Battle of Ecbatana Antiochus then dispersed his army into their winter quarters. However, the cities soon revolted against their presence. Phraates exploited the situation and attacked him as he marched to reinforce a garrison, inflicting a crushing defeat upon him at the Battle of Ecbatana. During the battle, Antiochus VII was killed and his royal guard was annihilated. After this, the rest of his army was largely destroyed, and the remainder was captured and folded into Parthian ranks. This battle marked the decisive and final defeat for the Seleucid Empire by the Parthians and ended the Hellenistic period in Iran. Battle of Ecbatana
Ecbatana A badly-damaged stone lion sculpture is of disputed date: it may be Achaemenid or Parthian. Numerous Parthian-era constructions attest to Ecbatana's status as a summer capital for the Parthian rulers. In 2006, excavations in a limited area of Hagmatana hill failed to discover anything older than the Parthian period, but this does not rule out older archaeological layers existing elsewhere within the 35-hectare site. Ecbatana was first excavated in 1913 by Charles Fossey. Excavations have been limited due to the modern town covering most of the ancient site. In 1969 the Ministry of Culture and Art began buying property on