Parthian Empire: A History from Beginning to End

Across four centuries, the Parthian Empire expanded its dominion over vast territories, boasting some of the most effective military units of the ancient world. Still, this is one of the forgotten empires of the ancient world. The reason is principally that, for the last two hundred years of its history, the Parthian Empire found itself in conflict with one of the most powerful empires of all time: the Roman Empire. Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors,” and never has this been truer than in the case of the Parthian Empire. The Parthians left few written records, and most of what we know about the empire comes from its two main adversaries—first the Greeks and then, for most of its history, the Romans. Fortunately, modern scholarship and archaeology have recently helped us to understand a little more about this ancient empire.

In this book, we discover the story of one of the most feared empires in the ancient world, one whose innovative approach to military strategy enabled it to inflict upon the Roman Empire one of the worst defeats it ever endured. Here, we bring to light the relatively unknown story of the Parthian Empire.