III.
Igitur Artabanus Arsacidarum e sanguine (Artabanus Arsacidarum e sanguine: Artabanus was Parthian on the mother’s side, the father being probably a Dahan; also, he may have been king of Media Atropatene, an independent kingdom extending inland from the SW corner of the Caspian sea. e sanguine is abl. of origin.) apud Dahas (Dahas: a warlike Scythic people living in the region between the Caspian and the Aral sea.) adultus excitur, primoque congressu fusus reparat viris regnoque potitur. victo Vononi perfugium Armenia fuit, (victo Vononi perfugium Armenia fuit: victo Vononi is dat. of possessor with fuit; in English it becomes subject of a clause with ‘have’: ‘the beaten Vonones had Armenia as refuge.’ The same construction reoccurs below in nec Tigrani diuturnum imperium fuit neque liberis eius, quamquam sociatis ….) vacua tunc interque Parthorum et Romanas opes infida ob ([Armenia] vacua tunc interque Parthorum et Romanas opes infida ob …: ‘Armenia, then without a king and between the might of Parthia and Rome, distrustful [of us] by reason of …’ inter Parthorum et Romanas opes: lit. ‘between the might of the Parthians and the Roman might’: typical of Tacitus’ passion for variations of all sorts, in this instance a change of case and kind of word, genitive vs. accusative, noun vs. adjective.) scelus Antonii, qui Artavasden regem Armeniorum (Artavasden regem Armeniorum: the Arminian king Artavasdes I, the son of Tigranes I, had supported Mithridates, the king of Pontus, in his war against Rome, thus making himself a target for Roman revenge.) specie amicitiae inlectum, dein catenis oneratum, postremo interfecerat. eius filius Artaxias, memoria patris nobis infensus, Arsacidarum vi seque regnumque tutatus est. ([Artaxias …nobis infensus] Arsacidarum vi seque regnumque tutatus est: ‘Artaxias, hostile to us, protected both himself and his kingdom with Parthian (Arsacidarum) support.’ nobis … infensus: he ordered the execution of all Romans in the kingdom; -que …que: same as et …et, ‘both …and’) occiso Artaxia per dolum propinquorum datus a Caesare Armeniis Tigranes deductusque in regnum a Tiberio Nerone. (Tigranes deductusque in regnum a Tiberio Nerone: ‘Tigranes was led to his kingdom by Tiberius Nero.’ This Tigranes is Tigranes II, the son of Artavasdes I, who in turn was the son of Tigranes I. Tiberius Nero was Tiberius’ name before he became Tiberius Caesar on his being adopted by Augustus. As to the dates of these events, the only reliable one is that furnished by the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus, who says that Tiberius was expected to return to Armenia a second time to deal with the revolt following the death of Tigranes II, but that his retirement to Rhodes in 6 B.C. prevented it.) nec Tigrani diuturnum imperium fuit neque liberis eius, quamquam sociatis more externo in matrimonium regnumque. (nec … [diuturnum imperium fuit] liberis eius, quamquam sociatis more externo in matrimonium regnumque: ‘neither had his [two] children a reign of long duration, even though united in marriage and ruling power, after a foreign practice.’ The heirs of Tigranes II were Tigranes III and Erato, the latter mentioned again in the next chapter. more externo: the custom may have been Egyptian in origin, the same that associated Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy in marriage and royal power. quamquam sociatis: the use of quamquam and other subordinating conjunctions, in a quasi-adverbial role, before a participle, began gradually at the end of the classical period, underlining the close relationship between dependent clauses and participial phrases (Ernout).)