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36 - A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius by John Bagnell Bury · A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius

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Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen, Part one of JB. Bury's The Student's Roman Empire,
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Speaker 1: Part one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Mark Penfold. The
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Speaker 1: Student's Roman Empire, Part one by John Bagnell Bury, Chapter eighteen,
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Speaker 1: Part one. The Wars for Armenia under Claudius and Nero.
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Speaker 1: The struggle between Rome and Parthia for the possession of
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Speaker 1: Armenia was renewed in the reign of Claudius. This struggle
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Speaker 1: was perpetually being decided and perpetually reoccurring. The Romans were
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Speaker 1: determined to keep their hold over a country which was
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Speaker 1: a ground of vantage for either realm against the other,
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Speaker 1: while the Parthian monarchs tried whenever they got an opportunity
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Speaker 1: to supplant Roman influence and reduce the land to day
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Speaker 1: pendants on themselves. Warlike demonstrations on the part of Rome
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Speaker 1: were generally sufficient to make the Parthian kings withdraw their
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Speaker 1: pretensions to Armenia and adopt a respectful attitude to the
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Speaker 1: Roman Emperor, for they were constantly hampered by wars on
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Speaker 1: other frontiers of their dominion, and by domestic dissensions. These
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Speaker 1: repeated settlements of the Armenian question are marked by the
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Speaker 1: same general features. Rival pretenders to the throne of Armenia
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Speaker 1: are supported by Rome and Parthia. The Parthian kingdom is
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Speaker 1: distracted by civil war or excited into discontent against the
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Speaker 1: reigning monarch, and there is a movement in favor of
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Speaker 1: some scion of the arsaced house who is living in
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Speaker 1: exile or as a hostage at Rome. He is supported
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Speaker 1: by Roman arms, but by an inevitable reaction, is soon
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Speaker 1: rejected and the war ends with the acknowledgment of Roman
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Speaker 1: supremacy in some form in Armenia. It will be remembered
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Speaker 1: that Tiberius had established the overlordship of Rome in twenty BC,
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Speaker 1: that it was again confirmed by Gaius Caesar in two AD.
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Speaker 1: Again in eighteen eighty the Parthians submitted at the appearance
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Speaker 1: of another presumptive heir to the empire, and recently the
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Speaker 1: energetic action of Lucius Vitelius had thwarted the schemes of
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Speaker 1: Artibanus the Third. But what had been well done under
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Speaker 1: the auspices of Tiberius was immediately undone by the caprice
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Speaker 1: of his successor. Gaius summoned Mithridates, the new king of Armenia,
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Speaker 1: to Rome, deposed him and sent him into exile. At
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Speaker 1: the same time he recalled Vitelius in disgrace from his
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Speaker 1: government of Syria. This was an opportunity for the Parthians,
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Speaker 1: and they did not fail to seize the coveted land. Thus,
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Speaker 1: when Claudius came to the throne, one of the tasks
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Speaker 1: which devolved upon him was the recovery of Armenia. Mithridates
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Speaker 1: was immediately recalled from exile and restored to his royal dignity.
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Speaker 1: He set about recovering his kingdom with the help of
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Speaker 1: his brother Pharismenes, King of Iberia. Artabanus the third was
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Speaker 1: now dead, and Parthia was disturbed by a war for
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Speaker 1: the succession between his sons Gotarzes and Vardanes. Gotarzes had
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Speaker 1: come to the throne and made himself detested by his cruelties.
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Speaker 1: One of his acts was the murder of his brother Artabanus,
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Speaker 1: with his wife and son. His subjects accordingly sent for
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Speaker 1: his other brother, Vardenes, an enterprising prince, who was then
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Speaker 1: at a distance of four hundred miles from the court.
