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{{Infobox military person
|name= Surena<br /> {{lang|fa|سورنا}}
|birth_date= 84 BC
|birth_place= [[Iran]], [[Parthian Empire]]
|death_date= 53 BC (aged 31)
|death_place= [[Iran]], [[Parthian Empire]]
|image= SurenaImage.jpg
|caption= Statue of Surena in the [[National Museum of Iran]].<ref>http://www.persianempire.info/parthia9.htm</ref>
|allegiance= [[Parthian Empire]]
|rank= [[General]]
|commands=
|battles= [[Seleucid–Parthian wars]]
[[Battle of Carrhae]]
}}
{{other uses}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Suren|the village in Iran|Suren, Iran}}
{{redirect|Suren|the village in Iran|Suren, Iran}}
'''{{transl|fa|Eran Spahbodh Rustaham Suren-Pahlav}}'''<ref>http://www.iranchamber.com/history/surena/surena.php</ref>(84 BC – 53 BC) ({{lang-fa|سورنا}}) also know as '''Surena''' and '''Suren''' was a [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] [[general]] best known for defeating the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] in the [[Battle of Carrhae]]<ref name="Bivar_49_51">{{harvnb|Bivar|1983|pp=49–51}}.</ref>. The name under which he appears in the western classical sources was apparently no more than his hereditary title, that of Suren, which continues to appear as well in the record of Iranian history far into [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanian times]].<ref>http://www.iranchamber.com/history/surena/surena.php</ref>
'''Surena''' or '''Suren''' may refer to either a noble family of [[Parthia]] (Persian Empire) also known as the [[#House of Suren|House of Suren]], or to a renowned 1st century BC [[#General Surena|General Surena]] who was a member of that family.

From [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] and other historiographers of late antiquity, it appears that 'Surena' was also a title of office. "The highest dignity in the kingdom, next to the Crown, was that of Surena, or 'Field-Marshal', and this position was hereditary in a particular family."<ref name="Rawlinson_1901_420">{{harvnb|Rawlinson|1901|p=420}}.</ref>


'Surena' remains popular as a name in [[Iran]].<!-- and where folk etymology associates it with ''zūr-'' "strength"--> 'Surena' is the Greek and Latin form of ''Sûrên''<ref name="Lendering">{{harvnb|Lendering|2006}}.</ref> or ''Sūrēn''.<ref name="Herzfeld_1929_44">{{harvnb|Herzfeld|1929|p=44,70}}.</ref> As 'Suren', the name remains common in [[Armenia]].<ref name="Lang_510">{{harvnb|Lang|1983|p=510}}.</ref> 'Suren' means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted)."<ref name="Justi_1895_317">{{harvnb|Justi|1895|p=317}}.</ref>{{ref label|justi|d|none}}
'Surena' remains popular as a name in [[Iran]].<!-- and where folk etymology associates it with ''zūr-'' "strength"--> 'Surena' is the Greek and Latin form of ''Sûrên''<ref name="Lendering">{{harvnb|Lendering|2006}}.</ref> or ''Sūrēn''.<ref name="Herzfeld_1929_44">{{harvnb|Herzfeld|1929|p=44,70}}.</ref> As 'Suren', the name remains common in [[Armenia]].<ref name="Lang_510">{{harvnb|Lang|1983|p=510}}.</ref> 'Suren' means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted)."<ref name="Justi_1895_317">{{harvnb|Justi|1895|p=317}}.</ref>{{ref label|justi|d|none}}

Revision as of 11:04, 9 March 2013

Surena
سورنا
Statue of Surena in the National Museum of Iran.[1]
Born84 BC
Iran, Parthian Empire
Died53 BC (aged 31)
Iran, Parthian Empire
AllegianceParthian Empire
RankGeneral
Battles/warsSeleucid–Parthian wars Battle of Carrhae
For other uses, see Surena (disambiguation).
"Suren" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Suren, Iran.

Eran Spahbodh Rustaham Suren-Pahlav[2](84 BC – 53 BC) (Persian: سورنا) also know as Surena and Suren was a Parthian general best known for defeating the Romans in the Battle of Carrhae[3]. The name under which he appears in the western classical sources was apparently no more than his hereditary title, that of Suren, which continues to appear as well in the record of Iranian history far into Sassanian times.[4]

'Surena' remains popular as a name in Iran. 'Surena' is the Greek and Latin form of Sûrên[5] or Sūrēn.[6] As 'Suren', the name remains common in Armenia.[7] 'Suren' means "the heroic one, Avestan sūra (strong, exalted)."[8][d]

House of Suren

The Surenas or "House of Suren"[9][10] are one of two[c] Parthian noble families explicitly mentioned by name in sources dateable to the Arsacid period.[11]

The head of Surena family had the privilege to crown the first Parthian king in the 3rd century BC, which founded a tradition that was continued by his descendants.[12][11][a] Following the 3rd century AD defeat of the Arsacids and the subsequent rise of the Sassanids, the Surenas then switched sides and began to serve the Persians,[5][13] at whose court they were identified as one of the so-called "Parthian clans." The last attested scion of the family was a military commander active in northern China during the 9th century.[14]

It is "probable"[5] that the Surenas were landowners in Sakastan, that is, in the region between Arachosia and Drangiana in present-day southeast Iran. The Surenas appear to have governed Sistan (which derives its name from 'Sakastan' and was once a much larger region than the present day province) as their personal fiefdom.[5]

"Ernst Herzfeld maintained that the dynasty of [the Indo-Parthian emperor] Gondophares represented the House of Suren."[15] Other notable members of the family include the 1st century BC cavalry commander General Surena (see below) and a 6th century AD governor (satrap) of Armenia who attempted to reestablish Zoroastrianism in that province.[16]

General Surena

General Surena (84–52 BC), son of Arakhsh (Arash in Persian) and Massis, was a famed commander of cavalry during the reign of the Arsacid dynast Orodes II (r. 57–38 BC).

