Volume 3 covers the period from the death of Alexander to the advent of Islam.

List of plates; List of line drawings; List of maps; Editorial note; Introduction Ehsan Yarshater; Part I. Political History: 1. The Seleucid period E. Bickerman; 2. The political history of Iran under the Arsacids A. D. H. Bivar; 3. Iranians in Asia Minor Leo Raditsa; 4. The political history of Iran under the Sasanians R. N. Frye; 5. The history of eastern Iran A. D. H. Bivar; 6. The political history of Transoxiana E. V. Zeimal; 7. Iranian settlement east of the Pamirs R. E. Emmerick; Part II. Numismatics: 8a. Parthian coins David Sellwood; 8b. Minor states in southern Iran David Sellwood; 9. Sasanian coins Robert Göbl; Part III. Iranian historical tradition: 10a. Iranian common beliefs and world-view Ehsan Yarshater; 10b. Iranian national history Ehsan Yarshater; Part IV. Iran and Her Neighbours: 11. Iran and Mesopotamia Wilhelm Eilers; 12. Iran, Armenia and Georgia David M. Lang; 13. Iran and China William Watson; 14. Cultural relations between Parthia and Rome Otto Kurz; 15. Byzantium and the Sasanians Nina Garsoïan; 16. Iran and the Arabs before Islam C. E. Bosworth; 17. Irano-Turkish relations in the late Sasanian period A. Von Gabain.