of about eight or nine years.
Though not possessing the talents of his father, he was a brave and
warlike prince, active, enterprising, fertile in resources, and bent
on maintaining against all assailants the honor and integrity of the
Empire. In natural temperament he was probably at once soft and cruel.
But, when policy required it, he could throw his softness aside and show
himself a hardy and intrepid warrior. Similarly, he could control his
natural harshness, and act upon occasion with clemency and leniency. He
was not, perhaps, without a grim humor, which led him to threaten more
than he intended, in order to see how men would comport themselves when
greatly alarmed. There is some evidence that he aimed at saying good
things; though it must be confessed that the wit is not of a high order.
Altogether he has more character than most Oriental monarchs; and
the monotony of Arsacid biography is agreeably interrupted by the
idiosyncrasy which his words and conduct indicate.

CHAPTER VIII.

_Accession of Artabanus II. Position of Parthia. Growing pressure upon
her, and general advance towards the south, of the Saka or Scyths.
Causes and extent of the movement. Character and principal tribes of the
Saka. Scythic war of Artabanus. His death._

The successor of Phraates was his uncle, Artabanus, a son of Priapatius.
It is probable that the late king had either left no son, or none
of sufficient age to be a fit occupant of the throne at a season of
difficulty. The "Megistanes," therefore, elected Artabanus in his
nephew's place, a man of mature age, and, probably, of some experience
in war. The situation of Parthia, despite her recent triumph over the
Syro-Macedonians, was critical; and it was of the greatest importance
that the sceptre should be committed to one who would bring to the
discharge of his office those qualities of wisdom, promptness, and
vigor, which a crisis demands.

The difficulty of the situation was two-fold. In the first place,
there was an immediate danger to be escaped. The combined Greeks and
Scythians, who had defeated the Parthian army and slain the monarch,
might have been expected to push their advantage to the utmost, and
seek to establish themselves as conquerors in the country which lay
apparently at their mercy. At any rate, the siege and sack of some of
the chief towns was a probable contingency, if permanent occupation
of the territory did not suit the views of the confederates