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76-644: Two of the most notable events under Arsacid rule in Armenian history were the conversion of Armenia to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator and Tiridates III in the early 4th century and the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in c.  405 . In contrast to the more Hellenic-influenced Artaxiads, the reign of the Arsacids of Armenia was marked by greater Iranian influence in

152-437: A Roman client king of Armenia in the 1st century. He was the child born to Alexander by an unnamed wife. His mother was a noblewoman that flourished in the reigns of the first two Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius . He was the namesake of his paternal uncle Tigranes V , who served as a previous king of Armenia during the reign of Augustus. His father's parents were Alexander and Glaphyra . Tigranes appears to be

228-513: A Roman puppet, Sohaemus (Roman senator and consul of Arsacid and Emessan ancestry), on the Armenian throne and deposed a certain Pacorus , who had been installed by Vologases III. As a result of an epidemic within the Roman forces, Parthians retook most of their lost territory in 166 and forced Sohaemus to retreat to Syria. After a few intervening Roman and Parthian rulers, Vologases II assumed

304-635: A Roman victory over the Sasanians; however, other dates have been proposed for Trdat's restoration. Christianity began to spread in Armenia before the kingdom's conversion in the early fourth century, first coming from the religion's birthplace in Palestine via Syria and Mesopotamia. Some traditions tell of evangelizing by Addai of Edessa in the first century, while others claim that the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew preached in Armenia. Thaddeus

380-604: A compromise in the first century whereby Armenia would be ruled by an Arsacid prince who would be confirmed by Rome. The overthrow of the Parthian dynasty in Iran and the rise of the Sasanians in the third century dramatically changed the political situation. Conflict between Rome and Iran intensified, while the Armenian Arsacids entered into a "family feud" with the Sasanians to avenge their overthrown Parthian kinsmen. As

456-554: A guard of 1000 legionary soldiers, three auxiliary cohorts and two wings of horses were allotted to him in order to defend and protect Armenia. At the same time, his son Alexander married Julia Iotapa a Commagenean princess and the daughter of King Antiochus IV of Commagene in Rome. Nero crowned Alexander and Iotapa as Roman client monarchs of Cetis, a small region in Cilicia , which was previously ruled by Antiochus IV. Tigranes invaded

532-496: A large army to the east to install Roman client kings (see Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 ). After Tiridates I escaped, the Roman client king Tigranes VI was installed. In 61, he invaded the Kingdom of Adiabene , one of the Parthian vassal kingdoms. Vologases I considered this an act of aggression from Rome and restarted a campaign to restore Tiridates I to the Armenian throne. In the following Battle of Rhandeia in 62, command of

608-614: A neighbouring small vassal state of the Parthians called Adiabene and deposed their King Monobazes . Vologases I of Parthia considered this as an act of aggression from Rome. He attacked Armenia and besieged Tigranakert. Eventually, the Parthians signed a treaty with Corbulo to install Tiridates I as King of Armenia as long as he goes to Rome to be crowned by Nero. In 63 Tigranes had to renounce his crown. Historical and numismatic evidence shows that Nero planned to restore Tigranes to

684-469: A permanent settlement in 387, which remained in place until the Arab conquest of Armenia in 639. Arsacid rulers intermittently (competing with Bagratuni princes) remained in control preserving their power to some extent, as border guardians ( marzban ) either under Byzantine or as a Sassanian protectorate, until 428. Out of the three phases (Achaemenid, Arsacid, Sasanian) of Iranian influence in Armenia,

760-608: A result, Armenia became more closely aligned with the Roman Empire and was attacked and at times occupied by the Sasanians. A period of Sasanian occupation ended with the restoration of the Arsacid Trdat III (who later converted to Christianity) to the throne of Greater Armenia during the reign of Diocletian ( r.  284–305 ). This possibly occurred in 298/9, coinciding with the Peace of Nisibis , which followed

836-563: A suitable candidate, but his succession to the Armenian throne was disputed by his younger brother Orodes, who had been overthrown by Zeno. Tiberius quickly concentrated more forces on the Roman frontier and once again after a decade of peace, Armenia was to become the theater of bitter warfare between the two greatest powers of the known world for the next 25 years. Tiberius sent an Iberian , Mithridates , who claimed to be of Arsacid blood. Mithridates successfully subjugated Armenia to Roman rule and deposed Arsaces, inflicting huge devastation upon

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912-542: A syncretic form of Zoroastrianism (probably adopted during the Achaemenid period) with significant native Armenian and other religious elements. The Kingdom of Greater Armenia had been ruled by members of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty since the first century AD. Armenia largely managed to maintain an independent existence between its two powerful neighbors, the Parthian and Roman empires, which had reached

988-637: A translation of the Gospel from the Syriac text about 411. That work must have been considered imperfect because soon afterward, John of Egheghiatz and Joseph of Baghin, two of Mashtots's students, were sent to Edessa to translate the Biblical scriptures. They journeyed as far as Constantinople and brought back with them authentic copies of the Greek text. With the help of other copies obtained from Alexandria ,

1064-474: A war against the Parthians, he deposed Vonones I and sent him to Syria . Soon after the deposition of Vonones I, Artabanus II installed his son Orodes on the Armenian throne. Emperor Tiberius had no intention of giving up the buffer states of the eastern frontier and sent his nephew and heir Germanicus to the East. Germanicus concluded a treaty with Artabanus II in which he was recognized as king and friend of

1140-542: Is in Greek ΒΑΣ ΟΠΓΑΛΛΥ which means of Queen Opgalli . ΒΑΣ is the royal abbreviation or shortening for the Greek word ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ which means Queen . Opgalli bore Tigranes at least two known children: a son Gaius Julius Alexander and a daughter Julia . Tigranes and his children were the last royal descendants of the kings of Cappadocia . In the spring of 58 the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo with his army, entered Armenia from Cappadocia and advanced towards Artaxata , while Pharasmanes I of Iberia attacked from

1216-537: Is regarded as one of the most important events in Armenian history, significantly shaping the people's identity, and turning Armenia away from its centuries-long links to the Iranian world . Additionally, the Armenian Church is considered to have provided a structure for the preservation of Armenian identity in the absence of Armenian political independence. Prior to Christianization, Armenians mostly practiced

1292-418: Is said to have come to proselytize in Armenia, where he was martyred by the Armenian king Sanatruk at Artaz, near Maku . Later, this story was connected to that of Gregory the Illuminator by placing his conception at Thaddeus' tomb. However, these traditions, which establish apostolic succession for the Armenian Church, are considered apocryphal. Nevertheless, it is clear that there was some penetration of

1368-465: The gusan , which resembled a bard or minstrel. In Arsacid Armenia, the custom of aristocratic children being raised by foster parents or tutors was widespread, as in the rest of the Iranian commonwealth. The Arsacid kings knew Parthia and regarded it as their native country. Tiridates III ( r.  298–330 ) is known to have said the following thing during a speech: "For I know the country of

1444-547: The xwarrah ("fortune", cognate of Armenian pʿaṙkʿ ), which was the divine glory wielded by legitimate Iranian and Iranic kings. The city of Ani served as the centre of the cult of Aramazd (the Armenian equivalent of Ahura Mazda ), as well as the royal necropolis of the Arsacids. In the same fashion as the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), the Arsacids of Armenia and Iran practiced entombment and burial, probably doing it with great care to avoid contaminating

1520-525: The Euphrates . In another version of Agathangelos's history surviving only in translation, Gregory also baptizes together with Trdat the kings of Caucasian Albania , Georgia and Lazica /Abkhazia. He founded schools for the Christian education of children, where the languages of instruction were Greek and Syriac . He established the ecclesiastical structure of Armenia, appointing as bishops some of

1596-411: The Iranian world . Additionally, the Armenian Church is considered to have provided a structure for the preservation of Armenian identity in the absence of Armenian political independence. Tigranes VI of Armenia Tigranes VI , also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes ( Greek : Γαίος Ιούλιος Τιγράνης , before 25 – after 68) was a Herodian prince and served as

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1672-532: The 314 dating. Interpretations that favor an earlier date for Trdat's conversion argue that the Armenian king had grown disillusioned with his alliance with Rome and stopped following Diocletian's anti-Christian policy, instead adopting Christianity to strengthen the state and further separate Armenia from Rome and Persia. Those who favor the later date of 314 argue that Trdat, as a loyal client-king of Rome, could not have set up Christianity as Armenia's state religion in contradiction to Rome's anti-Christian policy at

