Judea (procur.)
Chapter VIII.
Rome and Parthia — Expeditions to Arabia and Ethiopia
The Arsacid dynasty, which, after the fall of the Greek Seleucids, ruled over the Iranian lands from the Euphrates to the borders of India, derived their origin from Parthia, a land situated between Media and Bactria, south-east of the Caspian Sea. Their empire is called Parthia, in contrast to the earlier Persian empire of the Achaemenids, and the later Persian empire of the Sassanids. But it must not be forgotten that these kings were of Iranian race, speaking an Iranian language, maintaining the religion of Zoroaster, and that the whole character of their court was Persian. Thus it is quite true to say that the Romans in their Parthian wars not only maintained the same cause but fought against the same foe as Themistocles when he repulsed Xerxes, and as Alexander when he overthrew Darius. The Parthian kingdom was composed of a number of subordinate kingdoms or satrapies. The Greek cities in Mesopotamia formed an exception, to which we must add the flourishing mercantile city of Seleucia, which had taken the place of ancient Babylon. In this respect, the Parthian and Roman states have been sometimes contrasted. In the Parthian realm dependent kingdoms were the rule, city communities the exception; in the Roman Empire cities were the rule, dependent kingdoms the exception.
Before the overthrow of their rival Mithradates, the Parthian kings regarded Rome as a friendly power. But after the victories of Pompeius, when the common enemy had fallen, Rome and Parthia stood face to face and became rivals themselves. Syria then became a Roman province, and the Euphrates was fixed by treaty as the boundary between the great European and the great Asiatic power. But there were many causes for discord. Armenia, like Cappadocia, became a Roman dependency; and this circumstance could not fail to lead to war. That country, very important to both states from a military point of view, was destined to be tossed continually backwards and forwards between Parthia and Rome. In language, society, and nationality, Armenia was far nearer to the eastern than to the western power; and the political bonds which united it to Rome were always somewhat artificial. Another source of discord lay in Atropatene, the land south of Armenia; for the vassal king of that country, desiring to free himself from Parthian supremacy, often sought to become the vassal of Rome. The actual violation of the treaty came from the Romans, who assumed overlordship over the Mesopotamian city of Edessa, and attempted to extend the borders of the dependent kingdom of Armenia into Parthian territory. How Parthia declared war against Armenia, how this led to the fatal expedition of Crassus and the field of Carrhae, how in consequence of that defeat, Armenia fell into the power of the Parthians, need not be repeated here.
Elated by their success, the Parthians began to demand the cession of Syria; while on the side of Rome it was regarded as a matter of honor to revenge the defeat at Carrhae and recover the standards of Crassus. The Civil Wars prevented the accomplishment of such designs. One great defeat, indeed, the enemy experienced when they invaded Syria in 38 B.C., at the hands of Ventidius Bassus; Pacorus, the son of the great king, fell on the field of Gindaros. Marcus Antonius at length seriously faced the Parthian question, in connection with his own ambitious design of founding a great Eastern empire, composed of dependent kingdoms. It will be remembered how his expedition came to naught. At that time, the king of Parthia was Phraates, who was highly unpopular with his subjects, and Antonius supported the pretender Monaeses. The king of Armenia was Artavasdes, and he, wishing to increase his dominion by the addition of Atropatene, ardently supported Antonius. Another Artavasdes was king of Atropatene. Antonius blamed the Armenian king for his failure, repaired to Armenia in 34 B.C., seized him and carried him to Egypt, where he was put to death by Cleopatra. His son Artaxes fled to the Parthians. At the same time Antonius became reconciled with Artavasdes of Atropatene, obtained his daughter in marriage for a son of his own, whom he set up as king of Armenia. But at this moment Antonius was called upon to deal with Caesar; and Phraates, seizing the opportunity, deposed the two kings, and combined both Armenia and Atropatene under the rule of Artaxes, son of the Armenian Artavasdes. Fortunately for Roman interests, intestine struggles broke out in Persia, simultaneously with the final contest between the two Roman triumvirs. Phraates was deposed, and Tiridates was set up in his stead.
