pture of the friendly relations that had hitherto
subsisted between Volagases and Vespasian. Caesennius Paetus, proconsul
of Syria, the unsuccessful general in the late Armenian war, informed
Vespasian, early in A.D. 72, that he had discovered a plot, by which
Commagene, one of the Roman subject kingdoms, was to be detached from
the Roman alliance, and made over to the Parthians. Antiochus, the aged
monarch, and his son Epiphanes were, according to Paetus, both concerned
in the treason; and the arrangement with the Parthians was, he said,
actually concluded. It would be well to nip the evil in the bud. If the
transfer of territory once took place, a most serious disturbance of the
Roman power would follow. Commagene lay west of the Euphrates; and
its capital city, Samosata (the modern Sumeisat), commanded one of the
points where the great river was most easily crossed; so that, if the
Parthians held it, they would have a ready access at all times to the
Roman provinces of Cappadocia, Cilicia, and Syria, with a perfectly safe
retreat. These arguments had weight with Vespasian, who seems to have
had entire confidence in Paetus, and induced him to give the proconsul
full liberty to act as he thought best. Thus empowered, Paetus at once
invaded Commagene in force, and meeting at first with no resistance
(for the Commagenians were either innocent or unprepared), succeeded in
occupying Samosata by a _coup de main_. The aged king wished to yield
everything without a blow; but his two sons, Epiphanes and Callinicus,
were not to be restrained. They took arms, and, at the head of such a
force as they could hastily muster, met Paetus in the field, and
fought a battle with him which lasted the whole day, and ended without
advantage to either side. But the decision of Antiochus was not to be
shaken; he refused to countenance his sons' resistance, and, quitting
Commagene, passed with his wife and daughters into the Roman province
of Cilicia, where he took up his abode at Tarsus. The spirit of the
Commagenians could not hold out against this defection; the force
collected began to disperse; and the young princes found themselves
forced to fly, and to seek a refuge in Parthia, which they reached
with only ten horsemen. Volagases received them with the courtesy and
hospitality due to their royal rank; but as he had given them no help
in the struggle, so now he made no effort to reinstate them. All the
exertion to which he could be brought