Artabanus Iv

The Roman emperor Caracalla , wishing to make use of this civil war for a conquest of the East in imitation of his idol, Alexander The Great , attacked the Parthians in 216. He crossed the Tigris , destroyed the towns and spoiled the tombs of Arbela , but when Artabanus advanced at the head of an army, he retired to Carrhae . There he was murdered by Martialis on April 8 , 217 . Caracalla's successor, the Praetorian Prefect of the Guard Macrinus , was defeated at Nisibis and concluded a peace with Artabanus, in which he gave up all the Roman conquests, restored the booty, and paid a heavy contribution to the Parthians.

At about this time, the Persian dynast Ardashir had already begun his conquests in Persia and Carmania . When Artabanus tried to subdue him his troops were defeated. The war lasted several years; at last Artabanus himself was vanquished and killed in 226 . His brother Vologases' realm succumbed to Ardashir a few years later. Thus the 400-year rule of the Arsacid Dynasty came to an end.

REFERENCES

Dio Cassius , vii, 12; lxxviii, 26.

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Artabanus Iv

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