The titles and epithets adopted by the earliest Arsacid rulers can help to better understand how this new dynasty progressed from invaders of Parthia to kings of an empire, and to trace what model of kingship they emulated in their identity and ideology. As mentioned at the start of this chapter, the name of the dynasty’s eponymous founder, Aršak (Greek Arsaces), embodied the idea of ‘Ruling over Heroes’. This name, a hypocoristic form of Old Persian Xšaya-ṛšā (Greek Xerxes), was shared by kings of the Achaemenid period.459 In particular,
Artaxerxes II, according to fragmentary secondary sources, was also born as ‘Arshak’ before adopting the throne name Artaxerxes II in 404 BC. This Artaxerxes II, according to the Byzantine chronicler Syncellus, was a claimed ancestor of the Arsacid dynasty.460 It is uncertain at what point in Parthian
history this claim was first made; however, it seems that from an early period the idea came into being that Arsaces I and his descendents were the inheritors of the Achaemenid legacy in Iran. Writing in the 1st century BC, Pompeius
Trogus (preserved in Justin’s 3rd century AD epitome) reflected on the Arsacid
dynasty’s advent to power, stating that the eastern dynasty may have considered as their greatest glory their rise amongst the “Assyrian, Median and Persian kingdoms [that were] once so celebrated.”461 The name of the dynastic
founder, Arsaces I (appearing in Greek as ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ‘[of] Arsaces’), was preserved in coin legends by the founder’s descendents throughout the entire Parthian period, becoming a necessary title in itself for any ruler of the Parthian Empire.462 459 Schmitt (2016), 44, no. 37. 460 On the Arsacid claims of descent from Artaxerxes II, see Syncellus, 1.539.16f; Shahbazi (1986a)
[2016]. According to Ctesias F15 §55 (Photius Bibliotheca, 72), the Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II also held the personal name Arsaces. Variants of the name also appear as “Arsakas” in Ctesias, F15 §51 (Photius Bibliotheca, 72), “Arsikas” in Ctesias, F15a (Plutarch Artaxerxes, 1.4), and “Oarses” in Deinon (Plutarch Artaxerxes, 1.4) – the latter perhaps refecting the name ‘Arses’ with the inclusion of the Greek article (ὁ Ἄρσες); see Schmitt (1982, 92). In a late Babylonian astronomical text, there is also a reference to this name change where it is written, “Aršu called Artakšatsu the king”; see LBAT, 162. 461 Justin, 41.1.8. 462 Roman historians stated that only descendents of Arsaces were considered as legitimate kings,
and from their perspective this rule was so sacrosanct within the Parthian Empire that the name Arsaces became synonymous with the title ‘King’ in the same way that Caesar and Augustus’ names were given to all Roman emperors; Justin, 41.5.8; Ammianus, 23.6.5-6. Ammianus adds that it was considered sacrilege to attack any member of the Arsacid family, even during times of civil strife
The first titles used by Arsaces I on his coinage as the victorious invader of the Parthian satrapy are ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ ‘[of] Arsaces the Autocrat’ in Greek script, and krny ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ‘[of] Arsaces the karanos’ in a combination of Greek and Aramaic script (Figures 2-3).463 Much debate has been focused on
what these titles signify, why were they struck in dual-language, and why this celebrated ruler did not immediately adopt the title ‘King’ after his successful campaign into Parthia. In the Greek world, the title strategos autokrator ‘Autocratic Commander’ was conferred to generals who had been endowed with special powers of command; however, by the 4th century BC potentates who had
risen to power following a military victory began to claim this title for themselves.464 During the succession wars of the Diadochi period (322-275 BC),
the title was assumed by some generals such as Peithon, who was known as the satrap of Media following the death of Alexander in 323 BC, and later as an invader of the Parthian satrapy in 318 BC.465 Arsaces I’s incursion into Parthia
and subsequent establishment as an autocratic ruler echoed this period of conflict surrounding the succession of power across the eastern satrapies. The title of ‘Autocrat’ symbolised the disruption to the genealogical legitimacy and inherited power of the Seleucid overlords, won by Arsaces I’s military victory. The corresponding title written in Aramaic krny or ‘karenos’ speaks more about Arsaces I’s identity as an Iranian ruler. The roots of this title go back to (though this evidently did not deter rivals within the dynastic family from seizing the throne through rebellious acts of violence). Strabo’s account, drawing on Poseidonius of Apamea (c. 135-51 BC) as a source, states that the kinsmen of the Arsacid dynasty and the Magi together appointed kings, intimating at the closeness of these two institutions concerning the sphere of kingship (see p. 137 above).
