Arsakes I.

Coin of Arsakes I.

Arsakes ( Persian ارشک Aršaka ; Ashkan ; * before 250 BC Chr .; † approx. 211 BC BC ) was the founder of the Parthian Empire and the Arsacid dynasty.

Arsakes was the leader of the Parni , a Scythian nomadic tribe from an area southeast of the Caspian Sea . Around 250 BC He started the attack on the collapsing Seleucid Empire . Until 238 BC The tribe conquered the Iranian province of Parthia and killed Andragoras , the ruling satrap of the Seleucids there. He then took over the name of the province and began to settle down.

Arsakes was able to successfully repel the attempts of Seleucus II to recapture the lost territory, as well as attacks by the Greek-Bactrian kingdom that had just emerged under Diodotus I , and to stabilize the Empire of the Parthians. With the following Bactrian king Diodotus II , Arsakes concluded several treaties. He is said to have founded a city called Dara. The Parthian calendar begins in 247 BC. It is likely that this date has to do with a certain event under Arsakes, possibly the time when he declared himself king.

literature

• Richard Nelson Frye : History of Ancient Iran . Munich 1984, p. 206 ff.
• Jérôme Gaslain: Speaking of d'Arsace Ier . In: Electrum 15 (2009), p. 27 ff.

Web links

Commons : Arsakes I.  - Collection of images

• English translation by Justin

predecessor	Office	successor
---	King of the Parthian Empire 247–211 BC Chr.	Arsakes II.