Marie Louise Chaumont
- BALĀŠ x. Lesser Notables
1. King of Kermān (210?), defeated by Ardašīr I, who took him prisoner and took possession of his capital (Nöldeke,…
- BALĀŠ ix. Dynasts of Hatra
1. Walgaš (2nd cent.), son of Naṣrū, at first “lord” (mrʾ), then “king (mlkʾ) of ʿArab(s) (of Hatra)” (inscriptions 140,…
- BALĀŠ viii. Balāš, Sasanian king of kings
Balāš, Sasanian king of kings (484-88) (Gk. Balas, Blasēs, Blassos, Valas, etc.). Balāš, son of Yazdegerd II (r. 438-57), was…
- BALĀŠ i. The name
The Parthian form of the name, the oldest, is Walagaš. In Middle Persian it is Wardāxš, in Pahlavi Walāxš. The…
- ARMENIA AND IRAN ii. The pre-Islamic period
ARMENIA AND IRAN ii. The Pre-Islamic Period 1. The Achaemenid period. The Armenians probably originated from Phrygia (Herodotus 3.19, and…
- BALĀSAGĀN
BALĀSAGĀN (Ar. Balāsajān, Balāšajān; Armenian Bałasakan), an Iranian toponym in -agān (-akān) “country of the Balās),” designating a region located…
- ĀZĀD (Iranian Nobility)
ĀZĀD (older ĀZĀT), a class of the Iranian nobility. The word (Mid Pers. ʾzʾt, ʾcʾt, plur. obl. ʾzʾtʾn, ʾcʾtʾn, Parth….
- AURELIUS VICTOR
AURELIUS VICTOR, SEXTUS, born in Africa ca. 325/330, held high positions under Julian and Theodosius. He was a contemporary of…
- ATROPATES
ATROPATES (Āturpāt, lit., “protected by the fire,” cf. Av. Atərəpāta), the satrap of Media, commander of the troops from Media,…
- ASTABED
ASTABED. The word astabid occurs in two Syriac texts as the title of a high-ranking Iranian officer and is applied…
- ASPBED
ASPBED (older asppat from OIr. *aspa-pati-), “master of horses, chief of cavalry,” Parthian title attested in the Nisa documents and…
- ARTEMITA IN APOLLONIATIS
ARTEMITA IN APOLLONIATIS, city of the Parthian period in eastern Iraq. Artemita (Greek or Macedonian name), the principle city of…
- ARRIAN
ARRIAN, L. FLAVIUS ARRIANUS, Greek historian from Bithynia, born in Nicomedia, whose father had obtained Roman citizenship. He held very…
- ARGBED
ARGBED, (Inscr. Mid. Persian hlgwpt, Inscr. Parthian ʾrkpty and hrkpty, i.e., (h)argbed, older (h)arkpat) a high-ranking title in the Parthian…
- APPIANUS
APPIANUS (APPIAN) OF ALEXANDRIA, historian, born probably toward the end of the 1st century A.D. Little is known of his…
- APOLLODORUS OF ARTIMITA
APOLLODORUS OF ARTEMITA, historian. He was originally from the Greco-Parthian city of Artemita (Chalasar), in Apolloniatis. According to W. W….
- ANTONY, MARK
ANTONY, MARK, Roman general (ca. 82-30 B.C.; Figure 1) who led a campaign in Armenia during the Parthian period. Following…
- ANTIOCH (1)
ANTIOCH, town in northern Syria situated at the foot of Mount Silpius on the left bank of the Orontes (ʿĀṣī)…
- ANDARZBAD
ANDARZBAD, Sasanian administrative title meaning “chief advisor” (from Mid. Pers. andarz “advice, counsel”) for a city, e.g., Ardašīr-Ḵᵛarrah or Gōr…
- AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS
AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, historian who provides important information on the Sasanians. Born ca. 330-35 in Antioch on the Orontes to a…
- ĀMĀRGAR
ĀMĀRGAR, a Middle and New Persian word designating a person holding a particular administrative post. i. Etymology. ii. The post….
- ALBANIA
ALBANIA (Iranian Aran, Arm. Ałuankʿ), an ancient country in the Caucasus (for Albania in Islamic times, see Arrān). It was…
- AELIANUS, CLAUDIUS
AELIANUS, CLAUDIUS, a sophist of the first third of the 3rd century A.D., from Praenest near Rome. Although he was…
- AXSE
AXSE, the name of a Parthian hostage in Rome, inscribed in the dedication of an epitaph engraved on a marble…
- FRAMADĀR
FRAMADĀR (FRAMĀTĀR), a Sasanian administrative title. In Old Persian the substantive framātar appears in royal titles and is always accompanied…
- FRANCE iv. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA SINCE 1918
FRANCE iv. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA SINCE 1918 During the First World War, France, unlike England, Russia, Germany, and the Ottoman…
- ANDĒMĀNKĀRĀN SARDĀR
ANDĒMĀNKĀRĀN SARDĀR (ʾndymʾngʾln sldʾr), a Sasanian title engraved in Mid. Persian on a seal (reading by W. B. Henning, “Mitteliranisch,”…
- AGATHIAS
AGATHIAS, Byzantine historian, b. 536 or 537 in Myrina, a small village in Asia Minor, d. about 580. He completed…
- ANĀHĪD ii. The Cult and its Diffusion
Although the Greeks sometimes assimilated Anāhitā to Aphrodite (e.g., Herodotus, Historiae 1.131-32, knows her by the name of Aphrodite Urania…
- DIO CASSIUS
DIO CASSIUS (more correctly, Cassius Dio; b. Nicea, Bithynia, ca. 160, d. Nicea, after 229), Roman official whose Rhomaikē Historia…
- CLEMENT of Alexandria
CLEMENT of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens, probably b. Athens ca. 150 c.e., d. Cappadocia ca. 215), Greek convert to Christianity…
- CLEMENT, PSEUDO-
(Pseudo-) CLEMENT, the unknown author of a work of fiction falsely ascribed to Pope Clement I (88-97 CE) and now generally…
- CINNAMUS
CINNAMUS (< Gk. kinnamon or kinnamōmon “cinnamon tree,” a word borrowed from the Phoenician, according to Herodotus, 3.111; cf. Hebrew...
- DARIUS viii. Darius Son of Artabanus
DARIUS viii. DARIUS SON OF ARTABANUS A son of the Parthian king Artabanus II (r. ca. 10-38 C.E.) named Darius…
- CHORIENES
CHORIENES, Sogdian nobleman and opponent of Alexander. According to Arrian (Anabasis 4), when Alexander reached Nautaca in Sogdiana on his…
- CASSIODORUS, Magnus Aurelius
CASSIODORUS, Magnus Aurelius (b. ca. 485, d. after a.d. 580), Latin author of three historical works containing material on Iran….
- CAMBYSENE
CAMBYSENE (Latin form of Gk. Kambysēnē), name of a region mentioned for the first time in Strabo’s Geography as one…
- CALLISTHENES
CALLISTHENES, the name of a Greek historian of the period of Alexander the Great. A History of Alexander of romantic…
- BOYEKAN
BOYEKAN, the name of a mec naxarar “great satrap,” defeated and killed at Ṭʿawrēš (Tabrīz) by the Armenian general Vasak…
- BŌRĀN
BŌRĀN (Pers. Pōrān, Pūrān), Sasanian queen, daughter of Ḵosrow II (r. 590, 591-628). There are extant coins of Bōrān dated…
- BŌĒ
BŌĒ (Gk. Boēs), the name of two of Kavād’s (r. 488-96 and 498-531) generals. The patronymic Bōyān is found on…