Vardanes I

"Vardanes" (also spelled Bardanes) is the Latin attestation of the Middle Iranian name Wardān, meaning "rose". The name is transliterated in Greek as Ordanes Ὀρδάνης and Ordones Ὀρδώνης, and in Hatran Aramaic as wrdn.[1]

Coin of Gotarzes II

In c. 40 AD, Vardanes' father and reigning Parthian king Artabanus II (r. 12–40) died, entrusting his realm to Vardanes.[2] However, the throne was seized by Gotarzes II, an adopted son of Artabanus II.[2][3] Gotarzes had another of his brothers, Artabanus, along with his wife and child, executed shortly after.[2] An uproar against this execution shortly followed, with an appeal being sent to Vardanes, who took Gotarzes by surprise and defeated him, after travelling 375 miles in two days.[2][4] Vardanes was applauded by the governors of the neighbouring Parthian provinces, and quickly gained control over most of the Parthian realm.[2][4] The Mesopotamian city of Seleucia, which had been in rebellion since 35, did not acknowledge Vardanes, who soon besieged the city.[2][5] However, the long siege of Seleucia resulted in Gotarzes gaining the upper hand in the conflict, allowing him to raise a new force and drive off Vardanes, who fled to Bactria in Central Asia.[2][6]

At the same time, Armenia suffered turmoil, when its Arsacid king Orodes, the brother of Vardanes, was deposed by the Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41–54), who appointed the Pharnavazid prince Mithridates in his stead.[7] Simultaneously, just before Vardanes and Gotarzes clashed in battle, they reached an accord after Gotarzes informed Vardanes of an conspiracy being planned against them by a prominent group. The accord was that Vardanes was to keep his crown, while Gotarzes withdrew to Hyrcania.[7] In June 42, Vardanes forced Seleucia to submit to the Parthians again after a rebellion of seven years.[8] He heavily decreased the autonomy of the city, notably its privilege to mint its own coins, which was removed.[5] Around the same time, the Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana visited the court of Vardanes, who provided him with the protection of a caravan as he traveled to the realm of the Indo-Parthians. When Apollonius reached Indo-Parthia's capital Taxila, his caravan leader read Vardanes' official letter, perhaps written in Parthian, to an Indian official who treated Apollonius with great hospitality.[9]

Encouraged by his recent triumphs, Vardanes prepared to invade and reconquer Armenia, but ultimately abandoned his plans, due to threats of war from the Roman governor of Syria, Gaius Vibius Marsus, and likewise renewed conflict with Gotarzes, who terminated their accord.[6] Vardanes defeated Gotarzes on the Erindes, as river situated on the Media-Hyrcania border. He then proceeded to conquer the remaining Parthian provinces, reaching as far as Aria.[7] In c. 46 he was assassinated while hunting at the instigation of a party of Parthian nobles, who feared that their status might become endangered.[6][10]

• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2012). "The Political-Military Strategy of Artabanos/Ardawān II in AD 34–371". Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia: 215–237.
• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2014). "The Genealogy of Artabanos II (AD 8/9–39/40), King of Parthia". Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica: 92–97.
• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2015). "Arsacid Iran and the nomads of Central Asia – Ways of cultural transfer". Bonn Contributions to Asian Archaeology: 333–390.