Parthia: Quick Facts

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Parthia: Hatra ruins

Map showing the Parthian Empire at its greatest extent in the 1st century BCE, shaded in green and covering much of present-day Iran, Iraq, and surrounding regions. Major ancient cities, trade routes, rivers, and neighboring territories such as Mesopotamia, Media, Persis, Sogdiana, and Armenia are labeled. The map also shows nearby bodies of water including the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea.

Map showing Mesopotamia and surrounding regions during Seleucid-Parthian times, overlaid with modern political boundaries and country names. Ancient regions such as Osroene, Adiabene, Gordyene, and Characene are labeled in red, while major rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates and key cities such as Babylon, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon are marked within the present-day Middle East, including Iraq, Syria, Iran, and neighboring countries.

Historical map showing ancient Mesopotamia with labeled locations of major archaeological and historical sites. Symbols and color codes indicate sites from the prehistoric era, Sumerian-Akkadian culture, Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian eras, Assyrian civilization, Hurrian era, late Persian, Greek, and Parthian eras, as well as marshland areas. The map covers the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, including present-day Iraq and surrounding areas.

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Topics

Elam Hyrcania Adiabene Anshan Mannai Persia Media Ottoman Empire Sumer Assyria

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Major Events

Map showing the Parthian Empire at its greatest extent in the 1st century BCE, shaded in green and covering much of present-day Iran, Iraq, and surrounding regions. Major ancient cities, trade routes, rivers, and neighboring territories such as Mesopotamia, Media, Persis, Sogdiana, and Armenia are labeled. The map also shows nearby bodies of water including the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea.

Battle of Carrhae

Ctesiphon: Ṭāq Kisrā

Ctesiphon

ancient city, Iraq

Hatra, Iraq: temple

Hatra

ancient city, Iraq

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Nisa

ancient city, Turkmenistan

Dura-Europus: Temple of Bel

Dura-Europus

ancient city, Syria

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Adiabene

ancient kingdom, Iraq

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Hecatompylos

ancient city, Iran

Iran

country, Asia

Map showing the extent of the Achaemenid Empire during the 6th and 5th centuries BC, shaded in light green and spanning from the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt through the Middle East to parts of Central Asia and the Indus Valley. Major regions, cities, and trade routes such as the Royal Road are labeled within the empire's boundaries.

ancient Iran

historical region, Asia

Key People

Trajan

Trajan

Roman emperor

Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian Empire

Antiochus III the Great

Seleucid king

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Marcus Licinius Crassus

Roman statesman

Antiochus VII Sidetes

Antiochus VII Sidetes

Seleucid king

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Artabanus III

king of Parthia

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Arsacid dynasty

ancient Iranian dynasty

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Publius Ventidius

Roman general

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Pacorus

Parthian prince

Phraates IV, coin, 1st century ce.

Phraates IV

king of Parthia

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Artabanus V

king of Parthia

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Gaius Avidius Cassius

Roman emperor

Corbulo, marble bust; in the Capitoline Museum, Rome

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Roman general

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Vologeses I

king of Parthia

Vonones I, coin, 1st century AD

Vonones I

king of Parthia

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Vologeses V

king of Parthia

Sanatruces, coin, 1st century BC

Sanatruces

king of Parthia

Orodes II

Orodes II

king of Parthia

Phraates II

Phraates II

king of Parthia

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Gotarzes I

king of Parthia

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Vologeses IV

king of Parthia

Tomb of Mohammed Bin Ali, Salalah, Oman.

A View of the Middle East

Marble bust of Alexander the Great, in the British Museum, London, England. Hellenistic Greek, 2nd-1st century BC. Said to be from Alexandria, Egypt. Height: 37 cm.

Ancient Greece