| Mithridates I 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕 | |
|---|---|
| King of Kings,Arsaces, Philhellene | |
 Mithridates I's portrait on the obverse of atetradrachm, showing him wearing a beard and a royal Hellenisticdiadem on his head | |
| King of theParthian Empire | |
| Reign | 165–132 BC |
| Predecessor | Phraates I |
| Successor | Phraates II |
| Died | 132 BC |
| Spouse | Rinnu |
| Issue | Rhodogune Phraates II |
| Dynasty | Arsacid dynasty |
| Father | Priapatius |
Mithridates I (also spelledMithradates I orMihrdad I;Parthian:𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕Mihrdāt), also known asMithridates the Great,[1] was king of theParthian Empire from 165 BC to 132 BC. During his reign, Parthia was transformed from a small kingdom into a major political power in theAncient East as a result of his conquests.[2] He first conqueredAria,Margiana and westernBactria from theGreco-Bactrians sometime in 163–155 BC, and then waged war with theSeleucid Empire, conqueringMedia andAtropatene in 148/7 BC. In 141 BC, he conqueredBabylonia and held an official investiture ceremony inSeleucia. The kingdoms ofElymais andCharacene shortly afterwards became Parthian vassals. Inc. 140 BC, while Mithridates was fighting the nomadicSaka in the east, the Seleucid kingDemetrius II Nicator attempted to regain the lost territories; initially successful, he was defeated and captured in 138 BC, and shortly afterwards sent to one of Mithridates I's palaces inHyrcania. Mithridates I then punished Elymais for aiding Demetrius, and madePersis a Parthian vassal.
Mithridates I was the first Parthian king to assume the ancientAchaemenid title ofKing of Kings. Due to his accomplishments, he has been compared toCyrus the Great (r. 550–530 BC), the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.[3] Mithridates I died in 132 BC, and was succeeded by his sonPhraates II.
"Mithridates" is theGreek attestation of theIranian nameMihrdāt, meaning "given byMithra", the name of the ancient Iranian sun god.[4] The name itself is derived fromOld IranianMiθra-dāta-.[5] Mithra is a prominent figure inZoroastrian sources, where he plays the role of the patron ofkhvarenah, i.e. kingly glory.[6] Mithra played an important role under the late IranianAchaemenid Empire, and continued to grow throughout the GreekSeleucid period, where he was associated with the Greek godsApollo orHelios, or theBabylonian godNabu.[7] The role of Mithra peaked under the Parthians, which according to the modern historian Marek Jan Olbrycht, "seems to have been due to Zoroastrian struggles against the spread of foreign faiths in theHellenistic period."[7]
Mithridates was the son ofPriapatius, the great-nephew of the first Arsacid king,Arsaces I (r. 247–217 BC). Mithridates had several brothers, includingArtabanus and his older brotherPhraates I, the latter succeeding their father in 176 BC as the Parthian king. According to Parthian custom, the reigning ruler had to be succeeded by his own son. However, Phraates I broke tradition and appointed his own brother Mithridates as his successor.[1] According to the 2nd-century Roman historianJustin, Phraates I had made his decision after noticing Mithridates' remarkable competence.[8]
The kingdom that Mithridates inherited in 165 BC was one of the many medium-sized powers that had risen with the decline of Seleucid Empire or had appeared on its borders.[9] Other kingdoms wereGreco-Bactria,Cappadocia,Media Atropatene, andArmenia.[9] Mithridates I's domains encompassed present-dayKhorasan Province,Hyrcania,northern Iran, and the southern part of present-dayTurkmenistan.[9]
He first turned his sights on the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom which had been considerably weakened as a result of its wars against the neighbouringSogdians,Drangianans andIndians.[8] The new Greco-Bactrian kingEucratides I (r. 171–145 BC) had usurped the throne and was as a result met with opposition, such as the rebellion by theArians, which was possibly supported by Mithridates I, as it would serve to his advantage.[10] Sometime between 163–155 BC, Mithridates I invaded the domains of Eucratides, whom he defeated and seized Aria,Margiana and westernBactria from.[11] Eucratides was supposedly made a Parthian vassal, as is indicated by the classical historians Justin andStrabo.[12]Merv became a stronghold of Parthian dominance in the northeast.[11] Some of Mithridates I's bronze coins portray an elephant on the reverse with the legend "of the Great King, Arsaces."[13] The Greco-Bactrians minted coins with images of elephants, which suggests that Mithridates I's coin mints of the very animal was possibly to celebrate his conquest of Bactria.[13]