463 S1-4. Arsaces I’s titles, however, do not seem to have been cemented in the memory of later
Arsacid kings. The dynastic founder’s name appears alone without any title on a handful of ostraca from Nisa, usually as part of a dating formula that seems to have been introduced around the time of Phraates I or Mithradates I; Assar (2004), 71. For ostraca that make reference to Arsaces I, see Livshits & Nikitin (1994), 315 (of an unknown date); Diakonoff & Livshits (2001), no. 2638 (91 BC), as well as nos. 2639 (78 BC) & 2640 (68 BC), which have been partially reconstructed. However, Olbrycht (2013b), 69 notes several examples where the title ‘King’ has been omitted from previous rulers’ names on the ostraca, remarking that it was only imperative that the current ruler’s title be recognised within the dating formulas.
464 Olbrycht (2013b), 63-64. 465 Diodotus, 18.36.6, 19.14.1.
Old Persian *kāra-na-, linked to the word kāra- ‘army’.466 In the Achaemenid
tradition, the *kāra-na- was a high official who commanded military forces over a large territory, and who wielded power above the administrative satraps of the same region. In Hellenistic sources, the title was transliterated to κάρανος to describe a high official in charge of commanding military units.467 The title is
further attested in other sources. Firstly, in a Bactrian document (now in the Khalili Collection), referring to a certain wšt’sp krny or ‘Vištāspa kāra-na-’. This figure has been associated with the Bactrian Hystaspes, who was made commander of a “barbarian” and “eastern” cavalry unit by Alexander in the 4th
century BC, according to Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander. 468 A more
contemporary use of the title can also be found on coins struck by Wahbarz, the
frataraka of Persis ruling in the first half of the 2nd century BC.469 Wahbarz
completed the revolt against Seleucid power in Persis, and struck coinage using the title krny to declare that he was a sovereign ruler outside the Seleucid administration.470
While Arsaces I qualified his name with these politically provocative titles, his successor Arsaces II struck his first coinage with only the familial
466 Olbrycht (2013b), 65-66, notes 21, 30 with bibliography on Widengren (1969), 206; Haebler
(1982); Petit (1983); Dandamaev & Lukonin (1989), 222; Testen (1991); Keen (1998); Briant (1996) [2002], 19, 321, 340, 600, 616, 626, 631, 878, 925, 981, 1002, 1005; Klinkott (2005), 320-330; Runt (2011); Shayegan (2011), 170-177; Hyland (2013). See also Schmitt (2016), 115, no. 242.
467 Olbrycht (2013b), 65-66; see also Sellwood & Abgarians (1971), 113. In Xenophon’s Hellenika,
1.4.3, Cyrus is appointed by his father, the Achaemenid king Darius II, as κάρανος ‘karanos’ of a military force at Castolus. The historian elaborates that this Persian title can be translated as the Greek κύριος ‘kyrios’, understood as a ‘lord’ or a ‘sovereign authority’. However, a parallel account in Xenophon’s Anabasis, 1.1.2 names Cyrus as the σατράπης ‘satrap’ and στρατηγός ‘strategos’ or ‘commander’ of the Castolus forces. In addition, Olbrycht notes that the Attic office of κύριος ‘sovereign authority’ is equivalent to the self-governing term ‘autocrat’.
