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without stopping. These arriving at Carrhæ about midnight, Egnatius calling to the sentinels on the walls, desired them to acquaint Coponius, governor of the place, that Crassus had fought a great battle with the Parthians; and, without letting them know who he was, continued his march to the bridge of Zeugma, which he passed, and this saved his troops; but was much blamed for abandoning his general. However, the message he sent to Coponius was of some temporary service to Crassus; for that commander, wisely conjecturing, from the manner in which the unknown person had given him that intelligence, that some misfortune had befallen Crassus, immediately ordered his garrison to stand to their arms, and, marching out, met Crassus, and conducted him and his army to the city; for the Parthians, though informed of his flight, did not offer to pursue him; but when it was day they entered the Roman camp, and having put all the wounded, to the number of 4000, to the sword, dispersed their cavalry all over the plain, in pursuit of the fugitives. One of Crassus's lieutenants, named Vargunteius, having separated in the night from the main body of the army, with four cohorts, missed his way, and was overtaken by the enemy; at whose approach he withdrew to a neighbouring hill, where he defended himself with great valor, till all his men were killed except twenty, who made their way through the enemy, sword in hand, and got safe to Carrhæ : but Vargunteius himself was killed. In the mean time Surenas, not knowing whether Crassus and Cassius had retired to Carrhæ, or chosen a different route, in order to be informed of the truth, despatched a messenger, who spoke the Roman language, to the city of Carrhæ, enjoining him to approach the walls, and acquaint Crassus himself, or Cassius, that the Parthian general was inclined to enter into a treaty with them, and demanded a conference. Both the proconsul and his quæstor Cassius spoke from the walls with the messenger; and, accepting the proposal with great joy, desired that the time and place for an interview might be immediately agreed upon. The messenger withdrew, promising to return quickly with an answer from Surenas: but that general no sooner understood that Crassus and Cassius were in Carrhæ, than he marched thither with his whole army; and, having invested the place, acquainted the Romans that, if they expected any favorable terms, they must deliver up Crassus and Cassius to him in chains. Hereupon, a council of the chief officers being summoned, it was thought expedient to retire from Carrhæ that very night, and seek for another asylum. It was of the utmost importance that none of the inhabitants of Carrhæ should be acquainted with their design till its execution; but Crassus, whose conduct was infatuated, imparted the whole matter in confidence to one Andromachus, choosing him for his guide, and relying on the fidelity of a man whom he scarcely knew. Andromachus immediately acquainted Surenas with the design of the Romans; promising at the same time, as the Parthians did not engage in the night, to manage matters so that they should not get out of his reach before day-break. Pursuant to

his promise, he led them through many windings and turnings till he brought them into deep marshy grounds, where the infantry were up to the knees in mire. Then Cassius, suspecting that their guide had led them into those bogs with no good design, refused to follow him any longer; and, returning to Carrhæ, took his route towards Syria, which he reached with. 500 horse. Octavius, with 5000 men under his command, being conducted by trusty guides, gained the mountains called by Plutarch and Appian Sinnaci, and there intrenched himself before break of day. As for Crassus, he was still entangled in the marshes, when Surenas, at the rising of the sun, overtook him and invested him with his cavalry. The proconsul had with him four cohorts, and a small body of horse; aud with these he gained, in spite of all opposition, the summit of another hill within twelve furlongs of Octavius; who, seeing the danger that threatened his general, flew to his assistance, first with a small number of his men, but was soon followed by all the rest, who quitted their post, though very safe, and, charging the Parthians with great fury, disengaged Crassus, and obliged the enemy to abandon the hill. Upon the retreat of the enemy, they formed themselves into a hollow square; and, placing Crassus in the middle, made a kind of rampart round him with their bucklers, resolutely protesting, that none of the enemy's arrows should touch their general's body till they were all killed fighting in his defence. Surenas, loth to let so fine a prey escape, surrounded the hill, as if he designed to make a new attack: but finding his Parthians very backward, and not doubting but the Romans, when night came on, would pursue their march, and get out of his reach, he had recourse again to artifice; and declared before some prisoners, whom he soon after set at liberty, that he was inclined to treat with the proconsul of a peace; and that it was better to come to reconciliation with Rome, than to sow the seed of an eternal war, by shedding the blood of one of her generals. Agreeably to this declaration, Surenas advanced towards the hill where the Romans were posted, attended only by some of his officers, and, with his bow unbent, and open arms, invited Crassus to an interview. So sudden a change seemed very suspicious to the proconsul; who therefore declined the interview, till he was forced, by his own soldiers, to entrust his life with an enemy whose treachery they had all experienced; for the legionaries, flocking round him, not only abused him in an outrageous manner, but even menaced him if he did not accept of the proposals made him by the Parthian general. Seeing, therefore, that his troops were ready to mutiny, he began to advance without arms or guards, towards the enemy, after having called the gods and his officers to witness the violence his troops offered him; and entreated all who were present, but especially Octavius and Petronius, two of the chief commanders, for the honor of Rome, their common mother, not to mention, after his death, the shameful behaviour of the Roman legionaries. Octavius and Petronius could not resolve to let him go alone; but attended him down the hill, as did likewise some legionaries, keeping at a

