The Rise and Fall of Parthia - Rome's Greatest Enemy - Ancient Civilizations
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Join us on a captivating journey through the enigmatic Parthian Empire in this in-depth historical exploration. The Parthian Empire, a lesser-known yet remarkable ancient superpower, rose to prominence in a complex world of politics, culture, and warfare.
In this video, we unravel the mysteries surrounding the Parthians and their empire, shedding light on their origins, rise to power, and their unique blend of nomadic roots, Hellenistic influence, and Persian traditions. Discover their role as the conquerors of Gandhara, formidable foes of Rome, and masters of diplomacy and administration.
Exploring the challenges of studying the Parthian Empire due to limited native sources and biased Roman accounts, we delve into the role of archaeology, inscriptions, and coinage in piecing together their history.
Before delving into their epic conflicts with Rome, we set the stage by examining the geopolitical landscape of the ancient world, marked by the legacy of Alexander the Great and the decentralized nature of the Seleukid Empire.
The Parthian military, rooted in nomadic traditions and skilled in cavalry warfare, is discussed, with a focus on their ingenious hit-and-run tactics that bewildered their adversaries.
Learn about pivotal moments in the Parthian-Roman conflicts, including the infamous Battle of Carrhae, the rise and fall of Armenian influence, and the enduring rivalry between these two ancient superpowers.
Our video also delves into Parthian society, culture, and religion, showcasing their adaptability, syncretism, and diverse influences, from Greek to Zoroastrianism, and local customs.
As the Parthian Empire reached its zenith and decline, we witness the rise of the Sasanian Empire and the end of an era, with cultural legacies that continue to influence the region.
Join us on this immersive journey through the annals of history as we unravel the Parthian Empire's story. Like, comment, and share if you found this video intriguing, and subscribe to stay updated with more ancient empire explorations. Our dedicated patrons and channel members make these videos possible, so check out the links in the description to learn more about exclusive content and perks. This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we'll see you in the next episode.
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#Documentary #Rome #Parthia
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Please stop using bce
You forgot to mention that it was Parthians who first converted to Christianity, since the ruling class in armenia were Arsacids and were actually iranic Parthians, as well as Gregory the Iluminator also known as Gregory the Pahlav (Parthian) was also from Parthian Suren Pahlav Clan and caucasian albania was controlled by another Parthian clan Mihran Pahlav. And the reason why they converted to Christianity was exactly what you mentioned about Sassanids who were Zoroastrian centric, so the remaining Parthian branches who were opposing Sassanids and who still controlled areas known as armenia and caucasian albania, decided to use popularity of the new religion to remain in power, portraying themselves as protectors of Christianity. Therefore, after the fall of Parthians in Persia to Sassanids they still remained in control of armenia and caucasian albania for the next 400 years. And because of this, I think you haven't completely told the story of Parthians... so no like from me :)
also the wars between the safavids and ottomans are very interesting
@@ArmadilloArmadaSeconded. This is still a great channel that get people interested and excited about history of all eras and locations, and I have switched to watching purely for enjoying the production value, or watching along with criticisms and my own readings for a while, but it is ultimately in the best interest of this channel and its viewers to improve at least the citation if not overall accuracy. They're just pumpimg out contents way too fast now.
21:07
I have always found confusing the difference between achaemenid, persian, sassanid, parthian, but now it is so much clearer. Cool to see that nationalistic revolts existed already 2000 years ago.
I wouldn't call it "nationalistic", but rather "tribal" or "dynastic".
@@KingsandGeneralsso you mean parthians achaemenid sasanid are all iranian tribes that just ruled the same area or are parthians a separate people? I mean chinese dynasties were mostly han exept jin and qing dynasty. Is it the same circumstance as ming and han dynasty?
parthian, persian, Scythian and medians were 4 tribes of aryans. achamenid were persians+medians ( and later parthians ). Ashkanian ( which didnt mentioned in this video and i donno why ? ) were the pure Scythian + parthian+ medians, and Sassadnid were Persian+median and later parthians :D
@@gabbytay some historians classify Parthians as a different, more nomadic Iranian tribe, others as just another dynasty.
@@javadasaadi8430 @kingsandgenerals it is very complicated. Especially in the steppe area. Are Saka and sarmatians aryans too?
