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Alexander's heirs and the Parthian horse-archers who fought Rome to a standstill.

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Seleucid & Parthian Iran · 330 BC-224 AD
Arsacid Iran

Seleucid & Parthian Iran

From Alexander's Hellenistic heirs and the Greek kingdoms of the East through the rise of the Parthian Arsacids, the annihilation of Crassus at Carrhae, and four centuries of rivalry with Rome along the Euphrates, to the fall of Parthia before the Sasanians. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of Iran between the empires.

312 BC
Seleucid Kingdom
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Seleucus founds his kingdom

After Alexander's death, his general Seleucus takes Babylon and builds a vast realm across Iran and the East.

312 BC

Seleucid Kingdom
  • Political

    Seleucus founds his kingdom

    Bronze bust of Seleucus I Nicator
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    After Alexander's death, his general Seleucus takes Babylon and builds a vast realm across Iran and the East.

10 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 312 BC

Full Chronicle

Seleucid & Parthian Iran

From Alexander's Hellenistic heirs and the Greek kingdoms of the East through the rise of the Parthian Arsacids, the annihilation of Crassus at Carrhae, and four centuries of rivalry with Rome along the Euphrates, to the fall of Parthia before the Sasanians. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of Iran between the empires.

  1. Seleucid Kingdom

    • Seleucus founds his kingdom

      After Alexander's death, his general Seleucus takes Babylon and builds a vast realm across Iran and the East.

  2. Seleucid Kingdom

    • Seleucus cedes the east to the Mauryas

      Seleucus makes peace with Chandragupta Maurya, ceding the eastern provinces in exchange for 500 war elephants.

  3. Rise of Parthia

    • Arsaces and the Parthian revolt

      Arsaces, chief of the Parni, seizes the satrapy of Parthia from the Seleucids and founds the Arsacid dynasty.

  4. Rise of Parthia

    • The Greco-Bactrian kingdom

      Far to the east, the Greek governor Diodotus breaks away to found the independent kingdom of Bactria.

  5. Parthian Empire

    • Mithridates I takes Mesopotamia

      Mithridates I conquers Media and Babylonia, turning the Parthian realm into a true empire from the Euphrates to the East.

  6. Parthia and Rome

    • The Parthians annihilate Crassus at Carrhae

      At Carrhae, Parthian horse-archers destroy the Roman army of Crassus, one of Rome's worst defeats.

  7. Parthia and Rome

    • Augustus recovers the lost standards

      Through diplomacy rather than war, Augustus secures the return of the standards lost at Carrhae, a peace celebrated across Rome.

  8. Parthia and Rome

    • Trajan reaches the Persian Gulf

      The emperor Trajan overruns Mesopotamia and briefly reaches the Persian Gulf, the high-water mark of Roman advance into the East.

  9. The Silk Road

    • Parthia astride the Silk Road

      The Parthian Empire grows rich as the middleman of the caravan trade between Rome and Han China.

  10. Fall of Parthia

    • Ardashir overthrows the Arsacids

      Ardashir of Persis defeats the last Parthian king Artabanus IV, ending the Arsacid dynasty and founding the Sasanian Empire.