his name and the royal title), together with his brother Alexander, satrap of Persis, but they were defeated and killed by Antiochus the Great. In the same way, the Mede satrap Timarchus took the diadem and conquered Babylonia. On his coins he calls himself the great king Timarchus; but again the legitimate king, Demetrius I, succeeded in subduing the rebellion, and Timarchus was slain. But with Demetrius I, the dissolution of the Seleucid Empire began, brought about chiefly by the intrigues of the Romans, and shortly afterwards, in about 150, the Parthian king Mithradates I conquered Media. Antiochus VII Sidetes briefly reasserted Seleucid control over the region in 130 BC, but his defeat and death at the Battle of Ecbatana marked the final loss of Seleucid influence in Media. From this time Media remained subject to the Arsacids or Parthians, who changed the name of Rhagae, or Europus, into Arsacia, and divided the country into five small provinces. From the Parthians, it passed in 226 to the Sassanids, together with Atropatene. Language and literature The Medes spoke Median, a Northwestern Iranian language. Gallery Notes References Sources Further reading External links Medes Iranian countries and territories Achaemenid satrapies Provinces of the Sasanian Empire Historical regions of Iran History of Azerbaijan (Iran)