And so it proved, whether this was actually revealed beforehand by some divination or whether the populace now for the first time gave it the form of a divine saying adapted to existing circumstances. For Nero was indeed the last emperor of the Julian line descended from Aeneas.
He now began to collect vast sums from both individuals and nations, sometimes using compulsion, with the conflagration for his excuse, and sometimes obtaining it by "voluntary" offers; and the mass of the Romans had the food supply fund withdrawn.
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While he was so engaged, he received news from Armenia and soon after a laurel wreath in honor of victory. The scattered bodies of soldiery in that region had been united by Corbulo, who trained them sedulously after a period of neglect, and then by the very report of his coming had terrified both Vologaesus, king of Parthia, and Tiridates, chief of Armenia. He resembled the primitive Romans in that besides coming of a brilliant family and besides possessing much strength of body he was still further gifted with a shrewd intelligence: and he behaved with great bravery, with great fairness, and with great good faith toward all, both friends and enemies. For these reasons Nero had despatched him to the scene of war in his own stead and had entrusted to him a larger force than to anybody else, being equally assured that the man would subdue the barbarians and would not revolt against him. And Corbulo proved neither of these assumptions false.
All other men, however, had it as a particular grievance against him that he kept faith with Nero. They were very anxious to get him as emperor in place of the actual despot, and this conduct of his seemed to them his only defect.
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Corbulo, accordingly, had taken Artaxata without a struggle and had razed the city to the ground. This exploit finished, he marched in the direction of Tigranocerta, sparing all the districts that yielded themselves but devastating the lands of all such as resisted him. Tigranocerta submitted to him voluntarily, and he performed other brilliant and glorious deeds, as a result of which he induced the formidable Vologaesus to accept terms that accorded with the Roman reputation. [For Vologaesus, on hearing that Nero had assigned Armenia to others and that Adiabene was being ravaged by Tigranes, made preparations himself to go on a campaign into Syria against Corbulo, but sent into Armenia Monobazus, king of Adiabene, and Monaeses, a Parthian. These two had shut up Tigranes in Tigranocerta. But since they did not succeed in harming him at all by their siege and as often as they tried conclusions with him were repulsed by both the native troops and the Romans that were in his army, and since Corbulo guarded Syria with extreme care, Vologaesus recognized the hopelessness of his attempt and disbanded his forces. Then he sent to Corbulo and obtained peace on condition that he send a new embassy to Nero, raise the siege, and withdraw his soldiers from Armenia. Nero made him no immediate nor speedy nor definite reply, but despatched Lucius Caesennius Paetus to Cappadocia to see to it that there should be no Armenian uprising.]
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