帕提亚王朝的“爱希腊”情结

The"Philhellenic"Complex of the Parthia Dynasty

帕提亚王国是希腊化时期一个比较特殊的国家,由当地的阿尔萨息家族在塞琉古王国东部领土的基础上建立而成。帕提亚王朝长期与希腊—马其顿人为敌,却宣称自己是希腊文化的爱好者、希腊人之友(Philhellene)。这一貌似矛盾的现象之所以产生,根本原因在于,帕提亚囿于自身文化的落后以及地缘政治的变化,难以避免境内希腊化文化遗产和周边希腊化世界的强大影响,建国初期尤其如此。为了安抚、笼络境内外的希腊人,巩固和扩大自己的统治,帕提亚王朝不得不在文化上作出妥协,"爱希腊"既是一种具有明确政治目的的宣传,也是他们对希腊化文化坦然接受并为己所用的真情表白。随着希腊化世界不复存在和罗马人到来,"爱希腊"这一口号逐渐流于形式,成为不再具有实际意义的符号。

The Parthian Empire was a peculiar country that existed during the period of Hellenism.It was built by the local Arsaces family on the basis of the eastern territory of ancient Seleucia.Despite its long-established conflicts with the Greco-Macedonians,the Parthians proclaimed that they were philhellene.The seemingly paradoxical phenomenon was attributable to Parthia's cultural backwardness and the ongoing geo-political changes,such that it found it hard to resist the domestic cultural heritage of Hellenism and the strong influence of Hellenist neighborhood.This was especially so in the earlier period of state building.To cajole and gain favor with the Greeks both at home and abroad,and to consolidate and expand its rule,the Parthia Empire had to make some cultural compromise.'Philhellenism'was then adopted both as a propaganda strategy with explicit political goals and as a public statement of accepting Hellenist culture for its own purpose.With the disappearance of the Hellenist world and the arrival of Romans,the philhellenic rhetoric became increasingly formalized and existed merely as a symbol with no practical meaning.