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III. The Beginnings of the Arsacids

Ancient accounts of the beginnings of the Parthian Empire, as given by Strabo, Justin and Arrian,37 are in substantial agreement and go back, probably, to a common source which may be the Parthica, of Apollodorus of Artemita, written about 100 B.C. in Parthia.38 According to this unknown Greek author, under Antiochus II (plus 246 B.C.) a "Scythian" tribe of Parni settled in the valley of Ochus (Arius, now Tedjen), in the Seleucid satrapy of Bactria,39 rose in revolt, under the leadership of two brothers, Arsaces and Tiridates.40 When, two years later, Arsaces lost his life, the brother succeeded to him as the chieftain of the tribe. In the fashion of all Nomades, the Parni used from time to time to overrun the satrapy of Hyrcania and Bactria and exact tribute. Then, under Seleucus II (246-223), when Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria seceded from the Seleucid Empire and proclaimed himself Basileus, Tiridates with his tribe, under pressure of Diodotus' power, left Bactria, invaded Parthia and then Hyrcania, and established a new domination destined to become "the rival of the Romans."41

The original account suffered from the combined errors of the authors transmitting it to us. Arrian, for example, interpolates the fable that the Arsacids descend from Artaxerxes II of Persia.42 Justin telescopes together the date of the insurrection of Parni and that of the conquest of Parthia .43 Modern scholars find this narrative confused and untrustworthy,44 and are inclined to distinguish between two strata of the tradition: the earlier, represented by Justin and Strabo, which assigns the formation of the Arsacid power to the time of Seleucus II, and the latter one, repeated by Arrian, which places the beginnings of the Parthian dynasty under Antiochus II.45 As a matter of fact, there are no conflicting traditions. Justin and Strabo, in their general works, speaking of the Parthian Empire cursorily, simply omit to narrate the humble origins of the royal house, while Arrian, writing a special work on the Parthian history, goes back to the beginnings

37. Strabo XI, 9 (515 C) ; Just. XL1, 4; Arrian, Parth. 1.
38. Tarn, p. 44.
39. On the Parni (Aparni, Sparni) cf. Strabo XI, 7,1 ; 8,2; 9,2; just. XL1, 4,7. The tribe belonged to the group of the Dahae. Cf. Tarn, p. 80.
40. Cf. Arrian, Parth. 18 (ed. A. G. Roos) ; A. G. Roos, Studia Arrianea, 1912, p. 5.
41. Strabo XI, 9,2 (515 C) ; Just. XLI, i,i ; Dio Cass. XL, 14,3.
42. Cf. now H. S. Nyberg, Die Religionen des Alten Irans (Mitteilungen der VorderasiatischAegyptischen Gesellschaft, XLII, 1938), p. 482.
43. Justin calls the Parni "Parthes" (XLI, 1, 1, etc.) and places the separation of Parthia from the Seleucids under Seleucus II (that is, after 246) and in the consulship of M. (or C.) Atilius and L. Manlius, that is, in 256 or 250.

   

44. See, e.g., Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans, 1888, p. 30; Bevan, The House of Seleucus, I, 1902, p. 284; Tarn, CAH, IX, p. 575; Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia, 1938, p. 9. q
45. The theory has been advanced by Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus, II (1 ed. 1843), 330, often repeated (e.g. Jacoby, FrGrH II d, 568), and recently developed by Wolski, Eos, 1937, p. 492; 1938, p. 244 (in Polish). The historicity of Arsaces I has been often denied, e.g. Tarn, CAH, IX, p. 5 7 5. Strabo (515 C) knows the Bactrian origins of the Arsacids, stated by Arrian, while Justin's source mentioned the insurrection under Antiochus II (see n. 43). On the other hand, Arrian (Parth. 1,2b ed. A. G. Roos) gives the same etymology of the name "Parthi" ("exiles" in Scythian) as Justin XLI, 1,2. The common source may be Apollodorus of Artemita or an anonymous writing about 85 B.C., on whose work see Tarn, p. 50.

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