XXXI.
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 Gaius Cestius’ and Marcus Servilius’ consulate the following year, a group of Parthian nobles arrived in Rome without king Artabanus’ knowledge of their voyage. While Germanicus was alive, fear of him had kept the king faithful to the Romans and acceptable to his people, but later had become arrogant towards us and despotic to his subjects. Made overconfident by his successes in a war with neighboring nations and contemptuous of Tiberius as old and unwarlike, he now had his covetous eyes on Armenia, over which, on the death of its king Artaxias, he had placed the eldest of his sons, Arsaces. Not content with this, he added the insult of sending to us a delegation to claim back the treasure left by Vonones in Syria and Cilicia and to demand the restoring of the ancient boundaries of the Persians and Macedonians. He backed these demands with boastful threats to invade the territories once possessed by Cyrus, then by Alexander. The chief adviser among the Parthians of the need to send a second embassy to Rome was Sinnaces, a nobleman of great wealth, seconded by Abdus, a eunuch – a social condition that among these barbarians not only is not despised, but actually entails significant influence. These two, after associating to themselves other leading men of Parthia, came to Rome in search for a rival to king Artabanus. Since they could not place on the throne any member of the Arsacid family (most having been killed by the king and the rest underage) they asked for prince Phraates, the son of a former Parthian king, Phraates IV. All that was needed, they said, was a name and an authority to support it, so that, by the will of Caesar, a scion of Arsaces should again show his presence on the bank of the Euphrates.
XXXII.
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 desired, to adhere to his policy of shaping foreign relations by astute diplomacy without recourse to force. He provided Phraates with everything he needed to elevate himself to his father’s royal splendor. Meanwhile Artabanus was made aware of the plot and first he vacillated between fear and burning thirst for revenge. In barbarians’ eyes hesitation is the infirmity of slaves, immediate action the response worthy of a king. Yet, Artabanus chose expediency: pretending friendship, he invited Abdus to a banquet and undermined him by a slow-acting poison. Sinnaces he held in check with gifts and underhand tactics, such as keeping him employed. On reaching Syria, Phraates tried his best to adapt himself to the customs of Parthia, forgotten after so many years of life in Rome, but was unequal to the task, fell ill, and died. Tiberius, however, did not abandon his design : in Tiridates, also of Arsacid blood, he found a new competitor to Artabanus and in the Iberian Mithridates a princeling who would reconquer Armenia. He first reconciled Mithridates to his brother Pharasmanes, the king of their native Iberia, then appointed Lucius Vitellius to supervise the entire eastern strategy. I am not unaware of the infamous reputation of this man in Rome and of the foul tales centered around him, but as a provincial governor he proved to be a man of ancient virtue. When he returned to Rome, fear of Gaius Caesar first, then his close connection with Claudius transformed him into a courtier so slavish that he is remembered today as the embodiment of servility. His end darkened his bright beginnings and shameful old age eroded the great promise of youth.
XXXIII.
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.
Mithridates was first among the Iberian warlords in convincing Pharasmanes to support his plan for taking over Armenia by cunning or force. Agents were also found who would induce Arsaces’ attendants, by means of large offers of money, to do away with their king. At the same time, strong Iberian forces broke into Armenia and captured the city of Artaxata. Upon hearing of this, Artabanus entrusted his vengeance to another of his sons, Orodes, providing him with a Parthian army and sending out men to recruit mercenary troops in exchange for gold. On his part, king Pharamanes formed a league with the Albani and called in the Sarmates, whose leaders, receiving bribes from both sides as is the fashion in their country, sold their services to either of the contending parties. But the Iberians, who were in control of the more important strongholds, quickly moved their Sarmatian auxiliaries into Armenia by way of the Caspian pass across the chain of the Caucasus mountains. Those coming to the aid of the Parthians, on the other hand, were easily held back, all other passes having been sealed by the enemy. One that was left between the sea and the farthest outcrops of the Caucasus in the land of the Albani was not passable in summer as the coast became flooded by the Etesian winds. During the winter the waves are rolled back by the southerly winds and the retreat of the sea leaves exposed a narrow passage along the edge of the water.