The Parthians, defeaters of the Seleukids, enemies of the Romans, and defeated by the Sassanids? That's pure suffering!
What a cycle of life empire
Then the Arabs defeated them
only Iranians are Iranians bane ... :(
You speak like Sasanians didn't make Romans shit their pants
hey dont say it like that the Sasanids were also a great empire xD and they were the descendants of the Achaemenids
Parthia deserves a series of its own definitely. Also, would be magnificent to see episodes on the Seleucid empire and great Sassanians. Well done, guys, as always!
one thing that was not mentioned in the video is that although the Arsacid (ashkanian) dynasty was overthrown by sassanids, many parthian nobles sided with ardashir in the process and these nobles continued to be core parts of sasanid empire as prominent houses. house of mihran was one them and one of its famous figures, bahram choobin, had claims to the sassanid throne through his parthian ancestry.
Yes, the Seven Great Houses. Mihran as you mentioned, plus the Suren, Karen, Varaz, Zik, Ispahbudhan and one other .... And the Arsacids would remain in Armenia for some time after the overthrow of the Parthians, as I recalled.
@@michaeldunne338parthians could had survived if Alexander severus had Better military advisors
@@alessandrogini5283could or could not survive? The Parthians? They lost a big battle to the Sassanids in 224 (Hormosdgan), and were driven out of Mesopotamia by Ardashir around 228/228. So Hormosdgan was just 2 years after Alexander secured the throne as sole emperor. Are you suggesting that Alexander Severus, or his mother, Julia Soaemias, should have anticipated the Parthians getting badly beaten by 228 and lend a hand? Say to secure a Parthian client state in Mesopotamia (and maybe Susa and regions near/along the Zagros mountains)? The grandmother, Julia Mamaea had died around 224 so there maybe was a transition period. Then the type of support would have to be selected wisely given elements of the army were acting up (murdering Ulpian at some point, possibly rioted against the citizenry of Rome for three days or so, etc.), and the empire's frontiers were possibly still stretched in terms of commitments.
Awesome video! Would love to see one covering the Sassanid Empire in the future as well as the rise of Manichaeanism and the religious nature and solidification of Zoroastrianism and its doctrines.
Reviews of Manichaeanism, Mithraism and the Cult of Sol Invictus together, with maps showing their spread over time, would be great to see.
I feel like the perception of Rome and Parthia being implacable, relentless enemies is somewhat overplayed. People often think of the battle of Carrhae and Antony's campaigns as well as the Roman invasions of the Second Century CE (Trajan, Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus) but they forget that, between Augustus' settlement towards the end of the first century BCE (the one where he supposedly secured the return of Crassus' lost eagle standards) and Trajan's invasion in 113, the Romans and Parthians enjoyed nearly a century of peace with the exception of Corbulo's war in Armenia from 58-63 CE. There was even one source which suggested that a few years later, Vologases I offered Parthian assistance to the Romans in their efforts to put down the Great Jewish Revolt of 67-73 CE. The image of the implacable enemy is far more appropriate for the Sassanians, with whom the Romans were nearly constantly at war. While conflict was certainly a major element of Roman-Parthian relations, their relationship is closer to that of tense rivals (think US and Russia during the Cold War) rather than embittered enemies (such as Rome/Carthage). At least that's my own view of their history. I'm happy to hear other people's perceptions on the topic. The subject of international relations in the ancient/classical world has always been fascinating to me.
Even the Sasanians were not seen as diehard enemies. Justinian spoke well of them and was friends with their ruler, and the house of Sasan which ruled the Sasanians had marriages into powerful eastern and western Roman family’s (as well as the Chinese) It’s less that the Romans and Persians where die hard enemies, and more so they saw each other as one another’s greatest rival, no other was able to reach their level of glory, strength, and sophistication in each others eyes.
Great episode, as an Iranian I always praised parthians they established one of the first congress in the government through the ancient times (the congress was called Mahestan), they were more mithraic than zoroastrian, they never invaded anywhere and just defended their borders
Fun fact: The word partisan comes from "Parti-zan" which in Farsi means hitting like the Parthians. (Hit and run)
also the phrase Parthian-shot is added to dictionaries because of them.
Woah
I can't find a source for this, even though it sounds pretty cool. Do you have one?
