658 PAR 
they behaved with the utmoft bravery, and fought like 
men in defpair, were forced to yield to the Perfians, who 
were commanded by a more experienced leader. Molt of 
their troops were cut oft'in the flight; and the king him- 
felf was taken prifoner, and foon after put to death by 
Artaxerxes’s order. The Parthians, having loft in this 
fatal engagement both their king and their army, were 
forced toiubmit to the conqueror, and become vaffals to 
a nation which had been fubjeft to them for theffpace of 
47S years. _ . 
Thus ended an empire, once fo formidable, that, while 
it pofTdTed eighteen kingdoms between the Cafpian and 
Arabian feas, it even difputed the empire of the world 
with the Romans; and could never be fubdued by that 
nation, which had feen no people on earth unconquered 
by their arms. For a continuation of its hiftory, and pre- 
fent ftate, fee the article Persia. 
We may juft add, that the royal family of Arfaces did 
not end in Artabanus, but continued to reign in Armenia 
till the time of the emperor Juftinian, holding that king¬ 
dom of the Perfian monarchs. 
To this hiftorical account of the Parthians we (hall fub- 
join a concife ftatement of the geography of their coun¬ 
try, more efpecially as very erroneous ideas concerning 
the local fituation of this country have generally prevailed. 
Tiiofe whofe knowledge of it has been chiefly derived 
from its wars with the Romans, have conceived Parthia 
to be only the country bordering on the Euphrates and 
Tigris: whereas Parthia proper was a fmall province very 
near to the fouth-eaft extreme of the Cafpian Sea, which 
territory, as we have already hiftorically detailed, after 
the diviflon of Alexander’s empire, fell to the choice of 
the Seleucidse, kings of Syria and of the eaft, about 300 
years before our era. About 50 years after, Parthia re¬ 
belled ; and,, together with Hyrcania and other adjoining 
provinces, became an independent ftate under Arfaces. 
As the empire of the Seleucidae grew weaker, the Par¬ 
thians extended their country weftward ; and the fine pro¬ 
vince of Media fell to them ; and, within a century after 
the foundation of their ftate, it had fwallowed up all the 
countries from the Indus to the Euphrates, Badtria in¬ 
cluded: and this province had thrown oft’ the yoke of the 
Seleucidse, long before Parthia. The Parthian conquefts 
in Armenia, about 70 years B. C. brought them ac¬ 
quainted with the Romans; whofe conquefts met theirs 
both in that country and in Syria. The Parthians, to¬ 
gether with their conquefts, had advanced their capital 
weftwards, and had eftablifhed it on theTigris at Seleucia, 
or rather Ctefiphon (near the prefent Bagdad), before their 
wars with the Romans commenced. The expeditions of 
Pompey and Anthony, and the defeat of Craffus, need not 
be again recited. On occafion ofthelaft event, the Parthians 
extended their conquefts farther weftward, but afterwards 
were compelled to retire ; and they generally loft ground in 
Armenia and Mefopotamia, during the time of the Roman 
emperors. Trajan penetrated to their capital, and fatisfied 
his curiofity by embarking on the Indian Sea. The mode¬ 
ration of Adrian reftored the ancient boundary of the Eu¬ 
phrates. In A. D. 245, Perfis, or Perfia proper, which had 
for fome ages ranked as a province of Parthia, gained the 
afcendancy ; and, under Artaxerxes, put an end to the dy- 
nafty of the Arfacidae, and reftored the ancient name of 
Perfia to the empire, after that of Parthia had exifted 
about 480 years: fo that, in fa£V, the Parthian empire, 
confidered generally, was the Perfian, under another name. 
jRennell's Memoir. 
PAR'THIAN, adj. [from Parthia .] Belonging to 
Parthia. 
PAR'THIAN, f. A native of Parthia. 
PAR'TI, or Party, in Heraldry ; fee that article, 
vol. ix. p. 430. 
