[64] That Sohaemus was Achaemenid and Arsacid (or professed to be) and king’s son and king, as well as Roman senator and consul, before he became king of Great Armenia, is stated by his contemporary Jamblichus (c. 10 of the extract in Photius). Probably he belonged to the dynastic family of Hemesa (Josephus, _Arch._ xx. 8, 4, _et al._) If Jamblichus the Babylonian wrote “under him,” this can doubtless only be understood to the effect that he composed his romance in Artaxata. That Sohaemus ruled over Armenia before Pacorus is nowhere stated, and is not probable, since neither Fronto’s words (p. 127 Naber), _quod Sohaemo potius quam Vologaeso regnum Armeniae dedisset aut quod Pacorum regno privasset_, or those of the fragment from Dio (?) lxxi. 1: Μάρτιος Οὐῆρος τὸν Θουκυδίδην ἐκπέμπει καταγαγεῖν Σόαιμον ἐς Ἀρμενίαν point to reinstatement, and the coins with _rex Armeniis datus_ (Eckhel, vii. 91, comp. _vita Veri_, 7, 8) in fact exclude it. We do not know the predecessor of Pacorus, and are not even aware whether the throne which he took possession of was vacant or occupied. [65] This is shown by the Mesopotamian royal and urban coins. There are no accounts in our tradition as to the conditions of peace. [66] The beginning of the Ursinian excerpt of Dio, lxxv. 1, 2, is confused. Οἱ Ὀρροηνοὶ, it is said, καὶ οἱ Ἀδιαβηνοὶ ἀποστάντες καὶ Νίσιβιν πολιορκοῦντες καὶ ἡττηθέντες ὑπὸ Σεουήρου ἐπρεσβεύσαντο πρὸς αὐτὸν μετὰ τὸν τοῦ Νίγρου θάνατον. Osrhoene was then Roman, Adiabene Parthian; from whom did the two districts revolt? and whose side did the Nisibenes take? That their opponents were defeated by Severus before the sending of the embassy is inconsistent with the course of the narrative; for the latter makes war upon them because their envoys make unsatisfactory offers to him. Probably the supporting of Niger by subjects of the Parthians and their concert with Niger’s Roman partisan are now strictly apprehended as a revolt from Severus; the circumstance that the people afterwards maintain that they had intended rather to support Severus, is clearly indicated as a makeshift. The Nisibenes may have refused to co-operate, and therefore have been attacked by the adherents of Niger. Thus is explained what is clear from the extract given by Xiphilinus from Dio, lxxv. 2, that the left bank of the Euphrates was for Severus an enemy’s land, but not Nisibis; therefore the town need not have been Roman at that time; on the contrary, according to all indications, it was only made Roman by Severus.