The Treaty of Rhandeia was a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

concluded between the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

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 ...

at the frontier town of Rhandeia in what is now

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 63. The treaty, which finalized the

Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 The Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 or the War of the Armenian Succession was fought between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire over control of Armenia, a vital buffer state between the two realms. Armenia had been a Roman client state ...

, stipulated that henceforth a Parthian prince of the

Arsacid 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 conqueri ...

line would sit on the Armenian throne, but his nomination, or right of investiture, was given to the emperor of Rome. Even though this made Armenia 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 ...

, various contemporary Roman sources thought that Nero had

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

ceded Armenia to the Parthian Empire. This compromise between Parthia and Rome lasted for several decades, until 114, when Rome under

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 presi ...

took direct control of Arsacid Armenia and incorporated it into a short-lived Roman province that lasted for a mere four years; it was outwardly relinquished under Trajan's successor

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 118. The Arsacid dynasty would nevertheless maintain the Armenian throne, albeit most often as client kings, until 428, when the kingdom was partitioned by the Byzantines and

Sasanians The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

, and the eastern part of Armenia became a Sasanian province from then on ruled by a ''

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension militar ...

''.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{cite book, editor-last1=Yarshater, editor-first1=Ehsan, title=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Volume 2, date=1985, issue=1–4, page=424, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fyEZAQAAIAAJ&q=rhandeia+signed, publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul, isbn=9780710090904 1st-century treaties 60s in the Roman Empire 1st century in Iran 1st century in Armenia Treaties of ancient Rome Treaties of the Parthian Empire Roman–Parthian Wars Nero Treaties of the Roman Empire 63