1748-426: The Armenian history attributed to Agathangelos , which combines fact and legend. According to this account, in the third century the Armenian king, whom Agathangelos calls Khosrov , fought against the newly established Sasanian dynasty in Iran; the latter sought to destroy the Armenian Arsacids as the last remnant of the Parthian dynasty they had supplanted. The Sasanians sent a Parthian nobleman called Anak to gain

1824-537: The Armenian throne, however Nero's plan for Tigranes and Armenia disintegrated with the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War in 66. His fate afterwards is not known. Coinage has survived from his reign. His royal title is in Greek ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΤΙΓΡΑΝΟΥ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ which means of great King Tigranes . The surviving coinage is a reflection of his Hellenic and Armenian descent and is evidence that he relinquished his Jewish connections. There are three princes by

1900-527: The Arsacid monarchs. The spread of the Christian faith to the population of Armenia and the elimination of pre-Christian beliefs and practices was a gradual and uneven process. Resistance to Christianization came from both among the common people and the nobility. Armenian magnates who opposed the pro-Roman policies of the monarchy opposed Christianity and adopted Zoroastrianism instead. Gregory's son Vrtanes , who succeeded his brother Aristakes as patriarch,

1976-490: The Arsacid one was the strongest and most enduring. The phase began with the ascendance of the Parthians in the 2nd century BC and reached its zenith following the establishment of an Arsacid branch on the Armenian throne in the mid-1st century AD. The Arsacid kings of Armenia attempted to base their court on the same model as the one in Ctesiphon . Many Parthian aspects were directly imported into Armenian civilization, such as

2052-696: The Bible was translated again from the Greek according to the text of the Septuagint and Origen 's Hexapla . This version, now used by the Armenian Church, was completed about 434. During the reign of Tiran , the Sassanid king Shapur II invaded Armenia. During the following decades, Armenia was once again disputed territory between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire until

2128-489: The Christian religion into Armenia at an early date. In the second century, the church father Tertullian described the Armenians as a people who had received Christianity. In the mid-third century, Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria wrote to an Armenian bishop called Meruzanes , which suggests that a considerable Christian community existed in Armenia by this time. The location of Meruzanes is not known for certain. Based on

2204-578: The Greeks and that of the Romans very well, and our regions of Parthia—for it is even our home—as well as Asorestan, Arabia and Atropatene." Under the Arsacids, the Armenians became familiar with some of the stories that were later added into the Persian epic Shahnameh . They include the stories of figures such as Hraseak ( Afrasiyab ), Shawarsh ( Siyavash ) and Spandarat ( Esfandiyar ). The Armenians viewed

2280-528: The Parthian influence on Armenian to that of the French influence on English after the Norman Conquest of 1066. After their conversion to Christianity, the Arsacids continued to preserve their Iranian naming traditions, as demonstrated by the male names Trdat, Khosrov, Tiran, Arshak, Pap, Varazdat and Vramshapuh and the female names Ashkhen, Zarmandukht, Khosrovdukht, Ormazdukht, Vardandukht. Notably

2356-523: The Parthians, who also withdrew, thus leaving open doors for Rhadamistus to regain his throne. After regaining power, according to Tacitus , the Iberian was so cruel that the Armenians stormed the palace and forced Rhadamistus out of the country, and Vologases I got the opportunity to install his brother Tiridates on the throne. Unhappy with the growing Parthian influence at their doorstep, Roman Emperor Nero sent General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo with

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2432-508: The Roman legions that had been stationed there under legatus Gaius Severianus. Encouraged by the spahbod Osroes, Parthian troops marched further west into Roman Syria . Marcus Aurelius immediately sent Lucius Verus to the eastern front. In 163, Verus dispatched General Statius Priscus , who had been recently transferred from Roman Britain along with several legions, from Syrian Antioch to Armenia. The Artaxata army, commanded by Vologases IV, surrendered to Priscus, who installed

2508-510: The Roman troops was again entrusted to Corbulo, who marched into Armenia and set a camp in Rhandeia, where he made a peace agreement with Tiridates. It stated that Tiridates was recognized as King of Armenia, but he agreed to become a Roman client king and go to Rome to be crowned by Emperor Nero. Tiridates ruled Armenia until his death or deposition around 110, when the Parthian king Osroes I invaded Armenia and enthroned his nephew Axidares ,

