King of Kings of the Parthian Empire | |
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Imperial | |
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Details | |
First monarch | Arsaces I |
Last monarch | Artabanus IV |
Formation | 247 BC |
Abolition | 224 AD |
Appointer | Divine right, hereditary |
The Parthian, or Arsacid, monarchs were the rulers of Iran from their victories against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire in the 140s BC (although they had ruled a smaller kingdom in the region of Parthia for roughly a century at that point, founded by Arsaces I) until the defeat of the last Parthian king, Artabanus IV, at the Battle of Hormozdgan in AD 224. At the height of their power, the Parthian kings ruled an empire stretching from present-day central-eastern Turkey to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan.