d it over into the hands of the Armenians.
At the same time he insulted the Parthian monarch by refusing him
his generally recognized title of "King of Kings." He thus entirely
alienated his late ally, who remonstrated against the injustice with
which he was treated, and was only deterred from declaring war by the
wholesome fear which he entertained of the Roman arms.

Pompey, on his side, no doubt took the question into consideration
whether or no he should declare the Parthian prince a Roman enemy, and
proceed to direct against him the available forces of the Empire. He had
purposely made him hostile, and compelled him to take steps which might
have furnished a plausible _casus belli_. But, on the whole, he found
that he was not prepared to venture on the encounter. The war had not
been formally committed to him; and if he did not prosper in it, he
dreaded the accusations of his enemies at Rome. He had seen, moreover,
with his own eyes; that the Parthians were an enemy far from despicable,
and his knowledge of campaigning told him that success against them was
not certain. He feared to risk the loss of all the glory which he had
obtained by grasping greedily at more, and preferred enjoying the fruits
of the good luck which had hitherto attended him to tempting fortune on
a new field. He therefore determined that he would not allow himself to
be provoked into hostilities by the reproaches, the dictatorial words,
or even the daring acts of the Parthian King. When Phraates demanded his
lost provinces he replied, that the question of borders was one which
lay, not between Parthia and Rome, but between Parthia and Armenia. When
he laid it down that the Euphrates properly bounded the Roman territory,
and charged Pompey not to cross it, the latter said he would keep to
the just bounds, whatever they were. When Tigranes complained that after
having been received into the Roman alliance he was still attacked by
the Parthian armies, the reply of Pompey was that he was willing to
appoint arbitrators who should decide all the disputes between the two
nations. The moderation and caution of these answers proved contagious.
The monarchs addressed resolved to compose their differences, or at any
rate to defer the settlement of them to a more convenient time. They
accepted Pompey's proposal of an arbitration; and in a short time an
arrangement was effected by which relations of amity were re-established
between the two countries.

It