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Speaker 1: He is said to have traversed this space in two days,
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Speaker 1: and Gotarzes, completely surprised and terrified, fled. Seleucia alone, which
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Speaker 1: had held out against his father, declined the rule of Vardenes,
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Speaker 1: and the new king was impolitic enough to give way
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Speaker 1: to his resentment at such a moment and embarrass himself
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Speaker 1: with the siege of a city secured by strong fortifications
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Speaker 1: and abundant supplies. He thus gave Gotarzes time to collect
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Speaker 1: an army of Hyrcanians and dehy Scythian races east of
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Speaker 1: the Caspian Sea, and was then compelled to raise the
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Speaker 1: siege and march against his brother. He pitched his camp
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Speaker 1: on the Great Bactrian Plain, which stretches between the Oxus
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Speaker 1: and the Parapemasus, now the Hindu Kush. It was a
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Speaker 1: favorable moment for Mithridates to re establish his rule in Armenia,
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Speaker 1: and the Armenians made no resistance When their governor, who
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Speaker 1: had ventured on a battle, was slain. Some of the
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Speaker 1: nobles inclined to Cotis, king of Little Armenia, but a
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Speaker 1: letter from his overlord Claudius prevented that Monarch from interfering.
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Speaker 1: Some of the fortresses of Armenia received Roman garrisons. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: the armies of the Parthian brothers had met, but just
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Speaker 1: as they were about to begin battle, they came suddenly
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Speaker 1: to an agreement through the discovery of a plot which
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Speaker 1: Gotarzes revealed to his brother. They joined right hands, and
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Speaker 1: Gotarzes yielded the sovereignty to his brother, and to avoid rivalry,
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Speaker 1: retired into the wilds of Hyrcania. Vardines was then able
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Speaker 1: to force Selucia, which had defied the Parthian government for
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Speaker 1: seven years, to capitulate forty three a d After this success,
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Speaker 1: he was preparing to invade Armenia, but was deterred by
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Speaker 1: the threatening attitude of Vibious marks Veris, the legatus of Syria.
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Speaker 1: The struggle with Gotarzes soon broke out anew that prince
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Speaker 1: repented of his renunciation of the crown and was urged
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Speaker 1: by the discontented nobility to take up arms again. The
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Speaker 1: conflict took place in the country between the Caspian and Herat,
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Speaker 1: and Vardines gained a great victory and pushed his successes
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Speaker 1: as far as the borders of the Dhye. He returned
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Speaker 1: hottier and more intolerable to his subjects than ever. A
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Speaker 1: plot was concerted, and he was assassinated When he was
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Speaker 1: intent upon the chase forty five a d. He was
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Speaker 1: still in his first youth. But he would deserve, says
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Speaker 1: the historian Tacitus, to be ranked among the few greatest
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Speaker 1: of even long lived kings, if he had sought to
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Speaker 1: be loved by his subjects as he sought to be
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Speaker 1: feared by his enemies. Gotarzes immediately assumed the sovereignty, but
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Speaker 1: after some years his cruelty and profligacy drove the Parthians
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Speaker 1: to send an embassy to Rome, and begged that the
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Speaker 1: prince Mahardates, the surviving son of Venones, whom Germanicus had
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Speaker 1: put to death in Silesia, should be sent to dispute
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Speaker 1: the Parthian throne with the hated Gatarzes forty nine a d.
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Speaker 1: The ambassadors represented that Parthias sent her king's sons as
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Speaker 1: hostages to Rome in order that when she grew tired
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Speaker 1: of her own government, she might fall back on the
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Speaker 1: Emperor and the senate and obtain a better king trained
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Speaker 1: in Roman manners. Claudius improved the occasion by emphasizing the
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Speaker 1: superiority of Rome and the submissiveness of the Parthians. He
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Speaker 1: did not lose the opportunity of comparing himself to the
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Speaker 1: divine Augustus, from whom the Parthians in like manner had
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Speaker 1: sought a king Vonones. But he omitted all reference to
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Speaker 1: his uncle Tiberius, who had sent two kings to Parthia.
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Speaker 1: He gave good advice to mehor Deatees, who was present,
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Speaker 1: urging him to consider himself as a ruler among freemen,
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Speaker 1: not as a despot among slaves. The barbarians will like
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Speaker 1: clemency and justice all the more because they are unused
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Speaker 1: to them. Then, turning to the ambassadors, he dwelled on
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Speaker 1: the virtues of the young foster tut child of Rome.