@@czechmeoutbabe1997 Yeah, It seems to be false. Thanks for the correction.
@@czechmeoutbabe1997 It's clearly false. Partizan derives from the Latin word "partis" meaning portion or side. A partisan in one who takes a side, in fact you can say that one is partisan of a cause.
Never thought I'd hear the words 'Scrooge McDuck' in a video about the Parthian empire
haha same
Also never expected to hear “Simpson’s style hit and run tactics”.
Great! Would love to see more videons on Seleucid and Sassanid as well
Loved this video, well done. There is very little known about Parthian history, but wanted to point out that the irrigation techniques were there from Achaemenid times originating in the Pars province and adopted by later empires including the Caliphates and the Chinese, it was known as Qanat. A real contribution of Parthians was their Nisaen Horses, who allowed the creation of Cataphracts, since these horses were large and strong enough to allow both themselves and their riders be covered in heavy armor, the Romans started breeding these horses after their defeat in Carrhae, the last recorded Nisaen horse was extinct during 11th century in Constantinople.
Well it's not strange since the Arcasids were descendants of Arcases ( Artaxerses II ) according to Marry Boice, in Parthian manuscripts they called their empire " Shahriarie Pars " which means the Persian Empire " .🔴The Arsacid dynasty of the Parthian empire claimed to derive their lineage from Arsaces/Artaxerxes II, according to Georgius Syncellus (1.539.16f. D.). This claim can be taken seriously, considering the name Artaxšahrakan applied to a royal vineyard mentioned in the Nisa documents (P. Gignoux, Glossaire des inscriptions pehlevies et parthes, Corp. Inscr. Iran., Suppl. Ser. I, London, 1972, p. 46b).
I find the Parthian and Sassanid Empires to be fascinating. Surena (the Heroic one) is one of the great underrated generals in history
Can you guys make videos on the Sassanid and Kushan Empires too.
They already did one on the Kushan.
Love that you made the clothing of iranians accurate. im so tired of hollywood portrayed iranians as arabs and indians.
Your pfp looks like Arab and Indian
Indian Arab and Iranian look same to me especially the man in your pfp
@@AL_AFGHANI1 The man in his pfp is a Sassanid (probably a Shah) His look and outfit doesn't look anything like Arabs
@@ramtin5152 he does look like a Arab 🤣 the fact you deny that is hilarious
@@AL_AFGHANI1afghani is arab!!!? What are you thinking about
achaemenids > sassanids > Parthians These 3 are my favourite persian empire dynasties. I sometimes even prefer sassanids. They improved on almost everything achaemenids and parthians gave them.
Shoutout to Nader Shah for being one of the best military commanders in Iran's history. And especially the Safavids for creating the strongest empire since the Sassanids.
It's kind of incorrect to call the Parthian empire «Persian». While all three are 'Iranian' civilizations, only the Achemenid and Sassanian empires were Persian.
As an Iranian i don’t like these comparisons at all ;in fact there could be no superiority between these three Iranian empires as they rised completely in different conditions and time line and based on differences of contexts the Parthians would gain the greatest honor as they were the true liberators of Iran in hellenistic age,revive Iranian ideology and politics and didn’t surrounded to foreign invaders like their Persian cousins Achaemenids and Sassanids +Parthians were more interested in liberty ,aristocracy and democracy while Sassanids were the most authoritarian and theocratic.
Agree but the Sassanids also suffered from hubris. Unfortunately, it contributed to the empire's downfall at the hands of Arab invaders.
Parthians were Median ( Kurds ) and Scythian, not persian.
As an Iranian, I personally never put a difference between our ancient kingdoms. But I do respect the Parthians more than Sasanians, for they were the ones to keep the Iranian culture alive. I'd also like to point out that all these various names and ethnicities were Iranian people at the end of the day, it's unfortunate to see others think about a bunch of Mullahs when they hear the word "Iran". The Mullahs are enemies and occupiers of Iran!
Parthians sided with Arabs against Sassanids.
@@arabianinferno6918but it’s true that some Parthians whished to witness another Iranian Empire just how they replaced Arsacid Parthians with Sassanid Persians.
Yes finally someone going into detail about parthia
Awesome & informative video. Please more on ancient Iranian Empires.
