Reign of Vologases IV
Vologases IV seized the Parthian throne in 147 and reunited a kingdom long divided between rival kings. He brought Mesene on the Persian Gulf back under Parthian control and in 161 attacked Rome, but the war cost him lands in northern Mesopotamia and the sack of Seleucia and Ctesiphon.
- Date
- 147–191year known · duration: ≈ 44 years
- Place
- Ctesiphontoday: Salman Pak, Baghdad Governorate, Iraq · Middle East and Egypt
- Participants
- Vologases IV, Parthian Empire
- Threads
- Middle East and Egypt (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Vologases IV of Parthia; Вологез IV
A son of Mithridates V, Vologases came to power in 147 by a coup against Vologases III, founding a new branch of the Arsacid house; after years in which rival kings had divided Parthia, he emerged as sole ruler in 147/148. In 150/151 he invaded Mesene (Characene) at the head of the Persian Gulf, expelled its king Meredates (Mithridates), son of Pacorus, and installed a vassal, Orabazes II. A bronze statue of Heracles, the patron god of the kings of Mesene, was carried off to the temple of Apollo at Seleucia. Its bilingual Greek and Parthian inscription, dated 151, became known when the statue, reportedly found in the ruins of Seleucia, was acquired by the Iraq Museum in 1984.
Soon after Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus came to power in 161, Vologases invaded Armenia and began a war with Rome. The Romans recovered from their early defeats, sacked Seleucia and Ctesiphon and kept part of upper Mesopotamia. Vologases nevertheless ruled for another quarter of a century; a rival king, Osroes II, rose against him in 190, and on his death in 191 Vologases was succeeded by his son Vologases V.
Connections
Includes
- Roman–Parthian War of 161–166161–166 · Middle East and Egypt
Related events
- An Shigao begins translating Buddhist texts in Luoyang148 · East AsiaAn Shigao, by tradition a Parthian prince, translated Buddhist texts at Luoyang from 148
- Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court166 · East Asiaaccording to the Book of the Later Han, Parthia blocked direct contact between Da Qin and the Han to keep the silk trade
Same place
- Reign of Vologases I51–78 · Middle East and Egypt
- Trajan’s Parthian campaign114–117 · Middle East and Egypt
- Siege of Baghdad29 January – 10 February 1258 · Middle East and Egypt
- Capture of Baghdad by Suleiman Ibetween November and December 1534 · Middle East and Egypt
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Antonine Plague165–180
- Marcomannic Wars166–180
- Galen in Rome162
- Martyrs of Lyon177
- Murder of Commodus and the Year of the Five Emperors31 December 192 – June 193
Eastern Europe
- Rome defends Olbia against the Tauro-Scythiansbetween 138 and 161
- The Goths settle in Oiumc. 180 – c. 230
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Costoboci sack Eleusisbetween 170 and 171
Africa
- Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass)150s … 180s
- Scillitan Martyrs17 July 180
- Antonine Baths of Carthagebetween 145 and 146 – 162
Central and Northern Asia
- Tanshihuai’s Xianbei confederationc. 156 – 181
- The Rabatak inscription of Kanishkabetween 132 and 150
South Asia
- The Muziris papyrus: a loan for a cargo from Indiabetween 140 and 160
- Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman Ic. 150
- Reign of Kanishka, the height of the Kushan Empirec. 127 – c. 150
- Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir (tradition)between 127 and 150 (?)
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
- Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court166
- Partisan Prohibitions: purges of scholar-officials166–184
- Lokaksema translates the first Mahayana sutras into Chinese179
- Yellow Turban RebellionMarch 184 – between December 184 and January 185
- An Shigao begins translating Buddhist texts in Luoyang148
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Khu Liên founds the kingdom of Linyibetween 190 and 193
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Preclassic Maya collapse: El Mirador is abandonedc. 100 – c. 250
- La Mojarra Stela 1: an Epi-Olmec text dated 156156
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Vologases IV
- Wikipedia (English): Roman–Parthian War of 161–166
- Wikipedia (Russian): Вологез IV
- Potter D. S. The Inscriptions on the Bronze Herakles from Mesene: Vologeses IV’s War with Rome and the Date of Tacitus’ Annales // Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. — 1991. — Bd. 88. — S. 277–290.