Vologases I of Parthia

Give them what they want.

It came to pass that Antiochus, the king of Comagene, with all his family, fell into very great calamities.

Mm-mm.

You don't want Vespasian on your bed.

The

occasion was this.

Sesenius Paetus... or Caesanius, depending on how you want to pronounce it, but we say Caesar, so I'm saying Caesanius Pietus, who was president of Syria at this time, whether it were done out of regard to truth or whether out of hatred to Antiochus, for which was the real motive, was never thoroughly discovered, sent an epistle to Caesar and therein told him that Antiochus with his son Epiphanes had resolved to rebel against the Romans and had made a league with the king of Parthia to that purpose, that it was therefore fit to prevent them lest they prevent us and begin such a war as may cause a general disturbance to the Roman.

Empire.

Coupled with these disasters, the eastern fringes of the empire were now under threat.

The Parthian king Vologases IV, who had ascended during Antoninus' reign, attacked Armenia, which was under the protection of the empire, and expelling the ruler installed a member of the Parthian royal family in his place.

In his capacity as governor of Cappadocia, Marcus Sedatius Severianus led one legion into Armenia that became trapped by the Parthian general Chosrhoes.

He tried to fight, but realizing he couldn't win, he committed suicide, and his legion was massacred.

Martius Verus likely pursued the retreating Parthians east while Avidius Cassius would lead the advance south.

Reaching the twin cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon on the Tigris, Seleucia opened its gates to the approaching army.

Following this, Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital, was taken and Vologases’ palace burned, although Vologases himself was not captured and retained his rule as Parthian king.

However, despite their welcoming of the army, Seleucia, originally a Greek city founded almost five centuries before, was destroyed to the detriment of Cassius’ reputation.