Characene facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Characene
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 141 BC–222 AD | |||||||||
A map of Characene.
|
|||||||||
| Status | Autonomous state, frequently a vassal of the Parthian Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Charax Spasinu | ||||||||
| Common languages | Aramaic (cultural language) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
|
• 141–124 BC
|
Hyspaosines (first) | ||||||||
|
• 210–222 AD
|
Abinergaios III (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Classical antiquity | ||||||||
|
• Established
|
141 BC | ||||||||
|
• Sasanian conquest
|
222 AD | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
Characene was an ancient kingdom located at the top of the Persian Gulf. Today, this area is mostly in modern Iraq. It was also known as Mesene or Meshan.
The kingdom was founded by a leader named Hyspaosines. Its capital city was Charax Spasinou. This city was a very important port. It helped with trade between Mesopotamia (a region in the Middle East) and India. Charax Spasinou also served the city of Susa, which was further up the Karun River.
Characene was often a smaller kingdom that answered to the powerful Parthian Empire. Most of its people were Arabs, and they spoke Aramaic. Even though many people were Arab, all the rulers of Characene had Iranian names. Some members of the Arsacid dynasty (a ruling family from the Parthian Empire) also ruled Characene.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name "Characene" comes from its capital city, Charax Spasinu. The kingdom was also known by an older name for the region, "Mesene." This name seems to come from Persian words. It might mean "land of buffaloes" or "land of sheep."
History of Characene
Founding of the Capital City
The city of Charax Spasinou was first built by Alexander the Great. He was a famous Macedonian ruler. He wanted the city to be a major trading port for his eastern capital, Babylon. The area around it was called the Satrapy of the Erythraean Sea.
However, the city didn't become as important as Alexander hoped. It was even destroyed by floods in the mid-200s BC. Later, a Seleucid king named Antiochus IV Epiphanes rebuilt it. He ruled from 175 to 164 BC. He renamed the city Antiochia.
After the city was rebuilt in 166/5 BC, Antiochus IV chose Hyspaosines to govern it. Hyspaosines was in charge of Antiochia and the surrounding region.
Becoming Independent
Antiochia became successful for a short time. But then Antiochus IV died suddenly in 163 BC. This made the Seleucid Empire weaker. Many parts of the empire started to become independent. One nearby region, Elymais, also declared its independence.
Even though Hyspaosines was now mostly independent, he stayed loyal to the Seleucids. He probably wanted to keep the profitable trade between Antiochia and Seleucia going smoothly.
The Seleucids suffered big defeats from the Parthian Empire. By 141 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I had taken over important regions like Babylonia. Because the Parthians were so close and powerful, Hyspaosines decided to declare Characene independent.
However, in 124 BC, Hyspaosines agreed to become a vassal of the Parthians. This meant Characene was still a kingdom, but it had to obey the Parthian Empire. Characene usually remained a semi-independent kingdom under Parthian rule until it fell. The kingdom also included the islands of Failaka and Bahrain.
Coins and Trade
We know a lot about the kings of Characene from their coins. These coins were mostly silver and had writing in Greek and later Aramaic. The coins were dated using the Seleucid era calendar. This helps historians understand the order of the kings.
The port of Charax was very important for trade. A Roman writer named Pliny the Elder praised the port in his book, Natural History. He wrote about how the land around the port changed over time due to river deposits. This made the port further from the sea than it used to be.
Trade continued to be a big part of Characene's life. A famous person from Characene, Isidore, wrote a book about the trade routes of the Parthian Empire. People from Palmyra (another ancient city) even had a permanent trading post in Characene. Many old writings mention the busy caravan trade.
Other Cities and Roman Contact
Besides Charax, other important cities in Characene included Forat (on the Tigris River), Apologos, and Teredon. One king, Meredates, called himself "king of the Omani" on his coins. This suggests that the kingdom might have stretched south along the Persian Gulf for a time.
In 115 AD, the Roman emperor Trajan conquered Mesopotamia. He also reached Characene during his Parthian campaign. He saw ships heading to India from there. According to ancient writers, the ruler Attambelos was friendly with the emperor. The people of Charax Spasinou were also described as welcoming to the Romans.
Characene likely remained under Roman control for a couple of years. But then Emperor Hadrian decided to pull back from Trajan's conquests. It's not clear if Characene became fully independent again or if it went back under direct Parthian rule. The next Parthian king we know about from ancient sources was Meredates, mentioned in an inscription from 131 AD.
The End of Characene
In 221–222 AD, a Persian leader named Ardashir V started a rebellion against the Parthians. He founded the Sasanian Empire. According to later Arab histories, Ardashir defeated Characene's forces. He killed its last ruler and rebuilt the city, renaming it Astarābād-Ardašīr.
The area that was once Characene became known by the Aramaic name myšn or myšyn. Later, Arab conquerors called it Maysān.
Charax, under the name Maysān, continued to exist. Persian texts mention governors there throughout the 400s AD. A Christian church was mentioned there in the 500s. The Charax mint (where coins were made) kept working through the Sasanian Empire and even into the Umayyad Empire, making coins until about 715 AD.
Early writings from the first century AD describe the people of Characene as "Mesenos." They lived along the Arabian side of the coast at the head of the Persian Gulf.
Kings of Characene
- Hyspaosines (around 127–124 BC)
- Apodakos (around 110/09–104/03 BC)
- Tiraios I (95/94–90/89 BC)
- Hippokrates Autokrator Nikephoros (possible ruler in 81/80 BC)
- Tiraios II (79/78–49/48 BC)
- Artabazos I (49/48–48/47 BC)
- Attambelos I (47/46–25/24 BC)
- Theonesios I (around 19/18 BC)
- Attambelos II (around 17/16 BC – 8/9 AD)
- Abinergaos I (10/11 AD; 22/23 AD)
- Orabazes I (around 19 AD)
- Attambelos III (around 37/38–44/45 AD)
- Theonesios II (around 46/47 AD)
- Theonesios III (around 52/53 AD)
- Attambelos IV (54/55–64/65 AD)
- Attambelos V (64/65–73/74 AD)
- Orabazes II (around 73–80 AD)
- Pakoros (80–101/02 AD)
- Attambelos VI (around 101/02–105/06 AD)
- Theonesios IV (around 110/11–112/113 AD)
- Attambelos VII (113/14–117 AD)
- Meredates (around 131–150/51 AD)
- Orabazes II (around 150/51–165 AD)
- Abinergaios II (?) (around 165–180 AD)
- Attambelos VIII (around 180–195 AD)
- Maga (?) (around 195–210 AD)
- Abinergaos III (around 210–222 AD)
