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Vologases I
𐭅𐭋𐭂𐭔
King of Kings
The portrait of Vologases I on the observe of a Parthian tetradrachm, minted at Seleucia in 52
King of the Parthian Empire
Reign51–78
PredecessorVonones II
Gotarzes II
SuccessorPacorus II
Died78
IssueArtabanus III
Vardanes II
Vologases II
Pacorus II
DynastyArsacid dynasty
FatherVonones II
MotherGreek concubine
ReligionZoroastrianism

Vologases I (Parthian: 𐭅𐭋𐭂𐭔 Walagash) was the King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 51 to 78. He was the son and successor of Vonones II (r. 51). His reign marked the resurgence of the empire.[1] He was succeeded by his younger son Pacorus II, who continued his policies.

Name

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Vologases is the Greek and Latin form of the Parthian Walagash (𐭅𐭋𐭂𐭔).[2] The name is also attested in New Persian as Balāsh and Middle Persian Wardākhsh (also spelled Walākhsh).[2] The etymology of the name is unclear. A suggestion has been made that the name could mean "strength".[2]

Background

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Vologases was a son of Vonones II, a Parthian prince who ruled the northern Iranian kingdom of Media Atropatene, and possibly subsequently the whole Parthian Empire for a few months.[3] Vologases' mother was a Greek concubine of the Parthian harem.[4] The name of the Arsacid branch established by Vologases I has been coined by the modern historian Marek Jan Olbrycht as the "Vologasids" or the "House of Vologases I", which ruled the Parthian Empire from 51 till its fall in 224.[1]

Reign

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Invasion of Armenia

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Map of Parthian–Roman borders

Vologases became the new Parthian king in 51.[3] He sought to continue the policies of the prominent former Parthian king Artabanus II (r. 12–38/41), and thus, one of his first objectives was to strengthen the bolster the Parthian position in strategically and politically unstable regions which had served for decades as the source of war with the Romans.[5][6] He gave the kingship of Media Atropatene to his elder brother Pacorus, while the even more politically important kingship of Armenia was given to Vologases' younger brother Tiridates after a Parthian invasion of the country in 53.[7]

Vologases felt his invasion was justified due to the recent usurpation of the Armenian throne by the Iberian prince Rhadamistus, which he saw as a violation of the former settlement made between the Parthians and Romans regarding Armenia.[3] Lack of resources and a winter epidemic forced Vologases to withdraw his troops from Armenia, allowing Rhadamistus to come back and punish locals as traitors; they shortly revolted and helped Tiridates restore his authority.[8] Rhadamistus himself returned to Iberia and was soon put to death by his father Pharasmanes I for having plotted against the royal power in order to prove his loyalty to Rome.[9]

War with the Romans

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Further information: Roman–Parthian War of 58–63
 
Operations during the first two years of the war: Corbulo's invasion and conquest of Armenia

Unhappy with the Parthian reconquest of Armenia, in 54 the newly ascended Roman emperor Nero sent his general, Corbulo to restore Roman authority in the country.[10] Vologases was unable to aid his brother, due to the rebellion of his son Vardanes II and subsequently a revolt in the eastern Parthian province of Hyrcania.[11] Supported by Vologases, Tiridates sent flying columns to raid the Romans far and wide in 58.[10][12] Corbulo responded by using the same tactics.[10] He also emboldened the Roman client-kings Antiochus IV of Commagene, Pharasmanes I, and the Moschi tribes to attack outlying areas of Armenia.[10]

The loyalty of the Armenian population was split up between the Parthians and Romans, although overall they preferred Parthian rule, due to it being more tolerant, and also due to the similiarity between Parthian and Armenian culture.[10] Corbulo conquered the Armenian capital of Artaxata, which he had destroyed.[13][14] The following year (59) he conquered Tigranocerta in southern Armenia, where he wintered.[15] Tiridates took advantage of this situation to return to northern Armenia from Atropatene. However, by the spring of 60, he was forced to withdraw by the Roman forces once more.[15]

 
Operations during the final years of the war: the raids of Tigranes into Parthian territory provoked a Parthian counterattack, which culminated in the surrender of the Roman army of Pateus

Nero appointed a Cappadocian prince named Tigranes on the Armenian throne.[15] The new ruler, protected by a strong Roman force, became bold and started in 61 attacking the border areas of Adiabene, a vassal kingdom of the Parthians.[15][16] The Adiabenian king, Monobazos, including Tiridates, protested in front of the entire Parthian court, complaining that Vologases did not do enough to protect his subjects.[17]

This situation was important and endangered the relations between Vologases and his subjects.[17] During a public feast, Vologases supported Tiridates' appeals, and placed the royal diadem on his head.[13] He also appointed a certain nobleman named Monaeses as the commander of a Parthian force that included contigents from Adiabene.[18] Monaeses was sent into Armenia, where he besieged Tigranocerta in 62.[15][16] The city was strongly fortified, and had been further reinforced by two legions. The Parthians attempts to scale the city proved fruitless, with the Adiabenian contingents suffering heavy losses.[15]

