Orodes II

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Orodes II
𐭅𐭓𐭅𐭃
Arsacid dynasty
FatherPhraates III
ReligionZoroastrianism

Orodes II (also spelled Urud II; Parthian: 𐭅𐭓𐭅𐭃 Wērōd), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 57 BC to 37 BC. He was a son of Phraates III, whom he murdered in 57 BC, assisted by his elder brother Mithridates IV.[1] The two brothers quickly fell out and entered into a dynastic struggle, in which Orodes was triumphant.

Meanwhile, the Roman general and triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus had made an attempt to extend his share of Roman territory by eastward conquest. This attempt proved disastrous, with Crassus meeting his end in 53 BC, in the Battle of Carrhae, by Orodes' general Surena.[citation needed] Orodes himself had invaded Armenia and forced king Artavasdes II (r. 55–34 BC) to submit and abandon his alliance with the Romans. The victory at Carrhae secured for the Parthians the countries east of the Euphrates. Then, the next year they invaded Syria, but with little success. Surena, whose achievements had made him too dangerous, was killed by Orodes, and Pacorus I, the son and heir of the king was defeated by Cassius in 51 BC.

During the

Asia Minor, but was defeated and killed by Ventidius in 38 BC.[1] Orodes, who was deeply afflicted by the death of his favourite son, relinquished the throne to his son Phraates IV
, and died soon afterward.

Name

Orōdēs (Ὀρώδης) is the

Modern Persian version is Viru (ویرو).[4]

Background

Orodes was born in the 70s BC, if not earlier.

Arsacid branch established by Sinatruces on the Parthian throne has been coined by the modern historian Marek Jan Olbrycht as the "Sinatrucids", which ruled the Parthian Empire from 78/77 BC until 12 AD.[8] During his father's reign, Orodes seemingly enjoyed close connections with the eastern part of the Parthian realm, specifically with the House of Suren, and possibly also with the Indo-Scythians. He seemingly married (possibly even before enthronement) an Indo-Scythian princess, who bore Phraates (Phraates IV). Orodes' eldest son Pacorus (Pacorus I) was also seemingly the result of a union with a princess from the peripheries of eastern Parthia.[9]

Struggle for the Parthian throne

Obverse and reverse sides of a coin of Mithridates IV
Coin of Mithridates IV

In 57 BC, Orodes and his elder brother

Sakastan.[11] They both assumed the title of King of Kings to demonstrate their claims of superiority over each other.[12]

This changed the meaning of the title; originally being used as a symbol of political dominance over other realms, the title became known as a symbol of power and legitimacy for contenders in a royal family.[13] Mithridates IV was forced to flee to Roman Syria. He took refuge with Aulus Gabinius, the Roman proconsul and governor of Syria.[14] Mithridates IV then returned to invade Parthia with Gabinius in support. The Roman proconsul marched with Mithridates IV to the Euphrates, but turned back to restore another ruler, Ptolemy XII Auletes of Egypt, to his throne.[14] Despite losing his Roman support, Mithridates IV advanced into Mesopotamia and managed to conquer Babylonia. He ousted Orodes and briefly restored his reign as king in 55 BC, minting coins in Seleucia until 54 BC.[14]

However, king Mithridates IV was besieged by Orodes' Surenid general, Surena, in Seleucia, and after a prolonged resistance, offered battle to Orodes' forces and was defeated.[14] Mithridates IV was afterwards executed in 54 BC by Orodes.[14] Orodes was crowned by Surena, as was the hereditary right of his clan.[15]

War with Crassus

Map of the Parthian–Roman borders, ca. 55 BC.

Around the same time, Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the Roman triumvirs, who was now proconsul of Syria, had been preparing to invade the Parthian realm in belated support of Mithridates IV.[16] Orodes' emissaries had initially attempted to convince Crassus to abandon his expedition, which the latter replied by saying he would give an answer in Seleucia. The eldest Parthian emissary, Vagises, showed the palm of his hand, stating "Hair will grow here before you see Seleucia."[17][18] The Artaxiad king of Armenia, Artavasdes II (r. 55–34 BC), who was an ally of Rome, advised Crassus to take a route through Armenia to avoid the desert and offered him reinforcements of a further 10,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry.[19] His reasoning was that the Parthian cavalry would be less potent in the Armenian highlands.[19] Crassus refused the offer and decided to take the direct route through Mesopotamia.[19]

Parthian mounted archer, located in Palazzo Madama, Turin.

