Tiridates III
flourished 1st century AD
grandson of the Parthian king Phraates IV and an unsuccessful contender for the Parthian throne. He was captured by the Romans, taken to Rome as a hostage, and educated there. In AD 35 the Roman emperor Tiberius sent him and an army under Lucius Vitellius, governor of Syria, against the Parthian ruler Artabanus III, hoping to place Tiridates on the Parthian throne. The Romans entered Seleucia, and Tiridates was crowned king. In 36, however, Artabanus III returned to Mesopotamia, and Tiridates fled to Syria.