2584-506: The Romans. In 18, Armenia was given to Zeno , son of Polemon I of Pontus , who assumed the Iranian name Artaxias (a.k.a. Zeno-Artaxias). The Parthians under Artabanus II were too distracted by internal strife to oppose the Roman-appointed king. Zeno's reign was remarkably peaceful in Armenian history. After Zeno's death in 36, Artabanus II decided to reinstate an Arsacid on the Armenian throne, choosing his eldest son Arsaces I as

2660-498: The armed resistance of the pagan priests. Gregory then went to Caesarea with a retinue of Armenian princes and was consecrated bishop of Armenia by Leontius of Caesarea . Until the death of Nerses I in the late fourth century, Gregory's successors would go to Caesarea to be confirmed as bishops of Armenia, and Armenia remained under the titular authority of the metropolitans of Caesarea. Returning to Armenia with Christian assistants from Caesarea, Gregory raised churches in place of

2736-461: The bishop's name, Nicholas Adontz argues that he was located in district of Sophene in southern Armenia. The southern districts of Armenia were ruled by autonomous principalities or satrapies which entered the Roman orbit after the Peace of Nisibis in 299. Nina Garsoïan suggests that the traditional identification of Armenia as the first Christian state may actually reflect the early conversion of

2812-471: The bond between their country and the royal houses of Parthia as indestructible. Armenian sources use the terms "king" and "Arsacid" ( Aršakuni ) as synonyms. The Arsacid king was regarded as the bnak tērn ašxarhis ("natural lord of this country"). The Arsacids were advocates of Iranian legitimacy, which they remained even after the fall of the Parthian Empire. They insisted that they carried

2888-479: The children of pagan priests. Now, many of the elements of the Agathangelos narrative are recognized as legendary, although a number of details are supported by other sources. Other sources confirm the leadership of Gregory and his descendants over the early Armenian church, as well as Gregory's consecration by Leontius at Caesarea during a church council in 314. However, the history of Agathangelos depicts

2964-517: The confidence of the Armenian king and kill him. Anak succeeded in murdering Khosrov and most of the royal family, but he and his family were then killed by Armenian nobles. After this, Khosrov's son Trdat (Tiridates) was taken to live in Rome, and Anak's son was taken to Caesaria in Cappadocia and raised by Christians, who gave him the name Gregory. Later, Trdat reclaimed the Armenian throne with Roman assistance. Gregory went to Armenia to enter

3040-437: The conversion of Armenia is 301, although many alternative dates have been proposed by scholars. While Armenia's church structure was established at this time, it took longer for Christianity to fully take root in the country. The greatest progress came after the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots and the translation of the Bible and liturgy into Armenian in the fifth century. The Christianization of Armenia

3116-418: The country. The first appearance of an Arsacid on the Armenian throne occurred in 12 when the Parthian king Vonones I was exiled from Parthia for his pro-Roman policies and Occidental manners . Vonones I briefly acquired the Armenian throne with Roman consent, but Artabanus II , incorrectly known as Artabanus III in older scholarship, demanded his deposition, and as Emperor Augustus did not wish to begin

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3192-527: The country. Surprisingly, Mithridates was summoned back to Rome, where he was kept as a prisoner, and Armenia was given back to Artabanus II, who gave the throne to his younger son Orodes. Another civil war erupted in Parthia upon Artabanus II's death. In the meantime, Mithridates was put back on the Armenian throne, with the help of his brother, Pharasmanes I , and of Roman troops. Civil war continued in Parthia for several years, with Gotarzes eventually seizing

3268-416: The destroyed pagan temples and seized their estates and wealth for the Armenian Church and his house. On the site of the destroyed temple to Vahagn at Ashtishat , Gregory raised a church which became the original center of the Armenian Church and remained so until after the partition of the country in 387. Gregory met King Trdat near the town of Bagavan and baptized the Armenian king, army and people in

3344-464: The early 4th century AD, Saint Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III and members of his court to Christianity , making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Armenian alphabet was created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD for the purpose of Bible translation, and Christianization as thus also marks the beginning of Armenian literature . According to Movses Khorenatsi , Isaac of Armenia made

