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Characene, (Χαρακηνή in Ancient Greek) also known as Mesene (Μεσσήνη) and Meshan, was a kingdom within the Parthian Empire at the head of the Persian Gulf, in what is now southern Iraq. Charax Spasinou (Χάραξ Σπασινού) was the capital of Characene. The city was an important port for trade between Mesopotamia and India, which provided port facilities for the city of Susa farther up the Karun River.
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Location
Characene was part of the Sassanid Empire and was located primarily within the southern part of present-day Iraq. At one point Characene included Tylos, the present-day country of Bahrain.
History
Characene was founded around 127 BC under Aspasine, known in classical writings as Hyspaosines, a former satrap installed by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Characene remained intact through the evanescence of the Seleucid Empire and continued as an essentially independent kingdom under the Parthians until it was conquered by the Sassanians in the beginning of the third century AD.
After the Parthian conquest, Characene remained a semi-autonomous country with its own kings. Its tenure as a separate kingdom ended with the fall of the Parthian Empire.
The kings of Characene are known mainly by their coins, consisting mainly of silver tetradrachms with Greek and later Aramaic inscriptions. These coins are dated following the Seleucid era, providing a secure framework for the chronological succession of the kings.
Charax, the capital of Characene, was founded by Alexander the Great. The city was constructed on an artificial mound to protect the site from the flood waters of the nearby rivers. The new town was most likely meant to serve as a major commercial port for the eastern capital of Babylon, a port which would handle sea trade. Charax flourished under the Seleucid Empire, controlling the trade in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. It was also a center for pearl diving.
The Roman emperor Trajan visited Charax in 116 AD during his invasion of Parthia, where he saw ships sailing bound for India. Trajan reportedly lamented his lost youth, as his old age prevented him from traveling to India like Alexander.
After being destroyed by a flood, Charax was later rebuilt by the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great (222-187 BC) and was briefly called Antiochia. After the Parthian invasion of Mesopotamia in 141 AD, Charax became independent.
The little state kept its independence (perhaps as a vassal of the Parthian Empire) and sometimes joined the Romans in their struggle against the common enemy, the Parthian king. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder praises the port of Charax:
The embankments extend in length a distance of nearly 4½ kilometers, in breadth a little less. It stood at first at a distance of 1¾ km from the shore, and even had a harbor of its own. But according to Juba, it is 75 kilometer from the sea; and at the present day, the ambassadors from Arabia, and our own merchants who have visited the place, say that it stands at a distance of one 180 kilometers from the sea-shore. Indeed, in no part of the world have alluvial deposits been formed more rapidly by the rivers, and to a greater extent than here; and it is only a matter of surprise that the tides, which run to a considerable distance beyond this city, do not carry them back again.Trade continued to be important for the kingdom. A famous Characenian, a man named Isidore, was the author of a treatise on the trade routes in the Parthian Empire, the Mansiones Parthicae. The inhabitants of Palmyra had a permanent trading station in Characene and many inscriptions mention caravan trade.
In 221-22 AD, an ethnic Persian, Ardašēr, who was satrap of Fars, led a revolt against the Parthians, establishing the Sassanid Empire. According to later Arab histories, he defeated Characene forces, killed its last ruler, rebuilt the town, and renamed it Astarābād-Ardašīr. The area around Charax that had been the Characene state was thereon known by the Aramaic/Syriac name Maysān, which was later adapted by the Arab conquerors.
Charax continued, under the name Maysān, with Persian texts making various mention of governors throughout the fifth century. There is mention of a Nestorian Church there in the sixth century. The Charax mint appears to have continued throughout the Sassanid empire and into the Umayyad empire, minting coins as late as AD 715.
The earliest references from the first century A.D. indicates that the people of Characene were referred to as Μεσηνός and lived along the Arabian side of the coast at the head of the Persian Gulf.