; for he felt sure he could not win the
confidence of any other of the barbarians, in case he should do such a
thing, and he wanted to try a little trick against them. He accordingly
released Monaeses, apparently supposing the latter was going to bring the
Parthian affairs under his control, and sent envoys with him to Phraates.
Nominally he was arranging for peace on the condition of getting back the
standards and the prisoners captured in the disaster of Crassus,
intending to take the king off his guard while the latter was expecting
a pacific settlement; but in fact he was putting everything in readiness
for war. [-25-] And he went as far as the Euphrates, thinking it was
free of guards. When, however, he found that whole region carefully
guarded, he turned aside from it, but led a campaign against Artavasdes,
the king of the Medes, persuaded thereto by the king of Greater Armenia,
who had the same name and was an enemy of the aforementioned. Just as he
was he at once advanced toward Armenia, and learning there that the Mede
had gone a considerable distance from his own land in the discharge of
his duties as an ally of the Parthian king, he left behind the beasts of
burden and a portion of the army with Oppius Statianus, giving orders
for them to follow, and himself taking the cavalry and the strongest of
the infantry hurried on in the confidence of seizing all his opponent's
strongholds at one blow; he assailed Praaspa, the royal residence,
heaped up mounds and made constant attacks. When the Parthian and the
Medan kings ascertained this, they left him to continue his idle
toil,--for the walls were strong and many were defending them,--but
assailed Statianus off his guard and wearied on the march and slew the
whole detachment except Polemon, king of Pontus, who was then
accompanying the expedition. Him alone they took alive and released in
exchange for ransom. They were able to accomplish this because the
Armenian king was not present at the battle; but though he might have
helped the Romans, as some say, he neither did this nor joined Antony,
but retired to his own country. [-26-] Antony hastened at the first
message sent him by Statianus to go to his assistance, but was too
late. For except corpses he found no one. This outcome caused him fear,
but, inasmuch as he fell in with no barbarian, he suspected that they had
departed in some direction through terror, and this lent him new courage.
Hence when he met them a l