[6.31] C. Cestio M. Servilio consulibus nobiles Parthi in urbem venere, ignaro rege Artabano. is metu Germanici fidus Romanis, aequabilis in suos, mox superbiam in nos, saevitiam in popularis sumpsit, fretus bellis quae secunda adversum circumiectas nationes exercuerat, et senectutem Tiberii ut inermem despiciens avidusque Armeniae, cui defuncto rege Artaxia Arsacen liberorum suorum veterrimum imposuit, addita contumelia et missis qui gazam a Vonone relictam in Syria Ciliciaque reposcerent; simul veteres Persarum ac Macedonum terminos seque invasurum possessa Cyro et post Alexandro per vaniloquentiam ac minas iaciebat. sed Parthis mittendi secretos nuntios validissimus auctor fuit Sinnaces, insigni familia ac perinde opibus, et proximus huic Abdus ademptae virilitatis. non despectum id apud barbaros ultroque potentiam habet. ii adscitis et aliis primoribus, quia neminem gentis Arsacidarum summae rei imponere poterant, interfectis ab Artabano plerisque aut nondum adultis, Phraaten regis Phraatis filium Roma poscebant: nomine tantum et auctore opus [ut] sponte Caesaris ut genus Arsacis ripam apud Euphratis cerneretur.
31 In the consulate of Gaius Cestius and Marcus Servilius, a number of Parthian nobles made their way to the capital without the knowledge of King Artabanus. That prince, loyal to Rome and temperate towards his subjects while he had Germanicus to fear, soon adopted an attitude of arrogance to ourselves and of cruelty to his countrymen. For he was emboldened by the campaigns he had successfully prosecuted against the surrounding nations; he disdained the old age of Tiberius as no longer fit for arms; and he coveted Armenia, on the throne of which (after the death of Artaxias) he installed his eldest son Arsaces, adding insult to injury by sending envoys to reclaim the treasure left by Vonones in Syria and Cilicia. At the same time, he referred in boastful and menacing terms to the old boundaries of the Persian and Macedonian empires, and to his intention of seizing the territories held first by Cyrus and afterwards by Alexander. The most influential advocate, however, for the despatch of the secret legation by the Parthians was Sinnaces, a man of noted family and corresponding wealth; and, next to him, the eunuch Abdus: for among barbarians that condition brings with it not contempt but actual power. Other magnates also were admitted into their counsels; then, as they were unable to bestow the crown on a scion of the Arsacidae, many of whom had been killed by Artabanus while others were under age, they demanded from Rome Phraates, the son of King Phraates:—”Only a name and a warrant were necessary — only that, with the Caesar’s permission, a descendant of Arsaces should be seen upon the bank of Euphrates!”
[6.32] Cupitum id Tiberio: ornat Phraaten accingitque paternum ad fastigium, destinata retinens, consiliis et astu res externas moliri, arma procul habere. interea cognitis insidiis Artabanus tardari metu, modo cupidine vindictae inardescere. et barbaris cunctatio servilis, statim exequi regium videtur: valuit tamen utilitas, ut Abdum specie amicitiae vocatum ad epulas lento veneno inligaret, Sinnacen dissimulatione ac donis, simul per negotia moraretur. et Phraates apud Syriam dum omisso cultu Romano, cui per tot annos insueverat, instituta Parthorum sumit, patriis moribus impar morbo absumptus est. sed non Tiberius omisit incepta: Tiridaten sanguinis eiusdem aemulum Artabano reciperandaeque Armeniae Hiberum Mithridaten deligit conciliatque fratri Pharasmani, qui gentile imperium obtinebat; et cunctis quae apud Orientem parabantur L. Vitellium praefecit. eo de homine haud sum ignarus sinistram in urbe famam, pleraque foeda memorari; ceterum regendis provinciis prisca virtute egit. unde regressus et formidine G. Caesaris, familiaritate Claudii turpe in servitium mutatus exemplar apud posteros adulatorii dedecoris habetur, cesseruntque prima postremis, et bona iuventae senectus flagitiosa oblitteravit.
