e
two countries which continued unbroken for above ninety years from the
campaign of Antony, and without serious interruption for yet another
half century. If Phraates felt, as he might well feel after the
campaigns of Pacorus, that on the whole Rome was a more powerful state
than Parthia, and that consequently Parthia had nothing to gain but much
to lose in the contest with her western neighbor, he did well to allow
no sentiment of foolish pride to stand in the way of a concession
that made a prolonged peace between the two countries possible. It
is sometimes more honorable to yield to a demand than to meet it with
defiance; and the prince who removed a cause of war arising out of mere
national vanity, while at the same time he maintained in all essential
points the interests and dignity of his kingdom, deserved well of his
subjects, and merits the approval of the historian. As a man, Phraates
has left behind him a bad name: he was cruel, selfish, and ungrateful, a
fratricide and a parricide; but as a king he is worthy of respect, and,
in certain points, of admiration.

CHAPTER XIV.

_Short reigns of Phraataces, Orodes II., and Vonones I. Accession of
Artabanus III. His relations with Germanicus and Tiberius. His War with
Pharasmanes of Iberia. His First Expulsion from his Kingdom, and return
to it. His peace with Rome. Internal troubles of the Parthian Kingdom.
Second Expulsion and return of Artabanus. His Death._

The accession of Phraataces made no difference in the attitude of
Parthia towards Armenia. The young prince was as anxious as his father
had been to maintain the Parthian claims to that country, and at first
perhaps as inclined to believe that Augustus would not dispute them.
Immediately upon his accession he sent ambassadors to Rome announcing
the fact, apologizing for the circumstances under which it had taken
place, and proposing a renewal of the peace which had subsisted between
Augustus and his father. Apparently, he said nothing about Armenia, but
preferred a demand for the surrender of his four brothers, whom no
doubt he designed to destroy. The answer of Augustus was severe in the
extreme. Addressing Phraataces by his bare name, without adding the
title of king, he required him to lay aside the royal appellation, which
he had arrogantly and without any warrant assumed, and at the same time
to withdraw his forces from Armenia. On the surrender of the Parthian
princes he kept silence, ign