This article is about a king of Armenia in the 1st century BC. For other historical figures with the same name (including other kings of Armenia), see Tigranes.
Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (Tigran Mets in Armenian;[5][a][b] 140–55 BC), was a king of Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries and reached its peak, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King or King of Kings. His empire for a short time was the most powerful state to the east of the Roman Republic. The appearance of Halley's comet during his reign, as depicted on the rare series of Tigranes's coins,[8] was seen as an auspicious sign.[9]
Armenia came into direct conflict with Rome after Mithridates VI was forced to seek refuge in Tigranes' court. In 69 BC, Tigranes was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tigranocerta by a Roman army under the command of Lucullus, and a year later he met another major defeat at Artaxata, the old Armenian capital. The recall of Lucullus gave Tigranes a brief respite, but in 66 BC Armenia faced another Roman invasion led by Pompey, aided by Tigranes' own son, Tigranes the Younger. Tigranes chose to surrender and was allowed to retain the heartland of his kingdom as a Roman buffer state, while all of his conquests were annexed. He continued to rule Armenia as a client-king of Rome until his death around 55 BC at the age of 85.
Early years
In approximately 120 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates II (r.124–91BC) invaded Armenia and made its king Artavasdes I acknowledge Parthian suzerainty.[10] Artavasdes I was forced to give the Parthians Tigranes, who was either his son or nephew, as a hostage.[10][11] Tigranes lived in the Parthian court at Ctesiphon, where he was schooled in Parthian culture.[12] Tigranes remained a hostage at the Parthian court until c.96/95 BC, when Mithridates II released him and appointed him as the king of Armenia.[13][14] Tigranes ceded an area called "seventy valleys" in the Caspiane to Mithridates II, either as a pledge or because Mithridates II demanded it.[15] Tigranes' daughter Ariazate had also married a son of Mithridates II, which has been suggested by the modern historian Edward Dąbrowa to have taken place shortly before he ascended the Armenian throne as a guarantee of his loyalty.[14] Tigranes would remain a Parthian vassal until the late 80s BC.[16]
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 centralized empire. He thus proceeded by consolidating his power within Armenia before embarking on his campaign.[17]
He rapidly built up his power and established an alliance with Mithridates VI, marrying his daughter Cleopatra. Tigranes agreed to extend his influence in the East, while Mithridates set to conquer Roman land in Asia Minor and in Europe. By creating a stronger Hellenistic state, Mithridates was to contend with the well-established Roman foothold in Europe.[17] Mithridates executed a planned general attack on Romans and Italians in Asia Minor, tapping into local discontent with the Romans and their taxes and urging the peoples of Asia Minor to raise against foreign influence. The slaughter of 80,000 people in the province of Asia Minor was known as the Asiatic Vespers. The two kings' attempts to control Cappadocia and then the massacres resulted in guaranteed Roman intervention. The senate decided that Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was then one of the consuls, would command the army against Mithridates.[19]
René Grousset remarked that in their alliance Mithridates was somewhat subservient to Tigranes.[20]
Wars against Roman and Parthian client kingdoms
Tigranes the Great's Armenian Empire: Countries, composing parts of the Empire
...At first he had served as a hostage among the Parthians; then by their means he returned to his country, in compensation for which service they obtained seventy valleys in Armenia. When he acquired power, he recovered these valleys, and devastated the country of the Parthians, the territory about Ninus, and that about Arbela.
