| Tigran Yervanduni | |
|---|---|
 19th-century rendition of Tigranes | |
| King of Armenia | |
| Reign | 560 BC – 535 BC |
| Predecessor | Orontes I Sakavakyats |
| Dynasty | Orontid dynasty |
| Father | Orontes I Sakavakyats |
| Mother | Vanuhi |
Tigranes was an Orontid King of Armenia reigning in the period between 560–535 BC.
According to Moses of Khorene's "History of Armenia, during the reign of Tigranes (Tigran Yervanduni) the territory of Armenia spread for about 400.000 km2. Moses calls him "the wisest, most powerful and bravest of Armenian Kings". [1]
According to Herodotus it was Harpagus who overthrew Astyages with Cyrus, although Cyrus the Great allowed many kings to remain in power by providing tribute to him there. This is to be contrasted with an Armenian legend, which claims that the king of the Medes, Azhdahak (Astyages) dreamed that Tigranes would come to attack him and so plotted to bring about his downfall. War commenced and Tigranes killed Azhdahak and then married his widowed wife Anush (Aryenis).
Xenophon mentions the Armenian King Tigranes in his Cyropaedia , [2] where he states that he was an ally of Cyrus the Great. According to the Armenian author H. Khachatryan, they were hunting companions. Tigranes was a great archer and was always victorious over Cyrus. The latter once decided to organize a tournament in which the participants were to drink ten cups of wine before shooting. Cyrus and Tigranes drank the wine, but, after that, Cyrus the Great took a special herb to counteract the effects of the wine. Tigranes, however, did likewise, and then won the tournament. After that, Cyrus claimed: "No, wine can not win such men like us. No matter how much we drink, we do not get drunk. And I miss only two times of four and you didn't miss at all". [3]
Xenophon of Athens was an Athenian military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe flanking maneuvers and feints. Xenophon's Anabasis recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. Anabasis is a unique first-hand, humble, and self-reflective account of military leader's experience in antiquity. On the topic of campaigns in Asia Minor and in Babylon, Xenophon wrote Cyropaedia outlining both military and political methods used by Cyrus the Great to conquer the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. Anabasis and Cyropaedia inspired Alexander the Great and other Greeks to conquer Babylon and the Achaemenid Empire in 331 BC.
Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great was King of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state to Rome's east. 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, and the Roman Republic.
Tigranes is the classical Hellenized variant of the Armenian name Տիգրան or Դիկրան, normally transliterated into the English alphabet as Tigran, Dikran, or Dickran. This was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of Armenia.
Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great, and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire.
The Cyropaedia, sometimes spelled Cyropedia, is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athenian-born soldier, historian, and student of Socrates. The Latinized title Cyropaedia derives from Greek Kúrou paideía, meaning "The Education of Cyrus". Aspects of it would become a model for medieval writers of the genre known as mirrors for princes. In turn it was a strong influence upon the most well-known but atypical of these, Machiavelli's The Prince, which was an important influence in the rejection of medieval political thinking, and the development of modern politics. However, unlike most "mirrors of princes", whether or not the Cyropaedia was really intended to describe an ideal ruler is a subject of debate.
Mandana of Media was a Shahbanu of Media and, later, the Queen consort of Cambyses I of Anshan and mother of Cyrus the Great, ruler of Persia's Achaemenid Empire.
Astyages was the last king of the Median Empire, r. 585–550 BC, the son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great.
Ariobarzanes, sometimes known as Ariobarzanes I of Cius, was a Persian Satrap of Phrygia and military commander, leader of an independence revolt, and the first known of the line of rulers of the Greek town of Cius from which were eventually to stem the kings of Pontus in the 3rd century BCE. Ariobarzanes was apparently a cadet member of the Achaemenid dynasty, possibly son of Pharnabazus II, and part of the Pharnacid dynasty which had settled to hold Dascylium of Hellespont in the 470s BCE. Cius is located near Dascylium, and Cius seemingly was a share of family holdings for the branch of Ariobarzanes.
The Median dynasty, also known as the Cyaxarid dynasty, was, according to Herodotus, a dynasty composed of four kings who ruled for 150 years under the Median Empire. If Herodotus' story is true, the Medes were unified by a man named Deioces, the first of the four kings who would rule the Medo Empire, a mighty empire that included large parts of Iran and eastern of Anatolia.
Media is a region of north-western Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Medes. During the Achaemenid period, it comprised present-day Azarbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan and western Tabaristan. As a satrapy under Achaemenid rule, it would eventually encompass a wider region, stretching to southern Dagestan in the north. However, after the wars of Alexander the Great, the northern parts were separated due to the Partition of Babylon and became known as Atropatene, while the remaining region became known as Lesser Media.
The Artaxiad dynasty or Ardaxiad dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in AD 12. Their realm included Greater Armenia, Sophene and intermittently Lesser Armenia and parts of Mesopotamia. Their main enemies were the Romans, the Seleucids and the Parthians, against whom the Armenians had to conduct multiple wars.
The Orontid dynasty, also known by their native name Eruandid or Yervanduni, was a hereditary dynasty that ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321BC to 200BC.
The Satrapy of Armenia, a region controlled by the Orontid dynasty, was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC that later became an independent kingdom. Its capitals were Tushpa and later Erebuni.
Cyaxares II was said to be a king of the Medes whose reign is described by the Greek historian Xenophon. Some theories have equated this figure with the "Darius the Mede" named in the Book of Daniel. He is not mentioned in the histories of Herodotus or Ctesias, and many scholars doubt that he actually existed. The question of his existence impacts on whether the kingdom of the Medes merged peacefully with that of the Persians in about 537 BC, as narrated by Xenophon, or was subjugated in the rebellion of the Persians against Cyrus' grandfather in 559 BC, a date derived from Herodotus (1.214) and almost universally accepted by current scholarship.
The History of Armenia attributed to Movses Khorenatsi is an early account of Armenia, covering the legendary origins of the Armenian people as well as Armenia's interaction with Sassanid, Byzantine and Arsacid empires down to the 5th century.
The Fall of Babylon denotes the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire after it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BCE. Historians also use the term Liberation of Babylonia interchangeably.
Orontes I Sakavakyats was the first Orontid king of Armenia, reigning in the period between 570 BC – 560 BC.
Orontes I or Yervand I was a Bactrian nobleman, who ruled as satrap of the Achaemenid satrapy of Armenia from 401 to 344 BC. He is regarded as the ancestor of the Orontid dynasty.
The Achaemenid Kingdom refers to the pre-imperial history of the Achaemenid dynasty. The first king of the kingdom was Achaemenes, who was the forefather of the Achamenids, and also gave his name to the dynasty. The Achaemenid kingdom was the ruling kingdom of Persia and Anshan.
The Harran Stela was discovered in 1956 in the ruins of Harran, in what is now southeast Turkey. It consists of two parts, both of which show, at the top, Nabonidus worshipping symbols of the Sun, Ishtar, and the moon-god Sin. The stela is significant as a genuine text from Nabonidus that demonstrates his adoration of these deities, especially of Sin, which was a departure from the traditional Babylonian exaltation of Marduk as the chief god of the heavenly pantheon. According to Paul-Alain Beaulieu, the Stela was composed in the latter part of his reign, probably the fourteenth or fifteenth year, i.e. 542–540 BC.
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