The Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. 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 Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire.
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 south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions.
The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps.
The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
The earliest enemies of the Parthians were the Seleucids in the west and the Scythians in the east. However, as Parthia expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. Rome and Parthia competed with each other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients.
The Parthians soundly defeated Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, and in 40–39 BC, Parthian forces captured the whole of the Levant, excepting Tyre, from the Romans. However, Mark Antony led a counterattack against Parthia and several Roman emperors invaded Mesopotamia during the Roman-Parthian Wars. The Romans captured the cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon on multiple occasions during these conflicts, but were never able to hold onto them.
Frequent civil war between Parthian contenders to the throne proved more dangerous than foreign invasion, and Parthian power evaporated when Ardashir I, ruler of Estakhr in Fars, revolted against the Arsacids and killed their last ruler, Artabanus IV, in 224 AD. Ardashir established the Sassanid Empire, which ruled Iran and much of the Near East until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century AD, although the Arsacid dynasty lived on through the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia.
Native Parthian sources, written in Parthian, Greek and other languages, are scarce when compared to Sassanid and even earlier Achaemenid sources. Aside from scattered cuneiform tablets, fragmentary ostraca, rock inscriptions, drachma coins, and the chance survival of some parchment documents, much of Parthian history is only known through external sources.
These include mainly Greek and Roman histories, but also Chinese histories prompted by the market for Chinese goods in Parthia. Parthian artwork is viewed by historians as a valid source for understanding aspects of society and culture that are otherwise absent in textual sources.
@gpverducci Parthia assembled only 10,000 which 9,000 were horse archers, while the romans had roughly 42 or 43 thousand. Next Crassus was a brilliant busniess man(owned his own fire brigade) but a terrible commander he refused to follow his commanders advice and go through Arminia who offered them close to 10,000 calvary and 6,000 infantry with guides who would lead them straight to the capital. and the parthian king didn't even expect his troops to win just to delay while he attacked Arminia
Parthians weren't the weakest as they did enough to revive Iran being introduced into ruling a 200-year-occupied Iran by the Gayreeks! the job they started was completed by the Sassanids. Always remember the Carrahae in today's Turkey where Suren with a mere 11000 soldiers smashed a 40000 Roman army with Crassius commanding (after defeating Spartacus in Rome) and not to forget the famous Mark Anthony narrowly escaped when his army was anahilated by the brave Parthian armies.
Why didn't they have the Sassanian or acheamenid Persians in this game? The parthians are prbabely the weakest through our history, thy still kicked Roman ass though XD Btw, horrible attempt at a Persian accent!
@kabootasabz HAHA THE WEAKEST? Parthians DESTROYED the roman army and captured the roman emperor valerian. Shapu the Great used him as a footstool and made him kneel to him. Theres a picture carved into the stones of persepolis.
Also after that. Shapur the Great poured molten gold into hes throat and sended the golden head of Valerian to the Senate of Rome as a warning.
dude...he was talking about the game play and indeed the game developer significantly weaken the setting of parthian infantry unit like eastern infantry and hill spearmen. but you can still mod it and make them strong.
Eastern Factions rely on hit and run, I beat back Scipii, Egypt, Pontus, Armenia, and Scythia with Parthia. Any army can be strong in the right hands!
@kabootasabz but they were one of the richest the parthians had a strong economic system but its rulers overall resistance to war was there ultimate downfall:D
@diznab900 lol i have 1 army in asia (greek) it has taken 6 cities and killed untold thousands of persians...and lost about 1/4 strength....WEAK BASTARDS!!!
@kabootasabz Persia was a part of Serbia. It was a lush land then with much more vegetation then deserts. It was glorious. Our ancient symbols are the same. The armor and weapons are the same, the people were not Arabic. (a)Rab means servant in serbian. When Persia tried to conquer west she struggled to unite the empire. When Alexander crushed the Greeks he didn't go north for it was already his, he went east. Go to Wikipedia and look up Slavic genealogy you'll see all the proof you need. Slava!
people, the parthians were a scythian tribes - the parni. yes they were driven by the persian sassanian. Their legendary army were the original knights which Rome had a hard time defeating. The term "parthian shot" was attributed to them
The parhtians is good against the Romans but they suck against the Greeks,on very hard i took a catapracht army and from egypt at last i reached spain
they also are victim of medieval fight against goth/lombardi/saxon/norman and other like georgian, huns and armenian.
they were never earn a win during these campaign(only gain upper hand again armenian, but it end up a draw).
in this game parthian sucks against any faction(especially egypt and greek), even sassanian were doing better in barbarian invasion. which i always been ended up wipe off in 250bc........(armenian of cause...)
its awesome on how they give you a persian military perspective since persia did rely mostly on mercenaries and cav and that their infantry is poor and only used for fodder
When the roman empire invaded Persia (parthians) they got easily slaughtered because they underestimated the parthians, it was said that 1 parthian warrior could take on 3 roman soldiers, the romans got easily beaten and when they realized that they couldn't conquer Persia they aimed for Greece which states where easily beaten one by one
yeah same; phalanx are my 'specialty'. REALLY hate chariots. Some people say the roman legions are better than phalanx but in life this wasnt the case; greece only lost cos it was in stagnation, not because the romans beat them militarily. Tho i do still really admire the roman's organised military. Macedon is the best faction for phalanx, but armenia is best for everything in my opinion.