468 Naveh & Shaked (2012), 187-191, no. C2 (IA 20); Arrian Anabasis, 7.6.5. Olbrycht (2013b), 67
mentions that this may be the same Hystaspes who was an Achaemenid commander under Darius III, and is described by Curtius Rufus, 6.2.7 as the praetor ‘commander’ of a large army. Naveh & Shaked (2012), 190-191 consider whether the title krny ‘karenos’ is related to the Parthian Karin family, one of the seven aristocratic clans associated with the ruling Arsacid dynasty. However, as Olbrycht points out, the earliest attestation of krny signifying Karin appears much later on a Nisa ostracon dating to the year 188 of the Arsacid era (61/60 BC); see Diakonoff & Livshits (2001), no. 1514. 469 Klose & Müesler (2008), type 2/15; krny translated as Oberbefehlshaber ‘supreme commander’. Klose & Müesler have dated Wahbarz’s revolt to the 3rd century BC, while other scholars generally accept the 2nd century BC as the start of this period of turmoil. 470 Klose & Müesler (2008), 27; Olbrycht (2013b), 68. See also Alram (1987a) on a rare (and possibly
false) coin type of Wahbarz that shows the Persid ruler on the reverse throwing down a captive Greek.
name ‘[of] Arsaces’ as the legend. Steadily, the new Arsacid state expanded through a series of campaigns to form a Parthian kingdom stretching from Parthia proper to Hyrcania and Media; some decades later under Mithradates I, a Parthian Empire had been established, encompassing territories from Bactria to Seleucia-on-the-Tigris and Elymais. The coin iconography and legends used by these Arsacid rulers developed accordingly. On the final coin issues that depicted the Arsacid ruler wearing a soft-cap (attributed to Phriapatius by Assar, and to Mithradates I by Sellwood), the title ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ‘[of] King Arsaces’ was introduced in the first quarter of the 2nd century BC.471 The timely
appearance of this royal title is significant: in c. 211 BC, Parthia lost its independence after Antiochus III’s successful campaign in the Upper Satrapies. Nevertheless, after the Seleucid defeat at the Battle of Magnesia in December of 190 BC, Arsaces II seized the opportunity to return to power in Parthia and expand his territory. Rome’s victory over the Seleucids was a major setback for the Hellenistic dynasty, costing them a significant depletion of territory in Asia Minor (as well as the annual tribute they had received from these territories), a financial burden of 15,000 talents in reparations, as well as the loss of their war elephants and other resources.472 These damages unfastened the Seleucids’
influence and control over the Upper Satrapies, allowing the Arsacids to advance into their rival’s territories. Arsaces II took Hecatompylos (modern Shahr-e Qumis) - a major city in the west of the Parthian satrapy on the road that extended towards Media and Mesopotamia.473 A new Arsacid capital was
established here, and drachms were struck in the Arsacid king’s dynastic name. Under the subsequent kings Phriapatius, Phraates I and Mithradates I, the provinces of Hyrcania and eastern Media were added to the Arsacid kingdom.474
The disintegration of the Seleucids’ power in these regions left a political vacuum that was quickly filled by the Arsacid kings. The new title ‘King’ in their coin legends signified this change of dynasty, and better represented the
471 S9, attributed to Mithradates I (c. 171-138 BC) by Sellwood (1980). Assar (2005), 37-38 argues
that the S9 drachms were introduced by Phriapatius (c. 185-170 BC) sometime between 184-180 BC, and that he was the first Arsacid to take the title ‘King’. Assar further states that the S9 type was used as a “generic issue” by Phriapatius’ successors, an unknown king (Arsaces IV), Phraates I and Mithradates I. 472 Appian Syrica, 39. 473 Polybius, 10. 28.7. 474 Justin, 41.5.9.
developing hierarchy between the Arsacid ruler, his administration, and his subjects.
A second development in the titulature of these early rulers demonstrates how the Arsacids perceived their rising power and political expansion. The title ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ‘[of] King Arsaces the Great’ was introduced on coin types of Mithradates I in the middle of his reign (Figure 7).475 Justin and Strabo recount this king’s victories, stating that the he first
waged a successful war against Bactria, capturing also the nearby satrapies of Turiva and Aspionus (c. 165 BC).476 He then turned his attention towards Media
and conquered the major city of Ecbatana where he appointed a satrap called Bagasis to govern (soon after 148 BC).477 Justin states that after a spell in
Hyrcania, Mithradates I pushed westwards again, taking Seleucia-on-the-Tigris (c. 141 BC), and Elymais shortly after.478 Notably, the title ‘Great’ was not struck
during this period on bronzes from the city of Susa, which lay in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains near the kingdom of the formidable Elymaeans.479
Mithradates I’s coinage reflects the burgeoning administration under his rule: as ‘King Arsaces’, his coin production was administrated using single letters of the Greek alphabet as control marks on the reverse of the drachms; later as ‘King Arsaces the Great’ (S10-S13), a more complex system of monograms and control marks took shape as Parthia’s armies marched into new territories and built an empire. Where did the inspiration for this royal title come from, and how was it presented to those who used these coins?
