Pacorus I of Parthia

Who was Pacorus I of Parthia?

Pacorus I of Parthia was the son of king Orodes II and queen Laodice of the Parthian Empire. It is possible that he was co-ruler with his father for at least part of his father's reign. His wife was an unnamed Armenian princess, who was one of the daughters of King Tigranes the Great of Armenia and his wife, Queen Cleopatra of Pontus.

Following the defeat of the Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, Pacorus launched an invasion of Syria in 51 BC, briefly conquering the Roman territory before being driven out by Cassius.

Pacorus invaded Syria again in 40 BC in alliance with the Roman rebel Quintus Labienus. The Roman garrisons defected to Labienus and the combined armies defeated the forces of the Roman governor Decidius Saxa, who lost most of his troops and several aquilae as he retreated to Antioch. With the Roman forces routed, Pacorus and Labienus occupied the whole of Palestine and Anatolia, with the exception of a few cities that held out, including Tyre. In Judea, Pacorus deputy Barzapharnes deposed king Hyrcanus II and appointed his nephew Antigonus king in his place.

In 39 BC, a Roman counterattack under Publius Ventidius Bassus killed Labienus in a battle in the Taurus Mountains and recovered Anatolia. Pacorus returned to Syria in 38 BC, but was killed in the Battle of Mount Gindarus, in the region of Cyrrhestica.