Parthian and the sasanid empire were basically one empire (iran) and these 2 were just different dynasties. The latest studies on ancient iran do label them as just one empire. Thanks for the awesome video as always
The Parthians were nomadic people from the northern areas who conquered most of the Seleucid Empire. The Sasanids were from Southern Iran. They seem like very different people. It's sort of like how the Assyrians and Babylonians controlled much of the same area, but are seen as different empires.
@@greywolf7577 Again, the latest studies do label them as one empire because the structure and organization didn't change much when the transition happened. The sassanids werent as centralized as earlier studies suggested and also relied on the parthian noble houses for suppport. The empire was called Aryanshahr in the parthian language and Eranshahr in Middle Persian and both mean Land of the Aryans/Iranians and Iran is another variation of this empires name.
Yeah, Ardashir's conquests were more of a coup
@@greywolf7577lol, Parthains and Persians are both western middle Iranian people, but most Parthians were still maintaining the nomadic lifestyle , Parth and Pars are two different pronounciation of the Persian term " partava / Parsava" meaning borderland( pahlavi/ pahlava ), parthian and Sassanid Persian are northern and southern branches of Middle Iranian, Parthians literally called their empire " Shahriarie Pars " ( Persian empire) 🔴The Arsacid dynasty of the Parthian empire claimed to derive their lineage from Arsaces/Artaxerxes II, according to Georgius Syncellus (1.539.16f. D.). This claim can be taken seriously, considering the name Artaxšahrakan applied to a royal vineyard mentioned in the Nisa documents (P. Gignoux, Glossaire des inscriptions pehlevies et parthes, Corp. Inscr. Iran., Suppl. Ser. I, London, 1972, p. 46b).
6:10 Ashgabat is the modern city founded by in 19th century, the Parthian settlement was called Nisa.
Ashgabat was the name in Parthian Ashk-Abad (the city of Ashk/Arsaces) Nisa was a Hellenic name
Always love the colorful maps. Detailed enough to inform but easy to understand at quick glance.
Rome: we defeated everyone we ever invaded Parthia: how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man!?
The Parthians beat a few Roman glory hounds and regional governors. Trajan showed the true might of Rome when he invaded and took their capital. They only withdrew because Hadrian didn't think it was worth keeping. Did you not watch the video?
@@Ekaustonian Did YOU watch the video ? Because they clearly said the Parthians retook Mesopotamia Trajan didn't face any formidable Parthian army in his campaign other than a small militia force south of Mesopotamia LOL Plus the Parthian empire was divided in two with one fourth of it, where Trajan raided, being taken by the usurper Osroes I And Trajan lost all territories He only besieged cities in Mesopotamia Mark Antony who had so much experience with Caesar, was a glory hound ? What the emperor at battle of Nisibis 217 ? I never read Romans beating an Iranian army 4 or even 3 times their own army's size They faced smaller Parthian armies most of the times Largest Iranian armies they faced outnumbered them only 2 to 1 at max and that was only few times during the Sassanid era
@@EkaustonianRomaboo copium Remember shapur l?
Awesome I’ve been looking for a video on Parthia and here it is from my favorite channel. Ty
There's needs to be a video covering the rise and fall of the Seleucid Empire as well.
the alexander the great videos on this channel cover some of the seleucid origins.
This video basically just did that. The fall began with the rise of Parthia
they rose by treachery and civil war, had some ups and downs. then unlike Parthians lost to some barbaric foreign power. And doomed Iranians up to this day and age because of Islam. Also the way they conduct religion was far worst. there's ur video :)
Love these one episode overviews of empires! More of these please!
Already watched and man is it a great video. Really gave me insight into Persia and their background
Another awesome video! Thanks for sharing and helping us all learn more
Parthia's strongest military force, the Cataphracti, was entirely composed of its aristocratic elite. If they ever lost a battle, then they lost the ruling elite of their empire. For similar reasons the Spartans were very, very reluctant about deploying all of its elite Hoplite infrantry, as they were also their ruling elite.
Parthia had 7 rulling houses, each were in charge of a vast teretory. These houses were consisted of a growing and large family. They mostly wanted to end the fight as soon as possible to go back to their lives. They did experience defeat several times. But they were always ready to defend the homeland against any foreign threat and they always succeed in defending or recapturing after a temporary loss of territory or settlement.
