Orodes II (also spelled Urud II; Wērōd), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 57 BC to 37 BC. He was a son of Phraates III, whom he murdered in 57 BC, assisted by his elder brother Mithridates IV. The two brothers quickly fell out and entered into a dynastic struggle, in which Orodes was triumphant. Meanwhile, the Roman general and triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus had made an attempt to extend his share of Roman territory by eastward conquest. This attempt proved disastrous, with Crassus meeting his end in 53 BC, in the Battle of Carrhae, by Orodes' general Surena. Orodes himself had invaded Armenia and forced king Artavasdes II () to submit and abandon his alliance with the Romans. The victory at Carrhae secured for the Parthians the countries east of the Euphrates. Then, the next year they invaded Syria, but with little success. Surena, whose achievements had made him too dangerous, was killed by Orodes, and Pacorus I, the son and heir of the king was defeated by Cassius in 51 BC. During the Roman Republican civil wars, the Parthians sided first with Pompey and then with Brutus and Cassius, but took no action until 40 BC, when Pacorus, assisted by the Roman deserter Quintus Labienus, conquered a great part of Syria and Asia Minor, but was defeated and killed by Ventidius in 38 BC. Orodes, who was deeply afflicted by the death of his favourite son, relinquished the throne to his son Phraates IV, and died soon afterward. Name Orōdēs () is the Greek version of the Middle Iranian Wērōd/Urūd (). The etymology of the name is disputed. The Modern Persian version is Viru (). Background Orodes was born in the 70s BC, if not earlier. He was a son of Phraates III (), who was a son of Sinatruces (), himself presumably a son of the Parthian ruler Mithridates I (). The name of the Arsacid branch established by Sinatruces on the Parthian throne has been coined by the modern historian Marek Jan Olbrycht as the "Sinatrucids", which ruled the Parthian Empire from 78/77 BC until 12 AD. During his father's reign, Orodes seemingly enjoyed close connections with the eastern part of the Parthian realm, specifically with the House of Suren, and possibly also with the Indo-Scythians. He seemingly married (possibly even before enthronement) an Indo-Scythian princess, who bore Phraates (Phraates IV). Orodes' eldest