that didnt have anything to do with the fall of rome those battles were fought against the eastern empire not a unified roman state. in fact historians agree that the sassinids had no real part to play in the fall of rome and the fact that the sassinids were more of an annoyance to the eastern romans than a geniune threat since it was finally mehmed that finally destroyed the last peice of the roman empire
Honestly the two screwed each other over. Centuries of bitter warfare between the two crippled them both and made it all the more easy for the Caliphate to conqueror Persia. Who did more damage... neither really, because Persia could never hold on to its conquest and neither could Rome. Persia got so far as to conqueror Egypt and Rome got so far as to conqueror the Persian Captial of Ctesiphon. Only for the both of them to have to give up the conquest they got.
sorry but your information is incorrect. classic eastern rome only last to 396ad(276-396), later following with byzantine era(396-585) greek period 585-760ad, maccedonian period 760-1160ad and crusader 1160-1290ad, and slavic era in 1290-1492ad.
they also officially change name to byzantinean empire in year 396ad shorty after broke up with western rome.
No sorry, but your info is incorrect. The term "Byzantine empire" was coined by a German writer from the Holy Roman Empire. The "Byzantines" never referred to themselves as such, they still considered themselves as the continuation of the Roman Empire. And while the population mainly spoke greek, Latin was still spoken at the Court. When Western Rome fell the Eastern half was still called the roman empire and they considered themselves the true romans; that's why Justinian went on his conquests.
yeah the cavalry are the best. BTW, what i said before bout parthia being worst? well i lied. numidia is; the only good thing about them are the legionaries and by the time you can build them your empire's already fallen cos of the crap selection of javelineers and militia cavalry you have to rely on.
Yeah i like swiping with power! I have mine on both hard but thats cos i use all factions and some are easier than others. Have you tried Thrace? Their infantry is second to none!
Yeah they have archers but the infantry sucks otherwise; eastern infantry and hillmen is just about it. cavalry is brill tho; cataphracts and elephants and horse archers. Scythias the same; axemen is it but i guess u do ahve noble archers and they rain arrows supreme! At mo Ive bn pushed back by the pontics and seleucids to campus sakae (the one in the corner) and have built up a massive city.
Im slowly creeping into Scythia but it sure is hard when all u have are hill-men, persian cavalry and horse archers. I would use elephants but theyr'e just too expensive when all u have is one city. Parthia's main weakness, i think, is not so much the military but the lack of cash flow; cos your stuffed at the side of the map theres next to no trade to be had. Armenia hate you and pontus and seleucid arnt very helpful. In fact, Egypt is the only one who ever wants to trade.
on what difficulty level? Im playing as Parthia at the mo and I admit its probably the worst faction in the game; armenia and dacia are the best in my opinion. Parthia has good cavalry tho.
Parthia's campaign is the best if you want a challenge. You have a poor treasury, pitiful starting cities, powerful enemy factions (especially Egypt), pathetic infantry and a total reliance on relatively expensive cavalry. Lots more fun then the dull march to victory as an over-powered Rome or Greece.
hit the ~ button that is below teh ESC button, they type "add_money 40000" you will get 40000 pieces of gold, keep doing it, and u will have a million pieces of gold, with that, you can build armies after armies, and smashed everyone, even the mighty Romans
you just hit that button? where do you hit it *game is on the way in the mail, ordered it won it yesturday cuz I got one for christmas but they only gave me disc 2 and barbarian invasion*
parthians are actually realli good in the beginning of the game, almost undefeatable early game. Hoplites are slow, and cant turn quick enough. Parthian horse archers can go around and decimate hoplite in seconds. In later game, Parthians have to focus on heavy units like catapacts and elephants, rather than using cheap tactics because base armour increases.
They sent a general,douzens of hillmen against my spearmen. The captain became man of the hour, and i conquered all the people in middle east with mercinaries and my general. Eastern is the suckiest peoples that exists, barbarians for the people.
Wealth and numbers alone do not rule empires. The Parthians were great a desert/mountain people, but they pretty much suck in this concerning infantry. But their cavalry force is certainly one of the finest.
Those of you who have tried playing as Parthia in campagn knows that they are very week in the start.. I had to build several diplomats to buy the attacking egypt armies, otherwise it's just impossible.. And also you have to as quick as possible conquer Armenia + the closest "orange barbarian people" village (dont know their name xD)
It's easy being Parthia Dude. All you need is horse archers :| They do all the work for you and after there ammo is gone, they have better attacking stats then Equites the roman light cavalry. If you find it hard just keep upgrading your stables :D
most devastating heavy cavalry and horse archers with the worst fucking infantry ever. cataphract+persian national cavalry+horse archers=unstoppable in open fields.
You are right my persian brother. In Rome Total War they are the "Pink Pyjama Faction". But there are many mods for RTW which make the Persians one of the best faction! E.g : Rise of Persia, Rome Total Realism, Europa Barbarorum and Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion where you can play the glorious Sassanians with best troops!
Wow this is pretty stupid, in the times of the Parthian Persian dynasty the soldiers did not wear that kind of uniform, what they showed were unfiroms of the achemiand Persian army, but the armored horses are correct.