XXXIV.
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; simul horridam suorum aciem, picta auro Medorum agmina, hinc viros, inde praedam ostendere.
34.
Pharasmanes, being strongly reinforced, defied Orodes, who had no allied support, to accept battle and, on finding him unwilling to engage, he began to harass him, by charging up and down beside his camp, intercepting his foraging parties and often by posting bodies of troops around his position, as if intending to besiege him. In the end, the Parthians, who were unused to suffer outrage without reacting, thronged round the king demanding combat. Their entire force was cavalry, whereas Pharasmanes, beside cavalry, had also good infantry, since the Iberi and the Albani, both of alpine stock, were inured to the hard life of the mountains. They say of themselves that they are of Thessalian origin tracing back to the time when Jason abducted Medea, had children with her, and later returned to the deserted palace of Aeetes in Colchis, then without a king. Jason’s name is celebrated in many of their ceremonies, together with the oracles of Phrixus. Since Phrixus is said to have been conveyed across the sea by a ram (whether by ‘ram’ the animal or the prow of a ship is meant), sacrificing a ram among the Iberi and the Albani is forbidden. However that may be, the two armies now being in order of battle and facing each other, Orodes harangued his men by exalting the empire of the Orient, setting the renown of the Arsacids against that of the Iberi, mere mercenaries, an ignoble people without glory. Pharasmanes reminded his soldiery that they had never been under the yoke of the Parthians and that the higher the goal they strove for, the higher their fame after the battle, if victorious, and the greater the peril and the shame if defeated. As he spoke, he pointed to their battle line brisling with steel, then to the Parthian line richly ornamented with gold, and said that warriors were on their side and rich plunder on the other.
XXXV.
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.
Among the Sarmatian auxiliaries, however, it was not only the voice of the leader that was heard. Indeed, they all stirred up one another not to launch their attack by shooting arrows: they ought to engage battle, they said, by charging at the enemy and falling on him at once. As a result, combat was anything but uniform. The Parthians, equally well trained in the art of executing a charge and of regrouping, were trying to open their squadrons in order to have more space in which to aim their missiles, while the Sarmatae, discarding their bows, effective only at shorter range, lunged forward, pikes or swords in hand. At one moment, as in a cavalry assault, there was an alternation of charges and withdrawals; at another, as in close engagements, the two sides pushed and were pushed by the shock of bodies and armor. The Iberian and Albanian infantry now also were seizing their mounted opponents and forcing them off the saddle, exposing them to a double peril, to the Sarmatian cavalry striking from above, and to the infantry confronting them on the ground. During the fight, Pharamanes and Orodes were both engaged in encouraging their best performing troops or assisting those in trouble, while in full view of both armies and easily recognized. The moment they saw each other, with a shout they charged at full speed, javelins at the ready. Pharamanes attacked with greater force and wounded Orodes through the helm, but could not strike twice, being carried away by the speed of the horse and Orodes’ escort rushing to the rescue. Yet, the rumor spread that Orodes had fallen; panic set in among the Parthians and the battle was lost to them.
XXXVI.
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.
Bent on revenge, Artabanus immediately set in motion the entire force of his kingdom. The Iberians had the tactical advantage of knowing the geography of Armenia, but Artabanus would not give up the fight, if Vitellius, by concentrating his legions and circulating a report that he was about to invade Mesopotamia, had not raised the danger of a war with Rome. Then the king withdrew from Armenia and this decision signalled the decline of his fortunes, for Vitellius was soliciting the king’s subjects to abandon a monarch as cruel in peace as he was unlucky in war. Sinnaces, who was hostile to him, as I mentioned, prevailed on his father Abdagaeses and others, who were secretly aware of the plan and now were decided to act after the long series of defeats, and to turn against Artabanus. Gradually, an ever larger number of subjects, formerly obedient more out of fear than from devotion, took courage now that leaders had come forward. The ranks of the revolt swelled and already Artabanus had no one left except some foreigners employed as bodyguards, men without a country with little conception of the good and even less concern for evil, mercenaries fed to be the executors of crimes. With these as his train, he hurriedly fled to the distant frontier regions of Scythia, thinking he would find support from marriage relations among the Hyrcanians and the Carmenians. He also hoped that in the meantime his former subjects, tolerant of rulers when they are absent and faithless when they are present, might in time come to regret their treachery.