After the death of Mithridates II of Parthia his son Gotarzes I succeeded him.[21] This was disputed by Sinatruces which caused a Parthian civil war. Tigranes, with Rome involved in a Social War and Parthia involved in a succession dispute, quickly invaded Cappadocia but was forced out by the Roman consulSulla. Between 88 and 85 BC, he retook Adiabene, Gordyene, and Media Atropatene.[11]
In 83 BC, after bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria.[22] Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch.[23] 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 was contemporaneously being used by the Parthian kings, appearing on coins struck after 85 BC.[24] He was called "Tigranes the Great" by many Western historians and writers, such as Plutarch. The "King of Kings" never appeared in public without having four kings attending him. Cicero, referring to his success in the east, said that he "made the Republic of Rome tremble before the prowess of his arms."[25]
...For though he had started on his career with small and insignificant expectations, he had subdued many nations, humbled the Parthian power as no man before him had done, and filled Mesopotamia with Greeks whom he removed in great numbers from Cilicia and from Cappadocia, and settled anew. He also removed from their wonted haunts the nomadic Arabians, and brought them to an adjacent settlement, that he might employ them in trade and commerce.Many were the kings who waited upon him, and four, whom he always had about him like attendants or body-guards, would run on foot by their master's side when he rode out, clad in short blouses, and when he sat transacting business, would stand by with their arms crossed.
A 19th-century illustration of Tigranes with four vassal kings
Mithridates VI of Pontus had found refuge in Armenian land after confronting Rome, considering the fact that Tigranes was his ally and relative. The King of Kings eventually came into direct contact with Rome. The Roman commander, Lucullus, demanded the expulsion of Mithridates from Armenia – to comply with such a demand would be, in effect, to accept the status of vassal to Rome and thus Tigranes refused.[26]Charles Rollin, in his Ancient History, says:
Tigranes, to whom Lucullus had sent an ambassador, though of no great power in the beginning of his reign, had enlarged it so much by a series of successes, of which there are few examples, that he was commonly surnamed "King of Kings." After having overthrown and almost ruined the family of the kings, successors of the great Seleucus; after having very often humbled the pride of the Parthians, transported whole cities of Greeks into Media, conquered all Syria and Palestine, and given laws to the Arabians called Scenites, he reigned with an authority respected by all the princes of Asia. The people paid him honors after the manners of the East, even to adoration.[27]
Lucullus' reaction was an attack that was so precipitate that he took Tigranes by surprise. According to Roman historians Mithrobazanes, one of Tigranes' generals, told Tigranes of the Roman approach. Tigranes was, according to Keaveney, so impressed by Mithrobazanes' courage that he appointed Mithrobazanes to command an army against Lucullus – Tigranes sent Mithrobarzanes with 2,000 to 3,000 cavalry to expel the invader. Mithrobarzanes charged the Romans while they were setting up their camp, but was met by a 3,500-strong sentry force and his horsemen were routed. He perished in the attempt.[28][29] After this defeat, Tigranes withdrew north to Armenia to regroup, leaving Lucullus free to besiege Tigranocerta.[30]
When Tigranes had gathered a large army, he returned to confront Lucullus. On October 6, 69 BC, Tigranes' much larger force was decisively defeated by the Roman army under Lucullus in the Battle of Tigranocerta. Tigranes' treatment of the inhabitants (the majority of the population had been forced to move to the city) led disgruntled city guards to open the gates of the city to the Romans. Learning of this, Tigranes hurriedly sent 6000 cavalrymen to the city in order to rescue his wives and some of his assets.[17] Tigranes escaped capture with a small escort.
On October 6, 68 BC, the Romans approached the old capital of Artaxata. Tigranes' and Mithridates' combined Armeno-Pontic army of 70,000 men formed up to face them but were resoundingly defeated. Once again, both Mithridates and Tigranes evaded capture by the victorious Romans.[31]
The long campaigning and hardships that Lucullus' troops had endured for years, combined with a perceived lack of reward in the form of plunder,[17] led to successive mutinies among the legions in 68–67. Frustrated by the rough terrain of Northern Armenia and seeing the worsening morale of his troops, Lucullus moved back south and put Nisibis under siege. Tigranes concluded (wrongly) that Nisibis would hold out and sought to regain those parts of Armenia that the Romans had captured.[32] Despite his continuous success in battle, Lucullus could still not capture either one of the monarchs. With Lucullus' troops now refusing to obey his commands, but agreeing to defend positions from attack, the Senate sent Pompey to recall Lucullus to Rome and take over his command.
