Kee-Hyun Ban,
Korea Military Academy
Abstract
This study re-investigates Nero’s Armenian War of 54~63 CE and the Treaty of Rhandeia to highlight the geostrategic importance of Armenia in the context of the Roman strategy against Parthia. Firstly, I will summarize the old debate on the question whether there was the grand strategy on the part of the Roman Empire. Secondly, I will explain the processes of forcing the kingdom of Armenia to be situated in the contact zone (or the buffer zone) between the imperial powers of Rome and Parthia, and the crucial phases of Nero’s Armenian War during the first century CE. Thirdly, I discuss the strategic intent to conclude the Treaty of Rhandeia in 63 CE, which was followed by the coronation of Tiridates I by Nero at Rome in 66 CE.