The same thing was true about medieval European knights, Who were btw influenced(indirectly, via Byzantines)of Cataphracts. Did not limited the number of European knights that much, eh?
"Simpson style hit-and-run tactics" - lol brilliant
If I could give two thumbs up I would. I love you videos covering an historic nation-state. Hope to see more on Iran in the future.
Amazing work, thank you for all your work
Great work as always!
Amazing video, i hope in the future we see more of persian history, you could do a video similiar to this but for the sassanid empire
But they were Iranian people, that's what matters. Even if they adopted Hellenistic aspects along with Persian aspects, nothing detracts from the truth of their identity and nationality. Alexander also adopted many Persian aspects and was fascinated with Persian culture, but he was still Macedonian (Greek). Anyway, thank you for your efforts, it was just a small parenthesis😅
Great content as usual
A great video about a great but lesser known major power. Great work once again.
Would you consider making a video (even a short one) on how the Sassanids rose to power and their war of independence against/ overthrow of the two Parthian factions that were currently engaged in civil war?
You forgot to mention the way they put out Selucid was the first Iranian Revolution after Alexander, they took their land back. Iranians would go and take their land back from Arabs, Mongols in the future. I would love Kings and generals covering that, absolutel epic come backs of Iranians after Alexander, Ghengis Khan & Islam. It is the oldest existing nation state in the world, Sassanians have "Iran" on the coinage and they're still speaking farsi inside Iran so many people don't know how much old and epic Iran is. Their fall is other people's triamph.
Another important point to mention is the eventual Persianization of the conquering peoples. The Greeks,Mongols and Turks all became Iranian after all. And as for Islam, in India for example it arrived as a Turko-Iranic effort rather then an Arab one. While Egypt and the Levant became Arab, Iran remained Iranian despite converting to Islam.
Another excellent video, love the Nomadic content
I loved this series, Good One!😇
Thanks! So it was Elam then Persia/Achaemenid then Alexander’s Greece then Seleucid then Parthia then Sassanid. Cool.
Thanks for the video
Loved it thanks
Not bad, a good introduction for new people to Parthians. They had their ups and downs, they even lost their capitals. But they have never accepted defeat nor surrendered to their numerous enemies. Parthians were one of the very few in the history of the world, and at least the only one in Iran's 3000 written history, to always overcome their foreign enemies. Even in their decline, even in the last year of their rule, they defeated the Roman Empire, their arch-enemy. Unlike the Achaemenid empire or Sasanids, who were overthrown by Macedonians and barbaric Arabs. Parthians also were a more defensive nation, and they preferred to end the fight soon and go back to their lives. Their number of casualties was always at a minimum. And their armies were so effective. You can check the numbers on battles. For instance, in Carrahe, they defeated the 40-45000 Romans (20k Legionnaires) with a mere 9000. And their casualties were less than a hundred men. Unlike the Sasanid empire which were proud to go to 20-year-long wars, lose thousands, and come back empty-handed to suppress their own people. Also, the Parthians were the only ancient or even modern empire that practiced democracy, when it came to their ruler. Their senate or "Mahestan", was a combined gathering of the 7 ruling families (Vaspooheraan), that decided on who was more qualified to become King of kings. This was more than 2000 years ago. There was no rule that when a father dies, his elder son "should" become the ruler, NO! Maybe his 70-year-old uncle is fit to rule the country the best. As it did happen and thus generated good results. If it weren't for the treacherous Sasanids, they would defend our lands against the barbaric Arabs. as they always did in their 500 years of proud history.
It's funny that history repeat itself. When Parthians comes from region of Parthia between Aral sea and eastern Iran would also the very spot where Oghuz Seljuk clan would established the Great Seljuk Empire that mirroring old Persian empires including Parthian themselves.
Great job mate.
Love this stuff! Good job
17:48 I think it's worth mentioning that it wasn't only the 20th century Iranian nationalists who chastised the Parthians for their Hellenophilia, but also the 3th century Persians/Sassanians, who used this as propaganda against them.
(Before video comment) so excited to see this, many things mention the Persians, but usually as their enemy and I hear they were defeated, yet they prop up throughout a long period of history, so their culture must have been strong to have existed so long through so many defeats, there's very little information about Persian history from their prospective, very excited for this video
Man i have been waiting for this!
Well done. thank You!!!
