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59-699: The root of the kingdom lies in one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia called Armenia ( Satrapy of Armenia ), which was formed from the territory of the Kingdom of Ararat (860 BC–590 BC) after it was conquered by the Median Empire in 590 BC. The satrapy became a kingdom in 321 BC during the reign of the Orontid dynasty after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great , which

118-709: A great influence on the Armenian alphabet. The Armenian alphabet was created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots and Isaac of Armenia (Sahak Partev) in AD 405, primarily for a Bible translation into the Armenian language . Traditionally, the following phrase translated from Solomon 's Book of Proverbs is said to be the first sentence to be written down in Armenian by Mashtots: Ճանաչել զիմաստութիւն եւ զխրատ, իմանալ զբանս հանճարոյ : Čanačʿel zimastutʿiun yev zxrat, imanal zbans hančaroy. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive

177-418: A result, the marching Armenian army was listed as "a huge, irregular force, too many to count, like locusts or the dust of the earth", not unlike many other enormous Eastern armies of the time. The smaller Cappadocian , Graeco-Phoenician, and Nabataean armies were generally no match for the sheer number of soldiers, with the organized Roman army with its legions eventually posing a much greater challenge to

236-768: A significant part of the Armenian Highlands was the Kingdom of Urartu , also known as the Kingdom of Van or Ararat and called Biainili in the Urartian language used by its rulers. The kingdom competed with Assyria over supremacy in the highlands of Ararat and the Fertile Crescent . Both kingdoms fell to Iranian invaders from the east (the Medes , followed by the Achaemenid Persians ) in

295-640: A unit also commonly used by Seleucids and Parthians. His army consisted mainly of 120,000 infantrymen and 12,000 mounted archers , also an important feature of the Parthian army . Like the Seleucids, the bulk of Tigranes' army were foot soldiers. The Jewish historian Josephus talks of 500,000 men in total, including camp followers. These followers consisted of camels, donkeys, and mules used for baggage, sheep, cattle, and goats for food, said to be stocked in abundance for each man, and hoards of gold and silver. As

354-585: Is aḥashdarpan אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפָּן , as found in Esther 3:12. In the Parthian (language of the Arsacid Empire ) and Middle Persian (the language of the Sassanian Empire ), it is recorded in the forms šahrab and šasab , respectively. In modern Persian the descendant of *khshathrapavan is shahrbān ( شهربان ), but the components have undergone semantic shift so

413-508: Is derived via Latin satrapes from Greek satrápes ( σατράπης ), itself borrowed from an Old Iranian *khshathra-pa . In Old Persian , which was the native language of the Achaemenids, it is recorded as khshathapavan ( 𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎱𐎠𐎺𐎠 , literally "protector of the province"). The Median form is reconstructed as *khshathrapavan- . Its Sanskrit cognate is kshatrapa ( क्षत्रप ). The Biblical Hebrew form

472-521: The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was founded when Tiridates I , a member of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, was proclaimed King of Armenia in 52. Throughout most of its history during this period, Armenia was heavily contested between Rome and Parthia, and the Armenian nobility was divided among pro-Roman, pro-Parthian or neutral factions. From 114 to 118, Armenia briefly became a province of

531-654: The Muslim conquest of Persia , while the Byzantine parts remained until being conquered, also by invading Arabic armies, in the 7th century. In 885, after years of Roman, Persian, and Arab rule, Armenia regained its independence under the Bagratuni dynasty . The army of the Kingdom of Armenia reached its peak under the reign of Tigranes the Great . According to the author of Judith , his army included chariots and 12,000 cavalrymen, most likely heavy cavalry or cataphracts ,

590-519: The Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan . The Kingdom of Armenia often served as a client state or vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. In 301, Tiridates III proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia, making the Armenian kingdom the first state in history to embrace Christianity officially. In 387, Armenia

649-663: The Seleucid Empire virtually at an end—and ruled peacefully for 17 years. During the zenith of his rule, Tigranes the Great extended Armenia's territory outside of the Armenian Highland over parts of the Caucasus and the area that is now south-eastern Turkey , Iran , Syria and Lebanon , becoming one of the most powerful states in the Roman East. Armenia became a Roman client kingdom in 66 BC, after

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708-485: The Seleucid Empire , he reunited Tmorik. Artaxias I was not able to reunite Lesser Armenia , Corduene , and Sophene , something completed by his grandson Tigranes the Great . At its peak, under Tigranes the Great, it incorporated, besides Armenia Major, Iberia , Albania , Cappadocia , Cilicia , Armenian Mesopotamia , Osroene , Adiabene , Syria , Assyria , Commagene , Sophene , Judea and Atropatene . Parthia and also some Arab tribes were vassals of Tigranes

767-557: The 1st century AD, Christianity spread through Armenia due to (according to legend) the efforts of the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus . After persecutions by kings Sanatruk , Axidares , Khosrov I , and Tiridates III , Christianity was adopted as the state religion by Tiridates III after he was converted by Gregory the Illuminator . Armenia's adoption of Christianity as the state religion (the first country to do so) distinguished it from Parthian and Mazdaen influence. Until

826-528: The 6th century BC. Its territory was reorganized into a satrapy called Armenia . The Orontid dynasty ruled as satraps of the Achaemenid Empire for three centuries until the empire was defeated by Alexander the Great 's Macedonian Empire at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, a Macedonian general named Neoptolemus obtained Armenia until he died in 321 BC and

885-466: The Armenian [Ayrudzi – lit. horsemen] Cavalry was "remarkable by the beauty of their horses and armor". Horses in Armenia, since ancient times were considered as the most important part and pride of the warrior. Since antiquity, Kingdom of Armenia had a cavalary called "Azatavrear", which consisted mainly of elite Armenians. "Azatavrear" cavalry made up the main part of the king's court. In medieval times,

944-648: The Armenians. Note that the numbers given by Israelite historians of the time were probably exaggerated, considering the fact that the Hasmonean Jews lost the war against Tigranes. Plutarch wrote that the Armenian archers could kill from 200 meters with their deadly-accurate arrows. The Romans admired and respected the bravery and the warrior spirit of the Armenian Cavalry – the core of Tigran's Army. The Roman historian Sallustius Crispus wrote that

1003-400: The Great gave the satrapies a definitive organization, increased their number to thirty-six, and fixed their annual tribute ( Behistun inscription ). The satrap was in charge of the land that he owned as an administrator, and found himself surrounded by an all-but-royal court; he collected the taxes, controlled the local officials and the subject tribes and cities, and was the supreme judge of

1062-603: The Great was brought to power by the Roman armies. After Gregory the Illuminator 's spreading of Christianity in Armenia, Tiridates accepted Christianity and made it his kingdom's official religion. The date of Armenia's conversion to Christianity is traditionally held to be 301, preceding the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great 's conversion and the Edict of Milan by a dozen years.In 387, the Kingdom of Armenia

1121-412: The Great. Traditionally, Greater Armenia was divided into 15 provinces. These provinces all existed at some point, but they never existed all at the same time. In reality, Greater Armenia comprised nearly 200 districts of varying sizes and types. The 15 provinces were as follows: Other Armenian regions: Satrapy A satrap ( / ˈ s æ t r ə p / ) was a governor of the provinces of

1180-488: The Kingdom of Armenia was the Kur River, which was also the border between Caucasian Albania and Kingdom of Armenia. After 331 BC, Armenia was divided into Lesser Armenia (a region of the Kingdom of Pontus ), the Kingdom of Armenia (corresponding to Armenia Major) and the Kingdom of Sophene . In 189 BC when Artashes I 's reign began, many neighboring countries ( Media , Caucasian Iberia , Seleucid Empire ) exploiting

