Note 78 — Chapter IX · THE EUPHRATES FRONTIER AND THE PARTHIANS. (continued 2)

The subsequently received chronology puts the beginning of the Sassanid dynasty in the Seleucid year 538 = 1st Oct. 226–7 A.D., or the fourth (full) year of Severus Alexander, reigning since spring 222 (Agathias, iv. 24). According to other data king Ardashir numbered the year from the autumn 223–4 A.D. as his first, and so doubtless assumed in this the title of great-king (Nöldeke, Tabari, p. 410). The last dated coin as yet known of the older system is of the year 539. When Dio wrote between 230 and 234, Artabanus was dead and his adherents were overpowered, and the advance of Artaxares into Armenia and Mesopotamia was expected.