distance. Crassus was met at the foot of the hill by two Greeks; who, dismounting from their horses, saluted him with great respect; and desired him, in the Greek tongue, to send some of his attendants, who might satisfy him, that Surenas, and those who were with him, came without arms. Hereupon Crassus sent two brothers of the Roscian family; but Surenas, having caused them to be seized, advanced to the foot of the hill, mounted on a fine horse, and attended by the chief officers of the army. Crassus, who waited for the return of his two messengers, was surprised to see himself prevented by Surenas in person, when he least expected it. The Parthian general, perceiving, as he approached Crassus, that he was on foot, cried out in a seeming surprise, 'What do I see? a Roman general on foot, and we on horseback! Let a horse be brought for him immediately. You need not be surprised,' replied Crassus, we are come only to an interview, each after the custom of his country. Very well,' answered Surenas, 'there shall be henceforth a lasting peace between king Orodes and the people of Rome: but we must sign the articles of it on the banks of the Euphrates; for you Romans do not always remember your conventions.' Crassus would have sent for a horse but a very stately one, with a golden bit, and richly caparisoned, was brought to him by a Parthian; which Surenas presenting to him, 'Accept this horse from my hands,' said he, which I give you in the name of my master king Orodes.' He had scarce uttered these words, when some of the king's officers, taking Crassus by the middle, set him upon the horse, which they began to whip with great violence before them in order to make him quicken his pace. Cctavius, offended at this insult, took the horse by the bridle; Petronius, and the few Romans who were present, seconded him, and flocking all around Crassus stopped his horse. The Parthians endeavoured to repulse them, and clear the way for the proconsul; whereupon they began to justle and push one another with great tumult and disorder. At last, Octavius, drawing his sword, killed one of the king's grooms; but at the same time another, coming behind Octavius with a blow laid him dead at his feet. Both parties fought with great resolution, the Parthians striving to carry off Crassus, and the Romans to rescue him out of their hands. In this scuffle most of the Romans who came to the conference were killed; and among the rest Crassus himself, but whether by a Roman or a Parthian is uncertain. Upon his death, the rest of the army either surrendered to the enemy, or, dispersing in the night, were pursued, and put to the sword. The Romans lost in this campaign at least 30,000 men; of whom 20,000 were killed, and 10,000 taken prisoners.

When the battle of Carrhæ was fought, king Orodes was in Armenia, where he had made peace with Artabazus. While the two kings were solemnising their new alliance with expensive and public feasts, Syllaces, a Parthian officer, whom Surenas had sent with the news of his late victory, and the head of Crassus as a proof of it, arrived in the capital of Armenia. The transports of joy which Orodes felt at this sight, and

