noble_family osroes i
The Parthian Empire ( 247 BC  224 AD ), also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran and Iraq . Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who , as leader of the Parni tribe , founded it in the mid - 3rd century BC when he conquered the region of Parthia in Iran ' s northeast , then a satrapy ( province ) in rebellion against the ___MASK12___ . Mithridates I of Parthia ( r . " c ". 171  138 BC ) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids . At its height , the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates , in what is now central - eastern Turkey , to eastern Iran . The empire , located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han Empire of China , became a center of trade and commerce . The ___MASK12___ (" Basileía tn Seleukidn ") was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty , which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC ; it was founded by Seleucus I Nicator following the division of the Macedonian empire vastly expanded by Alexander the Great . Seleucus received Babylonia and , from there , expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander ' s near eastern territories . At the height of its power , it included central Anatolia , Persia , the Levant , Mesopotamia , and what is now Kuwait , Afghanistan , and parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan . Arsaces I (" Arshak ") was the founder of the ___MASK65___ , and after whom all 30 + monarchs of the Arsacid empire officially named themselves . A celebrated descent from antiquity ( the Bagratid " line ") begins with Arsaces . Arsaces or Ashk has also given name to the city of Ashkabad . Osroes I ( Parthian :  , Khusraw ) was a prince of Iranian and Greek ancestry . He ruled the Parthian Empire from 109 to 129 , with a brief interruption from 116 to 117 . He succeeded his brother Pacorus II . For the whole of his reign he contended with the rival King Vologases III based in the East of Parthia .