Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

414 HISTORY OF PERSIA chap.
The Campaigns of Avidius Cassius^ a.d: 163-165.— It
was not until the autumn of a.d. 162 that the armies of
Rome were ready to take the field. Avidius Cassius, who
commanded in Syria, first stood on the defensive, but
before long he was able to assume the offensive, and in
A.D. 163 he defeated the Parthians in a great battle near
Europus and drove them in headlong flight
across the
Euphrates. In Armenia, where the country favoured the
Romans, Statius Priscus met with no opposition and
captured Artaxata, which he apparently destroyed.
Sohaemus, the fugitive king, was recalled from Rome to
occupy the throne once more, and the former position of
affairs was restored. Not content with this, Cassius, who
was ambitious to rival Trajan, invaded the Parthian
Empire and marched to Babylon, gaining another victory
on the way. He captured and plundered Seleucia, the
stronghold of Eastern Hellenism, and Ctesiphon. He
even ascended the historical route into Media, and thereby
surpassed the achievements of Trajan. A terrible pestilence
was brought back by the victorious army and swept across
the entire empire ; but Western Mesopotamia, with Nisibis
as its
capital, was regained, and the campaign had proved
conclusively to the world that Parthia was now no match
for Imperial Rome,
The Eastern Campaigns of Severus^ a.d. 194-197.—
The unsuccessful Volagases III. died in a.d. 191 and was
succeeded by a prince known as Volagases IV. In the
civil war which rent the Roman Empire after the death of
Pertinax, Pescinnius Niger was saluted as Imperator by
the legions
in
Syria. Volagases in the first
and a
instance
force of
appears to have offered his congratulations
Parthian troops to Niger, and his Vassal-kings followed
his example. But when news came that Severus had
been acknowledged as Emperor in Rome, Volagases
prudently played a waiting game. At the same time,
with typical Oriental inconsistency, he apparently permitted
the Vassal-king of Hatra to despatch a body of
his famous archers to the help of the Syrian claimant. In
A.D. 194 the province of Western Mesopotamia, taking
advantage of the civil war, revolted, and the outlying