In this year’s Ilse and Leo Mildenberg Memorial Lecture, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, curator emerita at the British Museum, will share the story of a clash of empires.

From the beginning of the first century BCE, Parthia and Rome were rivals, both attempting to gain territorial and economic superiority of the region around the river Euphrates in Mesopotamia, which became more or less Parthia’s western frontier. This coincided with the emergence of the so-called Silk Routes, which placed Parthia in an important geographical and economic position controlling both the routes through the highlands of Iran as well as maritime trade along the Persian Gulf.

The Sasanian dynasty, which succeeded the Parthian dynasty in 224 CE, continued the same policy as their predecessors—to maintain control of the western borders and the buffer states—which brought them into collision with Rome and then Byzantium.

Both Parthian and Sasanian kings had the additional challenge of retaining their position as holders of the Kingly Glory and the right to rule their realm within the concept of kingship in the ancient Iranian tradition. Coins of these two dynasties featured, therefore, imagery and symbolism that emphasized divine support for the king of kings.

In this lecture, we will review the coin iconography, royal titles, and the art of the two ancient Iranian dynasties, as well as their rivalry with Rome.