This article is about the specific polity Parthian Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Was an ancient empire that controlled persia and nearby territories. It seceded from the Seleucid Kingdom and slowly conquered all of its eastern regions.
Establishment
January 246 BC: Following the death of Antiochos II, Ptolemy III seized control of the Seleucid capital at Antioch. Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed his independence and began minting his own coins.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were the wars between the secessionist Parthian kingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom.
January 208 BC: Antiochus III was an ambitious Seleucid king who had a vision of reuniting Alexander the Great's empire under the Seleucid dynasty. In 209 BC he launched a campaign to regain control of the eastern provinces, and after defeating the Parthians in battle, he successfully regained control over the region. The Parthians were forced to accept vassal status and now only controlled the land conforming to the former Seleucid province of Parthia.
January 186 BC: After the defeat in the battle of Magnesia Antiochus began an expedition into Iran, but was killed in Elymaïs. The Arsacids then took power in Parthia and declared their full independence from the Seleucid Empire.
January 175 BC: Phraates I was the king of the Parthian Empire from 176-171 BC. He successfully expanded Parthia's territory beyond the Gates of Alexander by occupying Apamea Ragiana, a strategic city in the region. This conquest solidified Parthia's control over the area and demonstrated Phraates I's military prowess.
January 169 BC: Margiana, located in present-day Turkmenistan, was conquered by the Parthians under the rule of Mithridates I of Parthia around 170 BC. Mithridates I was a prominent ruler of the Parthian Empire known for expanding its territories through military conquests.
January 147 BC: In 148 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I invaded Media.
January 146 BC: Parthian conquest of Babylonia in Mesopotamia, where Mithridates had coins minted at Seleucia in 141 BC and held an official investiture ceremony.
January 146 BC: After suffering a defeat, Mithridates retreated to Hyrcania. His forces then conquered the kingdoms of Elymais and Characene before taking control of Susa, a significant city in the region. This event took place in -147 and marked a significant expansion of the Parthian Empire's territory.
January 140 BC: In 141 BC the Parthians captured the major Seleucid city of Seleucia. These victories gave Mithridates control over Mesopotamia and Babylonia.
January 138 BC: In 139 BC the Parthians defeated a major Seleucid counterattack, breaking the Seleucid army, and captured the Seleucid King, Demetrius II, thus effectively ending Seleucid claims to any land east of the Euphrates river.
January 99 BC: By 100 BC, the once formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities.
1.1.Secession of Parthia
Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation in the Seleucid Kingdom, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed his independence.
January 245 BC: Diodotus II formed an alliance with Arsaces against the Seleucids, but Arsaces was temporarily driven from Parthia by the forces of Seleucus II Callinicus.
January 245 BC: After spending some time in exile among the nomadic Apasiacae tribe, Arsaces led a counterattack and recaptured Parthia.
1.2.Independance of the Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire became completely independent from the Seleucid Kingdom.
January 175 BC: The Seleucids were unable to further intervene in Parthian affairs following increasing encroachment by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid defeat at Magnesia in 190 BC. Phriapatius of Parthia succeeded Arsaces II, and Phraates I of Parthia eventually ascended the throne. Phraates I ruled Parthia without further Seleucid interference.
1.3.Wars of Antiochus VII
Were the military campaigns of Seleucid King Antiochus VII Sidetes against several usurpers.
The war waged by Parthian ruler Mithridates against the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom leading to the Parthian conquest of Bactria's territory west of the Arius river.
January 166 BC: Mithridates first expanded Parthia's control eastward by defeating King Eucratides of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. This gave Parthia control over Bactria's territory west of the Arius river, the regions of Margiana and Aria (including the city of Herat in 167 BC).
Military campaigns of Mithridates I of Parthia in Elymais and Characene.
January 139 BC: While Mithridates retired to Hyrcania, his forces subdued the kingdoms of Elymais and Characene and occupied Susa.
Were a series of wars of succession that were fought between competing branches of the Seleucid royal household for control of the Seleucid Empire.
