was then governor of Cappadocia, finally forced them to halt. Vologases complained to Hadrian against Pharasmanes.[1] But when Pharasmanes was "invited" to Rome, he refused, and insults were exchanged between him and Hadrian.[2]
From the death of Osroes to the end of the reign of Vologases II, a.d. 128/29–147, to judge from comparative numismatic evidence, there was in Iran a king by the name of Mithradates (IV), as his Pahlavi coin legend informs us.[3] His bronze issues display a number of animal types—eagle, reclining humped bull, sheep, heads of horses and bulls. Apparently, however, there are no literary references to his activities.
In 138 Hadrian died and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, but there were no difficulties on the Parthian frontier which the western historians deemed worthy of mention. In May, 148, appear coins of Vologases III, who must have succeeded to the throne without a struggle and who ruled until about March, 192.[4]
- ↑ Dio Cass. lxix. 15; Arrian Parthica viii. fr. 6; Arrian Tactica; Karl Hartmann, Flavius Arrianus und Kaiser Hadrian (Augsburg, 1907 [diss.]).
- ↑ Spart. Hadrian 13. 8 f.; 17. 12; 21. 13.
- ↑ Wroth, Parthia, pp. lx and 219 f., Nos. 25–28. The fact that Mithradates struck no tetradrachms shows that he was solely in Iran. This is the first appearance of an extended Pahlavi inscription on Parthian coinage. It is unlikely that this Mithradates is the Meherdotes of Malalas, p. 270; cf. Schenk, Malalas, pp. 266 ff., and comments by Longden, "Parthian Campaigns of Trajan," JRS, XXI (1931), 31 f. On the coin inscriptions see Herzfeld, Paikuli (Berlin, 1924), p. 67.
- ↑ McDowell, Coins from Seleucia, pp. 195–98. Mšiḥa Zkha, p. 11 (tr. p. 88), notes that Vologases III followed Vologases II; we may thus be reasonably sure that we have not omitted any kings who bore this name.
