Thank you for updating. Achaemenids are in the time of governance rather than conquest, but others are cutting off their own pieces of the pie.
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Gotta say you have a real knack for poetry on top of historical narration!
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I wonder what will end Persia's age of peace. Good thins don't last forever.
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Indeed, when there are no more new lands to conquer, the parasites will turn on each other and devour their host.
(Metagame) Thank you but I can't claim credit for it - generative AI helped me write that, adapting an old Persian folktale. My only inputs were the initial outline and some edits at the end to correct some of the odder outputs from the AI.
The story of all mankind. It will erode away almost imperceptibly and then the collapse happens all at once - and the people will wonder, "How did it come to this?"
Interlude – A Look at the World in 116 AD
Interlude – A Look at the World in 116 AD
Western Europe
Rome transitioned from a republic to a dictatorship at the start of the 1st century BC. A massive civil war was waged between the republican and autocratic factions with Potitus Ulpius claiming victory and declaring himself sole holder of the powers of Imperium. By the 1st century AD, the Roman leaders had begun to style themselves Imperators and the Ulpius family held on to power throughout this period. Rome controlled all of continental Western Europe west of the Rheine River. The Romans offered sacrifices to the Hellenic gods and forced integration into their culture on all their subject peoples, except for the Lepontic Gauls who dominated modern-day France.
Germania was split between several large tribes, the strongest of which were the Irmimonics of Mesuium and the Goths of Cariniana. These tribes would constantly shift their allegiances with and against Rome as Rome struggled to impress their hegemony across the Rheine. Further north in Scandinavia, the nation of Levonia had unified the North Germanic People.
In Britannia, the Dumnonians dominated the isles and had even succeeded in holding off a Roman invasion in the 1st century AD. In the next few years, they would consolidate the British Isles and form the nation of Pritannia, a single unified people that would last till the end of antiquity (circa 500 AD).
North Africa
With the break-up of Carthaginian power, North Africa was divided between Roman and Persian spheres of influence. Rome would control all of modern-day Morocco while the Achaemenids took the old Carthaginian heartlands of Tunisia, administered by their client nation, Hadrametum. These Punic clients would maintain the famous naval traditions of the Carthaginians but channel it towards piracy, becoming the bane of Roman shipping in the Western Mediterranean. In Libya, the nation of Waddan, ruled by the Fezzani people of inland North Africa, paid tribute to the Achaemenids. The Fezzani were the ancestors of the Berbers and acted as conduits for limited trade with sub-Saharan Africa and masters of desert and dryland warfare. The Achaemenids only maintained Qart Hadasht and Sicily as their outposts in the West, content to delegate the management to vassal lands. Sicily was heavily fortified though, a fortress island to hold off Roman raids and invasions.
Eastern Europe
Appulia and Leusinium acted as clients and buffer states against Rome on the Adriatic coast and Pannonia. Leusinium was home to the Illyrians while Appulia was the nation of the Dacians – both peoples would give their names to the regions they lived in. These lands were where most of the Achaemenid-Roman wars were fought and the population was small but battle-hardened.
In Ukraine and the Eastern Steppe, the Scythian horde of Thyssagetia dominated the land, roaming the lands in great herds, occasionally daring to raid the coastlands of the Achaemenids and their client kings. The wars of Arbaces II had pushed them back further away from the Black Sea and split off the horse people from their homelands in the Central Asian steppe, erecting the vassal nation of Shachkra to control the lands between the Caspian Sea and Bactria. The Sakan people of Shachkra complemented the heavy cavalry of the Persians with horse archers and hardy camels to run down the Scythian raiders across the steppe.
The Greco-Bosporan Kingdom bent the knee to Byzantion in the 1st century BC. This ancient kingdom had been in existence since the time of Alexander and was still ruled by the Spartokids, though their heyday was long past, simply acting as a human barrier against Scythian raiders and a source of manpower and horses to the Achaemenid military. Sagarejo was another survivor of the Hellenistic age, subjugated during the Great Campaign, it was the homeland of the Caucasian people of Iberia and Albania. Ruled by a god-king, they fused native Iberic practices with worship of the Hellenic gods.
Arabia and East Africa
On their southern border, the Achaemenids maintained the Kingdoms of Wasset in the Upper Nile and Arabia along the Yemeni coast and the Red Sea. The Nubian nation of Kush used to control much of these lands but successive Persian Spahbeds had pushed them further and further inland to reduce piracy and raids on Persian shipping and settlements in the region.
Wasset had originally broken off from the Ptolemies, seizing control of Upper Egypt but a mixture of diplomacy and aggression by the Achaemenids had seen them retreat further south while a new Persian satrapy was established to administer the ancient Egyptian lands. Thousands of Egyptians migrated to the Nubian lands, integrating with the local people to create a new Memphitic culture. Arabia on the other hand was subjugated in wars of conquest. A disparate nation of dozens of tribes, they held firmly to their Arabian desert gods and chafed at this foreign domination.
India and the Persian West
Punjab and the Indus Valley had been annexed during the Great Campaign, as Greek-Persian Kingdoms’ control of this region collapsed. In search of defensible borders, the Achaemenids had expanded to the deserts of Rajasthan, pushing back against the Mauryans in the North and Tamilakam in the South. These wars would prove to be the death knell of the once-great Mauryan Empire, and they were subsumed by the Pandya dynasty of Tamilakam. The Indian Kingdom always sought the unification of India and the constant wars proved to be a distraction and burden on the Persian state, forcing them to create buffer client states similar to their strategy in the Balkans.
Shunga was carved out of Gujarat and land taken out from the Tamils to control the coast of Western India while the Sthanishvara King was to defend the approaches from the Ganges. Persian Ghandara (modern-day Punjab) was then left relatively unmolested, serving as the breadbasket of the Persian East. As mentioned previously, by this point, the tribes of Sumpa bent the knee to the King of Kings, effectively encircling Tamilakam from expansion into Achaemenid territory.
The Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire controlled more territory than Cyrus, Darius or Alexander had ever achieved. Factoring the vassal kings who swore obedience to the throne in Byzantion, the empire’s reach extended from the Western Mediterranean to deep into the Hindu heartlands of the Ganges floodplains. In the south, it commanded the Arabian and Persian gulfs and its power reached far into the Central Asian steppe. It was an empire of a hundred nations, and across it you could find Babylonians, Memphites, Assyrians, Cappadocians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Punics, Arabs, Israelites, Medeans, Bactrians, Parthians, Indians and many more. Religious and cultural toleration was encouraged throughout the empire though it was being increasingly challenged by Zoroastrian orthodoxy. At this point, it was able to raise a million soldiers to defend its borders and clients before the eventual decline in morale and discipline in the 2nd and 3rd centuries would reduce the quality and quantity of the Achaemenid armies.
Western Europe
Rome transitioned from a republic to a dictatorship at the start of the 1st century BC. A massive civil war was waged between the republican and autocratic factions with Potitus Ulpius claiming victory and declaring himself sole holder of the powers of Imperium. By the 1st century AD, the Roman leaders had begun to style themselves Imperators and the Ulpius family held on to power throughout this period. Rome controlled all of continental Western Europe west of the Rheine River. The Romans offered sacrifices to the Hellenic gods and forced integration into their culture on all their subject peoples, except for the Lepontic Gauls who dominated modern-day France.
Germania was split between several large tribes, the strongest of which were the Irmimonics of Mesuium and the Goths of Cariniana. These tribes would constantly shift their allegiances with and against Rome as Rome struggled to impress their hegemony across the Rheine. Further north in Scandinavia, the nation of Levonia had unified the North Germanic People.
In Britannia, the Dumnonians dominated the isles and had even succeeded in holding off a Roman invasion in the 1st century AD. In the next few years, they would consolidate the British Isles and form the nation of Pritannia, a single unified people that would last till the end of antiquity (circa 500 AD).
North Africa
With the break-up of Carthaginian power, North Africa was divided between Roman and Persian spheres of influence. Rome would control all of modern-day Morocco while the Achaemenids took the old Carthaginian heartlands of Tunisia, administered by their client nation, Hadrametum. These Punic clients would maintain the famous naval traditions of the Carthaginians but channel it towards piracy, becoming the bane of Roman shipping in the Western Mediterranean. In Libya, the nation of Waddan, ruled by the Fezzani people of inland North Africa, paid tribute to the Achaemenids. The Fezzani were the ancestors of the Berbers and acted as conduits for limited trade with sub-Saharan Africa and masters of desert and dryland warfare. The Achaemenids only maintained Qart Hadasht and Sicily as their outposts in the West, content to delegate the management to vassal lands. Sicily was heavily fortified though, a fortress island to hold off Roman raids and invasions.
