A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

AiSACES.

ARSACES. 357

and among the rest Monaeses, who was one of the
most distinguished men in Parthia. At the instigation of Monaeses, Antony resolved to invade
Parthia, and promised Monaeses the kingdom.
Phraates, alarmed at this, induced Monaeses to
return to him; but Antony notwithstanding persevered in his intention of invading Parthia. It
was not, however, till late in the year (B. C. 36)
that he commenced his march, as he was unable to
tear himself away from Cleopatra. The expedition
was a perfect failure; he was deceived by the
Armenian king, Artavasdes, and was induced by
him to invade Media, where he laid siege to
Praaspi or Praata. His legate, Statianus, meantinme was cut off with 10,000 Romans; and Antony, finding that he was unable to take the town,
was at length obliged to raise the siege and retire
from the country. In his retreat through Media
and Armenia he lost a great number of men, and
with great difficulty reached the Araxes with a
part of his troops. (Dion Cass. xlix. 23-31; Plut.
Ant. cc. 37-51; Strab. xi. p. 523, &c.; Liv.
Epit. 130.)
The breaking out of the civil war soon afterwards between Antony and Octavianus compelled
the former to give up his intention of again invading Parthia. He formed, however, an alliance
with the king of Media against the Parthians,
arid gave to the former part of Armenia which
had been recently conquered. But as soon as
Antony had withdrawn his troops in order to
oppose Octavianus, the Parthian king overran both
Media and Armenia, and placed upon the Armenian throne Artaxias, the son of Artavasdes, whom
Antony had deposed. (Dion Cass. xlix. 44.) Meantime the cruelties of Phraates had produced
a rebellion against him. He was driven out of the
country, and Tiridates proclaimed king in his
stead. Phraates, however, was soon restored by
the Scythians, and Tiridates fled to Augustus, carrying with him the youngest son of Phliraates.
Hereupon Phraates sent an embassy to Rome to
demand the restoration of his son and Tiridates.
Augustus, however, refused to surrender the
latter; but he sent back his son to Phraates, on
condition of his surrendering the Roman standards
and prisoners taken in the war with Crassus and
Antony. They were not, however, given up till
three years afterwards (B. c. 20), when the visit of
Augustus to the east appears to have alarmed the
Parthian king. Their restoration caused universal
joy at Rome, and was celebrated not only by the
poets, but by festivals, the erection of a triumphal arch and temple, and other monuments.
Coins also were struck to commemorate the event,
on one of which we find the inscription SIGNIS
RECEPTIS. (Dion Cass. li. 18, liii. 33, liv. 8;
Justin, xlii. 5; Suet. Aug. 21; Hor. Epist. i. 18.
56, Carm. iv. 15. 6; Ovid, Trist. ii. 1. 228, Fast.
vi. 467, Ar. Anm. i. 179, &c.; Propert. ii. 10, iii.
4, iii. 5. 49, iv. 6. 79; Eckhel, vi. pp. 94-97.)
Phraates also sent to Augustus as hostages his
four sons, with their wives and children, who were
carried to Rome. According to some accounts he
delivered them up to Augustus, not through fear
of the Roman power, but lest the Parthians should
appoint any of them king in his stead, or according to others, through the influence of his Italian
wife, Thermnusa, by wh am he had a fifth son,
Phraataces. (Tac. Ann. ii. 1; Joseph. Ant. xviii.
2. ~ 4: Strab. xvi. p. 748.) In A. D. 2, Phraates

took possession of Armenia, and expelled Artavasdes, who had been appointed king by Augustus,
but was compelled soon after to give it up again.
(Dion Cass. Iv. 11; Veil. ii. 101; Tac. Ann. ii. 4.)
He was shortly afterwards poisoned by his wife
Thermusa, and his son Phraataces. (Joseph. 1. c.)
The coin given under Arsaces XIV. is assigned by
most modern writers to this king.
ARSACES XVI., PHRAATACES, reigned only
a short time, as the murder of his father and the
report that he committed incest with his mother
made him hated by his subjects, who rose in rebellion against him and expelled him from the
throne. The Parthian nobles then elected as king
Orodes, who was of the family of the Arsacidae.
(Joseph. 1. c.)
ARSACES XVII., ORODES II., also reigned
only a short time, as he was killed by the Parthians on account of his cruelty. Upon his death
the Parthians applied to the Romans for Vonones,
one of the sons of Phraates IV., who was accordingly granted to them. (Joseph. 1. c.; Tac. Ann.
ii. 1-4.)
ARSACEs XVIII., VONONES I., the son of
Phraates IV., was not more liked by his subjects
than his two immediate predecessors. His long
residence at Rome had rendered him more a Roman than a Parthian, and his foreign habits and
manners produced general dislike among his subjects. They therefore invited Artabanus, king of
Media, who also belonged to the family of the
Arsacidae, to take possession of the kingdom.
Artabanus was at first defeated, but afterwards
drove Vonones out of Parthia, who then took
refuge in Armenia, of which he was chosen king.
But, threatened by Artabanus, he soon fled into
Syria, in which province the Roman governor,
Creticus Silanus, allowed him to reside with the
title of king. (A. D. 16.) Two years afterwards
he was removed by Germanicus to Pompeiopolis in
Cilicia, partly at the request of Artabanus, who
begged that he might not be allowed to reside in
Syria, and partly because Germanicus wished to
put an affront upon Piso, with whom Vonones
was very intimate. In the following year (A. D.
19) Vonones attempted to escape from Pompeiopolis, intending to fly into Scythia; but he was
overtaken on the banks of the river Pyramus, and
shortly after put to death. According to Suetonius, he was put to death by order of Tiberius on
account of his great wealth. (Joseph. 1. c.; Tac.
Ann. ii. 1-4, 56, 58, 68; Suet. Tiber. c. 49.)
ARSACES XIX., ARTABANUS III., obtained
the Parthian kingdom on the expulsion of Vonones
in A. D. 16. The possession of Armenia was the
great cause of contention between him and the
Romans; but during the life-time of Germanicus,
Artabanus did not attempt to seize the country.
Germanicus, on his arrival in Armenia in A. D. 18,
recognized as king Zenon, the son of Polemon,
whom the Armenians wished to have as their
ruler, and who reigned under the name of Artaxias
III.; and about the same time, Artabanus sent an
embassy to Germanicus to renew the alliance with
the Romans. (Tac. Ann. ii. 56, 58.)
After the death of Germanicus, Artabanus began to treat the Romans with contempt, placed
Arsaces, one of his sons, over Armenia, and sent
art embassy into Syria to demand the treasures
which Vonones had carried with him out of Parthia. He also oppressed his subjects, till at length