Parthia-Sfarsit !

 1-Acest articol este copiat !

2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1!

In 217 AD, Emperor Caracalla was travelling to a temple at Carrhae, the site where doomed triumvir Marcus Crassus had seen his legions annihilated by the Parthians in 53 BC. Having stopped for a wee, Caracalla was approached by the soldier Justin Martialis, who promptly stabbed him to death. Caracalla was approached by the soldier Justin Martialis, who promptly stabbed him to death. Caracalla was 29-years-old, and had ruled the Roman Empire for six years. Martialis was smarting at being passed over for centurion, and the Praetorian Prefect Macrinus used his fury as an opportunity to assassinate Caracalla. Martialis was killed soon afterwards, leaving the path clear for Macrinus to declare that the Severan dynasty was over, and that he was now emperor. Caracalla’s mother Julia Domna was currently in Antioch, dealing with imperial correspondence.

We’ll take a short break from the Roman Empire to catch up on events happening east of the Tigris, for the Battle of Nisbis proved to be the final confrontation betwixt Rome and Parthia, for the latter empire was about to collapse, with a new, more aggressive successor, rising in its place. At the turn of the Third Century, Papak was the ruler of the region of Khir, with eastern kingdoms still existing under a great deal of local autonomy, as they had under the Achaemenid Empire, their main responsibility to the overall empire being to acknowledge supremacy and pay tribute. The ambitious Papak began to expand his dominion, covering all of Pars and assuming more satrapies and governorships. Papak was succeeded by his son Shapur, who became involved in a struggle with his younger brother, Ardashir. While Shapur was leaving for a meeting, his was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By 208 AD, Ardashir had his other protesting brothers put to death and declared himself ruler of Pars.

Ardashir moved further south following his appointment as king, founding the fortress city of Ardashir-Khwarrah (modern-day Firusabad). Ardashir expanded his territory and demanded fealty from local princes, rapidly asserting control over the neighbouring provinces. This expansion attracted the attention of Parthian King Artabaus V, who ordered the governor of Khuzestan to destroy the upstart in 224. Ardashir triumphed in several battles, leading to Artabanus himself to lead the Parthian army to confront him at the Battle of Hormozgan. Ardashir triumphed, Artabaus V was killed in battle, and the way was clear for Ardashir to push west into the rapidly collapsing Parthian Empire. In 224, Ardashir was crowned shahanshah (“King of kings”), with his wife crowned “Queen of queens”, at the royal capital of Ctesiphon. The 400-year-old Parthian Empire was dead. Now the east was dominated by the Sassanid Empire, with Ardashir I clearly establishing the ambition of retaking Roman Persia, and creating a dominion to rival the Achaemenid Empire (ie. controlling the Levant, Asia Minor, Egypt and Greece). The Sassanids would be the last of the great Persian empires, just outliving the Eastern Roman Empire until it was swept aside by the rising wave of Islam.

Back in Rome, Macrinus was accepted as emperor by the Senate largely because he controlled the legions, though also because they were grateful that the tyranny of Caracalla was over. Another African, the Senate was less concerned about his Mauretanian ancestry than they were about his Equestrian class, especially when he began appointing fellow Equestrians to prominent positions. Ostensibly, only the Senate could appoint emperors, and from the Senatorial class – not being of their class, and seizing the purple by force, Macrinus was despised from the outset.

The main issues he immediately faced were dealing with the military mess Caracalla left, one of profligate spending and foreign belligerence rather than diplomacy. The legionary pay ris of 50% had drained all of Rome’s revenue streams, and left the empire in dire financial straits. A peace deal was swiftly agreed with the Parthians, who were happy to agree given the rising threat of the Sassanids. He paid a large indemnity to Artabanus V, securing the eastern border so focus could be shifted to the other threats from Dacia and Armenia. In 216, Caracalla had imprisoned the Armenian King Khosrov I after agreeing to meet he and his sons at a conference, angering the people and triggering rebellion against Rome. Macrinus settled peace by returning the crown and loot to Khosrov’s successor Tiridates II, releasing his imprisoned mother, and restoring Armenia to a client kingdom. Peace with the Dacians was similarly swift, with Macrinus releasing hostages. The emperor showed a desire to settle foreign affairs through diplomacy, rather than military might – something that could never be well received by the martial society of Rome – though this may be more due to a lack of resources and manpower that his character trait.

Macrinus began the arduous and thankless task of undoing Caracalla’s fiscal policies – including reducing legionary pay. Aware that telling the legionaries they were getting a third of their pay cut would be tantamount to suicide, he kept serving legionaries on the same exorbitant wages, though reduced the pay of new recruits to Severan-levels. He increased the silver purity of the denarius by 1.66g (from 50.78% to 57.85%) in the hope of returning Rome to the economic stability Severus had presided over. However, by this point the legions were all powerful, and even though existing pay was maintained, the pay cut for recruits seemed to foreshadow a wider drop, thus reducing his popularity.

Julia Domna, who had now seen both her sons murdered, was now living in Antioch, with Macrinus having shown no desire to wipe out the Severan family after rising to the Principate. His ambivalence changed when he learnt that she was plotting against him, and she was placed under house arrest. Already suffering from advanced stage breast cancer, she died soon thereafter, perhaps from starving herself. Her sister Julia Maesa and her children – the cousins of Caracalla – were sent back to Emesa, Syria, while Macrinus remained in Antioch, rather than rushing back to Rome to confirm his appointment as emperor- further embittering the Senate towards him. Julia Maesa would not sit around idly in Emesa though, and was soon plotting how to overthrow Macrinus, and ensure that the Severan dynasty returned to the purple.