Musa of Parthia

Common card · No. 459413

Musa (also spelled Mousa), also known as Thea Musa, was the reigning queen of the Parthian Empire from 2 BC to 4 AD. Originally an Italian slave-girl, Augustus gifted her to Phraates IV. She quickly became queen and a favourite of Phraates IV, giving birth to a son, Phraataces, who would later be known as Phraates V. In 2 BC, she had Phraates IV poisoned and made herself, along with Phraates V, the co-rulers of Parthia. Their reign was short-lived; 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 as monarchs in Iranian history, the others being the two 7th-century Sasanian sisters Boran (r. 630–630, 631–632) and Azarmidokht (r. 630–631). Other female rulers, Rinnu, Ifra Hormizd and Denag, ruled only as regents of their sons, not as reigning monarchs in their own right.

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