January 138 BC: Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control.
Military conquests of Armenian King Tigranes the Great.
January 87 BC: Upon the death of Mithridates II of Parthia, in 88 BC, Tigranes took advantage of the confusion of his ally, to reappropriate the lands ceded as a ransom and to further expand his kingdom with the annexation of Gordiene and part of Mesopotamia.
5.1.Armenian-Parthian War
Military campaign of Armenian King Tigranes the Great against the kingdoms of Osroene and Atropatene.
January 84 BC: The armies of Tigranes the Great victoriously entered Northern Mesopotamia and the kingdoms of Osroene and Atropatene pledged their loyalty and support to Tigranes the Great.
Were three conflicts fought by Rome against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 BC and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars.
6.1.Third Mithridatic War
Was the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. The conflict ended in defeat for Mithridates, ending the Pontic Kingdom, ending the Seleucid Empire (by then a rump state), and also resulting in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome.
January 65 BC: Border corrections due to military occupations and reorganization.
January 65 BC: Armenia came under the Ancient Roman sphere of influence in 66 BC, after the battle of Tigranocerta and the final defeat of Armenia's ally.
Were a series of Wars between Rome (first the Roman Republic then the Roman Empire and finally the Eastern Roman Empire) and Persia (the Parthian Empire, and then its successor, the Sasanian Empire). The wars were ended by the early Muslim conquests, which led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Empire.
7.1.Crassous' Campaign in Syria
Was a Roman military invasion of Parthia under Marcus Licinius Crassus that ended in a catastrophic defeat of the Romans.
June 53 BC: Crassus, a Roman general and politician, decided to enter enemy territory from the south through the Syrian desert in -53. This decision ultimately led to his defeat and death at the hands of the Parthians in the Battle of Carrhae.
June 53 BC: The battle of Carre was fought between the Roman forces led by Crassus and the Parthian Empire led by Surena. It resulted in a devastating defeat for the Romans, with Crassus himself being killed in the battle. This defeat marked the end of Roman expansion in the East.
7.2.Antony's Atropatene campaign
Was a military campaign by Mark Antony, the eastern triumvir of the Roman Republic, against the Parthian Empire under Phraates IV.
January 38 BC: After Syria was occupied by Pacorus' army, Labienus split from the main Parthian force to invade Anatolia while Pacorus and his commander Barzapharnes invaded the Roman Levant. They subdued all settlements along the Mediterranean coast as far south as Ptolemais (modern Acre, Israel), with the lone exception of Tyre.
February 38 BC: Despite these successes, the Parthians were soon driven out of the Levant by a Roman counteroffensive. Publius Ventidius Bassus, an officer under Mark Antony, defeated and then executed Labienus at the Battle of the Cilician Gates (in modern Mersin Province, Turkey) in 39 BC. Shortly afterward, a Parthian force in Syria led by general Pharnapates was defeated by Ventidius at the Battle of Amanus Pass.
7.2.1.Persian Invasion (Antony's Atropatene campaign)
Was the Persian invasion of the Roman Republic during Mark Antony's Parthian War.
March 40 BC: The Parthians conquered Syria (with the exception of Tyre), and Anatolia up to Caria including Cappadocia, Commagene and Galatia
March 40 BC: While Mark Antony was staying in Alexandria, the situation in the Eastern Roman provinces had worsened. Urged by the local potentates dethroned by the triumvir to invade Syria and Asia, the Parthians had decided to go on the attack. In February 40 BC. the Parthian army led by Quintus Labienus and Pacorus, the son of King Orodes II, crossed the Euphrates and attacked Apamea.
March 40 BC: The Liberatores were defeated by the Triumvirs at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC.
7.2.2.Roman Counterattack
Was a Roman offensive against the Persian invasion during Mark Antony's Parthian War.
August 39 BC: The Parthians, outnumbered and taken by surprise, were heavily defeated at the Battle of Monte Amano, General Franapate himself was killed and the survivors fell back en route east of the Euphrates after abandoning all invaded territories.
