Phraates cannot but be regarded as one of the ablest of the Parthian monarchs.  His conduct of the campaign against Antony—­one of the best soldiers that Rome ever produced—­was admirable, and showed him a master of guerilla warfare.  His success in maintaining himself upon the throne for five and thirty years, in spite of rivals, and notwithstanding the character which he obtained for cruelty, implies, in such a state as Parthia, considerable powers of management.  His dealings with Augustus indicate much suppleness and dexterity.  If he did not in the course of his long reign advance the Parthian frontier, at any rate he was not obliged to retract it.  Apparently, he ceded nothing to the Scyths as the price of their assistance.  He maintained the Parthian supremacy over Northern Media.  He lost no inch of territory to the Romans.  It was undoubtedly a prudent step on his part to soothe the irritated vanity of Rome by a surrender of useless trophies, and scarcely more useful prisoners; and, we may doubt if this concession was not as effective as the dread of the Parthian arms in producing that peace between the two countries which continued unbroken for above ninety years from the campaign of Antony, and without serious interruption for yet another half century.  If Phraates felt, as he might well feel after the campaigns of Pacorus, that on the whole Rome was a more powerful state than Parthia, and that consequently Parthia had nothing to gain but much to lose in the contest with her western neighbor, he did well to allow no sentiment of foolish pride to stand in the way of a concession that made a prolonged peace between the two countries possible.  It is sometimes more honorable to yield to a demand than to meet it with defiance; and the prince who removed a cause of war arising out of mere national vanity, while at the same time he maintained in all essential points the interests and dignity of his kingdom, deserved well of his subjects, and merits the approval of the historian.  As a man, Phraates has left behind him a bad name:  he was cruel, selfish, and ungrateful, a fratricide and a parricide; but as a king he is worthy of respect, and, in certain points, of admiration.

CHAPTER XIV.

Short reigns of Phraataces, Orodes II., and Vonones I. Accession of Artabanus III.  His relations with Germanicus and Tiberius.  His War with Pharasmanes of Iberia.  His First Expulsion from his Kingdom, and return to it.  His peace with Rome.  Internal troubles of the Parthian Kingdom.  Second Expulsion and return of Artabanus.  His Death.