Pompey and submission to Rome
A modern statue of Tigranes in Yerevan
In 67 BC[33]Pompey was given the task of defeating Mithridates and Tigranes.[34] Pompey first concentrated on attacking Mithridates while distracting Tigranes by engineering a Parthian attack on Gordyene.[35]Phraates III, the Parthian king, was soon persuaded to take things a little further than an annexation of Gordyene when a son of Tigranes (also named Tigranes) went to join the Parthians and persuaded Phraates to invade Armenia in an attempt to replace the elder Tigranes with the Tigranes the Younger.[36] Tigranes decided not to meet the invasion in the field but instead ensured that his capital, Artaxata, was well defended and withdrew to the hill country. Phraates soon realized that Artaxata would not fall without a protracted siege, the time for which he could not spare due to his fear of plots at home. Once Phraates left, Tigranes came back down from the hills and drove his son from Armenia. The son then fled to Pompey.[37]
In 66 BC, Pompey advanced into Armenia with Tigranes the Younger, and Tigranes, now almost 75 years old, surrendered. Pompey allowed him to retain his kingdom shorn of his conquests as he planned to have Armenia as a buffer state[38][39] and he took 6,000 talents/180 tonnes of silver. His unfaithful son was sent back to Rome as a prisoner.[40]
Tigranes continued to rule Armenia as a client-king of Rome.[41] He died in 55/54, at age 85.
Issue
Tigranes had four sons and three daughters.[42][43] The eldest son, Zariadres, according to Appian and Valerius Maximus rebelled against Tigranes and was killed during a battle (possibly late 90s BCE).[44][45] Appian also mentions an unnamed younger son who was executed for conspiring against Tigranes: he disregarded his father's health and wore Tigranes's crown (Tigranes having been injured during a hunting accident).[46] His third son, Tigranes the Younger, who showed great care for his injured father and was rewarded for his loyalty,[46] has already been mentioned. He is also alleged to have led a military campaign in 82 BCE.[46] Tigranes was succeeded by his fourth and youngest son, Artavasdes II.
Although Cleopatra of Pontus is usually considered to be their mother (Appian writes that she gave birth to three sons),[46] historian Gagik Sargsyan considered only Artavasdes II and one of the unnamed daughters to be her children.[49] According to him, the rest had a different mother and were born before Tigranes became king.[50] The reasoning behind it is that if Tigranes the Younger did indeed lead a campaign in 82 BCE, then he and hence his two older brothers (and possibly two sisters) would be too old to be Cleopatra's children.[50] Another argument supporting this claim would be the situation with Ariazate. As she was probably the mother of Orodes I (r.80–75BC),[51] then Ariazate could not have been the daughter of Cleopatra who married Tigranes only in 94 BCE at the age of 15 or 16.[52] Sargsyan also proposed a possible candidate as Tigranes's first wife and the children's mother: Artaxiad princess Zaruhi, a daughter of Tigranes's paternal uncle Zariadres and granddaughter of Artaxias I.[52] He also considered likely that the reason for the rebellion of Tigranes's son Zariadres was the birth of Artavasdes who was declared the heir by virtue of being born to a king and not a prince.[53]
Imperial ideology
Tigranes is a typical example of the mixed culture of his period. The ceremonial of his court was of Achaemenid origin, and also incorporated Parthian aspects.[3] He had Greek rhetoricians and philosophers in his court, possibly as a result of the influence of his queen, Cleopatra.[3] Greek was also possibly spoken in the court.[3] Following the example of the Parthians, Tigranes adopted the title of Philhellene ("friend of the Greeks").[3] The layout of his capital Tigranocerta was a blend of Greek and Iranian architecture.[3]
Like the majority Armenia's inhabitants, Tigranes was a follower of Zoroastrianism.[c][3][54] On his crown, a star of divinity and two birds of prey are displayed, both Iranian aspects.[3][55] The bird of prey was associated with the khvarenah, i.e. kingly glory.[55] It was possibly also a symbol of the bird of the deity Verethragna.[55]
Coinage
David Marshall Lang noted that his "magnificent" silver coinage is the best known variety of national coinage of Greater Armenia[56] and the "finest ever struck by an Armenian monarch".[57]
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.
