91/90–81/80 BCE
Gotarzes I (Godarz I) rules.
90–88 BCE
Mithridates of Pontus captures Cappadocia in Asia Minor.
87–86 BCE
Mithridates of Pontus is forced out of Greece by the Romans.
85–74 BCE
Roman provinces in Asia are recaptured by Sulla.
81/80–76/75 BCE
Orodes I (Urud I) rules.
78/77–71/70 BCE
Sinatruces rules.
71/70–58/57 BCE
Phraates III rules. A conflict erupts between Parthia and Rome.
67–63 BCE
The Roman commander Pompey captures Armenia and Syria and puts an end to the Seleucid state, making the Roman state the neighbor of the Arsacid (Parthian) state.
63 BCE
Mithridates of Pontus dies.
58/57 BCE
Mithridates III rules.
58/57–38 BCE
Orodes II rules.
53 BCE
The Parthian commander Surena (Suren) defeats the Romans under the command of Crassus at Carrhae.
38 BCE
Arsacid crown prince Pacorus invades Syria and is killed by Romans.
Orodes II dies.
38–3/2 BCE
Phraates IV rules.
37 BCE
Roman general Mark Antony captures Jerusalem. Herod is installed as king of Judaea, replacing the Arsacid (Parthian) governor.
37–33 BCE
Arsacids (Parthians) defeat Antony.
33 BCE
Tiridates revolts against Phraates IV.
31 BCE
Antony is defeated and killed by Octavian in the Battle of Actium in Egypt.
30 BCE
Tiridates flees to Rome.
27 BCE–14 BCE
Octavian Augustus rules.
20 BCE
The Arsacid monarch Phraates IV returns Roman legionary standards captured from Crassus and Antony.
3/2 BCE
Phraates IV is murdered.
2 BCE–2 CE
Phraates V rules.
1 CE
Parthian forces withdraw from Armenia.
8/9 CE
Vonones I rules.
10/11–38 CE
Artabanus II rules.
34 CE
Arsaces is appointed king of Armenia by Artabanus II.
38–45 CE
Vardanes rules.
40–90 CE
The Kushan king Kujula Kadphises rules.
43/44–51 CE
Gotarzes II rules.
50 CE
Kushans cross the Hindu Kush mountain range to invade India.
51 CE
Vonones II rules.
51–76/80 CE
Vologeses I (Valakhsh I) rules.
54 CE
Nero succeeds Claudius as emperor of Rome.
66 CE
Prince Tiridates is crowned in Rome as the king of Armenia. The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia is established.
70 CE
Roman emperor Titus captures Jerusalem and destroys the Jewish Temple.
77/78 CE
Vologeses II rules.
77/78–108/109 CE
Pacorus (Pakor) rules.
79–81 CE
Artabanus III rules.
108/109–127/128 CE
Osroes rules.
111/112–147/148 CE
Vologeses III rules.
113 CE
Roman emperor Trajan invades Armenia and Mesopotamia.
115 CE
Trajan captures the Arsacid (Parthian) capital of Ctesiphon near modern-day Baghdad.
122 CE
Peace ensues between Rome and Parthia.
Kanishka I rules the Kushan Empire.
133 CE
Alans invade the Caucasus region and Media.
135 CE
Jews are expelled from Judea by the Romans.
147/148–191/192 CE
Vologeses IV rules.
157 CE
Vologeses IV seizes control of Characene in southern Mesopotamia.
161 CE
Parthian forces capture Commagene in northern Syria.
161–180 CE
Marcus Aurelius rules as Roman emperor.
163–166 CE
Roman armies under Avidius Cassius destroy the city of Seleucia-on-Tigris and sack the Parthian capital at Ctesiphon. Roman forces advance as far as Media in western Iran.
191/192–207/208 CE
Vologeses V rules.
193–211 CE
Septimius Severus rules as Roman emperor.
194 CE
Roman armies invade the western provinces of the Parthian Empire.
197 CE
Septimius Severus sacks the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon.
207/208–221/222 CE
Vologeses VI rules.
213–224 CE
Artabanus IV rules.
216 CE
The Iranian prophet Mani is born.
217 CE
Roman emperor Caracalla dies.
Macrinus is declared Roman emperor.
Artabanus IV attacks Roman positions in Mesopotamia.
Artabanus IV agrees to make peace with Roman emperor Marcinus. Roman forces withdraw from Syria.
222–235 CE
Severus Alexander becomes Roman emperor.
224 CE
The Arsacid (Parthian) vassal Ardashir defeats and kills Artabanus IV. The Arsacid (Parthian) Empire ends.
