text: roman – parthian war of 58 – 63 the roman – parthian war of 58 – 63 was fought between the roman empire and the parthian empire over control of armenia , a vital buffer state between the two realms . armenia had been a roman client state since the days of emperor augustus , but in 52 / 53 , the parthians succeeded in installing their own candidate , tiridates , on the armenian throne . these events coincided with the accession of nero to the imperial throne in rome , and the young emperor decided to react vigorously . the war , which was the only major foreign campaign of his reign , began with rapid success for the roman forces , led by the able general gnaeus domitius corbulo . they overcame the forces loyal to tiridates , installed their own candidate , tigranes vi , on the armenian throne , and left the country . the romans were aided by the fact that the parthian king vologases was embroiled in the suppression of a series of revolts in his own country . as soon as these had been dealt with , however , the parthians turned their attention to armenia , and after a couple of years of inconclusive campaigning , inflicted a heavy defeat on the romans in the battle of rhandeia . the conflict ended soon after , in an effective stalemate and a formal compromise : a parthian prince of the arsacid line would henceforth sit on the armenian throne , but his nomination had to be approved by the roman emperor . this conflict was the first direct confrontation between parthia and the romans since crassus ' disastrous expedition and mark antony 's campaigns a century earlier , and would be the first of a long series of wars between rome and iranian powers over armenia ( see roman – persian wars ) . background ever since the expanding roman republic and the parthian empire had come into contact in the mid - 1st century bc , there had been friction between the two great powers over the control of the various states lying between them . the largest and most important of these was the kingdom of armenia . in 20 bc , augustus succeeded in establishing a roman protectorate over the country , when tigranes iii was enthroned as king of armenia . roman influence was secured through a series of roman - sponsored kings until 37 ad , when a parthian - supported candidate , orodes , assumed the throne . the roman - supported king , mithridates , recovered his throne with the support of emperor claudius in 42 ad , but was deposed in 51 ad by his nephew rhadamistus of iberia . his rule quickly became unpopular however , and this gave the newly crowned king vologases i of parthia the opportunity to intervene . his forces quickly seized the two capitals of armenia , artaxata and tigranocerta , and put his younger brother tiridates on the throne . the onset of a bitter winter and the outbreak of an epidemic forced the parthians forces to withdraw , allowing rhadamistus to retake control of the country . his behavior towards his subjects , however , was even worse than before , and they rose in rebellion against him . thus in 54 ad rhadamistus fled to his father 's court in iberia , and tiridates re - established himself in armenia . in the same year , in rome , emperor claudius died and was succeeded by his stepson nero . the parthian encroachment in an area regarded as lying within the roman sphere of influence worried the roman leadership , and was widely seen as a major test of the new emperor 's ability . nero reacted vigorously , appointing gnaeus domitius corbulo , a general who had distinguished himself in germania and now served as governor of asia , to supreme command in the east . diplomatic maneuvers and preparations corbulo was given control over two provinces , cappadocia and galatia ( modern - day central turkey ) , with and later proconsular authority or imperium . although galatia was considered a good recruiting - ground and cappadocia had a few units of auxiliaries , the bulk of his army came from syria , where half the garrison of four legions and several units of auxiliaries was transferred to his command . initially , the romans hoped to resolve the situation by diplomatic means : corbulo and ummidius quadratus , the governor of syria , both sent embassies to vologases , proposing that he give up hostages , as was customary during negotiations , to ensure good faith . vologases , himself preoccupied by the revolt of his son vardanes which forced him to withdrew his troops from armenia , readily complied . a period of inactivity ensued , while the armenian issue remained in limbo . corbulo used this lull to restore his troops ' discipline and combat readiness , which had diminished in the peaceful garrisons of the east . according to tacitus , corbulo discharged all who were old or in ill health , kept the entire army under canvas in the harsh winters of the anatolian plateau to acclimatize them to the snows of armenia , and enforced a strict discipline , punishing deserters by death . at the same time however , he took care to be constantly present amongst his men , sharing their hardships . in the meantime , tiridates , backed by his brother , refused to go to rome , and even engaged in operations against those armenians whom he deemed were loyal to rome . tension mounted and finally , in the early spring of 58 , war broke out . outbreak of the war — the roman offensive corbulo had placed a large number of his auxiliaries in a line of forts near the armenian frontier under a former primus pilus , . disobeying corbulo 's orders , he used some newly arrived auxiliary cavalry alae to stage a raid against the armenians , who appeared to be unprepared . in the event , his raid failed , and the retreating troops even spread their panic amongst the garrisons of the other forts . it was an inauspicious start for a campaign , and corbulo severely punished the survivors and their commanders . having drilled his army for two years corbulo , despite this misadventure , was ready . he had three legions at his disposal ( iii gallica and vi ferrata from syria and iv scythica ) , to which were added a large number of auxiliaries and allied contingents from eastern client kings like aristobulus of lesser armenia and polemon ii of pontus . the situation was furthermore favorable to the romans : vologases faced a serious revolt by the hyrcanians in the region of the caspian sea as well as incursions of and nomads from central asia , and was unable to support his brother . the war thus far had featured mostly skirmishing along the roman – armenian border . corbulo tried to protect the pro - roman armenian settlements from attack , and simultaneously retaliated against the parthians ' supporters . given that tiridates avoided confrontation in a pitched battle , corbulo divided his force , so that they could attack several places simultaneously , and instructed his allies , kings antiochus iv of commagene and pharasmanes i of iberia to raid armenia from their own territories . in addition , an alliance was concluded with the , a tribe living in northwestern armenia . tiridates reacted by sending envoys to ask why he was under attack , since hostages had been given . to this , corbulo reiterated the demand to seek the recognition of his crown from nero . eventually , the two sides agreed on a meeting . tiridates announced that he would bring 1 , 000 men to the meeting , implying that corbulo should bring the same number of men " in peaceful fashion , without breastplates and helmets " . tacitus suggests that tiridates intended to overwhelm the romans , as the parthian cavalry would be superior to an equal number of roman infantry in any case . at any rate , in a show of force corbulo decided to take with him the larger part of his force , not only iv ferrata , but also 3 , 000 men from iii gallica plus the auxiliaries . tiridates also appeared at the agreed site , but , seeing the romans in full battle array , and in turn distrusting their intentions , he did not come closer and withdrew during the night . tiridates then resorted to a tactic that had worked well a century earlier against mark antony : he sent forces to raid the roman army 's supply route , which stretched over the mountains back to in the black sea . they failed however , since the romans had taken care to secure the mountain routes by a series of forts . fall of artaxata corbulo now resolved to directly attack tiridates ' fortified strongholds . not only were they instrumental in controlling the surrounding country and sources of revenue and soldiers , but in addition , a threat to them might force tiridates to risk a pitched battle , since , in the words of historian a. goldsworthy , " a king who could not defend communities loyal to him [ ... ] lost prestige . " corbulo and his subordinates successfully stormed three of these forts , including ( possibly modern iğdır ) , " the strongest of all in that province " according to tacitus , within a day with minimal casualties , and massacred their garrisons . terrified by this display of roman might , several towns and villages surrendered , and the romans prepared to move against the northern armenian capital , artaxata . this forced tiridates to confront the romans with his army , as they approached artaxata . the roman force , reinforced by a of x fretensis , marched in a hollow square , with the legions supported by auxiliary horsemen and foot archers . the roman soldiers were under strict orders not to break formation , and despite repeated probing attacks and feigned retreats by the parthian horse archers , they held together until nightfall . during the night , tiridates withdrew his army , abandoning his capital ; its inhabitants promptly surrendered and were allowed to leave unmolested , but the city was torched , since the romans could not spare sufficient men for garrisoning it . fall of tigranocerta in 59 , the romans marched to the south , towards tigranocerta , armenia 's second capital city . on their way , corbulo 's men punished those who withstood or hid from them , while leniency was shown to those who surrendered . in the harsh , dry terrain of northern mesopotamia , the army suffered from lack of provisions , especially water , until they reached the more fertile areas near tigranocerta . during that time , a plot to murder corbulo was uncovered and suppressed . several armenian nobles who had joined the roman camp were implicated and executed . according to a story provided by frontinus , when the roman army arrived at tigranocerta , they launched the severed head of one of the conspirators into the city . by chance , it landed right where the city council was assembled ; they immediately decided to surrender the city , which was consequently spared . shortly after , an attempt by the parthian army under king vologases to enter armenia was blocked by severus , the commander of the auxiliaries . the romans were now in control of armenia , and they promptly installed its new king , tigranes vi , the last descendant of the cappadocian royal house , in tigranocerta . some outlying western parts of armenia were also ceded to the roman vassals . corbulo left 1 , 000 legionaries , three auxiliary cohorts and two cavalry alae ( ca . 