[106-117 A.D.]
Trajan’s oriental campaign was directed against the Parthians. Since the time of Augustus, this people had suffered perpetually from quarrels over the succession to the throne, and had often come into hostile contact with the Romans, because both nations looked upon the kingdom of Armenia as a dependency of theirs. The turbulent character of the Armenians and the continual dissensions among the members of their ruling family made the intervention of the two neighbouring states to some extent necessary. In the frequent wars of the Romans and Parthians, no general had ever distinguished himself as much as Domitius Corbulo, who had been sent by Nero to Armenia so as to protect the inhabitants of this land against the tyranny of their own king, no less than against the superior power of the Parthians. He banished the Parthian prince Tiridates I, who had set himself up as ruler of Armenia, and occupied the whole of the country.
Nero bestowed the government of Armenia on a descendant of the Herod family, who then lived in Rome and had adopted the pagan religion. For a whole year the latter was unable to maintain his ground against the turbulent Armenians and Parthians, and Corbulo himself advised the emperor to restore the banished Parthian prince on condition that he should go to Rome, and do homage as a Roman vassal. To this Tiridates consented; he received the kingdom of Armenia as a Roman fief, and peace was restored for a time. After his death, the former scenes were repeated; the throne of Armenia again became the subject of quarrels between various princes, and the Parthians again intervened in the affairs of the country.
In Trajan’s time a protégé of Parthia, Exedares by name, was seated on the throne of Armenia, and the Parthian king, Chosroes, supported him with an army quartered in the country. Trajan would not acknowledge this king of Armenia; but as a matter of fact he cared far less for the restoration of Roman ascendency in Armenia than for the chance of winning glory as conqueror of the Parthians. In 106 he went to Asia with a large army. On the way he received an embassy from the Parthian king, who had disturbances in his own country to contend with, and who, for this reason, made friendly advances to the Roman emperor. Trajan would have nothing to say to his proposals, by reason of his greed of fame, although Chosroes had removed Exedares from the throne of Armenia and placed in his stead a Parthian prince, Parthamasiris, who was willing to do homage to the Romans. Trajan banished the new ruler of Armenia without much trouble, for the Parthians, engaged in internecine quarrels, could not support him. The emperor therefore turned Armenia into a Roman province, and subjected the petty dynasties between the Black Sea and the Caspian. Their loyalty lasted no longer than the time the Roman army was at hand. The subsequent enterprises of Trajan on his first expedition to the East are not known to us in detail; we only know for certain that he marched from Armenia to Mesopotamia, took some cities on the middle Euphrates and Tigris and supported the king of Parthia against his rebellious subjects.
Some time after, most probably in the year 114, Trajan undertook his second Parthian campaign, on which he spent about three years, till 117. He conquered the famous Greek city of Seleucia, on the Tigris, and Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital, made Assyria into a Roman province, and advanced as far as Arabia, where some years before the empty desire of fame had induced him to make conquests, through one of his generals, which were as quickly lost as won. He then pushed on to the coasts of the Persian Gulf. If we may believe the coins and fabulous histories of that time, he even projected an Indian campaign, and caused a fleet to be built for the purpose. This statement, like other ridiculous exaggerations, is based on flattery and the circumstance that the Persian Gulf was confounded with the Indian Ocean.
A Roman Emperor
According to one of the coins, Trajan gave the Parthians a new king, but this bestowal of the royal office meant no more than that he proclaimed one of the many pretenders in Ctesiphon king; a sufficient reason for the Parthians not to acknowledge the latter as their ruler. Trajan himself reaped the fruits of an inconsiderate desire of conquest, which was most prejudicial to the Roman Empire. Whilst he was at Shatt-el-Arab, all the tribes and cities in his rear revolted, and he perceived too late that the oriental nations were not so easy to subdue or to hold in allegiance as the Dacians.
The Jews also rebelled, both in Palestine and in the cities of Syria, Egypt, and other countries, because like the Christians they were incessantly harassed and persecuted. Trajan was forced to send troops against them, and at the same time renew the war against Assyria, Seleucia, Edessa and other rebellious countries and cities. He fell sick in consequence of the hardships of an unsuccessful campaign, which he had undertaken in Arabia. In order to abandon the fruitless undertaking without detriment to his reputation, he made the senate recall him to Rome under a fictitious pretext. He handed over the army to his general Hadrian, whom he had appointed governor of Syria, and went to Cilicia intending to sail thence to Italy. Before he could embark, death overtook him.[f]
In estimating the character of Trajan, we no longer have the guidance of Suetonius. The only important classical writings recording the deeds of this emperor are the somewhat fragmentary excerpts from Dion Cassius as preserved by Xiphilinus, and the panegyric of the younger Pliny. The latter, written and delivered in the year in which Pliny was consul, has been pronounced, “a piece of courtly flattery for which the only excuse which can be made is the cringing and fawning manner of the times.” Pliny’s letters and despatches to Trajan on the other hand are full of interest as valuable material for the historian.[a]