A late 19th century depiction of Tigranes based on his coinage
Tigranes has long been recognized as the greatest of Armenian monarchs.[59][60] Compared to Mithridates Eupator, Tigranes was marginalized by Roman sources.[61] In one exception, Velleius Paterculus (2.33.1) introduced Tigranes as "the most important of the kings" (regum maximum).[61] Western scholarship has largely adopted the Roman bias against Tigranes. Théodore Reinach considered Tigranes a coward and an opportunist.[62][61]René Grousset called him a "great yet underrated monarch who undoubtedly deserves much more admiration from history" than Mithridates, who brought about the downfall of his empire, while "Tigranes ensured the survival of his people for eternity."[63]
He is the sole ruler in history under whom the entire Armenian plateau (and all Armenian-inhabited lands) was unified under a single native ruler.[64][65][d]Robert H. Hewsen noted, however, that he did not add Lesser Armenia to his kingdom, which remained under the control of Mithradates.[67] The preeminent early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi called him the "most powerful and intelligent and the most valiant" of all Armenian kings. "He was supreme among men and by showing his valor he glorified our nation."[68]
Some modern historians have taken a more critical stance. In the early 20th century, Leo believed that while he established complete national independence, Tigranes behaved like an "Asian despot ... arrogance blinded him."[69] Leo was dismissive of what he saw as the long-gone legacy of Tigranes, contrasting it with the persistent legacy of the Armenian alphabet invented by Mesrop Mashtots.[70] Hewsen argued that his short-lived empire was "not all that historically significant" and found it "inappropriate to glorify the activities of an Armenian conqueror whose treatment of his subjects (e.g., deporting them by the thousands from their homes to populate his new capital) is considered to be reprehensible by Armenian historians when they see it inflicted upon the Armenians themselves."[71]
Giusto Traina notes that after Lucullus forced him to withdraw from Asia Minor and Syria, "not only his imperial dream, but also the memory of his empire vanished."[61]Theo van Lint argued that while he was not able to consolidate his territorial gains, the forty year peace he established had the "important effect of developing Greater Armenia and the network of clan relationships that would prove crucial for the preservation of Armenian identity in subsequent periods."[72]
His empire, covering a territory of 900,000km2 (350,000sqmi) with a multi-ethnic[73] population of ten million,[74][e] is often called "sea to sea Armenia" (Armenian: ծովից ծով Հայաստան, tsovits tsov Hayastan) as it extended from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Sea.[78] Tigranes has been a source of pride for modern Armenian nationalists,[79] with his "sea to sea" empire an inspiration for the most maximalist claims of contemporary Armenian nationalism.[80]George Bournoutian noted that Armenians "revere" Tigranes and sometimes "endow him with modern nationalistic traits and ignore the fact that Tigranes possessed a more Hellenistic and, occasionally, Persian, outlook, rather than that of a modern Armenian."[66]Eric Hobsbawm noted that modern Armenian nationalists, in an effort to find a "suitable (and suitably impressive) national state in the past", had to go back to the times of Tigranes in the first century BC, when the "last sufficiently important kingdom is to be found."[81][82]
The Order of Tigran the Great (image), established in 2002,[88] is awarded by the president of Armenia "for exceptional services" rendered to the Republic of Armenia.[89]
↑ The largest expansion took place during the reign of Tigran (II) the Great, who ruled between 95 and 55 bce and whose empire at one time stretched from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea...The court ceremonial was Achaemenid, containing also Parthian elements. However, perhaps due to the influence of the queen, Cleopatra of Pontus, there were Greek rhetoricians and philosophers at court..[..]..At court Greek may have been spoken; Tigran's heir Artawazd II wrote his plays and other literary works, which were still known in the second century ce...Tigran's religion was probably Mazdaism, a variety of Zoroastrianism."[3]
↑ George Bournoutian: "the sole Armenian monarch who not only succeeded in unifying all the lands inhabited by the Armenians"[66]
The 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year numbering does use a zero, as well as a minus sign, so "2 BC" is equal to "year –1". 1st century AD follows.
This article concerns the period 69 BC – 60 BC.
Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingdoms in the course of the Third Mithridatic War, exhibiting extraordinary generalship in diverse situations, most famously during the Siege of Cyzicus in 73–72 BC, and at the Battle of Tigranocerta in Armenian Arzanene in 69 BC. His command style received unusually favourable attention from ancient military experts, and his campaigns appear to have been studied as examples of skilful generalship.
Tigranocerta, also called Cholimma or Chlomaron in antiquity, was a city and the capital of the Armenian Kingdom between 77 and 69 BCE. It bore the name of Tigranes the Great, who founded the city in the first century BC. There is so far no common agreement on the precise location of Tigranakert; it was either near present-day Silvan, Arzan, east of Diyarbakır, Turkey, or in the valley of the Garzan river mentioned by T. A. Sinclair. It was one of four cities in historic Armenia named Tigranakert. The others were in Nakhichevan, Artsakh and Utik, the 4 cities being in the old Armenian provinces Aldznik, Goghtn, Utik, Artsakh.
The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BCE. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the hostilities with Rome. Mithridates led the Pontic forces in every war. The Romans were led by various generals and consuls throughout the wars, namely Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus.
Phraates III, was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 69 BC to 57 BC. He was the son and successor of Sinatruces.
The Battle of Tigranocerta was fought on 6 October 69 BC between the forces of the Roman Republic and the army of the Kingdom of Armenia led by King Tigranes the Great. The Roman force, led by Consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus, defeated Tigranes, and as a result, captured Tigranes' capital city of Tigranocerta.
The Third Mithridatic War, the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies, dragging the entire east of the Mediterranean and large parts of Asia into the war. The conflict ended in defeat for Mithridates; it ended the Pontic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire, and also resulted in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome.
The Battle of Artaxata was fought near the Arsanias River in 68 BC between an army of the Roman Republic and the army of the Kingdom of Armenia. The Romans were led by proconsul Lucius Licinius Lucullus, while the Armenians were led by Tigranes II of Armenia, who was sheltering Mithridates VI of Pontus, his father-in-law and refugee King of Pontus. The battle was part of the Third Mithridatic War and ended in a Roman victory.
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, parts of Mesopotamia. Their main enemies were the Romans, the Seleucids and the Parthians, against whom the Armenians conducted multiple wars. Under the Artaxiad king Tigranes the Great, the Kingdom of Armenia reached its greatest territorial extent, extending for a brief period from the Caspian to the Mediterranean Sea.
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.
Contacts between the Italian peninsula and the Armenian Highland go back to the Iron Age when the Etruscan civilization traded with the Kingdom of Urartu by way of Phrygia and Ancient Greece. Urartian bronzes; bull-headed cauldrons and pottery were excavated in various parts of Etruscan Italy, particularly in Tuscany. The Roman Republic played a pivotal role in the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Armenia in 189 BC. Antiochus III the Great was defeated at the Battle of Magnesia by the Romans which in turn allowed the Armenian strategoi of Antiochus, Artaxias and Zariadres to take control of an independent Armenian Kingdom. The Romans perceiving themselves as the legitimate successors of the Seleucids began to play a more aggressive role in the affairs of the Hellenistic world of Asia Minor starting with the acquisition of Pergamum in 133 BC. The Third Mithridatic War led Roman forces for the first time directly to the Armenian border. From that point on until the demise of the Kingdom of Armenia in 428, Rome played a significant role in the affairs of Armenia and Armenians. This article explores the history of that relationship, a relationship which alternated between harmony and conflict.
Pontus was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin, which may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. The kingdom was proclaimed by Mithridates I in 281BC and lasted until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 63BC. The Kingdom of Pontus reached its largest extent under Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos, and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, Pontus was defeated.
Cappadocia was a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia, with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius, following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Archelaus.
Mithridates I of Media Atropatene, sometimes known as Mithridates I and Mithridates of Media was a king of Media Atropatene.
The Battle of Zela, not to be confused with the more famous battle in 47 BC, was fought in 67 BC near Zela in the Kingdom of Pontus. The battle resulted in a stunning Pontic victory and King Mithridates' successful reclamation of his kingdom. Mithridates' victory was short-lived however, as within a few years he would be completely defeated by Pompey the Great.