these news are not to be expressed; and the lords of both kingdoms, who attended their sovereigns, raised loud and repeated shouts of joy. Syllaces was ordered to give a more particular and distinct account of that memorable action; which when he had done, Orodes commanded melted gold to be poured into Crassus's mouth; reproaching him thereby with avarice, which had been always his predominant passion. Surenas did not long enjoy the pleasure of his victory; for Orodes, jealous of his power and authority among the Parthians, soon after caused him to be put to death. Pacorus, the king's favorite son, was put at the head of the army; and, agreeably to his father's directions, invaded Syria; but he was driven out with great loss by Cicero and Cassius, the only general who survived the death of Crassus. After this we find no mention of the Parthians, till the time of the civil war between Cæsar and Pompey, when the latter sent ambassadors to solicit succor against his rival. This Orodes was willing to grant, upon condition that Syria was delivered up to him; but, as Pompey would not consent to such a proposal, the succors were not only denied, but, after the battle of Pharsalia, he put Lucius Hirtius in irons, whom Pompey had again sent to ask assistance, or at least to desire leave to shelter himself in the Parthian. dominions. Cæsar is said to have meditated a war against the Parthians, which in all probability would have proved fatal to them. His death delivered them from this danger. But, not long after, the eastern provinces, being grievously oppressed by Marc Antony, rose up in arms; and, having killed the tax-gatherers, invited the Parthians to join them, and drive out the Romans. They very readily accepted the invitation, and crossed the Euphrates with a powerful army, under the command of Pacorus, and Labienus a Roman general of Pompey's party. At first they met with great success, over-ran all Asia Minor, and reduced all the countries as far as the Hellespont and Egean Sea, subduing likewise Phoenicia, Syria, and even Judea. They did not, however, long enjoy their new conquests: for being elated with their victories, and despising the enemy, they engaged Ventidius, Antony's lieutenant, before Labienus had time to join them, and were utterly defeated. This so disheartened Labienus's army that they all abandoned.him.; and he himself, being thus obliged to wander from place to place in disguise, was at last taken and put to death at Cyprus. Ventidius, pursuing his advantage, gained several other victories; and at last entirely defeated the Parthian army under Pacorus, cutting almost the whole of them in pieces, and the prince himself among the rest. He did not, however, pursue, this last victory as he might have done; being afraid of giving umbrage to Antony, who had already become jealous of the great honor gained by his lieutenant. He therefore contented himself with reducing those places in Syria and Phoenicia which the Parthians had taken in the beginning of the war, until Antony arrived to take the command of the army upon himself. Orodes was almost distracted with grief, on receiving the dreadful news of the loss of his army and the death of his favorite

son. However, when time had restored the use of his faculties, he appointed Phrahates, the eldest, but the most wicked, of all his children, to succeed him in the kingdom, admitting him at the same time to a share of the sovereign authority with himself. The consequence of this was, that Phrahates very soon attempted to poison his father with hemlock. But this, contrary to expectation, proving a cure for the dropsy, which an excess of grief had brought upon the king, the unnatural son had him stifled in bed; and soon after not only murdered all his own brethren, who were thirty in number, but cut off all the rest of the royal family, not sparing even his own eldest son, lest the discontented Parthians should place him, as he was already of age, on the throne.

Many of the chief lords of Parthia, being intimidated by the cruelty of Phrahates, retired into foreign countries; and among these was one Monoses, a person of great distinction, as well as skill and experience in war. This man, having fled to Antony, soon gained his confidence, and was by him easily prevailed upon to engage in a war against his countrymen. But Phrahates, justly dreading the consequences of such a person's defection, sent a solemn embassy to invite him home on such terms as he should think fit to accept: which greatly provoked Antony; though he did not hinder him from returning, lest others should thereby be discouraged from coming over to him. He therefore dismissed him with great civility, sending ambassadors at the same time to Phrahates to treat of a peace. Thus he boped to divert the Parthian monarch's attention from making the necessary preparations for war, and that he should be able to fall upon him in the spring when he was in no condition to make resistance. But herein he was greatly disappointed; for on his arrival at the Euphrates, which he intended to pass, and enter the Parthian dominions on that side, he found all the passes so well guarded that he thought proper to enter Media, with a design first to reduce that country, and then to enter Parthia. This plan had been suggested to him by Artabazus king of Armenia, who in the end betrayed him; for instead of conducting the army the straight way from Zeugma on the Euphrates to the Araxes, which parted Media from Armenia, and which was about 500 miles distant from the place whence he first set out, Artabazus led them over rocks and mountains so far about that the army marched above 1000 miles before they reached the borders of Media, where they intended to begin the war. Thus they were not only greatly fatigued, but had not sufficient time, the year being far spent, to put in execution the design on which they had come. However, as Antony was impatient to get back to Cleopatra, he left behind him most of the baggage of the army, and 300 waggons loaded with battering rams and other military engines for sieges; appointing Statianus, one of his lieutenants, with a body of 10,000 men, to guard them, and to bring them, by slower marches, after the army. With the rest of the forces he marched more than 300 miles before the rest, without allowing his men any respite till he arrived at Praaspa or Phrahata, the ca