1239-675: The Legions Parthica and II Flavia. In 390 AD Bezabde was taken by the Persian army, and a terrible bloodbath ensued against the inhabitants and garrison. The legion seemed to have survived this battle, because it appears in Notitia Dignitatum, which was written in the 5th century. Later on, the Armenian Second legion became a part of the Byzantine army. The pre-Christian Armenian pantheon included: During

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1298-544: The Macedonian Empire, the last Orontid king, Orontes IV , was overthrown in 201/200 BC and the kingdom was taken over by a commander of the Seleucid Empire , Artaxias (Artashes) I , who is presumed to have been related to the Orontid dynasty himself. The Seleucid Empire 's influence over Armenia had weakened after it was defeated by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. A Hellenistic Armenian state

1357-541: The Orontids returned, not as satraps, but as kings. Orontes III and the ruler of Lesser Armenia , Mithridates, recognized themselves independent, thus elevating the former Armenian satrapy into a kingdom, giving birth to the kingdoms of Armenia and Lesser Armenia. Orontes III also defeated the Thessalian commander Menon , who wanted to capture Sper 's gold mines. Weakened by the Seleucid Empire which succeeded

1416-547: The Parthian Empire; the semi-independent kingdoms and self-governing city states of the Parthian Empire were replaced with a system of "royal cities" which served as the seats of centrally appointed governors called shahrabs as well as the location of military garrisons. Shahrabs ruled both the city and the surrounding rural districts. Exceptionally, the Byzantine Empire also adopted the title "satrap" for

1475-679: The Persians. They would ultimately be replaced by conquering empires, especially the Parthians . In the Parthian Empire , the king's power rested on the support of noble families, who ruled large estates and supplied soldiers and tribute to the king. City-states within the empire enjoyed a degree of self-government, and paid tribute to the king. Administration of the Sassanid Empire was considerably more centralized than that of

1534-577: The Romans. After gaining Armenia in 60, then losing it in 62, the Romans sent the Legio XV Apollinaris from Pannonia to Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo , legatus of Syria . In 63, strengthened further by the legions III Gallica , V Macedonica , X Fretensis and XXII , General Corbulo entered into the territories of Vologases I of Parthia , who then returned the Armenian kingdom to Tiridates , king Vologases I's brother. An agreement

1593-601: The Satraps ). The last great rebellions were put down by Artaxerxes III . The satrapic administration and title were retained—even for Greco-Macedonian incumbents—by Alexander the Great , who conquered the Achaemenid Empire, and by his successors, the Diadochi (and their dynasties) who carved it up, especially in the Seleucid Empire , where the satrap generally was designated as strategos (in other words, military generals); but their provinces were much smaller than under

1652-710: The adoption of Christianity in the early 4th century, Zoroastrianism's influence in the kingdom gradually started to decline. Little is known about pre-Christian Armenian literature. Many literature pieces known to us were saved and then presented to us by Moses of Chorene . This is a pagan Armenian song, telling about the birth of Vahagn : Armenian version Երկնէր երկին, երկնէր երկիր, Երկնէր եւ ծովն ծիրանի, Երկն ի ծովուն ունէր և զկարմրիկն եղեգնիկ։ Ընդ եղեգան փող ծուխ ելանէր, Ընդ եղեգան փող բոց ելանէր, Եւ ի բոցոյն վազէր խարտեաշ պատանեկիկ։ Նա հուր հեր ունէր, Բոց ունէր մօրուս, Եւ աչքունքն էին արեգակունք։ Translation In travail were heaven and earth, In travail, too,

1711-634: The ancient Median and Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. A satrapy is the territory governed by a satrap. A satrap served as a viceroy to the king, though with considerable autonomy. The word came to suggest tyranny or ostentatious splendour, and its modern usage is a pejorative and refers to any subordinate or local ruler, usually with unfavourable connotations of corruption. The word satrap

