Rhadamistus

Rhadamistus (died 58) was a royal prince of the Pharnavazid dynasty of the Iberia who reigned over the Kingdom of Armenia from 51 to 53 and 54 to 55. He was considered a usurper and tyrant, who was overthrown in a rebellion supported by the Parthian Empire.

==Life== Rhadamistus was the eldest son of King Pharasmanes I of Iberia. His mother, whose name is not preserved, was an Armenian princess of the Artaxiad dynasty, daughter of Tigranes IV and his sister-wife Erato. Rhadamistus was known for his ambition, valor, extraordinary strength and size of body, and good looks. Although the Kingdom of Iberia was too small to satisfy him on its own, he was nonetheless openly impatient to inherit it from his aging father. Pharasmanes, fearing an attempt to usurp the throne, diverted Rhadamistus by convincing him to conquer the Kingdom of Armenia, then ruled by Pharasmanes' brother Mithridates. To conduct reconnaissance, Rhadamistus pretended that he was at feud with his father and stepmother and went to the court of Mithridates, who received him like a son and with an excessive kindness. Rhadamistus completed his inspection, declared that he had reconciled with his father, and returned to Iberia to set war plans in motion. Meanwhile Pharasmanes had invented a pretext for war: when he was fighting with the king of the Caucasian Albanians and appealing to the Romans for help, his brother had opposed him, and the conflict was to be called revenge for that opposition.