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Speaker 1: Yet even if his character should change, it is well
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Speaker 1: that subjects should bear with the caprices of king's frequent
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Speaker 1: revolutions are unprofitable. Rome has now reached such a height
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Speaker 1: that she can afford to wish that even foreign peoples
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Speaker 1: should enjoy repose. As el Vitelius had formerly conducted tyridates
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Speaker 1: to the frontiers of the Parthian Empire. So it devolved
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Speaker 1: now upon c Cassius governor of Syria, to escort Mehrdates
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Speaker 1: to the Euphrates. There he was received by several Parthian potentates,
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Speaker 1: including King Abgar of Osrianne. Cassius gave the young prince
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Speaker 1: sound advice, showing him that delay would be fatal, and
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Speaker 1: that if he did not act quickly, the enthusiasm of
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Speaker 1: the Barbarians would soon flag. But Mehrdatees was induced by
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Speaker 1: Abgar to amuse himself for several days in Edessa, and then,
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Speaker 1: instead of occupying Mesopotamia, where success seems to have been
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Speaker 1: assured to him by Querines, the governor of Mesopotamia, he
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Speaker 1: preceded by a circuitous route to arm Eminia, where as
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Speaker 1: winter was beginning it was impossible to do much. He
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Speaker 1: was joined by Karines, and then advancing along the Tigris
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Speaker 1: into Adiabene, whose king Istes pretended to espouse his cause,
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Speaker 1: He occupied the historic site of Ninus and gave it
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Speaker 1: the name of Colonia Nini Claudia. Delay was fatal to Mihordates,
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Speaker 1: even as it had been fatal to Tyridates, the pretender
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Speaker 1: sent by Tiberius. His chief adherents, recognizing his incompetence, especially Abgar,
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Speaker 1: and Isaatees deserted to Gotarzes, and then he decided to
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Speaker 1: risk everything on a battle. The struggle seems to have
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Speaker 1: taken place between the Tigris and Mount Zagros. Both sides
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Speaker 1: fought with desperate courage. Karines carried all before him, but
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Speaker 1: advancing too far, was surprised in the rear. This decided
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Speaker 1: the issue. Mehrdates yielded to false promises and was led
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Speaker 1: in chains to the victor, who despised him too much
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Speaker 1: to put him to death, but rendered him harmless by
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Speaker 1: the amputation of his ears. But got Arzes did not
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Speaker 1: long survive his victory. He was succeeded in summer fifty
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Speaker 1: one a d. By Vonones, the second king of Medea,
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Speaker 1: who was followed after a reign of a few months,
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Speaker 1: by his son Velogasses, the first, a capable and successful
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Speaker 1: ruler fifty one to seventy eight a d. One of
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Speaker 1: the chief ends of the policy of Velogases was to
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Speaker 1: recover Armenia, and an opportunity was soon offered through an
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Speaker 1: act of foul treachery on the part of the Iberian king.
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Speaker 1: Farismanes had a son named Rhadamistus, tall, handsome of remarkable
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Speaker 1: bodily strength, trained in archery and riding, and the other
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Speaker 1: accomplishments of his countrymen, and of high renown among the
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Speaker 1: neighboring peoples. This ambitious youth declared too boldly his impatience
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Speaker 1: of his father's long old age, which kept him out
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Speaker 1: of the little kingdom which he perhaps hoped to extend. Farismanes,
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Speaker 1: seeing that his son was prepared to grasp the power
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Speaker 1: if an occasion offered itself, tempted the youth with other
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Speaker 1: prospects and point to Armenia, suggesting that his brother Mithridates
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Speaker 1: might be overthrown. A treacherous scheme was devised. Rhadamistus, feigning
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Speaker 1: to have quarreled with his father, sought shelter at his
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Speaker 1: uncle's court, and there engaged in treasonable intrigues with some
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Speaker 1: of the Armenian nobles. When the ground was prepared, Pharismanes
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Speaker 1: declared war against his brother on some trifling plea, and
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Speaker 1: supplied his son with an army with which he invaded
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Speaker 1: and occupied Armenia fifty two AD. Mithridates placed himself under
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Speaker 1: the protection of the Roman garrison of the Fortress of Gurnaeus,
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Speaker 1: which was commanded by Celius Polio. Rhadamistus blockaded the place, and,
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Speaker 1: unable to take it, attempted to bribe Polio, but Gasparius,
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Speaker 1: a centurion who held a secondary command, protested, and, having
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Speaker 1: arranged a truce, proceeded to Pharismanes to induce him to
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Speaker 1: withdraw the army. Parismanes replied in a conciliatory manner, but
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Speaker 1: by secret messages urged Rhadamistus to hurry on the siege.
