Vardanes I was a king of the Parthian Empire from 40 to 46 AD. He was the heir apparent of his father Artabanus II (), but had to continually fight against his brother Gotarzes II, a rival claimant to the throne. Vardanes' short reign ended when he was assassinated while hunting at the instigation of a party of Parthian nobles .
Name
"Vardanes" (also spelled Bardanes) is the Latin attestation of the Middle Iranian name Wardān, meaning "rose". The name is transliterated in Greek as Ordanes and Ordones , and in Hatran Aramaic as wrdn.
Biography
left|thumb|Portrait of a Parthian king, possibly Vardanes I, from [[Khalchayan.]]
In , Vardanes' father and reigning Parthian king Artabanus II () died, entrusting his realm to Vardanes. However, the throne was seized by Gotarzes II, an adopted son of Artabanus II. Gotarzes had another of his brothers, Artabanus, along with his wife and child, executed shortly after. An uproar against this execution shortly followed, with an appeal being sent to Vardanes, who took Gotarzes by surprise and defeated him, after travelling 375 miles in two days. Vardanes was supported by the governors of the neighbouring Parthian provinces, and quickly gained control over most of the Parthian realm. He significantly reduced the autonomy of the city and removed its privilege to mint its own coins. Around the same time, the Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana visited the court of Vardanes, who provided him with the protection of a caravan as he travelled to the realm of the Indo-Parthians. When Apollonius reached Indo-Parthia's capital Taxila, his caravan leader read Vardanes' official letter, perhaps written in Parthian, to an Indian official who treated Apollonius with great hospitality.
Encouraged by his recent triumphs, Vardanes prepared to invade and reconquer Armenia, but ultimately abandoned his plans, due to threats of war from the Roman governor of Syria, Gaius Vibius Marsus, and the renewed conflict with Gotarzes, who had terminated their accord. Vardanes defeated Gotarzes on the Erindes, a river situated on the Media-Hyrcania border. He then proceeded to conquer the remaining Parthian provinces, reaching as far as Aria. In he was assassinated while hunting at the instigation of a party of Parthian nobles, who feared that their status might become endangered.
References
Bibliography
Ancient works
- Tacitus, Annals