Phraates IV

Phraates IV of Parthia (Persian: فرهاد چهارم‎‎), son of Orodes II (Persian: ارد دوم‎‎), ruled the Parthian Empire from 37–2 BC. He was appointed successor to the throne in 37 BC, after the death of his brother Pacorus I. He soon murdered his father and all his thirty brothers.

Biography

Phraates was attacked in 36 BC by the Roman general Mark Antony, who marched through Armenia into Media Atropatene, and was defeated and lost the greater part of his army. Antony, believing himself betrayed by Artavasdes, king of Armenia, invaded his kingdom in 34 BC, took him prisoner, and concluded a treaty with another Artavasdes, king of Media Atropatene.

But when the war with Octavian broke out, Antony could not maintain his conquests; Phraates recovered Media Atropatene and drove Artaxias, the son of Artavasdes, back into Armenia. But by his many cruelties Phraates had roused the indignation of his subjects, who raised Tiridates II to the throne in 32 BC. Phraates was restored by the Scythians, and Tiridates fled into Syria. The Romans hoped that Augustus would avenge the defeat of the Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus on the Parthians, but he contented himself with a treaty, by which Phraates gave back the prisoners and the conquered eagles; the kingdom of Armenia also was recognized as a Roman dependency.