Eastern Europe
Appulia and Leusinium acted as clients and buffer states against Rome on the Adriatic coast and Pannonia. Leusinium was home to the Illyrians while Appulia was the nation of the Dacians – both peoples would give their names to the regions they lived in. These lands were where most of the Achaemenid-Roman wars were fought and the population was small but battle-hardened.
In Ukraine and the Eastern Steppe, the Scythian horde of Thyssagetia dominated the land, roaming the lands in great herds, occasionally daring to raid the coastlands of the Achaemenids and their client kings. The wars of Arbaces II had pushed them back further away from the Black Sea and split off the horse people from their homelands in the Central Asian steppe, erecting the vassal nation of Shachkra to control the lands between the Caspian Sea and Bactria. The Sakan people of Shachkra complemented the heavy cavalry of the Persians with horse archers and hardy camels to run down the Scythian raiders across the steppe.
The Greco-Bosporan Kingdom bent the knee to Byzantion in the 1st century BC. This ancient kingdom had been in existence since the time of Alexander and was still ruled by the Spartokids, though their heyday was long past, simply acting as a human barrier against Scythian raiders and a source of manpower and horses to the Achaemenid military. Sagarejo was another survivor of the Hellenistic age, subjugated during the Great Campaign, it was the homeland of the Caucasian people of Iberia and Albania. Ruled by a god-king, they fused native Iberic practices with worship of the Hellenic gods.
Arabia and East Africa
On their southern border, the Achaemenids maintained the Kingdoms of Wasset in the Upper Nile and Arabia along the Yemeni coast and the Red Sea. The Nubian nation of Kush used to control much of these lands but successive Persian Spahbeds had pushed them further and further inland to reduce piracy and raids on Persian shipping and settlements in the region.
Wasset had originally broken off from the Ptolemies, seizing control of Upper Egypt but a mixture of diplomacy and aggression by the Achaemenids had seen them retreat further south while a new Persian satrapy was established to administer the ancient Egyptian lands. Thousands of Egyptians migrated to the Nubian lands, integrating with the local people to create a new Memphitic culture. Arabia on the other hand was subjugated in wars of conquest. A disparate nation of dozens of tribes, they held firmly to their Arabian desert gods and chafed at this foreign domination.
India and the Persian West
Punjab and the Indus Valley had been annexed during the Great Campaign, as Greek-Persian Kingdoms’ control of this region collapsed. In search of defensible borders, the Achaemenids had expanded to the deserts of Rajasthan, pushing back against the Mauryans in the North and Tamilakam in the South. These wars would prove to be the death knell of the once-great Mauryan Empire, and they were subsumed by the Pandya dynasty of Tamilakam. The Indian Kingdom always sought the unification of India and the constant wars proved to be a distraction and burden on the Persian state, forcing them to create buffer client states similar to their strategy in the Balkans.
Shunga was carved out of Gujarat and land taken out from the Tamils to control the coast of Western India while the Sthanishvara King was to defend the approaches from the Ganges. Persian Ghandara (modern-day Punjab) was then left relatively unmolested, serving as the breadbasket of the Persian East. As mentioned previously, by this point, the tribes of Sumpa bent the knee to the King of Kings, effectively encircling Tamilakam from expansion into Achaemenid territory.
The Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire controlled more territory than Cyrus, Darius or Alexander had ever achieved. Factoring the vassal kings who swore obedience to the throne in Byzantion, the empire’s reach extended from the Western Mediterranean to deep into the Hindu heartlands of the Ganges floodplains. In the south, it commanded the Arabian and Persian gulfs and its power reached far into the Central Asian steppe. It was an empire of a hundred nations, and across it you could find Babylonians, Memphites, Assyrians, Cappadocians, Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Punics, Arabs, Israelites, Medeans, Bactrians, Parthians, Indians and many more. Religious and cultural toleration was encouraged throughout the empire though it was being increasingly challenged by Zoroastrian orthodoxy. At this point, it was able to raise a million soldiers to defend its borders and clients before the eventual decline in morale and discipline in the 2nd and 3rd centuries would reduce the quality and quantity of the Achaemenid armies.
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The poetry was a nice touch.
How different will the circumstances of these Islamic Conquests be? The butterflies should affect them a lot.
The world update is appreciated. Why are the Lepontic Gauls allowed to keep their culture by the Romans?
Did the sculptor also love Lucia? And did Arbaces have him killed for it? Or did Arbaces only think that he loved her?
How different will the circumstances of these Islamic Conquests be? The butterflies should affect them a lot.
The world update is appreciated. Why are the Lepontic Gauls allowed to keep their culture by the Romans?
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Now THAT is what I love to see. A conspicuous lack of border gore (for the most part). Also exciting to see Persia at the zenith of this power. But as we all know, what goes up, must eventually come down.
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Always nice to see a wider look at the world, especially as Persia begins its fall.
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[Meta] Yes, the sculptor fell in love with the princess and the king killed him out of envy. The original tale is titled either "Khosrow and Shirin" or "Farhad and Shirin" depending on the storyteller. You can read a version in the Shahnameh. Here's a summary in Wikipedia - Khosrow and Shirin
I'm working out the conversion - testing things out but The Fallen Eagle seems to work well and provides a scripted Islamic Invasions - we shall see how it progresses but they should take a good chunk out of the Middle East. Beyond that, let's see how the butterfly effect shakes out.
The Lepontics made up nearly 40% of the population of the Roman Empire. If the Romans had not accepted them as equals, they probably would not have been able to hold all their territory as peacefully as they did, especially in Gaul and the Alps.
[Meta] Yes, the world shaped up nicely and the AI did what they were supposed to. The mod Virtual Limes is great for keeping Rome to its historical path of expansion, instead of blobbing out into the Baltics like I've seen them do before. Playing as the Achaemenids, I made it a point to preserve many local kingdoms as client states to ensure the global cultural diversity was preserved going into CK3. The fact that having a vassal swarm of 12 large kingdoms (at my power peak) was a nice bonus to reduce micromanagement during wartime (especially with Rome and Tamilakam). They were also incredibly helpful in the civil wars to come. It's also why I gave citizenship to so many cultures within the empire - to preserve them when it came time for game conversion. That really hurt during the civil wars due to the compounding effect on Persian cultural happiness.
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The Slow Slide into Crisis in the Reign of Datis (115 AD – 173 AD)
The Slow Slide into Crisis in the Reign of Datis (115 AD – 173 AD)
“These are the countries which came to us; by the favour of Ahura Mazda they are our subjects; they bore tribute to us; what was said to them by us either by night or by day, that was done. These are the countries which are subject unto us, and by the grace of Ahura Mazda we became king of them: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, the countries by the Sea, Lydia, the Greeks, Macedonia, Sicily, Carthage, Media, Taurica, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia, Bactria, Sogdia, Illyria, Dacia, Albania, Iberia, Gandara, Scythia, Sattagydia, Arachosia and Maka; thirty lands in all. Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have we surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have we utterly destroyed. By the grace of Ahura Mazda these lands have conformed to our decrees; as it was commanded unto them by us, so was it done.
We, King of Kings, bestower of crowns to monarchs, the shadow of Asha on earth, king and ruler of the Mediterranean, Black, Arabian, Caspian and Indian seas, protector of the sacred fires and the many lands my glorious ancestors have conquered. We, Shahanshah Datis, are the grandson of Shahanshah Arbaces, descendant of the divinities Orodes, Amastris and Cyrus. You, Indrapatna, are the king of the Tamils.
You have sent to our gate, the shelter of kings, a letter by your servant Tamilian, and have admonished him to express some private issues personally. The usurper has occupied your country and you have been made destitute. You have asked us to help for your deliverance. All your sayings has been submitted to our throne and every detail of the issue is understood correctly.
Keep your heart contented and do not grieve. You should know that we, as my ancestors did, always live with our swords, and do not hesitate to destroy Druj and restore Asha, to campaign and to conquer. We follow their path and ride to new lands and well-protected castles. Our horses are always saddled and our swords are always belted. Ahura Mazda grants you righteousness.
Know that it is as said.
