Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)

This article is about the Kingdom of Armenia during classical antiquity. For a list of other Armenian Kingdoms, see Kingdom of Armenia (disambiguation).
Armenia
Հայք
Hayk
331 BC–428 AD
Flag of Armenia
A coin of Tigranes the Great with its distinctive Armenian tiara[1] is the best known variety of national coinage in Greater Armenia[2]
Armenia at its greatest extent under Tigranes the Great, 69 BC (including vassals)
Armenia at its greatest extent under Tigranes the Great, 69 BC (including vassals)
StatusSatrapy, Kingdom, Empire, Province
CapitalArmavir (331–210 BC)
Yervandashat (210–176 BC)
Artaxata/Artashat (176–77 BC; 69–120 AD)
Tigranocerta (77 BC–69 AD)
Vagharshapat (120–330)
Dvin (336–428)
Common languagesArmenian (spoken native language)[3]
Greek
Aramaic[4]
Iranian languages[3] (Parthian and Middle Persian)
Religion
Zoroastrianism[5]
(331 BC–301 AD)
Christianity (Armenian Church) (301–428)
GovernmentMonarchy
Notable Armenian Kings 
• 331–317 BC
Orontes III
• 189–160 BC
Artaxias I
• 95–55 BC
Tigranes the Great
• 55–34 BC
Artavasdes II
• 52–58, 62–88
Tiridates I
• 298–330
Tiridates III
• 389–414
Vramshapuh
• 422–428
Artaxias IV
Historical eraAntiquity, Middle Ages
• Satrapy of Armenia is formed
c. 533 BC
• Reign of Orontes III begins
331 BC
63 AD
301 AD
387 AD
• Last Arsacid king of Armenia deposed
428 AD
Area
c. 70 BC[6]900,000 km2 (350,000 sq mi)
c. 300 AD[7]311,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi)
Population
• c. 70 BC[6]
10,000,000
• c. 300 AD[7]
4,000,000
CurrencyTalent
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Satrapy of Armenia
Byzantine Armenia
Persian Armenia
Part of a series on the
History of Armenia
Coat of Arms of Armenia
Coat of Arms of Armenia
Prehistory
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Early modern age
Modern age
Timeline • Origins • Etymology

Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia (Armenian: Մեծ Հայքի թագավորություն, romanized: Mets Hayk’i t’agavorut’yun),[8] or simply Greater Armenia or Armenia Major (Armenian: Մեծ Հայք Mets Hayk;[9] Latin: Armenia Maior) sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire, was a kingdom in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into the successive reigns of three royal dynasties: Orontid (331 BC–200 BC),[10][11] Artaxiad (189 BC–12 AD)[12][13][14] and Arsacid (52–428).[15]

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 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 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, 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 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 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.

  1. ^ Bedoukian, Paul Z. (1978). Coinage of the Artaxiads of Armenia. London: Royal Numismatic Society. p. 4. The coins of the Artaxiads are so distinctive that they can be readily identified at a glance. Their distinctive feature is the Armenian tiara which appears on the obverse of all their coins.
  2. ^ Lang, David M (1980). "Paul Z. Bedoukian: Coinage of the Artaxiads of Armenia. 1978". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 43 (3): 606–607. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00137693. The Artaxiads were the most illustrious dynasty ever to reign over the Armenians, and the only one to strike a national coinage in Great Armenia [...] The best known variety of Artaxiad coins is the silver tetradrachm of Tigranes the Great...
  3. ^ a b Lang 1970, p. 126.
  4. ^ Canepa 2020, p. 101.
  5. ^ Curtis 2016, p. 185; Boyce 1984, p. 84; de Jong 2015, pp. 119–120, 123–125; Russell 1987, pp. 170–171, 268
  6. ^ a b Manaseryan, Ruben L. [in Armenian] (2022). "Տիգրան Մեծի անձի և գործունեության գնահատականի շուրջ" (PDF). Vem: 39. doi:10.57192/18291864-2022.3-33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-02-10. Հայոց արքայի իշխելը 10 միլիոն բնակչություն ունեցող 900.000 կմ² տարածքի վրա
  7. ^ a b Yeremian, Suren (1984). Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմություն, Հ. 2. [History of the Armenian People. Vol. 2] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences. p. 144. Այս ժամանակաշրջանում ամբողջ հայկական պետությունը, որի տարածքը 311 հազար քառ. կմ էր՝ մոտ չորս միլիոն ազգաբնակչությամբ...
  8. ^ "Kingdom of Greater Armenia". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  9. ^ Adontz, Nicolas (1970). The Reform of Justinian Armenia. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. p. 310.
  10. ^ Mach Chahin (2001). Kingdom of Armenia. Surrey: Routledge. p185–190.
  11. ^ "Armenia – Geography & History". britannica.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Artaxias | king of Armenia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  13. ^ "Tigranes II The Great | king of Armenia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  14. ^ "Artavasdes II | king of Armenia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  15. ^ Maranci, Christina (2018-10-12). The Art of Armenia: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-026900-5. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2022-07-18.