September 39 BC: Publio Ventidio Basso, a character of obscure origins but of considerable military ability, obtained important victories. In August 39 BC. he marched rapidly against Quintus Labienus who, surprised by the arrival of the legions, beat a hasty retreat. The Roman army of Ventidius pursued him as far as Syria where the Parthian cavalry was pouring in to reinforce it.
June 38 BC: In the spring of 38 BC. the Parthians attempted to take their revenge and a large army, personally led by Pacorus, crossed the Euphrates and again invaded the Roman province of Syria.
August 38 BC: The battle of Monte Gindaro, fought according to tradition on 9 August 38 BC. anniversary of the Carre catastrophe, ended with a great victory for Ventidio Basso.
7.2.3.Anthony's Invasion
Was the Roman invasion of Persia during Mark Antony's Parthian War.
September 36 BC: Marco Antonio then immediately marched with the legions and, after a forced march of four hundred kilometers, reached Phraaspa at the end of August without encountering much resistance.
October 36 BC: As his legionaries were tired and begged to return home, at the end of October, Mark Anthony decided to end the war with Persia.
7.3.Trajan's Parthian Campaign
Was a military campaign by Roman Emperor Trajan in 115 against the Parthian Empire in Mesopotamia.
January 116: With the beginning of the new war year, the Roman armies crossed the Euphrates from Syria, descended the River Tigris from the Armenian highlands and headed south against Parthia itself. Leaving garrisons in suitable places, Trajan reached Edessa, where he met Abgar VII, king of Osroene, for the first time.
January 116: The Roman armies crossed the Euphrates from Syria, descended the River Tigris from the Armenian highlands and headed south against Parthia itself. Leaving garrisons in suitable places, Emperor Trajan reached Edessa, where he met Abgar VII, king of Osroene, who submitted to Rome.
January 117: After these successes, the Roman Emperor Trajan continued his advance and took possession of Babylon in 116 AD. Trajan visited the palace where Alexander the Great had died, highlighting the historical significance of the city as a major conquest for the Roman Empire.
January 117: Roman Emperor Trajan crossed the Tigris and entered Ctesiphon.
January 117: At the end of this military campaign, Trajan decided to annex the new territories by creating the two new provinces of Mesopotamia and Assyria. Indeed, if Trajan's establishment of the provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia is confirmed by the coinage of the period, the actual creation of the province of Assyria is more doubtful.
January 117: The Roman commander, having a large abundance of ships and soldiers at his disposal, still managed to cross the river, then taking possession of the whole of Adiabene.
January 119: After the death of Trajan, Hadrian preferred to restore the imperial borders back to the Euphrates river.
7.4.Roman-Parthian War of 161-166
Was a war fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia.
January 162: The Parthians attacked the entire frontier of Cappadocia and Syria, defeated many of the local garrisons, bringing destruction even under the walls of Antioch and captured the border fortress of Edessa.
January 164: In 163, the Parthians intervened in Osroene, a client state of the Romans located in Mesopotamia, east of Syria, with the capital Edessa. They deposed the Roman client king, Mannus, and replaced him with their own client king.
January 164: Roman occupation of Dausara and Nicephorium.
January 166: In 165 AD, the Roman forces, led by Emperor Lucius Verus and his generals, launched a military campaign in the East. They used a pincer movement strategy to capture strategic fortress-cities along the Euphrates, including Dausara, Edessa, Carrhae, and Nisibis, expanding the Roman Empire's territory.
January 166: Avidio Cassio was a Roman general who served as the legatus legionis of legio III Gallica. Dura Europos was a strategic city located on the Euphrates River. The battle fought near Dura Europos in 165 AD was significant in the Roman Empire's campaign in the region.
January 166: Avidius Cassius reached the twin metropolises of Mesopotamia: Seleucia on the right bank of the Tigris and Ctesiphon on the left. Ctesiphon was taken and its royal palace burned. The citizens of Seleucia opened the gates to the invaders, but the city was burned anyway, leaving a shadow on the conduct of Cassio and the reputation of Lucio Vero.
