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Aria (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Aria, representing Old Persian. Haraiva, Avestan Haraeuua), name of a region in the eastern part of the Persian empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, several times confused with Ariane
Ariane

Ariane is a feminine name. It is a French language translation of the Greek language name Ariadne. Ariane is also an historical region in Asia ....
 in the classical sources.

was an Old Persian satrapy, which enclosed chiefly the valley of the Hari River (Greek , this being eponymous to the whole land according to Arrian
Arrian

File:Flavius_Arrianus.jpgLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Ancient Rome historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman and Byzantine Greece period....
) and which in antiquity was considered as particularly fertile and, above all, rich in wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
.






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Aria (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Aria, representing Old Persian. Haraiva, Avestan Haraeuua), name of a region in the eastern part of the Persian empire
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, several times confused with Ariane
Ariane

Ariane is a feminine name. It is a French language translation of the Greek language name Ariadne. Ariane is also an historical region in Asia ....
 in the classical sources.

Geography

Aria was an Old Persian satrapy, which enclosed chiefly the valley of the Hari River (Greek , this being eponymous to the whole land according to Arrian
Arrian

File:Flavius_Arrianus.jpgLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Ancient Rome historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman and Byzantine Greece period....
) and which in antiquity was considered as particularly fertile and, above all, rich in wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
. The region of Aria was separated by mountain ranges from the Paropamisadae
Paropamisadae

Paropamisadae or Paropamisus was the ancient Greek name for a region of the Hindu-Kush in eastern Afghanistan, centered on the cities of Kabul and Kapisa ....
 in the east, Parthia in the west and Margiana and Hyrcania
Hyrcania

Hyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Golestan Province, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea....
 in the north, while a desert separated it from Carmania and Drangiana
Drangiana

Drangiana was a historical region of the Achaemenid Empire, now part of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Eastern Iran. The land was inhabited by a Iranian peoples tribe which the Greeks referred to as Sarangians or Drangians....
 in the south. It is described in a very detailed manner by Ptolemy
Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman Greek mathematics, Greek astronomy, geographer and astrologer. He lived in History of Roman Egypt, and was probably born there in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou; he died in Alexandria around 168 AD....
 and Strabo
Strabo

Strabo was a Ancient Greeks history, geography and philosophy....
  and corresponds, according to that, almost to the Herat Province
Herat Province

Herat is one the 34 Provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis Province, Farah Province, and Ghor Province provinces, it makes up the north-western region of the country....
 of today's Afghanistan. In this sense the term is used correctly by some writers, e.g. Herodotus
Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
 (3.93.3, where the Areioi are mentioned together with the Parthians, Chorasmians, and Sogdians); Diodorus (17.105.7; 18.39.6); Strabo (2.1.14; 11.10.1, cf. also 11.8.1 and 8; 15.2.8 and 9); Arrian (Anabasis 3.25.1); Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela

Pomponius Mela, who wrote around 43, was the earliest Roman Empire geographer.His little work is a mere compendium, occupying less than one hundred pages of ordinary print, dry in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing word-pictures....
 (1.12, where we read that “nearest to India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 is Ariane, then Aria”).

Its original capital was Artacoana or Articaudna according to Ptolemy. In its vicinity, a new capital was built, either by Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
 himself or by his successors, Alexandria Ariana , modern Herat
Herat

Herat , classically called the Aria, is a city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herat province. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, Afghanistan, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan....
 in northwest Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
. Ptolemy lists several other cities, an indication of the province's wealth and fertility. The most important, according to Ptolemy and Arrian, were Aria, Susia, Candace, Bitaxa, Sotera, Nisibis and Sarmatina.

History

The Persian Achaemenid district of Aria is mentioned in the provincial lists that are included in various royal inscriptions, for instance, in the Behistun inscription
Behistun Inscription

The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the town of Jeyhounabad in western Iran....
 of Darius I (ca. 520 BC). Representatives from the district are depicted in reliefs, e.g., at the royal Achaemenid tombs of Naqsh-e Rustam
Naqsh-e Rustam

Naqsh-e Rustam is an archaeological site located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars province, Iran. Naqsh-e Rustam lies a few hundred meters from Naqsh-e Rajab....
 and Persepolis
Persepolis

Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz, Iran in the Fars Province of modern Iran....
. They are wearing Scythian-style dress (with a tunic and trousers tucked into high boots) and a twisted turban around the head.

At the time of Alexander the Great, Aria was obviously an important district. It was administered by a satrap, called Satibarzanes
Satibarzanes

Satibarzanes , a Persian people, was satrap of Aria under Darius III of Persia, king of Persian Empire. 330 BC, Alexander the Great, marching through the borders of Aria on his way from Gorgan against the Parthians, was met at a city named Susia by Satibarzanes, who made submission to him, and was rewarded for it by the restoration of his sa...
, who was one of the three main Persian officials in the East of the Empire, together with the satrap Bessus
Bessus

File:The punishment of Bessus by Andre Castaigne .jpgBessus was a Persian Empire nobleman and satrap of Bactria, and later contender king of Persia....
 of Bactria and Barsaentes of Arachosia. In late 330 BC Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
, captured the Arian capital Artacoana. The province was part of the Seleucid Empire
Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire /s?'lus?d/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir Mountains and parts of Pakistan....
 but was captured by others on various occasions and became part of the Parthian Empire
Parthian Empire

The Arsacid Empire , was a significant political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
 in 167 BC. Aria later on became a province of the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
.