Augustus has been blamed for not dealing resolutely with the Eastern question immediately after his victory over his rival. It has been said that he should have at once taken steps to plant his power in Armenia, and make that country securely and permanently Roman, at the same time establishing a recognized authority over the Colchians, the Iberians, and the Albanians, who inhabited the regions between Armenia and the Caucasus, the Euxine and the Caspian. It seemed incumbent on him, too, to recover the standards captured at Carrhae; and at the same time two exiles were imploring his help, Tiridates, who had been overthrown soon after his elevation, and Artavasdes, king of Atropatene. The desire which the Romans felt at this time to see the Parthians humbled is reflected in the earlier writings of Horace. Augustus is called juvenis Parthis horrendous, and “will be regarded as a true god upon earth if he adds the Britons and the dangerous Persians to the empire!”. Men clearly looked forward to a Parthian war. But Augustus, after the conquest of Egypt, postponed the settlement of the Eastern question. Perhaps he was influenced by the ill-success of Antonius; and his army, doubtless, eager for rewards and rest, would have been little disposed to undertake an arduous campaign in Armenia. And above all Augustus himself was not a general. Observing the domestic discords in Parthia, he hoped to settle the eastern frontier advantageously for Rome by diplomacy, and not by arms. He consoled Artavasdes with the kingdom of Lesser Armenia and gave refuge in Syria to Tiridates. In 23 B.C. an opportunity came for recovering the standards and captives which had been taken at Carrhae. Phraates sent an embassy demanding that Tiridates should be given up to him, and also an infant son of his own whom Tiridates had carried off. The child was sent back, but it was stipulated that in return the captives and the standards should be restored. It was in connection with this affair that Agrippa was sent to the East with proconsular imperium. Phraates did not fulfill the conditions immediately, but in 20 B.C. Augustus appeared in the East himself, and the Parthian king yielded. The Emperor was proud of his success, which in his account of his own deeds he records thus : “I compelled the Parthians to restore to me the standards and spoils of three Roman armies, and suppliantly to beg the friendship of the Roman people. Those standards I deposited in the temple of Mars Ultor”. Poets celebrated the event as if it ranked with the most brilliant achievements of Roman arms. Virgil sings of “following Aurora, and claiming the standards from the Parthians”, and imagines the Euphrates as flowing with less haughty stream; and the ensigns so peacefully recovered are described by Horace as “torn from” the enemy.
In the same year a more solid success was obtained, the recovery of Armenia. A conspiracy had been formed there against the king Artaxes, and a message was sent to the Emperor, requesting that Tigranes (the younger brother of Artaxes), who was educated at Rome, should be sent to reign in his stead. Tiberius, the Emperor’s stepson, was entrusted with the task of deposing Artaxes and installing Tigranes. Artaxes was murdered by the party which had conspired against him; and Tigranes was established in the kingdom, which thus became once more a dependency of Rome. Atropatene, however, was separated, and given to Ariobarzanes, son of its former king Artavasdes, but it seems to have remained under Parthian supremacy. Ariobarzanes, like Tigranes, had been educated at Rome.
New troubles, however, soon arose in Armenia. Tigranes died, and the kingdom was agitated by struggles between the friends of Parthia and the friends of Rome. Augustus again entrusted to his stepson the office of restoring order in Armenia; but Tiberius, from motives of private resentment, declined the commission (6 B.C.).
Nothing was done during the next four years: but then it was decided that the ordering of the East should be entrusted to the young grandson of the Emperor, Gaius Caesar, and should form a brilliant beginning to the career of the destined Imperator. The young prince started with high hopes, dreaming perhaps of oriental conquests and of rivaling the fame of Alexander. His enthusiasm seems to have been encouraged by, perhaps to have affected, his elders. A courtly poet cried, “Now, far East, you shall be ours”; and Juba, the literary king of Mauretania, wrote an account of Arabia, for