The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanid Periods, Part 1 of 2 [Hardcover]

E. Yarshater (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 052120092X | ISBN-13: 978-0521200929 | Publication Date: April 29, 1983

The third volume, published in two parts, is an account of every aspect of Iranian civilisation from the death of Alexander in 323 BC to the advent of Islam in the seventh century AD. This complex period, of major importance in Iranian history and extending for almost a thousand years, encompasses the reigns of the Seleucid, the Parthian, the Kushan and Sasanian dynasties. As additions to the general objectives of these volumes, Professor Yarshater has included in this volume chapters on the institutional, administrative, legal, numismatic, linguistic and literary aspects of the period; and he further develops the scope of the volume by including studies of Iran's interaction with neighbouring societies, of Iran's mythical and legendary history, and of Iranian settlements outside the geographical boundaries of Iran and Afghanistan. This volume is the most comprehensive study published of this very important period of Iran's history.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

The third volume, published in two parts, is an account of every aspect of Iranian civilisation from the death of Alexander in 323 BC to the advent of Islam in the seventh century AD. It is the most comprehensive study yet published of this very important period of Iran's history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 700 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (April 29, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052120092X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521200929
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Survey, September 26, 2000

By 

"u2121873" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanid Periods, Part 2 of 2 (Hardcover)

Dr Ehsan Yarshater is one of the most prominant Iranologists of today. His efforts have lead to some of the most comprehensive works in this area and include the present work as well as Encyclopaedia Iranica now published in fascicles.

The Cambridge History of Iran covers in its third volume that period of the Iranian history that begins with the fall of the Achaemenian Dynasty to the advent of Islam. Unlike the Achaemenian period or Islamic Iran, the sources of history are meagre for this period and much inference need to have been made in the construction of this important history especially as it pertaines to the Arsacede Dynasty. The local histories as they relate to the Arsacede period were forgotten in the early parts of the Islamic era and that which remains from the Sassanid era are the early Farsi and Arabic lierary works inspired by those of the Sassanids as well as religious texts preserved by the Zoroastrian communities in Iran and India. Other sources of this period include those written by other peoples mostly with political agendas against the Iranians they wrote about.

The volume is unique in that it makes use of the primary sources. In particular the use of a Sassanid legal text is extremely valuable. However the volume also presents some fundamental mistakes in that in using some religious text in presents them as the state of knowledge in the Sassanid era. This is like presenting the Adam and Eve story as the state of scientific knowledge in Christian Europe today.

Overall I give this volume four out of five.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Overview of Persian History, September 18, 2011

By 

Stuart McCunn (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cambridge History of Iran 2 Part Set (The Cambridge History of Iran) (Volume 3) (Hardcover)

This Volume (or Volumes) covers the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanid Empires. These were the three countries that rose in what is now Iran during the centuries following Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. Despite being one volume this set comes in two parts. The logical way would be to review them in order.

The first volume is divided into three sections. The first section is a narrative history of the three empires. The second section deals with numismology (the study of coins) and I found it to be tedious, though others may get more out of it. The third section deals with the Persian world-view and their national history. The fourth and final section deals with their interactions with their neighbors. The first and last section are significantly larger than the other two parts.

The Seleucids were the successor kingdom that sprung up in Persia. It was founded by Seleucus, one of Alexander's generals, and covered most of the Asian territories. As you would expect from a book on Iran this section concentrates on the Eastern part of his empire. Unfortunately there is very little known about it. The Hellenistic period is very poorly covered at the best of times and the events in the far East were not considered as important as events around the Mediterranean, a view shared by historians and kings alike. The Seleucids didn't care for the east as much as they focused on the west and tried to play power politics with the other successors. All in all this book gives a pretty dim view of the Seleucids as rulers.

The Parthians were the people who replaced the Seleucids. They came from northern Iran and were natives to the region which gave them an advantage over foreign occupiers who didn't care about the east except for the power it gave them. The Parthians were the opponents of Rome during most of the Late Republic and early Empire. Again, there is unfortunately little known about them. Often the only evidence comes from inscriptions and coins. There are several periods where they don't even know who was ruling. They also developed a distressing tendency to contest the king's authority. Oftentimes towards the end there were several kings ruling at the same time. The Parthians were most famous for their great victory over the Romans at the battle of Carrhae. Four entire legions were wiped out along with their general Crassus, forever changing the power structure of the Republic. Now it was down to just Caesar and Pompey.

The Sassanids were the third state to succeed the Achaemenids and the first to call themselves Persian. They showed up at the worst possible time for Rome and inflicted several pretty serious defeats on them including the capture of an emperor. The Sassanians are also covered poorly in the sources, though they are represented better than the other two. The section covering Sassanid history is about as long as the other two sections combined. Much of this information comes from later Islamic sources of questionable value but great detail. Volume two starts with the institutions, then goes through religious history, art history, and languages/literature.

His knowledge of the Persians seems sound, though his understanding of the Romans occasionally leaves something to be desired. He uses the Historia Augusta as a legitimate source without considering the nature of the document. I say he, but the articles are each written by a different author, although they are very similar in style. Much of the details seem to be largely guesswork considering the lack of sources for the period in question.