32 This was what Tiberius had desired; and, faithful to his rule of manipulating foreign affairs by policy and craft without a resort to arms, he gave Phraates the means and equipment for mounting his father’s throne. Meanwhile, the conspiracy had come to the knowledge of Artabanus, who was alternately checked by his fears and inflamed by the lust of revenge. To barbarians hesitancy is the vice of a slave, immediate action the quality of a king: yet expediency so far prevailed that Abdus, under the cloak of friendship, was invited to a banquet and incapacitated by a slow poison, while Sinnaces was delayed by pretexts, by presents, and at the same time by continuous employment. In Syria, too, Phraates, who had discarded the Roman style of life, to which he had been habituated for years, in order to conform to Parthian usage, proved unequal to the customs of his fatherland, and was taken off by disease. Still, Tiberius declined to renounce his plans. In Tiridates (a member of the same family) he found a competitor for Artabanus; as the recoverer of Armenia he selected the Iberian Mithridates, and reconciled him to his brother Pharasmanes, who held the crown of their native country; and as director of the whole of his eastern projects he appointed Lucius Vitellius. The man, I am aware, bore a sinister reputation at Rome, and is the subject of many a disgraceful tale; yet, as a governor of provinces, he acted with a primitive integrity. Then came his return; and through dread of Caligula and intimacy with Claudius he declined into repulsive servility, and is regarded to-day as a type of obsequious ignominy: his beginnings have been forgotten in his end, the virtues of his youth have been obliterated by the scandals of his age.
[6.33] At ex regulis prior Mithridates Pharasmanem perpulit dolo et vi conatus suos iuvare, repertique corruptores ministros Arsacis multo auro ad scelus cogunt; simul Hiberi magnis copiis Armeniam inrumpunt et urbe Artaxata potiuntur. quae postquam Artabano cognita, filium Oroden ultorem parat; dat Parthorum copias, mittit qui auxilia mercede facerent: contra Pharasmanes adiungere Albanos, accire Sarmatas, quorum sceptuchi utrimque donis acceptis more gentico diversa induere. sed Hiberi locorum potentes Caspia via Sarmatam in Armenios raptim effundunt. at qui Parthis adventabant, facile arcebantur, cum alios incessus hostis clausisset, unum reliquum mare inter et extremos Albanorum montis aestas impediret, quia flatibus etesiarum implentur vada: hibernus auster revolvit fluctus pulsoque introrsus freto brevia litorum nudantur.
33 Of the chieftains, Mithridates was the first to induce Pharasmanes to support his attempts by fraud and by force; and bribery agents were discovered, who at a heavy price in gold tempted the attendants of Arsaces to murder. Simultaneously the Iberians in great strength broke into Armenia and gained possession of the town of Artaxata. As soon as the news reached Artabanus, he prepared his son Orodes for the part of avenger, gave him the Parthian forces, and sent men to hire auxiliary troops. Pharasmanes replied by forming a league with the Albanians and calling up the Sarmatians, whose “wand-bearers,” true to the national custom, accepted the gifts of both parties and enlisted in opposite camps. The Iberians, however, who controlled the important positions, hastily poured their own Sarmatians into Armenia by the Caspian Way: those advancing to the support of the Parthians were held back without difficulty; for other passes had been closed by the enemy, and the one remaining, between the sea and the extremity of the Albanian mountains, was impracticable in summer, as the shallows are flooded by the Etesian gales. In winter the waves are rolled back by southerly winds, and the recoil of the water inward leaves the beach uncovered.
[6.34] Interim Oroden sociorum inopem auctus auxilio Pharasmanes vocare ad pugnam et detrectantem incessere, adequitare castris, infensare pabula; ac saepe modum obsidii stationibus cingebat, donec Parthi contumeliarum insolentes circumsisterent regem poscerent proelium. atque illis sola in equite vis: Pharasmanes et pedite valebat. nam Hiberi Albanique saltuosos locos incolentes duritiae patientiaeque magis insuevere; feruntque se Thessalis ortos, qua tempestate Iaso post avectam Medeam genitosque ex ea liberos inanem mox regiam Aeetae vacuosque Colchos repetivit. multaque de nomine eius et oraclum Phrixi celebrant; nec quisquam ariete sacrificaverit, credito vexisse Phrixum, sive id animal seu navis insigne fuit. ceterum derecta utrimque acie Parthus imperium Orientis, claritudinem Arsacidarum contraque ignobilem Hiberum mercennario milite disserebat; Pharasmanes integros semet a Parthico dominatu, quanto maiora peterent, plus decoris victores aut, si terga darent, flagitii atque periculi laturos; sim
ul horridam suorum aciem, picta auro Medorum agmina, hinc viros, inde praedam ostendere.
34 Meanwhile Orodes was devoid of allies; and Pharasmanes, strong in his reinforcements, began to challenge him to engage and to harass him as he drew off, to ride up to his encampments and to ravage the foraging grounds. Frequently he encircled him with outposts almost in the manner of a formal siege; till the Parthians, unaccustomed to these insolences, surrounded the king and demanded battle. Their one strength lay in the cavalry: Pharasmanes was formidable also in infantry, for life in a highland district has trained the Iberians and Albanians to superior hardiness and endurance. They claim to have originated from Thessaly, at the time when Jason, after the departure of Medea with the children she had borne him, retraced his steps, a little later, to the empty palace of Aeëtes and the kingless realm of Colchis. His name survives in many of their institutions, which include an oracle of Phrixus; and, as the belief is held that Phrixus was carried by a ram (whether the word denotes the animal or the figurehead of a ship), it is inadmissible to offer one in sacrifice. However, when the line of battle had been drawn up on either side, the Parthian dilated on the empire of the East and the lustre of the Arsacian house, as contrasted with the obscure Iberian and his hired soldiery: Pharasmanes called on his troops to remember that they had never felt the Parthian yoke; that the higher their emprize, the greater the honour they would reap from victory, the greater their disgrace and danger if they turned their backs. At the same time, he pointed to his own grim host and to the Median columns in their embroidery of gold—”men on the one hand, booty on the other.”
