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Author Overtoom, Nikolaus Leo, author

Title Reign of arrows : the rise of the Parthian Empire in the Hellenistic Middle East / Nikolaus Leo Overtoom
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]
©2020

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Description 1 online resource (xlv, 346 pages) : illustrations, maps
Series Oxford studies in early empires
Oxford studies in early empires
Contents Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Maps -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Timeline -- Greek and Roman Literary Sources -- Genealogical Table of the Early Arsacids -- Parthian Kings and Select Coins -- Introduction: Sources and Theory -- 1 From Migrants to Masters of the Middle East -- 2 The Emergence of the Parthian State -- 3 The Empire Strikes Back -- 4 The Fall of Bactria, the Rise of Parthia -- 5 The Climax of the Seleucid-Parthian Rivalry -- 6 Parthian Hegemony -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary "From minor nomadic tribe to major world empire, the story of the Parthians' success in the ancient world is nothing short of remarkable. In their early history, the Parthians benefitted from strong leadership, a flexible and accommodating cultural identity, and innovative military characteristics that allowed them to compete against and indeed eventually overcome Greek, Persian, Central Asian, and eventually Roman rivals who were often more powerful. Reign of Arrows provides the first comprehensive study dedicated entirely to early Parthian history within the Hellenistic world prior to contact with Rome and the first comprehensive effort to evaluate early Parthian political history since 1938. It is a major effort to synthesize a wide array of especially recent scholarship across numerous fields of study in order to present the reader with the most cogent, well rounded, and up-to-date account of the intersections of Hellenistic and Parthian history possible. It draws on a wide variety of sources to explain the political and military encounters that shaped the international environment of the Hellenistic Middle East from the middle third to the early first centuries BCE. This study combines traditional historical approaches, such as source criticism and the integration of material evidence, with the incorporation of modern international relations theory to better examine the rise of the Parthians to dominance over the ancient Middle East. This study treats broader issues of international relations in the ancient world, state decision-making, royal identity and ideology, evolving spatial perspectives and power relations, and state security concerns. Relevant to historians, classicists, political scientists, and general readers interested in the ancient world, international relations, military history, transregional cultural exchange, or the history of the Middle East, this study reimagines and reconstructs the rise of the Parthians within the hotly contested and dangerously competitive international environment of the Hellenistic Middle Eastern world"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from web page (Oxford Scholarship Online, viewed on July 22, 2020)
Subject Parthians -- History
Parthians
SUBJECT Parthia -- History
Subject Iran -- Parthia
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019044751
ISBN 9780190888350
0190888350
9780190888336
0190888334
9780190888343
0190888342