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

362 ARSACIDAE.
probably in A. D. 62. The Armenian historians
have treated with particular attention the history
of the younger branch; they speak but little about
the earlier transactions with Rome; and they are
almost silent with regard to those kings, the offspring of the kings of Pontus and Judaea, who
"were imposed upon Armenia by the Romans.
From this we may conclude, that the Armenians
considered those instruments of the Romans as intruders and political adventurers, and that the
Arsacidae were the only legitimate dynasty.
Thus they sometimes speak of kings unknown to
the Romans, and who perhaps were but pretenders, who had succeeded in preserving an obscure
independence in some inaccessible corner of the
mountains of Armenia. On the other hand the
Romans, with all the pride and haughtiness of
conquerors, consider their instruments or allies
alone as the legitimate kings, and they generally
speak of the Arsacidae as a family imposed
upon Armenia by the Parthians. As to the origin
of the Armenian Arsacidae, both the Romans and
Armenians agree, that they were descended from
the dynasty of the Parthian Arsacidae, an opinion
which was so generally established, that Procopius
(De Aedificiis Jusstiniani, iii. 1) says, that nobody
had the slightest doubt on the fact. But as to the
origin of the earlier kings, who according to the
Romans were not Arsacidae, we must prefer the
statements of the Armenians, who, as all Orientals,
paid great attention to the genealogy of their great
families, and who say that those kings were Arsacidae.
The Persian historians know this dynasty by
the name of the Ashcanians, and tell us, that its
founder was one Ashk, who lived at the time of
Alexander the Great. But the Persian authors
throw little light upon the history of the Arsacidae. A series of the kings, according to
the Romans, is necessary for understanding their
historians. But as their statements are rather
one-sided, they will be found insufficient not only
for a closer investigation into the history of Armenia, but also for many other events connected
with the history of the eastern empire. It has,
therefore, been thought advisable to give first the
series of the kings according to the Roman writers,
and afterwards a series of these kings according to
the Roman accounts combined with those of the
Armenians. The chronology of this period has
not yet been satisfactorily fixed, and many points
remain vague.
The following is a series of the Arsacidae and
other kings of Armenia according to the Romans.
ARTAXIAS I., praefect of Armenia Magna under
Antiochus the Great, became the independent
king of Armenia in B. c. 188. [ARTAXIAs I.]
TIGRANES I., the ally of Mithridates the Great
against the Romans. [TIGRANES I.]
ARTAVASDES I., the son of Tigranes I., taken
prisoner by M. Antonius. [ARTAVASDES I.]
ARTAXIAS II., the son of Artavasdes I., killed
by his rebellious subjects. [ARTAXIAs II.]
TIGRANES II., the son of Artavasdes I., and
the brother of Artaxias II., established in Armenia
by order of Augustus, by Tiberius Nero. [TIGRANES II.]
ARTAVASDES II., perhaps the son of Artaxias II.,
driven out by his subjects. [ARTAVASDES II.]
TIGRANES III., the son of Tigranes II., the
competitor of Artavasdes II., driven out by Caius

ARSACIDAE.
Caesar. He was the last of his race. [TIGRANES III.]
ARIOBARZANES. After Artavasdes II. and Tigranes III. had been driven out by the Romans,
the choice of Augustus for a king of the Armenians fell upon one Ariobarzanes, a Median or
Parthian prince, who seems not to have belonged
to the dynasty of the Arsacidae. As Ariobarzanes was a man of great talents and distinguished
by bodily beauty, a quality which the eastern
nations have always liked to see in their kings,
the Armenians applauded the choice of Augustus.
He died suddenly after a short reign in A. D. 2,
according to the chronology of St. Martin. He
left male issue, but the Armenians disliked his
children, and chose Erato their queen. She was,
perhaps, the widow of Tigranes III. (Tac. Ann.
iii. 4.)
VONONES. Erato was deposed by the Armenians after a short reign, and the throne remained
vacant for several years, till the Armenians at
length chose Vonones as their king, the son of
Phraates IV., and the exiled king of Parthia.
(A. D. 16.) Vonones maintained himself but one
year on the throne, as he was compelled to fly
into Syria through fear of Artabanus III., the
king of Parthia. [AiRSACES XVIII.]
ARTAXIAS III., chosen king, A. D. 18, about
two years after Vonones had fled into Syria. [AaTAXIAS III.]
ARSACES I., the eldest son of Artabanus, king
of the Parthians, was placed on the throne of
Armenia by his father, after the death of Artaxias
III. He perished by the treachery of Mithridates,
the brother of Pharasmanes, king of Iberia, who
had bribed some of the attendants of Arsaces to kill
their master. After his death, which happened in
A. D. 35, Mithridates invaded Armenia and took
its capital, Artaxata. Josephus (xviii. 3. ~ 4.)
calls this Armenian king Orodes, but this was the
name of his brother, who, as we learn from Tacitus,
was sent by the Parthian king to revenge his
death. (Tac. Ann. vi. 31-33; Dion Cass. Iviii.
26.)
MITHRIDATES, the aforesaid brother of Pharasmanes, was established on the throne of Armenia
by the emperor Tiberius, A. D. 35. He was recalled to Rome by Caligula, but sent into Armenia
again by Claudius, about A. D. 47, where he continued to reign, supported by the Romans, till he
was expelled and put to death by his nephew
Rhadamistus, A. D. 52. (Tac. Ann. vi. 33, ix. 8,
9, xii. 44-47; Dion Cass. Ix. 8.)
RHADAMISTus, the son of Pharasmanes, king of
Iberia, was a highly gifted but ambitious youth,
whom his old father tried to get rid of by exciting
him to invade Armenia, for which purpose he gave
him an army. (A. D. 52.) Rhadamistus, seconded
by the perfidy of the Roman praefect in Armenia,
Pollio, succeeded in seizing upon the person of his
uncle, whom he put to death with his wife and
his children. Rhadamistus then ascended the
throne; but Vologeses I., the king of the Parthians, took advantage of the distracted state of
the country to send his brother Tiridates into
Armenia, and proclaim him king. Tiridates advanced upon Tigranocerta, took this city and
Artaxata, and compelled Rhadamistus to fly. Rhadamistus was subsequently killed by his father
Pharasmanes. (Tac. Ann. xii. 44--51, xiii. 6, 37.)
'TIRIDATES I., the brother of Vologeses I., king