Archive for the ‘Ancient East’ Category
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
Born in 140 BC, Tigranes the Great was an intelligent man whose military exploits, for a short while, earned him the position of the most feared man in the Roman Empire. As king of Armenia, he was a representative of the Artaxiad Royal House and was married to Cleopatra of Pontus – he was forty-seven and she was only sixteen at the time of the marriage.
For the majority of his life, Tigranes was a hostage at the court of King Mithridates II of Parthia – when he was 40 years old, Tigranes was able to purchase his freedom by giving away an area of land called the “Seventy Valleys” to the Parthians, and only then did they allow him to do so because his father had died, leaving the throne open to his succession.
When Tigranes took power, the foundation of the empire in Armenia had already been well laid by his father. However, the Armenian mountains created natural borders between different sections of the country, which had caused the feudalistic Nakharars to exert a little more power over their regions and provinces than was appropriate. Naturally, Tigranes saw that this could cause significant problems in the future, and he decided that he’d much rather consolidate his power in Armenia before heading out and conquering more land – leaving the door open for regional leaders to revolt really wasn’t an option.
After taking care of the organizational matters in his own empire, he quickly forged an alliance with Mithridates VI of Pontus by marrying his daughter. The two leaders were able to forge their way into Asia Minor and began to expand their empires together – but it wasn’t long before the Romans noticed what was happening. In 90 BC, the Roman Republic sent legions after Tigranes and Mithridates, but Tigranes thought better of fighting the Romans at this point, and although he supported the Pontic alliance, he refused to get directly involved.
With Tigranes forging new ground in the East and his ally gaining ground in Roman-controlled Europe, the Romans realized that more needed to be done. In 88 BC, Mithridates ordered the massacre of 80,000 Romans in Asia – and as the two kings slowly made their way around Cappadocia, the Roman senate appointed Lucius Cornelius Sulla to command an army against the Pontics and Armenians.
As the power of the Roman Empire advanced on Mithridates, it looked as though the dynamic duo’s partnership would soon come to an end…
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Tomorrow: Part 2!
By: The Scribe on September, 2007
Although its origins and history are somewhat obscure, polo seems to have appeared in Persia around 2500 years ago, making it possibly the oldest known team sport in world history – not to mention being a sport that has typically always been restricted to the more privileged classes of society!
Owning a horse has historically been considered a bit of a status symbol, and in polo, all team members must have their own, well-trained beast, in order to participate. The sketchy historical records suggest that polo was initially developed by competing tribes in Central Asia, and was quickly adopted as a training program for Kings’ cavalry and other elite troop guards – these “training” matches could actually have up to 100 mounted men per side, creating a true sense of replica warfare.
As use of the sport progressed, it appears that the noble families began to participate, eventually adopting polo as their own Persian National sport, played only by the nobility. Both women and men participated in matches, and there is even one documented record from the 6th century AD of a Persian queen and her waiting ladies having challenged the Persian King Khosrow II Parviz and his men to a friendly, family game!
Indeed, ancient Persian art and literature give detailed accounts of polo games played in the royal courts, including many references in an epic poem, Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings), from the 9th century by the Iranian poet and historian Ferdowsi, where he discusses various matches held in tournament format. He also makes mention of another Persian prince from the early Persian empire, who apparently learned how to play polo sometime during the 4th century AD, when he was just seven years old.
It wasn’t until the 10th century that an Iranian king actually recorded some of the sport’s general and more important rules, in particular pointing out the potential dangers of playing in a match – and as the centuries progressed, a 13th century Iranian poet even used polo as a basis for one of his love stories!
As the Persian nobles continued to invite other royal families from various countries to play in their tournaments, the popularity of the sport grew and spread rapidly across the East – in fact, there was even a stone tablet next to a polo field along the famous Chinese silk road, reading: “Let other people play at other things. The King of Games is still the Game of Kings.” Coats of arms for the Chinese royal families soon included a polo stick, and it is well know that polo was an important part of royal family life during the reign of Ming-Hung, a time that is often referred to as the Golden Age of Chinese classical culture.
Naturally, not everyone was a good sport when playing these ancient polo matches. Although a 9th century Iranian historian had written instructions concerning how players should behave on the field – such as, “a player should strictly avoid using strong language and should be patient and temperate”, and “if a polo stick breaks during a game, it is a sign of inefficiency” – this apparently didn’t stop the Chinese Emperor Tai-Tsu in 910 AD from beheading all the players in a polo match that he had been watching, simply due to the fact that one of his own favorite players had been unfortunate enough to be killed during the game.
Brutality aside, the game continued to spread, with the Japanese learning the game from Chinese diplomats, and the Arab world picking up on the sport during their conquest of Iran in the 7th century. The polo stick actually became an important heraldic symbol in Islamic courts, and Polo Masters were a common addition to a ruling Caliph’s entourage!
