Surena, the Parthian

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Surena, the Parthian

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Bronze Stature of General Surena, .

The Crest of

Surena ( – E), also spelled Sorena, is the most common appellation for Rustaham Suren-Pahlav, son of Arakhsh (Arash, pers.) and Massis. Surena was born into the . The name under which he appears in the Western Classical sources was apparently no more than his hereditary title, that of Suren, which appears again in the period.

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[] The great general

The name Surena is preserved amongst the tales of epic heroes whose deeds are recalled in the of the . In this national epic, the record of the was suppressed at its true chronological point; the instance of has shown that at least some of its spectacular episodes were transferred to the legendary period of Key-Kavous, and incorporated there. The feat of arms performed by Surena was certainly the most celebrated of the whole Ashkanian/Arsacid () era, and did not vanish entirely. Thus, in some ways, the position of great Suren in the historical tradition is curiously parallel to that of , the hero of the Shahnameh. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical personality of Rustam. The latter was always represented as the mightiest of Iranian paladins, and the atmosphere of the episodes in which he features is strongly reminiscent of the Ashkanian period.

Surena commanded the Parthian army under , at the dynastic succession in , soundly trouncing a mixed army bolstered by Roman legions for the unsuccessful , claimant to the throne of , supported by , of . The next year the Romans, in a hopeless attempt in , attacked western Iranian provinces in which both armies met at . Iranians under the command of Surena, destroyed entire Roman forces, and twenty thousand Romans were killed; ten thousand were captured, and deported to distant northern provinces of for hard labour and slavery. After that event the River was firmly established as the boundary between the Parthian and Roman Empires, though the debacles seemed to little affect the career of the influential Aulus Gabinius.

The achievements of the General Surena and his popularity among Iranians, caused his sovereign fear of this throne and soon after Carrhae King Orodes II had him executed. The bitterness between the Suren-Pahlav Clan and their cousins, the ruling House of Arsaces, made Surens to assist , the founder of to overthrown the last Arsacid Dynasty king, .

in his Life of Crassus (21) describes Surena as:

“

Surena was an extremely distinguished man. In wealth, birth, and in the honor paid to him, he ranked next after the king; in courage and ability he was the foremost Parthian of his time; and in stature and personal beauty he had no equal. When he travelled about the country on his own affairs, he was always accompanied by a baggage train of 1,000 dromedaries; 200 wagons carried his harem; 1,000 armored cavalry and still more light armed cavalry acted as his escort. The total number of his cavalry, his vassals, and his slaves came to at least 100,000 men. He had, as an ancient privilege of his family, the right to be the first to set the crown on the head of the king of Parthia at the coronation.

“

Eran-Spahbodh Rustaham’s youngest son, Rustaham-Gondofarr Suren-Pahlav or simply , the ruler of the eastern-greater Iran, who ruled between 10BC to AD17 on the vast empire of the at the time of Ashkanian dynasty, seems to have been the founder of the and the king of India. In the he appears as or Kaspar/, among , which was inserted in a story of their visit to .

[] References

E. E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East New York (1988), p310-311.,

S., Suren-Pahlav, General Surena, The Hero of Carrhae, ()

C. E. Bosworth, Harrân (Carrhae), (); accessed March 12, 2007.

Klaus Schippmann, Dynasty of Arsacids, (); accessed March 12, 2007.

S., Suren-Pahlav, General Surena, The Hero of Carrhae, ()

Jona Lendering, Surena, (); accessed February 27, 2007.

[] Sources

S., Suren-Pahlav, General Surena, The Hero of Carrhae,
\’A. Reza\’i, Tarikh-e Dah-Hezar Saleh Iran, Vol. 1. SH/1376.
Fred B. Shore, Parthian Coins and History: Ten Dragons Against Rome, Quarryville, PA: CNG, 1993.
M. J. Mashkur and M. Rajab-Nia, Tarikh-e Siyasi va \’Ejtema\’i Ashkanian, SH/1374.
Jona Lendering, Surena, (); accessed February 27, 2007.
Plutarch, Crassus, Translated by John Dryden ()

[] See also

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