PARTHENOPEAN 



PARTNERSHIP 



787 



most perfect specimen of Greek architecture. It 

 is a great Doric temple, erected, under the super- 

 intendence of Phidias, by Ictinus and Callicrates, 

 of Pentelic marble, with eight pillars in the width, 

 and fifteen at each side ( not counting those at the 

 comers). The total length is 228 feet; height to 

 top of pediment, 64 feet. This magnificent relic of 

 Periclean times stood little injured by weather or 

 war until, when it was being used as a Turkish 

 magazine in 1687, a bomb from a Venetian mortar 

 burst within, and the explosion reduced the build- 

 ing to its present ruined condition. Illustrations 

 will be found at GREEK ARCHITECTURE ; a view of 

 the ruins at ATHENS ; and part of the frieze at 

 ELGIN MARBLES. See the Dilettanti Society's 

 Athenian Architecture (1851 ; new ed. 1889). 



Parthenopean Republic. See NAPLES. 



I'arlli ia. anciently a district in what is now 

 northern Persia, lay oetween Media on the west 

 and Bactria on the east, was separated from the 

 Caspian Sea on the north by the savage land of 

 Hyrcania, and was bordered on the south by the 

 Iranian deserts. The I'arthians were of Scythian 

 descent, immigrants and nomads, who eventually 

 adopted the Median dress and a semi-Aryan speech. 

 But in war they clung to their national habits : 

 thev always fought on horseback, and both horse 

 and" rider 'were clad throughout in scale armour ; 

 their weapons were bows and arrows, which they 

 discharged backwards during pretended flight as 

 well as forwards in direct attack. Their armies 

 were made up principally of slaves, commanded by 

 their masters, the aristocratic nucleus of the Par- 

 thian nation. Parthia was subject successively 

 to the Assyrians, the Medea, Persians, (.reeks 

 (Alexander the Great and his generals), and the 

 Seleucids of Syria. In or about 250 B.C. a chief 

 named Arsaces founded an independent kingdom 

 in Hyrcania ; his brother and successor, Titillates, 

 established himself in Parthia in 241 B.C. But the 

 early kings of Parthia had much ado to maintain 

 their position against their suzerains, the Seleucid 

 ' great kings ; ' and it was not until Mithridates I. 

 (171-138) ascended the throne, and had subdued 

 I$actria, Media, and Babylonia, that the Parthian 

 princes shook off completely the Syrian (Greek) 

 yoke and became independent. This king made 

 Parthia supreme in Iran. He greatly strengthened 

 his power by resting it in great part upon the Magi 

 (q.v.) and the ancient creed of Zoroaster. In the 

 reign of his successor the Seleucid king made a 

 determined effort to recover the lost provinces in 

 Iran, but the expedition cost him his life and his 

 army (129 B.C.). No sooner was this enemy dis- 

 posed of than another and more formidable foe 

 appeared in the east the Scythians. They de- 

 feated and slew (128) Phraates, king of Parthia, 

 levied tribute from his kingdom, ana established 

 themselves within its borders. During the first 

 half of the 1st century the Parthian kings, by 

 interfering in the affairs of Armenia, first came 

 into contact with the Romans. The unprovoked 

 invasion of Mesopotamia by Crassus (53 B.C.), his 

 disastrous defeat and his death, make the first act 

 in the drama of real contest that then ensued 

 between Rome and Parthia. The remaining acts 

 were the conquest of Syria and Palestine by 

 Parthia (40-38); the disastrous campaign of Antony 

 in Armenia (36 B.C.); then, after a century and 

 a half of, in Parthia, mostly internal dissensions, 

 the renewal of hostilities by Trajan ( 1 15-117 A.D. ) ; 

 the brilliant campaign or Avidius Cassius (164- 

 165); the capture of Ctesiphon by Severus (199) 

 and his repulse before Atra ( 201 ) ; and the defeat of 

 Macrinus, the Roman emperor, and his ignominious 

 payment of fifty million denarii to his enemy (217- 

 218). During nearly all this period the Euphrates 



was looked upon by both combatants as the frontier 

 line between their respective empires. The Parthian 

 capital was Ctesiphon, a suburb or twin-capital 

 with Seleucia, all through the duel with Rome. 