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Speaker 1: A large bribe was offered to Pollio, who seems to
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Speaker 1: have been a man of bad character. He bribed the
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Speaker 1: soldiers to threaten to abandon the place unless terms were
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Speaker 1: made with the besiegers, and the unfortunate Mithridates was compelled
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Speaker 1: to surrender. Rhadamistus at first rushed into his embrace, greeted
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Speaker 1: him as his parent, and feigned the deepest respect. He
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Speaker 1: even swore an oath that he would offer him no violence,
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Speaker 1: either by sword or by poison. He then drew him
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Speaker 1: into a neighboring grove, where he said that preparations had
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Speaker 1: been made for the sacrifice, which should confirm peace in
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Speaker 1: the presence of the gods. It was the custom of
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Speaker 1: these princes when they met to form an alliance to
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Speaker 1: join their right hands and tie together their thumbs in
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Speaker 1: a tight knot. Then, when the blood was collected into
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Speaker 1: the extremities which were thus tied, they let it out
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Speaker 1: by a small puncture and sucked it each in turn.
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Speaker 1: The treaty had thus a mystical sanctity, being sealed by
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Speaker 1: the blood of both. On this occasion, the man who
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Speaker 1: was tying the knot pretended to fall and seized the
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Speaker 1: knees of Mithridates flung him down. A number of people
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Speaker 1: then rushed upon him and loaded him with chains. He
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Speaker 1: was dragged along, subject to all kinds of indignities, while
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Speaker 1: his wife and little children followed wailing. They were hidden
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Speaker 1: in covered wagons until the will of Farismanes as to
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Speaker 1: their fate should be made known to him. The desire
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Speaker 1: of kingdom was more than his brother and his daughter,
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Speaker 1: and his heart was steeled two crimes, but he spared
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Speaker 1: his eyes the sight of a brother's execution. Rhadamistus, to
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Speaker 1: keep the letter of his oath, used neither steel nor
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Speaker 1: poison against his uncle and his sister, but had them
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Speaker 1: thrown on the ground and smothered under a load of
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Speaker 1: heavy clothes. Even the sons of Mithridates were slaughtered for
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Speaker 1: having wept at the murder of their father and mother.
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Speaker 1: Umidius Quadratus, the legatus of Syria, on whom it devolved
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Speaker 1: to watch the course of events in the neighboring dependent kingdoms,
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Speaker 1: decided not to interfere. He or his counselors judged it
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Speaker 1: to be a matter of indifference whether Armenia was ruled
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Speaker 1: by the uncle or by the nephew, and the principle
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Speaker 1: was asserted that all crime in a foreign land was
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Speaker 1: to be received with joy. It was the policy of
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Speaker 1: Rome to so strife among the barbarians, and it was
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Speaker 1: rather for her interest that the hated Rhadamistus should retain
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Speaker 1: what he had got by such an infamous deed, inasmuch
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Speaker 1: as he would be more easily managed. At the same time,
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Speaker 1: appearances were kept up by sending an embassy to Parismanes,
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Speaker 1: bidding him and his son evacuate Armenia. A show of
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Speaker 1: interference was also made by Julius Pelygnus, the procurator of Cappadocia,
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Speaker 1: a man of deformed body and feeble intellect, who had
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Speaker 1: been a sort of buffoon at the court of Claudius.