1770-517: The area of Peshawar and were possibly their overlords, and with the Satavahana , who ruled in central India to their south and east and the Kushan state to their immediate west. Orontes III Orontes III ( Old Persian : *Arvanta- ) was King of Armenia . In his reign he struggled for control of the Kingdom of Sophene with king Antiochus II Theos until being defeated in 272 BC and

1829-424: The army district, contrary to the original rule. "When his office became hereditary, the threat to the central authority could not be ignored" (Olmstead). Rebellions of satraps became frequent from the middle of the 5th   century BCE. Darius I struggled with widespread rebellions in the satrapies, and under Artaxerxes II occasionally the greater parts of Asia Minor and Syria were in open rebellion ( Revolt of

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1888-601: The building of Artaxata. The new city was laid on a strategic position at the juncture of trade routes that connected the Ancient Greek world with Bactria , India and the Black Sea which permitted the Armenians to prosper. Tigranes the Great saw an opportunity for expansion in the constant civil strife to the south. In 83 BC, at the invitation of one of the factions in the interminable civil wars, he entered Syria, and soon established himself as ruler of Syria—putting

1947-604: The capital. Sohaemus , a Roman citizen of Armenian heritage, was installed as the new client king . But during an epidemic within the Roman forces, Parthians retook most of their lost territory in 166. Sohaemus retreated to Syria, and the Arsacid dynasty was restored to power in Armenia. After the fall of the Arsacid dynasty in Persia, the succeeding Sassanid Empire aspired to reestablish Persian control. The Sassanid Persians occupied Armenia in 252. However, in 287, Tiridates III

2006-528: The cavalry were collected from nobles (usually the youngest sons of Armenian lords), and were known as Ayrudzi, or "horsemen." During times of peace, Armenian cavalry were divided into small groups which took the roles of guarding the King and other Armenian lords, as well as their families. Some part of the Armenian cavalry force was always patrolling Armenian borders, under the command of an Armenian general ( sparapet ). The group of Armenian cavalry whose main mission

2065-508: The conquest of Media by Cyrus the Great, emperors ruled the lands they conquered through client kings and governors. The main difference was that in Persian culture the concept of kingship was indivisible from divinity: divine authority validated the divine right of kings . The twenty-six satraps established by Cyrus were never kings, but viceroys ruling in the king's name, although in political reality many took advantage of any opportunity to carve themselves an independent power base. Darius

2124-552: The control of the Roman Empire . The Armenian First Legion took part in the ill-fated Persian campaign of the emperor Julianus Apostata in 363. "Legio Armeniaca" translates from Latin as "Armenian Legion " and "Secunda" as "Second". Like the First legion, the Armenian Second Legion was one of the later-period Roman imperial legions. This legion is also mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum. The Armenian Second Legion

2183-721: The final defeat of Armenia's ally, Mithridates VI of Pontus by Pompey at the Battle of the Lycus . Mark Antony invaded and defeated the kingdom in 34 BC, but the Romans lost hegemony during the Final War of the Roman Republic in 32–30 BC. In 20 BC, Augustus negotiated a truce with the Parthians , making Armenia a buffer zone between the two major powers. Augustus installed Tigranes V as king of Armenia in AD 6, but ruled with Erato of Armenia . The Romans then installed Mithridates of Armenia as client king. Mithridates

2242-551: The governors of which were also called satraps and (by Greco-Roman authors) also called hyparchs (actually Hyparkhos in Greek, 'vice-regents'). The distribution of the great satrapies was changed repeatedly, and often two of them were given to the same man. As the provinces were the result of consecutive conquests (the homeland had a special status, exempt from provincial tribute), both primary and sub-satrapies were often defined by former states and/or ethno-religious identity. One of

2301-594: The keys to the Achaemenid success was their open attitude to the culture and religion of the conquered people, so the Persian culture was the one most affected as the Great King endeavoured to meld elements from all his subjects into a new imperial style, especially at his capital, Persepolis . Whenever central authority in the empire weakened, the satrap often enjoyed practical independence, especially as it became customary to appoint him also as general-in-chief of

