波斯阿契美尼德王朝养马与马政制度管窥

On the Horse Breeding and Horse Politics in the Achaemenid Persian Empire

作为历史上首个地跨欧亚非三洲的帝国,波斯阿契美尼德帝国疆域辽阔,族群众多,在空间治理与体制运行上高度依赖马匹的移动能力。得益于以往养马的积淀与骑马术的传播,波斯帝国诸多地区养马以及各地在培育马匹上因地制宜,形成了以尼萨马为主要代表的多元种群谱系,可以满足各种功能需求。在养马方式上,则形成了群牧和舍饲两种养马方式,还有舍饲野牧这种灵活的安排。而依靠帝国各地丰富的马匹资源,波斯帝国实行灵活的马政,直接和间接控制大量的马匹资源,满足了国家对马匹的需求,并为对手马其顿国王亚历山大所关注。总而言之,波斯帝国养马与马政,承上启下,为后世近东各国的养马业与马政留下了诸多可资借鉴的物质和观念遗产,对陆上丝绸之路提供了坚实的动力保障。

As the first empire in history to span three continents—Europe,Asia and Africa,the Achaemenid Persian Empire was vast with many ethnic groups,and relied heavily on the mobility of horses for its spatial governance and institutional operations.Thanks to the development of previous horse breeding and the spread of horseback riding,horses were bred in many regions of the Persian Empire,and the local adaptation in breeding horses had formed a diverse spectrum of breeding stock,mainly represented by the Nisaean horse,which can meet various functional needs.In terms of horse breeding methods,two types had been developed,namely herding and housing,and there was also a flexible arrangement of housing and wild grazing.And relying on the abundant of horse resources all over the empire,the Persian Empire practiced flexible horse politics and controlled directly and indirectly a large number of horse resources,which met the empire's demand for horses and was of interest to the rival Macedonian king Alexander.All in all,the Persian Empire's horse breeding and horse politics,inherited from the past and left behind many material and conceptual legacies for future countries of Near Eastern to draw upon for their horse breeding and horse politics,and provided a solid guarantee for the momentum of the overland Silk Road.