January 167: Avidius Cassius was a Roman general and usurper who invaded the territory of the Medes, located beyond the Tigris River, in 166 AD. This demonstrated the military might of the Roman Empire under his command.
January 168: The Nisibis area remained part of the roman empire.
January 168: The plague, which broke out during the last year of the campaign, however forced the Romans to withdraw from the newly conquered territories.
7.5.Military Campaigns in Parthia by Septmius Severus
Was a military campaign by Roman Emperor Septimius Severus against the Parthian Empire.
January 198: The Siege of Nisibis in 197 AD was led by the Parthian Empire against the Roman forces defending the city.
January 198: Severus, having built a fleet, traveled the Euphrates with extremely fast ships, where he first reached Dura Europos, continued to Seleucia which he occupied, after putting to flight the cataphract cavalry of the Parthians. The advance continued with the capture of Babylon which shortly before had been abandoned by the enemy forces and, towards the end of the year, also the capital of the Parthians, Ctesiphon, was placed under siege. The city, now surrounded, tried in vain to resist.
February 198: The king of the Parthians, Vologases V, having learned that Severus was approaching Nisibis, decided to leave.
February 198: The king of the Parthians, Vologases V, decided to leave Nisibis upon learning that the Roman Emperor Severus was approaching in 198 AD. Nisibis was part of the territory of Osroene, a Roman client state at the time.
April 198: In 198 AD, Emperor Septimius Severus spent the winter near the Parthian capital before deciding to return to the Roman borders by traveling up the Tigris River around February-March.
April 198: In 198 AD, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus spent the winter near the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. In February-March, he decided to travel up the Tigris River to return to the Roman borders, after successfully securing all occupied regions except for northern Mesopotamia.
7.6.Military Campaigns in Parthia by Caracalla
Was a military campaign by Roman Emperor Caracalla against the Parthian Empire.
January 217: Emperor Caracalla invaded the Parthian Empire in 216 using an abortive wedding proposal to the Parthian king's daughter as a casus belli. His forces carried out a campaign of massacres in the northern regions of the Parthian Empire.
February 217: Emperor Caracalla invaded the Parthian Empire in 216 using an abortive wedding proposal to the Parthian king's daughter as a casus belli. His forces carried out a campaign of massacres in the northern regions of the Parthian Empire.
Was a military campaign waged by Julius Caesar (at the same time of his war against Pompeius) that lead to the Roman submission of the Kingdom of Pontus.
January 47 BC: Pharnace of Pontus moved to the southeast along the Black Sea coast and without difficulty subjugated Colchis and all of Armenia.
August 47 BC: Caesar decisively defeated Pharnaces of Pontus at the Battle of Zela. Pharnaces was killed and Caesar conquered Pontus. In addition, the territories occupied by Pharnaces were freed.
January 175 BC: Phraates I was the king of the Parthian Empire from 176-171 BC. He successfully expanded Parthia's territory beyond the Gates of Alexander by occupying Apamea Ragiana, a strategic city in the region. This conquest solidified Parthia's control over the area and demonstrated Phraates I's military prowess.
January 169 BC: Margiana, located in present-day Turkmenistan, was conquered by the Parthians under the rule of Mithridates I of Parthia around 170 BC. Mithridates I was a prominent ruler of the Parthian Empire known for expanding its territories through military conquests.
January 166 BC: Aeria and surroundings became part of the Parthian Empire in 167 BC.
January 146 BC: After suffering a defeat, Mithridates retreated to Hyrcania. His forces then conquered the kingdoms of Elymais and Characene before taking control of Susa, a significant city in the region. This event took place in -147 and marked a significant expansion of the Parthian Empire's territory.
January 140 BC: The Seleucids had suffered heavy defeats by the Iranian Parthian Empire; in 148/7 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I (r. 171-132 BC) conquered Media and Atropatene, and by 141 BC, was in the possession of Babylonia. The menace and proximity of the Parthians caused Hyspaosines to declare independence.
