But we may be sure that the general desire was not for a Romanized sovereign, but for a truly national king, one born and bred in the country.

Gotarzes was proclaimed by common consent, and without any interval, after the death of Vardanes, and ascended the Parthian throne before the end of the year A.D.46.

It is not likely that his rule would have been resisted had he conducted himself well; but the cruelty of his temper, which had already once cost him his crown, again displayed itself after his restoration, and to this defect was added a slothful indulgence yet more distasteful to his subjects.
Some military expeditions which he undertook, moreover, failed of success, and the crime of defeat caused the cup of his offences to brim over.

The discontented portion of his people, who were a strong party, sent envoys to the Roman Emperor, Claudius (A.D.

49), and begged that he would surrender to them Meherdates, the grandson of Phraates IV.