One of the Nysian rhytons is decorated with a relief image, the plot of which can be associated with the legend of the Theban king Pentheus. The curious king secretly entered the festival dedicated to the god of wine, Dionysus. Among the participants in the sacred rites in honor of Dionysus - the Bacchantes - was the mother of Pen-they, Queen Agave. Intoxicated with wine, the Bacchantes mistook the king for a sacrificial animal and tore it to pieces, sacrificing it to their god. This Greek legend was the basis of Euripides' drama "The Bacchae", known at the Arsacid court. It was once played by actors in the presence of Tsar Orod, the winner of the Romans at Carrhae. At the climax of the performance, a crowd of actors portraying Bacchantes brought onto the stage on raised thyrsus rods not the rag head of the mythical Penfey, but the head of the defeated Roman commander Crassus and threw it at the feet of the Parthian king to the enthusiastic cries of those present.
Orodes did not enjoy his military successes for long. Behind him, a conspiracy was brewing, headed by Prince Fraat. In 37 BC Horod accepted death at the hands of his son, who was named King Phraates IV. Having taken the throne, the parricide king faced problems vital for the state: a grueling military confrontation with Rome, battles in which the most talented generals and brave Parthian warriors died. During military clashes, trade froze and the flow of gold to the state treasury dried up. Finally, the ongoing strife both in the family of the king and among his courtiers largely contributed to the weakening of the state. In 20 BC the Parthians had to conclude an agreement with Rome, according to which they returned all the surviving captive soldiers of Crassus and his successors. Later, four sons and four grandsons of King Phraates went to Rome as hostages. But the fate of those who remained at home was even worse. A few years later, all members of the Arshakids family died as a result of palace unrest and conspiracies. The Parthian throne turned out to be free, and Roman diplomacy, supported by the troops, helped its man, Vanon, occupy it. The once mighty Parthia found itself under the control of an old adversary. It seemed that her glory and power remained in the distant past. However, in 10 AD. son-in-law of Phraates IV Arta-ban rebelled, expelled the Roman henchmen and proclaimed himself king, initiating a new Parthian dynasty of younger Arshakids.
The state of the Parthians was to exist for more than 200 years. These were difficult times. The Parthians had to defend the western borders from the onslaught of the Romans, repel the raids of the nomads, suppress the uprisings of the conquered peoples, gradually recognizing their independence. Trade grew weak, goods were sent in other ways, palace troubles led to disorder and complete anarchy in the state. When in 212 AD. an uprising broke out in the southwest, in Pars, the Parthians did not have the strength to suppress it in time, because. the state was ruled by two irreconcilable enemies - the brothers Vologez V and Artaban V, unable to reconcile and act together.
The Parthian state was doomed. The almost 500-year rule of the Arshakids' house ended ingloriously. Others rushed to their throne, dishonored by betrayal, spattered with the blood of victims and executioners. One of them, Artashir, the son of Papak from the Sasan clan, will be able to establish himself on it, starting a new countdown, opening a new page in history.
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