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Speaker 1: There were no military forces stationed in Cappadocia at this time,
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Speaker 1: but Polygnus collected some native militia and set forth to
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Speaker 1: recover Armenia. His men deserted their incompetent leader, and he,
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Speaker 1: finding himself defenseless, went to Rhadamistus, whose gifts had such
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Speaker 1: an effect that Polygnus actually urged him to assume the
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Speaker 1: tiara and diadem of royalty and take part in the
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Speaker 1: coronation of the usurper whom he had come to expel.
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Speaker 1: This disgraceful act caused great scandal, and lest other Romans
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Speaker 1: should be judged by the behavior of Polygnus, Quadratus sent
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Speaker 1: a certain Helvetius Priscus with one of the Syrian legions
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Speaker 1: to restore order. But this force was speedily withdrawn in
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Speaker 1: order to avoid a collision with the Parthians. For in
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Speaker 1: the meantime, Vlogasses, judging the moment to be favorable and
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Speaker 1: supposing that the Romans would not trouble themselves to support Rhadamistus,
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Speaker 1: had named his brother Terradates king of Armenia and had
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Speaker 1: entered the country with an army fifty three a d.
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Speaker 1: The Iberians were expelled without a blow, and the two
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Speaker 1: chief cities, Artexata and Tigrana Serta submitted to the Parthian yoke.
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Speaker 1: A severe winter, want of provisions, and the breaking out
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Speaker 1: of a disease in his army compelled Velogasses to retire,
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Speaker 1: and Rhadamistus speedily returned and dealt out vengeance to those
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Speaker 1: who had deserted him. But his subjects rebelled against his cruelty,
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Speaker 1: and an armed crowd gathered round his palace in Artexata.
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Speaker 1: He and his wife, Zenobia were obliged to flee, and
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Speaker 1: the story of their escape is romantic. Their chance of
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Speaker 1: safety lie in the swiftness of their horses. But Zenobia
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Speaker 1: was pregnant, and though she endured somehow or other the
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Speaker 1: first part of the flight, she was after a while
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Speaker 1: so shaken by the continuous galloping that she could hold
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Speaker 1: out no longer, and dismounting, she begged her husband to
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Speaker 1: rescue her from the insults of captivity by an honorable death.
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Speaker 1: Rhadamistus was at length induced to comply with her request.
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Speaker 1: Unsheathing his short saber the Asanaces, he stabbed her and
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Speaker 1: dragging her to the bank of the Araxes committed her
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Speaker 1: to the stream, that even her dead body might be
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Speaker 1: rescued from the enemy. He then continued his headlong flight
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Speaker 1: and reached Iberia in safety. But Zenobia was not mortally wounded.
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Speaker 1: She lay in the calm water near the edge of
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Speaker 1: the river, breathing and showing signs of life. Some shepherds
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Speaker 1: observed her, and, seeing from her appearance that she was
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Speaker 1: a woman of high degree, bound up her wound and
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Speaker 1: applied rustic remedies. Having discovered her name and story, they
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Speaker 1: took her to Artexata, whence she was led to Tyridates,
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Speaker 1: now established as king of Armenia, who received her kindly
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Speaker 1: and treated her as a queen fifty four a d.
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Speaker 1: Some desultory warfare was kept up between Tyridates and Rhadamistus
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Speaker 1: during the first year of Claudius fifty four a d.
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Speaker 1: The Parthians were at this time trammeled by revolts in
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Speaker 1: the north of their empire, and the Romans were busied
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Speaker 1: with the suppression of a rising of the Clete in
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Speaker 1: Silesia and with troubles in Judea. The Armenians disgusted at
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Speaker 1: the countenance which the Romans had given to the usurpation
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Speaker 1: of Rhadamistus, were by no means dissatisfied at the establishment
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Speaker 1: of a Parthian prince in their country. The success of
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Speaker 1: Terradates seemed to be one more proof that the policy
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Speaker 1: of Augustus was not likely to lead to a stable
16:51
Speaker 1: settlement of the Eastern question. The death of Claudius and
16:55
Speaker 1: the accession of Nero was a good opportunity for trying
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Speaker 1: a new policy. The government of Nero, conducted by Seneca
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Speaker 1: and Buris, decided to take active measures for the recovery
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Speaker 1: of Armenia and the maintenance of Rome's prestige, which had
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Speaker 1: been dimmed by the recent triumph of Vologacies and his brother.