The Parthian Persians were very advanced in combat and were heavily armoured.
if your romans(bruti) you should try to wipe out greece quick then move on to parthia asap before they get cataphracts so you dont sustain retarded casualtys when you move to expand into the east. And NEVER, EVER TRUST THOSE EGYPTIAN SONS-OF-A-BITCHES NO MATTER WHAT FACTION YOU ARE, THY WILL FUCK YOU UP IF YOU DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM.
never take over land west of egypt or north of armenia, long ranga from capitol will make those lands not worthy to protect...the rest of the middle east and turkey greece is so rich you wont need anything else...and islands of course.
as for attacking with armies of horses at cities...just starve them untill they attack you and then it will be THEM who comes to the open field. you already won.
iam trying to play the parthians for the first time and its so hard, somehow i am at war with selucid(my fault) egypt (traitors!) and pontus(i really dont understand what they did) any suggestions? all i have now is crappy persian and horse archers and the infantry dont even agree to be cannon fodder so my horse archers can have easy time...so low moral...
1. Never trust the seleucid or egyptian bastards again 2. try to hang on as long as you can and make freinds in high places who want to go to war with the same people.
It's about survival until you can get hold of cataphracts and war elephants. The best way to do that is through mobility, put five cavalry units together and go lay siege to an enemy city. If they try and relieve it, fall back. The point is to force the computer to keep all its troops busy defending itself while you build up.
true...its mobility and number OF ARMIES! a normal cata unit cost 140 gold to maintain...that is less then a roman legion! the amount of catas armies you can build is huge! assuming you can pay the initial price which is high BUT with such low upkeep its clear you will have much more money.
Ya I'm playing a game at the moment and I've got like, 15 cataphracts in three armies plus an army of war elephants and they're just riding over everything the selucids have got!
the selucid are still alive? i exterminated them and the egyptian before i got catas.
didnt played for like 2 months but i have the entire middle east and most of greece, ones the greece selucid and macedonian are out the game is yours, the romans will get everything else for you and with the wealth of the middle east you will have armies like i have, 5 armies full with cata ravaging greece and annhilating anything roman.
in the end you will get camels which are the defenders of egypt.
hit the ~ button that is below teh ESC button, they type "add_money 40000" you will get 40000 pieces of gold, keep doing it, and u will have a million pieces of gold, with that, you can build armies after armies, and smashed everyone, even the mighty Romans
if anything the Parthians and the sassanids were the most feard apoinants to Romans. Not only in millitary but in all factors of civilization. The sassanians were the only faction that rivoled rome and was the only faction that was a super power besides rome.
What you dont even know what your talking about, Rome total war is inaccurate its a game. History tells us that the Parthians come from northern Iran and southern Russia. They were used to a cold climate Regions. specially given that iran is mostly mountanious. Parthians are iranians, they cliam to be the desendents of the Achemanishid Persians. They defeated the hlanists in Iran. Latter they went to war with the Romans and succsesfully fended off hords after hords of roman Armiese.
no i dont think you know what your talking about becouse if you did you would know that the Partians were a nomadic people of northern iran who defeated the salacude and reestablished a persian rule in Iran.
wow this game is so inaccurate. The pErsians were not desert people idiots, The sassanids in this game is another persian faction which is all in all far better occuratly presented than the parthians.
yes but neverthe less persian people. The iranian civilization consist of many different danystiese. Parthians were one of them. Than came the sassanids. They all called themselves Iranains, or Parsiese (greek : Persians)
They were an iranian faction, infect they were the people of mountains. they edefeated the romans four times and even taking back mesepotamia for Persia.
parthia is probably the easiest faction to beat. they rely on cavlary, and since im good with greeks, they're easy. the phalanx breaks them up easily. oh, and sournaair, shut up. persia won't rise again.
One day, sooner or later no matter how long it takes we'll rise again from the ashes and torn pages of history out of this Eternal land which was given the name of Iran. That day we will make Iran, land of Ahura, Land of Arian green once again, one more time , united under one flag, Persian,Parthian and Median. The sword of Iranian is their noble sprit
Parthians were not Persians, both were Aryans or Indo-Iranian. Persian, Meds, Parthian were all united after Cyrus of the Great the founder of Persian Empire under Achaemenid dynasty. Parthian found Arsacid dynasty after Arsaces I defeated Greek Seleucid Empire. The Parthian empire revived the greatness of the Achaemenid empire and Arsacid dynasty is known to be the second Persian Empire before Sasanid Empire.
and yes Parthinan introduce a uniqu military tactics which is called Parthian shot when The Parthian archers, mounted on light horse, would feign retreat; then, while at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy.one thing to know is Parthian women participated widely in wars specially in this type of tactics and they were highly skilled and well trained.
The parthians arent shown very strong in the game but there cavalery is absoluetly amazing. They are archers,weakening the enemy and they charge with horses to bring down the enemy. Amazing Tactic!
Parthians werer persians, but they didnt freaken live in the desert. The empire was stretched from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Tujikistan, Uzbakistan, Armenia, Azarbajijan, and parts of Turkey.
The Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. 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 Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
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 south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
The earliest enemies of the Parthians were the Seleucids in the west and the Scythians in the east. However, as Parthia expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. Rome and Parthia competed with each other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
The Parthians soundly defeated Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, and in 40–39 BC, Parthian forces captured the whole of the Levant, excepting Tyre, from the Romans. However, Mark Antony led a counterattack against Parthia and several Roman emperors invaded Mesopotamia during the Roman-Parthian Wars. The Romans captured the cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon on multiple occasions during these conflicts, but were never able to hold onto them.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
Frequent civil war between Parthian contenders to the throne proved more dangerous than foreign invasion, and Parthian power evaporated when Ardashir I, ruler of Estakhr in Fars, revolted against the Arsacids and killed their last ruler, Artabanus IV, in 224 AD. Ardashir established the Sassanid Empire, which ruled Iran and much of the Near East until the Muslim conquests of the 7th century AD, although the Arsacid dynasty lived on through the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
Native Parthian sources, written in Parthian, Greek and other languages, are scarce when compared to Sassanid and even earlier Achaemenid sources. Aside from scattered cuneiform tablets, fragmentary ostraca, rock inscriptions, drachma coins, and the chance survival of some parchment documents, much of Parthian history is only known through external sources.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
These include mainly Greek and Roman histories, but also Chinese histories prompted by the market for Chinese goods in Parthia. Parthian artwork is viewed by historians as a valid source for understanding aspects of society and culture that are otherwise absent in textual sources.