YES! Always happy for more Persian content!
good video, can't wait for the sequel on the sassanid empire!
Great work !
Great video!
"Simpsons style hit and run tactics" lmao, subtle but made me laugh.
I love how Kings and Generals fully embraced the crassus memes 😂 Great video
Awesome !!
Thank you for all these amazing works of art Kings and Generals ,truely appriciate what youre doing for the human history ❤
Amazing 😍🤩
I wish they mentioned how the Parthian dynasty that was in Armenia continued on for a while longer than the Parthian dynasty in Persia. Also to Kings and Generals...I think a great video would be something about all these mixed dynasties/countries in the indus river valley. Seeing the indo-greeks, indo-sythians, and indo-parthians was cool and I'd love to see a video about that.
The partian dynasty in Armenia was Armenized very quickly
they have made videos on them before, just search it
@@aregevoyan676google the Achaemenid Orontid Daynasty
Please make a video on Vijayanagara Empire
Nicee I have been waiting for more historical persian videos
Please tell us more about the history of Persia
Parthians were the original Knights in history!
Thanks!
Loved this episode didn't know about them...
Next: How the Parthian Successor (Sassanid) humiliating Roman (again).
@@TheRedKing- And killed one or two in battle
Great video. A companion one on the Sassanian empire next?
I would love a series about the Seleucid Empire! is there any chance, you'll make videos about them?
Finally a defining documentary of Parthia. Somehow I knew it would be K&G. Thank you friends!!!
This video is accurate in that my knowledge of Parthia up to this point has been almost entirely comprised of their antagonism with Rome lol. Thank you for expanding my horizons. I would enjoy more videos on the Parthians in the future! God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)
As an Iranian who grew up studying my country's vast history in school, I admit I didn't know much about Parthia. Thank you Kings and Generals!
Because they are not Persians 🤦🏻♂️ even at that time when they rose, your country was ruled by synthuans who were Greek. Get it over with please
synthuans? and he didn't even mention persians once. he said iranian.@@Ggggggggg631
@@Ggggggggg631 Persian or not, still Iranian like Persians And the Scythians as mentioned in the video were Iranian people Btw we Mazanis are the descendants of the Parthians and brothers with Persians
@@ramtin5152 Iranian is not the monopoly of Persians who suddenly decided to name themselves Iran 88 years ago 🤦🏻♂️ it is a way broader region than todays Iran
@@Ggggggggg631 Iran is an old word which was used by the Sassanids who called their country Iran or Iranshahr and Parthians named the country the same with an older version of the name, Aryanshahr or Eran
You should do a video of every faction of Rome 1 total war, awesome video!!!!
Thanks for doing this empire 😊 very interesting
Appreciate Kings And Generals
Thank you, Kings and Generals! You guys got me interested in the Parthian Empire now due to its religious tolerance and diversity. Also, is it wrong to say that some Parthian institutions did revive during the time of the Safavid Iran? After all, it did practice religious tolerance and diversity to a certain degree. Heck, one certain Shah even found it out the hard way that forced conversion means no jizya and no jizya means no salaries for his officials and military.
Sehr gutes Video ❤️
Would love to see a video on their successor, sassanids. ❤
This feels like one of the older videos on this channel (neither better nor worse than current ones, just different)
It's a shame we never got a HBO Rome season on the Parthian campaigns.
Because they either didn't wanted to show the disaster at Carthage, and the Parthian retaliation for Ventidius victories, during Mark Antony's Atropatene campaign which was also a humiliating defeat for Rome ... Or maybe the budget wasn't enough for those great battles
How could the glorious Greco-Romans be shown being rivalled and even defeated by Middle Easterners?
It'd be great to see a video... one like this about the Sassanid empire
awesome
You know that what i love the most about parthia history even when they look down upon their own people (being barbaric) and steppe nomad, they still manage to show them all they more civilized then people in this time believe I just love iranian history
خیلی ممنونم بابت ویدیوی خوبتون ، لطفا درباره دیگر تمدن های باستانی ایران هم ویدیو بسازید ، و لطفا درباره قیام ها و شورش های ایرانیان دربرابر اعراب و مسلمانان هم ویدیو بسازید . ❤️❤️❤️ 🦁☀️
Waiting for the Turk comments which says Parthians were actually Turkic People lol.
