Apollodorus of Artemita (Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀρτεμιτηνός) was a Greek historian of the 1st century BCE from the city of Artemita within the Parthian Empire (modern Iraq) [1]. A subject of the Arsacid kings, his work provides a valuable internal perspective from a Hellenized author during a period of significant interaction between the Hellenistic, Parthian, and Eastern worlds [1][2].

His only known work is the lost Parthica (Παρθικά), a history of the Parthian Empire surviving in fragments, primarily through quotations by Strabo and Athenaeus [1][2][3]. Spanning at least four books, it served as a major source on Parthian history, geography, and the lands of Bactria and India for later Greek and Roman writers [1][2].

Apollodorus is significant as one of the few known Greek historians writing from within the Parthian Empire [1]. His Parthica was a crucial source for later geographers like Strabo, and its fragments remain essential for understanding the Greek perspective on the Arsacid dynasty and the eastern frontiers of the Hellenistic world [1][2].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-528 2. Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Apollodorus-of-Artemita 3. Perseus Digital Library, entry in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dapollodorus-bio-15