The Parthians’ performance in Guarding the borders (Mythological-Historical Marzbānān)

In early 3rd century B.C., when a foreign government ruled over the country after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, an Iranian ethnic group from Eastern Iran was rose to power and established an Iranian government. Some of the characteristics of The Arcasids or the Parthian Government was the art of warfare and protecting the borders, which caused the advent of a heroic and epic era in Iranian history. Thus, with this in mind, the main question of this study is what viewpoint did the Parthians, as inheritors of the Achaemenid and Iranian Empire, had about territory and border and what measures they took to protect the country borders and what consequences their performance had in the national (mythological) history of Iran. For this purpose, through studying historical sources and national narratives and based on the description and analysis of the existing documents, one of the findings of this study is that in some state divisions and some government titles, the Parthians acted in the manner of the Achaemenids and made use of some of their techniques in protecting their territory. So, in addition to the settlement of warrior tribes on the borders as marzbānān (border guards), and their performance in protecting the territory could be the reason we see some of Parthian kings in the role of heroes in the mythological history of Iran; Heroes who became famous for protecting the borders and whose biggest role is considered to be marzbān, a title and position given by the Parthians for the first time.