Gaius Julius SohaemusBirley, ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor'', p.224 ( el, Γάϊος Ἰούλιος Σόαιμος) (died 180) was a Roman client king of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

Life

Sohaemus, a prominent person in the Roman Empire in the 2nd century, was from the Orontid dynasty of Commagene and the

Emesene dynasty The Emesene (or Emesan) dynasty, also called the Sampsigeramids or the Sampsigerami or the House of Sampsigeramus ( ar, آل شمسيغرام, translit=ʾĀl Šamsīġirām), were a Roman client dynasty of Arab priest-kings known to have ruled by ...

from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

.Birley, ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor'', p.71 His contemporary, the novelist

Iamblichus Iamblichus (; grc-gre, Ἰάμβλιχος ; Aramaic: 𐡉𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡅 ''Yamlīḵū''; ) was a Syrian neoplatonic philosopher of Arabic origin. He determined a direction later taken by neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer o ...

claims Sohaemus as his fellow-countryman. Iamblichus calls Sohaemus an Arsacid and

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

in his lineage. He was a descendant of the Median Princess Iotapa, who was once betrothed to the Ptolemaic Prince

Alexander Helios Alexander Helios ( el, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἥλιος; late 40 BC – unknown, but possibly between 29 and 25 BC) was a Ptolemaic prince and was a son of Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic dynasty and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. Alexander' ...

.Birley, ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor'', pp. 71, 224 Little is known about Sohaemus’ family and early life prior to becoming King of Armenia. Before becoming king, Sohaemus had been a Roman senator and served as a Consul in Rome at an unknown date. In 144, Sohaemus received the Armenian throne from the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius after the death of Vologases I. In honor of his first ascent to the throne of Armenia, a sestertius with images of Sohaemus and Antoninus Pius was issued in Rome with the inscription "A king given to the Armenians". Sohaemus was a contemporary to the rule of the Roman emperors Antoninus Pius,

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

, Lucius Verus and

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

of the

Nerva–Antonine dynasty The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised 7 Roman emperors who ruled from 96 to 192 AD: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Commodus (18 ...

. In his first reign, he ruled from 144 to 161. Not much is known about his first reign. The novelist Iamblichus living in Armenia at the time of his rule describes his reign as ‘in succession to his ancestors’. This statement can also refer to his former ancestor Sohaemus of Emesa who lived in the 1st century. In 161 Vologases IV of Parthia, son of the legitimate King Mithridates IV of Parthia, dispatched his troops to seize Armenia and eradicated the Roman legions stationed in the country under the

legate Legate may refer to: * Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

Marcus Sedatius Severianus. Vologases then installed Pacorus as King of Armenia. Encouraged by the s''pahbod'' Osroes, Parthian troops marched further west into Roman Syria. After Armenia was seized by the Parthians, Sohaemus went into political exile, living in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where he became a senator. These events provoked a new Roman-Parthian war and peace was made on Roman terms, with Sohaemus reinstalled as King of Armenia by Lucius Verus in either 163 or 164.van den Hout, ''A commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto'', pp. 301-2 The ceremony for Sohaemus becoming King of Armenia for the second time may have taken place in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

. This war cost Rome dearly, because the victorious army brought back with it from the east a plague that spread very quickly throughout the empire. Emperor

tried to declare Armenia a province of Rome, but the uprising of Armenians led by Prince Tiridates forced the Romans to abandon their plans. In 164, Latin coinage was struck in Armenia with the inscription ''L. Verus. Aug. Armeniacus'' and on the reverse ''Rex Armen(ii)s datus''. The time of his second reign is unknown. Sohaemus reigned from 163 perhaps up to 186. Under Sohaemus, construction work continued in the capital

Vagharshapat Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is c ...

. A citadel, defensive fortifications, a palace complex, and several pagan temples were built in the city. Sometime during his reign, Sohaemus was expelled by elements favorable to Parthia.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp.174-5 A man called Tiridates, who had murdered the King of the Osroenes and had brandished his sword in the face of

Publius Martius Verus Publius Martius Verus was a Roman senator and general. He was twice consul. Verus played a major role in the suppression of the revolt of Avidius Cassius by remaining loyal to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Life Verus came from the Roman colony of ...

, the governor of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

, when rebuked for it, stirred up trouble in Armenia. Tiridates' only punishment for his crimes was to be exiled to

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

by Marcus Aurelius. As a result of Sohaemus’ second expulsion from Armenia, Roman forces went to war with the Parthians, who retook most of their lost territory in 166, while Sohaemus fled to Syria.HA Verus 8.1-4; Dio Cass. 71.2. After Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and the Parthian rulers intervened in the conflict, the son of Vologases IV of Parthia, Vologases II assumed the Armenian throne in 186.

References

Sources

Royal Ancient Egyptian Genealogy: Ptolemaic Dynasty
* A.R. Birley, ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor'', Routledge, 1999 * A.R. Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', Routledge, 2000 * A.K. Bowman, P. Garnsey & D. Rathbone, ''The High Empire, A.D. 70-192'', Cambridge University Press, 2000 * A.E. Redgate, ''The Armenians, Blackwell Publishing, 2000 * C. Settipani, ''Continuité gentilice et continuité familiale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l’époque imperial'', Oxford, 2000 *

Life

References

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See also