As Crassus' army

horse archers were outnumbered roughly four to one by Crassus' army, comprising seven Roman legions and auxiliaries including mounted Gauls and light infantry.[24]

Using a baggage train of about 1,000 camels, the Parthian army provided the horse archers with a constant supplies of arrows.[24] The horse archers employed the "Parthian shot" tactic: feigning retreat to draw enemy out, then turning and shooting at them when exposed. This tactic, executed with heavy composite bows on the flat plain, devastated Crassus' infantry.[25] With some 20,000 Romans dead, approximately 10,000 captured, and roughly another 10,000 escaping west, Crassus fled into the Armenian countryside.[26] At the head of his army, Surena approached Crassus, offering a parley, which Crassus accepted. However, he was killed when one of his junior officers, suspecting a trap, attempted to stop him from riding into Surena's camp.[27] After his death, the Parthians allegedly poured molten gold down his throat, in a symbolic gesture mocking Crassus' renowned greed.[28]

Crassus' defeat at Carrhae was one of the worst military defeats in Roman history.

stage-prop head of Pentheus.[32] With his camp followers, war captives, and precious Roman booty, Surena traveled some 700 km (430 mi) back to Seleucia, where his victory was celebrated. However, fearing his ambitions for the Arsacid throne, Orodes had Surena executed shortly thereafter.[29] Although Orodes fell out with the Suren clan, he still preserved close connections in the east, such as the Indo-Scythian king Azes I (r. 48/47–25 BC).[9]

Parthian invasion of Asia Minor and the Levant

Obverse and reverse sides of a coin of Quintus Labienus
Coin of Quintus Labienus

Emboldened by the victory over Crassus, the Parthians attempted to capture Roman-held territories in

Octavian and eventually conducted negotiations with him at Brundisium.[37]

After Syria was occupied by Pacorus' army, Labienus split from the main Parthian force to invade Anatolia while Pacorus and his commander Barzapharnes invaded the Roman Levant.[36] They subdued all settlements along the Mediterranean coast as far south as Ptolemais (modern Acre, Israel), with the lone exception of Tyre.[38] In Judea, the pro-Roman Jewish forces of high priest Hyrcanus II, Phasael, and Herod were defeated by the Parthians and their Jewish ally Antigonus II Mattathias (r. 40–37 BC); the latter was made king of Judea while Herod fled to his fort at Masada.[36]

Despite these successes, the Parthians were soon driven out of the Levant by a Roman counteroffensive.

Publius Ventidius Bassus, an officer under Mark Antony, defeated and then executed Labienus at the Battle of the Cilician Gates (in modern Mersin Province, Turkey) in 39 BC.[39] Shortly afterward, a Parthian force in Syria led by general Pharnapates was defeated by Ventidius at the Battle of Amanus Pass.[39] As a result, Pacorus I temporarily withdrew from Syria. When he returned in the spring of 38 BC, he faced Ventidius at the Battle of Mount Gindarus, northeast of Antioch. Pacorus was killed during the battle, and his forces retreated across the Euphrates. His death spurred a succession crisis in which Orodes, deeply afflicted by the death of his favourite son, relinquished the throne to his other son Phraates IV (r. c. 37–2 BC) as his new heir.[40]

Death

Orodes' cause of death is uncertain. According to Cassius Dio, he either died of grief due to Pacorus' death or as a result of old age.[41] Plutarch, however, states that Orodes was murdered by Phraates IV.[41] Fearing that his position might become endangered, Phraates IV executed all his half-brothers–the sons of Orodes and Laodice, partially due to their maternal descent being greater than that of his own.[42] Laodice was probably killed as well.[43]

Coinage and titulage

Obverse and reverse sides of a coin of Orodes II
Regular coin of Orodes II with a seated archer on the reverse
Obverse and reverse sides of a coin of Orodes II
Coin of Orodes II with Tyche-Khvarenah on the reverse

Coinage under Orodes remained largely unchanged.

Achaemenid monarchs portrayed on the rock reliefs at Persepolis.[46]

Other reverse of his coins, however, depict an investiture scene, where Orodes is receiving a scepter by the Greek goddess Tyche.[44][45] In the Parthian era, Iranians used Hellenistic iconography to portray their divine figures,[47][48] thus the investiture scene can be associated with the Avestan khvarenah, i.e. kingly glory.[45][49] According to the modern historian Khodadad Rezakhani, the introduction of this new portrayal may have been due to the enlargement of Orodes' authority after the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.[44] Under Orodes and his son Phraates IV, the production of coins reached its zenith, with the only Parthian ruler having similar numbers being Mithridates II (r. 124–88 BC).[50]

Like the rest of the Parthian kings, Orodes used the title of Arsaces on his coinage, which was the name of the first Parthian ruler

