re in the list,
it seems necessary, unless we reject Lucian's authority altogether, to
insert this monarch here. We cannot say, however, how long he reigned,
or ascribe to him any particular actions; nor can we say definitely
what king he either succeeded or preceded. It is possible that his reign
covered the entire interval between Mithridates II. and Sanatroeces; it
is possible, on the other hand, that he had successors and predecessors,
whose names have altogether perished.

The expression used by the epitomizer of Trogus, and a few words
dropped by Plutarch, render it probable that about this time there were
contentions between various members of the Arsacid family which issued
in actual civil war. Such contentions are a marked feature of the later
history; and, according to Plutarch, they commenced at this period. We
may suspect, from the great age of two of the monarchs chosen, that
the Arsacid stock was now very limited in number, that it offered no
candidates for the throne whose claims were indisputable, and that
consequently at each vacancy there was a division of opinion among the
"Megistanes," which led to the claimants making appeal, if the election
went against them, to the arbitrament of arms.

The dark time of Parthian history is terminated by the
accession--probably in B.C. 76--of the king above mentioned as known
by the three names of Sanatroeces, Sinatroces, and Sintricus. The form,
Sanatroeces, which appears upon the Paithian coins, is on that account
to be preferred. The king so called had reached when elected the
advanced age of eighty. It may be suspected that he was a son of the
sixth Arsaces (Mithridates I.), and consequently a brother of Phraates
II. He had, perhaps, been made prisoner by that Scythians in the course
of the disastrous war waged by that monarch, and had been retained in
captivity for above fifty years. At any rate, he appears to have
been indebted to the Scythians in some measure for the crown which he
acquired so tardily, his enjoyment of it having been secured by the help
of a contingent of troops furnished to him by the Scythian tribe of the
Sacauracae.

The position of the Empire at the time of his accession was one of
considerable difficulty. Parthia, during the period of her civil
contentions, had lost much ground in the west, having been deprived by
Tigranes of at least two important provinces. At the same time she had
been witness of the tremendous struggle between Ro