In the Supreme Royal Center of the World, Byzantion”
16th century painting, imagining the meeting between the Shahanshah and the Tamil emissary, Bottoglio
That was the reply the Tamilakam King Indrapatna received when he sought aid from the Achaemenids to restore him to his throne. While Datis himself did not ride east into India, he did dispatch three legions to end the civil war plaguing the Tamils. In the end, the land was divided with Indrapatna ruling in the south while the north was divided up by independent kings, suiting Persian strategy perfectly.
Datis preferred seclusion, rarely making public appearances outside of holy days and triumphal celebrations in the capital. Instead, we are witness to a change in royal practices with the Shahanshah becoming increasingly distant from his subjects, often sitting behind a screen or curtain when meeting supplicants. Rituals and ceremonies became increasingly elaborate to signify the divinity of Ahura Mazda’s chosen ruler on earth. With that cultivated separation from the people, we are not sure how aware the Shahanshah was about the status of the empire. It’s believed that most matters were handled by the court officers and only the most pressing matters were brought to the attention of Datis.
The Shahanshah would ride out occasionally with the Immortals to deal with Roman or Scythian incursions into Illyria or Taurica but most major campaigns were managed by the Spahbeds. The sheer size of the empire meant it was impractical for the Shahanshah to march to the border zones of conflict, usually in Kush or India during this period. While an imperial messenger could reach Byzantion in two weeks from virtually anywhere in the empire thanks to the road and post system, it would take a legion eight months to cross that same distance. That meant that the Achaemenid response was slow in the event of invasion or attack, driving their policy of establishing border kingdoms to buffer their own people from the worst assaults and sackings.
Datis was young when he took the throne and his reign would last 58 years. With the growing distance of royal control and the decaying speed of response from the centre, Datis’s reign is when we first start seeing the first cracks in Achaemenid power. Shortages were first noted during this period. The Achaemenid economic policy was not so different from a modern command economy. Byzantion would dictate the prices across the empire and move slaves to different provinces depending on state needs for goods. For example, if the Achaemenids were at war, the focus on iron mining, horse breeding and leather crafting would see resources (i.e. slaves) moved into the regional production centres. This allowed the smaller empire of the earlier years to be more nimble or reactive to the needs of the state but with the growth of territory and bureaucracy, royal commands were taking longer and longer to filter down to the ground. The spice shortage of 120-122 AD is an example of such a situation. Spice was consumed in large quantities in the royal court, both for cooking and adornment, and when there were no more supplies left in Byzantion, the imperial procurers were forced to import it from Kush. Oftentimes, once the state started an import route, it rarely went back to internal supply, starting a drain on imperial coinage – something that would contribute to the currency devaluations of the third century.
At the same time, the conditions of slavery were driving revolts throughout the provinces. While the Europan revolt during the time of Arbaces II was the most notable (and best recorded), there were revolts by Romans in Selinus and the Odrysians in Greater Thrace.
However, the largest revolt was in Syria, where the Aramaic people, long a subject people denied citizenship rose up and declared independence. They crucified the governor of the region, Artyantes Haihayan and raised a large rebel army that controlled Antigoneia and many of the other key cities in Syria. The rebellion was put down with immense violence, with thousands of corpses filling pits across the drylands as entire families were massacred by the legions, supported by Kavas raised by neighbouring governors. By the end, Syria was back under Achaemenid control but the reprisals harmed Aramaic demographics so severely, they became a minority in their own lands of Syria and Assyria.
Within the royal court, the incompetence of Arytantes Haihayan was fodder for the other Great Houses who sought and received a royal denouncement of the Haihayan family, knocking them off the roster of noble families and exiled from the court.
Late in Datis’ reign, we start finding the first reports of what became known as the Datisian Plague or occasionally the Plague of Smerdes (after the doctor who described it). It was brought back to Byzantion from armies returning from India, causing severe fevers, skin sores, diarrhoea and sore throats. Scholars generally believe the plague was smallpox, although measles has also been suggested. Epidemics were common in the ancient world, but the Plague of Datis was the first known pandemic of the Achaemenid Empire. The plague spread throughout the empire, and into other areas, including India and Rome, infecting many millions of people. Starting from 157 AD, it would last till 170 AD, during the last decades of the Great Achaemenid Peace. The empire at that time had a population estimated between 120-150 million people, about a third of all human beings then alive and the plague killed off about a fifth of them. This is considered the population peak of the empire and thereafter, would see continual decline. The plague itself would see the contraction of economic activities, severe depopulation in the cities and disruption in authority between the court and the provinces. Byzantion itself was hard hit. The City was home to an estimated 1.5 million people, dependent on imports of grain from Egypt and clustered together in extremely congested tenements. The plague and escape to the countryside would see the population reduce by half a million and Byzantion would never be so full again as economic and demographic recovery stuttered over the next two centuries. The biggest contribution to the high death toll within the empire was the Achaemenids' refusal to isolate and close off healthy cities before the arrival of the plague. A mixture of cold-hearted bureaucratic calculation and exhortations by the Mowban Mobad and the Magi that those truly blessed by Ahura Mazda would be cleansed made the disaster worse than it should have been, especially compared to the Roman response where isolation preserved a greater percentage of their population.
Across the empire, the highest death toll was among the slave population who often lived in close proximity amid unsanitary conditions. This made labour increasingly expensive as the plague receded. Freemen saw an increase in their income as they charged premiums on work that they had previously been squeezed out of by the abundance of indentured labour. While the impact would be limited in the time of Datis, the greater purchasing power contributed small inflationary pressures on the economy.
While we don’t have many first-hand accounts of how Datis received the news of the slave revolts and the plague, we do know from court accounts that he was prone to bouts of depression and malaise. His oldest son, Mardonius, had left the empire in his youth in search of adventure and returned in ignominy nearly a decade later. The Magi pronounced the heir lacking in good action and that he did not have the favour of Ahura Mazda, advising the Shahanshah to pass him over in favour of his sibling, Arbaces. Datis duly followed their advice and had Mardonius posted to a distant governorship in Arabia.
In the last two decades of his life, Datis battled cancer. The disease ravaged his body just as the plague ravaged his nation, possibly contributing to his state of depression. Datis would pass on in 173 AD, succeeded by his son Arbaces III.
“These are the countries which came to us; by the favour of Ahura Mazda they are our subjects; they bore tribute to us; what was said to them by us either by night or by day, that was done. These are the countries which are subject unto us, and by the grace of Ahura Mazda we became king of them: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, the countries by the Sea, Lydia, the Greeks, Macedonia, Sicily, Carthage, Media, Taurica, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia, Bactria, Sogdia, Illyria, Dacia, Albania, Iberia, Gandara, Scythia, Sattagydia, Arachosia and Maka; thirty lands in all. Within these lands, whosoever was a friend, him have we surely protected; whosoever was hostile, him have we utterly destroyed. By the grace of Ahura Mazda these lands have conformed to our decrees; as it was commanded unto them by us, so was it done.
We, King of Kings, bestower of crowns to monarchs, the shadow of Asha on earth, king and ruler of the Mediterranean, Black, Arabian, Caspian and Indian seas, protector of the sacred fires and the many lands my glorious ancestors have conquered. We, Shahanshah Datis, are the grandson of Shahanshah Arbaces, descendant of the divinities Orodes, Amastris and Cyrus. You, Indrapatna, are the king of the Tamils.
You have sent to our gate, the shelter of kings, a letter by your servant Tamilian, and have admonished him to express some private issues personally. The usurper has occupied your country and you have been made destitute. You have asked us to help for your deliverance. All your sayings has been submitted to our throne and every detail of the issue is understood correctly.
Keep your heart contented and do not grieve. You should know that we, as my ancestors did, always live with our swords, and do not hesitate to destroy Druj and restore Asha, to campaign and to conquer. We follow their path and ride to new lands and well-protected castles. Our horses are always saddled and our swords are always belted. Ahura Mazda grants you righteousness.
Know that it is as said.
In the Supreme Royal Center of the World, Byzantion”
16th century painting, imagining the meeting between the Shahanshah and the Tamil emissary, Bottoglio
That was the reply the Tamilakam King Indrapatna received when he sought aid from the Achaemenids to restore him to his throne. While Datis himself did not ride east into India, he did dispatch three legions to end the civil war plaguing the Tamils. In the end, the land was divided with Indrapatna ruling in the south while the north was divided up by independent kings, suiting Persian strategy perfectly.
