Chapter VI: Part XII (4)

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

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

34 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.

20 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.

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

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

2 =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.

A.D.

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

4 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,

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

18 =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.

35 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.

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

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

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

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

66 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.

78 =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.

112 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.

117 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=.

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

163 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.

212 Caracalla seizes Sanatruces.

Armenian 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.

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

285 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.

341 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.

363 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.

374 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.

387 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=.

389 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

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

414 Chosroes restored by Yezdegerd I.

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

419 Death of Sapor. Interregnum until

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

429 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.

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

632 Heraclius restores Armenia to the Roman Empire, but in

636 it passes under Mohammedan rule.

885 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.

908 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.

962-1080 The Bagratids found and rule a dynasty in Kars.

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

984-1085 The Meravind dynasty of Kurds rules the country west
of Lake Van.

1080 =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

1224 =Hayton I.=

Some 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

1375 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.