Artabanus IV of Parthia ruled the Parthian Empire (c. 216 – 224). He was the younger son of Vologases V who died in 209. Artabanus rebelled against his brother Vologases VI, and soon gained the upper hand, although Vologases VI maintained himself in a part of Babylonia until about 228. Parthian Empire at its greatest extent, c60 BC. The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the East and... Events The Baths of Caracalla in Britain is divided into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. ... Events Shah Artashir I wins Persian independence from Parthia and establishes the Sassanid dynasty. ... Coin of Vologases V. The reverse shows the throned king receiving a diadem from Tyche. ... Events Publius Septimius Geta receives the titles of Imperator and Augustus from his father, Roman emperor Septimius Severus. ... Coin of Vologases VI. The reverse shows the throned king receiving a diadem from Tyche. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Events Shah Artashir I, four years after establishing the Sassanid Persian Empire, completes his conquest of Parthia. ...

The Roman emperor Caracalla, wishing to make use of this civil war for a conquest of the East in imitation of his idol, Alexander the Great, attacked the Parthians in 216. He crossed the Tigris, destroyed the towns and spoiled the tombs of Arbela, but when Artabanus advanced at the head of an army, he retired to Carrhae. There he was murdered by Martialis on April 8, 217. Caracalla's successor, the Praetorian Prefect of the Guard Macrinus, was defeated at Nisibis and concluded a peace with Artabanus, in which he gave up all the Roman conquests, restored the booty, and paid a heavy contribution to the Parthians. The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... Caracalla Caracalla (April 4, 186–April 8, 217) was emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 211–217. ... Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Tigris River in Mosul, Iraq The Tigris (Old Persian: Tigr, Aramaic Assyrian: Deqlath, Arabic: دجلة, Dijla, Turkish: Dicle; biblical Hiddekel) is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq. ... Arbil, (or Erbil or Irbil, known as Hewler in Kurdish), is one of Iraqs larger cities, located at 36. ... Harran, also known as Carrhae, is an archeological site in present day southeastern Turkey, 24 miles (39 kilometers) southeast of Sanli Urfa. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... Events Macrinus becomes Roman Emperor on the death of Caracalla. ... Macrinus on an aureus. ... Nisibis (Nusaybin, province Mardin, south-eastern Turkey) is the ancient Mesopotamian city, which Alexanders successors refounded as Antiochia Mygdonia and is mentioned for the first time in Polybius description of the march of Antiochus against the Molon (Polybius, V, 51). ...

At about this time, the Persian dynast Ardashir had already begun his conquests in Persia and Carmania. When Artabanus tried to subdue him his troops were defeated. The war lasted several years; at last Artabanus himself was vanquished and killed in 226. Thus the 400-year rule of the Arsacid Dynasty came to an end. Persia and Persian can refer to: the Western name for Iran. ... Ardashir I (Artaxerxes, Artaxares, Artashastra) was the founder of the Sassanian Empire of Persia and king from around 226 until around 240. ... Kerman is a province rich in historical sites and monuments. ... Events: Accession of Wei Mingdi as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei of China. ... The Arsacid Dynasty ruled Persia. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
• Dio Cassius, vii, 12; lxxviii, 26.