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The Parthians ruled from 247 BCE to 224 CE creating a vast empire that stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to India and China in the east. East of the Caspian Sea there emerged from the steppe of Central Asia a nomadic Scythian tribe called the Parni.
Musa (also spelled Mousa), also known as Thea Musa, was queen of the Parthian Empire from 2 BC to 4 AD. Originally an Italian slave-girl, she was given as a gift to the Parthian monarch Phraates IV (r. 37 BC – 2 BC) by the Roman emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC – 14 AD). She quickly became queen and a favourite of Phraates IV, giving birth to Phraataces (Phraates V). In 2 BC, she had Phraates IV poisoned and made herself along with Phraates V the co-rulers of the empire. Their reign was shortlived: they were forced to flee to Rome after being deposed by the Parthian nobility, who crowned Orodes III as king.
Musa is the first of only three women to rule in Iranian history, the others being the two 7th-century Sasanian sisters Boran (r. 630–630, 631–632) and Azarmidokht (r. 630–631).
