“The Parthians, in whose hands the empire of the east now is, having divided the world, as it were, with the Romans, were originally exiles from Scythia. This is apparent from their very name; for in the Scythian language, exiles are called Parthi. During the time of the Assyrians and Medes, they were the most obscure of all the people of the East. Subsequently, too, when the empire of the east was transferred from the Medes to the Persians, they were but as a herd without a name, and fell under the power of the stronger. At last, they became subject to the Macedonians, when they conquered the east; so that it must seem wonderful to every one, that they should have reached such a height of good fortune as to rule over those nations under whose sway they had been merely slaves. Being assailed by the Romans, also, in three wars, under the conduct of the greatest generals, and at the most flourishing period of the republic, they alone, of all nations, were not only a match for them, but came off victorious; though it may have been a greater glory to them, indeed, to have been able to rise amidst the Assyrian, Median, and Persian empires, so celebrated of old, and the most powerful dominion of Bactria, peopled with a thousand cities, than to have been victorious in war against a people that came from a distance; especially when they were continually harassed by severe wars with the Scythians and other neighboring nations, and pressed with various other formidable contests… The Parthians, being forced to quit Scythia by discord at home, gradually settled in the deserts betwixt Hyrcania, the Dahae, the Arei, the Sparni, and Margiani.” (Justin (historian), a Latin writer and historian who lived under the Roman Empire in the 2nd century A.D. and was almost a contemporary of the events he described in Epitome ch. 41).
What part of Scythia did the Parthians come from? Historian Strabo, who lived in the 1st century B.C. provided the answer: “They say that the Aparnian Däae were emigrants from the Däae above Lake Maeotis [Azov Sea], who are called Xandii or Parii.” (Geography, 11.9)
Royal Hat resembling the headdress of a Parthian prince was found in a barrow near Kyiv >
“Royal Scythia, Greece, Kyiv Rus” book provides a new perspective on the origin of the Scythians.
