Armenia (Artaxiad)

Flag of the Artaxiad dynasty of Armenia

Artaxiad dynasty:

* 189 BCE

Later:

* Parthian

The  **Kingdom of Armenia**, also the **Kingdom of Greater Armenia**, or simply **Greater Armenia**, sometimes referred to as the **Armenian Empire**, was a monarchy in the Ancient Near East which existed from 321 BCE to 53 BCE. Its history is divided into successive reigns by three royal dynasties: Orontid (321 BCE–200 BCE), Artaxiad (189 BCE–53 BCE) and Arsacid (53 BCE–212 CE).

The root of the kingdom lies in one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia called Armenia (Satrapy of Armenia), which was formed from the territory of the **Kingdom of Ararat** (860 BCE–590 BCE) after it was conquered by the Median Empire in 590 BCE. The satrapy became a kingdom in 321 BCE during the reign of the Orontid dynasty after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, which was then incorporated as one of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Seleucid Empire.

Under the Seleucid Empire (312–83 BCE), the Armenian throne was divided in two – **Greater Armenia** and Sophene – both of which passed to members of the Artaxiad dynasty in 189 BCE. The Kingdom of Armenia, under Tigranes the Great, reached its peak, from 83 to 53 BCE, after it reincorporated Sophene and conquered the remaining territories of the falling Seleucid Empire, effectively ending its existence and raising Armenia into an empire for a brief period, until it was itself conquered by Parthia in 53 BCE. The Parthian King Orodes II, had put his younger son Phraates IV on the Armenian throne, ending the Artaxiad dynasty and beginning the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia.

## History

### Origins

The geographic Armenian Highlands, then known as the highlands of Ararat, were originally inhabited by Proto-Armenian tribes which did not yet constitute a unitary state or nation. The highlands were first united by tribes in the vicinity of Lake Van into the Kingdom of Van. The kingdom competed with Assyria over supremacy in the highlands of Ararat and the Fertile Crescent.

Both kingdoms fell to Iranian invaders from the neighbouring East (Medes, followed by Achaemenid Persians) in the 6th century BCE. Its territory was reorganized into a satrapy called Armenia. The Orontid dynasty ruled as satraps of the Achaemenid Empire for three centuries until the empire's defeat against Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE. After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, a Macedonian general named Neoptolemus obtained Armenia until he died in 321 BCE and the Orontids returned, not as satraps, but as kings.

### Orontid dynasty

In 301 BCE Armenia is included within the sphere of influence of the Seleucid Empire, but it maintained a considerable degree of autonomy, retaining its native rulers.

Orontes III and the ruler of Lesser Armenia, Mithridates, recognized themselves independent, thus elevating the former Armenian satrapy into a kingdom, giving birth to the kingdoms of Armenia and Lesser Armenia. Orontes III also defeated the Thessalian commander Menon, who wanted to capture Sper's gold mines.

In 227 BCE the Seleucid rebel king Antiochus Hierax took refuge in Armenian territory governed by King Arsames, founder of the city Arsamosata.

Weakened by the Seleucid Empire which succeeded the Macedonian Empire, the last Orontid king, Orontes IV, was overthrown in 200/201 BCE and the kingdom was taken over by a commander of the Seleucid Empire, Artashes I, who is presumed to be related to the Orontid dynasty himself.

### Artaxiad dynasty

Towards the end of 212 BCE the country was divided into two kingdoms, both vassal states of the Seleucids: **Greater Armenia** and Armenia Sophene, including Commagene or Armenia Minor. Antiochus III the Great decided to suppress the local dynasties, and besieged Arsamosata. Xerxes, the satrap of Sophene and Commagene, surrendered and implored the clemency of the king, whom he accepted as his sovereign. Antiochus gave his sister Antiochis as a wife to Xerxes; she would later murder him. Greater Armenia was ruled by an Orontid descendant of Hydarnes, the last Orontid ruler of Greater Armenia; he was apparently subdued by Antiochus III the Great, who then divided the land between his generals Artaxias and Zariadres, both of whom would claim descent from the Orontid family and would found the Artaxiad dynasty.

### Under Tigranes the Great

In approximately 120 BCE, the Parthian king Mithridates II (r. 121–91 BCE) invaded Armenia and made its king Artavasdes I acknowledge Parthian suzerainty. Artavasdes I was forced to give the Parthians Tigranes II, who was either his son or nephew, as a hostage. Tigranes II lived in the Parthian court at Ctesiphon, where he was schooled in Parthian culture. He remained a hostage at the Parthian court until 96/95 BCE, when Mithridates II released him and appointed him as the king of Armenia. Tigranes the Great ceded an area called "seventy valleys" in the Caspiane to Mithridates II, either as a pledge or because Mithridates II demanded it. Armenia would remain a Parthian vassal until the end of the 80s BCE.

When he came to power, the foundation upon which Tigranes was to build his Empire was already in place, a legacy of the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty, Artaxias I, and subsequent kings. The mountains of Armenia, however, formed natural borders between the different regions of the country and as a result, the feudalistic *nakharars* had significant influence over the regions or provinces in which they were based. This did not suit Tigranes, who wanted to create a centralist empire. He thus proceeded by consolidating his power within Armenia before embarking on his campaign.

He deposed Artanes, the last king of the Kingdom of Sophene and a descendant of Zariadres.

During the Mithridatic Wars, Tigranes supported Mithridates VI of Pontos, but was careful not to become directly involved in the war.

He rapidly built up his power and established an alliance with Mithridates VI, marrying his daughter Cleopatra. He agreed to extend his influence in the East, while Mithridates set to conquer land in Asia Minor and in Europe.

After the death of Mithridates II of Parthia in 91 BCE, Tigranes took advantage of the fact that the Parthian Empire had been weakened by Scythian invasions and internal crumbling.

In 83 BCE, after bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes the Great as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria. Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch. He then conquered Phoenicia and Cilicia, effectively putting an end to the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire, though a few holdout cities appear to have recognized the shadowy boy-king Seleucus VII Philometor as the legitimate king during his reign. The southern border of his domain reached as far as Ptolemais (modern Akko). Many of the inhabitants of conquered cities were sent to his new metropolis of Tigranocerta.

At its height, his empire extended from the Pontic Alps (in modern north-eastern Turkey) to Mesopotamia, and from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. A series of victories led him to assume the Achaemenid title of King of Kings, which even the Parthian kings did not assume, appearing on coins struck after 85 BCE. He was called "Tigranes the Great" by many Western historians and writers. The "King of Kings" never appeared in public without having four kings attending him.

Tigranes' coins consist of tetradrachms and copper coins having on the obverse his portrait wearing a decorated Armenian tiara with ear-flaps. The reverse has a completely original design. There are the seated Tyche of Antioch and the river god Orontes at her feet.

He continued to rule Armenia as an ally of Pontos until his death in 55 BCE, at the age of 85.

From 54-53 BCE, one year after Tigranes II's death, Parthian King Orodes II managed to occupy the entire region, reforming it into a client state of Parthia. Orodes II, had put his younger son, Phraates IV on the Armenian throne, ending the Artaxiad dynasty and beginning the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia.

## Source

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom\_of\_Armenia\_(antiquity)