Datis preferred seclusion, rarely making public appearances outside of holy days and triumphal celebrations in the capital. Instead, we are witness to a change in royal practices with the Shahanshah becoming increasingly distant from his subjects, often sitting behind a screen or curtain when meeting supplicants. Rituals and ceremonies became increasingly elaborate to signify the divinity of Ahura Mazda’s chosen ruler on earth. With that cultivated separation from the people, we are not sure how aware the Shahanshah was about the status of the empire. It’s believed that most matters were handled by the court officers and only the most pressing matters were brought to the attention of Datis.
The Shahanshah would ride out occasionally with the Immortals to deal with Roman or Scythian incursions into Illyria or Taurica but most major campaigns were managed by the Spahbeds. The sheer size of the empire meant it was impractical for the Shahanshah to march to the border zones of conflict, usually in Kush or India during this period. While an imperial messenger could reach Byzantion in two weeks from virtually anywhere in the empire thanks to the road and post system, it would take a legion eight months to cross that same distance. That meant that the Achaemenid response was slow in the event of invasion or attack, driving their policy of establishing border kingdoms to buffer their own people from the worst assaults and sackings.
At the same time, the conditions of slavery were driving revolts throughout the provinces. While the Europan revolt during the time of Arbaces II was the most notable (and best recorded), there were revolts by Romans in Selinus and the Odrysians in Greater Thrace.
However, the largest revolt was in Syria, where the Aramaic people, long a subject people denied citizenship rose up and declared independence. They crucified the governor of the region, Artyantes Haihayan and raised a large rebel army that controlled Antigoneia and many of the other key cities in Syria. The rebellion was put down with immense violence, with thousands of corpses filling pits across the drylands as entire families were massacred by the legions, supported by Kavas raised by neighbouring governors. By the end, Syria was back under Achaemenid control but the reprisals harmed Aramaic demographics so severely, they became a minority in their own lands of Syria and Assyria.
Within the royal court, the incompetence of Arytantes Haihayan was fodder for the other Great Houses who sought and received a royal denouncement of the Haihayan family, knocking them off the roster of noble families and exiled from the court.
Late in Datis’ reign, we start finding the first reports of what became known as the Datisian Plague or occasionally the Plague of Smerdes (after the doctor who described it). It was brought back to Byzantion from armies returning from India, causing severe fevers, skin sores, diarrhoea and sore throats. Scholars generally believe the plague was smallpox, although measles has also been suggested. Epidemics were common in the ancient world, but the Plague of Datis was the first known pandemic of the Achaemenid Empire. The plague spread throughout the empire, and into other areas, including India and Rome, infecting many millions of people. Starting from 157 AD, it would last till 170 AD, during the last decades of the Great Achaemenid Peace. The empire at that time had a population estimated between 120-150 million people, about a third of all human beings then alive and the plague killed off about a fifth of them. This is considered the population peak of the empire and thereafter, would see continual decline. The plague itself would see the contraction of economic activities, severe depopulation in the cities and disruption in authority between the court and the provinces. Byzantion itself was hard hit. The City was home to an estimated 1.5 million people, dependent on imports of grain from Egypt and clustered together in extremely congested tenements. The plague and escape to the countryside would see the population reduce by half a million and Byzantion would never be so full again as economic and demographic recovery stuttered over the next two centuries. The biggest contribution to the high death toll within the empire was the Achaemenids' refusal to isolate and close off healthy cities before the arrival of the plague. A mixture of cold-hearted bureaucratic calculation and exhortations by the Mowban Mobad and the Magi that those truly blessed by Ahura Mazda would be cleansed made the disaster worse than it should have been, especially compared to the Roman response where isolation preserved a greater percentage of their population.
Across the empire, the highest death toll was among the slave population who often lived in close proximity amid unsanitary conditions. This made labour increasingly expensive as the plague receded. Freemen saw an increase in their income as they charged premiums on work that they had previously been squeezed out of by the abundance of indentured labour. While the impact would be limited in the time of Datis, the greater purchasing power contributed small inflationary pressures on the economy.
While we don’t have many first-hand accounts of how Datis received the news of the slave revolts and the plague, we do know from court accounts that he was prone to bouts of depression and malaise. His oldest son, Mardonius, had left the empire in his youth in search of adventure and returned in ignominy nearly a decade later. The Magi pronounced the heir lacking in good action and that he did not have the favour of Ahura Mazda, advising the Shahanshah to pass him over in favour of his sibling, Arbaces. Datis duly followed their advice and had Mardonius posted to a distant governorship in Arabia.
In the last two decades of his life, Datis battled cancer. The disease ravaged his body just as the plague ravaged his nation, possibly contributing to his state of depression. Datis would pass on in 173 AD, succeeded by his son Arbaces III.
- 3
- 1
Epidemics almost always take its greatest advantage among the poorest and those already ailing. Thanks
I'm sure isolating the emperor from his subjects won't backfire at all.
How close are the satraps to independent kings by this point, given the emperor's isolation?
How reliant was the Achaemenid economy on slavery? How much will it be harmed by the loss of thousands of slaves to the plague?
How close are the satraps to independent kings by this point, given the emperor's isolation?
How reliant was the Achaemenid economy on slavery? How much will it be harmed by the loss of thousands of slaves to the plague?
- 1
The Achaemenid economy was reliant on slavery as much as many other ancient empires were. The real impact of the plague was in the cracking of the old order (slavery, imperial control, taxation) disrupting a system that had not seen any major changes in two centuries, since the time of Orodes II after the Great Campaign. The Satraps had varying degrees of freedom depending on their distance from the capital and the 'independence' they purchased from imperial oversight but most historians still consider the empire as mostly united during the reign of Datis up to the time of the Three Witches in the 3rd century.
- 2
The Journey of Bersobis the Dacian in the Reign of Arbaces III (173 AD – 189 AD)
The Journey of Bersobis the Dacian in the Reign of Arbaces III (173 AD – 189 AD) [1]
This is the book of Bersobis of the Getae, in the service of High King Dacebalus to Achaemenid King of Kings Arbaces II in which he tells of all he saw in the lands of the Macedonians, Thracians and Persians, their various customs, news of their King of Kings and their current status.
Our High King tasked me to beseech the King of Kings to send someone who could instruct him in the Faith of Zoroaster, teach him the laws of Ahura Mazda, build him a temple to house the sacred fire so that he could have the prayers said in his name in his lands and in all parts of his kingdom and also request that a fortress be built, for defence against the Romani and Gothians who were his adversaries.
The commander sent with me was Aelia Dacorum and with him were twenty soldiers and twelve men of the High King’s court and we had a train of ten donkeys and twenty five slaves. I was given the responsibility for reading the letter to the King of Kings, making over to him the gifts that had been sent him and this Aelia of the Apulians was to protect my body and the gifts sent by our High King. [2]
We set out from Apulum on Friday, 11 Mudra 109. We stayed one day at Sarmizegetusa and set out again, marching at speed, and reached Diema. We stayed there three days and then continued without halting until we reached the Danubia. We purchased travel on a Persian merchant vessel to cross the great river. The merchant captain told us we were lucky to come to him at this time. In a months’ time, the Danubia would freeze for its entire length and the ice would be three spans thick. The river remained like this for three months and no ship could cross to the land of the Achaemenids.
We crossed the Danubia, docking at the Macedonian fortress city of Sirmium and went to Ostropisus, the secretary of the satrap, who was called in Moesia ‘The Venerable Support’ Tiribazus . He gave orders that we should be provided with a house and sent us a man to attend to our needs and provide us with everything we might want. We spent several days waiting and then Ostropisus requested an audience for us with Tiribazus, who we learned was of the royal Achaemenid line. [3] We came before him and found he was a beardless youth. We greeted him with the title of satrap. He commanded us to sit down and the first thing he asked us was:
‘How did you leave your master, the king of the Dacians?
‘We left him in good health,’ we replied.
‘May Ahura Mazda increase his well-being!’ he exclaimed.
Next, he was read the letter requesting to let us set out, with a letter of safe passage not to hinder our mission.
He replied:
‘I hear and I will relay your request to the men of my governorship. May your journey be safe from Druj! Take the road south to Philippopolis. There you are to present yourself to my cousin, the Satrap Gobryas Vivanid, and he will advise you further in your journey to Byzantion.
We stayed in Sirmium for two more days and set out on the Persian royal road. This road is a wonder. It runs across mountain, marsh and river. It is built broad, straight and firm. It joins city with city and nation with nation. It is said to be tens of thousands of miles long, stretching out across the domain of the Achaemenids, and that all roads lead to the throne of Byzantion. [4] The journey to Philippopolis was supposed to take us four days. At the end of every day of travel, the Persians had a caravanserai where we could rest our mount and receive a warm meal. These caravanserais were controlled by soldiers and they collected fees for use of the road and the rest stop.
