ot only must his brother, Tiridates, be
left in the undisturbed possession of Armenia but it must be distinctly
understood that he held it as a Parthian, and not as a Roman, feudatory.
At the same time Tiridates began to exercise his authority over the
Armenians with severity, and especially to persecute those whom he
suspected of inclining towards the Romans. Oorbulo appears to have felt
that it was necessary to atone for his three years of inaction by at
length prosecuting the war in earnest. He tightened the discipline of
the legions, while he recruited them to their full strength, made fresh
friends among the hardy races of the neighborhood, renewed the Roman
alliance with Pharasmanes of Iberia, urged Antiochus of Commagene to
cross the Armenian frontier, and taking the field himself, carried fire
and sword over a large portion of the Armenian territory. Volagases
sent a contingent of troops to the assistance of his feudatory, but was
unable to proceed to his relief in person, owing to the occurrence of a
revolt in Hyrcania, which broke out, fortunately for the Romans, in the
very year that the rebellion of Vardanes was suppressed. Under these
circumstances it is not surprising that Tiridates had recourse to
treachery, or that on his treachery failing he continually lost
ground, and was at last compelled to evacuate the country and yield the
possession of it to the Romans. It is more remarkable that he prolonged
his resistance into the third year than that he was unable to continue
the straggle to a later date. He lost his capital, Artaxata, in A.D. 58,
and Tigranocerta, the second city of Armenia, in A.D. 60. After this
he made one further effort from the side of Media, but the attempt was
unavailing; and on suffering a fresh defeat he withdrew altogether from
the struggle, whereupon Armenia reverted to the Romans. They entrusted
the government to a certain Tigranes, a grandson of Archelaus, king of
Cappadocia, but at the same time greatly diminished the extent of the
kingdom by granting portions of it to neighboring princes. Pharasmanes
of Iberia, Polemo of Pontus, Aristobulus of the Lesser Armenia, and
Antiochus of Commagene, received an augmentation of their territories
at the expense of the rebel state, which had shown itself incapable of
appreciating the blessings of Roman rule and had manifested a decided
preference for the Parthians.

But the fate of Armenia, and the position which she was to hold in
respect