The Art of the Parthians(Part 1.)

The first Parthian ruler of importance was Mithradates I [c. 171-138/7 B.C.], who succeeded in establishing his suzerainty over the small principalities which occupied most of Iran and Mesopotamia. The wealthy town of Seleucia on the Tigris, the one-time capital of the Seleucids, seems to have made a deal with the Parthians, because no military garrison was placed inside its walls. Instead the Parthians built opposite her on the left bank of the Tigris a large military camp which was later called Ctesiphon and became the residence of the Parthian court

Seleucia, however, continued as an important metropolis, a fact well illustrated by the use which Mithradates I made of its formerly Seleucid mint with Greek die-cutters; these the Parthian king employed for a fine series of coins of his own, on which he called himself the Philhellene for the benefit of his Greek subjects, newly incorporated within the expanding frontiers of the Parthian realm. On coins minted earlier in his reign and bearing a more life-like portrait than the idealized version from Seleucia, Mithradates I called himself 'Great King', thereby manifesting the Parthian claim to the heritage of the Achaemenids. Instead of the massive military campaigns of the Achaemenids toward the west, however, the method and direction of Parthian expansion took the form of caravan trade toward the east .

Within the territory of Mithradates II [123-88/87 B.C.] --the ablest of the Parthian rulers--caravan trade could proceed unhampered from Dura Europos in Syria to Merv in Turkmenistan. From there the caravans would continue to Central Asia until they reached the place where Chinese merchants or their envoys took over the wares for further transport to the Far East. Tentatively this place has been identified as Tashkurgan on the upper Yarkand river. Riches brought in through trade accumulated in the treasuries of the Parthian empire. Its economic importance in the second century B.C. is documented by a delegation sent to the Parthian capital by the Han emperor Wu-ti [141-87 B.C.]

The protection of this caravan trade against attacks by predatory mounted nomads required constant vigilance on the part of the Parthian cavalry, whose single-mounted archers probably often had to use their own initiative in a precarious situation. The cavalry could best be maintained by a feudal system in which the army depended on the mobility and valour of the knights and their bowmen. This is the convincing explanation given by Rostovtzeff for the maintenance of a feudal system by the Parthians instead of a centralized autocratic system, such as that of the Achaemenids or Seleucids, which would have seemed more efficient to most modern historians. [2] Apparently some Romans, among them Julius Caesar, took a similarly disparaging view of the Parthian social system and its military strength, because they advocated war against Parthia. For this purpose Crassus was made governor of Syria, in the hope of capturing rich booty in a quick military venture against Iran. In the battle of Carrhae, however, Crassus was decisively beaten by the heavy cavalry of Parthian knights, the Cataphracti, and their light mounted bowmen. No book about the Parthians omits the report of Plutarch according to which the head and hand of Crassus were brought in by messengers while the Parthian king Orodes and his ally, the king of Armenia, were watching a performance of The Bacchantes by Euripides. In announcing the victory, the head of Crassus was thrown on to the stage. The story was meant to reflect the contrast between Hellenistic culture and barbaric military practices in Asia.

The consequences of the battle of Carrhae inside Parthia are equally revealing of conditions in that country. the Victorius general Suren, head of the greatest feudal family in Iran, was executed to forestall a possible bid for the throne by this successful leader. Here the drawbacks of the feudal system become obvious. Lack of a strong central power prevented the Parthian empire from achieving a position of enduring strength in relation to Rome, although wars of greater of less importance were carried on between the two powers until the end of Parthian rule in A. D. 244, after which the Sasanians inherited the hostility toward the Roman West.

Little is known about foundations of towns in Iran by the Parthians, since the sources for the internal history of this period are very fragmentary. There are some indications, however, of increased settlement at that time, at least in Khuzistan, where a systematic survey of the settlement pattern has been made. [3] Darabgird, in Fars, and Takht-i Suleiman, the ancient Shiz in Azerbaijan--romantically associated by some with the legend of the Holy Grail--have been considered Parthian foundations, although the first-mentioned site has not been excavated and the latter has not yet yielded any Parthian remains. [4] . . . . [p. 183]

The Parthian palace at Ashur could be reconstructed and may be discussed in some detail because its fa�ade without doubt influenced that of the later Sasanian palace of Ctesiphon, perhaps indirectly through an earlier Parthian structure which may have been erected at that site. This fa�ade of the palace at Ashur, made of stucco with strips of colonnettes and framed niches, is related to elaborate Roman fa�ades, especially the scenae frontes of a theatre, through the idea for the simulated decorative storeys which characterize some of these [p. 184] scenae frontes may have originated in the Hellenistic architecture of the Near East. The treatment of the Roman architectural elements at Ashur was flat and decorative, thus depriving them of their tectonic significance. In part this development may have been rooted in the traditional fa�ades of ancient Babylonia; for in their decorative scheme semicircular mouldings and channels produced vertical accents while flat horizontal courses divided the surface into a semblance of storeys.