pital of Media, which he immediately invested. But the Parthians, well knowing that he could not make any progress without his military machines, passed by his army, in order to attack Statianus: which they did with such success that the body commanded by him were all to a man cut off, and all their military engines taken, among which was a battering ram eighty feet long. Antony, notwithstanding this disaster, continued the siege of Praaspa; but was daily harassed by sallies of the garrison from within, and the enemy's army without. At last he began to think of a retreat, when his provisions were almost exhausted, finding it impossible to become master of the city. But, as he was to march 300 miles through the enemy's country, he thought proper first to send ambassadors to the Parthian monarch, acquainting him that the Romans were willing to allow him a peace, provided he would restore the standards and prisoners taken at Carrhæ. Phrahates received the ambassadors, sitting on a golden throne; and, after having bitterly inveighed against the avarice and unbounded ambition of the Romans, told them that he would not part with the standards and prisoners; but, that if Antony would immediately raise the siege of Praaspa, he would suffer him to retire unmolested. Antony, who was reduced to great straits, no sooner received this answer than he broke up the siege, and marched towards Armenia. However, Phrahates was not so good as his word; for the Romans were attacked by the enemy no fewer than eighteen times on their march, and were thrice in the utmost danger of being cut off. A famine also raged in the Roman army; upon which they began to desert to the enemy; and indeed Antony would probably have been left by himself, had not the Parthians, in a very cruel as well as impolitic manner, murdered all those who fled to them in sight of the rest. At last, after having lost 32,000 men, and being reduced to such despair that he was with difficulty prevented from laying violent hands on himself, he reached the river Araxes; when his men, finding themselves out of the reach of the enemy, fell on the ground, and kissed it with tears of joy.

Antony was no sooner gone than the kings of Media and Parthia quarrelled about the booty they had taken; and, after various contests, Phrahates reduced all Media and Armenia. After this, being elated with his conquests, he oppressed his subjects in such a cruel and tyrannical manner that a civil war took place; in which the competitors were alternately driven out and restored, till A. D. 50, when one Vologeses, the son of Gortazes, a former king, became peaceable possessor of the throne. He carried on some wars with the Romans, but with very indifferent success, and at last gladly consented to a renewal of the ancient treaties with that powerful people. From this time the Parthian history affords nothing remarkable till the reign of the emperor Trajan; when the Parthian king, Cosroes, infringed the treaty with Rome, by driving out the king of Armenia. Upon this Trajan, who was glad of any pretence to quarrel with the Parthians, immediately hastened into Armenia. His arrival there was so sudden and unexpected that

he reduced almost the whole country without opposition; and took prisoner Parthamasiris, the king whom the Parthians had set up. After this he entered Mesopotamia, took the city of Nisibis, and reduced to a Roman province the whole of that wealthy country. Early in the spring of the following year, Trajan, who had kept his winter quarters in Syria, took the field again but was warmly opposed by Cosroes. He found him encamped on the banks of the Euphrates, with a design to dispute his passage; which he did with such vigor that the emperor, after having several times attempted to ford that river, and been always repulsed with great slaughter, was obliged to cause boats to be built on the neighbouring mountains, which he privately conveyed from thence on carriages to the water side; and having, in the night time, formed a bridge with them, he passed his army the next day; but not without great loss and danger, the Parthians harassing his men the whole time with incessant showers of arrows, which did great execution. Having gained the opposite bank, he advanced boldly into Assyria, the Parthians flying every where before him, and made himself master of Arbela. Thence he pursued his march; subduing, with incredible rapidity, countries where the Roman standard had never been displayed before. Babylonia voluntarily submitted to him. The city of Babylon was, after a vigorous resistance, taken by storm; by which means he became master of all Chaldea and Assyria, the two richest provinces of the Parthian empire. From Babylon he marched to Ctesiphon, the metropolis of the Parthian monarchy; which he besieged and at last reduced. But as to the particulars of these great conquests we are quite in the dark this expedition, however glorious to the Roman name, being rather hinted at than described, by the writers of those times.

