| Tigranes IV | |
|---|---|
 Coin of Tigranes IV, minted during his second reign | |
| King of Armenia | |
| Reign | 8–5 BC and 2 BC–AD 1 [1] (replaced by Artavasdes III from 5 to 2 BC) |
| Predecessor | Tigranes III |
| Successor | Ariobarzanes II |
| Co-ruler | Erato of Armenia |
| Died | 1 AD |
| Spouse | Erato of Armenia |
| Dynasty | Artaxiad |
| Father | Tigranes III |
Tigranes IV (30s BC–1) [2] was a prince of the Kingdom of Armenia and member of the Artaxiad dynasty who served as a Roman client king of Armenia from 8 BC until 5 BC and 2 BC until 1 AD. [3]
Tigranes IV was the son born to Tigranes III by an unnamed mother. [4] His known sibling was his younger paternal half-sister Erato who was born to another unnamed woman. [4] Although Tigranes IV was the namesake of his father, the name Tigranes was the most common royal name in the Artaxiad dynasty and was among the most ancient names of the Armenian Kings. [5] Tigranes IV was born and raised either in Rome where his father lived in political exile for 10 years [6] from 30 BC until 20 BC or during his father's Kingship of Armenia in which he ruled from 20 BC until 8 BC. [3]
Tigranes III died before 8 BC. [7] In 8 BC, the Armenians installed Tigranes IV as King as the successor to his father. [2] In accordance with Oriental custom [4] or Hellenistic custom, Tigranes IV married his sister Erato in order to preserve the purity of the Artaxiad royal blood line. Erato through marriage to her brother, became queen [4] and his queen consort. [8] From their sibling union at an unknown date, Erato bore Tigranes IV an unnamed daughter who later married King Pharasmanes I of Iberia who ruled from 1 until 58, and by whom he had three sons: Mithridates I of Iberia, Rhadamistus and Amazaspus (Amazasp) who is known from a Greek inscription found in Rome.
Although Tigranes IV and Erato were Roman client monarchs governing Armenia, they were both anti-Roman and were not the choices of the Roman emperor Augustus [9] for the Armenian throne, as their dual rule did not have Roman approval and they leaned towards Parthia for support. [10]
Rome and Parthia competed with one another for their protégés to have influence and govern Armenia. [11] Roman historian of the 4th century Sextus Rufus informs us that anti-Roman sentiment was building in Armenia during the reign of Tigranes IV and Erato. Rufus also emphasizes that the Kingdom of Armenia was very strong during this period.
The dispossessed and the discontent of the ruling Artaxiad monarchs and their subjects towards ancient Rome had instigated war with the aid of King Phraates V of Parthia. To avoid a full-scale war with Rome, Phraates V soon ceased his support to the Armenian ruling monarchs. This lead Tigranes IV and Erato, acknowledging Roman suzerainty; [10] sending their good wishes and submission to Rome. [12] Augustus receiving their submission to Rome and good wishes, allowed them to remain in power. [12]
Tigranes IV issued bronze coins with portraits of himself with Augustus with the inscription in Greek βασιλεύς μέγας νέος Τιγράνης (of great new king Tigranes), also issued coins shared by Erato with the inscription in Greek Έρατω βασιλέως Τιγράνου άδελφή (Erato, sister of King Tigranes). [13] Other coinage Tigranes IV and Erato issued together, is a portrait of Tigranes IV heavily bearded with Erato with the Greek legend great king, Tigranes. [7]
Sometime about 1 AD Tigranes IV was killed in battle, [14] perhaps ending an internal Armenian revolt [15] of those who were infuriated by the royal couple becoming allies to Rome. The war and the chaos that occurred afterwards, Erato abdicated her throne and ended her rule over Armenia. [16]
From the situation surrounding Tigranes IV and Erato, the Armenians requested to Augustus, a new Armenian king. [14] Augustus found and appointed Ariobarzanes as the new king of Armenia [14] in 1 AD (or 2). Ariobarzanes through his father was a distant relative of the Artaxiad dynasty as he was a descendant of an unnamed Artaxiad princess who was a sister of King Artavasdes II of Armenia who married Ariobarzanes' paternal ancestor Mithridates, a previous ruling king of Media Atropatene. [17]
Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, or simply Greater Armenia sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire, was a kingdom in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into the successive reigns of three royal dynasties: Orontid, Artaxiad and Arsacid (52–428).
Phraates IV was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II, and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. Phraates IV soon murdered all his brothers, and also possibly his father. His actions alienated the Armenians and also some of his nobles, including the distinguished Monaeses, who fled to the Roman triumvir Mark Antony, but shortly returned and reconciled with Phraates IV.
