Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 8038972, member: 128351&quot;]Propaganda, you said?</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1392183[/ATTACH]</p><p>Trajan, sestertius, 33 mm, 20.96 g.</p><p>Obv.: IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate and draped bust to right.</p><p>Rev.: REX PARTHIS DATVS, S C in exergue, Trajan seated left on <i>sella castrensis</i> set on tribunal, presenting Parthamaspates to an allegory of Parthia kneeling right; to right of Trajan, prefect standing left.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Parthian Kingdom was weakened by domestic trouble. A Parthian king, Chosroes I, had revolted against the King of Kings Vologases III and seized the western part of the Parthian Empire (roughly today&#039;s Iraq). In 113, claiming to be now the new legitimate King of Kings, he unilaterally deposed the king of Armenia (who was his nephew) and appointed the deposed king&#039;s brother in his place. He should not have done this: according to a treaty, the king of Armenia should be appointed only with the agreement of Rome. Trajan immediately considered this a <i>casus belli</i> and launched an important military intervention first against Armenia in 114, then in 115 against Mesopotamia (today&#039;s Iraq) in order to topple Chosroes&#039; regime.</p><p><br /></p><p>At first the Roman legions met little resistance, the few Parthian forces that were positioned on their way were no match for them. The Romans took the Parthian western capital Ctesiphon (20 km south of today&#039;s Baghdad) and reached the Gulf shores. Chosroes had fled and was hiding somewhere, waiting for better times. Like he had done before with the Dacian and the Nabateaen kingdoms which had been turned into Roman provinces of Dacia and Arabia, Trajan declared the annexation of the occupied territories and created three new provinces : Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia.</p><p><br /></p><p>But in Northern Mesopotamia the locals, especially the Jewish who hated the Romans since the destruction of Jerusalem Temple 45 years before, revolted in 116 against the Roman occupation, and Trajan who was in Ctesiphon had to send troops to crush the insurgencies. Even worse : other Jewish communities spread the insurgency to Egypt and Cyrenaica, while the Parthians had concentrated forces and were now fighting back. For the Romans the situation was soon out of control, and Trajan decided to retreat and withdraw from the short-lived provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria. Could they at least remain a pro-Roman client kingdom? Before leaving Ctesiphon, Trajan organized a ceremony in which he appointed a client puppet-king, Parthamaspates, a pro-Roman Parthian prince who pretended to be a son of Chosroes I.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coronation was announced in the official news of the war Trajan was sending the Senate on a regular basis. Immediately the Roman mint issued new sestertii like this one, with a reverse legend <i>Rex Parthis datus</i> (King given to the Parthians). Mission accomplished, Trajan had reshaped the East : after other coin emissions celebrating <i>Arabia adquisita</i> (in 111, for the annexation of Arabia), <i>Regna adsignata</i> (in 116, Trajan appointing three client-kings in Northern Mesopotamia), <i>Armenia et Mesopotamia in potestatem P(opuli) R(omani) redactae</i> (in 116), this <i>Rex Parthis datus</i> meant that all the East was now under Roman control.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This being done, the Romans withdrew from Mesopotamia. Chosroes I immediately took back his kingdom and capital wile Parthamaspates was running for his own safety to Roman Syria. Chosroes resumed his reign until 127 (when he was evetually toppled by Vologases III who reunified the Parthian Empire). Trajan never came back to Rome, he died on the way in 117 and his successor, Hadrian, negociated peace with Chosroes.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in