The History of Rome: Rise and Fall of the Empire. John Bagnell Bury
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like most of the Roman nobles of those days; but there is no doubt also that his dissipations have been foully exaggerated. The circumstance that his life was prolonged to nearly four-score years without medical aid is enough to make us hesitate to accept the stories which were circulated about the orgies of Capri.
SECT. IV. — PARTHIA AND THE EASTERN QUESTION
Among other slanders, it was said that Tiberius in his island retreat was indifferent to the government of the Empire. The rumor seems to have reached the Parthian court and enouraged the Parthian king Artabanus to assume a hostile attitude. The peace with Parthia was undisturbed until the death of Artaxes, king of Armenia, about 31 A.D. Artabanus, elated by a long and successful reign and thinking that the old Tiberius would not be likely to undertake an eastern war, seized the opportunity to transfer Armenia from dependence on Rome to dependence on Parthia. He induced the Armenians to elect his son Alsaces as successor of Artaxes. He even seemed to court a war with Rome, and addressed insulting letters to the Emperor, demanding the inheritance of his old rival Vonones, who had died in Cilicia, insisting on the old boundaries of Macedonia and Persia, and threatening that he would seize the territories possessed long ago by Cyrus and afterwards by Alexander the Great. Tiberius was equal to the emergency. He conferred upon Lucius Vitellius, an able and resolute officer, the same powers which he had before conferred upon his nephew Germanicus, and sent him to the east, with orders to cross the Euphrates, at the head of the Syrian legions, if it should prove needful. At the same time he set up a rival to Arsaces in the person of Mithradates, hrother of Pharasmanes, king of the Iberians; and stirred up both the Iberians and Albanians to support his claim by an invasion of Armenia. Mithradates gained possession of the Armenian capital, Artaxata, and his rival Arsaces was removed by poison. King Artabanus then sent another of his sons, Orodes, to take the place of Arsaces, and recover Armenia, but the Parthian cavalry proved no match for the Caucasian infantry and the Sarmatian mounted archers, which supported Pharasmanes and Mithradates. A lively description of the warfare has come down to us. Pharasmanes challenged Orodes to battle, taunted him when he refused, rode up to the Parthian camp, and harassed their foraging parties. The Parthians at length became impatient, and called upon their prince to lead them to battle. In the fight which ensued every variety of warfare was to be witnessed. The Parthians, accustomed to pursue or fly with equal skill, deployed their cavalry and sought scope for the discharge of their missiles. The Sarmatians, throwing aside their bows, which at a shorter range are effective, rushed on with pikes and swords. There were alternate advances and retreats, then close fighting, in which, breast to breast, with the clash of arms, they drove back the foe or were themselves repulsed. The Albanians and Iberians seized the Parthian riders, and hurled them from their horses. The Parthians were thus pressed on one side by the cavalry on the heights, on the other by the infantry in close quarters. The leaders, Pharasmanes and Orodes, were conspicuous, encouraging the brave, succoring those who wavered; and at length recognizing each other they rushed to the combat on galloping chargers and with poised javelins. The force of Pharasmanes was greater; he pierced the helmet of the foe. But he was hurried onward by his horse, and before he could repeat the blow with deadlier effect, Orodes was protected by his guards. But the rumor spread among the Parthians that their general was slain, and they yielded.
