Vonones II was a Parthian prince who ruled as king of

Media Atropatene Atropatene ( peo, Ātṛpātakāna; grc, Ἀτροπατηνή), also known as Media Atropatene, was an ancient Iranian kingdom established in by the Persian satrap Atropates. The kingdom, centered in present-day northern Iran, was ruled by A ...

and briefly as king of the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conqu ...

. Vonones was not from the ruling branch of the Arsacid royal family. His father was a

Dahae The Dahae, also known as the Daae, Dahas or Dahaeans (Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: , , , ; Latin: ; Chinese: ; Persian: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation, who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia. Ident ...

prince, who was most likely descended from the former Arsacid monarch Mithridates II (), whilst his mother was a daughter of the Arsacid

King of Kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...

Phraates IV Phraates IV (also spelled Frahad IV; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕 ''Frahāt''), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II (), and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. ...

(). Vonones II's brother was the Parthian King

Artabanus II Artabanus II (also spelled Artabanos II or Ardawan II; xpr, 𐭍𐭐𐭕𐭓 ''Ardawān''), incorrectly known in older scholarship as Artabanus III, was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 12 to 38/41 AD, with a one-year interruption. He wa ...

. From about 11 AD until 51 AD, Vonones II ruled as king of Media Atropatene,Tacitus, ''Annals'', 12.14 a period about which little is known. After the death of his nephew Gotarzes II, Vonones II became king of the Parthian Empire in 51 AD. However, he died a few months into his reign and was succeeded by his son, Vologases I. Tacitus wrote that Vonones II “knew neither success nor failure which have deserved to be remembered to him. It was a short and inglorious reign”. Vonones II had 3 sons who, respectively, held the thrones of Parthia, Media Atropatene and Armenia: Pacorus, Vologases I, and Tiridates I.Tacitus, ''Annals'', 13.7

References

Sources

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

, ''Antiquities of the Jews'', xx, 3, 4. *

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

* * M. Bunson, ''A Dictionary of the Roman Empire'', Oxford University Press, 1995 * W. Woodthorpe Tarn, ''The Greeks in Bactria and India'', Cambridge University Press, 2010 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vonones 02 Of Parthia 51 deaths 1st-century Parthian monarchs Rulers of Media Atropatene Year of birth unknown 1st-century Iranian people 1st-century Babylonian kings