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Rh and Tigranes (IV), a grandson of King Herod the Great, sent by Augustus to succeed him, had been deposed after a brief reign. Vonones secured the Armenian throne, but owing to pressure from the Parthian king Artabanus he was forced to abdicate in 15 or 16. He threw himself on the mercy of the governor of Syria, Creticus Silanus, who allowed him to live in Antioch and to retain the pomp and name of king.

Shortly before the abdication of Vonones from the throne of Armenia, in 14 the aged Augustus died and his adopted son Tiberius succeeded him. When Artabanus of Parthia sent his son Orodes to fill the vacant place, Tiberius felt it incumbent upon himself to take action. In 18 he sent his adopted son Germanicus with full authority to act as a free agent and with what was felt to be an impressive retinue. Germanicus proceeded to Artaxata, the Armenian capital, where he found that the people were ready to accept Zeno, son of Polemon, king of Pontus, who had grown up among them and adopted their customs and manners. As Zeno was also friendly to the Romans, Germanicus crowned him in the midst of a