Alter the ill-success of both his sons, Artabanus took the field himself. It was now the moment for Vitellius to intervene. He set his troops in motion, and threatened to invade Mesopotamia. This was the signal for the outbreak of an insurrection which had been long brewing in Parthia, and had been fomented by Roman intrigues. The Parthian nobles, dissatisfied with the rule of the Scythian Artabanus, clamored for the restoration of a true Arsacid. There was still a surviving son of Phraates at Rome; and a section of the disaffected Parthians sent a secret embassy to Tiberius, requesting that this representative of the house of Arsaces should be sent to the east as a claimant to the Parthian throne. This suited the views of Tiberius, and he acceded to the request. But the candidate for sovranty died in Syria, and Tiberius then chose Tiridates, a grandson of Phraates, to take his place. The appearance of Vitellius and Tiridates in the Parthian dominions was attended at first with complete success. Sinnaces, a man of good family and great wealth, and his father Abdageses, were the leaders of the party hostile to Artabanus, which was largely increased after the disasters in Armenia. Artabanus had soon found himself deserted except by a few foreigners, and was compelled, in order to save his life, to flee into exile among the Scythians. Tiridates then, under the protection of Vitellius and the Roman legions, crossed the Euphrates on a bridge of boats. The first Parthian to enter the camp was Ornospades, formerly a Parthian exile, who had been made a Roman citizen in recognition of aid which he had given to Tiberius in the Dalmatian war, and subsequently returning to Parthia had been received into favor and appointed governor of Mesopotamia. Sinnaces and Abdageses arrived soon afterwards with the royal treasure. Then Vitellius, having thus given Tiridates a start, and displayed the Roman eagles beyond the Euphrates, returned with his army to Syria. Nicephorium, Anthemusias, and other towns of Greek foundation, gladly received the new king, expecting him to be a good ruler from his Roman training. The enthusiasm shown by the powerful city of Seleucia, which had preserved intact its Greek character under Parthian domination, was especially encouraging. But Tiridates made a fatal mistake in losing time. Instead of pressing forward into the interior of the country, he delayed over the siege of a fortress in which Artabanus had stored away his treasures and his concubines. In the meantime quarrels broke out among his adherents, some of whom, jealous of the influence of Abdageses, and regarding Tiridates as a Roman dependent, decided to restore Artabanus. They found the exiled monarch in Hyrcania, covered with dirt and sustaining life by his bow. At first he thought that they intended treachery, but when he was assured that they desired his restoration, he hastily raised some auxiliaries in Scythia, and marched against Seleucia with a large force. In order to excite sympathy he retained the miserable dress which he had worn in his exile. The party of Tiridates retreated into Mesopotamia, and soon dispersed, Tiridates himself returning to Syria (36 A.D.), and leaving Artabanus master of the realm, except Seleucia, which was strong enough to hold out. Vitellius again threatened Mesopotamia; but the restored monarch hastened to yield to the Roman demands, and a peace was concluded. Artabanus recognized Mithradates as king of Armenia, while the Romans undertook not to support the pretensions of Tiridates. The Parthian king also did homage to the image of the Roman Emperor, and gave up his son Darius as a hostage.
SECT. V. — LAST DAYS AND DEATH OF TIBERIUS
Tiberius was not indifferent to the selection of a successor, though he is reported to have once said, quoting the verse of a Greek poet, “When I am dead, let earth be wrapt in flame”. There were three male representatives of his house on whom his choice might fall. There was his nephew Tiberius Claudius Drusus the youngest son of the elder Drusus, but he was considered out of the question, as being of weak intellect. There was his grand-nephew Gaius (born in 12 A.D.), the youngest son of Germanicus, and there was his grandson Tiberius Gemellus (born 19 A.D.), son of Drusus and Livilla. Between these two the choice was practically to be made. The Emperor had for a long time slighted Gaius, as being a son of Agrippina, and had not permitted him to assume the toga virilis until his nineteenth year. But Gaius began to rise, when Sejanus began to decline, in favor. He carefully dissembled any emotions he may have felt at the fate of his mother and brothers; and the people looked forward with satisfaction to a son of Germanicus on the throne. On the other hand, Tiberius may have secretly wished for the succession of his grandson. In 35 A.D. he made a will leaving Gaius and Gemellus joint heirs of his private fortune, and this was equivalent to an expression of his wish that they should be joint heirs of the Empire. But there is reason to believe that he regarded Gaius as his successor. The four daughters of Germanicus had been married to men of note; Agrippina, of whom we shall hear more, to Cn. Domitius; Drusilla to Cassius Longinus; Julia, to Vinicius, the patron of Velleius Paterculus the historian; and a fourth, of unknown name to the son of Quintilius Varus. His own granddaughter Julia, the widow of Nero, and the betrothed of Sejanus, he married to Rubellius Blandus, a knight of obscure origin.
The praetorian prefect Macro, who now partly occupied the place which Sejanus had formerly held at Capri, saw that Gaius was probably destined to succeed, and sought to obtain an ascendency over him Gaius had lost his wife, the daughter of M. Junius Silanus, in the third year of their marriage, and Macro engaged