Ardashir I ascends the throne as shahanshah (king of kings) and the founder of the Sasanian dynasty.
224–239/240/241/242 CE
Ardashir I rules.
225 CE
Kushans submit to Ardashir. Sasanian state reaches Peshavar in present-day Pakistan.
230 CE
Sasanian forces invade Roman positions in Mesopotamia.
231–233 CE
Roman emperor Severus Alexander invades Iran.
237–238 CE
Ardashir I conquers Carrhae and Nisibis in present-day southeastern Turkey.
238–244 CE
Gordian III rules as Roman emperor.
239/240 CE
Ardashir attacks the trade center of Hatra in northern Iraq.
Ardashir appoints his son Shapur as co-regent.
239/240/241/242–270/272 CE
Shapur I rules.
242 CE
The Iranian prophet Mani joins Shapur’s court.
244 CE
Shapur I defeats the Romans under Emperor Gordian III at Anbar in southern Iraq. Gordian dies or is murdered in his camp.
244–249 CE
Philip the Arab becomes the emperor of Rome. Philip negotiates a peace treaty with Shapur I and pays him 500,000 gold dinars.
252 CE
Shapur I destroys a Roman army at Barbalissos in northern Syria and captures Antioch.
253–260 CE
Valerian rules the Roman Empire.
260 CE
Shapur I captures Emperor Valerian.
261 CE
Fulvius Macrianus repulses the Sasanian army.
270/272–273 CE
Hormozd I rules.
273–276 CE
Bahram I rules.
276 CE
The Zoroastrian priest Kartir is appointed as the highest authority in the Zoroastrian religious hierarchy.
The prophet Mani is tried and imprisoned.
276–293 CE
Bahram II rules.
293 CE
Bahram III rules.
293–302 CE
Narseh rules.
296/297 CE
Narseh invades and occupies Armenia. Caesar Gaius Galerius of Rome is defeated at Carrhae in present-day southeastern Turkey.
297/298 CE
Gaius Galerius defeats Narseh. Narseh surrenders five provinces east of the Tigris River.
301 CE
rst kingdom to adopt Christianity as the state religion.
302–309 CE
Hormozd II rules.
309–379 CE
Shapur II rules.
311 CE
Christianity is legalized in the Roman Empire.
324 CE
Constantine reunifies the Roman Empire.
325 CE
Shapur II pacifies Arab tribes.
338 CE
Shapur II reclaims the provinces lost by Narseh.
348 CE
Shapur II invades Mesopotamia.
350 CE
Shapur II fails to capture Nisibis in present-day southern Turkey.
359 CE
Shapur II captures Amida (present-day Diyarbakir) in southeastern Asia Minor.
361–363 CE
Julian rules as Roman emperor.
363 CE
Emperor Julian is killed in battle after failing to capture the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.
Jovian becomes Roman emperor.
Emperor Jovian and Shapur II reach a peace agreement. The Sasanian Empire regains all provinces seized by Diocletian as well as Nisibis in present-day southeastern Turkey.
Shapur II captures Sinjara (Sinjar) in northwestern Iraq.
370 CE
The collection of Zoroastrian sacred texts, the Avesta, completed.
379–383 CE
Ardashir II rules.
383–388 CE
Shapur III rules.
388–399 CE
Bahram IV rules.
390 CE
Armenia is divided between the Roman and Sasanian Empires.
394 CE
Christianity is declared the official religion of the Roman Empire.
395 CE
The Roman Empire is divided into eastern and western segments.
399–421 CE
Yazdegerd I rules.
420–421 CE
War breaks out with the East Roman Empire.
421 CE
Peace ensues between the Sasanians and the East Roman state.
421–439 CE
Bahram V Gor rules.
427 CE
Bahram V defeats the Hephthalites.
428 CE
The Arsacid monarchy of Armenia ends.
439–457 CE
Yazdegerd II rules.
440–441 CE
War breaks out with the East Roman Empire.
443–450 CE
Yazdegerd II attacks the Kidarites and drives them beyond the Oxus.
457–458 CE
Hormozd III attacks the Hephthalites in Bactria in present-day northern Afghanistan.
457–459 CE
Hormozd III rules.
459 CE
Hormozd III is killed by his brother Peroz.
459–484 CE
Peroz rules.
476 CE
The Western Roman Empire falls.
483 CE
Peroz is defeated by the Hephthalites.
484 CE
Peroz is killed in his third battle with the Hephtalites in Balkh in northern Afghanistan.
484–488 CE
Balash (Valakhsh) rules.
