Parthia

Parthia was an ancient Parthian empire in Asia that included what are now Iran, part of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Parthia

Parthian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 60 BCE.
Languages	Parthian language
Religions	Zoroastrianism
Capitals	Ctesiphon, Hecatompylus
Area	Middle East
Existed	238 BCE–228 CE

The Parthians were excellent horsemen and archers. In battle, mounted Parthians often discharged their arrows back towards the enemy and pretended to flee.

In 250 BC, the Parthians succeeded in founding an independent kingdom, which in the 1st century BC grew into an empire extending from the Euphrates to the Indus and from the Amu Darya to the Indian Ocean. They expanded by successfully expelling the Seleucids from Persia and establishing the second great Persian Empire.

• See Crassus for an account of their defeat of a Roman army.

Other websites

• Parthia.com - with an extensive bibliography
• History of Parthia
• The Establishment and Development of Christianity in the Parthian Empire in Transoxiana 6.
• Parthia (Old Persian Parthava) Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine