The untold story about the greatest extent of the Arsacid Parthian empire, when the empire extended to the Levant and Anatolia.
A Narrative by Varan
A Roman General sides with the Parthians
The Parthians reached the territorial extent of the Achaemenids around the year 40 BC. All of Anatolia, except for a few cities, as well as the Levant, were under Parthian control for a short time.
Events took their course when Quintus Labienus, a Roman general, sided with the Parthians. In 40 BC, the alliance that included the Roman general Quintus Labienus and the Parthian prince Pakur attacked the Roman-controlled city of Apameia on the Euphrates River. Because of civil war conditions in Rome, the Parthians deemed the moment appropriate.
In the winter of 41/40 B.C.E., under the leadership of the satrap Barzapharnes ( Arsacid-Parthian: Borzfari, Barzfari, see Bahar 1939: 29; Debevoise 1968: 110-112), accompanied by the crown prince Pakur, Parthian troops invaded the Roman province of Syria. Lucius Decidius Saxa, the governor of the Roman province of Syria, was slain by the Parthians between Apamea and Antioch (Antakya) (Dio 1917: 48.26). The Parthian army subsequently split in two; Quintus Labienus, at the head of half of the Parthian army, turned to Anatolia to wrest it from Antony. Pakur as well as Spahbed Barzfari took the route to the Levant through the Phoenician coast to Palestine and Judea (Vagi 2000: 71). Except for the city of Tyre, all territories of the Levant up to the borders of Egypt were taken by Pakur (Hinard 2000: 858; Bivar 1983).
Fast Success, Fast Decline
The Parthians were supported by the local population, as they hoped to free themselves from Roman rule with Parthian help. Among the supporters were Antigonus, the son of the Jewish king Aristobulus, Lysanias, the son of Ptolemaeus Mennaei, as well as the prince of Chalcis in Lebanon and the Nabataean king Malichus (Flavius 1899: 14, 13, 3, p. 261-262; Dio 1917: 48.41.5). According to the Jewish historian Yosef ben Matityahu (Lat.: Titus Flavius Josephus), Pakur sent a Parthian cavalry to Jerusalem, which conquered the city in an instant. The Parthian prince Pakur, the Parthian Spahbed Barzfari and the Roman general Quintus Labienus helped the Parthian Empire reach the Ultima in a moment of world history. As a result, the Parthian Empire reached its greatest expansion.
It was not until Ventidius Bassus that the Romans succeeded in defeating the Parthians through misinformation at the battle of Gindaros, near Antioch (Cassius Dio 1917: 48.39-41).
List of References
Bahar, Mohammad Taqi. 1939. Mojmal al-tawāriḵ wa’l-qeṣaṣ, Tehran.
Bivar, A.D.H. 1983. The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids, in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.) Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3(1): The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
David, Vagi. 2000. Coinage and History of the Roman Empire, C. 82 B.C. – A.D. 480: History, Taylor & Francis.
Debevoise, N.C. 1968. A Political History of Parthia, New York.
Dio, Cassius. 1917. Roman History, in Loeb Classical Library, Vol. V. URL: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/48*.html, retrieved in July 19, 2022.
Hinard, Francois. 2000. Histoire romaine des origines à Auguste, Fayard.
Josephus, Flavius. 1899. Jüdische Altertümer, I. Band, Buch XI bis XX, translated by Dr. Heinrich Clementz, Halle a.d.S., Verlag von Otto Hendel.
