VOLOGESES I., the son of Vonones II. by a Greek concubine,
according to Tacitus (Ann. 12.14, 44); but according to Josephus, the son
of Artabanus III. (Ant. 20.3.4.) Soon after his accession, he invaded
Armenia, took Artaxata and Tigranocerta, the chief cities of the country, and dethroned
Rhadamistus, the Iberian, who had usurped the crown. He then gave Armenia to his brother,
Tiridates, having previously given Media to his other brother, Pacorus. These occurrences
excited considerable alarm at Rome, as Nero, who had just ascended the throne (A. D. 55), was only seventeen years of age. Nero, however, made active
preparations to oppose the Parthians, and sent Domitius Corbulo to take possession of Armenia,
from which the Parthians had meantime withdrawn, and Quadratus Ummidius to command in Syria.
Vologeses was persuaded by Corbulo and Ummidius to conclude peace with the Romans and give as
hostages the noblest of the Arsacidae ; which he was induced to do, either that he might the
more conveniently prepare for war, or that he might remove from the kingdom those who were
likely to prove rivals. (Tac. Ann. 12.50, 13.5_9.) Three years afterwards
(A. D. 58), the war at length broke out between the Parthians and the
Romans; for Vologeses could not endure Tiridates to be deprived of the kingdom of Armenia,
which he had himself given him, and would not let him receive it as a gift from the Romans.
This war, however, terminated in favour of the Romans. Corbulo, the Roman general, took and
destroyed Artaxata, and also obtained possession of Tigranocerta, which surrendered to him.
Tiridates was driven out of Armenia; and Corbulo appointed in his place, as king of Armenia,
the Cappadocian Tigranes, the grandson of king Archelaus, and gave certain parts of Armenia to
the tributary kings who had assisted him in the war. After making these arrangements, Corbulo
retired into Syria, A. D. 60. (Tac. Ann.
13.34-41, 14.23-26; D. C. 62.19,
20.) Vologeses, however, resolved to make another attempt to
recover Armenia. He made preparations to invade Syria himself, and sent Monaeses, one of his
generals, and Monobazus, king of the Adiabeni, to attack Tigranes and drive him out of
Armenia. They accordingly entered Armenia and laid siege to Tigranocerta, but
were unable to take it. As Vologeses also found that Corbulo had taken every precaution to
secure Syria, he sent ambassadors to Corbulo to solicit a truce, that he might despatch an
embassy to Rome concerning the terms of peace. This was granted; but as no satisfactory answer
was obtained from Nero, Vologeses invaded Armenia, where he gained considerable advantages
over Caesenninus Paetus, and at length besieged him in his winter-quarters. Paetus, alarmed at
his situation, agreed with Vologeses, that Armenia should be surrendered to the Romans, and
that he should be allowed to retire in safety from the country, A. D.
62. Shortly after this, Vologeses sent another embassy to Rome; and Nero agreed to
surrender Armenia to Tiridates, provided the latter would come to Rome and receive it as a
gift from the Roman emperor. Peace was made on these conditions; and Tiridates repaired to
Rome, A. D. 63, where he was received with extraordinary splendour,
and obtained from Nero the Armenian crown. (Tac. Ann.
15.1-18, 25-31; D. C. 62.20_23, 63.1_7.)
In the struggle for the empire after Nero's death, Vologeses sent ambassadors to Vespasian,
offering to assist him with 40,000 Parthians. This offer was declined by Vespasian, but he
bade Vologeses send ambassadors to the senate, and he secured peace to him. (Tac. Hist. 4.51.) Vologeses afterwards sent an embassy to Titus,
as he was returning from the conquest of Jerusalem, to congratulate him on his success, and
present him with a golden crown; and shortly afterwards (A. D. 72), he
sent another embassy to Vespasian to intercede on behalf of Antiochus, the deposed king of
Commagene. (Joseph. B. J. 7.5.2, 7.3; comp. D. C.
66.11; Suet. Nero 57.) In A. D.
75, Vologeses sent again to Vespasian, to beg him to assist the Parthians against the
Alani, who were then at war with them; but Vespasian declined to do so, on the plea that it
did not become him to meddle in other people's affairs. (D. C.
66.15; Suet. Dom. 2; Joseph. B. J.
7.7.4.) Vologeses founded on the Euphrates, a little to the south of Babylon, the town of
Vologesocerta. (Plin. Nat. 6.30.) he seems to have lived till
the reign of Domitian.