Parthia

Parthia, ancient country of Asia, in what are now Iran and Afghanistan. The Parthians were of Scythian descent, and adopted Median dress and Aryan speech. They were excellent horsemen and archers. In battle, mounted Parthians often discharged their arrows back towards the enemy while pretending to flee; this is the origin of the phrase “a Parthian shot”.

Parthia was subject successively to Assyria, Media, Persia, and Macedonia under Alexander the Great, and the Seleucid kingdom. About 250 bc the Parthians succeeded in founding an independent kingdom that in the 1st century bc grew into an empire extending from the Euphrates River to the Indus River and from the Oxus (now Amu Darya) River to the Indian Ocean. The main Parthian cities were Seleucia on the Tigris, Ctesiphon, and Hecatompylos. After the middle of the 1st century bc Parthia rivalled Rome, and several wars occurred between the two powers. In ad 226 Parthia was conquered by Ardashir I, king of Persia and founder of the Sasanian dynasty.