The Epistula Mithridatis, also known as the Letter of Mithridates to King Arsaces, is a letter allegedly written by Mithridates VI of Pontus to the Parthian king Phraates III. The letter was discovered "among a collection of Sallustian speeches and letters probably originally produced in the first or second centuries A.D". In the letter, Mithridates requests Parthian aid against the troops of Lucullus, and in a series of arguments, Mithridates asks the Parthians to join an alliance with Mithridates and Tigranes, against the Romans. The letter, assigned to Sallust, is considered to be an important source on the Pontic–Parthian relations at the time.
The Fimbrian or Valerian legions were two Roman legions which served and fought in all three wars against King Mithridates of Pontus, one of the Roman Republic's chief adversaries during the 80s, 70s and 60s BC. They became a body of long serving legionaries known for their fierce fighting reputation and also, more infamously, for mutiny and abandoning their commander. The legions take their name from the consul Lucius Valerius Flaccus, who first recruited them in 86 BC, and from his subordinate, Gaius Flavius Fimbria, who took command of the legions after inciting a mutiny and murdering Flaccus.
The military campaigns of Tigranes the Great constituted offensives by Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia, against client kingdoms of the Roman and Parthian Empires. His conquests from 95 to 75 bce expanded his territory from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. He built a new capital Tigranocerta and populated it with people deported from Cappadocia. His initial invasions of Cappadocia drew the attention of the Roman Empire and after being defeated in two separate campaigns, Tigranes was allowed to keep Armenia as a client kingdom of Rome while paying an indemnity of 6,000 talents and relinquishing all his conquests.
The siege of Artaxata took place in 66 BC in the modern Artashat on the Araxes River near Erevan, a place of course far to the north of the Artaxata. The siege was organized by the Tigranes the Younger and Phraates III.
↑ Mayor, Adrienne (2011). The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp.31–32. ISBN9780691150260.
1 2 3 4 Kurdoghlian, Mihran (1996). Պատմութիւն Հայոց [History of Armenia, Volume I] (in Armenian). Athens: Council of National Education Publishing. pp.67–76.
↑ René Grousset (1946), Histoire de l'Arménie (in French), Paris, p.85, Dans l'alliance qui fut alors conclus entre les deux souverains, Mithridates faisait un peu figure client de Tigran.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Reinach, T. (1890). Mithridate Eupator, roi de Pont. Paris, Firmin-Didot, pp. 344-345
↑ Adontz, Nicolas; preface by René Grousset (1946). Histoire d'Arménie: les origines du Xe siècle au VIe (av. J.C.) (in French). Union générale arménienne de bienfaisance: Paris. p.vii. Elle échappera même à la conquête macédonienne et c'est peu après, à la faveur de l'anarchie hellénistique, que l'Armênie antique atteindra sa plus forte extension avec le roi Tigrane, un grand souverain mé- connu qui mérite sans doute bien plus que son contemporain Mithridate Eupator l'admiration de l'histoire , si l'on veut bien observer que Mithridate a brillamment «suicidé son empire» , tandis que Tigrane a assuré la survie de son peuple pour l'éternité.
↑ Nalbandian, Louise (1963). The Armenian Revolutionary Movement: The Development of Armenian Political Parties through the Nineteenth Century. University of California Press. p.2. ISBN9780520377141. ...it is a fact that only in one period of Armenian history has the whole region been a united kingdom under a single ruler-in the first century B.c., under Tigranes the Great.
↑ Kohl, Philip L. (2012). "Homelands in the Present and in the Past: Political Implications of a Dangerous Concept". In Hartley, Charles W.; Yazicioğlu, G. Bike; Smith, Adam T. (eds.). The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions. Cambridge University Press. p.149. ISBN9781139789387.
