Drachm - Phraates III

Phraates III came to power around 70 BC with Tigranes of Armenia and Lucullus both pressing claims on Parthian territory from opposite directions. His survival depended on playing Rome against Armenia — a gambit that worked, producing formal diplomatic recognition from both Lucullus and later Pompey, the first Roman embassy ever received by a Parthian king. Sellwood type 36 spans the bulk of his reign and documents a mint operating under genuine political pressure.

He was murdered by his own sons, Mithridates III and Orodes II, around 57 BC.