Orodes II, 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.
Artavasdes II was king of Armenia from 55 BC to 34 BC. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he was the son and successor of Tigranes the Great, who ascended the throne of a still powerful and independent state. His mother was Cleopatra of Pontus, thus making his maternal grandfather the prominent Pontus king Mithridates VI Eupator. Like his father, Artavasdes continued using the title of King of Kings, as seen from his coins.
Musa, also known as Thea Musa, was a ruling queen of the Parthian Empire from 2 BC to 4 AD. Originally an Italian slave-girl, she was given as a gift to the Parthian monarch Phraates IV by the Roman Emperor Augustus. She quickly became queen and a favourite of Phraates IV, giving birth to Phraataces. In 2 BC, she had Phraates IV poisoned and made herself, along with Phraates V, the co-rulers of the empire. Their reign was short-lived; they were forced to flee to Rome after being deposed by the Parthian nobility, who crowned Orodes III as king.
Artaxias II, also known as Artaxes II and Artashes was a prince of the Kingdom of Armenia, member of the Artaxiad dynasty and King of Armenia from 34 BC until 20 BC.
Archelaus was a Roman client prince and the last king of Cappadocia. He was also husband of Pythodorida, Queen regnant of Pontus.
The Artaxiad dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in 12 AD. 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 conducted multiple wars.
Erato was a queen of Armenia from the Artaxiad dynasty. She co-ruled as Roman client queen in 8–5 BC and 2 BC–AD 1 with Tigranes IV. After living in political exile for a number of years, she co-ruled as Roman client queen from 6 until 12 with Tigranes V, her distant paternal relative and possible second husband. She may be viewed as one of the last hereditary rulers of her nation.
Tigranes I was an Artaxiad king of Armenia at the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century BC. Few records have survived about his and his predecessor Artavasdes I's reign, which has led to some confusion. Some modern scholars have doubted that such a king reigned at all. Other historians, such as Hakob Manandian, David Marshall Lang and Rouben Paul Adalian consider him a real figure but differ or are uncertain on the exact dates of his reign. Although it has been proposed that Tigranes I reigned from 123 BC to 96 BC, this view has been criticized. Another suggestion is that Tigranes I ruled in 120 BC - 95 BC and this has been recently corroborated by historian Christian Marek.
Tigranes III was a prince of the Kingdom of Armenia and member of the Artaxiad dynasty who served as a Roman client king of Armenia.
The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) under Andragoras, who was rebelling against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes was a Herodian prince and served as a Roman client king of Armenia in the 1st century.
Tigranes V, also known as Tigran V was a Herodian prince who ruled as a Roman client king of Armenia from 6 AD to 12 AD.
Artavasdes IV of Armenia; also known as Artavasdes II of Atropatene; Artavasdes II of Media Atropatene and Armenia Major; Artavasdes II, and Artavasdes was an Iranian prince who served as King of Media Atropatene. During his reign of Media Atropatene, Artavasdes also served as a Roman Client King of Armenia Major.
Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene, also known as Artavasdes I of Atropatene and Artabazus, was a prince who served as a king of Media Atropatene. Artavasdes I was an enemy of King Artavasdes II of Armenia and his son Artaxias II. He was a contemporary with the Ptolemaic Greek Queen Cleopatra VII and Roman Triumvir Mark Antony, as Artavasdes I was mentioned in their diplomatic affairs.
Mithridates I of Media Atropatene, sometimes known as Mithridates I and Mithridates of Media was a king of Media Atropatene.
Ariobarzanes II of Atropatene also known as Ariobarzanes of Media; Ariobarzanes of Armenia; Ariobarzanes II; Ariobarzanes II of Media Atropatene and Ariobarzanes was king of Media Atropatene who ruled sometime from 28 BC to 20 BC until 4 and was appointed by the Roman emperor Augustus to serve as a Roman client king of Armenia from 2 AD until 4.
Artavasdes III was a king of the Kingdom of Armenia who ruled from 5 to 2 BC. He may have been a son of the Artavasdes II of Armenia, thus a brother of Artaxias II and Tigranes III and an uncle of Tigranes IV. Augustus had commanded the enthronement of Artavasdes III as Armenian king, or soon after, in the effort to supplant Tigranes IV and Erato. Artavasdes was forcibly driven out, presumably by supporters of Tigranes IV backed by Parthia.
Augustus' Eastern Policy represents the political-strategic framework of the eastern imperial borders of the Roman Empire at the time of Augustus' principate, following the occupation of Egypt at the end of the civil war between Octavian and Mark Antony.