Tigranes II the Great

A modern artistic portrait of Tigranes the Great

Three daughters: Ariazate, Unnamed and Unnamed

**Tigranes II**, more commonly known as **Tigranes the Great** (140 – 55 BCE) was King of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, a vast empire, stretching from modern day Armenia to Israel. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King, and involving Armenia in many battles against opponents such as the Parthian and Seleucid empires.

## History

From Armenia (Artaxiad)#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, the forces of the Parthian King Orodes II managed to occupy all of Armenia, making it 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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