Hellenism has blended with local cultures to…

Hellenism has blended with local cultures to form a syncretic civilization in Iran under the Seleucids, who have established many Greek settlements in the east.

The empire of the Seleucids, like that of the Achaemenids before them, is shaken by revolts of the satraps.

The difficult situations in the west and the grave reverses suffered by the royal house have accelerated the weakening of the Macedonian kingdom.

The loss of its eastern possessions in the third century BCE will prove fatal to the Seleucid cause.

Parthia is the first province to detach itself from the Seleucid Empire, just as it had been the first to rise up on the accession of Darius the Great.

Andragoras, the Seleucid satrap (governor) of Parthia during the mid-third century, apparently defies Seleucid imperial authority, which is weakly established in his area, and, although he does not declare himself king, issues coins on which his image bears the royal diadem.

At this time, Parthia is one of the poorer of the high satrapies, caught between the mountains and the great central desert and without large agricultural resources.

This satrapal independence might seem surprising if it were not for the fact that the main route for the silk trade crosses right through Parthia over a distance of more than one hundred miles.

The tolls the caravans pay must produce a sizable income.