As we marched, the land around us changed, growing more mountainous and forested, wilder yet more tamed than the plains of Pannonia where my people reside. By now it was late in the season, and the trees had lost their leaves and the snows fell on the mountains, called Haemus by the locals. Our slaves said this land was the home of the Odrysians. We saw a land which made us think a gate to the cold of hell had opened before us. When snow falls, it is always accompanied by a rough and violent wind. In this country, when a man wishes to make a nice gesture to a friend and show his generosity, he says: ‘Come to my house where we can talk, for there is a good fire there.’ But Zalmoxis has given them abundant firewood, and it is very cheap: two of their drahm will buy a wagonload of pine wood, amounting to some 3,000 kad. It is the rule among them that beggars do not wait at the door, but come into the house and sit for an hour by the fire to warm up. Only then does the beggar say pekend, in other words, ‘bread’. [5]
Our crossing of the Haemus was protracted by the snows and it took us seven days to arrive at Philippopolis. We were tired and cold but the size of the city woke us from our frost-ridden stupor. It was said a hundred thousand people lived here in homes made of stone and wood. At the gates, we presented ourselves and our mission. We were shown at once to the ruler of the city, the Gobryas that our host in Sirmium had told us about. He showed us honour, admitted us to his presence and lodged us in a house. As we walked through the city, we gazed at what we saw around us. By Zalmoxia, the Persians tell us that all this was built by man but surely they must have been blessed by the gods.
In the centre of the city, the great Persian nobles lived in homes of cool, grey Thracian marble. As you enter the bustling agora, the wealth of the Achaemenids surrounds you. The agora or market square, is partly enclosed by a magnificent colonnade. The columns themselves are a marvel, some feature the engravings of the Greecian gods. Some of this had been defaced and smashed. The air is filled with a cacophony of languages as people from all corners of the empire live here in harmony.
At the centre of the agor is the fire temple of Zoroaster, a testament to the King of King’s faith in Ahura Mazda. It is the largest building I have yet seen. The facade, built from massive, polished marble slabs, built in the style of the Hellenes. Yet, the entrance is flanked by imposing winged bulls, mythical creatures said to reside in the Persian far east. It stood five man heights high and required one hundred and fifty paces to walk from end to end.
There are many gardens in this city. Our escort told us that during the spring, they would be lined with vibrant flowers and aromatic herbs and that shade would be provided by fruit tress laden with pomegranate and figs.
We were shown to the fire temple where we were told to make obeisance to Ahura Mazda before our audience with Golbyas could continue. Mosaics adorn the floor, gods battling the forces of Druj but also Persian hunting scenes and floral patterns. Statues of Greek heroes stand alongside winged figures like the Simurgh, a mythical bird from Persian lore. We are told they are Yazatas, beings worth of veneration by those of the faithful.
Our audience with Golbyas was short. He laughed when we expressed incredulity at the size of the city and he told us that if that be so, we would be struck down in wonder when we finally arrived in Byzantion. He made us pay for his hospitality in the city, forbidding us to leave till this ‘honorary’ was given. Aelia bristled at this but I quieted him before paying our host for his hospitality.
Afterwards, when we were back in the house provided to us, I said to Aelia:
“Our good King Dacebalus is aware of the Persian love for gold and ensured we had enough to speed us on. Do not be troubled by this and let us be glad that this is all he has asked for.”
After we departed Philippopolis, the road took us to east. Two days of travel brought us to another wonder of the Achaemenids, the Tomb of Arbaces II, the great grandfather of the current King of Kings. Built into the face of the mountain, is a great sanctuary. The eastern and western terraces are dominated by colossal statues, each one approximately four men heights tall. These statues depict various deities, lions, and eagles. The most prominent figures are the enthroned gods, each flanked by a lion and an eagle. These statues are said to be members of the court of Ahura Mazda in the heavens. The largest and the one in the place of honour was Ahura Mazda himself. The others are Mithra, Anahita and another god I did not recognise. The ancient King of Kings, Arbaces II is depicted amongst the gods, showing his ascension to the heavens to sit beside his god. We found large blocks of stone at the base of the statues, inscribed in both Greek and Persian. They detailed the deeds of Arbaces II, his lineage, and his worthiness to ascend to divinity. We paid our respects and continued on. [6]
Mount Damga is now a world heritage site and a popular tourist destination.
Finally, after another two days on the Road of Kings, we saw in the distance Byzantion. I swear there is no place like it on earth. From north to south, the city seemed to envelop the sea. I witnessed more men gathered here in one place than in any other and in the sea, a hundred hundred ships sailed in its bay. Before the city rose the famed Walls of Orodes, standing four man heights tall and encircling the city. Despite the height of these walls, we could see buildings rising even higher behind it. The walls were of red hue and capped by metal at the towers dotted across at regular intervals, glinting in the last rays of sunset. No army on earth could take this city and surely no king but the divinely blessed Achaemenid could have built it. I saw the wisdom of King Dacebalus in seeking their aid in the worship of the Persian faith and the building of defences in our land. [7]
A stylized rendition of the Byzantion/Achaemeniyya showing the many water features the city is famous for. In the foreground is the Hagia Sophia. Originally the site of the Temple of Smerdomenes, the Hagia Sophia was constructed originally as a fire temple before becoming a Christian Church during the fourth century, and enhanced by Darius I.
After another ‘negotiation’ at the gate, we were allowed to pass through and given an escort to the royal palace. From the Walls of Orodes to the city, it was three miles to the Golden Horn and the palace. As we walked, we saw fields for crops, orchards and many canals and pools with children playing in them. The city itself was laid out like a geometric pattern, the roads were straight and the buildings rigidly laid out. We passed large squares where the floor was a mosaic of many tiles, showing us Persian beasts and legendary gods, till we came to the House of the Chancellor. This was the office of the Achaemenid master of ceremonies and it stood eight man heights tall, with a large vaulted hall opening up to a beautiful courtyard with fountains in each corner. Again, the walls were made of intricate tilework and slaves fanned the officials of the court who rested on cushions in the hall. They called this open hall an Iwan and servants brought us refreshments – lime and pomegranate juice – before our audience could continue.
The Persian Chancellor then spoke to us, saying that the timing of our arrival was unfortunate as the old King of Kings had just passed away and that the court was busy preparing for his ascension to sit by the side of Ahura Mazda. [8] We asked then who was the new King of Kings. The Chancellor, whose name was Struthas of the House of Beth Narayan, and stood taller than any in our party with a long grey beard that reached to his belly, said that the Achaemenids now had a Queen of Queens, Anzaza, oldest of his children but our audience would have to wait the customary three months of grieving before we could seek the blessing of the righteous ruler of the world. We expressed our sadness to Struthas on the passing of the King of Kings and said:
“Oh God! Preserve Queen of Queens Anzaza and aid her in her divine mission.” [9]
The court officials nodded and seemed pleased at my words. Then what happened next was a surprise…
========================================
[1] Bersobis was a 2nd century ambassador of the kingdom of Dacia, then still known as the Kingdom of Apullia. Dacia was a composite state made up of the many tribes of Dacia and Pannonia with a ceremonial king who paid tribute to the Achaemenids. Bersobis’ account of his journey from Dacia to Byzantium in 204-205 AD is unique in classical literature, coming from one of the so-called barbarian people. Bersobis was one of the few non-imperial sources we have and it reveals how outsiders viewed the empire when not tainted by Roman propaganda. Sent as an emissary of High King Dacebalus of the Dacians, his mission was to deliver a message and gifts for the King to the Achaemenid court, and to seek religious instruction for his people and to forge additional commitments of protection against the Romans and Germanics who threatened Dacia’s western border. The writing itself was in the Persian language but used the Greek script – reflecting the prestige of Persia and the synthesized nature of Eastern European high culture at this time.
[2] This is probably part of the yearly tribute that the Dacians paid to the Achaemenids. The small size of the party reflects the high levels of safety during the ‘Great Achaemenid Peace’ that endured for the past two centuries.
[3] Tiribazus was of the Achaemenid family but distantly related to the throne, probably a 2nd cousin of the sitting Achaemenid Shahanshah.
[4] Eventually shortened to the common phrase “All roads lead to the throne”. This phrase had two meanings. One was the literal meaning where you could follow any road and you would arrive in Byzantion eventually and the second became a euphemism for political skullduggery to claim power within the collapsing empire in the third and fourth centuries.