XXXVII.
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.
Vitellius, as soon as Artabanus became a refugee and the people were more receptive to the idea of a new monarch, was pressing Tiridates to seize the opportunity given him, and then, [to show Roman support for Tiridates], he conducted the elite of the legions and of the auxiliaries to the bank of the Euphrates. As he and the Parthian prince were performing a sacrifice, the one in keeping with Roman custom offering a bear, a ram, and a bull, Tiridates a horse to placate the river god, the local people told them that the Euphrates, without input from violent rains, was rising of his own accord to an incredible height and that the white froth on the waters was forming circular shapes resembling diadems, an auspicious sign of a successful crossing. Other more profound interpreters saw the signs as an indication that what was being undertaken would prove successful at the start, but not thereafter. Presages from the heavens and the earth, they said, offered more certainty, whereas the changeable nature of water both showed and erased the signs at the same time. In any case, a bridge of ships was constructed and the army was moved across. The first man to come to our camp was Ornospades with a cavalry contingent of many thousands. Formerly a banished man, he had rendered good services to Tiberius, when he was bringing the Dalmatian war to a close, and he was granted Roman citizenship. Later he regained the king’s favor and received special honors, being made governor of the vast territories that are enclosed by the two famous rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and are known as Mesopotamia. Soon after, the forces of Tiridates were expanded by the arrival of Sinnaces and Abdagaeses, the latter considered the champion of the pro-Roman faction [in the Orient], who also brought the treasures and the royal apparatus of the kingdom. Vitellius decided that to have shown the Roman forces [east of the Euphrates] was sufficient. He urged Tiridates to remember both his grandfather Phraates and Caesar, who had raised him, and all the noble qualities in either. He reminded the great dignitaries of Armenia that the only noble way for each of them to conserve dignity and trust was through obedience to their king and respect for us Romans. He then re-entered Syria with his army.
XXXVIII.
Quae duabus aestatibus gesta coniunxi quo requiesceret 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.
38.
I have placed together the events that occurred in the space of two years [in the Orient] with the intention to provide relief to our spirits from our domestic afflictions. Even though three years had passed since the fall of Sejanus, neither time nor prayers, nor surfeit itself, all of which have the power to soften men in general, had any effect at all on Tiberius. Nay, he even kept going after questionable or half-forgotten wrongdoings as if they were the most unforgivable or most recent of crimes. Alarmed by such rigor, Fulcinius Trio did not wait supinely for the unavoidable to occur, but to his final instructions he added a long list of excoriating accusations aimed not only at Macro and at the main freedmen in the imperial palace, but at Tiberius himself, in whose face he threw the reproach of being a doddering old wretch, and, about his continuous absence from Rome, of being a virtual exile. Trio’s heirs had kept these insults hidden, but Tiberius insisted on having them read out in the senate, affecting tolerance of other people’s freedoms and contempt of his own ill repute. Or perhaps, having for so long remained unaware of Sejanus’ villainies, he preferred now to make public what was said of him, no matter how offensive, in order to arrive at the truth, through insults if necessary, since the truth was inevitably obscured by adulation. Also in those days, the senator Granius Marcianus, accused of treason by Gaius Gracchus, cut short his life, and Tarius Gratiasnus, an elderly praetor was sentenced to death for the same crime.
XXXIX.