 The Parthian empire was overthrown in a battle 

 fought in 224 ( or 227 ) by Ardashir, a prince of Persis, 

 a province of ancient Iran, who founded the subse- 

 quent dynasty of the Sassanids (see PERSIA). The 

 Parthian kings during the most flourishing period 

 of their power used Greek as their official language, 

 adopted some of the Greek deities, and in other 

 ways put themselves under the influence of Greek 

 civilisation. But the hold of this civilisation grew 

 weaker as time went on, and Greek ceased to be 

 the official language in the 2d century A.D. 



See histories of Parthia by Rawlinson ( 1873), Schneid- 

 erwirth ( Heiligenstadt, 1874), and Spiegel (Leip. 1887). 



Partick. a town of Lanarkshire, prettily situ- 

 ated, chiefly on a rising ground on the Kelvin, 

 immediately above its junction with the Clyde, 

 and 3 miles WNW. of the Cross of Glasgow, of 

 which city it now forms a suburb. Nine-tenths of 

 the workmen of Partick are engaged in shipbuild- 

 ing-yards, but there are also many flour-mills, 

 cotton-factories, and bleach-fields. A large pro- 

 portion of the inhabitants are engaged in business 

 in Glasgow, and for their accommodation extensive 

 ranges of handsome villas have been built here. 

 Partick was made a police-burgh in 1852-66. Pop. 

 (18,31) 3131: (1881) 27,410; (1891) 36,538. See 

 Wallace's Parish of Goaan (1877). 



Partinico. a town of Sicily, 32 miles SW. of 

 Palermo by rail. Pop. 21,000. 



Partnership is the relation which subsists 

 between persons carrying on business in common 

 with a view to profit. Technically it has no refer- 

 ence to the relation l>etween shareholders and a 

 limited company. The law of partnership for the 

 United Kingdom has been placed on a clear and 

 intelligible footing by the Partnership Act, 1890, 

 53 and 54 Viet. chap. 39, which does not change the 

 law established by decisions, but states it in an 

 authoritative manner. Joint tenancy, or joint 

 property, or sharing gross returns does not by 

 itself make a man a partner. The receipt of a 

 share of net profits is a strong indication of part- 

 nership, but it is not conclusive in such cases as a 

 creditor, a servant or agent, the widow or child of 

 a deceased partner, the vendor of the good-will of 

 a business, receiving payment or remuneration by 

 way of a share in net profits. Where the person 

 carrying on the business becomes bankrupt, how- 

 ever, the creditor or vendor who is paid out of profits 

 is postponed to the other creditors. In Scotland 

 the firm is a legal person distinct from the indi- 

 vidual partnem, but a partner may be charged on a 

 decree against the firm, and on payment of a firm 

 debt is entitled to relief pro ruta from tlm firm and 

 the other partners. In all ordinary transactions 

 each partner, as agent, binds the firm, unless the 

 peraon dealt with Knows that the partner has in 

 fact no authority. The firm is not bound where 

 the partner pledges its credit for a purpose appar- 

 ently not connected with the business. In England 

 and Ireland the partners are liable jointly, in Scot- 

 land severally, for firm debts : in England and 

 Ireland the estate of a deceased partner is subject 

 to prior payment of separate debts. The firm is 

 liable for the misapplication by a partner of pro- 

 perty received by the firm, except in the case of 

 property of which the partner is trustee when the 

 other partners have no notice of the trust. Every 

 person who Iry words or conduct holds himself out 

 as a partner, or permits liimself to be so represented 

 by others, is liable to anybody who relied on such 

 representations. But this will not make the exec- 

 utors of a deceased partner liable because the name 