3 - 4 , 000 men ) behind to support the new monarch , and retired with the rest of his army to syria , whose governorship he now ( in 60 ad ) assumed as a reward for his success . parthian counterattack the romans were well aware that their victory was still fragile , and that as soon as the parthian king had dealt with the rebellion , he would turn his attention to armenia . despite vologases ' reluctance to risk an all - out conflict with rome , in the end , he was forced to act when tigranes raided the parthian province of adiabene in 61 . the enraged protests of its governor , and his pleas for protection , could not be ignored by vologases , whose prestige and royal authority were at stake . vologases therefore hastily concluded a treaty with the hyrcanians so as to be free to campaign against rome , and called an assembly of the grandees of his realm . there he publicly reaffirmed tiridates ' position as king of armenia by crowning him with a diadem . in order to reinstall his brother on the armenian throne , the parthian king assembled a force of picked cavalry under monaeses , complemented by infantry from adiabene . in response , corbulo sent the legions iv scythica and xii fulminata to armenia , while he detailed the three other legions under his command ( iii gallica , vi ferrata and xv apollinaris ) to fortify the line of the river euphrates , fearing that the parthians might invade syria . at the same time , he petitioned nero to appoint a separate legate for cappadocia , with the responsibility for conducting the war in armenia . parthian siege of tigranocerta monaeses meanwhile entered armenia and approached tigranocerta . tigranes had taken care to gather supplies , and the city was well - fortified and garrisoned with romans and armenians alike . the siege was largely undertaken by the contingent , since the parthians , being cavalrymen , were unskilled and unwilling to engage in siegework . the parthian assault failed , and was driven back with loss by a successful roman sally . 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 . at the same time however , the romans too left armenia , something that , according to tacitus , raised suspicions of 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 . 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 . in the meantime , the asked - for legate for cappadocia had arrived , in the person of lucius caesennius paetus , the consul of the previous year ( 61 ad ) . the army was divided between him and corbulo , with iv scythica , xii fulminata , the newly arrived v macedonica and the auxiliaries from pontus , galatia and cappadocia going to paetus , while corbulo retained iii gallica , vi ferrata and x fretensis . because of their antagonism for glory , the relations between the two roman commanders were strained from the beginning . it is notable that corbulo kept the legions he had spent the past few years campaigning with , and gave his colleague , who after all was expected to conduct the main campaign , the more inexperienced units . the total roman force arrayed against the parthians was nevertheless considerable : the six legions alone totaled some 30 , 000 men . the exact number and disposition of auxiliary units is unclear , but there were seven cavalry alae and seven infantry cohorts in syria alone , comprising a force of 7 - 9 , 000 troops . battle of rhandeia paetus nonetheless appeared confident of victory , and followed the parthian declaration of war and capture of tigranocerta with his own invasion of armenia , while corbulo remained at syria , further strengthening the fortifications in the euphrates frontier . paetus had only two legions with him , iv scythica and xii fulminata , and advanced towards tigranocerta . a few minor forts were taken , but a lack of supplies forced him to withdraw westwards for the winter . the parthians had originally intended to invade syria , but corbulo put on a convincing display of military might , building a strong flotilla of ships equipped with catapults and a bridge over the euphrates , which allowed him to establish a foothold on the parthian shore . therefore , the parthians abandoned their plans for syria , and turned their attention towards armenia . there , paetus had dispersed his forces and granted extended leaves to his officers , so that he was taken unawares at the parthian advance . upon learning of it , he initially advanced to meet vologases , but after a reconnaissance detachment was defeated , he panicked and withdrew hastily . paetus sent his wife and son to safety in the fortress of arsamosata , and tried to block the parthian advance by occupying the passes of the taurus mountains with detachments from his army . in so doing , however , he further dispersed his forces , which were then defeated in detail by the parthians . roman morale plunged and panic set in among the army , which was now besieged in a series of hastily erected camps near rhandeia . paetus , who appears to have fallen into desperate inactivity , sent urgent messages to corbulo to come to his rescue . corbulo in the meantime had been aware of the danger faced by his colleague , and put part of his forces on readiness ; but he did not march to join paetus , and some accused him of delaying in order to reap more glory from rescuing him . nevertheless , when the calls for assistance arrived , he responded quickly and marched forth with half of the syrian army , carrying many provisions laden on camels . he soon met dispersed men of paetus ' army , and managed to rally them around his force . but before he could arrive to the rescue , paetus had capitulated : the parthians , aware that relief was nearing , increasingly harassed the romans , until paetus was forced to send a letter to vologases to seek terms . the subsequent treaty was humiliating : not only would the romans leave armenia and surrender all forts they held , but they also agreed to build a bridge over the nearby river over which vologases could pass in triumph , sitting atop an elephant . in addition , the roman army was liberally plundered by the armenians , who took even the romans ' weapons and clothes without facing any resistance . still worse , according to rumors reported by tacitus , the romans were made to pass under the yoke , a gesture of ultimate humiliation in roman eyes . the two roman forces met on the banks of the euphrates near melitene , amidst scenes of mutual grief ; while corbulo lamented the undoing of his achievements , paetus tried to convince him to attempt to reverse the situation by invading armenia . corbulo however refused , claiming that he did not have the