Parthian Empire: Artabanus V (of Parthia), Baghdad Battery, Characene, Drakht-I Asurig, Genealogy of Parthian Kings, Matigan-I Hazar Datistan, Nisa, T

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 27. Chapters: Artabanus V (of Parthia), Baghdad Battery, Characene, Drakht-i Asurig, Genealogy of Parthian kings, Matigan-i Hazar Datistan, Nisa, Turkmenistan, Parni, Parthian shot, Roman-Persian relations, Spahbod, Statue, National Museum of Iran 2401. Excerpt: The Parthian Empire ((; 247 BC - 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran better known as ancient Persia. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171-138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions. The Arsacid rulers were titled the King of Kings, as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps. The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the...