SuperGreatSphinx 4 months ago
lol...they route like pink jelly beans in RTW lol
SadCarnage1224 5 months ago
@gpverducci Parthia assembled only 10,000 which 9,000 were horse archers, while the romans had roughly 42 or 43 thousand. Next Crassus was a brilliant busniess man(owned his own fire brigade) but a terrible commander he refused to follow his commanders advice and go through Arminia who offered them close to 10,000 calvary and 6,000 infantry with guides who would lead them straight to the capital. and the parthian king didn't even expect his troops to win just to delay while he attacked Arminia
Piratelord2734 7 months ago
Parthians weren't the weakest as they did enough to revive Iran being introduced into ruling a 200-year-occupied Iran by the Gayreeks! the job they started was completed by the Sassanids. Always remember the Carrahae in today's Turkey where Suren with a mere 11000 soldiers smashed a 40000 Roman army with Crassius commanding (after defeating Spartacus in Rome) and not to forget the famous Mark Anthony narrowly escaped when his army was anahilated by the brave Parthian armies.
gpverducci 8 months ago
Why didn't they have the Sassanian or acheamenid Persians in this game? The parthians are prbabely the weakest through our history, thy still kicked Roman ass though XD Btw, horrible attempt at a Persian accent!
persiandudeee 9 months ago
when i was them i took over everywere but when rome came bye bye empire but i got all my genrals in a line and i killed all there highist star men
comeonyoukr2008 10 months ago
Viva PERSIAN=IRANIAN
tarashti 11 months ago
no matter what, always stand by your persian brothers!!!!!!!!!!
snkv12 1 year ago
Persia Forever
BoKhArMiN 1 year ago
The Phartians were weak? Wut.
They're the only Enpiree that fucked up the Romans several times, and killed THREE Roman emparors.
U mad?
ViruzNoob14 1 year ago
@ViruzNoob14 Lol
MrGrindexx 1 year ago
persia was very strong before but now Its very weak but before it ruled the world
Dannyekimyan 1 year ago
@Dannyekimyan
It didn't rule the known world, never. But the Empire got pretty big.
kennykyle133 1 year ago
@kennykyle133 well i mean it could probably take over the world if it really tried
Dannyekimyan 1 year ago
@kabootasabz Yes! not valerian. Valerian was the one who was captured alive :)
Crassus was executed with gold down his throat. your correct!
asvalof 1 year ago
@kabootasabz HAHA THE WEAKEST? Parthians DESTROYED the roman army and captured the roman emperor valerian. Shapu the Great used him as a footstool and made him kneel to him. Theres a picture carved into the stones of persepolis.
Also after that. Shapur the Great poured molten gold into hes throat and sended the golden head of Valerian to the Senate of Rome as a warning.
asvalof 1 year ago
@asvalof Wasnt that Crassus who got the gold down his throat?
ToXiK97 1 year ago
dude...he was talking about the game play and indeed the game developer significantly weaken the setting of parthian infantry unit like eastern infantry and hill spearmen. but you can still mod it and make them strong.
hanrinch 1 year ago
iran is very strong in this game
diznab900 1 year ago
@diznab900 lie.
BobbyMan21 1 year ago
Eastern Factions rely on hit and run, I beat back Scipii, Egypt, Pontus, Armenia, and Scythia with Parthia. Any army can be strong in the right hands!
Peidmonte89 1 year ago
The man speaking is right.
NLFonsseals 1 year ago
im a persian and i know the parthian empire is one of the weakest empires in iran
kabootasabz 1 year ago 12
@kabootasabz They Suck.
TheAsharedhett 1 year ago
@kabootasabz but they were one of the richest the parthians had a strong economic system but its rulers overall resistance to war was there ultimate downfall:D
DethklokDudE691 1 year ago
@kabootasabz what??? parthian is weak?? lol you wish
im iranian and im calling you a uneducated fagg
diznab900 1 year ago
@diznab900 lol i have 1 army in asia (greek) it has taken 6 cities and killed untold thousands of persians...and lost about 1/4 strength....WEAK BASTARDS!!!
BobbyMan21 1 year ago
@kabootasabz
Hello!I think not.They are just decentralised.
When rome conqered there capital they simply move back into other parts of the empire.This was related with nomadic fighting style.
parthia isnt weak they are able to survive more the original persian empire.
gun844 1 year ago
@kabootasabz How do you know this?
47saeed 1 year ago
@kabootasabz parthians weak ? wtf ?
they had the strongest cavalry in the ancient world.
PersianCataphract 1 year ago
@kabootasabz Persia was a part of Serbia. It was a lush land then with much more vegetation then deserts. It was glorious. Our ancient symbols are the same. The armor and weapons are the same, the people were not Arabic. (a)Rab means servant in serbian. When Persia tried to conquer west she struggled to unite the empire. When Alexander crushed the Greeks he didn't go north for it was already his, he went east. Go to Wikipedia and look up Slavic genealogy you'll see all the proof you need. Slava!