2360-484: The late Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian-adhering land. With the advent of Christianity, both paganism and Zoroastrianism gradually started to diminish. The founder of the Arsacid branch in Armenia , Tiridates I , was a Zoroastrian priest or magus. A noted episode which illustrates the observance by the Armenian Arsacids is the famous journey of Tiridates I to Rome in A.D. 65–66. With

2419-416: The power of each satrap: besides his secretarial scribe, his chief financial official (Old Persian ganzabara ) and the general in charge of the regular army of his province and of the fortresses were independent of him and periodically reported directly to the shah , in person. The satrap was allowed to have troops in his own service. The great satrapies (provinces) were often divided into smaller districts,

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2478-502: The province before whose "chair" ( Nehemiah   3:7) every civil and criminal case could be brought. He was responsible for the safety of the roads (cf.   Xenophon), and had to put down brigands and rebels. He was assisted by a council of Persians, to which also provincials were admitted and which was controlled by a royal secretary and emissaries of the king, especially the "eye of the king", who made an annual inspection and exercised permanent control. There were further checks on

2537-472: The purple sea, The travail held in the sea the small red reed. Through the hollow of the stalk came forth smoke, Through the hollow of the stalk came forth flame, And out of the flame a youth ran․ Fiery hair had he, Ay, too, he had flaming beard, And his eyes, they were as suns. Before the Armenian alphabet was created, Armenians used the Aramaic and Greek alphabets , the last of which had

2596-460: The remaining territories of the falling Seleucid Empire, effectively ending its existence and raising Armenia into an empire for a brief period, until it was itself conquered by Rome in 69 BC. The remaining Artaxiad kings ruled as clients of Rome until they were overthrown in 12 AD due to their possible allegiance to Rome's main rival in the region, Parthia . During the Roman–Parthian Wars ,

2655-687: The semi-autonomous princes that governed one of its Armenian provinces , the Satrapiae . The Western Satraps or Kshatrapas (35–405 CE) of the Indian subcontinent were Saka rulers in the western and central part of the Sindh region of Pakistan , and the Saurashtra and Malwa regions of western India . They were contemporaneous with the Kushans , who ruled the northern part of the subcontinent from

2714-495: The weakened state of the kingdom, conquered its remote regions. Strabo says that Artaxias I campaigned in the east and reunited Caspiane and Paytakaran , then campaigned in the north, defeated the Iberians , reuniting Gugark ( Strabo also notes that Iberia recognized themselves as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia at this time), to the west, reuniting Karin , Ekeghik and Derjan and to the south, where, after many battles with

2773-459: The word now means "town keeper" ( shahr شهر meaning "town" + bān بان meaning "keeper"). Although the first large-scale use of satrapies, or provinces, originates from the inception of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great , beginning at around 530   BCE, provincial organization actually originated during the Median era from at least 648   BCE. Up to the time of

2832-426: The words of understanding. By the 2nd century BC, according to Strabo , the inhabitants of Greater Armenia spoke the Armenian language , implying that modern Armenians descended from that population. The Kingdom of Armenia was bordered by Caucasian Albania in the east, Iberia in the north, the Roman Empire in the west, and Parthia, later succeeded by Sassanian Empire, in the south. The border between Iberia and

2891-557: Was arrested by Caligula , but later restored by Claudius . Subsequently, Armenia was often a focus of contention between Rome and Parthia, with both major powers supporting opposing sovereigns and usurpers . The Parthians forced Armenia into submission in AD 37, but in AD 47 the Romans retook control of the kingdom. In AD 51 Armenia fell to an Iberian invasion sponsored by Parthia, led by Rhadamistus . Tigranes VI of Armenia ruled from AD 58, again installed by Roman support. The period of turmoil ends in AD 66, when Tiridates I of Armenia

