Page:Political History of Parthia.pdf/300

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
254
POLITICAL HISTORY OF PARTHIA

eral Thucydides[1] to restore Sohaemus to the Armenian throne; but the exigencies of the situation evidently forced Verus himself to enter Armenia.[2] The garrison which Priscus had left at Caenepolis was found in a mutinous state, and the Parthian "satrap" Tiridates had stirred up trouble and slain the king of the Heniochi. Tiridates even dared to thrust his sword in Verus' face when the latter rebuked him for his action. Nevertheless Tiridates was not slain but was deported to far-off Britain.[3]

The conclusion of this war marks a further step in the decline of Parthia. The territory west of the Khabur River remained permanently a portion of the Roman Empire; Carrhae and Edessa henceforth came more and more under the sway of Roman influence.[4]

In 175 Avidius Cassius, the conqueror of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, declared himself emperor while Marcus Aurelius was far away on the Danube. In view of the prospect of civil war among the Romans, Vologases apparently threatened to resume the struggle.[5] Doubtless he was dissuaded by the sudden collapse of the revolt and the appearance of the Emperor on the scene.

  1. PW, art "Thukydides," No. 5.
  2. Dio Cass. lxxi. 3. Iamblichus in Photius 94 (ed. Bekker, p. 75).
  3. Dio Cass. lxxii (lxxi. 14. 2).
  4. Hill, Coins of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia, pp. xc and xcvii.
  5. Capit. Marcus Antoninus 22. 1. This incident may have occurred earlier, about 173.