@indiansecrets.com1762panibat neither the Parthians nor Scythians were Turkic, although the truth never stops the Turks from claiming them both.
We wuz the true *insert iranian thing*
I have never seen that. But I have seen iranian claiming obviously Turkic speaking dynasties as "Persianate" as if that makes sense.
They might as well just acquire Azerbaijan too since they have such a boner for them.
Interesting!
Thanks
thank you for all the great videos . much love from iran . always love to see that us persians are not demonized by west like how they do in media and movies.
You missed an important part where the Parthian royal family survived in Armenia, as the kings of Armenia that later were the first royal house to adopt Christianity. Many Parthian noble families fled into Armenia and intermarried local Armenian noble families, after Sassanids took over. As a matter of fact, 50% of words in Armenian have Parthian origins.
Armenian language is strongly influenced by Parthian language with many words and terms incorporated. There are no known living descendants of Parthian language. Semnani languages or Komisenian languages are a group of Northwestern Iranian languages that are spoken in Semnan province that are regarded by some linguists as descended from the Parthian language while others regarded them as the Caspian branch of Northwestern Iranian languages spoken in northern Iran and south-eastern Azerbaijan, south of the Caspian Sea with Parthian influnces.
Best channel on YT
This is well made, maybe people will actually learn history this way. You have my vote 😎
11:56 Marcus Licinius Crassus, The Great Sponser of the First Triumvirate KZhead Channel
(Long comment) The Parthians are very underrated and underestimated The borders of the Parthian empire, especially the eastern ones, were vaster than that They had control over satrapies of Khwarazm and Bactria Their south eastern borders also reached as far as river Sindh Even until after the three Roman invasions of Mesopotamia Everyone keeps saying that their capital was sacked by Rome and Trajan campaign but they don't know about their victories Before a summary of their victories, you should know that the capital that was sacked was one or two cities away from the eastern borders of Rome It was sacked whenever there wasn't any army there or the empire was in civil war or during the reign of a weak king such as Osroes I (a usurper) Look at the states of the Parthians and the Sassanid when Trajan and Carus attacked Their empire was literally divided in two with the western parts of it being seized by a usurper king called Osroes I (same guy who provoked Trajan to attack) and the east was taken by a Kushan king while the Shahanshah wasn't present during Carus invasion Pre islamic Iranian empires (except Medians) had several capitals around the empire The Parthians had 7 different capitals with 4 or 5 of them being beyond Zagros mountains and outside Mesopotamia The sack of Ctesiphon barely even mattered to them Now back to the Parthian achievements in their battles against Rome : Battle of Carrhae, Romans lost even though they outnumbered the Parthians more than 4-1 (43,000 Romans vs 10,000 Parthians) in open lands and after that, the Parthians plundered the lands of Judea, Syria, and southern Anatolia Few years later after a setback in a skirmish with Cassius and another Roman commander in their first raid, Pacorus forces heavily defeated Lucius Decidius Saxa near Antioch He fled to Cilicia where he was captured and executed by the Parthians His legions reportedly suffered heavy defeats again and several of his aquilae were seized, being returned to Rome first after a brief Roman war against Parthia and negotiations after the disastrous defeats of Mark Antony In Judea, the pro Roman Jewish forces of high priest Hyrcanus II, Phasael, and Herod were defeated by the Parthians as well Mark Antony Atropatene campaign, 32,000-45,000 out of 127,000 Romans were killed by the Parthians who had only 40,000-50,000 soldiers Mark Antony came back for another campaign against the Parthians with the help of a Median king but was again pushed back by the Parthians and also forced to go back to Rome because of his rivalry with Octavian The Parthians also won at the battle of Urumia 36 BC The Parthians were victorious at the battle of Rhandeia and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Romans who were forced to make a bridge for the Parthian king, Walagash I (Vologases I) could victoriously pass the river on his royal elephant's back Even made Romans pass under his soldiers spears, which was the most humiliating thing for Roman legions Trajan attacked when the Parthians were in a civil war (both because of the Parthian usurper king Osroes I who betrayed the treaty of Rhandeia) and still lost all the conquered cities to Iranian rebels after he left Even during Trajan's invasion, the Parthians gained some victories Trajan failed to take Hatra, which avoided a total Parthian defeat and