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Arsacid

 
Dictionary: Ar·sa·cid   (är'sə-sĭd, är-sā'-) pronunciation
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adj.
Of or relating to the Parthian dynasty that ruled Persia and parts of Asia Minor from c. 250 B.C. until its overthrow in A.D. 224.

n.
A member or subject of this dynasty.

[After Arsaces (fl. 250 B.C.), founder of the dynasty.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Arsacid dynasty
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(247 BC – AD 224) Persian dynasty. It was founded by Arsaces (r. c. 250 – 211? BC) of the Parni tribe, which originally dwelt east of the Caspian Sea and entered Parthia after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), gradually extending control southward. Arsacid power reached its peak under Mithradates I (r. 171 – 138 BC). The government was influenced by that of the Seleucid dynasty and tolerated the formation of vassal kingdoms. The dynasty legitimized its rule over former Achaemenian territories by claiming descent from the Achaemenian king Artaxerxes II. It controlled trade routes between Asia and the Greco-Roman world and used its resultant wealth to erect many buildings. The dynasty was overthrown in 224 by the Sasanian dynasty.

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Tiridates (king of Parthia)
Parthia
Iran (country of southwest Asia)

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more