Turning his sights on the Seleucid realm, Mithridates I invadedMedia and occupiedEcbatana in 148 or 147 BC; the region had recently become unstable after the Seleucids suppressed a rebellion led byTimarchus.[14] Mithridates I afterwards appointed his brotherBagasis as the governor of the area.[15] This victory was followed by the Parthian conquest of Media Atropatene.[16][17] In 141 BC, Mithridates I capturedBabylonia inMesopotamia, where he had coins minted atSeleucia and held an officialinvestiture ceremony.[18] There Mithridates I appears to have introduced a parade of theNew Year festival inBabylon, by which astatue of the ancient Mesopotamian godMarduk was led along parade way from theEsagila temple by holding the hands of the goddessIshtar.[19] With Mesopotamia now in Parthian hands, the administrative focus of the empire relocated towards there instead of eastern Iran.[20] Mithridates I shortly afterwards retired to Hyrcania, whilst his forces subdued the kingdoms ofElymais andCharacene and occupiedSusa.[18] By this time, Parthian authority extended as far east as theIndus River.[21]
WhereasHecatompylos had served as the first Parthian capital, Mithridates I established royal residences at Seleucia, Ecbatana,Ctesiphon and his newly founded city, Mithradatkert (Nisa), where the tombs of the Arsacid kings were built and maintained.[22] Ecbatana became the main summertime residence for the Arsacid royalty — the same city which had served as the capital of theMedes and as summer capital of the Achaemenid Empire.[23] Mithridates I may have made Ctesiphon the new capital of his enlarged empire.[24] The Seleucids were unable to retaliate immediately as generalDiodotus Tryphon led a rebellion at the capitalAntioch in 142 BC.[25] However, an opportunity for counter-invasion arose for the Seleucids inc. 140 BC when Mithridates I was forced to leave for the east to contain an invasion by theSaka.[24]
The Seleucid rulerDemetrius II Nicator was at first successful in his efforts to reconquer Babylonia, however, the Seleucids were eventually defeated and Demetrius himself was captured by Parthian forces in 138 BC.[26] He was afterwards paraded in front of the Greeks of Media and Mesopotamia with the intention of making them to accept Parthian rule.[27] Afterwards, Mithridates I had Demetrius sent to one of his palaces in Hyrcania. There Mithridates I treated his captive with great hospitality; he even married his daughterRhodogune to Demetrius.[28] According to Justin, Mithridates I had plans for Syria, and planned to use Demetrius as his instrument against the new Seleucid rulerAntiochus VII Sidetes (r. 138–129 BC).[29] His marriage to Rhodogune was in reality an attempt by Mithridates I to incorporate the Seleucid lands into the expanding Parthian realm.[29] Mithridates I then punished the Parthian vassal kingdom of Elymais for aiding the Seleucids–he invaded the region once more and captured two of their major cities.[30][24]
Around the same period, Mithridates I conquered the southwestern Iranian region ofPersis and installedWadfradad II as itsfrataraka; he granted him more autonomy, most likely in an effort to maintain healthy relations with Persis as the Parthian Empire was under constant conflict with the Saka, Seleucids, and theMesenians.[31][32] He was seemingly the first Parthian monarch to have an influence on the affairs of Persis. The coinage of Wadfradad II shows influence from the coins minted under Mithridates I.[33] Mithridates I died inc. 132 BC, and was succeeded by his sonPhraates II.[34]
Since the early 2nd century BC, the Arsacids had begun adding obvious signals in their dynastic ideology, which emphasized their association with the heritage of the ancientAchaemenid Empire. Examples of these signs included a fictitious claim that the first Arsacid king,Arsaces I (r. 247–217 BC) was a descendant of the AchaemenidKing of Kings,Artaxerxes II (r. 404–358 BC).[35] Achaemenid titles were also assumed by the Arsacids; Mithridates I was the first Arsacid ruler who adopted the former Achaemenid title of "King of Kings". Though Mithridates I was the first to readopt the title, it was not commonly used among Parthian rulers until the reign of his nephew and namesakeMithridates II, from c. 109/8 BC onwards.[35][24]