Antiochus III (c. 222-187 BC) became known as ‘King Antiochus the Great’ once he had reinforced his rule in the Parthian and Bactrian satrapies that had revolted in the mid-3rd century BC. As Antiochus III’s army marched
475 Attributed to Phriapatius in Assar (2005), 38.
476 Justin, 41.6.1-7; Strabo, 11.11.2. See Tarn (1930), 20-24, who identifies Strabo’s satrapies of
Turiva and Aspionus as Tapuria (Tabaristan/Mazandaran Province) and Traxiana (Khorasan Province) respectively. 477 An inscription accompanying the reclining Herakles relief at Bisotun that was carved on the eve of the Parthian invasion of Media gives the date June 148 BC; Hackl et al. (2010), 476, III.1.3.F.3. 478 Mithradates I’s inaugural tetradrachms (S13.1-5) from Seleucia are dated to the period 141-139 BC. 479 The Arsacids’ power over Elymais was not fully secured until the reign of Mithradates II. Shayegan (2011), 79 ff. outlines the various raids carried out by the Elymaeans into neighbouring territories.
eastwards, he was perhaps inspired by the victory monument at Mount Bisotun (Kermanshah Province) of the Achaemenid Darius [I] the Great, who had himself subjugated revolts in the east of his empire.480 Mithradates I would have
been a young man when Antiochus III adopted this title that echoed the grandeur of the Persian victor. Nevertheless, although Antiochus’ was referred to as a ‘Great King’ on his rock inscriptions, he did not strike this epithet onto his coinage.
The title ‘Great’ was certainly sought by Mithradates I’s contemporaries in the Seleucid and Graeco-Bactrian kingdoms. To the west of the Parthian kingdom, the Seleucid satrap in Media, Timarchus, made an attempt to seize power in Babylonia in c. 163-160 BC; he subsequently adopted the title and included it on his coin issues. Eastwards in the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, Eucratides I (c. 171-145 BC) successfully revolted against his predecessor Euthydemus I, scored a victory against the Indo-Greeks and absorbed the westernmost part of their kingdom.481 He incorporated the title ‘Great’ on his
coin legend to celebrate these territorial gains. Beside the addition of this title, another comparison can be drawn between Mithradates I’s coinage and that of Eucratides I – that is, the Greek-style cuirass worn by the rulers on their royal portraits (Figures 5-8).482 Due to the uncertain chronology of the Graeco-
Bactrian period, it is difficult to ascertain whether Mithradates I was first to adopt this title and costume, and inspired his Graeco-Bactrian counterpart to do the same; or whether, having scored a victory against the Great King Eucratides I, Mithradates I seized this title and Greek military garb for himself. Nonetheless, it is clear that a Parthian-Bactrian rivalry was underway during this period, and such influences from Parthia’s eastern neighbours should be acknowledged alongside the more recognised Seleucid influences coming from the west. 480 DB I, §6; Kent (1950) [1953], 116-120. 481 Justin, 41.6. 482 This costume detail is otherwise only seen in the Hellenistic world on coinage of Ptolemaic Egypt (from as early as Ptolemy II, c. 285-246 BC), the Attalid Kingdom of Pergamum (on coins of Eumenes II, c. 197-159 BC), and the Kingdom of Pontus (on coins of Mithradates III, c. 220-183 BC).
