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Vonones I: the king who came from Rome
Vonones, eldest son of Phraates IV, was for years a hostage in Rome. After Orodes III was killed the Parthian nobles asked Augustus for him. But they disliked his Roman ways, and Josephus says they called him a “slave”. Artabanus, king of Media, drove him out. Vonones went to Armenia and was finally killed in 19 CE while trying to escape in Cilicia.
- years on the Parthian throne
- ~4
- year of death
- 19 CE
Map: from Rome to Ctesiphon and back
Administration & economy8/9 CE1 of 4
A king from Rome
The Parthian nobles sent envoys to Rome to have one of the hostages made king. Augustus sent Vonones. Augustus himself writes that the Parthians received their king, “Vonones son of king Phrates”, from him.
Certainty: Secure (contemporary source)
Sources: Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston, 1737 · Augustus, tr. T. Bushnell, 1998 · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, updated 2016
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Three separate layers
Each section has three layers: “Historical evidence” is only what the sources say; “Philosophical interpretation” is our reading by the standard of property and liberty; “Modern cultural meaning”. Quotations come only from published translations, with references.
Historical evidencePhilosophical interpretationModern cultural meaning
Dossier · 1
The “Roman” king and Parthian pride
Josephus says the Parthians soon changed their minds, since they would not obey one who had been a “slave”, that is, a hostage. Tacitus (paraphrased) says the Parthians resented that Vonones rarely hunted or rode, travelled in a litter and kept Greek companions. A coin from Ecbatana bears his name with the legend “Vonones, victor over Artabanus”.
However, the barbarians soon changed their minds, they being naturally of a mutable disposition, upon the supposal that this man was not worthy to be their governor; for they could not think of obeying the commands of one that had been a slave, [for so they called those that had been hostages,] nor could they bear the ignominy of that name; and this was the more intolerable, because then the Parthians must have such a king set over them, not by right of war, but in time of peace.
Iranica says the nobles saw him as “soft”. Vonones’ story was the first test of “a king made in Rome”, and it failed; Rome repeated the experiment many times.
Government brought in from outside lacks legitimacy at home. The Parthians saw him beat Artabanus and still did not want him.
Sources: Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston · Tacitus, tr. A. J. Church & W. J. Brodribb · K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica · D. Sellwood
Synthesis
Vonones I was the king Rome gave Parthia and Parthia sent back. With his fall, Artabanus II and a new branch of the Arsacid house took the throne.
Bibliography
- Flavius Josephus, tr. W. Whiston, Antiquities of the Jews 13.14.3 (13.384–386); 18.2.4 (18.39–52) (1737). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2848
- Augustus, tr. T. Bushnell, Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of the Divine Augustus) §§ 27, 29, 32–33 (1998). https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Deeds_of_the_Divine_AugustusAugustus’ own account of his deeds: official propaganda, not a neutral record.
- Tacitus, tr. A. J. Church & W. J. Brodribb, Annals 2.1–4, 2.58, 2.68 (1876).
- K. Schippmann, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Arsacids ii. The Arsacid dynasty (1986, updated 2016). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-ii/
- D. Sellwood, An Introduction to the Coinage of Parthia, 2nd ed. (1980). The standard numbering of Parthian coins (“S”); some of its attributions have since been revised.
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; licence and author were checked on each file page.
Phraates IV, his fatherOrodes III, his predecessorThe Arsacid dynasty