Phraates IV

Phraates IV (also spelled Frahad IV; Parthian: 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕 Frahāt) was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II (r. 57–37 BC), and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. Phraates IV soon murdered all his brothers, and also possibly his father. His actions alienated the Armenians and also some of his nobles, including the distinguished Monaeses, who fled to the Roman triumvir Mark Antony, but shortly returned and reconciled with Phraates IV.

Phraates IV was attacked in 36 BC by 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 II, king of Armenia, invaded his kingdom in 34 BC, took him prisoner, and concluded a treaty with Artavasdes I, king of Media Atropatene. But when the war with Octavian broke out, Antony could not maintain his conquests; Phraates IV recovered Media Atropatene and made Artaxias, the son of Artavasdes II, king of Armenia.

Around the same time, Phraates IV's throne was usurped by Tiridates II, but he quickly managed to reestablish his rule with the aid of Scythian nomads. Tiridates fled to the Romans, taking one of Phraates IV's sons with him. In negotiations conducted in 20 BC, Phraates IV arranged for the release of his kidnapped son. In return, the Romans received the lost legionary standards taken at Carrhae in 53 BC, as well as any surviving prisoners of war. The Parthians viewed this exchange as a small price to pay to regain the prince.

Along with the prince, Octavian (now known as Augustus) gave Phraates IV a girl named Musa, who quickly became queen and a favourite of Phraates IV, giving birth to Phraataces (Phraates V). Seeking to secure the throne for her son, Musa convinced Phraates IV to send his four first-born sons (Vonones, Phraates, Seraspandes and Rhodaspes) to Rome in order to prevent conflict over his succession. In 2 BC, Musa had Phraates IV poisoned and made herself along with Phraates V the co-rulers of the empire.

Phraátēs (Φραάτης) is the Greek form of the Parthian Frahāt (𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕), itself from the Old Iranian *Frahāta- ("gained, earned"). The Modern Persian version is Farhād (فرهاد).

In 38 BC, the heir to the Parthian throne, Pacorus I was defeated and killed at the Battle of Mount Gindarus by a Roman force. His death spurred a succession crisis in which Orodes II (r. 57–37 BC), deeply afflicted by the death of his favourite son, relinquished the throne to his other son Phraates IV. Orodes II died soon afterwards. His cause of death is uncertain. According to Cassius Dio, he had either died of grief due to Pacorus' death, or of old age. Plutarch, however, states that Orodes was murdered by Phraates IV. Fearing that his position might become endangered, Phraates IV executed all his half-brothers–the sons of Orodes and his Commagenian wife Laodice, partially due to their maternal descent being greater than that of his own. Laodice was probably killed as well.

Phraates IV also had supporters of his brothers and his own opponents sent into exile; one of them, Monaeses, a Parthian nobleman who had distinguished himself as a military leader under Orodes II, fled to Syria, where he took refuge with the Roman triumvir Mark Antony. There Monaeses urged him to attack Parthia, and promised him to spearhead the troops and conquer the empire without any difficulties. Antony granted Monaeses three cities—Larissa, Hierapolis and Arethusa, and promised him the Parthian throne. Around the same time, Antony had restored Roman rule in Jerusalem, and executed the King of the Jews Antigonus II Mattathias, who was succeeded by Herod the Great. The relations between Parthia and Armenia had also been damaged, due to the death of Pacorus I (who was married into the Armenian royal house) and Phraates IV's treatment of his brothers and some of the nobility, which upset the Armenians. The Parthians took the defection of Monaeses very serious, and as a result Phraates IV invited Monaeses back to the country and reconciled with him.

The following year, when Antony marched to Theodosiopolis, Artavasdes II of Armenia defected to the Roman side by sending Antony additional troops. Antony invaded Media Atropatene, then ruled by Parthia's ally Artavasdes I, with the intention of seizing the capital Praaspa, the location of which is now unknown. However, Phraates IV ambushed Antony's rear detachment, destroying a giant battering ram meant for the siege of Praaspa; after this, Artavasdes II abandoned Antony's forces. The Parthians pursued and harassed Antony's army as it fled to Armenia. Eventually, the greatly weakened force reached Syria.