↑ de Morgan, Jacques (1917). Essai sur les nationalités (in French). Paris: Berger-Levrault. p.115. Or, leurs ambitions ne vont nulle- ment jusqu'à désirer comme frontières les limites du royaume de Tigrane le Grand. L'Arménie comptait alors 25 millions d'habitants, tandis qu'aujourd'hui cette nation, éprouvée par tant de massacres, d'émigrations et de conversions forcées, ne comprend plus que tout au plus 4 millions d'âmes, dont environ la moitié habite des territoires qui, politiquement, font partie de l'Empire du Tsar.
↑ Bodil Katharine Biørn (1944). Armenia og armenierne (in Norwegian). "Armenia var tidligere et kongerike som var størst under Digranes den store. Han grunnla Digranagerd (Diabekir) og regjerte over 30 mill. mennesker."; published in Kvinnelige misjonsarbeidere, Se til hvorledes i bygger videre, K.M.A. gjennom 50 år (Oslo, 1952); translated into Armenian «Հայաստանը նախկինում թագավորություն է եղել, որն ամենամեծն է եղել Տիգրան Մեծի օրոք։ Նա հիմնել է Տիգրանակերտը (Դիարբեքիր) և կառավարել ավելի քան 30 մլն բնակչության։»
↑ Ter Minassian, Taline[in French] (2013). "La restauration soviétique du temple antique de Garni (Arménie): un paradigme patrimonial? [The Soviet restoration of the ancient temple of Garni (Armenia): a heritage paradigm?]". Patrimoine & Architecture dans les États post-soviétiques [Heritage & Architecture in Post-Soviet states] (in French). Presses Universitaires de Rennes. p.26. ISBN9782753526426.
↑ Maiello, James V. (24 July 2020). "Review: "The Other Cleopatra: Queen of Armenia"". Fanfare via Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra. Archived from the original on 19 October 2024. ...three operas about Armenian king Tigranes "the Great." She presents selections from Hasse, Vivaldi, and Gluck to show how this Cleopatra was characterized musically in various ways. The project also highlights the popularity of Tigranes as a subject for 18th-century opera.
Bibliography
English
Assar, Gholamreza F. (2006). "A Revised Parthian Chronology of the Period 91-55 BC". Parthica. Incontri di Culture Nel Mondo Antico. 8: Papers Presented to David Sellwood. Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali. ISBN978-8-881-47453-0. ISSN1128-6342.
Brosius, Maria (2006), The Persians: An Introduction, London & New York: Routledge, ISBN978-0-415-32089-4 .
Traina, Giusto (2023). "Tigran the Great and Mithradates Eupator: Two Parallel Kings of Kings?". In Grekyan, Yervand; Bobokhyan, Arsen (eds.). Systemizing the Past Papers in Near Eastern and Caucasian Archaeology Dedicated to Pavel S. Avetisyan on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Oxford: Archaeopress. pp.440-445. doi:10.2307/jj.608099. ISBN978-1-80327-392-1. JSTORjj.608099.
Clive, Foss (1986). "The Coinage of Tigranes the Great: Problems, Suggestions and a New Find". The Numismatic Chronicle. 146: 19–66. ISSN2054-9156. JSTOR42667454.
de Jong, Albert (2015). "Armenian and Georgian Zoroastrianism". In Stausberg, Michael; Vevaina, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw; Tessmann, Anna (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Manandyan, Hakob (2007) [1943 in Russian]. Tigranes II and Rome: A New Interpretation Based on Primary Sources. Translated by George Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Shayegan, Rahim M. (2011), Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic and Late Antique Persia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0-521-76641-8
Steel, Catherine (2013). End of the Roman Republic 146 to 44 BC: Conquest and Crisis. Edinburgh University Press.
Schottky, Martin (1989). Media Atropatene und Gross-Armenien in hellenistischer Zeit. Bonn: Habelt. ISBN9783774923942.
Armenian
Manaseryan, Ruben (2007). Տիգրան Մեծ՝ Հայկական Պայքարը Հռոմի և Պարթևաստանի Դեմ, մ.թ.ա. 94–64 թթ[Tigran the Great: The Armenian Struggle Against Rome and Parthia, 94–64 B.C.] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Lusakan Publishing.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
