ar to have borne his brother especial
affection, since he takes the name of "Philadelphus" (brother-loving)
upon his coins. It must have been a satisfaction to him that he was able
by his last act at once to consult for the good of his country, and to
gratify a sentiment on which it is evident that he prided himself.

CHAPTER V.

_Reign of Mithridates I. Position of Bactria and Syria at his accession.
His first war with Bactria. His great Expedition against the Eastern
Syrian provinces, and its results. His second war with Bactria,
terminating in its conquest. Extent of his Empire. Attempt of Demetrius
Nicator to recover the lost Provinces fails. Captivity of Demetrius.
Death of Mithridates._

The reign of Mithridates I. is the most important in the Parthian
history. [PLATE 1. Fig. 3.] Receiving from his brother Phraates a
kingdom of but narrow dimensions, confined (as it would seem) between
the city of Charax on the one side, and the river Arius, or Hori-rud,
on the other, he transformed it, within the space of thirty-seven years
(which was the time that his reign lasted), into a great and nourishing
Empire. It is not too much to say that, but for him, Parthia might have
remained a more petty State on the outskirts of the Syrian kingdom,
and, instead of becoming a rival to Rome, might have sunk shortly into
obscurity and insignificance.

[Illustration: PLATE 1.]

As commonly happens in the grand changes which constitute the
turning-points of history, the way for Mithridates's vast successes was
prepared by a long train of antecedent circumstances. To show how the
rise of the Parthians to greatness in the middle of the second century
before our era was rendered possible, we must turn aside once more
from our proper subject and cast a glance at the condition of the two
kingdoms between which Parthia stood, at the time when Mithridates
ascended the throne.

The Bactrian monarchs in their ambitious struggles to possess themselves
of the tracts south of the Paropamisus, and extending from the Heri-rud
to the Sutlej and the mouths of the Indus, overstrained the strength
of their State, and by shifting the centre of its power injured
irretrievably its principle of cohesion. As early as the reign of
Demetrius a tendency to disruption showed itself, Eucratidas having
held the supreme power for many years in Bactria itself, while Demetrius
exercised authority on the southern side of the mountains. It is true