First, there was a strong conviction on the part of those who came in contact with the Parthians that they were Scyths; and secondly, it was believed that their name meant "exile." Hence it was necessary to suppose that they had migrated into their country from some portion of the tract known as Scythia to the Greeks, and it was natural to invent stories as to the particular circumstances of the migration.
The residuum of the truth, or at any rate the important conviction of the ancient writers, which remains after their stories are sifted, is the Scythic character of the Parthian people.

On this point, Strabo, Justin, and Arrian are agreed.

The manners of the Parthians had, they tell us, much that was Scythic in them.

Their language was half Scythic, half Median.

They armed themselves in the Scythic fashion.