Even with its spreading Eastern popularity, the game didn’t actually make it to the West until the Byzantine period. The ruler of Constantinople during the 12th century tried to encourage the sport’s growth, and his own successor even played until his arm and leg were crushed during a particularly rough match.
Polo continued to spread in this way, moving from royal household to royal household in various Eastern countries – and it wasn’t until sometime during the 18th century that the Western world learned of the existence of the sport, eventually refining the game into what is known today as the ‘modern’ version of polo.
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Tomorrow: What the heck are Tupus?
By: The Scribe on August, 2007
After Cyrus II came of age, Harpagus convinced the young man that the Medes were ready and willing to revolt against their now despotic king, Astyages. Cyrus then organized a federation consisting of 10 Persian tribes, and attacked his father… though for some reason – or as Herodotus claims, “blinded by divine reason” – Astyages appointed Harpagus as the leader of his army. Naturally, Harpagus was not eager to fight for the man who had killed his son, and instead marched on the Median capital with Cyrus, both Persian and Median armies in tow, and took Astyages captive.
Although the details of Herodotus’ tale are more likely based around fairy tale than fact, the end of the story has been confirmed by another ancient document called the Chronicle of Nabonidus. The document explains that in the 6th year of the reign of King Nabonidus of Babylon,
“king Astyages called up his troops and marched against Cyrus,
king of Ansan [Persia], in order to meet him in battle. The
army of Astyages revolted against him and in fetters they
delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched agast the country
Ecbatana; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other
valuables of the country Ecbatana he took as booty and brought
to Ansan.”
At the very least – whether Harpagus was involved with the army’s defection or not – the details in the Chronicle of Nabonidus imply that after three years of fighting, king Astyages’ troops mutinied and handed him over to Cyrus. Unfortunately for Cyrus, Astyages’ allies did not take the capture of the allied king so well – shortly after the capture, King Croesus of Lydia attacked Cyrus II to avenge Astyages. With Harpagus at his side – for which there are confirmed records – Cyrus defeated Croesus’ advances and ended up overthrowing Lydia as well.
What happened to Astyages after his capture remains unknown. Although the ancient sources agree that he was treated with mercy and leniency not typically given to captive kings, the details of how this occurred differ. While Herodotus claims that the king was left imprisoned for the rest of his life, other sources suggest that Astyages was reinstated as a governor in Parthia, and later met his death at the hands of a political rival. Which version of the tale is actually true is likely to remain unknown indefinitely.
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Tomorrow: Ancient Sugar-Free Gum!
By: The Scribe on August, 2007
Since almost all the information available on the last king of the Medes comes from the Greek historian Herodotus’ Histories, it is difficult to sort the truth of his writings from tales he wrote down through hearsay. Needless to say, there are some details which can be confirmed: Astyages was the son of king Cyaraxes; he reigned from 585 BC until he was dethroned in 550 BC; and he was married to Aryenis, sister of the Lydian king Croesus, through the terms of a peace treaty agreement that Cyaraxes signed after fighting the Lydians for 5 years.
It is beyond this basic introduction that Herodotus’ ‘historical account’ provides more information, though one should always take Herodotus’ writings with a grain of salt – however, that does not mean that he doesn’t have interesting stories to tell!
According to Herodotus, Astyages was a superstitious and vain king. Sometime during his rule, he had a dream about his daughter Mandane: in the dream, his daughter gave birth to a son who would grow up to destroy his empire. In fear, Astyages arranged a marriage between his daughter and the Iranian prince Cambyses I, who had a reputation for being quiet, thoughtful, and “of little power.” In his mind, a marriage between Mandane and this kind of man would never result in the birth of a child capable of seizing the throne.
After the birth of Mandane and Cambyses’ first son, Astyages had a second dream which he interpreted as a warning against the child’s future actions. Paranoid and fearful, Astyages ordered his courtier (and fellow member of the Median royal house) Harpagus to find and kill the baby. Harpagus, although realizing that disobedience would come with grave punishment, was naturally reluctant to spill royal blood. Hoping to pass the task off to another, Harpagus gave the child to a local herdsman named Mitridates, whose own wife had just given birth to a stillborn child. Mitridates and his wife then raised the child, Cyrus II, as their own – and Harpagus presented the stillborn baby to Astyages as his daughter’s dead son.
Herodotus goes on to explain that when the boy was about 10 years old, it became clear that the child was not the son of a herdsman – his behavior was “far too noble”. Coming across the boy on a chance encounter, Astyages began to be suspicious when realized that the child looked remarkably like himself. He immediately confronted Harpagus about what he had done, and the courtier confessed. Although Astyages spared the child’s life at the advice of his Magi – and allowed Cyrus II to return to his natural parents – Harpagus was subject to a horrendous punishment: Astyages fed Harpagus his own son at a banquet.
Enraged, Harpagus waited for a chance to avenge himself and his family…
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Tomorrow: Part two of the Astyages story
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