Audiobook1 hour
The Parthian Empire: The History and Culture of One of Ancient Rome's Most Famous Enemies
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Colin Fluxman
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The Parthian people created an empire that lasted almost 500 years, from the mid-3rd century BCE until 224 CE, and it stretched from the Euphrates River in the west to Central Asia and the borders of Bactria in the east (Brosius 2010, 83). In fact, the expansive empire challenged the Romans on numerous occasions for supremacy in the Near East, created the first sustainable link between the peoples of Europe and East Asia, and followed a religion that many consider to be the oldest form of monotheism in the world; but despite these accomplishments the Parthians are often overlooked in favor of the Achaemenid and Sassanid Persians who came before and after them respectively, not to mention the Romans themselves. Although the Parthians may not get top billing in most popular histories of the period, they left an indelible mark on the world that cannot be overstated.
Perhaps part of the reason why the Parthians have been overshadowed by other peoples is due to the nature of the primary sources used to reconstruct their history. Although the Parthians were literate, they wrote no histories of their dynasty and most of the extant ancient historical sources are somewhat biased since they were written by Roman and Greek historians. The Greek and Roman historians provide excellent accounts of some of the battles between the Romans and Parthians, but they are for the most part limited to warfare and view the situations almost totally from the Roman perspective. The Parthians built a number of monuments, temples, and tombs so modern archaeological excavations help scholars reconstruct some aspects of their city and court life, but again the evidence is limited and only of limited use alone. Thus, to construct an accurate chronology of the Parthian dynasty, modern scholars are forced to combine the Roman and Greek historians with the available numismatic evidence from the Parthian period since the Parthians made different coins for the reigns of most of their kings (Brosius 2010, 80). All that said, when historians combine all of the available primary sources concerning the Parthians, not only can an accurate chronology of their dynasty be compiled, but various aspects of their culture, such as economics and religion, are also made clear.
Perhaps part of the reason why the Parthians have been overshadowed by other peoples is due to the nature of the primary sources used to reconstruct their history. Although the Parthians were literate, they wrote no histories of their dynasty and most of the extant ancient historical sources are somewhat biased since they were written by Roman and Greek historians. The Greek and Roman historians provide excellent accounts of some of the battles between the Romans and Parthians, but they are for the most part limited to warfare and view the situations almost totally from the Roman perspective. The Parthians built a number of monuments, temples, and tombs so modern archaeological excavations help scholars reconstruct some aspects of their city and court life, but again the evidence is limited and only of limited use alone. Thus, to construct an accurate chronology of the Parthian dynasty, modern scholars are forced to combine the Roman and Greek historians with the available numismatic evidence from the Parthian period since the Parthians made different coins for the reigns of most of their kings (Brosius 2010, 80). All that said, when historians combine all of the available primary sources concerning the Parthians, not only can an accurate chronology of their dynasty be compiled, but various aspects of their culture, such as economics and religion, are also made clear.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dorothy Dandridge: The Life and Legacy of One of Hollywood’s First Successful Black Actresses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProject MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient and Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the World’s Most Persistent Conspiracy Theories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to The Parthian Empire
Related audiobooks
The Cimmerians: The History of the Ancient Indo-European Nomads in the Near East Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Umma: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nimrud: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian City Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Restoration of Rome: The History of the Roman Empire during the Reigns of Diocletian and Constantine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Smyrna: The History and Legacy of the Influential Greek City in Anatolia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUr: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Antiquity: From the Birth of Sumerian Civilization to the Fall of the Roman Empire Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Byzantine Army: The History and Legacy of the Byzantine Empire’s Military during the Middle Ages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cyrus the Great: The Life and Legacy of the King Who Founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gutians: The History and Legacy of the Asian Nomads Who Spread across the Near East in Antiquity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Xerxes I: The Life and Legacy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Most Notorious Ruler Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Rome and Germania: The History of the Roman Empire’s Conflicts and Interactions with Germanic Tribes Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Greek Renaissance: The History and Legacy of the Era Leading to Ancient Greece’s Archaic Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Etruscans and the First Romans: The History and Legacy of the Civilizations that Fought for Control of Italy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmpire of Gold: A History of the Byzantine Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grandeur That Was Rome: Roman Art and Archaeology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tatars: The History of the Tatar Ethnic Groups and Tatar Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Ancient Greece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Ancient History For You
Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing Jesus: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Epic of Gilgamesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chariots of the Gods Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hekate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Greek Mythology: An Elaborate Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Harems, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alexander the Great Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Egyptian Myths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quetzalcoatl: The History and Legacy of the Feathered Serpent God in Mesoamerican Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5After Jesus Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Iliad by Homer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Parthian Empire
Rating: 4.133333333333334 out of 5 stars
4/5
15 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The problem is not with the book, but the narration. You can hardly tell it apart from any text read by a voice synthesizer.