he queen-mother, Thermusa, or Musa.

The circumstances which brought about this change were the following.
Phraates IV. had married, late in life, an Italian slave-girl, sent him
as a present by Augustus; and she had borne him a son for whom she was
naturally anxious to secure the succession. According to some, it was
under her influence that the monarch had sent his four elder boys to
Rome, there to receive their education. At any rate, in the absence of
these youths, Phraataces, the child of the slave-girl, became the chief
support of Phraates in the administration of affairs, and obtained a
position in Parthia which led him to regard himself as entitled to the
throne so soon as it should become vacant. Doubtful, however, of his
father's goodwill, or fearful of the rival claims of his brothers, if
he waited till the throne was vacated in the natural course of events,
Phraataces resolved to anticipate the hand of time, and, in conjunction
with his mother, administered poison to the old monarch, from the
effects of which he died. A just Nemesis for once showed itself in that
portion of human affairs which passes before our eyes. Phraates IV.,
the parricide and fratricide, was, after a reign of thirty-five years,
himself assassinated (B.C. 2) by a wife whom he loved only too fondly
and a son whom he esteemed and trusted.

Phraates cannot but be regarded as one of the ablest of the Parthian
monarchs. His conduct of the campaign against Antony--one of the best
soldiers that Rome ever produced--was admirable, and showed him a master
of guerilla warfare. His success in maintaining himself upon the throne
for five and thirty years, in spite of rivals, and notwithstanding the
character which he obtained for cruelty, implies, in such a state as
Parthia, considerable powers of management. His dealings with Augustus
indicate much suppleness and dexterity. If he did not in the course of
his long reign advance the Parthian frontier, at any rate he was not
obliged to retract it. Apparently, he ceded nothing to the Scyths as
the price of their assistance. He maintained the Parthian supremacy
over Northern Media. He lost no inch of territory to the Romans. It was
undoubtedly a prudent step on his part to soothe the irritated vanity
of Rome by a surrender of useless trophies, and scarcely more useful
prisoners; and, we may doubt if this concession was not as effective as
the dread of the Parthian arms in producing that peace between th