The so-called "Parthian Dark Age" refers to a period of three decades in the history of
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...
between the death (or last years) of
Mithridates II in 91 BC, and the accession to the throne of
Orodes II
Orodes II (also spelled Urud II; ''Wērōd''), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 57 BC to 37 BC. He was a son of Phraates III, whom he murdered in 57 BC, assisted by his elder brother Mithridates IV. The two brothers ...
in 57 BC,
with various date ranges being mentioned by scholars.
It is called a "
Dark Age" due to a lack of clear information on the events of this period in the empire, except a series of, apparently overlapping, reigns.
No written source describing this period has survived, and scholars have been unable to clearly reconstruct the succession of rulers and their regnal years using the existing
numismatic sources due to their ambiguities. No legal or administrative document from this period has been preserved.
Multiple theories have been proposed to partially address this numismatic problem.
Based on the classical sources, the names of the rulers in this period are
Sinatruces and his son
Phraates (III),
Mithridates (III/IV),
Orodes (II), the sons of Phraates III, and a certain
Darius (I),
ruler of Media
(or Media Atropatene?). Two other names,
Gotarzes (I) and
Orodes (I) are attested in dated cuneiform tablets from
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
.
See also
*
Mithridates III of Parthia
References
{{Parthian kings
Parthian coinage