Introduction: Sources and Theory

This chapter discusses the neglect of the Parthians in the ancient sources and in modern historiography, while introducing the application of international relations theory to help provide a fuller appreciation of the geopolitical developments of the Parthian state and to help overcome some of the limitations of our sources. Although the Parthians are a part of the long tradition of strong Middle Eastern empires and the Hellenistic world created by the conquests of Alexander the Great, no other major world empire has been more overshadowed, misunderstood, or ignored. There have been relatively few comprehensive studies of the formation, growth, and international relations of the Parthian state. Most studies of this sort are either outdated, cursory, or, in the case of numerous recent attempts, of limited or questionable academic merit. No account of the Parthians’ history survives from their perspective. In reconstructing Parthian history, we must maneuver through Greek and Roman literary sources that dominate the narrative and often treat the Parthians hostilely or cursorily and mostly from a foreign perspective, and therefore, recent work in archaeology and numismatics is invaluable to the historical reconstruction of the Hellenistic Middle East. With the sometimes severe limitations of our available sources in mind, the potential insights that the theoretical framework of modern international relations theory, especially Realist Theory, offers to the study of Parthian political history are quite exciting, and this study is the first comprehensive attempt to apply modern international relations theory to the interpretation of Parthian expansionism and interactions with neighboring states.