CHAPTER IV
DRUMS OF CARRHAE
PHRAATES III THEOS[1] succeeded his father Sinatruces on the Parthian throne at a time when the fortunes of Mithradates of Pontus were at a low ebb. Tigranes of Armenia, the Pontian ally, though stripped of much of his territory, remained one of the great figures in the Orient. That the Parthian king should be drawn into the maelstrom of international politics was inevitable.
Shortly before the Battle of Tigranocerta in 69 b.c., Mithradates and Tigranes sent pleas for aid against Rome to Phraates, offering the "seventy valleys," Adiabene, and northern Mesopotamia as an inducement.[2] Mithradates proposed that the Parthian should attack Mesopotamia while he and his ally advanced on Armenia, thus cutting Lucullus off from supplies.[3] After his victory Lucullus, learning of
- ↑ Phlegon fr. 12. 7 (J, II B, p. 1164); Appian Mith. 104; Dio Cass. xxxvi. 45; cf. the coins assigned Phraates by Wroth, Parthia, pp. 45–55.
- ↑ Memnon fr. lviii. 2 (FHG, III, 556 f.), "Phradates"; Dio Cass. xxxvi. 1; Appian Mith. 87; Plut. Lucullus 30.
- ↑ Sallust Hist. iv. fr. 69. In the letter of Mithradates as reported by Sallust the last historical reference (line 15) concerns the defeat of a large Pontian force in a defile. This is obviously the defeat described in Plut. Lucullus 25, which occurred before the Battle of Tigranocerta. Mauren-
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