TheBladeEdge 1 year ago
@TheBladeEdge Your mad
sefiksisicbanjaluka 1 year ago
@kabootasabz Tell that to the Roman general/politician Crassus. He went to war against them and lost a battle and his life against the Parthians.
3baxcb 10 months ago
@kabootasabz Well compared to the shithole Iran is today, they must have done something right.
smokinokun87 9 months ago
Probably my favorite RTW intro
RoyalAnarchist 2 years ago 2
people, the parthians were a scythian tribes - the parni. yes they were driven by the persian sassanian. Their legendary army were the original knights which Rome had a hard time defeating. The term "parthian shot" was attributed to them
jie4Him 2 years ago
huh where r the parthyans from originally?
Afglalala 2 years ago
From North-east Iran, they are Iranian tribes
kakhi2008 2 years ago
huh arent they like afghans?
Afglalala 2 years ago
well, they aren't ancestors of Afghans however they lived in modern Afghanistan.
kakhi2008 2 years ago
oh so they moved from iran to afghanistan?
Afglalala 2 years ago
Yes and they moved westwards and conquered new lands in western Asia too. In other words, they built an empire :)
kakhi2008 2 years ago
really where in west asia?
Afglalala 2 years ago
Well, modern Irak, Armenia, Syria.
kakhi2008 2 years ago
no waayy so they r all pashtuns?? woah thts wicked man =D lol
Afglalala 2 years ago
It seems it all made you interested :)
kakhi2008 2 years ago
lol yh i am originally a parthyan myself thts y =P but i thought iraqis and syrians were arabs
Afglalala 2 years ago
No you're right, they are Arabs
kakhi2008 2 years ago
then how can they be parthians?
Afglalala 2 years ago
They can't because they were driven out by Sassanids
kakhi2008 2 years ago
oh lol so they r all in afghanistan, pakistan and iran now right? what abt armenians then?
Afglalala 2 years ago
Well, Armenians are Indo-European people who speak Iranian language
kakhi2008 2 years ago
lol so the parthyans got kciked out of armenia as well lol what a shamee
Afglalala 2 years ago
Yup :)
kakhi2008 2 years ago
hahaha lol aw i feel bad for them it would be cool if they were still in all those countries :D
Afglalala 2 years ago
They were weak conquerors :D
kakhi2008 2 years ago 12
lol wow thts a surprise how come they won soo many wars?
Afglalala 2 years ago
Looks like it was dependent on leadership
kakhi2008 2 years ago
lol ur probably right
i still think its a shame they got kicked out of there empire
Afglalala 2 years ago
The parhtians is good against the Romans but they suck against the Greeks,on very hard i took a catapracht army and from egypt at last i reached spain
MacoBomb 2 years ago
they also are victim of medieval fight against goth/lombardi/saxon/norman and other like georgian, huns and armenian.
they were never earn a win during these campaign(only gain upper hand again armenian, but it end up a draw).
in this game parthian sucks against any faction(especially egypt and greek), even sassanian were doing better in barbarian invasion. which i always been ended up wipe off in 250bc........(armenian of cause...)
hanrinch 2 years ago
Just for simplicity and to distinguish them.
legolasisthebest 2 years ago
the parthians are maybie much but they aren't strong....only some horseman
narekjuu 2 years ago
its awesome on how they give you a persian military perspective since persia did rely mostly on mercenaries and cav and that their infantry is poor and only used for fodder
jokey1134 2 years ago
When the roman empire invaded Persia (parthians) they got easily slaughtered because they underestimated the parthians, it was said that 1 parthian warrior could take on 3 roman soldiers, the romans got easily beaten and when they realized that they couldn't conquer Persia they aimed for Greece which states where easily beaten one by one
FreedomFighter08 2 years ago
trajan did force the parthians to submit
johnnyreb1025 2 years ago
even if he did, the parthians killed more generals than the romans could ever do and beat more armies than they did, parthians + the sasadins
FreedomFighter08 2 years ago
im sorry i was under the impression that they still submitted to roman rule which means they still lost
johnnyreb1025 2 years ago
I.e, the hillmen have 'purple' but the e.infantry are defo pink.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
YOUR BOTH RIGHT. Some units are darker pink than others,making them closer to purple. For the love of odin, its only the colour of their rags.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
yeah same; phalanx are my 'specialty'. REALLY hate chariots. Some people say the roman legions are better than phalanx but in life this wasnt the case; greece only lost cos it was in stagnation, not because the romans beat them militarily. Tho i do still really admire the roman's organised military. Macedon is the best faction for phalanx, but armenia is best for everything in my opinion.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
well the roman formations did out do the phalanx they were more flexible and had easier movement capablilties.
johnnyreb1025 2 years ago
if they did lost then rome would've taken over all of parthia which they didn't just parts from it
FreedomFighter08 2 years ago
no trajan added part of it to rome and the rest were turned into client kingdoms
johnnyreb1025 2 years ago
yeah but after that came the sasadins which beaten 3 roman generals in battle, so bye bye rome
FreedomFighter08 2 years ago
that didnt have anything to do with the fall of rome those battles were fought against the eastern empire not a unified roman state. in fact historians agree that the sassinids had no real part to play in the fall of rome and the fact that the sassinids were more of an annoyance to the eastern romans than a geniune threat since it was finally mehmed that finally destroyed the last peice of the roman empire
johnnyreb1025 2 years ago
the sassanians captured an emporer. they besieged constantinople itself. byzantine empire used sassanian cataphracts. thats no annoyance
Malicorian 2 years ago
the cataphract did not come from the sassanians
jokey1134 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
yes it did
Malicorian 2 years ago
Umm, the Eastern Roman Empire outlasted the Sassanians....so more like bye bye Sassanians.
