Abgar VII was king of

Osrhoene Osroene or Osrhoene (; grc-gre, Ὀσροηνή) was an ancient region and state in Upper Mesopotamia. The ''Kingdom of Osroene'', also known as the "Kingdom of Edessa" ( syc, ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܐܘܪܗܝ / "Kingdom of Urhay"), according to ...

from . His primary goal was to remain independent of both the major powers in the region, the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and 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 conque ...

s. Toward this end, he supported the Roman

Emperor Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...

's military campaign into

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

against the Parthian king

Osroes I Osroes I (also spelled Chosroes I or Khosrow I; xpr, 𐭇𐭅𐭎𐭓𐭅 ''Husrōw'') was a Parthian Empire, Parthian contender, who ruled the western portion of the Parthian Empire from 109 to 129, with a one-year interruption. For the whole of ...

in , ending an era of

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

n neutrality toward the Roman Empire. However, in , Abgar also supported a Parthian revolt against Trajan. The Roman general

Lusius Quietus Lusius Quietus ( la, Lusius Quiētus, ; grc-koi, Λούσιος Κυήτος, Loúsios Kyítos, ) was a Roman Berber general and 11th legate of Judaea in 117–120. He was the principal commander against the Jewish rebellion known as the Kitos Wa ...

responded promptly by capturing and sacking Edessa. Abgar VII died at this time. Sources do not agree on what happened after Abgar VII's death. Warwick Ball reports that Hadrian appointed

Parthamaspates of Parthia Parthamaspates was a Parthian prince who ruled as a Roman client king in Mesopotamia, and later of Osroene during the early second century AD. He was the son of the Parthian emperor Osroes I. Biography After spending much of his life in Roman e ...

as a

puppet king A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarch ...

of captured territories including Osrhoene in . He also reports that the Romans reinstated the

Abgar dynasty The Abgarid dynasty was a dynasty of Nabataean Arab origin. Members of the dynasty, the Abgarids, reigned between 134 BC and 242 AD over Edessa and Osroene in Upper Mesopotamia. Some members of the dynasty bore Iranian names, while others had Ara ...

in with the accession of

Ma'nu VII Ma'nu VII was king of Edessa and/or Osrhoene from . He was the first of the Abgar dynasty to be restored after Abgar VII supported a Parthian revolt against the Roman Emperor Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 53 ...

. , by contrast, report that there was a span of two years following Abgar VII's death where Edessa had no king before the Abgar dynasty was reinstated by the

Emperor Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

in as a

client kingdom A client state, in international relations, is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as ...

of Rome.

Citations

References

* * * Rulers of Osroene Year of birth missing 116 deaths 2nd-century Arabs {{Syria-bio-stub