In Life of Crassus 21, written c. 225 years after the commander's time, Plutarch described[5] Surena as "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."[b] Also according to Plutarch, there were "many slaves" in his army, suggesting the general had great wealth.[17] Plutarch also described him as "the tallest and finest looking man himself, but the delicacy of his looks and effeminacy of his dress did not promise so much manhood as he really was master of; or his face was painted, and his hair parted after the fashion of the Medes."[18]

In 54 BC, Surena commanded troops of Orodes II at the battle for the city of Seleucia. Surena distinguished himself in this battle for dynastic succession (Orodes II had previously been deposed by Mithridates III) and was instrumental in the reinstatement of Orodes upon the Arsacid throne.[19]

In 53 BC, the Romans advanced on the western Arsacid vassalaries. In response, Orodes II sent his cavalry units under Surena to combat them. The two armies subsequently met at Battle of Carrhae (at Harrân in present-day Turkey), where the superior equipment and clever tactics of the Parthians to lure the Romans out into the middle of the desert enabled them to defeat the numerically superior Romans.[3]

Although this feat of arms took a severe toll on the Roman troops (Plutarch speaks of 20,000 dead and 10,000 prisoners), and "produced a mighty echo amongst the peoples of the East," it did not cause "any decisive shift in the balance of power,"[20] that is, the Arsacid victory did not gain them territory. For Surena, "it soon cost him his life. Probably fearing that he would constitute a threat to himself, King Orodes II had him executed."[20]

"In some ways, the position of [Surena] in the historical tradition is curiously parallel to that of Rustam in the [Shahnameh]." "Yet despite the predominance of Rustam in the epic tradition, it has never been possible to find him a convincingly historical niche."[21]

The last composition of the 17th century French dramatist Pierre Corneille, a tragedy titled Suréna, is roughly based on the story of General Surena.

See also

Notes

a.^ The right to crown Parthian kings did not specifically denote power over those kings. "The execution of Surena, the victor at Carrhae shows the relatively unlimited power of the supreme monarch in Parthia."[22]
b.^ Plutarch's 2nd century AD description of the 1st century BC commander reads: "Surena was no ordinary person; but in fortune, family and honour, the first after the king; and in point of courage and capacity, as well as in size and beauty, superior to the Parthians of his time. If he went only upon an excursion into the country, he had a thousand camels to carry his baggage, and two hundred carriages for his concubines. He was attended by thousand heavy-armed horse, and many more of the light-armed rode before him. Indeed, his vassals and slaves made up a body of cavalry little less than ten thousand."[23]
c.^ The other noble family explicitly mentioned is the House of Karen.[11]
d.^ Justi 1895, p. 317, col. 2, ¶ 2: "d. i. der heldenhafte, awest. sūra (stark, hehr)."

References

  1. ^ http://www.persianempire.info/parthia9.htm
  2. ^ http://www.iranchamber.com/history/surena/surena.php
  3. ^ a b Bivar 1983, pp. 49–51.
  4. ^ http://www.iranchamber.com/history/surena/surena.php
  5. ^ a b c d e Lendering 2006.
  6. ^ Herzfeld 1929, p. 44,70.
  7. ^ Lang 1983, p. 510.
  8. ^ Justi 1895, p. 317.
  9. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 41.
  10. ^ Herzfeld 1929, p. 70.
  11. ^ a b c Lukonin 1983, p. 704.
  12. ^ Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart (2007). THE AGE OF THE PARTHIANS. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84511-406-0.
  13. ^ Frye 1983, p. 130.
  14. ^ Perikanian 1983, p. 683.
  15. ^ Bivar 2003 cf. Bivar 1983, p. 51.
  16. ^ Frye 1983, p. 159.
  17. ^ Perikanian 1983, p. 635.
  18. ^ The Internet Classics Archive
  19. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 49.
  20. ^ a b Schippmann 1987, p. 528.
  21. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 51.
  22. ^ Schippmann 1987, p. 532.
  23. ^ Langhorne & Langhorne 1934, p. 59.

Bibliography

  • Bivar, A. D. H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 21–100
  • Bivar, A. D. H. (2003), "Gondophares", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 11.2, Costa Mesa: Mazda
  • Frye, R. N. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Sassanians", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 116–181
  • Herzfeld, Ernst Emil, ed. (1929), "Das Haus Sūrēn von Sakastan-->", Archæologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, vol. I, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, pp. 70–80
  • Justi, Ferdinand (1895), "Sūrēn", Iranisches Namenbuch, Leipzig/Marburg: Elwert, pp. 316–317.
  • Lang, David M. (1983), "Iran, Armenia and Georgia", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.1, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 505–537
  • Lendering, Jona (2006), Surena, Amsterdam: livius.org
  • Lukonin, V. G. (1983), "Political, Social and Administrative Institutions", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.2, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 681–747
  • Plutarch, "Marcus Crassus", in Langhorne, John; Langhorne, William, eds. (1934), Plutarch's Lives, London: J. Crissy
  • Rawlinson, George (1901), The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, vol. 6, London: Dodd, Mead & Company
  • Perikanian, A. (1983), "Iranian Society and Law", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.2, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 627–681
  • Schippmann, K. (1987), "Arsacid ii: The Arsacid Dynasty", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 525–536
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