2950-487: Was crowned king of Armenia by Nero . For the remaining duration of the Armenian kingdom, Rome still considered it a client kingdom de jure , but the ruling dynasty was of Parthian extraction, and contemporary Roman writers thought that Nero had de facto yielded Armenia to the Parthians. Under Nero , the Romans fought a campaign (55–63) against the Parthian Empire , which had invaded the Kingdom of Armenia, allied with

3009-485: Was forced to pay a large tribute which included 300 talents of silver and 1,000 horses and mules. Orontes III was subsequently murdered in 260 BC, whether at the instigation of King Antiochus II is not recorded. His son, Sames , continued to rule in Sophene . This Ancient Near East biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This biography of an Armenian ruler or member of

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3068-474: Was one of the later-period Roman imperial legions. This Legion was mentioned in the late-antique text known as Notitia Dignitatum . It is most likely that the Armenian First Legion was formed in the 2nd or 3rd century AD, in the western part of the Kingdom, with the mission to protect the lands of Armenia from intrusion. It might first have been the garrison of Armenian lands which had been under

3127-506: Was partitioned into Byzantine Armenia and Persian Armenia . The last Arsacid king of Armenia was deposed in 428, ending independent Armenian statehood until the emergence of Bagratid Armenia in the 9th century. Prior to the 9th century BC, the geographic region known as the Armenian Highlands was inhabited by Proto-Armenian and other tribes which did not yet constitute a unitary state or nation. The first state to rule over

3186-527: Was reached at the Treaty of Rhandeia in 63, according to which members of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty would rule Armenia as client kings of Rome. Another campaign was led by Emperor Lucius Verus in 162–165, after Vologases IV of Parthia had invaded Armenia and installed his chief general on its throne. To counter the Parthian threat, Verus set out for the east. His army won significant victories and retook

3245-762: Was split between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire. Western Armenia first became a province of the Roman Empire under the name of Armenia Minor , and later Byzantine Armenia ; Eastern Armenia remained a kingdom within Persia until, in 428, the local nobility overthrew the king, and the Sassanids installed a marzban ( governor ) in his place, beginning the Marzpanate period over Persian Armenia . Those parts of historical Armenia remained firmly under Persian control until

3304-502: Was the protection of the Armenian king and his family consisted of 6000 heavily armored horsemen in the ancient period, and 3000 horsemen in the medieval period. During times of war, the number of Armenian cavalry would rise, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to at least 20,000 horsemen. Besides heavy cavalry, there was also light cavalry, which primarily consisted of mounted archers. "Legio Armeniaca" translates from Latin as "Armenian Legion" and "prima" as "first". The Armenian First Legion

3363-637: Was then incorporated as one of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Seleucid Empire . Under the Seleucid Empire (312–63 BC), the Armenian throne was divided in two—Greater Armenia (state) and Sophene —both of which passed to members of the Artaxiad dynasty in 189 BC. During the Roman Republic 's eastern expansion, the Kingdom of Armenia, under Tigranes the Great , reached its peak, from 83 to 69 BC, after it reincorporated Sophene and conquered

3422-434: Was thought to have been created around the end of the 3rd century or in the beginning of the 4th century. The Armenian Second Legion had a permanent camp in one of the Northern provinces of the Orient, and built a camp in Satala . The Armenian Second legion is mentioned in the year 360 AD as a part of the garrison of Bezabda (anciently called Phoencia) in upper Tigris. In Bezabde the Armenian Second Legion served together with

3481-469: Was thus founded in the same year by Artaxias I alongside the Armenian kingdom of Sophene led by Zariadres . Artaxias seized Yervandashat , united the Armenian Highlands at the expense of neighboring tribes and founded the new royal capital of Artaxata near the Araxes River . According to Strabo and Plutarch , Hannibal received hospitality at the Armenian court of Artaxias I. The authors add an apocryphal story of how Hannibal planned and supervised

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