The Arsacid monarchs preceding Mithridates I are depicted on the obverse of their coins with a soft cap, known as thebashlyk, which had also been worn by Achaemenidsatraps.[35] On the reverse, there is a seated archer, dressed in an Iranian riding costume.[36][37] The earliest coins of Mithridates I show him wearing the soft cap as well, however coins from the later part of his reign show him for the first time wearing the royal Hellenisticdiadem.[38][39] He thus embraces the image of a Hellenistic monarch, yet chooses to appear bearded in the traditional Iranian custom.[39] Mithridates I also titled himselfPhilhellene ("friend of the Greeks") on his coins, which was a political act done in order to establish friendly relations with his newly conquered Greek subjects and cooperate with its elite.[40][41] On the reverse of his new coins, the Greekdivine heroHeracles is depicted, holding a club in his left hand and a cup in his right hand.[42] In the Parthian era, Iranians used Hellenistic iconography to portray their divine figures, thus Heracles was seen as a representation of theAvestanVerethragna.[43]
The other titles that Mithridates I used in his coinage was "of Arsaces", which was later changed into "of King Arsaces", and eventually, "of the Great King Arsaces."[39] The name of the first Arsacid ruler Arsaces I had become a royal honorific among the Arsacid monarchs out of admiration for his achievements.[1][44] Another title used in Mithridates' coinage was "whose father is a god", which was also later used by his son, Phraates II.[39]
Under Mithridates I, the city ofNisa, which served as a royal residence of the Arsacids,[45] was completely transformed.[46] Renamed Mithradatkert ("Mithridates' fortress"), the city was made into a religious hub that was dedicated to promote the worship of Arsacid family.[46] A sculpted head broken off from a larger statue from Mithradatkert, depicting a bearded man with noticeably Iranian facial characteristics, may be a portrait of Mithridates I.[47][39] Ctesiphon, a city on theTigris next to Seleucia, was founded during his reign.[48] According to Strabo, the city was established as a camp for the Parthian troops, due to Arsacids not finding it suitable to send them into Seleucia.[48]Pliny the Elder, however, states that Ctesiphon was founded in order to lure the inhabitants of Seleucia out of their city.[48]
One of the most famous Parthian reliefs is a scene with six men at Xong-e Noruzi inKhuzestan.[49] In the middle of the figure, the main character is in frontal view in Parthian costume. To the right are three other slightly smaller men. On the left is a rider on a horse. The figure is shown in profile. Behind the rider is another man, also in profile. The stylistic difference between the Hellenistic style of the riders and the Parthian style of the other characters led to the assumption that the four men on the right side were added later. The rider probably represents a king, and has been identified as Mithridates I, who conquered Elymais in 140/139 BC. Accordingly, the relief is celebrating his victory. This interpretation was originally accepted by many scholars.[50] However, more recently this view has been challenged and other theories have been proposed, including one that the rider is a local ruler of the Elymais.[51][52] The modern historian Trudy S. Kawami has suggested the figure might beKamnaskires II Nikephoros, the second ruler of Elymais, who declared independence from the Seleucids.[53]
Of all Mithridates' accomplishments, his greatest one was to transform Parthia from a small kingdom into a major political power in theAncient East.[24] His conquests in the west seem to have been based on a plan to reachSyria and, thereby, gain Parthian access to theMediterranean Sea.[24] The modern historian Klaus Schippmann emphasises this, stating "Certainly, the exploits of Mithridates I can no longer simply be classified as a series of raids for the purpose of pillaging and capturing booty."[24] TheIranologistHoma Katouzian has compared Mithridates I toCyrus the Great (r. 550–530 BC), the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.[3]
false.
Mithridates I of Parthia Died: 132 BC | ||
| Preceded by | King of the Parthian Empire 165–132 BC | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
