Parthian Vengeance

Name: Parthian Vengeance
Rating: 4.4 (1829 reviews)

by Peter Darman Book 3 in the Parthian Chronicles series.

First published 2012

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4.4(1,829)

Set in the Parthian Empire in the mid-first century BCE, amid dynastic war and regional rivalry.

Parthian kings depended on the support of powerful aristocratic families and regional rulers, making succession disputes especially dangerous. Civil war could mobilise armies across vast distances and leave frontier kingdoms exposed. The novel's struggle for control of the empire reflects this decentralised political structure, in which victory over a rival did not automatically produce lasting obedience.

The struggle is made more dangerous by the distances involved. Armies must cross deserts and river valleys before they can force a decision, and a defeated rival may still retain allies in another kingdom. Pacorus's attempt to finish the conflict quickly becomes a test of whether battlefield superiority can solve a dynastic war whose causes lie in family, status and the fragmented structure of Parthian authority.

The personal feud is therefore inseparable from the survival of Dura. Pacorus cannot pursue vengeance as a private warrior because every army he raises exposes his own kingdom and every alliance he accepts creates obligations that will survive the campaign. The novel turns revenge into a problem of kingship, forcing him to measure emotional loyalty against the damage another civil war can do to the wider empire.