While Trajan was thus making war in the heart of the enemy's country, Cosroes, having recruited his army, marched into Mesopotamia, with a design to recover that country, and cut off all communication between the Roman army and Syria. On his arrival in that province the inhabitants flocked to him from all parts; and most of the cities, driving out the garrisons left by Trajan, opened their gates to him. Hereupon the emperor detached Lucius and Maximus, two of his chief commanders, into Mesopotamia, to keep such cities in awe as had not revolted, and to open a communication with Syria. Maximus was met by Cosroes; and, having ventured a battle, his army was entirely defeated, and himself killed. But Lucius being joined by Euricius and Clarius, two other commanders sent by Trajan with fresh supplies, gained considerable advantages over the enemy, and retook the cities of Nisibis and Seleucia, which had revolted. And now Trajan seeing himself possessed of all the best and most fruitful provinces of the Parthian empire, but at the same time being well apprised that he could not without a vast expense maintain his conquests, nor keep in subjection so fierce and warlike a people, at such a distance from Italy, resolved to set over them a king of his own choosing, who should hold the crown of him and his successors, and acknowledge them

as his lords and sovereigns. With this view he repaired to Ctesiphon; and, having there assembled the chief men of the nation, he crowned one of the royal family, named Parthanaspates, king of Parthia, obliging all who were present to pay him their allegiance. He chose Parthanaspates, because that prince ħad joined him at his first entering the Parthian dominions, conducted himself with great fidelity, and shown on all occasions an extraordinary attachment to the Romans. Thus the Parthians were at last subdued, and their kingdom made tributary to Rome.

The Parthians did not long continue in this state of subjection: for they no sooner heard of Trajan's death, than, taking up arms, they drove Parthanaspates from the throne; and recalling Cosroes, who had retired into the country of the Hyrcanians, openly revolted from Rome. Adrian, who was then commander-in-chief of all the forces in the east, and soon after acknowledged emperor by the army, did not care, though he was at that time in Syria with a numerous army, to engage in a new war with the Parthians; but contented himself with preserving the ancient limits of the empire, without any ambitious prospects of further conquests. Therefore, in the beginning of his reign, he abandoned those provinces beyond the Euphrates which Trajan had conquered; withdrew the Roman garrisons from Mesopotamia; and, for the greater safety of other places, made the Euphrates the boundary of and barrier in those parts, posting his legions along the banks of the river. Cosroes died after a long reign, and was succeeded by his eldest son Vologeses II.: in whose reign the Alani breaking into Media, then subject to the Parthians, committed there great devastations; but were prevailed upon, with rich presents sent them by Vologeses, to abandon that kingdom, and return home. Upon their retreat, Vologeses, having no enemy to contend with at home, fell unexpectedly upon Armenia; surprised the legions there; and, having cut them all in pieces to a man, entered Syria; defeated with great slaughter Atilius Cornelianus, governor of that province; and advanced without opposition to the neighbourhood of Antioch; putting every where the Romans and those who favored them to the sword. Hereupon the emperor Verus, by the advice of his colleague Antoninus surnamed the philosopher, leaving Rome, hastened into Syria; and, having driven the Parthians out of that province, ordered Statius Priscus to invade Armenia, and Cassius, and Martius Verus, to enter the Parthian territories, and carry the war into the enemy's country. Priscus made himself master of Artaxata; and in one campaign drove the Parthians, though not without great loss on his side, quite out of Armenia. sius, on the other hand, having in several encounters defeated Vologeses, though he had an army of 400,000 men under his command, reduced, in four years time, all those provinces which had formerly submitted to Trajan, took Seleucia, burnt and plundered the famous cities of Babylon and Ctesiphon, with the stately palaces of the Parthian monarchs, and struck terror into the most remote provinces of that great empire. On his return, he lost above balf the number of

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his forces by sickness and famine; so that, after all, the Romans, as Spartianus observes, had no great reason to boast of their victories and conquests. Verus, however, who had never stirred during the whole time of the war from Antioch and Daphne, took upon him the lofty titles of Parthicus and Armenicus, as if he had acquired them in the midst of his pleasures and debaucheries. After the revolt and death of Cassius, Antoninus the Philosopher repaired into Syria to settle the affairs of that province. On his arrival there, he was met by ambassadors from Vologeses; who, having recovered most of the provinces subdued by Cassius, and being unwilling either to part with them or engage in a new war, solicited the emperor to confirm him in the possession of them, promising to hold them of him, and to acknowledge the sovereignty of Rome. To these terms Antoninus readily agreed, and a peace was accordingly concluded between the two empires; which Vologeses did not long enjoy, being soon after carried off by a distemper, and not murdered by his own subjects, as we read in Constantinus Manasses, who calls him Belegeses. Upon his death, Vologeses III., the son of his brother Sanatruces, and grandson of Cosroes, was raised to the throne. He sided with Niger against the emperor Severus: who, thereupon having settled matters at home, marched with all his forces against him; and advancing to the city of Ctesiphon, whither he had retired, laid close siege to that metropolis. Vologeses made a most gallant defence; but the city, after a long siege, and much bloodshed on both sides, was at length taken by assault. The king's treasures, with his wives and children, fell into the emperor's hands but Vologeses himself had the good luck to make his escape; which was a great disappointment to Severus, who immediately despatched an express to acquaint the senate with the success that had attended him in his expedition against the only nation that was then so formidable to Rome.