Arsaces I (r. 247 – 217 BC), which had become a royal honorific among the Parthian monarchs out of admiration for his achievements.[51][52]

Family tree

Phraates III
(r. 69–57 BC)
Unnamed princessOrodes II
(r. 57–32 BC)		Mithridates IV
(r. 57–54 BC)
Pacorus IPhraates IV
(r. 37–2 BC)

Notes

  1. ^ Orodes II and Laodice are mentioned in a Greek inscription erected under her brother Mithridates II of Commagene (r. 31–20 BC) in her honour; "queen Laodice, sister of the king [Mithridates II], and wife (gunē) of the king of kings Orodes [II]."[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Meyer 1911, p. 326.
  2. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 98; al-Rayhani 2006, p. 147
  3. ^ Marcato 2018, p. 55.
  4. ^ al-Rayhani 2006, p. 147.
  5. ^ Bigwood 2008, p. 257 (see note 78).
  6. ^ Kia 2016, p. 195; Dąbrowa 2012, p. 169; Olbrycht 2015, p. 363
  7. ^ Olbrycht 2016, p. 23.
  8. ^ Olbrycht 2016, p. 3.
  9. ^ a b Olbrycht 2021.
  10. ^ a b Kia 2016, p. 196.
  11. ^ Olbrycht 2016, p. 23; Kia 2016, p. 196; Shayegan 2011, p. 238; Olbrycht 2021
  12. ^ Shayegan 2011, pp. 238, 246.
  13. ^ Shayegan 2011, p. 238.
  14. ^ a b c d e Bivar 1983, p. 49.
  15. ^ Plutarch, vol III. XXI.
  16. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 49–50; Katouzian 2009, pp. 42–43
  17. ^ Plutarch, vol III. XVIII.
  18. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 50.
  19. ^ a b c Plutarch, vol III. XIX.
  20. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 55–56; Garthwaite 2005, p. 79; see also Brosius 2006, pp. 94–95 and Curtis 2007, pp. 12–13
  21. ^ Dąbrowa 2018, p. 80.
  22. ^ Bigwood 2008, p. 248.
  23. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 52–55
  24. ^ a b Bivar 1983, p. 52
  25. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 52–55; Brosius 2006, pp. 94–95; Garthwaite 2005, pp. 78–79
  26. ^ Katouzian 2009, pp. 42–43; Garthwaite 2005, p. 79; Bivar 1983, pp. 52–55; Brosius 2006, p. 96
  27. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 52–55; Brosius 2006, p. 96
  28. ^ Cassius Dio, Book 40, 26.3.
  29. ^ a b Kennedy 1996, p. 78
  30. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 55–56; Brosius 2006, p. 96
  31. ^ Dąbrowa 2018, p. 80; Bivar 1983, p. 56
  32. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 56.
  33. ^ Kennedy 1996, p. 80 asserts that permanent occupation was the obvious goal of the Parthians, especially after the cities of Roman Syria and even the Roman garrisons submitted to the Parthians and joined their cause.
  34. ^ Kennedy 1996, pp. 78–79; Bivar 1983, p. 56
  35. ^ Bivar 1983, pp. 56–57; Strugnell 2006, p. 243
  36. ^ a b c Bivar 1983, p. 57; Strugnell 2006, p. 244; Kennedy 1996, p. 80
  37. ^ Syme 1939, pp. 214–217
  38. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 57
  39. ^ a b Bivar 1983, pp. 57–58; Strugnell 2006, pp. 239, 245; Brosius 2006, p. 96; Kennedy 1996, p. 80
  40. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 58; Brosius 2006, p. 96; Kennedy 1996, pp. 80–81; see also Strugnell 2006, pp. 239, 245–246
  41. ^ a b Bivar 1983, p. 58.
  42. ^ Dąbrowa 2018, pp. 80–81.
  43. ^ Boyce & Grenet 1991, p. 313.
  44. ^ a b c d Rezakhani 2013, p. 771.
  45. ^ a b c Curtis 2012, p. 71.
  46. ^ Curtis 2007, p. 419.
  47. ^ Curtis 2012, p. 76–77.
  48. ^ Boyce 1984, p. 82.
  49. ^ Olbrycht 2016, pp. 99.
  50. ^ Metcalf 2016, p. 284.
  51. ^ Dąbrowa 2012, p. 169.
  52. ^ Kia 2016, p. 23.

Bibliography

Ancient works

Modern works

Further reading
Orodes II
Arsacid dynasty
 Died: 37 BC
Preceded by
King of the Parthian Empire

57–37 BC 		Succeeded by
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