Vardanes II was the son of
Vologases I or
Vardanes I and briefly ruler of parts of the
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...
. In ancient records he only appears in
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.
Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
.
[Tacitus, ]Annals
Annals (, from , "year") are a concise history, historical record in which events are arranged chronology, chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction betw ...
13,7 Otherwise he is only known from coins that are dated between 55 and 58 CE. He rebelled against Vologases I at
Seleucia
Seleucia (; ), also known as or or Seleucia ad Tigrim, was a major Mesopotamian city, located on the west bank of the Tigris River within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. It was founded around 305 BC by Seleucus I Nicator as th ...
from about 55 to 58 CE and must have occupied
Ecbatana
Ecbatana () was an ancient city, the capital of the Median kingdom, and the first capital in History of Iran, Iranian history. It later became the summer capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid and Parthian Empire, Parthian empires.Nardo, Do ...
, since he issued coins from the mint there, bearing the likeness of a young beardless king wearing a diadem with five pendants. The lack of facial lesions on his coins sets him apart from other Parthian rulers, many of whom were depicted with nodules resembling trichoepithelioma.
Other than that nothing more about him is known.
References
Sources
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50s deaths
1st-century Parthian monarchs
Year of birth unknown
1st-century Iranian people
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