Customer Reviews

Parthia

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While much new information has come to light that was not available when this author wrote (the late 1800s), this is still the place where anyone serious about the subject should start their research. Before George Rawlinson, hardly anyone had even heard of Parthia. Sadly, even today there is too little in history texts about this important rival to Rome between roughly 250 BCE and 220 CE (AD).

Much of the information Rawlinson uses comes from the writings of classical historians like Herodotus, Tacitus and Strabo. Modern historians too often dismiss classical historians as "unreliable" and rely almost solely on archeaological finds. It only makes sense to use both.

Rawlinson was one of the most thorough and careful historians of the nineteenth century. His series, The Seven Great Monarchies (of which Parthia was one) opened up a whole field of previously overlooked antiquities and shed temendous light on countless archaeological discoveries in the Middle East and Mesopotamia of both his time and later.

Five stars feels a bit excessive to me, but this is basically the most comprehensive works on Parthia's history. While that isn't saying much considering the competition, while it is written in a very antiquated style (meaning that much of the Rawlinson's perspective and language is standard for the time--in other words, he casually and matter-of-factly makes comically broad, racist generalizations throughout the book), it still deserves much more credit and recognition for its comprehensive record of a fascinating, yet tragically overlooked, subject.

Like the previous reviewer mentioned, Rawlinson uses the all-too scant references to Parthia from ancient Greek and Roman sources (to which I would add Josephus, whom Rawlinson frequently cites). While this should be a limitation (and lead to something that feels more like just about every attempt in history to write a book about Carthage's history...), he manages to create a narrative that leads the reader to believe he had much more material from with which to work.

Most with an interest of the Ancient Mediterranean World know the same tidbits about Parthia's history that get thrown around in the typical book on Roman history, i.e. Crassus' annihilation at Carrhae, Mark Anthony's embarrassing, failed campaign more than a decade later, Trajan's seemingly successful campaign (which temporarily gained Mesopotamia at the expense of much of his reign's prestige), and the constant struggle over Armenia between Rome and Parthia before the latter's collapsed.

Typically, these events are treated like blips on a radar screen, and other pivotal facets of Parthia's story, such as the origins of its ruling dynasty, the Arsacids, or its status as a Satrapy in the Achaemenid and Hellenized Kingdoms, are rarely mentioned, if at all. Similarly, it is rare to read about its secession from and subsequent wars with the Seleucid Kingdom, its relations with the Hellenized and Jewish populations within its borders, or any of Parthia's conflicts with its non-Roman or non-Greek neighbors. Quite simply, the overwhelming number of such gaps filled by Rawlinson are what makes this book so important. (One great example is the analysis of Parthia's military organization, which not only tracks its evolution from Parthia's beginning to its end, but actually provides a description that manages to do more than simply paraphrase Plutarch's almost ghost story-like description of the armies faced by Crassus and Anthony; for military historians, this alone should be worth the book's price!)

Rawlinson's narrative really opens one's eyes to the significance of the Parthian Kingdom, from its profoundly overlooked effect on military history, to the the complex and fluid nature of its political system. Parthia is often described as being the "other" superpower opposite Rome, and this status is typically chalked up to a tough military, control of trade routes connecting the Mediterranean to the Far East (i.e. the so-called "Silk Road"), and other obviously important factors. However, one cannot read the deeper explanations of Parthia's history in this book without feeling like this often-repeated moniker as the "other" superpower is more than a little ironic. Rawlinson describes a kingdom which utilized a vastly decentralized, if not just plain chaotic, government structure (especially when compared to that of the ancient superpower with whom we're already quite acquainted). Parthia faced more than its share of revolts, invasions, civil wars, assassinations, and misc conflicts between its diverse populations, yet still, managed to not only survive, but to remain powerful, wealthy, and ultimately in control of its territory by utilizing a style of administration and defense which, in many ways, could not have been more different than that of the Roman Empire.

As a side note, I especially enjoyed that this edition of the book is not just a reprint, but an entirely identical reproduction of an original nineteenth century edition, right down to the original typeset, font, page numbers, etc. (Some of the pages are even warped by the scanning process!)