y.

The war had, apparently, but just begun, when fresh troubles broke out
in the north-east. Gotarzes had never ceased to regret his renunciation
of his claims, and was now, on the invitation of the Parthian nobility,
prepared to came forward again and contest the kingdom with his brother.
Vardanes had to relinquish his attempt to coerce Izates, and to hasten
to Hyrcania in order to engage the troops which Gotarzes had collected
in that distant region. These he met and defeated more than once in the
country between the Caspian and Herat; but the success of his military
operations failed to strengthen his hold upon the affections of his
subjects. Like the generality of the Parthian princes, he showed himself
harsh and cruel in the hour of victory, and in conquering an opposition
roused an opposition that was fiercer and more formidable. A conspiracy
was formed against him shortly after his return from Hyrcania, and he
was assassinated while indulging in the national amusement of the chase.

The murder of Vardanes was immediately followed by the restoration of
Gotarzes to the throne. There may have been some who doubted his fitness
for the regal office, and inclined to keep the throne vacant till they
could send to Rome and obtain from thence one of the younger and more
civilized Parthian princes. But we may be sure that the general desire
was not for a Romanized sovereign, but for a truly national king, one
born and bred in the country. Gotarzes was proclaimed by common consent,
and without any interval, after the death of Vardanes, and ascended the
Parthian throne before the end of the year A.D. 46. It is not likely
that his rule would have been resisted had he conducted himself well;
but the cruelty of his temper, which had already once cost him his
crown, again displayed itself after his restoration, and to this defect
was added a slothful indulgence yet more distasteful to his subjects.
Some military expeditions which he undertook, moreover, failed of
success, and the crime of defeat caused the cup of his offences to brim
over. The discontented portion of his people, who were a strong party,
sent envoys to the Roman Emperor, Claudius (A.D. 49), and begged that he
would surrender to them Meherdates, the grandson of Phraates IV. and son
of Vonones, who still remained at Rome in a position between that of a
guest and a hostage. "They were not ignorant," they said, "of the treaty
which bound the Romans to Parthia, nor d