The Parthian Empire
Horse archers hold Iran for five centuries and stop Rome expanding east.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 470 years
- Known to
- ± 10 years
- Era
- Classical, Holocene
The Parthians take Iran from the Seleucids from around 247 BCE and rule until 224 CE, governing loosely through vassal kings. Their cavalry combines heavily armoured lancers with mounted archers whose backward shot while retreating gives English the phrase parting shot. They annihilate Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BCE and remain Rome's only peer competitor, fixing the eastern limit of Roman expansion for three hundred years.