ince of their Empire, was perhaps at this time almost, if not quite,
independent. The Medes offered a vigorous resistance to his attack;
and, in the war which followed, each side had in turn the advantage;
but eventually the Parthian prince proved victorious, and the great
and valuable province of Media Magna was added to the dominons of the
Arsacidae. A certain Bacasis was appointed to govern it, whether as
satrap or as tributary monarch is not apparent; while the Parthian king,
recalled towards home by a revolt, proceeded to crush rebellion before
resuming his career of conquest.

The revolt which now occupied for a time the attention of Mithridates
was that of Hyrcania. The Hyrcanians were Arians in race; they were
brave and high-spirited, and under the Persian monarchs had enjoyed some
exceptional privileges which placed them above the great mass of the
conquered nations. It was natural that they should dislike the yoke of a
Turanian people; and it was wise of them to make their effort to obtain
their freedom before Parthia grew into a power against which revolt
would be utterly hopeless. Hyrcania might now expect to be joined by the
Medes, and even the Mardi, who were Arians like themselves, and could
not yet have forgotten the pleasures of independence. But though the
effort does not seem to have been ill-timed, it was unsuccessful. No aid
was given to the rebels, so far as we hear, by any of their neighbors.
Mithridates's prompt return nipped the insurrection in the bud; Hyrcania
at once submitted, and became for centuries the obedient vassal of her
powerful neighbor.

The conquest of Media had brought the Parthians into contact with
the rich country of Susiana or Elymais; and it was not long before
Mithridates, having crushed the Hyrcanian revolt, again advanced
westward, and invaded this important province. Elymais appears to have
a had a king of its own, who must either have been a vassal of the
Seleucidse, or have acquired an independent position by revolt after the
death of Epiphanes. In the war which followed between this monarch and
Mithridates, the Elymseans proved wholly unsuccessful, and Mithridates
rapidly overran the country and added it to his dominions. After this he
appears to have received the submission of the Persians on the one hand
and the Babylonians on the other, and to have rested on his laurels for
some years, having extended the Parthian sway from the Hindoo Koosh to
the Euphrates.

Th