The Parthian Empire (Persian: شاهنشاهی پارت‎), (/ˈpɑrθiən/; 247 BC -- 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire (/ˈɑrsəsɪd/; Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran better known as ancient Persia.[3] Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia[4] who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region[5] 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.