Settlements > Susa

Susa

Background

Susa lost much of its importance when Alexander of Macedon (Alexander the Great) conquered it in 331 BCE and incorporated the first Persian Empire. The Susa weddings was arranged by Alexander in 324 BC in Susa, where mass weddings took place between the Persians and the Macedonians. Approximately one century after Alexander, Susa fell to the Seleucid Empire. After Seleucia, it was the biggest city in under Seleucid control at the time. Susa used Charax Spasinou as its port. It retained a considerable amount of independence and retained its Greek city state organization well into the ensuing Parthian period and seems to have gained independence under a dynasty whose kings bore the name of Kamnaskires in the 1st century CE.

When the Parthian Empire gained its independence from the Seleucid Empire, and took control of much of its eastern provinces, Susa was made one of the two capitals (along with Ctesiphon) of the new state. Susa became a frequent place of refuge for Parthian and later, the Persian Sassanid kings, as the Romans sacked Ctesiphon five different times between 116 and 297 AD (Susa was briefly captured only by Roman emperor Trajan in 116 AD and never again would the Roman Empire advance so far to the east).[35] Typically, the Parthian rulers wintered in Susa, and spent the summer in Ctesiphon.

Sources