PAR'TIAL, adj. [French.] Inclined antecedently to 
favour one party in a caufe, or one fide of the queftion, 
more than the other.—Self-love will make men partial to 
PAR 
themfelves and friends, and ill-nature, paflioq, and re¬ 
venge, will carry them too far in punilhing others; and 
lienee,. God hath appointed governments to reftrain the 
partiality and violence of men. Loclie. —Inclined to fa¬ 
vour without reafon : with to before the part favoured.— 
Kings heretofore, who fliowed themfelves partial to a par¬ 
ty, had the fervice only of the worft part of their people. 
Davenant. 
Authors are partial to their wit, ’tis true ; 
But are not critics to their judgment too ? Pope. 
Affefting only one part; fubfifting only in apart; not 
general; not univerfal; not total.—If we compare thefe 
partial diflolutions of the earth with an univerfal diffolu- 
tion, we may as eafily conceive an univerfal deluge from 
an univerfal diflolution, as a partial deluge from a partial. 
Burnet. —That which weakens religion, will at length de- 
ftroy it; for the weakening of a thing is only a partial 
deftruftion of it. South. 
All difeord, harmony not underftood ; 
All partial evil, univerfal good. Pope. 
PAR'TIALIST, f. One who is partial.—I fay, as the 
apoftle faid, unto fuch partialijls, You will forgive nte this 
wrong. Bp. Morton's 1 ) if charge, tjc. 1633. 
PARTIAL'ITY, / [partiality Fr. from partial.] Un¬ 
equal ftate of the judgment and favour of one above the 
other, without juft reafon.— Partiality is properly the 
underftanding’s judging according to the inclination of 
the will and afteftions, and not according to the exact 
truth of things, or the merits of the caufe. South's Serm. 
—As there is a partiality to opinions, which i$ apt to mif- 
lead the underftanding; fo there is alfo a partiality to ftu- 
dies, which is prejudicial to knowledge. Locke. 
To PAR'TIALIZE, v. a. [partializer, Fr. from par¬ 
tial.] To mahe partial.—No man, drenched in hate, can 
promife to himfelf the candidnefs of an upright judge; 
his hate will partialize his opinion. Feltham's Ref. 
Such neighbour-nearnefs to our facred blood 
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize 
Til’ unftooping firmnefs of my upright foul. Shakefpeare. 
PAR'TI ALLY, adv. With unjuft favour or diflike. 
In part; not totally.—The meffage he brought, opened a 
clear profpeft of eternal falvation, which had been but 
obfeurely and partially figured in the fhadows of the law. 
Rogers. 
PAR'TI ALNESS,/. Partiality. AJh. 
PAR'TI ARY, f. [from part.] A partaker. Cole. 
PARTIBIL'ITY, / [from partible.] Divifibility ; fe- 
parability. , 
PAR'TIBLE, adj. [from part.] Divifible; feparable. 
—Make the moulds partible, glued or cemented together, 
that you may open them when you take out the fruit. 
Bacon. —The fame body, in one circumftance, is more 
weighty, and, in another, is more partible. Digby on the 
Soul. 
PARTI'CIPABLE, adj. [from participate .] Such as 
may be fhared or partaken.—Plato, by his ideas, means 
only the divine eflence, with this connotation, as it is va- 
rioufly imitable or participable by created beings. Norris. 
PARTI'CIPANT, adj. [Fr. from participate.] Sharing; 
having fliare or part: with of. —During the parliament, 
he publiflied his proclamation, offering pardon to all fuch 
as had taken arms, or been participant of any attempts 
againft him; fo as they fubmitted themfelves. Bacon .— 
If any part of my body be fo mortified, as it becomes like 
a rotten branch of a tree, it putrefies, and is uot participant 
^/influence derived from my foul, becaufe it is now no 
longer in it to quicken it. Hale. 
PARTI'CIPANT, f. A partaker.—Relations, both in 
print and manufeript, compofed by their own members, 
the participants in their moll facred and myfterious rites. 
Warburton's DoS. of Grace. 
To 
