Editing Arsaces I of Parthia (section)

== Legacy ==
Arsaces' prestige endured long after his death. An everlasting fire in his honour was still guarded in the city of Asaak more than two centuries after his death, as reported by [[Isidore of Charax]].{{sfn|Isidore of Charax|p=11}} This indicates that the act of declaring a king had a religious importance.{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=217}} It most likely served as the dynastic fire of the Arsacids, possibly created in order to highlight that they were heirs to the Achaemenid Empire.{{sfn|Boyce|1986|p=87}} Due to his achievements, he became known as the "father of the nation", and his name became a royal honorific that was used by all the Arsacid monarchs out of admiration for his achievements.{{sfn|Dąbrowa|2012|p=169}}{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=23}}{{efn|Rezakhani notes: "Although all Arsacid kings had their own personal names, attested in Greco-Roman sources and occasionally in the Babylonian astronomical diaries, they universally used the title Arsaces as their regnal name, supposedly in honor of Arsaces I, although even that dynastic founder might have had the personal name Tiridates (Parth. *trd’t), making Arsaces a clan name of the dynasty. In fact, in the absence of narrative sources for Arsacid history and the prominence often given to numismatic evidence for reconstructing Arsacid history, the universal use of the title Arsaces poses a particular hindrance to our understanding of the history of the dynasty."{{sfn|Rezakhani|2013|page=767}}}} The name also connected the Arsacids with the legendary [[Kayanian]] ruler Kavi Arshan, whose dynasty must still have been remembered by the inhabitants of eastern Iran, such as the Parthians and the Dahae.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2021|p=253}} A fictitious claim was later made from the 2nd-century BC onwards by the Arsacids, which represented Arsaces as a descendant of the Achaemenid [[King of Kings]], Artaxerxes II.{{sfn|Dąbrowa|2012|p=179}}

The family of Arsaces would rule for four and a half centuries, till it was toppled by the [[Sasanian Empire]] in 224 AD. Even then, however, the descendants of Arsaces continued to wield considerable influence and authority; one of the [[Seven Great Houses of Iran]], the [[House of Karen]], produced several major figures in Iranian history, such as the 6th-century vizier [[Bozorgmehr]], and the 9th-century prince and rebel [[Mazyar]] ({{reign|817|839}}).{{sfn|Pourshariati|2017}} The Arsacids also played an important role in the history of the [[Caucasus]]; the principalities of [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia|Armenia]], [[Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania|Caucasian Albania]] and [[Arsacid dynasty of Iberia|Iberia]] were ruled by branches of the Arsacid dynasty. According to [[Procopius]], even as late as the 6th-century, the Armenian nobility still remembered their Arsacid heritage and the character of Arsaces.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=44}}