Well, I'm going into more detail now, at least for this particular part. So this entry won't be an entire reign of the current Emperor.
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Decimus Viridius Aurelius Cosmianus' principate lasted from AD 115 to AD 134. The majority of his reign would be consumed by the war with Parthia, lasting from AD 118 to AD 132.
The war came about for a variety of reasons, the most important of which were the Parthian's fear of losing control over the trade routes between Rome and Serica, and a dispute over the succession of the Armenian throne. As the Han and Roman Empires worked out various trade treaties, they began to look for ways to circumvent the Parthians, who had grown rich simply by being in between the two Empires. Cosmianus had been sending out exploratory fleets around Africa and Arabia, in the hopes of replacing the land route through Parthia with a sea route. He even considered sending ships west, and reach Serica that way, but that plan was eventually deemed unfeasible. Still, it was only a matter of time before the Parthians lost complete control of the silk trade. So Parthia wanted to ensure its safety from Rome, and Rome (and to a slightly lesser degree, the Han) wanted to eliminate Parthia from the silk trade.
Then, in Armenia, disaster struck. Armenia was the main buffer state between Rome and Parthia, sometimes siding with one, sometimes the other. In the year 116, the Armenian king Arsaces I died without an heir. The nation was under the influence of Parthia at the time, so a Parthian candidate,Tiridates, who happened to the nephew of the Parthian King, Osroes. This was an intolerable situation for Rome, as it could lead to Armenia becoming integrated into the Parthian Empire. So, in AD 118, the Roman Empire went to war with the Parthians, and the fate of the world changed forever.
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Aren't cliffhangers a bitch?
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Decimus Viridius Aurelius Cosmianus' principate lasted from AD 115 to AD 134. The majority of his reign would be consumed by the war with Parthia, lasting from AD 118 to AD 132.
The war came about for a variety of reasons, the most important of which were the Parthian's fear of losing control over the trade routes between Rome and Serica, and a dispute over the succession of the Armenian throne. As the Han and Roman Empires worked out various trade treaties, they began to look for ways to circumvent the Parthians, who had grown rich simply by being in between the two Empires. Cosmianus had been sending out exploratory fleets around Africa and Arabia, in the hopes of replacing the land route through Parthia with a sea route. He even considered sending ships west, and reach Serica that way, but that plan was eventually deemed unfeasible. Still, it was only a matter of time before the Parthians lost complete control of the silk trade. So Parthia wanted to ensure its safety from Rome, and Rome (and to a slightly lesser degree, the Han) wanted to eliminate Parthia from the silk trade.
Then, in Armenia, disaster struck. Armenia was the main buffer state between Rome and Parthia, sometimes siding with one, sometimes the other. In the year 116, the Armenian king Arsaces I died without an heir. The nation was under the influence of Parthia at the time, so a Parthian candidate,Tiridates, who happened to the nephew of the Parthian King, Osroes. This was an intolerable situation for Rome, as it could lead to Armenia becoming integrated into the Parthian Empire. So, in AD 118, the Roman Empire went to war with the Parthians, and the fate of the world changed forever.
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Aren't cliffhangers a bitch?