[5] The mention of the beggar asking for bread is especially poignant as the Odrysians had their citizenship revoked by Arbaces III in order to solve the labour shortage within the region of the capital after the plague. The full effects would take a few decades to bear out but deprived of citizenship rights, many fell into debt and bore the brunt of excessive taxation before being sold into slavery to pay those debts.
[6] Crowning one of the highest peaks of the Eastern Haemus mountain range, Mt Damga is the Hierotheseion (temple-tomb and house of the gods) built by Datis for his grandfather Arbaces II in the 2nd century. The Hierotheseion of Arbaces II is one of the most ambitious constructions of the Zoroastrian period. Its complex design and colossal scale combined to create a project unequalled in the ancient world. The syncretism of Zoroastrian and Greek beliefs and the lineage of its kings, which can be traced back to the time of Amastris, provides us invaluable information of the time period and the cultural hybridization taking place in Greece and Anatolia.
[7] Byzantion by this point was increasingly known as Achaemeniyya, the city of the Achaemenids. Bersobis’ anachronism was either a reflection of his ignorance or a rote Greek-based education. The city itself was home to just under a million people and the largest in the western hemisphere, despite the depredations of the plague.
[8] Arbaces III ruled for 16 years, passing away in 173 AD after a terrible fever. His reign is not particularly notable and no new policies or initiatives are known to have been passed by the Shahanshah who preferred the pleasures of the gardens and the hunt.
[9] This cliffhanger ending has made many historians curse in frustration. The rest of the pages of Bersobis has been lost to the ravages of time. We can only speculate that whatever happened was not too serious as he was able to make it back to Dacia and share this account with his people and with us in the far future.
Our High King tasked me to beseech the King of Kings to send someone who could instruct him in the Faith of Zoroaster, teach him the laws of Ahura Mazda, build him a temple to house the sacred fire so that he could have the prayers said in his name in his lands and in all parts of his kingdom and also request that a fortress be built, for defence against the Romani and Gothians who were his adversaries.
The commander sent with me was Aelia Dacorum and with him were twenty soldiers and twelve men of the High King’s court and we had a train of ten donkeys and twenty five slaves. I was given the responsibility for reading the letter to the King of Kings, making over to him the gifts that had been sent him and this Aelia of the Apulians was to protect my body and the gifts sent by our High King. [2]
We set out from Apulum on Friday, 11 Mudra 109. We stayed one day at Sarmizegetusa and set out again, marching at speed, and reached Diema. We stayed there three days and then continued without halting until we reached the Danubia. We purchased travel on a Persian merchant vessel to cross the great river. The merchant captain told us we were lucky to come to him at this time. In a months’ time, the Danubia would freeze for its entire length and the ice would be three spans thick. The river remained like this for three months and no ship could cross to the land of the Achaemenids.
We crossed the Danubia, docking at the Macedonian fortress city of Sirmium and went to Ostropisus, the secretary of the satrap, who was called in Moesia ‘The Venerable Support’ Tiribazus . He gave orders that we should be provided with a house and sent us a man to attend to our needs and provide us with everything we might want. We spent several days waiting and then Ostropisus requested an audience for us with Tiribazus, who we learned was of the royal Achaemenid line. [3] We came before him and found he was a beardless youth. We greeted him with the title of satrap. He commanded us to sit down and the first thing he asked us was:
‘How did you leave your master, the king of the Dacians?
‘We left him in good health,’ we replied.
‘May Ahura Mazda increase his well-being!’ he exclaimed.
Next, he was read the letter requesting to let us set out, with a letter of safe passage not to hinder our mission.
He replied:
‘I hear and I will relay your request to the men of my governorship. May your journey be safe from Druj! Take the road south to Philippopolis. There you are to present yourself to my cousin, the Satrap Gobryas Vivanid, and he will advise you further in your journey to Byzantion.
We stayed in Sirmium for two more days and set out on the Persian royal road. This road is a wonder. It runs across mountain, marsh and river. It is built broad, straight and firm. It joins city with city and nation with nation. It is said to be tens of thousands of miles long, stretching out across the domain of the Achaemenids, and that all roads lead to the throne of Byzantion. [4] The journey to Philippopolis was supposed to take us four days. At the end of every day of travel, the Persians had a caravanserai where we could rest our mount and receive a warm meal. These caravanserais were controlled by soldiers and they collected fees for use of the road and the rest stop.
As we marched, the land around us changed, growing more mountainous and forested, wilder yet more tamed than the plains of Pannonia where my people reside. By now it was late in the season, and the trees had lost their leaves and the snows fell on the mountains, called Haemus by the locals. Our slaves said this land was the home of the Odrysians. We saw a land which made us think a gate to the cold of hell had opened before us. When snow falls, it is always accompanied by a rough and violent wind. In this country, when a man wishes to make a nice gesture to a friend and show his generosity, he says: ‘Come to my house where we can talk, for there is a good fire there.’ But Zalmoxis has given them abundant firewood, and it is very cheap: two of their drahm will buy a wagonload of pine wood, amounting to some 3,000 kad. It is the rule among them that beggars do not wait at the door, but come into the house and sit for an hour by the fire to warm up. Only then does the beggar say pekend, in other words, ‘bread’. [5]
Our crossing of the Haemus was protracted by the snows and it took us seven days to arrive at Philippopolis. We were tired and cold but the size of the city woke us from our frost-ridden stupor. It was said a hundred thousand people lived here in homes made of stone and wood. At the gates, we presented ourselves and our mission. We were shown at once to the ruler of the city, the Gobryas that our host in Sirmium had told us about. He showed us honour, admitted us to his presence and lodged us in a house. As we walked through the city, we gazed at what we saw around us. By Zalmoxia, the Persians tell us that all this was built by man but surely they must have been blessed by the gods.
In the centre of the city, the great Persian nobles lived in homes of cool, grey Thracian marble. As you enter the bustling agora, the wealth of the Achaemenids surrounds you. The agora or market square, is partly enclosed by a magnificent colonnade. The columns themselves are a marvel, some feature the engravings of the Greecian gods. Some of this had been defaced and smashed. The air is filled with a cacophony of languages as people from all corners of the empire live here in harmony.
At the centre of the agor is the fire temple of Zoroaster, a testament to the King of King’s faith in Ahura Mazda. It is the largest building I have yet seen. The facade, built from massive, polished marble slabs, built in the style of the Hellenes. Yet, the entrance is flanked by imposing winged bulls, mythical creatures said to reside in the Persian far east. It stood five man heights high and required one hundred and fifty paces to walk from end to end.
There are many gardens in this city. Our escort told us that during the spring, they would be lined with vibrant flowers and aromatic herbs and that shade would be provided by fruit tress laden with pomegranate and figs.
We were shown to the fire temple where we were told to make obeisance to Ahura Mazda before our audience with Golbyas could continue. Mosaics adorn the floor, gods battling the forces of Druj but also Persian hunting scenes and floral patterns. Statues of Greek heroes stand alongside winged figures like the Simurgh, a mythical bird from Persian lore. We are told they are Yazatas, beings worth of veneration by those of the faithful.
Our audience with Golbyas was short. He laughed when we expressed incredulity at the size of the city and he told us that if that be so, we would be struck down in wonder when we finally arrived in Byzantion. He made us pay for his hospitality in the city, forbidding us to leave till this ‘honorary’ was given. Aelia bristled at this but I quieted him before paying our host for his hospitality.
Afterwards, when we were back in the house provided to us, I said to Aelia:
“Our good King Dacebalus is aware of the Persian love for gold and ensured we had enough to speed us on. Do not be troubled by this and let us be glad that this is all he has asked for.”
After we departed Philippopolis, the road took us to east. Two days of travel brought us to another wonder of the Achaemenids, the Tomb of Arbaces II, the great grandfather of the current King of Kings. Built into the face of the mountain, is a great sanctuary. The eastern and western terraces are dominated by colossal statues, each one approximately four men heights tall. These statues depict various deities, lions, and eagles. The most prominent figures are the enthroned gods, each flanked by a lion and an eagle. These statues are said to be members of the court of Ahura Mazda in the heavens. The largest and the one in the place of honour was Ahura Mazda himself. The others are Mithra, Anahita and another god I did not recognise. The ancient King of Kings, Arbaces II is depicted amongst the gods, showing his ascension to the heavens to sit beside his god. We found large blocks of stone at the base of the statues, inscribed in both Greek and Persian. They detailed the deeds of Arbaces II, his lineage, and his worthiness to ascend to divinity. We paid our respects and continued on. [6]
Mount Damga is now a world heritage site and a popular tourist destination.