3420-535: The extensive properties of the pre-Christian centers of worship. The early Armenian churches were built on the sites of pagan temples. The church properties were held by the patriarch and passed down hereditarily like those of the nakharar noble clans. The office of patriarch was seen as the hereditary privilege of the descendants of Gregory the Illuminator—just as the secular offices of state in Armenia were held hereditarily by particular noble families —despite

3496-487: The fact that this went against Christian practice and law. The patriarchate was held by members of the Gregorid line, with some interruptions, until the death of Isaac of Armenia in the fifth century. Early on, bishoprics appear to have been organized on the basis of the nakharar clans, rather than as sees based in major cities. These factors allowed the church to play an independent political role, often clashing with

3572-608: The first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. After being released, Gregory preached the Christian faith in Armenia and erected shrines to the martyred nuns Gayane and Hripsime in Vagharshapat on a spot indicated to him in a vision. Vagharshapat later became home to the mother church of Armenian Christianity and, by medieval times, called Ejmiatsin ("descent of the only-begotten") in reference to Gregory's vision. Gregory, sometimes accompanied by Trdat, went around Armenia destroying pagan temples, defeating

3648-522: The first time. In this, Mashtots received help from the king Vramshapuh and the patriarch Isaac. In the middle of the fifth century, the Sasanian king Yazdegerd II attempted to impose a reformed Zoroastrianism on Armenia and faced a Christian rebellion . A substantial party of Armenian nobles sided with the Sasanian king and renounced Christianity, although the Sasanian efforts to root out Armenian Christianity ultimately failed. Still, many elements of

3724-496: The following inscription: Armenia et Mesopotamia in potestatem P.R. redactæ ('Armenia and Mesopotamia brought back into the power of the people of Rome'). After a rebellion led by a pretender to the Parthian throne ( Sanatruces II , son of Mithridates V ), was put down, some sporadic resistance continued, and Vologases III had managed to secure a sizeable amount of Armenia just before Trajan's death in August 117. However, in 118,

3800-535: The main factor in Trdat's decision to adopt Christianity. Mary Boyce writes that Armenia accepted Christianity "partly, it seems, in defiance of the Sasanians." Robert W. Thomson refers to Trdat's decision as "an act of state" but notes that his personal motivation is still unclear. As noted by Thomson, Christianity and the institution of the church spread in Armenia "through the social and political structure indigenous to that country." The church took possession of

3876-424: The meantime, a group of Christian nuns fleeing from the Roman Empire were put to death on Trdat's orders. In Agathangelos's history, Gregory is miraculously saved and brought out from the pit after Trdat's sister Khosrovidukht sees a vision. Gregory then healed the king, who, Agathangelos writes, had been transformed into a wild boar for his sinful behavior. Trdat and his court accepted Christianity, making Armenia

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3952-559: The name of Nerses I 's mother, Bambishn, means "queen" in Persian. Overall, the Christian Arsacids remained true to their Arsacid Iranian traditions. This is a list of the kings of Armenia c.  12 – 428, most of whom were members of the Arsacid dynasty. The list also mentions the non-dynastic rulers of Armenia as well as periods of interregnum. Note that some dates are approximations. Christianization of Armenia Christianity first spread to Armenia prior to

4028-489: The new Roman emperor, Hadrian , gave up Trajan's conquered lands, including Armenia, and installed Parthamaspates as King of Armenia and Osroene, although the Parthian king Vologases held most Armenian territory. Eventually, a compromise with the Parthians was reached, and Vologases was placed in charge of Armenia. Vologases ruled Armenia until 140. Vologases IV , the son of the legitimate Parthian King Mithridates V, dispatched his troops to seize Armenia in 161 and eradicated

4104-530: The north and Antiochus IV of Commagene attacked from the southwest. Tiridates I ran away from his capital which Corbulo set fire to. In the summer of that year, Corbulo advanced towards Tigranakert and arrived in the city that opened the gates, only one citadel resisted. The majority of the Armenians had abandoned resistance and accepted a prince given by Rome. In 58, the Roman emperor Nero crowned Tigranes as King of Armenia in Rome . Nero had given to Tigranes

4180-475: The official adoption of the faith in the early fourth century, although the details are obscure. In the early fourth century, the Kingdom of Greater Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion, becoming the first state to do so. The Arsacid king of Armenia at the time, Trdat , was converted by Gregory the Illuminator , who became the first head of the Armenian Church . The traditional date for

