-Nero was the new princeps, so Rome's enemies decided to test him to see what he was made of!
-The Parthians began to escalate tensions in Armenia, which would eventually result in an all-out-war between Rome and Parthia.
-Since the time of Augustus, Rome had worked out a deal to where they got to appoint Armenia's king, but the problems started in 51 AD when King Mithridates was usurped by his nephew Rhadamistus.
-However, Rhadamistus was a lousy ruler and the Armenians hated him, so the Parthian king Vologases I decided to use this opportunity to take Armenia away from Rome by using the oppression of the Armenian people as an excuse to invade.
-The Parthians successfully invaded Armenia, and Vologases I installed his brother, Tiridates I, on the throne. After a few years of back-and-forth fighting between Rhadamistus and Tiridates I, the latter finally secured support from the Armenian public, and the Parthians ended up dominating Armenia.
-This all happened around the time of the death of Claudius and the succession of Nero, so Nero saw this as a major test for him to see if he could handle the pressure of global politics.
-To take on the Parthians, Nero selected a Roman general named Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, an en experienced military leader who had spent much time fighting Germanic tribes under Caligula and Claudius.
-Nero appointed him to be governor of both Cappadocia (modern-day eastern Turkey) and Galatia (modern-day central Turkey), as well as eventually consul (and proconsul after that).
-Corbulo began to raise and train an army while he was governor of these provinces.
-58 AD- Corbulo divided his army into a bunch of small detachments and began to attack the Armenian/Parthian forces along the Armenian border.
-Tridates I agreed to finally sue for peace with Rome, but secretly planned on ambushing the Roman army with a large army of his own. However, he was outnumbered, so instead he opted for trying to fuck with the Roman supply lines instead (which, after all, had worked in the past (e.g. when the Parthians were fighting against Marc Antony). Unfortunately for the Parthians, Corbulo had studied history enough to prepare for this kind of strategy, and Tiridates I's plan didn't work.
-Finally, Corbulo gathered his forces and made a hard push into Armenia, driving Tiridates I out of the Armenian capital of Artashat and razing the city! Corbulo then pushed south to Tigranocerta, Armenia's second capital city (where Tiridates I had fled)
-According to legend, when Corbulo besieged Tigranocerta, he had the head of an Armenian assassin (who had attempted to kill him) launched into the city, showing the Armenians what happened when you fucked with Rome! Thus, the city quickly surrendered.
-Tiridates I ended up fleeing again, and since he didn't really have much power in the kingdom anymore the Romans crowned Tigranes VI the new king of Armenia.
-Corbulo was then hailed as a hero back home and was appointed governorship of Syria as a reward for his victories.
-61 AD- Corbulo had easily achieved victory in Armenia because the Parthians had been completely distracted due to internal conflicts and other shit, but had finally gotten their shit together and were now prepared to truly take Rome on.
-Rome got really pissed off when they found out that Tigranes VI had started to take advantage of Rome's backing by invading some Parthian territory.
-Obviously, the Parthians had accepted the situation in Armenia, but Armenians invading into Parthian territory was unacceptable, and they immediately announced that Tiridates I was still the rightful king of Armenia and that Tigranes VI was an illegitimate usurper. The Parthians then invaded Armenia but ultimately reached a stalemate because they couldn't break through the Roman garrisons.
-Corbulo eventually met with Vologases I (king of Parthia) to work out some sort of a deal, but they ended up not being able to work anything out.
-62 AD- Nero had Corbulo return to defend Syria from Parthia, and appointed Lucius Caessennius Paetus as the new commander of the Roman legions there.
-Paetus took two legions and marched on Tigranocerta, but stalled due to technical problems involving winter and supply lines. On the way, however, Paetus had won some minor victories, which lulled him into a false sense of security.
-63 AD- seeing what was happening, Vologases I decided to abandon his plans for invading Syria and instead concentrated on defending Armenia. However, due to incompetence, Paetus was spread very thin, so when the Parthians attacked the Roman-occupied territory in Armenia, Paetus panicked and called in Corbulo for help. Unfortunately, for Paetus, Corbulo hated him, so Corbulo wasn't exactly speedy when he sent reinforcements to Armenia. When Corbulo's forces did arrive, however, Paetus had already surrendered and agreed to embarassing terms for Rome! Paetus then wanted Corbulo to continue fighting, but Corbulo refused and marched back to Syria.
-Humiliated, Rome recalled Paetus and appointed Corbulo as commander of all of Rome's eastern forces, determined this time to put the Parthians in their place once and for all!
-Fearing to fuck around with Corbulo, Vologases I immediately sued for peace with Rome. Rome agreed, and a new deal was worked out- the Parthians got to appoint the Armenian king, but the Romans had veto power.
-66 AD- Tiridates I traveled to Rome to be crowned by Nero in a symbolic act that would show good will towards the Romans from the Parthians. However, critics felt that this was embarrassing for Rome because it conceded power to the Parthians, but supporters believed that it was smart because it avoided all out war with the Parthians, which would have probably been an absolute disaster.
-Meanwhile in Britannia, a revolt against the Romans started up, led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe.
-60/61 AD- King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe in Britannia died and was replaced by his wife, Queen Boudica, as ruler of the tribe.
-The Iceni were a Celtic tribe who lived in what is now modern-day Norfolk, England. They were either one of the 11 Celtic tribes in Britannia that had surrendered to the Romans, or they had somehow worked out a deal to remain independent (but peaceful).
-When King Prasutagus died, he left his inheritance to his wife and family, and specifically had noted that his wife, Queen Boudica, was to rule the tribe after he was gone (with Rome as their overlords, of course).
-Unfortunately, Rome didn't recognize Boudica's legitimacy, so they decided just to annex the Iceni lands into the empire.
-Expecting resistance, the Roman army came in to occupy the land. To show their dominance, they had Boudica flogged while her daughters were gang-raped by Roman soldiers.
-Boudica, naturally, was obviously extremely fucking pissed off after this.
-During this time the Romans, led by General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, were busy fighting Celtic hordes in Wales, so Boudica decided to strike while they were distracted and divided. She first attacked the Romans at Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester, Essex), the original HQ of Rome's forces in Britannia.
-A battle ensued, and Boudica's forces ended up destroying the city and killing all of the Romans stationed there.
-The 9th Legion showed up just in time to find Boudica's forces finishing up, and a battle was fought- the Romans were completely slaughtered by the furious Britannic horde. Because of this, Suetonius immediately recalled his forces from Wales to defend Londinium (modern-day London) but found the city to be poorly fortified and decided to try and find another place to hunker down in.
-However, eventually Boudica and her forces arrived and they smashed the city! After Londinium, her army went on to destroy Verulamium (modern-day St. Albans). After her string of victories, other Britannic tribes began to flock to her horde. It was looking pretty grim for the Romans...
-In a last ditch attempt to salvage the situation, Suetonius gathered about 10,000 men (which included legions and other random troops). Against them was Boudica and her horde, which possibly included hundreds of thousands of warriors!
-Suetonius was holed up in the West Midlands, trying to find the best place to defend. Thus ensued what is today known as the Battle of Watling Street, which took place somewhere in the West Midlands. It was a huge battle between the small Roman force and the enormous Britannic horde.
-Surprisingly, the Romans won!! Allegedly, they slaughtered tens of thousands of Britannic barbarians with only a few hundred men themselves. Boudica's rebellion was crushed.
-Meanwhile...trouble was stirring the province of Judea...
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