mus, who had been brought up by Artabanus, was selected to rule. Artabanus arrived at the court of Izates with a thousand relatives and retainers, and his faithful vassal was easily persuaded to act as mediator. In response to a letter from Izates suggesting that Artabanus resume his throne, the Parthians replied that, since Cinnamus had already been installed, they feared another change would bring civil war. Cinnamus, either because of genuine friendship for Artabanus or because he felt his own position very insecure, offered to abdicate in favor of the former ruler and even placed the crown on the head of the exile himself. Izates was rewarded by the gift of the city of Nisibis and its surrounding lands, which were detached from the Armenian kingdom.[1]
Artabanus lived but a short time after his restoration, for the evidence suggests that he died about a.d. 38.[2] He was followed by Gotarzes II,[3] who was
- ↑ Josephus Ant. xx. 54–69.
- ↑ Vardanes, the second successor of Artabanus, was in the third year and second month of his restoration when Apollonius of Tyana visited him (see n. 81). Seleucia, which surrendered in the spring of 42 (see p. 169), was then still in revolt.
- ↑ Tac. Ann. xi. 8. Cf. Josephus Ant. xx. 69, whose condensed account apparently makes Vardanes the first to mount the throne. For somewhat uncertain numismatic evidence which upholds Tacitus see Wroth, Parthia, pp. xlv f.; J. de Bartholomaei, "Recherches sur la numismatique des rois Arsacides," Mém. Soc. d'arch. et de num. de St. Pétersbourg, II (1848), 59; Herzfeld, Am Tor, pp. 45 and 47 f.
Many of the exploits of Gotarzes appear in various forms in the Shahnamah; see J. C. Coyajee, "The House of Gotarzes: a Chapter of Parthian History in the Shahnameh," Asiatic Society of Bengal, Journ. and Proc., N.S., XXVIII (for 1932), 207–24.