4256-471: The only grandchild born to his paternal grandparents. His paternal grandfather Alexander was a Judean prince of Jewish , Nabataean and Edomite descent and was a son of King of Judea, Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne . His paternal grandmother Glaphyra was a Cappadocian princess of Greek , Armenian and Persian descent . She was the daughter of King Archelaus of Cappadocia and her mother

4332-460: The pre-Christian religion became part of Armenian Christianity, and a small group of Armenians called the Arewordikʿ never converted to Christianity, apparently surviving into the modern period. The Christianization of Armenia is regarded as one of the most important events in Armenian history, significantly shaping the people's identity and turning Armenia away from its centuries-long links to

4408-490: The predominance of Iranianism in the country, with Parthian replacing Greek as the language of the educated. However, Armenian Hellenism was not eradicated, as the Arsacids of Iran were proud philhellenes . Armenian was considered a "vulgar" language and so the Parthian language was spoken amongst the upper class and at the court. It was during that period that Classical Armenian incorporated most of its Iranian loanwords. The modern historians R. Schmitt and H. W. Bailey compare

4484-545: The reasons for the slow spread of Christianity early on was that the liturgy was in recited in Greek or Syriac, and was thus incomprehensible to most Armenians. It was with the invention of the Armenian alphabet in c.  405 by Mesrop Mashtots, himself an ascetic preacher, that the Christianization of the population began to progress more quickly. The Bible, liturgy, the works of the main church fathers and other Christian texts were translated into Armenian for

4560-458: The sacred earth of the Zoroastrian yazata (angelic divinity) Spenta Armaiti . The bones of the buried Arsacid kings were believed to carry their xwarrah , which was the reason that the Sasanian shahanshah Shapur II had their bones disinterred and taken out of Armenia after his raid on the necropolis. The tombs were seemingly strongly fortified since Shapur II was unable to open

4636-417: The service Trdat, who, following his Roman overlord Diocletian , persecuted Christians. After Gregory refused to sacrifice to the goddess Anahit , the king had Gregory imprisoned and subjected to many tortures. Once Trdat discovered that Gregory was the son of his father's killer, he had Gregory thrown into a deep pit called Khor Virap near Artaxata , where he remained for thirteen (or fifteen) years. In

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4712-591: The son of the previous Parthian king, Pacorus II , as King of Armenia. The encroachment on the traditional sphere of influence of the Roman Empire started a new war between Parthia and Rome and ended the peace that had endured for about half a century since Nero's time. Roman Emperor Trajan marched towards Armenia in October 113 to restore a Roman client king in Armenia. Envoys from Osroes I met Trajan at Athens, informed him that Axidares had been deposed and asked for Axidares' elder brother, Parthamasiris , to be granted

4788-436: The southern satrapies, which were viewed as sovereign Armenian states. Thus, Christianity came to Armenia in two successive currents: a Syriac current coming to the country's southern regions from the south via Syria and Mesopotamia, and a later Greek current coming to the Arsacid kingdom of Armenia from the west via Asia Minor in the early fourth century. The traditional account of the Christianization of Armenia comes from

4864-615: The spread of Christianity of Armenia as having occurred practically entirely within Gregory's lifetime, when, in fact, it was a more gradual process that met resistance. Much of the description of Gregory's proselytizing is taken from the information about Mesrop Mashtots's activities in Koriun's Life of Mashtots . The traditional date for the conversion of Armenia to Christianity is 301, although many alternative dates have been proposed, ranging from 284 to 314. Many modern scholars favor

4940-399: The throne in 186. In 198, Vologases II assumed the Parthian throne and named his son Khosrov I to the Armenian throne. Khosrov I was subsequently captured by the Romans, who installed one of their own to take charge of Armenia. However, the Armenians themselves revolted against their Roman overlords, and in accordance with a new Roman-Parthian compromise, Khosrov I's son, Tiridates II (217–252),

5016-483: The throne in 45. In 51, Mithridates's nephew Rhadamistus invaded Armenia and killed his uncle. The governor of Cappadocia , Julius Pailinus, decided to conquer Armenia but settled with the crowning of Rhadamistus, who generously rewarded him. Parthian King Vologases I saw an opportunity, invaded Armenia and succeeded in forcing the Iberians to withdraw from Armenia. The harsh winter that followed proved too much for