January 140 BC: Adiabene was conquered by the Parthian king Mithridates I (r. 171-132 BC) in ca. 145-141 BC.
January 139 BC: Around 140 BC the Saka invaded Parthian territory through Margiana, venturing as far as Media in central Iran and continuing to harass the Parthians until 124 BC, in the course of which they defeated and killed two successive Parthian kings.
January 131 BC: Osroene, or Edessa, was one of several states that acquired independence from the collapsing Seleucid Empire through a dynasty of the nomadic Nabataean Arab tribe from Southern Canaan and North Arabia, the Osrhoeni, from 136 BC.
January 119 BC: The greco-bactrian kingdom ended with the invasion of the yuezhi. What remained of the kingdom in india become the indo-greek kingdom.
January 119 BC: Mithridates II later recovered the lands lost to the Saka in Sakastan.
January 89 BC: Phraates III of Parthia annexed Corduene to his empire.
January 45 BC: Gondophares was a Parthian king who founded the Indo-Parthian Kingdom in the region. The Takht-i-Bahi monastery, established by Gondophares in 46 CE near Peshawar, served as an important Buddhist site in the area.
January 14 BC: The Apracharajas were an Indo-Scythian ruling dynasty of western Pakistan that ruled from 15 BC.
January 20: The Suren Kingdom was founded in 19 when the Surenid governor of Drangiana (Sakastan) Gondophares declared independence from the Parthian Empire.
January 31: Gondophares, a Parthian prince, established the Indo-Parthian Kingdom in the 1st century AD. He ruled over regions including Arachosia, Seistan, Sindh, Punjab, and the Kabul valley. However, his territory did not extend beyond eastern Punjab.
January 36: Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of ancient India who ruled over the region of Sindh, Makran, Saurashtra and Malwa (in modern Sindh, Balochistan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh of India and Pakistan), between 35 and 405 CE.
January 38: After the defeat of Tigranes of Armenia by the Romans, the Parthians extended their control to Corduene.
January 51: The Kushans returned to Margiana in the 1st century AD and helped the satrap Sanabares declare himself king who ruled from ca. 50 AD.
January 92: Han Dynasty general Ban Chao, with the aid of the Kushan Empire, was able to subdue the regions of Kashgar and Sogdiana.
January 101: The Kingdom of Hatra was a 2nd-century Arab kingdom located between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire.
January 101: Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises (c. 95 - c. 127) conquers territories in Bactria.
January 128: In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (Kaundiny, Kundina) and the city of Ozeno (Ozene, Ujjain) and the city of Zageda (Saketa) and the city of Kozambo (Kausambi) and the city of Palabotro (Pataliputra) and as far as the city of Ziri-tambo (Sri-Champa), whatever rulers and other important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all India to (his) will.
— Rabatak inscription, Lines 4-8.
January 197: The Tanûkhids were a confederation of Arab tribes from 196 AD. The confederation occupied southern Syria and Jordan and western Iraq.
January 201: Aria was sometime between the late 2nd- and early 3rd-century conquered by the Kushan Empire.
April 224: In 221-222 AD, an ethnic Persian, Ardashir V, who was King of Persis, led a revolt against the Parthians, establishing the Sasanian Empire. The Battle of Hormozdgan was the climactic battle between the Arsacid and the Sasanian dynasties. The Sasanian victory broke the power of the Arsacid dynasty, effectively ending almost five centuries of Parthian rule in Iran, and marking the official start of the Sasanian era.
Disestablishment
April 224: In 221-222 AD, an ethnic Persian, Ardashir V, who was King of Persis, led a revolt against the Parthians, establishing the Sasanian Empire. The Battle of Hormozdgan was the climactic battle between the Arsacid and the Sasanian dynasties. The Sasanian victory broke the power of the Arsacid dynasty, effectively ending almost five centuries of Parthian rule in Iran, and marking the official start of the Sasanian era.
Parthian Empire