555roc 2 years ago
outlasted but who did more dmg? It wasnt the romans who put the stop to the sassassins but themselves
FreedomFighter08 2 years ago
Honestly the two screwed each other over. Centuries of bitter warfare between the two crippled them both and made it all the more easy for the Caliphate to conqueror Persia. Who did more damage... neither really, because Persia could never hold on to its conquest and neither could Rome. Persia got so far as to conqueror Egypt and Rome got so far as to conqueror the Persian Captial of Ctesiphon. Only for the both of them to have to give up the conquest they got.
555roc 2 years ago
sorry but your information is incorrect. classic eastern rome only last to 396ad(276-396), later following with byzantine era(396-585) greek period 585-760ad, maccedonian period 760-1160ad and crusader 1160-1290ad, and slavic era in 1290-1492ad.
they also officially change name to byzantinean empire in year 396ad shorty after broke up with western rome.
hanrinch 2 years ago
No sorry, but your info is incorrect. The term "Byzantine empire" was coined by a German writer from the Holy Roman Empire. The "Byzantines" never referred to themselves as such, they still considered themselves as the continuation of the Roman Empire. And while the population mainly spoke greek, Latin was still spoken at the Court. When Western Rome fell the Eastern half was still called the roman empire and they considered themselves the true romans; that's why Justinian went on his conquests.
555roc 2 years ago
archers and cav thier infantry is shit so you heavily use horse,camels,elephants ground archers and mounted archers its very interesting
jokey1134 2 years ago
yeah the cavalry are the best. BTW, what i said before bout parthia being worst? well i lied. numidia is; the only good thing about them are the legionaries and by the time you can build them your empire's already fallen cos of the crap selection of javelineers and militia cavalry you have to rely on.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
purple idiot
jokey1134 2 years ago
Yeah i like swiping with power! I have mine on both hard but thats cos i use all factions and some are easier than others. Have you tried Thrace? Their infantry is second to none!
BNMMVII 2 years ago
Yeah they have archers but the infantry sucks otherwise; eastern infantry and hillmen is just about it. cavalry is brill tho; cataphracts and elephants and horse archers. Scythias the same; axemen is it but i guess u do ahve noble archers and they rain arrows supreme! At mo Ive bn pushed back by the pontics and seleucids to campus sakae (the one in the corner) and have built up a massive city.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
Im slowly creeping into Scythia but it sure is hard when all u have are hill-men, persian cavalry and horse archers. I would use elephants but theyr'e just too expensive when all u have is one city. Parthia's main weakness, i think, is not so much the military but the lack of cash flow; cos your stuffed at the side of the map theres next to no trade to be had. Armenia hate you and pontus and seleucid arnt very helpful. In fact, Egypt is the only one who ever wants to trade.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
on what difficulty level? Im playing as Parthia at the mo and I admit its probably the worst faction in the game; armenia and dacia are the best in my opinion. Parthia has good cavalry tho.
BNMMVII 2 years ago
Well with that attitude youll lose
BNMMVII 2 years ago
man they give the parthians arab accent...when really they're persians!
ilghazi 2 years ago
do you unlock this ?
darkforest0113 2 years ago
i love their pink jammiez
Ironfistconsumerist 2 years ago
actually parthians did live in a desert. north of iran its a desert. its called a steppe its like a desert but only cold and rocky.
TheUTubeRebel 3 years ago
Parthia's campaign is the best if you want a challenge. You have a poor treasury, pitiful starting cities, powerful enemy factions (especially Egypt), pathetic infantry and a total reliance on relatively expensive cavalry. Lots more fun then the dull march to victory as an over-powered Rome or Greece.
SinoIrishAussie 3 years ago
How do you choose to be other factions I can only choose to be 1 of the 3 Roman Families?
xSLATORx 3 years ago
you need to finish withone of the families to unlock new factions
Terrorkarel 3 years ago
actually you just need to conquer teams
killusers1994 3 years ago
Indeed. But win a campaign, and you get them all; which is what I think he meant.
gangstermaori 2 years ago
you cant get them all but anyways what teams can you get?
killusers1994 2 years ago
Playing around with the game files allows you to play every faction, from the roman factions you start off with, to macedonia
gangstermaori 2 years ago
ive tried that and the game file will not save for some reason any help?
killusers1994 2 years ago
they are descendants of the Scythians who are cousins of the Persians so ya
nitroyoda 3 years ago
yep, they known as Parthians, it's one of the dynasty's of Persia. ;)
Xaivier91 3 years ago
hit the ~ button that is below teh ESC button, they type "add_money 40000" you will get 40000 pieces of gold, keep doing it, and u will have a million pieces of gold, with that, you can build armies after armies, and smashed everyone, even the mighty Romans
CoNaGhAn07 3 years ago
you just hit that button? where do you hit it *game is on the way in the mail, ordered it won it yesturday cuz I got one for christmas but they only gave me disc 2 and barbarian invasion*
Brianbays 3 years ago
"wealth" is the thing the Parthians have the LEAST of!