[6.35] Enimvero apud Sarmatas non una vox ducis: se quisque stimulant ne pugnam per sagittas sinerent: impetu et comminus praeveniendum. variae hinc bellantium species, cum Parthus sequi vel fugere pari arte suetus distraheret turmas, spatium ictibus quaereret, Sarmatae omisso arcu, quo brevius valent, contis gladiisque ruerent; modo equestris proelii more frontis et tergi vices, aliquando ut conserta acies corporibus et pulsu armorum pellerent pellerentur. iamque et Albani Hiberique prensare, detrudere, ancipitem pugnam hostibus facere, quos super eques et propioribus vulneribus pedites adflictabant. inter quae Pharasmanes Orodesque, dum strenuis adsunt aut dubitantibus subveniunt, conspicui eoque gnari, clamore telis equis concurrunt, instantius Pharasmanes; nam vulnus per galeam adegit. nec iterare valuit, praelatus equo et fortissimis satellitum protegentibus saucium: fama tamen occisi falso credita exterruit Parthos victoriamque concessere.
35 In the Sarmatian ranks, however, speech was not limited to a leader: man encouraged man not to permit a battle of archers; better to anticipate matters by a charge and a hand-to-hand struggle! The encounter, in consequence, wore a variety of aspects. For the Parthians, habituated to pursue or flee with equal art, spread out their squadrons and manoeuvred for room for their flights of missiles: the Sarmatians, ignoring their shorter-ranged bows, rushed on with pike and sword. At times, advance and retreat alternated in the traditional style of a cavalry engagement: then, as though in a locked line of battle, the combatants struggled breast to breast, with a clash of steel, repulsing and repulsed. Then came the Albanians and Iberians, gripping the enemy, unsaddling him, and placing him in double jeopardy between the horsemen striking from above and the infantry dealing closer wounds below. In the meantime, Pharasmanes and Orodes were carrying support to the resolute or succour to the wavering. Conspicuous figures, they recognized each other: a shout, an challenge of javelins, and they spurred to the charge — Pharasmanes with the greater fury, as he wounded his opponent through the helmet. He failed to repeat the blow, his horse carrying him too far past while the bravest of his guards interposed to protect the wounded prince. Still, a falsely credited report of his death demoralized the Parthians, and they conceded the victory.
[6.36] Mox Artabanus tota mole regni ultum iit. peritia locorum ab Hiberis melius pugnatum; nec ideo abscedebat, ni contractis legionibus Vitellius et subdito rumore tamquam Mesopotamiam invasurus metum Romani belli fecisset. tum omissa Armenia versaeque Artabani res, inliciente Vitellio desererent regem saevum in pace et adversis proeliorum exitiosum. igitur Sinnaces, quem antea infensum memoravi, patrem Abdagaesen aliosque occultos consilii et tunc continuis cladibus promptiores ad defectionem trahit, adfluentibus paulatim qui metu magis quam benevolentia subiecti repertis auctoribus sustulerant animum. nec iam aliud Artabano reliquum quam si qui externorum corpori custodes aderant, suis quisque sedibus extorres, quis neque boni intellectus neque mali cura sed mercede aluntur ministri sceleribus. his adsumptis in longinqua et contermina Scythiae fugam maturavit, spe auxilii, quia Hyrcanis Carmaniisque per adfinitatem innexus erat: atque interim posse Parthos absentium aequos, praesentibus mobilis, ad paenitentiam mutari.
36 It was not before Artabanus sought his revenge with the full powers of his empire. The Iberians, with their knowledge of the country, had the better of the campaign; but, in spite of that fact, he showed no signs of withdrawal, had not Vitellius, by assembling the legions and circulating a report that he was on the point of invading Armenia, inspired him with fears of a Roman war. There followed the evacuation of Armenia and the collapse of Artabanus’ fortunes, Vitellius tempting his subjects to abandon a king merciless in peace and fatally unfortunate in the field. Sinnaces, therefore, whose hostility, as I have mentioned, was of earlier date, induced his father Abdagaeses, to revolt, along with others, accessory to the project, and now the readier for action owing to the series of reverses; and these were joined by a gradual stream of recruits, whose submission had been due more to fear than to goodwill, and whose spirit had risen with the discovery of responsible leaders. Nothing now remained to Artabanus but the few foreigners acting as his body-guard — homeless and landless men, members of a class neither comprehending good nor regarding evil but feed and fed as the agents of crime. Taking these with him, he hurriedly fled to the remote districts adjoining Scythia; where he hoped that his marriage connections with the Hyrcanians and Carmanians would find him allies: in the interval, the Parthians, tolerant of princes when absent and fickle to them when present, might turn to the ways of penitence.
