The Achaemenid Empire struck coins
from the conquest of Lydia
until Persia fell to Alexander the Great in 330
bc.
After Alexander's death, Seleukos and his descendants ruled Persia. In 238 bc Arshak, king of the Skythian Parni tribe, overthrew the
governor of Parthia, and during the next
century, the Parthians took over most of the Seleukid
realm.
Although Marcus Crassus and Mark Antony met with disaster invading Persia, the Parthians
could
not cope with Rome,
which invaded the Parthian realm repeatedly during the second and third
centuries. |
Bust of a Sasanian King |
The Persians hated the Parthians,
weakened by their wars with Rome, and in 220
Persia reclaimed its old empire when Artashir
overthrew the Parthians.
The Sasanians revived the Zoroastrian religion and sought to reconquer Asia
Minor and Egypt, hastening the collapse of the
Roman Empire.
The conflict against the Byzantine empire intensified as Khusru II
invaded Syria,
Palestine and Egypt, but the Byzantines
destroyed the
Persian army. Persia fell into anarchy, and was invaded by the Arabs, who completed its conquest in 649. |
|
Collectors of ancient
Persian coins rarely collect the entire series, instead tending to
specialize in the coins of one issuing authority: Achaemenid
Persian coins, Parthian coins, Sasanian coins (also spelled Sassanian), or
issues of Parthian client kingdoms such as the coins of Persis, Elymais and
Characene. |