When i play them they ALWAYS fall into bankruptcy!!
Hjernespreng 3 years ago
I know! that happens to me too! my bro managed to conquer the whole east with parthians, i don't know how he did that.
Xaivier91 3 years ago
briton is da best going from celtic to the bigger empier ever have that
jedq 3 years ago
carthage are btr good infantry strong citys and good cavlary but parthia is good to but is parthia not persia?
wodin4 3 years ago
Parthians sucks ass, i defeated 1200 Parthians with 265 hoplites -.-'
metabollica 3 years ago
parthians are actually realli good in the beginning of the game, almost undefeatable early game. Hoplites are slow, and cant turn quick enough. Parthian horse archers can go around and decimate hoplite in seconds. In later game, Parthians have to focus on heavy units like catapacts and elephants, rather than using cheap tactics because base armour increases.
flyboyjin 3 years ago
They sent a general,douzens of hillmen against my spearmen. The captain became man of the hour, and i conquered all the people in middle east with mercinaries and my general. Eastern is the suckiest peoples that exists, barbarians for the people.
metabollica 3 years ago
Yes, its fun to play at easy! Isn't it?
Hjernespreng 3 years ago
yes very
average360er 3 years ago
how can you be parthia?
MTCoblivsicas12345 3 years ago
win whit greec i have doing dat i have den =]
bertjanbjn 3 years ago
finish the game with one of the Roman factions
CoNaGhAn07 3 years ago
Wealth and numbers alone do not rule empires. The Parthians were great a desert/mountain people, but they pretty much suck in this concerning infantry. But their cavalry force is certainly one of the finest.
balrog13571 3 years ago
Those of you who have tried playing as Parthia in campagn knows that they are very week in the start.. I had to build several diplomats to buy the attacking egypt armies, otherwise it's just impossible.. And also you have to as quick as possible conquer Armenia + the closest "orange barbarian people" village (dont know their name xD)
Najtsabes88 3 years ago
It's easy being Parthia Dude. All you need is horse archers :| They do all the work for you and after there ammo is gone, they have better attacking stats then Equites the roman light cavalry. If you find it hard just keep upgrading your stables :D
RomeTotalWarLegend 3 years ago 4
playing with parthia in the campaign is more easy tham play the romanans
mteixeira22 3 years ago
I agree completely, however, some battles that the computer will make pathians lose on automatic, u can win easily, dunno y.
flyboyjin 3 years ago
A-W-E-L-S-O-M-E
arnysval 3 years ago
most devastating heavy cavalry and horse archers with the worst fucking infantry ever. cataphract+persian national cavalry+horse archers=unstoppable in open fields.
xsilentrainx 3 years ago
Parthian cavalry archers plus cataphracts are a mass destruction group. They can kill everything in a big area!
cambrasmacho 3 years ago
i know only 1 thing about parthia the have the most strong cavarly in the game but not the strongest infantry
ihtf123 3 years ago
ANyways, can you play as the sassanians in this game?
persiandudeee 3 years ago
You are right my persian brother. In Rome Total War they are the "Pink Pyjama Faction". But there are many mods for RTW which make the Persians one of the best faction! E.g : Rise of Persia, Rome Total Realism, Europa Barbarorum and Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion where you can play the glorious Sassanians with best troops!
PersianCyrus 3 years ago
Pink pyjama faction? hahahahahaha thats ewxactly what I thought
LeriaCossato 3 years ago
are;t you thinking of RTW BI? Rome Total War Barbarian Invasion :S
RomeTotalWarLegend 3 years ago
Btw, the accent sucks.
persiandudeee 3 years ago
Wow this is pretty stupid, in the times of the Parthian Persian dynasty the soldiers did not wear that kind of uniform, what they showed were unfiroms of the achemiand Persian army, but the armored horses are correct.
The Parthian Persians were very advanced in combat and were heavily armoured.
persiandudeee 3 years ago
add_money 20000000000
now this is what i call wealth.
xsilentrainx 3 years ago
"add_money4000"
bigkitte 3 years ago
if your romans(bruti) you should try to wipe out greece quick then move on to parthia asap before they get cataphracts so you dont sustain retarded casualtys when you move to expand into the east. And NEVER, EVER TRUST THOSE EGYPTIAN SONS-OF-A-BITCHES NO MATTER WHAT FACTION YOU ARE, THY WILL FUCK YOU UP IF YOU DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM.
redsnow66 3 years ago 8
never take over land west of egypt or north of armenia, long ranga from capitol will make those lands not worthy to protect...the rest of the middle east and turkey greece is so rich you wont need anything else...and islands of course.
as for attacking with armies of horses at cities...just starve them untill they attack you and then it will be THEM who comes to the open field. you already won.
barak219 3 years ago
iam trying to play the parthians for the first time and its so hard, somehow i am at war with selucid(my fault) egypt (traitors!) and pontus(i really dont understand what they did) any suggestions? all i have now is crappy persian and horse archers and the infantry dont even agree to be cannon fodder so my horse archers can have easy time...so low moral...
barak219 4 years ago
1. Never trust the seleucid or egyptian bastards again 2. try to hang on as long as you can and make freinds in high places who want to go to war with the same people.
gyrosprinter 4 years ago
It's about survival until you can get hold of cataphracts and war elephants. The best way to do that is through mobility, put five cavalry units together and go lay siege to an enemy city. If they try and relieve it, fall back. The point is to force the computer to keep all its troops busy defending itself while you build up.