[6.37] At Vitellius profugo Artabano et flexis ad novum regem popularium animis, hortatus Tiridaten parata capessere, robur legionum sociorumque ripam ad Euphratis ducit. sacrificantibus, cum hic more Romano suovetaurilia daret, ille equum placando amni adornasset, nuntiavere accolae Euphraten nulla imbrium vi sponte et immensum attolli, simul albentibus spumis in modum diadematis sinuare orbis, auspicium prosperi transgressus. quidam callidius interpretabantur initia conatus secunda neque diuturna, quia eorum quae terra caelove portenderentur certior fides, fluminum instabilis natura simul ostenderet omina raperetque. sed ponte navibus effecto tramissoque exercitu primus Ornospades multis equitum milibus in castra venit, exul quondam et Tiberio, cum Delmaticum bellum conficeret, haud inglorius auxiliator eoque civitate Romana donatus, mox repetita amicitia regis multo apud eum honore, praefectus campis qui Euphrate et Tigre inclutis amnibus circumflui Mesopotamiae nomen acceperunt. neque multo post Sinnaces auget copias, et columen partium Abdagaeses gazam et paratus regios adicit. Vitellius ostentasse Romana arma satis ratus monet Tiridaten primoresque, hunc, Phraatis avi et altoris Caesaris quaeque utrubique pulchra meminerit, illos, obsequium in regem, reverentiam in nos, decus quisque suum et fidem retinerent. exim cum legionibus in Syriam remeavit.
37 But Vitellius, now that Artabanus was in flight and the sentiments of his countrymen were inclining to a change of sovereigns, advised Tiridates to embrace the opportunity presented, and marched the flower of his legions and auxiliaries to the bank of the Euphrates. During the sacrifice, while the Roman was paying the national offering to Mars and the Parthian had prepared a horse to placate the river, word was brought by the people of the neighbourhood that, without any downpour of rain, the Euphrates was rising spontaneously and to a remarkable height: at the same time, the whitening foam was wreathing itself into circles after the fashion of a diadem — an omen of a happy crossing. Others gave a more s
killed interpretation: the first results of the venture would be favourable, but fleeting; for the presages given by the earth or the sky had a surer warranty, but rivers, unstable by nature, exhibited an omen, and in the same instant swept it away. However, when a bridge of boats had been constructed and the army taken over, the first man to appear in the camp was Ornospades at the head of several thousand cavalry. Once an exile and a not inglorious coadjutor of Tiberius when he was stamping out the Dalmatic war, he had been rewarded by a grant of Roman citizenship: later, he had regained the friendship of the king, stood high in his favour, and held the governorship of the plains, which, encircled by the famous streams of Tigris and Euphrates, have received the name of Mesopotamia. Before long, Tiridates’ forces were augmented by Sinnaces; and Abdagaeses, the pillar of his cause, added the treasure and appurtenances of the crown. Vitellius, persuaded that to have displayed the Roman arms was enough, bestowed his advice on Tiridates and the nobles: the former was to remember his grandfather Phraates, his foster-father the Caesar, and the great qualities of both; the latter, to retain their obedience to the king, their respect to ourselves, their personal honour and good faith. He then returned with the legions to Syria.
[6.38] Quae duabus aestatibus gesta coniunxi quo requie scerete animus a domesticis malis; non enim Tiberium, quamquam triennio post caedem Seiani, quae ceteros mollire solent, tempus preces satias mitigabant, quin incerta vel abolita pro gravissimis et recentibus puniret. eo metu Fulcinius Trio ingruentis accusatores haud perpessus supremis tabulis multa et atrocia in Macronem ac praecipuos libertorum Caesaris composuit, ipsi fluxam senio mentem et continuo abscessu velut exilium obiectando. quae ab heredibus occultata recitari Tiberius iussit, patientiam libertatis alienae ostentans et contemptor suae infamiae, an scelerum Seiani diu nescius mox quoquo modo dicta vulgari malebat veritatisque, cui adulatio officit, per probra saltem gnarus fieri. isdem diebus Granius Marcianus senator, a C. Graccho maiestatis postulatus, vim vitae suae attulit, Tariusque Gratianus praetura functus lege eadem extremum ad supplicium damnatus.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 266