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

358 ARSACES.
two of the chief men among the Parthians, Sinnaces, and the eunuch, Abdus, despatched an
embassy to Tiberius in A. D. 35, to beg him to
send to Parthia Phraates, one of the sons of
Phraates IV. Tiberius willingly complied with the
request; but Phraates upon arriving in Syria was
carried off by a disease, which was brought on by
his disusing the Roman mode of living, to which
he had been accustomed for so many years, and
adopting the Parthian habits. As soon as Tiberius
heard of his death, he set up Tiridates, another of
the Arsacidae, as a claimant to the Parthian throne,
and induced Mithridates and his brother Pharasmanes, Iberian princes, to invade Armenia. The
Iberians accordingly entered Armenia, and after
bribing the servants of Arsaces, the son of Artabanus, to put him to death, they subdued the
country. Orodes, another son of Artabanus, was
sent against them, but was entirely defeated by
Pharasmanes; and soon afterwards Artabanus was
obliged to leave his kingdom, and to fly for refuge
to the Hyrcanians and Carmanians. Hereupon
Vitellius, the governor of Syria, crossed the
Euphrates, and placed Tiridates on the throne.
In the following year (A. D. 36) some of the Parthian nobles, jealous of the power of Abdageses,
the chief minister of Tiridates, recalled Artabanus,
who in his turn compelled Tiridates to fly into
Syria. (Tac. Ann. vi. 31-37, 41-44; Dion
Cass. lviii. 26; Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5. ~ 4.) When
Tiberius received news of these events, he commanded Vitellius to conclude a peace with Artabanus (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 5. ~ 5), although
Artabanus, according to Suetonius (Tiber. c. 66),
sent a letter to Tiberius upbraiding him with his
crimes, and advising him to satisfy the hatred of
his citizens by a voluntary death. After the death
of Tiberius, Artabanus sought to extend his kingdom; he seized Armenia, and meditated an attack
upon Syria, but alarmed by the activity of Vitellius, who advanced to the Euphrates to meet him,
he concluded peace with the Romans, and sacrificed to the images of Augustus and Caligula.
(Dion Cass. lix. 27; Suet. Vitell. 2, Calig. 14,
with Ernesti's Excursus.)
Subsequently, Artabanus was again expelled
from his kingdom by the Parthian nobles, but was
restored by the mediation of Izates, king of Adiabene, who was allowed in consequence to wear his
tiara upright, and to sleep upon a golden bed,
which were privileges peculiar to the kings of Parthia. Soon afterwards, Artabanus died, and left
the kingdom to his son Bardanes. IBardanes made
war upon Izates, to whom his family was so deeply
indebted, merely because he refsused to assist him
in making war upon the Romans; but when the
Parthians perceived the intentions of Bardanes,
they put him to death, and gave the kingdom to
his brother, Gotarzes. This is the account given
by Josephus (Ant. xx. 3) of the reigns of Bardanes
and Gotarzes, and differs from that of Tacitus,
which is briefly as follows.
ARSACES XX., GOTARZES, succeeded his father, Artabanus III.; but in consequence of his
cruelty, the Parthians invited his brother Bardanes
to the throne. A civil war ensued between the
two brothers, which terminated by Gotarzes resigning the crown to Bardanes, and retiring into
Byrcania. (Tac. Ann. xi. 8, 9.)
ARSACES XXI., BARDANES, the brother of
the preceding, attempted to recover Armenia, but

ARSACES.
was deterred from his design by Vibius Marsus,
the governor of Syria. He defeated his brother
Gotarzes, who had repented of his resignation,
and attempted to recover the throne; but his
successes led him to treat his subjects with haughtiness, who accordingly put him to death while he
was hunting, A. D. 47. His death occasioned fresh
disputes for the crown, which was finally obtained
by Gotarzes; but as he also governed with cruelty,
the Parthians secretly applied to the emperor
Claudius, to beg him to send them from Rome
Meherdates, the grandson of Phraates IV. Claudius complied with their request, and commanded
the governor of Syria to assist Meherdates. Through
the treachery of Abgarus, king of Edessa, the hopes
of Meherdates were ruined; he was defeated in
battle, and taken prisoner by Gotarzes, who died
himself shortly afterwards, about A. D. 50. (Tac.
Ann. xi. 10, xii. 10-14.)
ARSACES XXII., VONONES II., succeeded to
the throne on the death of Gotarzes, at which time
he was satrap of Media. His reign was short
(Tac. Ann. xii. 14), and he was succeeded by
ARSACES XXIII., VOLOGESES I., the son of
Vonones II. by a Greek concubine, according to
Tacitus (Ann. xii. 14, 44); but according to Josephus, the son of Artabanus III. (Ant. xx. 3. ~ 4.)
Soon after his accession, he invaded Armenia, took
Artaxata and Tigranocerta, the chief cities of the
country, and dethroned Rhadamistus, the Iberian,
who had usurped the crown. He then gave Armenia to his brother, Tiridates, having previously
given Media to his other brother, Pacorus. These
occurrences excited considerable alarm at Rome, as
Nero, who had just ascended the throne (A.D. 55),
was only seventeen years of age. Nero, however,
made active preparations to oppose the Parthians,
and sent Domitius Corbulo to take possession of
Armenia, from which the Parthians had meantime
withdrawn, and Quadratus Ummidius to connmand
in Syria. Vologeses was persuaded by Corbulo
and Ummidius to conclude peace with the Romans
and give as hostages the noblest of the Arsacidae;
which he was induced to do, either that he might
the more conveniently prepare for war, or that he
might remove from the kingdom those who were
likely to prove rivals. (Tac. Ann. xii. 50, xiii.
5- 9.) Three years afterwards (A. D. 58), the
war at length broke out between the Parthians
and the Romans; for Vologeses could not endure
Tiridates to be deprived of the kingdom of Armenia, which he had himself given him, and would
not let him receive it as a gift from the Romans.
This war, however, terminated in favour of the
Romans. Corbulo, the Roman general, took and
destroyed Artaxata, and also obtained possession
of Tigranocerta, which surrendered to him. Tiridates was driven out of Armenia; and Corbulo
appointed in his place, as king of Armenia, the
Cappadocian Tigranes, the grandson of king Archelaus, and gave certain parts of Armenia to the tributary kings who had assisted him in the war.
After making these arrangements, Corbulo retired
into Syria, A. D. 60. (Tac. Ann. xiii. 34-41, xiv. 23 -2q; Dion Cass. lxii. 19, 20.) Vologeses, however, resolved to make another attempt to recover Armenia.
He made preparations to invade Syria himself, and
sent Monaeses, one of his generals, and Monobazus, king of the Adiabeni, to attack Tigranes
and drive him out of Armenia. They accordingly
entered Armenia and laid siege to Tigranocerta,