5092-454: The throne. Trajan declined the proposal and in August 114 captured Arsamosata , where Parthamasiris asked to be crowned, but instead of crowning him, he annexed his kingdom as a new province to the Roman Empire. Parthamasiris was dismissed and died mysteriously soon afterwards. As a Roman province, Armenia was administered along with Cappadocia by Lucius Catilius Severus . The Roman Senate issued coins that celebrated this occasion and borne

5168-503: The time, and place the conversion after the Edict of Milan in 313. According to one view, Trdat and his court may have privately converted to Christianity in 301, but only made it the kingdom's official religion after the Edict of Milan. Another source in favor of the 301 dating argues that the Roman Empire, though still anti-Christian, tolerated Armenia's conversion to Christianity since it

5244-585: The tomb of Sanatruk . The ancient sanctuary of Bagawan was of high importance to the Arsacids, who celebrated the Iranian New Year's festival ( Nowruz ) there. The boar, which was the favourite totem of the yazata Verethragna ( Vahagn in Armenian), was the symbol of the Arsacids. While the culture of Armenia was dominated by Hellenism under the Artaxiads, the reign of the Arsacids marked

5320-522: Was an unnamed princess from Armenia , possibly a relation of the Artaxiad dynasty . Tigranes’ name is a reflection of his Armenian and Hellenic lineage . The name Tigranes was the most common royal name in the Artaxiad dynasty and was among the most ancient names of the Armenian kings. Josephus states that his ancestral line had been kings of Armenia. Like his father and paternal uncle, Tigranes

5396-444: Was an apostate to Judaism . It is unlikely that Tigranes attempted to exert influence on Judean politics. Little is known on Tigranes’ life prior to becoming King of Armenia. Tigranes was raised in Rome. Tigranes married a noblewoman from central Anatolia called Opgalli. Opgalli was a Phrygian woman, who may have been a Hellenic Jew . His wife is only known through surviving numismatic evidence from his kingship. Her royal title

5472-495: Was an unfortunate choice because Sassanid King Shapur I defeated the Romans and made peace with Emperor Philip . In 252, Shapur invaded Armenia and forced Tiridates to flee. After the deaths of Tiridates and his son Khosrov II, Shapur installed his own son, Hurmazd, on the Armenian throne . When Shapur I died in 270, Hurmazd took the Persian throne, and his brother Narseh ruled Armenia in his name. Under Diocletian , Rome installed Tiridates III as ruler of Armenia, and in 287, he

5548-528: Was directed against Sasanian Iran. Scholar Abraham Terian takes the information in Eusebius' Church History about the Roman emperor Maximinus Daza fighting a war with the Christian Armenians in 311 to be evidence that Trdat had converted prior to that date. George Bournoutian identifies "external pressures, especially from Zoroastrian Persia and its new and zealous Sasanid dynasty" as

5624-410: Was in possession of the west Armenian territory. The Sassanids stirred some nobles to revolt when Narseh left to take the Persian throne in 293. Rome, nevertheless, defeated Narseh in 298, and Khosrov II's son Tiridates III regained control over Armenia with the support of Roman soldiers. As late as the later Parthian period, Armenia was predominantly Zoroastrian. However, that was soon to change. In

5700-556: Was made king of Armenia. In 224, Persian King Ardashir I overthrew the Arsacids in Parthia and found the new Persian Sassanid dynasty . The Sassanids were determined to restore the old glory of the Achaemenid Empire and so they proclaimed Zoroastrianism as the state religion and considered Armenia as part of their empire. To preserve the autonomy of Arsacid rule in Armenia, Tiridates II sought friendly relations with Rome. That

5776-614: Was nearly murdered by pagans at his seat at Ashtishat. In 365, Patriarch Nerses I convened the Council of Ashtishat, which banned pre-Christian practices such as consanguineous marriages, pagan-style funerals involving "excessive lamentations," and polygamy. In the view of Robert W. Thomson, early efforts to spread Christianity to the Armenian population came mainly from local holy men and ascetics, rather than concerted missionary activities by church institutions. Most of these traveling holy men were Syrians or associated with Syria. One of

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