Finally, after another two days on the Road of Kings, we saw in the distance Byzantion. I swear there is no place like it on earth. From north to south, the city seemed to envelop the sea. I witnessed more men gathered here in one place than in any other and in the sea, a hundred hundred ships sailed in its bay. Before the city rose the famed Walls of Orodes, standing four man heights tall and encircling the city. Despite the height of these walls, we could see buildings rising even higher behind it. The walls were of red hue and capped by metal at the towers dotted across at regular intervals, glinting in the last rays of sunset. No army on earth could take this city and surely no king but the divinely blessed Achaemenid could have built it. I saw the wisdom of King Dacebalus in seeking their aid in the worship of the Persian faith and the building of defences in our land. [7]
A stylized rendition of the Byzantion/Achaemeniyya showing the many water features the city is famous for. In the foreground is the Hagia Sophia. Originally the site of the Temple of Smerdomenes, the Hagia Sophia was constructed originally as a fire temple before becoming a Christian Church during the fourth century, and enhanced by Darius I.
After another ‘negotiation’ at the gate, we were allowed to pass through and given an escort to the royal palace. From the Walls of Orodes to the city, it was three miles to the Golden Horn and the palace. As we walked, we saw fields for crops, orchards and many canals and pools with children playing in them. The city itself was laid out like a geometric pattern, the roads were straight and the buildings rigidly laid out. We passed large squares where the floor was a mosaic of many tiles, showing us Persian beasts and legendary gods, till we came to the House of the Chancellor. This was the office of the Achaemenid master of ceremonies and it stood eight man heights tall, with a large vaulted hall opening up to a beautiful courtyard with fountains in each corner. Again, the walls were made of intricate tilework and slaves fanned the officials of the court who rested on cushions in the hall. They called this open hall an Iwan and servants brought us refreshments – lime and pomegranate juice – before our audience could continue.
The Persian Chancellor then spoke to us, saying that the timing of our arrival was unfortunate as the old King of Kings had just passed away and that the court was busy preparing for his ascension to sit by the side of Ahura Mazda. [8] We asked then who was the new King of Kings. The Chancellor, whose name was Struthas of the House of Beth Narayan, and stood taller than any in our party with a long grey beard that reached to his belly, said that the Achaemenids now had a Queen of Queens, Anzaza, oldest of his children but our audience would have to wait the customary three months of grieving before we could seek the blessing of the righteous ruler of the world. We expressed our sadness to Struthas on the passing of the King of Kings and said:
“Oh God! Preserve Queen of Queens Anzaza and aid her in her divine mission.” [9]
The court officials nodded and seemed pleased at my words. Then what happened next was a surprise…
========================================
[1] Bersobis was a 2nd century ambassador of the kingdom of Dacia, then still known as the Kingdom of Apullia. Dacia was a composite state made up of the many tribes of Dacia and Pannonia with a ceremonial king who paid tribute to the Achaemenids. Bersobis’ account of his journey from Dacia to Byzantium in 204-205 AD is unique in classical literature, coming from one of the so-called barbarian people. Bersobis was one of the few non-imperial sources we have and it reveals how outsiders viewed the empire when not tainted by Roman propaganda. Sent as an emissary of High King Dacebalus of the Dacians, his mission was to deliver a message and gifts for the King to the Achaemenid court, and to seek religious instruction for his people and to forge additional commitments of protection against the Romans and Germanics who threatened Dacia’s western border. The writing itself was in the Persian language but used the Greek script – reflecting the prestige of Persia and the synthesized nature of Eastern European high culture at this time.
[2] This is probably part of the yearly tribute that the Dacians paid to the Achaemenids. The small size of the party reflects the high levels of safety during the ‘Great Achaemenid Peace’ that endured for the past two centuries.
[3] Tiribazus was of the Achaemenid family but distantly related to the throne, probably a 2nd cousin of the sitting Achaemenid Shahanshah.
[4] Eventually shortened to the common phrase “All roads lead to the throne”. This phrase had two meanings. One was the literal meaning where you could follow any road and you would arrive in Byzantion eventually and the second became a euphemism for political skullduggery to claim power within the collapsing empire in the third and fourth centuries.
[5] The mention of the beggar asking for bread is especially poignant as the Odrysians had their citizenship revoked by Arbaces III in order to solve the labour shortage within the region of the capital after the plague. The full effects would take a few decades to bear out but deprived of citizenship rights, many fell into debt and bore the brunt of excessive taxation before being sold into slavery to pay those debts.
[6] Crowning one of the highest peaks of the Eastern Haemus mountain range, Mt Damga is the Hierotheseion (temple-tomb and house of the gods) built by Datis for his grandfather Arbaces II in the 2nd century. The Hierotheseion of Arbaces II is one of the most ambitious constructions of the Zoroastrian period. Its complex design and colossal scale combined to create a project unequalled in the ancient world. The syncretism of Zoroastrian and Greek beliefs and the lineage of its kings, which can be traced back to the time of Amastris, provides us invaluable information of the time period and the cultural hybridization taking place in Greece and Anatolia.
[7] Byzantion by this point was increasingly known as Achaemeniyya, the city of the Achaemenids. Bersobis’ anachronism was either a reflection of his ignorance or a rote Greek-based education. The city itself was home to just under a million people and the largest in the western hemisphere, despite the depredations of the plague.
[8] Arbaces III ruled for 16 years, passing away in 173 AD after a terrible fever. His reign is not particularly notable and no new policies or initiatives are known to have been passed by the Shahanshah who preferred the pleasures of the gardens and the hunt.
[9] This cliffhanger ending has made many historians curse in frustration. The rest of the pages of Bersobis has been lost to the ravages of time. We can only speculate that whatever happened was not too serious as he was able to make it back to Dacia and share this account with his people and with us in the far future.
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Thanks for updating. Are the group riding on horseback, in carriages/wagons or walking? Would a voyage by water have been faster?
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Bersobis is witnessing the sunset before nightfall in Persia. It is beautiful, but soon darkness will arrive.
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We can assume that the tribute and other goods went by wagons while Bersobis and other officials travelled by horse. The slaves and other handlers had to walk or ride on the wagons. We're unsure why they chose the road but the Dacians are not known to be particularly gifted sailors and it being late in the season may have made sea travel more dangerous.
His account is invaluable in providing us a snapshot of the empire and the syncretism built into to the revitalized Zoroastrian faith.
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The Reigns of Anzaza (189 AD – 205 AD) and Tissaphernes (205 AD – 231 AD)
The Reigns of Anzaza (189 AD – 205 AD) and Tissaphernes (205 AD – 231 AD)
Anzaza was the daughter of Arbaces III and his sister Artanis. Starting from the reign of Datis Achaemenid, the royal family began the practice of Xwedodah or divine consanguine marriage. The Magi had pronounced it pious based on their readings of the oldest text of Zoroastrianism. In the Old Avestan texts known as the Gathas, believed to have been written by the founder of the faith Zoroaster, Armaiti of the Amesha Spenta is referred to as the "daughter" of Ahura Mazda, and that it was high act of worship to marry sister and brother. While we know the Achaemenids practiced such betrothals, we are unsure how widespread it was amongst the nobility and common people.
What we can trace are the symptoms of inbreeding showing up within the line of the Shahanshahs. Arbaces III was frail, often in poor health and suffered from gout. His oldest child, Mardonius suffered from similar issues and died of a terrible fever in his 30s. Anzaza was second born and succeeded Arbaces III in 189 AD. She had already been wed to her younger brother, Fravarti and had born three children, Tissaphernes and his two sisters Sisygambis and Amastris. Tissaphernes, in turn, took his sister, Sisygambis as his wife. Amastris was married off to a junior member of the Achaemenid family and from her lineage, we will arrive at Darius the Christian, who will play a major role in the story later on.
The weakness, both physical and temporal, of the ruling Achaemenid line led to a scattershot approach to dealing with the increasing tensions within the empire.