The special charm of the fa�ade at Ashur, however, was surely provided by the friezes cut in gypsum stucco with their backgrounds painted in bright colours in such a way that the geometric patterns, based on square and circle, stood out like lace against he undercut backgrounds of yellow, dark red, black, leaf green and a luminous red. The principal fa�ade of the Parthian palace at Ashur forms one of the four walls of a court, the other walls of which each have small iwans [barrel-vaulted rectangular room closed in the back and completely open in front, usually upon a court of differing sizes]. This plan represents the combination of the iwan with the ancient Near Eastern type of house which is centered on the court. ... [p. 185]

The coins issued by the Arsacid kings provide the only unbroken sequence in a pictorial medium of the Parthian period. The portraits on the obverse and also the representations on the reverse are based on Hellenistic prototypes. In the [p. 187] last century of Parthian rule, however, the fabric and style of the coins disintegrated and the representations were dissolved into lines and dots, so that they are scarcely recognizable. It is interesting to note that a somewhat similar development occurred later within the Sasanian coinage.

The Earliest Arsacid coins, which may probably be assigned to Mithradates I [c. 171-138/7 B.C.], show on the obverse a beardless head with 'bold and striking features,' [5] beaked nose, prominent eyebrows, over-sized eye, curved lips and strong chin. He wears a cap of soft material, leather or felt, which comes to a point, here folded over the side. The ends of the cap hang down in front and in the back. This cap is similar to that worn by the Scythians of Achaemenid times and probably also to that of the Medes. It may even be related to the pointed headgear seen on Neo-Elamite reliefs [see the rendering of the Elamite king in the drawing of the relief on p. 67]. Around the cap of the Parthian on the coin lies a diadem, tied at the back with a small bow the ends of which curve down gracefully. Small curls--or, more likely, an ear-ring--are visible below the cap. Hellenistic influence is apparent in the plastic forms of the portrait and in its strong contrasts, as well as in the exaggerated size of the eye.

On the reverse of the coin appears a figure thought to be the deified Arsaces, symbolic hero of the Arsacid race. Dressed in Median costume, he wears the same cap as the personage portrayed on the obverse, is seated on an omphalos, and holds a bow. The prototype of the figure is Apollo, legendary ancestor of the Seleucids, who appeared on the reverse of their coins. It is difficult to decide whether the portrait on the obverse was also meant to render this ancestor, perhaps with the features of Mithradates I, since later coins definitely assignable to that king show his portrait with a similar beaked nose. These coins of Mithradates I initiated a series of remarkably realistic portraits, more sharply characterized in the coins struck in Persian mints, more idealized in mints with a Greek tradition, like Seleucia.

Many coins have survived from the time of Mithradates II [c. 123-88/87 B.C.], during which Parthian power was at its height. The obverse of these coins shows the great king with a distinctive profile and long beard; from the middle of his reign he was shown with a tall cap decorated with rows of pearls and jewels, which formed a large star on the side. Henceforth this cap became almost a royal insigne and was worn by many rulers portrayed on Arsacid coins. Of the various inscriptions which Mithradates II caused to have arranged in the form of a square on the reverse of his coins the most characteristic is the one which calls him Arsaces, King of Kings [like the Achaemenid rulers], the Just, the Beneficent and the Philhellene.

From this period onward the images on the coins begin to be schematized, especially the figure on the reverse, but some interesting types were still being developed. A coin of Phraates III [70 or 69-58/57 B.C.] shows the king of Parthian costume seated on a throne facing toward the left. Upon his extended hand perches an eagle, while he grasps a long sceptre with the other hand. Behind the king stands a female figure in a Greek garment, characterized as a Hellenistic city goddess by her mural crown and a tall sceptre. With her right hand she places a diadem or wreath upon the head of the king. The representation celebrates a victory of Phraates, perhaps over Seleucia. This type is the first of a considerable number of coins representing important historical and religious events in the reigns of Parthian rulers.