THE KINGDOM OF ARMENIA (189 B.C.-1375 A.D.)

T1he Armenians throw off the Macedonian yoke in 317 B.C., choosing Ardvates as king. He dies about 284, and the country returns to Seleucid rule. In 189 B.C. (according to Roman historians), after the defeat of Antiochus the Great by Rome, =Artaxias= or =Ardashes= and =Zadriades=, the governors of Armenia Major and Armenia Minor respectively, become independent kings with the connivance of Rome. Artaxias rules at Artaxarta. Hannibal takes refuge at his court.

2B.C.

3166 Antiochus IV takes Artaxias prisoner, but restores him to his kingdom.

4149 According to Armenian historians Mithridates I of Parthia establishes his brother Valarsaces (Waharshag) on the Armenian throne and the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia is founded. Following the Armenian king list

5127 =Arshag I= succeeds his father.

6114 =Artaces= succeeds his father.

794 =Tigranes I (II)= succeeds his father. He is the next king mentioned by Roman historians. He is put on the disputed throne by Mithridates II the Great of Parthia. Tigranes removes the capital to Tigranocerta, and conquers Lesser Armenia and many Parthian provinces. He assumes the title “King of Kings.”

883 Tigranes makes himself master of the whole of Syria, having been invited by the Syrians to put an end to the civil strife among the Seleucid princes.

976 Tigranes’ father-in-law Mithridates the Great of Pontus instigates him to invade Cappadocia.

1069 Tigranes refuses to surrender Mithridates to the Romans. War with Rome results, and Lucullus defeats him at Tigranocerta.

1166 Tigranes surrenders his conquests to Pompey. Armenia becomes a vassal state of Rome. The Parthian monarch recovers the title “King of Kings.”

1264 Defeat of Tigranes by Phraates III of Parthia. Pompey settles their dispute.

1356 Death of Tigranes. His son =Artavasdes I= succeeds. He is the ally of Rome in Crassus’ campaign against the Parthians.

1436 Artavasdes joins the Romans in the campaign against Artavasdes of Media. He deserts Antony and the expedition fails.

1534 In revenge Antony proceeds against Artavasdes and captures him. His son =Artaxias II= is placed on the throne. He is defeated by the Romans and flees to Parthia. He soon recovers the throne and massacres all the Romans in Armenia.

1620 The discontented Armenians complain to Augustus about Artaxias and ask that his brother Tigranes, then at Rome, be made their king. Tiberius Nero is sent after Artaxias, who is murdered by his relatives, and =Tigranes II (III)= is crowned by Tiberius. After a short reign Tigranes is succeeded by his son =Tigranes III (IV)=. The land is full of civil discord.

176 Augustus places Tigranes’ brother =Artavasdes II= on the Armenian throne.

185 Tigranes recovers his kingdom. Both kings seem to rule simultaneously. They are finally driven out.

192 =Ariobazanes= or, according to some historians, =Tigranes IV (V)= is placed by Augustus on the disputed throne. He may have been a Mede or perhaps an Armenian exile.

20A.D.

212 Death of Ariobazanes. =Erato=, probably widow of Tigranes III (IV), succeeds.

224 According to Armenian historians a son of Ariobazanes (Artavasdes III) takes the throne from Erato, but she regains it in a few months. After Erato’s death or deposition (date uncertain) and a short interregnum,

2316 =Vonones= the exiled monarch of Parthia is chosen king, but Tiberius persuades him to retire to Syria.

2418 =Artaxias III= chosen king after a short interregnum. He is succeeded by (date unknown) =Arsaces I=, placed on the throne by his father Artabanus III of Parthia.

2535 Death of Arsaces through treachery of Mithridates, brother of Pharasmanes king of Iberia. =Mithridates= invades Armenia, and Tiberius gives him the throne. Caligula summons him to Rome, imprisons him, but restores him about 47.

2652 Mithridates slain by his nephew =Rhadamistus= of Iberia.

2754 Vologases I of Parthia expels Rhadamistus and makes his own brother =Tiridates I= king.

2858 Corbulo drives out Tiridates I and puts Tigranes V (VI) Herodes the Cappadocian on the throne.

2961 Vologases crowns Tiridates king of Armenia and proceeds against Tigranes.

3066 Tiridates goes to Rome to receive the crown as a gift from Nero. Meanwhile, =Erorant=, of the younger Arsacid branch, has established himself, about 58, over a large portion of Armenia. He is the contemporary of Tiridates, and after the latter’s death, probably rules the whole country. He cedes Edessa and Mesopotamia to the Romans.

3178 =Exeardes=, son of Pacorus II of Parthia, is appointed to the throne. He is several times driven out, but always manages to recover his throne.