Nec dispares Trebelleni Rufi et Sextii Paconiani exitus: nam Trebellenus sua manu cecidit, Paconianus in carcere ob carmina illic in principem factitata strangulatus est. haec Tiberius non mari, ut olim, divisus neque per longinquos nuntios accipiebat, sed urbem iuxta, eodem ut die vel noctis interiectu litteris consulum rescriberet, quasi aspiciens undantem per domos sanguinem aut manus carnificum. fine anni Poppaeus Sabinus concessit vita, modicus originis, principum amicitia consulatum ac triumphale decus adeptus maximisque provinciis per quattuor et viginti annos impositus, nullam ob eximiam artem sed quod par negotiis neque supra erat.
39.
Trebellenus Rufus and Sextius Paconianus met similar ends, one dying voluntarily and the other strangled in prison for verses satirizing Tiberius he had composed while a prisoner. Tiberius had notice of these doings, not as before separated by the sea and through messengers from a great distance, but while staying at a place just outside Rome, in order to be able to answer the consuls’ letters the same day or after only one night, virtually within sight of the blood flowing freely in the houses of the condemned, or of the executioners busy at work. The end of the year saw the natural death of Poppaeus Sabinus, a man risen from modest origins and achieving the consulate and triumphal honors, aided by the friendship of princes. For twenty-four years he had governed the most important provinces without displaying any exceptional qualities. He simply did his work well, yet not too well.
XL.
Quintus Plautius Sex. Papinius consules sequuntur. eo anno neque quod L. Aruseius * * * morte adfecti forent, adsuetudine malorum ut atrox advertebatur, sed exterruit quod Vibulenus Agrippa eques Romanus, cum perorassent accusatores, in ipsa curia depromptum sinu venenum hausit prolapsusque ac moribundus festinatis lictorum manibus in carcerem raptus est faucesque iam exanimis laqueo vexatae. ne Tigranes quidem, Armenia quondam potitus ac tunc reus, nomine regio supplicia civium effugit. at C. Galba consularis et duo Blaesi voluntario exitu cecidere, Galba tristibus Caesaris litteris provinciam sortiri prohibitus: Blaesis sacerdotia, integra eorum domo destinata, convulsa distulerat, tunc ut vacua contulit in alios; quod signum mortis intellexere et executi sunt. et Aemilia Lepida, quam iuveni Druso nuptam rettuli, crebris criminibus maritum insectata, quamquam intestabilis, tamen impunita agebat, dum superfuit pater Lepidus: post a delatoribus corripitur ob servum adulterum, nec dubitabatur de flagitio: ergo omissa defensione finem vitae sibi posuit.
40.
The consulate of Quintus Plautius and Sextus Papinius Allenius came next. In that year, the fact that Lucius Aruseius … [and others] had been executed was not perceived as particularly shocking, such tragedies having become a fact of life. Yet, a moment of terror occurred when Vibulenus Agrippa, a Roman knight, after his accusers had completed the prosecution, extracted a poison from his clothes and, right there in the curia, drank it and fell to the ground. The dying man was promptly seized by the lictors and rushed to prison, where his neck was broken by hanging when he had already expired. Not even Tigranes, once ruler of Armenia and now arraigned before the senate, escaped the fate of ordinary citizens, despite his royal title. But Gaius Galba, a consular man, and the two Blaesi chose death by suicide, Galba because a direful letter from Tiberius prohibited him from having a province assigned to him by lot, the Blaesi, because Tiberius had first reserved priesthoods for them when their house was prosperous, then, when the family was faltering, had assigned them to others as if the priesthoods were vacant. This was taken in both cases as a death sentence, which was voluntarily acted on. Aemilia Lepida, whose marriage to the young Drusus I have previously reported, and who had spread ugly lies about the husband, but lived on detested yet unpunished while her father Lepidus was still alive, was attacked by informers accusing her of adultery with a slave. The crime was undeniable, so she dispensed with defending herself and put an end to her life.