At this point, Corbulo sent an envoy to Vologases, who had encamped with his court at Nisibis, near Tigranocerta and the Roman–Parthian border. The failed siege and a shortage of fodder for his cavalry forced Vologases to agree to withdraw Monaeses from Armenia.[19] At the same time, however, the Romans also left Armenia, which, according to the contemporary Roman historian Tacitus, raised suspicions as to Corbulo's motives: some whispered that he had reached an agreement of mutual withdrawal with the Parthians, and that he was unwilling to risk his reputation by renewing hostilities against them.[20] At any rate, a truce was arranged and a Parthian embassy was dispatched to Rome. The negotiations failed to reach an agreement, and war was resumed in the spring of 62.[21]

Later life

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In 72 the Alans, a warlike nomadic Sarmatian tribe, made an incursion into Media Atropatene as well as various districts of northern Armenia.[22] Tiridates I and Pacorus faced them at a number of battles, during one of which Tiridates I was briefly captured, narrowly escaping being taken alive.[22] The Alans withdrew with a lot of booty after plundering Armenia and Media Atropatene.[22] During the last years of Vologases' reign, his son Pacorus II ruled alongside him.[23] After Vologases' death in 78, Pacorus II became the sole ruler of the empire.[23][24]

Government

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Coinage

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Coin of Vologases I wearing a tiara

Vologases was the first Arsacid ruler to have the Parthian script and language appear on his minted coins alongside the now almost illegible Greek.[25] However, the use of Greek-alphabet legends on Parthian coins remained until the collapse of the empire.[26] On the reverse of his silver tetradrachms, he is being invested as king by a female deity, representing one of the female Iranian deities (yazata) Anahita or Ashi.[27] Both of these deities are closely linked with the khvarenah ("Divine Glory") of the monarch.[27]

Trade

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Vologases sought to accomplish the goal of Artabanus II, by attempting to establish a long and structured trade-route that spanned through East Asia, India and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.[24] This planned long trade-route would greatly improve the economy of the Parthian Empire.[24] In order to accomplish this, Vologases strengthened relations with other powers whom he was able to establish long distance trade with, most notably Han China.[28] Vologases sought to impose his authority over the trade revenue of Seleucia, and was unrelenting against the Greek elites who questioned his rule.[29] Vologases founded the town of Valashabad in the neighborhood of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, with the intention of breaking the Greek monopoly on trade.[30]

Zoroastrianism

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Vologases is an important figure in Zoroastrianism. According to the 10th-century Middle Persian Zoroastrian document Denkard ("Acts of Religion"), Vologases ordered his subjects to safeguard variants of the Avestan books and schooling, which had been scattered due to raids and plundering by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 BC) in the 4th-century BC.[27]

Family tree

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Legend
Orange
 Kings of the Parthian Empire
Yellow
 Contenders
Vonones II
(r. 51)
Tiridates I of ArmeniaVologases I
(r. 51–78)		Pacorus of Atropatene
Pacorus II
(r. 78–110)		Vardanes II
(r. 54–58)		Vologases II
(r. 78–80)		Artabanus III
(r. 79/80–81)

References

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  1. ^ a b Olbrycht 2016, p. 24.
  2. ^ a b c Chaumont & Schippmann 1988, pp. 574–580.
  3. ^ a b c Gregoratti 2018, p. 1.
  4. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 79.
  5. ^ Dąbrowa 2007, p. 125.
  6. ^ Dąbrowa 2012, p. 175.
  7. ^ Dąbrowa 2007, p. 125; Dąbrowa 2010, p. 34; Schippmann 1987, pp. 221–224
  8. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 79–80; Dąbrowa 2010, p. 35
  9. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 13.37.
  10. ^ a b c d e Bivar 1983, p. 81.
  11. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 81–83.
  12. ^ Dąbrowa 2017, pp. 181–182.
  13. ^ a b Dąbrowa 2017, p. 182.
  14. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 82.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Bivar 1983, p. 83.
  16. ^ a b Marciak 2017, p. 360.
  17. ^ a b Gregoratti 2017, p. 132.
  18. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 15.2.
  19. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 15.5.
  20. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 15.6.
  21. ^ Tacitus, The Annals 15.7.
  22. ^ a b c Alemany 2000, p. 92.
  23. ^ a b Dąbrowa 2007, p. 176.
  24. ^ a b c Gregoratti 2017, p. 131.
  25. ^ Garthwaite 2005, pp. 80–81; see also Curtis 2007b, p. 21 and Schlumberger 1983, p. 1030
  26. ^ Schlumberger 1983, p. 1030
  27. ^ a b c Curtis 2016, p. 183.
  28. ^ Gregoratti 2017, p. 131–132.
  29. ^ Gregoratti 2014, p. 56.
  30. ^ Gregoratti 2014, pp. 56–57.

Bibliography

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Ancient works

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Modern works

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HistoryofIran/Shervin II
Preceded by King of the Parthian Empire
51–78 		Succeeded by
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