authority to do so , and that either way the army was too worn out to be able to campaign effectively . in the end , paetus retired to cappadocia and corbulo to syria , where he received envoys from vologases , who demanded that he evacuate his bridgehead over the euphrates . in turn , corbulo demanded the parthian evacuation of armenia . vologases agreed to this , and both sides withdrew their forces , leaving armenia once again masterless but de facto under parthian control , until a parthian delegation could travel to rome . corbulo 's return and peace settlement rome , meanwhile , appears to have been largely unaware of the real situation in armenia . tacitus records that " trophies for the parthian war and arches were erected in the center of the capitoline hill " by decree of the senate , even while the war was not yet decided . whatever illusions the roman leadership had , they were shattered by the arrival of the parthian delegation to rome in the spring of 63 . their demands , and the subsequent interrogation of the centurion who accompanied them , revealed to nero and the senate the true extent of the disaster , which paetus had concealed in his dispatches . nevertheless , in the words of tacitus , the romans decided to " accept a dangerous war over a disgraceful peace " ; paetus was recalled , and corbulo placed again in charge of the campaign into armenia , with extraordinary imperium which placed him above all other governors and client rulers in the east . corbulo 's post as governor of syria was entrusted to gaius cestius gallus . corbulo reordered his forces , withdrawing the defeated and demoralized iv scythica and xii fulminata legions to syria , leaving x fretensis to guard cappadocia , and leading his veteran iii gallica and vi ferrata to melitene , where the invasion army was to be assembled . to these he also added v macedonica , which had remained in pontus throughout the previous year and not been tainted by the defeat , the newly arrived xv apollinaris , and large numbers of auxiliaries and contingents of the client kings . after his army crossed the euphrates , following a route opened up by lucullus over a hundred years before , he received envoys from tiridates and vologases . at the approach of such a large force , and aware of corbulo 's ability as a general , the two arsacids were anxious to negotiate . indeed , corbulo , no doubt on instructions from nero , reiterated the old roman position : if tiridates would accept his crown from rome , then renewed war could be averted . tiridates readily agreed to negotiations , and rhandeia , the scene of last year 's roman defeat , was agreed upon as a meeting place . to the armenians , this place was intended as a reminder of their strength , while corbulo agreed to it because there he hoped to expunge the earlier disgrace , by peace or war . once there , corbulo put paetus ' son , who served under him as a legate , in charge of a party that was to gather the remains of the roman soldiers and ensure them a proper burial . on the agreed day , both tiridates and corbulo , each accompanied by 20 horsemen , met between the two camps . tiridates agreed to travel to rome and seek confirmation of his crown from nero . in sign of this agreement , a few days later , both armies put on a display , arrayed in full parade gear . tiridates approached the roman camp , where a statue of the emperor nero had been erected upon a raised platform , and placed his royal diadem at its feet in submission . aftermath in 66 , tiridates visited rome to receive his crown and was lavishly received by nero , who used the occasion to boost his own popularity . he ordered the gates of the temple of janus to be shut , thus declaring that peace reigned throughout the roman empire . nero celebrated this peace as a major achievement : he was hailed as imperator and held a triumph , although no new territory had been won , and the peace reflected a compromise rather than a true victory . for although rome could prevail militarily in armenia , politically , she had no genuine alternatives to the arsacid candidacy on offer for the armenian throne . armenia would henceforth be ruled by an iranian dynasty , and despite its nominal allegiance to rome , it would come under increasing parthian influence . in the judgment of later generations , " nero had lost armenia " , and although the peace of rhandeia ushered in a period of relatively peaceful relations that would last for 50 years , armenia would continue to be a constant bone of contention between the romans , the parthians , and their sassanid successors . for the short term however , the peace that nero secured was kept by both sides , even while the bulk of rome 's eastern forces was involved in the suppression of the jewish revolt . as for corbulo , he was honoured by nero as the man who had brought this " triumph " to be , but his popularity and influence with the army made him a potential rival . together with the involvement of his son - in - law lucius annius in a foiled plot against nero in 66 , corbulo became suspect in the eyes of the emperor . in 67 , while journeying in greece , nero ordered him to be executed ; upon hearing of this , corbulo committed suicide . the war had also demonstrated to the romans that the defensive system in the east , as put in place by augustus , was no longer adequate . thus the following years saw a major reorganization of the roman east : the client kingdoms of pontus and colchis ( in 64 ad ) , cilicia , commagene and lesser armenia ( in 72 ad ) were made into roman provinces , the number of legions in the area increased , and roman presence in the caucasian client states of iberia and albania strengthened , with the aim of strategically encircling armenia . direct roman control was extended to the entire line of the euphrates , marking the beginning of the eastern limes that would survive until the muslim conquests of the 7th century .