32112 Osroes, brother of Mithridates VI of Parthia, expels Exeardes and makes =Parthamasiris=, another son of Pacorus, king, for which act Trajan invades Armenia. Parthamasiris is humbled.

33117 Trajan appoints =Parthamaspates=, son of Oroes, king. He is expelled, and recovers the kingdom from Hadrian. He is succeeded by his son, =Achæmenides=, and he in turn by =Soemus= or =Sohæmus=.

34162 Vologases III of Parthia expels Sohæmus, who is friendly to Rome, and makes =Pacorus= king.

35163 or 164 Sohæmus restored by the Romans, and is succeeded (date unknown) by his son, =Sanatruces= or =Sanadrug=, who is established on the throne by Septimius Severus.

36212 Caracalla seizes Sanatruces.

37Armenian historians speak of a Chosroes I, the Great, who rules about this time, but the Romans do not mention him. Sanatruces seems to have been followed by =Vologases=, his son, and he in turn by his son =Tiridates II=, who escapes from the Romans to Vologases V of Parthia, about 227. His successor is =Arsaces II=, brother of Artabanus IV of Parthia. He wars against Ardashir, the Sassanid.

38258 Sapor I of Persia puts =Artavasdes III= on the Armenian throne.

39285 About this date =Tiridates III=, the rightful heir of the throne and a Christian, is established by Diocletian. Narseh expels him after a few years, and this brings on a war between Persia and Rome. Tiridates is restored.

40341 Probably at this date =Arsaces III= ascends the throne, after his father, Tiridates III, has been imprisoned by Sapor II of Persia. He assists Sapor in his wars with Rome, and then allies himself with Rome.

41363 Arsaces deserts the Romans in the siege of Ctesiphon. He is seized by Sapor, and imprisoned. Sapor puts =Aspacures= on the throne, but =Para=, son of Arsaces, is also acknowledged king, with the help of the Romans.

42374 or 377 Valens, dissatisfied with Para, has him put to death. Para’s nephew, =Arsaces IV=, succeeds, together with a brother, =Valarsaces II=, who dies soon. Arsaces proves so weak a ruler that Theodosius the Great and Sapor III decide to divide the kingdom.

43387 or 390 Division of Armenia between Rome and Persia. Arsaces continues to reign in the Roman dominions. Sapor gives his (the eastern) portion to a Persian noble, =Khosrau=, or =Chosroes=.

44389 Death of Arsaces IV. Theodosius confers his portion upon his general, =Casavon=, who plots with Chosroes to bring all Armenia under Roman dominion. Bahram IV of Persia seizes Chosroes and

45392 puts the latter’s brother, =Bahram Sapor=, on the vassal throne of eastern Armenia.

46414 Chosroes restored by Yezdegerd I.

47415 Death of Chosroes. Yezdegerd’s son, =Sapor=, becomes king.

48419 Death of Sapor. Interregnum until

49422 when =Artasires=, son of Bahram Sapor, is appointed king by Bahram V.

50429 The Armenian nobles apply to Bahram to remove Artasires. The Persian king decides to make Armenia a province, and deposes Artasires. Henceforth the province is known as Pers-Armenia.

51From 429 to 632 Armenia is ruled by Persian governors, who are remarkable chiefly for their cruel attempts to subvert Christianity.

52632 Heraclius restores Armenia to the Roman Empire, but in

53636 it passes under Mohammedan rule.

54885 The caliph Mutamid crowns =Ashod I=, one of the Bagratid family, king of Armenia. He rules in central and northern Armenia, and founds a dynasty that lasts until the assassination of =Kagig II=, in 1079, when the kingdom is incorporated with the Byzantine Empire.

55908 The Ardzurian family, claiming to be descendants of Sennacherib, founds a dynasty in the province of Vashpuragan, or Van. Kagig is crowned by the caliph Mutadir, and the family rules until 1080.

56962-1080 The Bagratids found and rule a dynasty in Kars.

57962 The Bagratids found a dynasty in Georgia, which continues until that country is absorbed by Russia, in 1801.

58984-1085 The Meravind dynasty of Kurds rules the country west of Lake Van.

591080 =Rhupen=, a relative of Kagig II, the last Bagratid king of Armenia, founds the kingdom of Lesser Armenia. It allies itself with the crusaders. Among the kings is

601224 =Hayton I.=

61Some of the kings are Latin princes, who are trying to make their subjects conform to the Roman church, break up the country into discordant factions, until

621375 it is conquered by the caliph of Egypt. King =Leo VI=, the last king of Armenia, is driven out, and dies at Paris in 1393.

63[Illustration]