The manifestation of the title ‘Great’ in the late 3rd and 2nd centuries BC
across the Seleucid, Parthian and Graeco-Bactrian kingdoms demonstrates a widespread trend amongst these powers to turn to the Achaemenid kings as a source of legitimacy – particularly when these states were expanding across the Iranian sphere through right of conquest, just as Darius the Great had boasted in his Bisotun relief. This trend in the Hellenistic world, most notably under Antiochus III, can be correlated to the changing nature of the royal court and nobility class, as well as the rise of autochthonous dynasties such as the Arsacids in Parthia, the Diodotids in Bactria, and the frataraka in Persis.483 The
Seleucid, Parthian and Graeco-Bactrian kings were following in the footsteps of the Achaemenid conquerors and emulating their notion of a ‘Great’ kingship, which, in turn, emulated earlier ancient Near Eastern notions of royal power, including those of the Neo-Assyrians and Babylonians. Indeed, the Roman historian Justin states that Mithradates I strove to emulate the renown of his predecessors, and his military successes thus earned him the title of his ancestors, ‘Great’.484
On Parthian coinage, the appearance of the title ‘Great King’ is connected to the Arsacid expansion into Bactria, Hyrcania and Media, and prompted a change from the diademed soft-cap headdress on the ruler’s coin portraits to the bearded, diademed and bareheaded style. These developments in the coin iconography and inscriptions were carried out before Mithradates I marched victoriously into Seleucia-on-the-Tigris in 141 BC, and struck coinage here declaring his Philhellenism. Measured against the preceding developments in titulature and costume, this epithet Philhellenos ‘[of the] Philhellene’ appears more as a reassuring statement from an Iranian king rather than a literal one of assimilating his mode of kingship to Greek ideals. Arguably, the principal city of the Iranian highlands, Ecbatana, played a more significant role in the development of the Arsacid Empire. From Greek written sources, we are told that it became the principal treasury of the empire, as well as one of the major
483 Strootman (2011a); ibid. (2011b), 18; ibid. (2014a); ibid. (2014b). 484 Justin, 42.2.3.
royal residences of the Arsacids.485 Moreover, coin evidence shows that this city
housed the principal mint of the Arsacids in the highlands, and provided the ruling dynasty with a strategic position along lucrative crossroads stretching westwards and eastwards.486 Ecbatana, of course, had been a principal city
centre during the Achaemenid and Median empires of the past, acting as a summer residence in the case of the former, and the main capital city in the case of the latter. Notably, Artaxerxes II, the claimed ancestor of the Arsacid dynasty in the account of Syncellus, is known today for his building activities at Ecbatana in the 4th century BC, which included inscribing his name and title
xšâyathiya vazraka (Old Persian, ‘Great King’) on column bases, as well as
invoking the names of the divine Anahita and Mithra – yazatas who will be further discussed below.487 Despite Mithradates I’s impressive victory at the
Seleucid capital of Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Arsacid powers remained largely concentrated in the Iranian highlands. This is reflected in the minting output of silver across the 2nd and early 1st centuries BC, particularly under Mithradates
II.488 Accordingly, our interpretation of the coin iconography, legends and their
inherent ideology should not be measured against purely Hellenistic standards and models. From the early period of Arsacid rule, these kings developed a narrative that mirrored their political rise to the grandeur of the Achaemenid Empire. Arsaces I had ridden into Parthia with his followers, overthrown the satrap Andragoras, and established himself as a ruler who was not appointed by the Seleucid regime. Accordingly, he named himself as an Autocrat and karenos in Greek and Aramaic script on his drachm issues. His throne name, Arsaces, established a connection to the ancient Achaemenid kings of the past, and described the victorious invader as one who is “Ruling over Heroes”. The Arsacids soon became kings in their own right through their conquests into neighbouring territories, and then ‘Great Kings’ in the Achaemenid fashion following the formation of an empire under Mithradates I. 485 Isidore of Charax, §6; Strabo, 11.13.1; Polybius, 10.27. 486 Curtis, V.S., et al. (forthcoming 2018). 487 A²Ha, A²Hb; Kent (1950) [1953], 155. Soudavar (2003), 87-88; ibid. (2010a), 118-119 argues that Apam Napat and Mithra were revered as the dual deities of the Medians in the 7th-6th centuries BC, though Anahita was to later replace Apam Napat as the principal Water divinity. A long tradition concerning the worship of this divine duo may account for Artaxerxes II’s invocation to Anahita and Mithra in Ecbatana.