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Speaker 1: The first step was the appointment of Geneus Domitius Corbulo
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Speaker 1: to the government of Cappadocia with the rank of a
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Speaker 1: consular legatus, although that province had been hitherto under a procurator.
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Speaker 1: He was consul in thirty nine a d. We have
17:28
Speaker 1: already met him as legatus of Lower Germany forty seven
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Speaker 1: a d. Where he gained a high reputation for discipline
17:34
Speaker 1: and ability. Quadratus was allowed to keep his post in Syria,
17:38
Speaker 1: but was ordered to place two of his four legions
17:40
Speaker 1: at the disposal of the new legatus of Cappadocia. Antiochus
17:44
Speaker 1: of Commagene and Herod Agrippa, the second of Chalcis received
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Speaker 1: commands to have their troops in readiness for operations against
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Speaker 1: the Parthians, Lesser Armenia and Sophini. The countries which bordered
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Speaker 1: Armenia on the west were intrusted to two Syrian princes,
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Speaker 1: Aristobulus and Sohemus, respectively, But the legions had become demoralized
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Speaker 1: by a long peace, and they liked little to change
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Speaker 1: their quarters in Syria for the mountains of Armenia. There
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Speaker 1: were veterans in the army who had never served on
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Speaker 1: sentinel duty, to whom the rampart and the ditch were novelties.
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Speaker 1: Men without helmets or breastplates, sleek traders who had served
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Speaker 1: all their time in towns. The first thing that Corbulo
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Speaker 1: had to do was to dismiss a large number of
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Speaker 1: incapable men and levy new recruits. Even after the restoration
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Speaker 1: of discipline, he was obliged to ask for additional troops
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Speaker 1: from the more efficient armies of the west. A legion
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Speaker 1: and auxiliaries were sent from Germany, but Rome did not
18:40
Speaker 1: immediately come to blows with Parthia. Instead of invading Armenia,
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Speaker 1: Corbulo entered into negotiations with Velogacies and a treaty was concluded.
18:49
Speaker 1: The Parthians undertook to give hostages as a pledge of peace,
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Speaker 1: while the Romans suffered the rule of Tyridates in Armenia.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps this was only for the purpose of gaining time,
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Speaker 1: but it maybe that the Roman government had come to
19:01
Speaker 1: see the uselessness of continually setting up kings of their
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Speaker 1: own choice in Armenia destined to be overthrown in a
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Speaker 1: few years by Parthian rivals, so as they were not
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Speaker 1: prepared to annex that country as a province, they decided
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Speaker 1: to adopt the policy of recognizing the Parthian candidate on
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Speaker 1: the understanding that he held his dependency under the overlordship
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Speaker 1: of the Roman emperor, not of the Parthian monarch. But
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Speaker 1: as time went on and Teridaity still demurred to receive
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Speaker 1: Armenia as a Roman gift and take an oath of
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Speaker 1: allegiance to the emperor, Corbula set out in fifty seven
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Speaker 1: a d. Two years after his appointment with an army
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Speaker 1: of about thirty thousand men, and wintered in Armenia. The
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Speaker 1: rigor of Armenian winters was proverbial, and the army seems
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Speaker 1: to have suffered severely. The ground covered with ice yielded
19:46
Speaker 1: no place for the tents until it was regularly dug up.
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Speaker 1: The cold was so intense that many of the men
19:52
Speaker 1: had their limbs frostbitten. Others perished on guard. A soldier
19:57
Speaker 1: carrying a bundle of wood was observed whose hands dropped
20:00
Speaker 1: off and fell with a burden. Corbula was glad to
20:03
Speaker 1: give his demoralized soldiers the experience of hardships. He is
20:07
Speaker 1: described as going about among his men, lightly clad with
20:10
Speaker 1: uncovered head, praising the brave, encouraging the weak, enforcing strict discipline.
20:16
Speaker 1: Deserters were put to death for the first offense the
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Speaker 1: end of Chapter eighteen, Part one recording by Mark Penfold