Artaxias I
In 189 BC, when the Kingdom of Armenia was re-established by the Artaxiad dynasty, Artsakh became part of the new Armenian state. Strabo reports that King Artaxias I of Armenia (189 BC – 159 BC) expanded his state in all directions at the expense of his neighbors . At this time, he conquered from the lands of Caspiane, before that ruled by the Medes, and "Phaunitis" (supposedly a copyist error for Saunities, i.e. Siwnik), Utik and possibly the unnamed land of Artsakh, lying between Syunik and the Caspian Sea. However it is possible that Artsakh had earlier been part of Orontid Armenia in the 4th–2nd centuries BC rather than under Median rule.