Cowardly or clever? A Pahlav AAR

[Codyos Vladimiros]

Copyright of Persepolis University 2008.

Persian history module 1.4 (The Arsacid dynasty) course guide.

Persian history module 1.4 will take you through the history of the Arsacid period of Persian history. The module begins with the rise of the Arsacids as they overthrow the Seleukid state (see module 1.3, After Alexander) and ends with the Sasannian rebellion.

Background: The Seleukid rulers of Persia had been in charge for 50 years when the Arsacid rise began. Often known as "Parthians"" by western scholars, that is simply a name that was attributed to them after they had integrated themselves into the region known as Parthia. They were originally the tribe of "Parni," part of a larger confederation of nomads called the "Dahae." The Dahae had a poor reputation amongst the hellenic inhabitants of Persia and the surrounding regions and the word came to mean "robbers" to the Greek speaking populace. Little information on the Parni is available before their meteoric rise to power, we know they fought against, then with, Alexander but most of our information on them comes from their wars with the Seleukids and Romans. Part of the challenge of this module will be sorting out the fact from propaganda, as most of our information come from Greek and Roman sources. It is hoped that after completing the module you will be more informed about a misunderstood and neglected period of Persian history.

This seems like a BRILLIANT way to do an AAR. I look forward to seeing what you can do with it!

[johnhughthom]

May be Monday before I get the chance to put the first update together. I'm busy in work the next few days and I don't want the first few chapters to be basically a rehash of my previous AAR, so my first update will encompass the first decade or so.

[gamegeek2]

My sympathies, johnhughthom, Of Mail and Men suffered the same problem.

[johnhughthom]

Lesson 1.

Note: The Western BC/AD system of dating will be used throughout this module.
For ease of reading the term Parthian will be used throughout to describe the tribe/nation/empire, the student will be expected to show in his/her work an understanding of when different terms ie Parni, Dahae, Arsacid should be used and, if relevant, when and why the applicable term should be used.

272 BC was a momentous year for the Parthians, an agreement, signed with a local Seleukid Satrap under Antiochus' orders, was made that the Parthians would attack Saka horsemen who were raiding the Seleukid Empires north-eastern regions.

The agreement was that the Parthians, who ruled over an area on behalf of the Seleukid Emperor, would pay the Empire a much smaller tribute in exchange for ridding the region of Saka attacks. The Emperor promised to defend the Parthian territory while they were away, though a small contingent of foot archers were left behind by the Parthians. The Saka had been allies of the Parthians and the deal could be seen as a betrayal. An emissary was sent to dissolve the alliance so it seems the Parthians had a sense of "honour" regarding such issues.

A huge force of cavalry, led by the Parthian leader, moved north-east to engage the raiding Saka.

The army had a number of different type of troop, though they were all horse archers the differences in social standing and armour meant that each had a differing role on the battlefield.
The fewest in number, and heaviest armed, were the highest level of nobility, the Kings family and "First and Most Honoured Friends." Armed with bow and lance and very heavily armoured they were shock troops, a charge from these horsemen could shatter all but the strongest infantry unit. They were, however, quite slow on the battlefield and the quicker, lighter armoured, element of the army were necessary.

Next were the nobles of other tribes and "First Friend" and "Honoured Friends" amongst the Parthian. Less heavily armoured than the highest echelons of Parthian society, they were nevertheless fearsome in the charge.

A number of quick, nimble horse archer from other tribes in the confederation joined the Parthians in the hopes of glory and looting in the campaign.

The bulk of the force was made up of Parthian horse archers. These men were experts at harrassing enemy formations, they would approach an enemy and tempt them to lose shape and order. Then they would flee, firing at the disordered ranks as they went. They were also adept at positioning themselves to get a shot at an enemies rear, when they enemy turned around another group would shoot at the newly exposed backs. They were not, however, keen to get involved in melee combat and were best away from such attacks.


We have no record of the exact terms of the deal, were the Parthians allowed to keep any territory reconquered from the Saka or were they expected to hand it back to the Seleukids? War booty, slaves and livestock were another issue, would they belong to the Parthians or were the Seleukids entitled to a share? Keep such questions in mind when looking at the future actions of both parties, it can be difficult to ascertain the motivations behind events without a full idea of the background.

[johnhughthom]

I had originally planned a campaign closer to my previous AAR but I got bored going through the same things again. I think there is a good chance I will actually fail in this campaign, which would be amusing as the AAR has already assumed a succesful one, but what the heck. I've got a feeling I'm going to lose a lot of men to those bloody Saka FMs. One question, why is it always raining in the steppes in RTW?

[A Terribly Harmful Name]

Murphy's Law.

[zooeyglass]

you seem to pick a different approach each time, i really like it. i suppose that's one of the strengths of pahlava, that you get so many choices in the early game as to which direction to take. good luck, look forward to hearing more!