Phraates V of Parthia

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Coin of Phraates V. Obverse shows Phraates wearing a diadem and being crowned by Nike with a wreath. Reverse shows a seated archer carrying a bow surrounded by meaningless Greek-like letterforms.

Phraates V of Parthia, known as Phraataces (a diminutive), ruled the Parthian Empire from 2 BC to AD 4. He was the younger son of Phraates IV of Parthia (37–2 BC) and the "goddess Musa", with whom he is associated on his coins. Under Phraates V a war threatened to break out with Rome about the supremacy in Armenia and Media. But when Augustus (27 BC – AD 14) sent his adopted son Gaius Caesar into the east in order to invade Parthia, the Parthians preferred to conclude a treaty (AD 1), by which once again Armenia was recognized as in the Roman sphere. Soon afterwards Phraates V and his mother were slain by the Parthians, about 4. Josephus alleges that Phraates V married his mother Musa, and, this being unacceptable to the Parthians, they rose up and overthrew him, offering the crown to Orodes III of Parthia (who ruled briefly in 6).

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xviii, 2.