, which was,
probably, made over to his government. Vardanes then returned to the
west, and, resuming the siege of Seleucia, compelled the rebel city to a
surrender in the seventh year after it had revolted (A.D. 46.)

Successful thus far, and regarding his quarrel with his brother
as finally arranged, Vardanes proceeded to contemplate a military
expedition of the highest importance. The time, he thought, was
favorable for reviving the Parthian claim to Armenia, and disputing
once more with Rome the possession of a paramount influence over
that country. The Roman government of the dependency, since
Artabanus formally relinquished it to them, had been far from proving
satisfactory. Mithridates, their protege, had displeased them, and had
been summoned to Rome by Caligula, who kept him there a prisoner until
his death. Armenia, left without a king, had asserted her independence;
and when, after an absence of several years, Mithridates was authorized
by Claudius to return to his kingdom, the natives resisted him in arms,
and were only brought under his rule by the combined help of the Romans
and the Iberians. Forced upon a reluctant people by foreign arms,
Mithridates felt himself insecure, and this feeling made him rule his
subjects with imprudent severity. Under these circumstances it seemed
to Vardanes that it would not be very difficult to recover Armenia, and
thus gain a signal triumph over the Romans.

But to engage in so great a matter with a good prospect of success it
was necessary that the war should be approved, not only by himself,
but by his principal feudatories. The most important of these was now
Izates, king of Adiabene and Gordyene who in the last reign had restored
Artabanus to his lost throne. Vardanes, before committing himself by any
overt act, appears to have taken this prince into his counsels, and to
have requested his opinion on affronting the Romans by an interference
with Armenian affairs. Izates strenuously opposed the project. He had a
personal interest in the matter, since he had sent five of his boys to
Rome, to receive there a polite education, and he had also a profound
respect for the Roman power and military system. He endeavored, both by
persuasion and reasoning, to induce Vardanes to abandon his design. His
arguments may have been cogent, but they were not thought by Vardanes
to have much force, and the result of the conference was that the Great
King declared war against his feudator