Achaemenid Assyria - Assyria After The Achaemenid Period

Assyria After The Achaemenid Period

In the late 4th century BC Alexander the Great led his Greco-Macedonian army to conquer the Achaemenid Empire. The empire's vast territory and numerous tributary peoples ensured that rebellion would be a constant problem. This new Greek Empire relied upon the administrative system put in place by the Persians to govern these new lands; consequently, the Assyrian lands of Athura and Mada were administrated as such by their own Satraps. When Alexander the Great died, the Greek successor state of the Seleucid Empire, created in the struggle over Babylonia, retained control of much of the Persian Empire. The Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period now show the vitality of Greek culture in ancient cities like Babylon.

Whilst Greek rule beyond the Euphrates was subject to constant and eventually successful Iranian incursions, Assyria was forced to take the role of a frontier province, first defending the Seleucid Empire against the Parthians, later defending the Parthan Empire against the Romans. Greek rule in the East did not last long even though the cultural impacts did - by the mid-3rd century BC the Satraps, administrators of the various provinces in the Seleucid Empire began revolting against the Seleucid Empire in Persia and Bactria establishing their own domains. A temporary revival of Seleucid Power re-established Imperial authority in these regions in the late 3rd and early 2nd century BC but after which the Parthians soon came to incorporate the lands known as Assyria once again by the mid-2nd century BC.

Parthian rule aimed to emulate that of their Persian predecessors, the Achaemenids with a similar system of administration involving Satraps and smaller provinces. Indeed the main rebel behind the rise of Parthia from Seleucia was a Satrap himself. On top of this, the Parthian Empire was more decentralized and power was shared amongst clan leaders, hinting at the possibility of the retention of the provinces. Mesopotamia became the Heartland of the Seleucid Empire with a new capital, Seleucia on the Tigris founded. As a result, much culture and knowledge was exchanged between the Greeks and the Assyrians. The invasions of Alexander the Great consisted not only of soldiers but scientists and Historians.

Beginning in the 1st century BC, the Romans began expanding their Empire at the cost of the Parthians. Initially the Nomadic military tactic of circling and shooting worked to deadly effect against the slow heavy moving infantry of the Romans. In time however, superior technology and strategy drove the Parthians out of the Mediterranean and most of Asia Minor. The Parthians continued to resist Roman rule, invading and in turn being invaded by the Romans many times, with their capital Ctesiphon being sacked three times. The consequence of these bloody and inconclusive wars meant that the Assyrian provinces bore the brunt of the fighting, with Assyrian troops fighting for one side and then, at the change of the governing of the lands of Mada and Athura, fighting for the other side. Naturally such events served to undermine the Assyrians.

By the 2nd century AD under the Emperor Trajan, the Romans began to achieve the upper hand against the Parthians and established the Roman Province of Assyria along the Euphrates and Tigris.

From 226 AD Assyria became a province of the Sassanid Persian Empire, and was renamed Asuristan. The Assyrians had begun to adopt Christianity from the 1st Century AD, and Aramaic remained the spoken language of the region.

In 650 AD the area fell to the Arabs, however the region remained Aramaic speaking and largely Christian well into the Middle Ages. Assyrians still remain in the area to this day, and there are a number of Assyrian towns and villages in the region of ancient Assyria, in addition cities such as Mosul, Dohuk, Erbil and Kirkuk have Assyrian populations. The Assyrians remain Christian and retain the Aramaic language and written script.