The Parthian and Sasanian Empires

Abstract

This chapter examines the development of the Arsacid (ca. 238 BCE–ca. 224 CE) and Sasanian (224–642 CE) empires of Iran. It investigates the establishment of a new Iranian empire under the Arsacid dynasty and the transformation of that loosely structured empire into a more centralized and bureaucratically intensive system through the Sasanian period. The chapter tracks the changes the Arsacids instituted as the dynasty asserted control over a multifarious collection of Seleucid city-states dominated by culturally Greek aristocracies and a range of kingdoms, e.g. Hatra or Armenia, with diverse cultural and political traditions. It then investigates the changes that occurred over the course of the Sasanian period as the dynasty asserted greater and greater control over their empire’s economy, infrastructure, and military, urban, and agricultural resources, as well as religious traditions, especially as they progressively created a new “orthodox” formulation of Zoroastrianism overshadowing alternative traditions of Iranian religion.