Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/375

Rh ARSACES. nnd among the rest Monaeses, who was one of the most distinguished men in Parthia. At the insti- gation 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 per- severed 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 Cleopati-a. The expedition was a perfect failure ; he was deceived by the Armenian king, Artiivasdes, and was induced by him to invade Media, where he laid siege to Praaspi or Praata. His legate, Statianus, mean- time was cut off with 10,000 Romans ; and An- tony, 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 p;irt of his troops. (Dion Cass. xlix. 23 — 31 ; Plut. Ant. cc. 37 — 51 ; Strab. xi. p. 523, &c. ; Li v. Bpti. 130.) The breaking out of the civil war soon after- wards between Antony and Octavianus compelled the former to give up his intention of again in- vading Parthia. He formed, however, an alliance with the king of Media against the Parthians, and gave to the former part of Anncnia 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 But as soon as Antony had withdrawn his troops in order to oppose Octavianus, the Parthian king overran both Media and Armenia, and placed upon the Arme- nian throne Artaxias, the son of Artavasdes, whom Antony had deposed. (Dion Cass. xlix. 44.) Mean- time 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, car- rying with him the youngest son of Phraiites. 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 alanned 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 tri- uraphtd arch and temple, and other monuments. Coins {Uso 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. Epiai. i. 18. 5(5, Carm. iv. 15. 6 ; Ovid, Trist. ii. I. 228, Ftisi. vi. 467, Ar. Am. i. 179, &c. ; Propert. ii. 10, iii. 4, iii. 5. 49, iv. 6. 79 ; Eckhel, vi. pp. 94—97.) Phratites 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 Partliians should appoint any of them king in his stead, or accord- ing to others, through the influence of his Italian wife, Thennusii, by whsm he had a fifth son, Phraataces. (Tac. xlmi. ii. 1; .Joseph. A7it. xviii. 2. § 4 ; Strab. xvi. p. 748.) In a. d. 2, Phraates ARSACES. 357 took possession of Annenia, and expelled Artavas- des, 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 Phrifataces. (Joseph. /. c.) The coin given under Arsaces XIV. is assigned by most modem 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 re- bellion 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. I. c.) Arsaces XVII., Orodes II., also reigned only a short time, as he was killed by the Par- thians 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 accord- ingly granted to them. (Joseph. I. 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 Ro- man than a Parthian, and his foreign habits and manners produced general dislike among his sub- jects. They therefore invited Artabanus, king of Media, who also belonged to the family of the Arsacidae, to take possession of the kingdom. Artfibanus 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 govenior, Creticus Silanus, allowed him to reside with the title of king. (a. n. 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 Pompeio- polis, intending to fly into Scythia ; but he was overtaken on the banks of the river Pyramus, and shortly after put to death. According to Sueto- nius, he was put to death by order of Tiberius on account of his great wealth. (Joseph. /. c. ; Tac. A7in. 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 Germjinicus to renew the alliance with the Romans. (Tac. Ann. ii. 56, 58.) After the death of Germanicus, Artabanus be- gan to treat the Romans with contempt, placed Arsaces, one of his sons, over Armenia, and sent an embassy into Syria to demand the treasures which Vonones had carried with him out of Par- thia. He also oppressed his subjects, till at length