Under the Texts menu you’ll find a list of all currently available sources. Each text homepage contains a number of sections, including:
1. An introduction that situates the text in its historical context. In some cases, we know a lot about the author of the text and the circumstances that led to its composition. In others, we know almost nothing beyond what the text itself says: neither author, nor date, nor original location.
2. A full English translation. All translations are my own. They aim at faithfulness to the original language rather than elegance in English.
3. A reproduction of the original text in transliteration, transcription, and translation. Keep in mind that, for Parthian inscriptions, the transliteration is a more direct representation of the source itself. The transcription can be very helpful, but in many cases it represents the judgment of the editor rather than the expression of the original author.
Words with annotations appear as a link: click on them, and a gloss will appear in the “Dictionary and Commentary” sidebar. In the original text, these notes contain the dictionary form of the word you’ve selected.
For Parthian, the entries are formatted as follows:
Headword in transliteration
Headword in transcription
(part of speech)
→ ‘definition’
Arameogram: (if applicable)
Here is the word š’h (‘king’), for example.
For Greek, the entries are formatted as you would find in the LSJ:
—nouns like βασιλεύς have the nominative singular, genitive singular, and the definite article;
—adjectives like καλός show whether they are two or three ending adjectives;
—verbs like ἐπιστρατεύω show the first principle part.
When these links appear in the translation, they contain information of historical interest.
The English translations may be shown or hidden as the reader wishes.
4. A bibliography that contains the edition of the text used, as well as further reading. Note that, while I’ve made every effort to accurately reproduce the best scholarly edition, this site is no substitute for consulting the originals.
All site literature is listed in the main Bibliography, along with further reading on the Parthian empire.
If you spot any mistakes or have suggestions on how this site could be made better, I’d be very happy to hear from you. Please feel free to write me or to visit the About section of this site for more information.
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