Parthia

(par'the-ah.) (Anc. Geog.) A country ofW. central Asia, b. N. by Hyrcania, S. by Car a mania Desert a, and W.by Media. Its C. was Hecatompylon. During the zenith of its power, P. extended N. from the Caucasus to the Erythræan Sea S., and from the Indus to the Tigris E. and W. Its people were a Scythian race, e entially warlike, and the finest horsemen of the anc. world. After becoming subject to Persia, P. became a Maced on i an satrapy, next a Syrian p., till, in 256 B. c., its people recovered their independence, and established an empire which, under the dynasty of the Arsacidæ, existed till 226 A. D., and which extended from the Indus to the Euphrates, and from the Oxus to the Persian Gulf. Ultimately, P. became absorbed into the Persian empire of the Sa anidæ dynasty. [s. 687]