Kings of Assyria: A Brief Life of Tiglath-Pileser III

Tiglath-Pileser III (Hebrew transliteration: Tiglath-Pileser III,?-727 BC), King of Assyria (reigned 745 BC-727 BC), King of Babylon (reigned from 729 BC to 727 BC), whose Akkadian name was Tukultī-apil-E?arra. Tiglath-Pileser III was one of the most important monarchs during the New Kingdom of Assyria and is considered the founder of the Assyrian Empire. Through his efforts, the Assyrian country once again went from weakness to strength.

Accession and Reforms

In his own inscription, Tiglath-Pileser III claimed to be the son of Assyrian King Adad Nirari III, but his origin It's not clear. If he was indeed the son of Adad Nirari, then his predecessor Ashur Nirari V was his half-brother. Tiglath Parashar was a governor during the reign of Assyrian Nirari V. In 745 BC, a civil war broke out in the Assyrian Kingdom, and Assyrian Nirari V died in the civil war. It was during this civil war that Tiglath-Pileser III ascended to the throne (some historians believe that the actual nature of this civil war was that Tiglath-Pileser led the nobles to overthrow Assyria inside). When Tiglath-Pileser III came to power, the Assyrian kingdom was in a stage of decline. Due to the many large-scale civil strife that occurred during the reign of the previous kings, Assyria's national power level was lower than that of Ashurnasirpa II (reigned from 883 to 859 BC) and Salmanaser III (reigned from 883 to 859 BC). The period of great power declined greatly under the rule of (r. 858 BC ~ 824 BC). The local governors refused to obey orders, and the client states became independent one after another. The Aramaic tribes in Babylon often invaded the borders. The greatest danger comes from the northern powerhouse Urartu. Urartu expanded rapidly when Assyrian power declined. Its influence reached as far as Syria and northern Mesopotamia, and it supported the small countries in those areas to resist Assyrian rule. In the South Caucasus, Urartu has completely excluded Assyria. Assyria's economy also suffered as Urartu cut off trade routes to Syria, Anatolia, and Persia.

Faced with this unfavorable situation, Tiglath Parashar III implemented a series of important reforms. These reforms were far-reaching and eventually led to Assyrian hegemony in the Near East.

A key element of the reform is to limit the power of officials. During the reign of Adad Nilari III, officials were so powerful that they could even launch campaigns without notifying the king. Local governors often formed separate regimes, and some were already independent or clearly showed independent tendencies. Tigrat Parashar therefore appointed administrators named "Ber-Pahati" in each province to replace the governor. The powers of the administrator were less than those of the original governor, but still not enough to reassure Tiglath Parashar III. To further reduce the power of local rulers, he began reducing the size of provinces. Eunuchs were often sent to manage newly conquered provinces. As a result, the number of provinces increased, and by 738 BC there were as many as 80 known provinces; while the power of provincial governors decreased, and many of them were eunuchs. Tigrat Parashar also allowed civilians to write letters directly to the king to monitor bureaucrats at all levels.

Other reform measures are aimed at the military. These measures include: establishing a standing army supplied by the Communist Party, prompting landless people to join the army one after another, thereby increasing the strength of the army; in addition to the main army directly under the king, local armies are also established to guard and act as reserve forces; recruiting soldiers from conquered areas The residents fought for Assyria, thus greatly increasing the military strength (foreigners can usually only serve as infantry, and cavalry and chariot soldiers are still served by Assyrians); the army was reformed and divided into chariot soldiers, heavy infantry, and cavalry. , heavy baggage troops, engineering troops, etc.

Through these reforms, Tiglath-Pileser III consolidated his rule and built a powerful army, thus laying the foundation for his conquests.