CTESIPHON  , a large

village on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite to Seleucia, of which it formed a suburb, about 25 M. below Bagdad . It is first mentioned in the year 220 by Polybius V . 45 . 4 . When the Parthian Arsacids had conquered the lands east of the Euphrates in 129 B.C., they established their winter residence in Ctesiphon . They dared not stay in Seleucia, as this city, the most populous town of western Asia, always maintained her Greek self-government and a strong feeling of independence, which made her incline to the west whenever a Roman army attacked the Parthians . The Arsacids also were afraid of destroying the wealth and commerce of Seleucia, if they entered it with their large retinue of barbarian officials and soldiers (Strabo xvi . 743, Plin. vi . 122, cf . Joseph . Ant. xviii . 9, 2) .

From this

time Ctesiphon increased in size, and many splendid buildings rose; it had the outward appearance of a large town, although it was by its constitution only a village . From A.D . 36-43 Seleucia was in rebellion against the Parthians till at last it was forced by King Vardanes to yield . It is very probable that Vardanes now tried to put Ctesiphon in its place; therefore he is called founder of Ctesiphon by Ammianus Marcellinus (xxiii . 6 . 23), where King Pacorus (78-11o) is said to have increased its inhabitants and built its walls . Seleucia was destroyed by the Romans in A.D . 164 . When Ardashir I.founded the Sassanian empire (226), and fixed his residence at Ctesiphon, he built up Seleucia again under the name of Veh-Ardashir . Later kings added other suburbs; Chosroes I. in 540 established the inhabitants of Antiochia in Syria, whom he had led into captivity, in a new city, " Chosrau-Antioch " (or " the Roman city ") near his residence . Therefore the Arabs designate the whole complex of towns which lay together around Seleucia and Ctesiphon and formed the residence of the Sassanids by the name Madain, " the cities,"—their number is often given as seven . In the wars between the Roman and Persian empires, Ctesiphon was more than once besieged and plundered, thus by Odaenathus in 261, and by Carus in 283; Julian in 363 advanced to Ctesiphon, but was not able to take it (Ammianus xxiv .

7) . After the

battle of Kadisiya (Qadisiya) Ctesiphon and the neighbouring towns were taken and plundered by the Arabs in 637, who brought home an immense amount of booty (see CALIPHATE) . From then, these towns decayed before the in-creasing prosperity of the new Arab capitals Basra and Bagdad . The site is marked only by the ruins of one gigantic building of brick-work, called Takhti Khesra, " throne of Khosrau " (i.e . Chosroes) . It is a great vaulted hall ornamented with pilasters, the remainder of the palace and the most splendid example of Sassanian architecture (see ARCHITECTURE, vol . H. p . 558, for further details and illustration) . (ED .