ARMENIA AND IRAN  ii. The Pre-Islamic Period 1. The Achaemenid period. The Armenians probably originated from Phrygia (Herodotus 3.19, and…

BALĀSAGĀN (Ar. Balāsajān, Balāšajān; Armenian Bałasakan), an Iranian toponym in -agān (-akān) “country of the Balās),” designating a region located…

BALĀŠ, the name of a number of kings and several dignitaries and notables during the Parthian and Sasanian periods. The…

ĀZĀD (older ĀZĀT), a class of the Iranian nobility. The word (Mid Pers. ʾzʾt, ʾcʾt, plur. obl. ʾzʾtʾn, ʾcʾtʾn, Parth….

AURELIUS VICTOR, SEXTUS, born in Africa ca. 325/330, held high positions under Julian and Theodosius. He was a contemporary of…

ATROPATES (Āturpāt, lit., “protected by the fire,” cf. Av. Atərəpāta), the satrap of Media, commander of the troops from Media,…

ASTABED. The word astabid occurs in two Syriac texts as the title of a high-ranking Iranian officer and is applied…

ASPBED (older asppat from OIr. *aspa-pati-), “master of horses, chief of cavalry,” Parthian title attested in the Nisa documents and…

ARTEMITA IN APOLLONIATIS, city of the Parthian period in eastern Iraq. Artemita (Greek or Macedonian name), the principle city of…

ARRIAN, L. FLAVIUS ARRIANUS, Greek historian from Bithynia, born in Nicomedia, whose father had obtained Roman citizenship. He held very…

ARGBED, (Inscr. Mid. Persian hlgwpt, Inscr. Parthian ʾrkpty and hrkpty, i.e., (h)argbed, older (h)arkpat) a high-ranking title in the Parthian…

APPIANUS (APPIAN) OF ALEXANDRIA, historian, born probably toward the end of the 1st century A.D. Little is known of his…

APOLLODORUS OF ARTEMITA, historian. He was originally from the Greco-Parthian city of Artemita (Chalasar), in Apolloniatis. According to W. W….

ANTONY, MARK, Roman general (ca. 82-30 B.C.; Figure 1) who led a campaign in Armenia during the Parthian period. Following…

ANTIOCH, town in northern Syria situated at the foot of Mount Silpius on the left bank of the Orontes (ʿĀṣī)…

ANDARZBAD, Sasanian administrative title meaning “chief advisor” (from Mid. Pers. andarz “advice, counsel”) for a city, e.g., Ardašīr-Ḵᵛarrah or Gōr…

ANĀHĪD (Old Pers. Anāhitā, New Pers. Nāhīd, Armenian Anahit, Greek Anaitis), Mid. Pers. form of the name of the Iranian…

AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, historian who provides important information on the Sasanians. Born ca. 330-35 in Antioch on the Orontes to a…

ĀMĀRGAR, a Middle and New Persian word designating a person holding a particular administrative post. i. Etymology. ii. The post….

ALBANIA (Iranian Aran, Arm. Ałuankʿ), an ancient country in the Caucasus (for Albania in Islamic times, see Arrān). It was…

AELIANUS, CLAUDIUS, a sophist of the first third of the 3rd century A.D., from Praenest near Rome. Although he was…

AXSE, the name of a Parthian hostage in Rome, inscribed in the dedication of an epitaph engraved on a marble…