he himself was wounded during the siege The Parthian forces attacked key Roman positions, and Roman garrisons at Seleucia, Nisibis and Edessa were evicted by the local populaces and the Romans were pushed out of Mesopotamia with the defeat of Trajan's puppet king The Parthians may have been defeated at the end of the Roman Parthian war of 161-166 but before that, they defeated and routed two Roman armies in Armenia and Syria and also won at the siege of Edessa 163 The Parthians were also victorious in war of Caracalla Caracalla first chose to preoccupy himself with an invasion of Armenia, which was ruled by the Armenian kings who were chosen from the members of the Arsacid dynasty by the Parthian king himself, so he appointed a freedman named Theocritus as the leader of the invasion, which eventually ended in a disaster for Romans The battle of Nisibis 217 AD was also won by the Parthians and the Roman emperor, Caracalla's successor, was forced to pay a heavy tribute The tribute was 200 million sesterces, worth about US$13.7 billion at November 2021 gold prices That also equals the amount of wealth the richest man of the Roman republic, Crassus, the Roman general at the battle of Carrhae had
I didn't see the part where the Parthians invaded and took Rome, Italy, Anatolia, or even Syria...oh right, the Romans beat the crap out of them when it mattered. The Parthians beat a few glory hounds looking to make a name for themselves in Rome. The Parthians lost when they faced the true might of Rome in Trajan. The Persians never could beat a Western Empire. It took the Turks coming in to accomplish anything notable against the West.
@@Ekaustonian Take a look at where Parthia was and then take a look at how far Italy is When did I say anything about taking ? I said RAID Plundering and leaving, because they had way less soldiers than Romans Trajan didn't face any formidable Parthian army in his campaign other than a small militia Plus the Parthian empire was divided in two with one fourth of it, where Trajan raided, being taken by the usurper Osroes I And Trajan lost all territories He only besieged cities Mark Antony who had so much experience with Caesar, was a glory hound ? I never read Romans beating an Iranian army 4 or even 3 times their own army's size They always faced smaller Parthian armies The only times the Sassanids used Turks was during the siege of Amida and even then most of the work was done by the Sassanids It was Heraclius and his predecessors who had to beg Turks for help against the Sassanids
Because Rome did sack their capital 5 times….. and Parthia couldn’t even get past Anatolia….. Rome also lasted much longer, while Persia had a new empire every hundred years lol
@@VntiHero 1 or 2 out of 7 capitals with the Parthians and later the Sassanids being in civil war during most of those 5 times Plus look how close it was to the eastern borders of Rome You think Rome was their only enemy ? They had to keep an eye on the Kushans, deal with Scythian raids in the north, probably Arab raids in the south and go through civil wars that could last for decades All of this while fighting against Roman invasions The largest Parthian army in HISTORY (which defeated Mark Antony's) had only between 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers Not to mention their previous victories against the superior enemies they had before Romans And yet despite all of this, their empire survived for 471 years
lol I never seen Romans go over two cities while you are wrong Parthia did conquer some roman cities like Romans but I think you are stupid panturk cause you don't know that Persian empires was nonstop beating western empires and funny is that it's all were told by western historians 😂 but only thing ottomans did was defeating already destroyed byzantine empire but in past Persian empires win priceless battles and humiliated romans did you your empire was paying gold so that Parthia don't attack?😂
Nice work...keep going on Iranian Culture and history
i love history ;) thank you
11:18 - "Simpsons-style Hit and Run Tactics". Oh, yes, I remember that episode, about the Springfield-Shelbyville Wars.
True archenemies! 😅
*K&G* 👋👋 *Can You Guys Please Make a video on the Land of Punt* *These peoples known as the proto-Cushites Have been known as a great civilization by even Egypt itself* *Would love to see how Horn of African Peoples Had managed to become a the centre of Trade between west and east and the later Successor states of Macrobia and the Trading emporiums*
Always wondered what happened to these Iranian Nomads. Thank You for showcasing this to us.
They still exist but as small tribes, most of them choose modern lifestyles so they got out of nomadic tribal life. Those ancient tribes who lived in the satrapy of Parthia in what's called Turkmenistan today were probably relocated into the Iranian heartland by the Caspian sea or khorasan region , some might have gone to extinct by the turkic invaders ,and some might have mixed with them .