War with the Hephthalites breaks out.
485 CE
Balash concludes peace with Armenia.
488 CE
Balash is deposed from the throne.
488–496 CE
Kavad I rules.
490 CE
Mazdak emerges as the leader of a popular movement calling for peace and equality.
496 CE
Kavad is deposed by the Persian nobility and the Zoroastrian priesthood.
496–498 CE
Jamasp/Zamasp rules.
498/499 CE
Kavad regains his throne with support from Hephthalites.
499–531 CE
Kavad I rules again.
500 CE
The Turks appear on the northern border of China.
526 CE
Roman forces invade Armenia and Mesopotamia.
527 CE
War breaks out with the Byzantine Empire.
531–579 CE
Khosrow I Anushiravan rules. Governmental reforms are introduced.
532/533 CE
Khosrow I signs the Eternal Peace (Pax Perpetuum) with Byzantine emperor Justinian.
540 CE
Khosrow I breaks the Eternal Peace and invades northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
Khosrow I captures Antioch in southern Anatolia and northern Syria.
558 CE
A joint Sasanian–Western Turk offensive destroys the Hephthalite Empire.
570 CE
Sasanians invade and occupy Yemen.
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, is born in Mecca.
571 CE
The Turk state appoints Sogdian chief Maniakh as its ambassador to the Byzantine Empire.
572–591 CE
A Byzantine–Sasanian war erupts.
579 CE
Khosrow I dies.
579–590 CE
Hormozd IV rules.
590–591 CE
Bahram VI Chobin rules.
590–628 CE
Khosrow II Parvez rules.
591 CE
Bahram VI is defeated and after a year is assassinated.
602/603–628 CE
A Byzantine–Sasanian war breaks out.
610 CE
A Sasanian army led by Persian commanders Shahrbaraz and Shahen capture Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.
Muhammad begins his teachings as the messenger of God.
613 CE
The Battle of Antioch ensues between the Byzantine and Sasanian armies.
614 CE
Sasanian armies capture Jerusalem and bring part of the True Cross to Ctesiphon.
619 CE
Sasanian armies attack and seize Egypt.
622 CE
Muhammad’s Flight (Hijra) from Mecca to Medina takes place.
627 CE
Byzantine forces defeat the Sasanian armies in northern Iraq.
628 CE
Khosrow II is murdered. Kavad II Shiruya rules.
Kavad II dies.
628–630 CE
Ardashir III rules.
629 CE
Heraclius returns the relic of the True Cross to Jerusalem.
630 CE
Muhammad conquers Mecca.
Shahrbaraz rules.
Khosrow III rules.
630–631 CE
Boran (Puran), a daughter of Khosrow II, rules.
631 CE
Azarmidokht, a daughter of Khosrow II, rules.
631–632 CE
Hormozd V rules.
631–633 CE
Khosrow IV rules.
633–651 CE
Yazdegerd III rules.
635 CE
Arab Muslims capture Damascus.
636 CE
Arab Muslims invade the Sasanian Empire.
A Sasanian army is defeated in the Battle of Qadisiyyah.
637 CE
Arab Muslims capture the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.
642 CE
A Sasanian army is defeated at Nahavand (Nihavand) in western Iran.
644 CE
Caliph Umar is assassinated by a Persian captive, Hormozan.
651 CE
Yazdegerd III is murdered at Marv (Merv) in Central Asia. The Sasanian Empire ends.
ANCIENT CITIES, HISTORICAL PLACES, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
OVERVIEW ESSAY
This chapter contains entries on the most important urban centers, historical places, and archaeological sites of ancient Iran. The territory of ancient Iran provides scholars with a veritable outdoor museum of fascinating and intriguing sites, including cities, palaces, gardens, tombs, temples, inscriptions, roads, and bridges. These sites clearly demonstrate that the kings of ancient Iran were master builders who also devoted themselves to improving their empire’s urban and rural economies. Some of the world’s earliest irriga
tion systems arose in Iranian hinterlands, where well-maintained canals and aqueducts led to agricultural development and allowed for the settlement of ancient cities and towns. The ancient Iranian royals were also avid proponents of a highly efficient communication system. The roads they built facilitated the movement of armies but also promoted trade and commerce and helped the central government to secure peace and order across their vast empire. The Royal Road became the best known of these routes and hosted royal courtiers, who became the world’s first postal deliverymen. The Suez Canal, built by Darius I, had as its primary objective the promotion of trade between India, the Near East, and Egypt. Indeed, the whole of the Persian Empire from the Indus Valley to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea was linked by sea as well as by land.