Radamistus at first rushed into his embrace, greeted him as his parent, and feigned the deepest respect. He even swore an oath that he would offer him no violence either by sword or by poison. He then drew him into a neighboring grove, where he said that preparations had been made for the sacrifice which should confirm peace in the presence of the gods. It was the custom of these princes when they met to form an alliance, to join their right hands and tie together their thumbs in a tight knot. Then when the blood was collected into the extremities which were thus tied, they let it out by a small puncture, and sucked it each in turn. The treaty had thus a mystical sanctity, being sealed by the blood of both. On this occasion, the man who was tying the knot pretended to fall, and seizing the knees of Mithradates flung him down. A number of people then rushed upon him, and loaded him with chains. He was dragged along, subject to all kinds of indignities, while his wife and little children followed wailing. They were hidden in covered wagons, until the will of Pharasmanes as to their fate should be made known. “To him the desire of kingdom was more than his brother and his daughter, and his heart was steeled to crimes. But he spared his eyes the sight of a brother’s execution. Radamistus, to keep the letter of his oath, used neither steel nor poison against his uncle and his sister, but had them thrown on the ground and smothered under a load of heavy clothes. Even the sons of Mithradates were slaughtered for having wept at the murder of their father and mother”.
Ummidius Quadratus, the legatus of Syria, on whom it devolved to watch the course of events in the neighboring dependent kingdoms, decided not to interfere. He or his councilors judged it to be a matter of indifference whether Armenia was ruled by the uncle or by the nephew; and the principle was asserted that all crime in a foreign land was to be received with joy. It was the policy of Rome to sow strife among the barbarians; and it was rather for her interest that the hated Radamistus should retain what he had got by such an infamous deed, inasmuch as he would be more easily managed. At the same time appearances were kept up by sending an embassy to Pharasmanes, bidding him and his son evacuate Armenia. A show of interference was also made by Julius Paslignus, the procurator of Cappadocia, a man of deformed body and feeble intellect, who had been a sort of buffoon at the court of Claudius. There were no military forces stationed in Cappadocia at this time, but Paelignus collected some native militia, and set forth “to recover Armenia”. His men deserted their incompetent leader, and he, finding himself defenseless, went to Radamistus, whose gifts had such an effect that Paelignus actually urged him to assume the tiara and diadem of royalty, and took part in the coronation of the usurper whom he had come to expel. This disgraceful act caused great scandal, and lest other Romans should be judged by the behavior of Paelignus, Quadratus sent a certain Helvidius Priscus, with one of the Syrian legions, to restore order; but this force was speedily withdrawn, in order to avoid a collision with the Parthians.
For in the meantime Vologeses, judging the moment to be favorable, and supposing that the Romans would not trouble themselves to support Radamistus, had named his brother Tiridates king of Armenia, and had entered the country with an army (53 A.D.). The Iberians were expelled without a blow, and the two chief cities, Artaxata and Tigranocerta, submitted to the Parthian yoke. A severe winter, want of provisions, and the breaking out of a disease in his army, compelled Vologeses to retire; and Radamistus speedily returned, and dealt out vengeance to those who had deserted him. But his subjects rebelled against his cruelty, and an armed crowd gathered round his palace in Artaxata. He and his wife Zenobia were obliged to flee, and the story of their escape is romantic. Their chance of safety lay in the swiftness of their horses, but Zenobia was pregnant, and, though she endured somehow or other the first part of the flight, she was after a while so shaken by the continuous galloping, that she could bold out no longer, and dismounting she begged her husband to rescue her from the insults of captivity by an honorable death. Radamistus was at length induced to comply with her request. Unsheathing his short sabre (the acinaces), he stabbed her, and, dragging her to the bank of the Araxes, committed her to the stream, that even her dead body might be rescued from the enemy. He then continued his headlong flight, and reached Iberia in safety. But Zenobia was not mortally wounded. She lay in the calm water near the edge of the river, breathing and showing signs of life. Some shepherds observed her, and, seeing from her appearance that she was a woman of high degree, bound up her wound, and applied rustic remedies. Having discovered her name and story, they took her to Artaxata, whence she was led to Tiridates, now established as king of Armenia, who received her kindly, and treated her as a queen (54 A.D.).
Some desultory warfare was kept up between Tiridates and Radamistus, during the last year of Claudius (54 A.D.). The Parthians were at this time trammeled by revolts in the north of their empire, and the Romans were busied with the suppression of a rising of the Clitas in Cilicia, and with troubles in Judea. The Armenians, disgusted at the countenance which the Romans had given to the usurpation of Radamistus, were by no means dissatisfied at the establishment of a Parthian prince in their country,
The success of Tiridates seemed to be one more proof that the policy of Augustus was not likely to lead to a stable settlement of the eastern question. The death of Claudius and the accession of Nero was a good opportunity for trying a new policy. The government of Nero, conducted by Seneca and Burrus, decided to take active measures for the recovery of Armenia and the maintenance of Rome’s prestige, which had been dimmed by the recent triumph of Vologeses and his brother. The first step was the appointment of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo to the government of Cappadocia, with the rank of a consular legatus, although that province had been hitherto under a procurator. He was consul in 39 A.D.. We have already met him as legatus of Lower Germany (47 A.D.), where he gained a high reputation for discipline and ability. Quadratus was allowed to keep his post in Syria, but was ordered to place two of his four legions at the disposal of the new legatus of Cappadocia. Antiochus of Commagene and Herod Agrippa II of Chalcis, received commands to have their troops in readiness for operations against the Parthians. Lesser Armenia and Sophene, the countries which bordered Armenia on the west, were entrusted to two Syrian princes, Aristobulus and Sohaemus respectively. But the legions had become demoralized by a long peace, and they liked little to change their quarters in Syria for the mountains of Armenia. There were veterans in the army who had never served on sentinel duty, to whom the rampart and the ditch were novelties, men without helmets or breastplates, sleek traders who had served all their time in towns. The first thing that Corbulo had to do was to dismiss a large number of incapable men, and levy new recruits. Even after the restoration of discipline he was obliged to ask for additional troops from the more efficient armies of the west. A legion and auxiliaries were sent from Germany. But Rome did not immediately come to blows with Parthia. Instead of invading Armenia, Corbulo entered into negotiations with Vologeses, and a treaty was concluded. The Parthians undertook to give hostages as a pledge of peace, while the Romans suffered the rule of Tiridates in Armenia. Perhaps this was only for the purpose of gaining time. But it may be that the Roman government had come to see the uselessness of continually setting up kings of their own choice in Armenia, destined to be overthrown in a few years by Parthian rivals. So as they were not prepared to annex that country as a province, they decided to adopt the policy of recognizing the Parthian candidate, on the understanding that he held his dependency under the overlordship of the Roman Emperor, not of the Parthian monarch. But as time went on and Tiridates still demurred to receive Armenia as a Roman gift, and take an oath of allegiance to the Emperor, Corbulo set out in 57 A.D., two years after his appointment, with an army of about 30,000 men, and wintered in Armenia.
The rigor of Armenian winters was proverbial, and the army seems to have suffered severely. The ground covered with ice yielded no place for the tents, until it was regularly dug up. The cold was so intense that many of the men had their limbs frost-bitten; others perished on guard. A soldier carrying a bundle of wood was observed, whose hands dropped off and fell with the burden. Corbulo was glad to give his demoralized soldiers the experience of hardships. He is described as going about among his men, lightly clad, with uncovered head, praising the brave, encouraging the weak, enforcing strict discipline. Deserters were put to death for the first offence.
It was probably in the table-land of Erzurum that the