Defining the Parthian Empire

The Roman-Parthian border along the Euphrates has received far more scholarly attention than the Arsacid empire’s other boundaries. The fascination with this border is merited: there, the Romans, despite their aspirations to empire without end, met another state of comparable scale and longevity that was able to check their relentless expansion. Rome’s hegemonic world empire was forced to see itself as part of a multi-polar system at the Euphrates. And yet, a focus on the Roman-Parthian border at the expense of other Arsacid imperial boundaries doubtless also contributes to the portrayal of the Parthians as the eastern enemies of Rome, defined in opposition to a western power, rather than on their own terms. In this talk, I argue that the Arsacids consciously delimited their imperial landscape along each of the cardinal directions. Though the Arsacids have left behind no Behistun inscription or Res Gestae, I suggest that fragments of official Arsacid spatial ideology can be detected in the Classical canon and in Parthian imperial documents. These texts reveal that, in the west, the Arsacid empire was delimited along the river Euphrates; in the east, by cities in Afghanistan; in the north, at the edge of the Karakum Desert; and in the south, around the Persian Gulf. From the Arsacid perspective, the Parthian empire stood as a self-contained territory, distinct from the states and communities that surrounded it.

The AWRC have reserved a Lunch Table in Hall for Cluster members from 12.30. Lunch will be an opportunity to meet our speaker Supratik Baralay. Supratik's  talk will start at 13.15 in the Levett Room, and will be catered with tea/coffee and cakes (all welcome)