He had no sooner crossed the Euphrates than Vologeses recovered all the provinces, except Mesopotamia, which he had reduced. These expeditions were chargeable to the Romans, and cost them much blood, without reaping any advantages from them; for, as they had not sufficient forces to keep in awe the provinces they had subdued, the inhabitants, greatly attached to the family of Arsaces, never failed to return to their ancient obedience as soon as the Roman armies were withdrawn. Vologeses was soon after engaged in a war still more troublesome and destructive, with his brother Artabanus, who, encouraged by some of the discontented nobles, attempted to rob him of the crown, and place it on his own head. Vologeses gained several victories over his brother and rebellious subjects; but died before he could restore the empire to its former tranquillity. Artabanus, who had a numerous army at his devotion, did not meet with any opposition in seizing the throne, vacant by the death of his brother, though Tiridates had a better title to it, as being his eldest brother. He had scarce settled the affairs of the kingdom, when the emperor Caracalla, desirous to signalise himself, as several

of his predecessors had done, by some memorable exploit against the Parthians, sent a solemn embassy to him, desiring his daughter in marriage. Artabanus, overjoyed at this proposal, which he thought would be attended with a lasting peace between the two empires, received the ambassadors with all possible marks of honor, and readily complied with their request. Soon after Caracalla sent a second embassy to acquaint the king that he was coming to solemnise the nuptials; whereupon Artabanus went to meet him, attended by the chief of his nobility and his best troops, all unarmed and in most pompous habits: but this peaceable train no sooner approached the Roman army than the soldiers, on a signal given them, falling upon the king's retinue, made a most terrible slaughter of the unarmed multitude, Artabanus himself escaping with great difficulty. The treacherous Caracalla, having gained by this exploit great booty, and, as he thought, no less glory, wrote a long and boasting letter to the senate; and assumed the title of Parthicus, for this piece of treachery, as he had before that of Germanicus, for murdering, in like manner, some of the German nobility. Artabanus, resolving to make the Romans pay dear for their inhuman and barbarous treachery, raised the most numerous army that had ever been known in Parthia, crossed the Euphrates, and entered Syria, putting all to fire and sword. But, Caracalla being murdered before this invasion, Macrinus, who had succeeded him, met the Parthians at the head of a mighty army, composed of many legions, and all the auxiliaries of the states of Asia. The two armies no sooner came in sight of each other than they engaged with the utinost fury. The battle continued two days, both the Romans and Parthians fighting so obstinately that night only parted them, without any apparent advantage on either side; though both retired, when night had put an end to the contest, crying, Victory! Victory! The field of battle was covered all over with dead bodies, there being already above 40,000 killed, including both Romans and Parthians: nevertheless Artabanus was heard to say that the battle was only begun, and that he would continue it till either the Parthians or Romans were all to a man cut in pieces. But Macrinus, being well apprised that the king came highly enraged against Caracalla in particular, and dreading the consequences which would attend the destruction of his army, sent a herald to Artabanus, acquainting him with the death of Caracalla, and proposing an alliance between the two empires. The king, understanding that his great enemy was dead, readily embraced the proposals of peace and amity, upon condition that all the prisoners who had been taken by the treachery of Caracalla should be immediately restored, and a large sum of money paid him to defray the expenses of the war. These being performed, without delay, Artabanus returned into Parthia, and Macrinus to Antioch. As Artabanus lost on this occasion the flower of his army, Artaxerxes, a Persian of mean descent, but of great courage and experience in war, revolting from the Parthians, prevailed on his countrymen to join him and attempt the recovery

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