ketsan 3 years ago
true...its mobility and number OF ARMIES! a normal cata unit cost 140 gold to maintain...that is less then a roman legion! the amount of catas armies you can build is huge! assuming you can pay the initial price which is high BUT with such low upkeep its clear you will have much more money.
barak219 3 years ago
Ya I'm playing a game at the moment and I've got like, 15 cataphracts in three armies plus an army of war elephants and they're just riding over everything the selucids have got!
ketsan 3 years ago
the selucid are still alive? i exterminated them and the egyptian before i got catas.
didnt played for like 2 months but i have the entire middle east and most of greece, ones the greece selucid and macedonian are out the game is yours, the romans will get everything else for you and with the wealth of the middle east you will have armies like i have, 5 armies full with cata ravaging greece and annhilating anything roman.
in the end you will get camels which are the defenders of egypt.
barak219 3 years ago
hit the ~ button that is below teh ESC button, they type "add_money 40000" you will get 40000 pieces of gold, keep doing it, and u will have a million pieces of gold, with that, you can build armies after armies, and smashed everyone, even the mighty Romans
youngsamurai88 3 years ago
take some lands from the north from the barbarian then vipe out the almenn remaber to use hore tactics
bigkitte 3 years ago
PARTHIAN are cool!
sorrypapawxz 4 years ago 3
Very STRONG CAVALRY FACTION PARTHIA :)
Poor infatry :"/
BrotherPIT 4 years ago 4
Parthia rules.
SilencerS81 4 years ago 2
I Hate Parthians
82ndAirborne123 4 years ago
How did you unlock the parthian campaign
gggg54 4 years ago 2
you have to Destroy and leave nothing of the Empire you want to destroy after you destroid them you can play them
82ndAirborne123 4 years ago 2
if anything the Parthians and the sassanids were the most feard apoinants to Romans. Not only in millitary but in all factors of civilization. The sassanians were the only faction that rivoled rome and was the only faction that was a super power besides rome.
danbagheri 4 years ago 3
What you dont even know what your talking about, Rome total war is inaccurate its a game. History tells us that the Parthians come from northern Iran and southern Russia. They were used to a cold climate Regions. specially given that iran is mostly mountanious. Parthians are iranians, they cliam to be the desendents of the Achemanishid Persians. They defeated the hlanists in Iran. Latter they went to war with the Romans and succsesfully fended off hords after hords of roman Armiese.
danbagheri 4 years ago
no i dont think you know what your talking about becouse if you did you would know that the Partians were a nomadic people of northern iran who defeated the salacude and reestablished a persian rule in Iran.
danbagheri 4 years ago
wow this game is so inaccurate. The pErsians were not desert people idiots, The sassanids in this game is another persian faction which is all in all far better occuratly presented than the parthians.
danbagheri 4 years ago
this says parthians mates they came after teh persians ure right aboiut it tho they where nomadic boith of them.
MontyConnor 4 years ago
yes but neverthe less persian people. The iranian civilization consist of many different danystiese. Parthians were one of them. Than came the sassanids. They all called themselves Iranains, or Parsiese (greek : Persians)
danbagheri 4 years ago
yea ure right just thought id be a smartass :)
MontyConnor 4 years ago
WTf the Parthians did not look like that at all.
They were an iranian faction, infect they were the people of mountains. they edefeated the romans four times and even taking back mesepotamia for Persia.
danbagheri 4 years ago
parthia is probably the easiest faction to beat. they rely on cavlary, and since im good with greeks, they're easy. the phalanx breaks them up easily. oh, and sournaair, shut up. persia won't rise again.
EManPwn 4 years ago
But rome never could go further than tabriz!
And tabriz is chilly muntain
try4freedom 4 years ago
One day, sooner or later no matter how long it takes we'll rise again from the ashes and torn pages of history out of this Eternal land which was given the name of Iran. That day we will make Iran, land of Ahura, Land of Arian green once again, one more time , united under one flag, Persian,Parthian and Median. The sword of Iranian is their noble sprit
sourenaair 4 years ago
Parthians were not Persians, both were Aryans or Indo-Iranian. Persian, Meds, Parthian were all united after Cyrus of the Great the founder of Persian Empire under Achaemenid dynasty. Parthian found Arsacid dynasty after Arsaces I defeated Greek Seleucid Empire. The Parthian empire revived the greatness of the Achaemenid empire and Arsacid dynasty is known to be the second Persian Empire before Sasanid Empire.
alafpolo 4 years ago
and yes Parthinan introduce a uniqu military tactics which is called Parthian shot when The Parthian archers, mounted on light horse, would feign retreat; then, while at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy.one thing to know is Parthian women participated widely in wars specially in this type of tactics and they were highly skilled and well trained.
alafpolo 4 years ago
The parthians arent shown very strong in the game but there cavalery is absoluetly amazing. They are archers,weakening the enemy and they charge with horses to bring down the enemy. Amazing Tactic!
LONG LIVE PERSIA! Our empire will rise again.
rockyrules1 4 years ago
Naxwell,you are the shiznit
earthwormjim3D 4 years ago
and a thousand warriors...why they are the start of an EMPIRE The persian and bulgarian empires are the greatest!
Nemskii 5 years ago
Parthians werer persians, but they didnt freaken live in the desert. The empire was stretched from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Tujikistan, Uzbakistan, Armenia, Azarbajijan, and parts of Turkey.
joonijoon 5 years ago