Farhad IV Murdered

Farhad IV of Parthia was poisoned by his Italian wife Musa and her younger son. Farhad IV ascended the throne in 37 B.C. after his brother's death. He then killed his father and 30 of his brothers, seen as rivals. In 36 B.C. the Roman general Marc Anthony invaded Parthia but he was defeated in Atropatene and was forced to retreat. In 32 B.C. a peace treaty was accorded between the Roman and Parthian empires by which Farhad agreed to give back prisoners, and conquered eagles. Farhad also recognized the kingdom of Armenia as a Roman dependency in exchange for some concessions; including a beautiful Italian girl named Musa who became Farhad's favorite concubine. This was the way the Roman emperor Augustus somehow succeeded in infiltrating the Parthian court. Farhad soon fell in love with Musa and became a toy in her hand. Musa convinced Farhad to send 5 of his elder sons as hostages to Augustus thus acknowledging his dependence on Rome. Musa became his legitimate wife under the name "The goddess Musa".
After eliminating the rivals and achieving some legitimacy, Musa and her son poisoned the king and blamed the incident on the bad luck due to 13th of Farvardin. This was the first time in Iran that people were acquainted with such a superstition. Musa's son ascended the throne as Farhad V, but when he married his own mother and coins were minted with Musa's picture as co-ruler and a Greek sentence "queen, goddess in heaven"; this was unacceptable by Parthians and they were overthrown and slain, then the throne was offered to Orodes III. (Updated: Mar, 31, 2008)

• Atropatene: آتروپاتن(Azarbaijan, آذربايجان)
• Farvardin: فروردين
• Greek: يوناني
• Marc Anthony: مارک آنتوني
• Musa: موسي(Thermusa ، ترموسا ، ترموزا)
• Orodes: ارد
• Parthia: پارت
• Parthian: اشکاني(پارتي)
• Rome: رم