accounted this offering of barley…” Unfortunately it is
not dated, but we know
that this king ruled for a
short time in the year
176 B.C., and on his
coins he simply had the
title Arsaces.(ref.2,p9) So, if the Parthian monarchs had indeed
the title “king” on their ostracons, why didn‟t they put this title
on their coins? The answer lies in the extent of one‟s realm. At a
time when the Seleucid
monarch Seleucus II, who
ruled a vast empire, had
simply the title “king”,
how would a ruler of a
relatively small province could call himself king on his coins?

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 Diodotus I ruled a vast and very prosperous state and could call
himself “king”, but Andragoras and all the Arsacid‟s before
Mithradates I, ruled a comparatively small kingdom and were
not entitled to use this title
on their coins. As a proof of
my statement I would like to
point that even Mithradates I
had only the title “Arsaces”
Coin 7: Drachm on his first coins (Coin 7),
but after invading and annexing a portion of the Bactrian
province to his realm, he chose the title “King Arsaces” (Coin 8).
Again after expanding his domain to Media and establishing the
Parthian Empire, his title changed to “Great King Arsaces”.
(Coin 9)

Coin 8: Drachm Coin 9: Drachm

Arsaces I died in the year 211 B.C. He was loved by his people
so much that all Arsacid monarchs called themselves “Arsaces”,
and honored his memory by putting his effigy on the reverse of
their coins till the end of their dynasty. The year 247 B.C., the
year that he ascended the throne, was chosen as the beginning of
their calendar. He was succeeded by his son Arsaces II.

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6- Arsaces II

Arsaces II ascended the throne in the year 211 B.C.

He is portrayed as a
young man on his coins,
and on the reverse
Arsaces I is seen as
before. In the year 209
B.C., Antiucus III (the great) invaded Parthia with a big army.
Although he fought bravely, Arsaces II could not cope with the
might of the Seleucid army and sued for peace. Antiucus made
Parthia a vassal state and appointed Arsaces as the governor of
the province. Parthia had no right to mint coins anymore, and all
the coins minted so far were gathered and destroyed. As a proof,
I would like to mention that before the year 1965 we had no
knowledge of the coins of the first two Parthian kings. A hoard

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containing about 900 coins belonging to Arsaces I and Arsaces II
was discovered in that year; we are lucky that someone tried to
hide this hoard for as.
Now, the question is “why Arsaces II did not fled north as his
father had done before?” The answer lies in the fact that the
people of Parni had abandoned nomadic way of life and had
settled in the cities built by Arsaces I, so Arsaces II had to stay
and fight for their new settlement. This can be inferred from the
artifacts discovered, which show that parni and Parthians all
dressed as settled people. It seems that Parthians kept their
promise and no revolt took place till the end of Arsaces‟ II life.
He died in the year 191 B.C.

Co ncl usi ons

256-250 B.C. Diodotus revolted and proclaimed Bactria

independent and minted coin in his own name.
Andragoras followed suit and revolted in alliance
with Diodotus, and also minted coins; thus, the
first Parthian revolt.
247- B.C. Arsaces became the chief of the Parni tribe, so the
start of the Arsacid dynasty. He got into
conflict with Diodotus I and moved west to the
south-east corner of the Caspian Sea. This date

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 was latter chosen as the beginning of the Arsacid
calendar.
239- B.C. Diodotus I died. Araces entered Parthia in alliance
with the Parthians in the year 238 B.C., attacked
the Seleucid forces and Andragoras was killed in
battle.
He was chosen as the ruler and head of the army,
and proclaimed Parthia independent. He started
to build cities for the people of his tribe and the
citadel of Mithradatkart was built.
228- B.C. Seleucus II invaded Parthia. Arsaces wisely
evades battle and runs north. Seleucus returns
west empty handed.
Arsaces returns back, and with the help of the
Parthians tries to consolidate his realm. He
started to mint coins.
211- B.C. Arsaces dies and his son Arsaces II ascends the
throne.
209- B.C. Antiochus III invades Parthia and Arsaces II sues
for peace.
Antiochus proclaims Parthia a vassal of the
Seleucid Empire and appoints Arsaces as the
governor of the state. Parthian mint stopped
operation.
191- B.C. Arsaces II dies.

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 References

1- Merlijn Veltman Parthia and the Aparni Migration:

Globlisation theory and nomadic elements the Parthian
Empire 30 October 2016

2- Rolf Strootman The coming of the Parthians Crisis and

Resilience in the Reign of Seleukos II

3- AN EARLY PARTHIAN „VICTORY‟ COIN

Gholamreza F. Assar · Morteza Ghassem Bagloo

4- An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia

David Sellwood 2th Edition 1980

5- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andragoras

6- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodotus_I

7- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahae

8- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthia

9- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagadates_I

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10- livius.org/articles/people/dahae/

11- iranicaonline.org/articles/dahae

12- Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 78 Auction

date: 26 May 2014 Lot number: 337

13-[31] [SYNCELLUS]

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