Growing Monetary Crisis
Economically, it was failing as mines ran dry or lacked the manpower for deeper excavations. Gold and silver were increasingly short in supply and the coinage had been debased during the reign of Arbaces III and Anzaza. Combined with the expansion of the Achaemenid army by a third and a doubling of their base pay to ensure the loyalty of the military in the past decade, the government found itself resorting to budget cuts in other areas as well as further debasements. The silver drachm (the primary coin of exchange) became increasingly unreliable as a medium of exchange and stored value. This had a major impact on the trade network, still recovering from the plague. Ever since the Great Achaemenid Peace, starting with Orodes II, the empire's economy had depended in large part on trade across the extensive road systems in the empire's interior. Merchants could travel from one end of the empire to the other in relative safety within a few weeks, moving agricultural goods produced in the provinces to the cities, and manufactured goods produced by the great cities of Asia Minor and the Levant to the more rural provinces. The currency crisis and debased currency made exchange very difficult, forcing many merchants and landowners to focus on supplying within their own region and accepting local barter. The debasements also encouraged inflation within the cities and military, failing to keep pace with the pay increases made by Arbaces III.
Christianity on the Rise
Monetary issues and shortages fed into increasing revolts in the cities and a rise in brigandage in the countryside as people no longer could rely on their jobs to keep their families fed. These challenges fed into the increasing number of Christian communities within the empire. While Achaemeniyya (old Byzantion) was a bastion of Zoroastrian worship thanks to the presence of the magi, many rural or downtrodden communities beseeched the risen god, Christos, for succour as the empire from disease and unemployment. Governors in the provinces made their own decisions about the new religion, some protecting it while others chose to persecute its worshippers. The Mobadan Mohbed Xenothos, High Priest of the Zoroastrian faith during Anzaza’s reign chose restraint, highlighting to the nobles that good word and good deeds is the answer to the empire’s challenges, not religious persecution. Amidst accusations that he was a Christian in disguise, Anzaza took his advice and for a time, Christians were free to worship without fear. It’s estimated that Christians made up 5% of the population, mostly in the West.
Growing Factionalism
Within the royal palace, two factions arose – the magi and the military. The magi, led by Xenothos, fought to influence economic policy while the hawks in the military encouraged war with the Romans to display Persian might and claim war booty and slaves. Evagoras Atropatid, Spahbed of the Immortals led this faction. Anzaza sided with Xenothos up to her death, preferring to husband the empire’s waning strength. The generals in turn fought tooth and nail against the magi’s desire to reduce military funding, finding ways to allocate funding earmarked for other purposes to their needs. The military budget, already the largest expenditure within the empire ballooned even further and Evagoras mocked Xenothos for his ‘failure’ to find the funds for imperial expenses.
Anzaza ruled for 16 years, passing away relatively early at the age of 52. Court documents state that she died of a rotten herring. It’s an odd claim and later historians take it to mean she was poisoned or died from ill-health. Her son, Tissaphernes, took the throne of Shahanshah and he was content to leave decisions to his officials. The magi, now led by Pharnabazus after the death of Xenothos, came up with an extreme solution to the empire’s predicament.
The Great Enslavement
Pharnabazus sought to solve the empire’s labour shortage by eliminating citizenship from many of the subject people of the empire. With the stroke of a quill, the Armenians, Hebrews, Medeans, Parthians, Bactrians, Punics, Romans and Illyrians lost their rights to equal access to the courts, property, migration and trade at fair terms. This ‘Great Enslavement’ affected nearly a quarter of the population and governors were busy throughout Tissaphernes’ reign putting down revolts and rebellions by disaffected mobs. Slave markets and labour mills were erected across the empire to handle the influx and mass confiscations of wealth found its way into the Achaemenid budget. However, it was a short term move that had profound long term implications. The removal of rights was a one-time benefit to the economy and it further reduced economic activity in the provinces due to the loss of merchants and landowners of these cultures. In their place, the governors and great houses seized the lands, becoming great magnates who controlled large swathes of the empire and knew the best ways to hide taxable income from the authorities sent by the magi in Achaemeniyya.
Christian persecution would begin again during the reign of Tissaphernes, with burnings of churches and crucifixions of notable preachers across the empire. These would become the first martyrs and the faith became increasingly associated with resistance and support of the disenfranchised.
Succession Planning by Tissaphernes
Tissaphernes sought to place his second-born child and favourite, Barsine, on the throne, even arranging a grand coronation for her. Believing her to be best suited to take charge of the realm, at the expense of her older sister, Sisygambis. However, fate had other plans when she passed away in childbirth along with her baby. For better or worse, Sisygambis would succeed her father upon his death by dysentery in 231 AD and we enter the period known as the ‘Tyranny of the Three Witches’.
Anzaza was the daughter of Arbaces III and his sister Artanis. Starting from the reign of Datis Achaemenid, the royal family began the practice of Xwedodah or divine consanguine marriage. The Magi had pronounced it pious based on their readings of the oldest text of Zoroastrianism. In the Old Avestan texts known as the Gathas, believed to have been written by the founder of the faith Zoroaster, Armaiti of the Amesha Spenta is referred to as the "daughter" of Ahura Mazda, and that it was high act of worship to marry sister and brother. While we know the Achaemenids practiced such betrothals, we are unsure how widespread it was amongst the nobility and common people.
What we can trace are the symptoms of inbreeding showing up within the line of the Shahanshahs. Arbaces III was frail, often in poor health and suffered from gout. His oldest child, Mardonius suffered from similar issues and died of a terrible fever in his 30s. Anzaza was second born and succeeded Arbaces III in 189 AD. She had already been wed to her younger brother, Fravarti and had born three children, Tissaphernes and his two sisters Sisygambis and Amastris. Tissaphernes, in turn, took his sister, Sisygambis as his wife. Amastris was married off to a junior member of the Achaemenid family and from her lineage, we will arrive at Darius the Christian, who will play a major role in the story later on.
The weakness, both physical and temporal, of the ruling Achaemenid line led to a scattershot approach to dealing with the increasing tensions within the empire.
Growing Monetary Crisis
Christianity on the Rise
Monetary issues and shortages fed into increasing revolts in the cities and a rise in brigandage in the countryside as people no longer could rely on their jobs to keep their families fed. These challenges fed into the increasing number of Christian communities within the empire. While Achaemeniyya (old Byzantion) was a bastion of Zoroastrian worship thanks to the presence of the magi, many rural or downtrodden communities beseeched the risen god, Christos, for succour as the empire from disease and unemployment. Governors in the provinces made their own decisions about the new religion, some protecting it while others chose to persecute its worshippers. The Mobadan Mohbed Xenothos, High Priest of the Zoroastrian faith during Anzaza’s reign chose restraint, highlighting to the nobles that good word and good deeds is the answer to the empire’s challenges, not religious persecution. Amidst accusations that he was a Christian in disguise, Anzaza took his advice and for a time, Christians were free to worship without fear. It’s estimated that Christians made up 5% of the population, mostly in the West.
Growing Factionalism
Within the royal palace, two factions arose – the magi and the military. The magi, led by Xenothos, fought to influence economic policy while the hawks in the military encouraged war with the Romans to display Persian might and claim war booty and slaves. Evagoras Atropatid, Spahbed of the Immortals led this faction. Anzaza sided with Xenothos up to her death, preferring to husband the empire’s waning strength. The generals in turn fought tooth and nail against the magi’s desire to reduce military funding, finding ways to allocate funding earmarked for other purposes to their needs. The military budget, already the largest expenditure within the empire ballooned even further and Evagoras mocked Xenothos for his ‘failure’ to find the funds for imperial expenses.
The Great Enslavement
Pharnabazus sought to solve the empire’s labour shortage by eliminating citizenship from many of the subject people of the empire. With the stroke of a quill, the Armenians, Hebrews, Medeans, Parthians, Bactrians, Punics, Romans and Illyrians lost their rights to equal access to the courts, property, migration and trade at fair terms. This ‘Great Enslavement’ affected nearly a quarter of the population and governors were busy throughout Tissaphernes’ reign putting down revolts and rebellions by disaffected mobs. Slave markets and labour mills were erected across the empire to handle the influx and mass confiscations of wealth found its way into the Achaemenid budget. However, it was a short term move that had profound long term implications. The removal of rights was a one-time benefit to the economy and it further reduced economic activity in the provinces due to the loss of merchants and landowners of these cultures. In their place, the governors and great houses seized the lands, becoming great magnates who controlled large swathes of the empire and knew the best ways to hide taxable income from the authorities sent by the magi in Achaemeniyya.
Christian persecution would begin again during the reign of Tissaphernes, with burnings of churches and crucifixions of notable preachers across the empire. These would become the first martyrs and the faith became increasingly associated with resistance and support of the disenfranchised.
Succession Planning by Tissaphernes
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Life is bleak and getting bleaker. Corruption is skyrocketing. Anybody that the rulers do not like is declared an un-person and their wealth seized. Thanks for this chilling update.
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