Arsacids (Armenia)

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Standard of the Arsacids

The Arsacids (in Armenian : Aršakuni ) ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428. They were a sideline of the Iranian Parthian Arsacids and over time became a clearly Armenian dynasty. The Arsakid kings ruled with interruptions in the chaotic years after the fall of the Artaxids until Trdat I secured the Arsakid rule in Armenia in 62 . An independent line of kings was established in Iberia by Vologaeses II (Valarses / Vagharshak) in 180 . Two of the most important events under the Arsacids was the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in 301 by Gregory the Illuminator and the creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 by Mesrophe .

The Kingdom of Armenia under the Arsacids in 150.

Early Arsacids

The first appearance of the Arsacids on the Armenian throne was around the year 12, when the Parthian king Vonones I was expelled from Parthia because of his pro-Roman politics and Western way of life . Vonones I quickly acquired the Armenian throne with the consent of the Romans , but Artabanos II demanded his deposition, and since the Roman emperor Augustus did not want to start a war with the Parthians, he deposed Vonones I and sent him into exile in Syria . Artabanos wasted no time and installed his son Orodes as king in Armenia. Augustus' successor Tiberius did not intend to give up this buffer state in the east and sent his nephew and heir Germanicus to the east. He concluded a treaty with Artabanos in which Artabanos was recognized as king and friend of the Romans.

Armenia was given to Zeno, the son of Polemon I Eusebes of Pontus, who was given the Armenian name Artaxias III in the year 18. assumed. The Parthians under Artabanos were too weakened by internal struggles to do anything about it. Artaxias' reign was a remarkably peaceful period in Armenian history. When Artaxias died in 34, Artabanos decided to reinstate an Arsacid and chose his eldest son Arsakes as a suitable candidate. The throne was contested for him by the younger son Artabanos' Orodes. Tiberius quickly concentrated more troops on the Roman border, and once again, after a decade of peace, Armenia became the theater of wars between the two most powerful states in the known world for the next 25 years. Tiberius sent an Iberian named Mithridates who posed as Arsacid. Mithridates regained Armenia and deposed the Arsacids, which caused great devastation in the country. Surprisingly, Mithridates was called back to Rome and held as a prisoner, and Armenia was given to Artabanos and his younger son Orodes.

After Artabanos' death, another civil war broke out in Parthia. Mithridates became king again with the help of his brother Parsman I of Iberia from the Parnawasid dynasty and Roman troops. The Parthian civil war lasted until Gotarzes II ascended the throne in 45. In 51 Mithridates' nephew Rhadamistos invaded Armenia and killed his uncle. The governor of Cappadocia Julius Pailinus decided to conquer Armenia, but held back because of the coronation of Rhadamistos and was richly rewarded by him. The Parthian king Vologaeses I saw an opportunity to invade Armenia and ousted the Iberians. The severe winter that followed overwhelmed the Parthians, however, and they withdrew, allowing Rhadamistus to regain the throne. Once again in power, according to Tacitus , the Iberian was so cruel that the Armenians stormed the palace and forced Rhadamistos to leave the country. So Vologaeses I was able to bring his brother Trdat I to the throne.

Between Rome and Parthia

Concerned about the growing influence of the Parthian sent Emperor Nero his general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo with a large army to the East, to the client kings to reinstate the Romans. Trdat I. escaped and a Roman client king was reinstated. The King Tigranes VI appointed by Rome. invaded Adiabene , a vassal state of the Parthians, in 61 . Vologaeses I saw this as an aggressive act by Rome and began a campaign to bring Trdat back to power. After the Battle of Rhandea in 62 command of the Roman legions was given back to Corbulo. He marched to Armenia and set up camp near Rhandea, where he concluded a treaty with Trdat I. Trdat was recognized as a king but became a vassal of Rome. Trdat agreed and went to Rome to receive his crown personally through Nero. Trdat I ruled in Armenia until his death or deposition around 100/110. Osroes I invaded Armenia and installed his nephew Axidares, son of Pakoros , as king.

Greater Armenia (red) and Lesser Armenia (blue) as part of the Roman Empire.

This encroachment on the traditional sphere of influence of the Roman Empire ended the peace that had existed since the time of Nero 50 years ago and started a new war with the current Emperor Trajan . This marched in October 113 towards Armenia to reinstate the Roman vassal king. Osroes I sent ambassadors to Athens in 113 to change the mind of the emperor and to avert war. He had Trajan informed that Axidares had been removed from office and asked whether his older brother Parthamasiris should receive the throne. Trajan refused and took Arsamosata in August 114, where Parthamasiris surrendered immediately but perished a short time later. Trajan annexed the kingdom. As a Roman province, Armenia was ruled together with Cappadocia by the governor Lucius Catilius Severus .

On this occasion the Roman Senate had a coin minted with the inscription: ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM PR REDACTAE , which solidified Armenia's position as the newest Roman province. A rebellion by the Parthian heir to the throne Sanatruces was put down, but the uprisings continued sporadically and Vologaeses III. managed to conquer a large part of Armenia shortly before Trajan's death in August 117. But the new emperor Hadrian gave up the conquests of Trajan in the east and made Parthamaspates king of Armenia and the Osrhoene , although Vologaeses III owned it. most of the country. In the end an agreement was reached with the Parthians and the Parthian became ruler of Armenia as Vologaeses I. He ruled Armenia until after 136. Vologaeses IV sent his troops to Armenia in 161 and there destroyed the Roman legions of Legatus C. Severianus and encouraged by the Spahbod Osroes, the Parthian troops marched further west to Syria.

Coin for the victory of Lucius Verus' Armeniacus against Vologaeses IV. In the war for Armenia

Marcus Aurelius quickly sent his fellow emperor Lucius Verus to the Eastern Front. 163 commissioned Lucius Verus General Marcus Statius Priscus Licinius Italicus , who had recently been sent from Roman Britain with several legions from Antioch on the Orontes to Armenia. Vologaeses' army withdrew from Artaxata and Priscus put on the throne a Roman puppet named Sohaimos (Roman senator and consul of Arsakid and Homsian descent), Pakorus, who was ruled by Vologaeses III. had been installed had to vacate the throne. As a result of the Antonine plague among Roman troops, the Parthians recaptured most of their lost territories in 166, forcing Sohaimos to retreat to Syria. After a series of interventions by Roman and Parthian rulers, the son Vologaeses I of Armenia named Vologaeses II took the throne around 180. In 191 he ascended the Parthian throne as Vologaeses V and installed his son Chosroes I as the Armenian king. Chosroes was captured by the Romans, who appointed one of their own as ruler. But the Armenians themselves rose up against their Roman overlords and with a new Roman-Parthian compromise Chosroes' son Trdat II became king of Armenia.

Sassanids and Armenia

In 224 Ardaschir I ousted the Arsacids in Parthia and began the new Persian Sassanid dynasty . The Sassanids wanted to restore the old glory of the Achaemenids, made Zoroastrianism the state religion and claimed Armenia as part of their empire. In order to maintain the autonomy of the arshakuni in Armenia, Trdat II sought friendly relations with Rome. This was an unfortunate choice because the Sassanid king Shapur I defeated the Romans and signed a peace treaty with Emperor Philip Arabs in which Rome agreed to pay tributes and ceded Armenia. In 252 Shapur I invaded Armenia, forced Trdat II to flee and put his own son Hormizd I on the Armenian throne. When Shapur I died in 270 Hormizd I was his successor and his brother Narseh ruled for him in Armenia. Under Emperor Diocletian , Rome tried to establish Chosroes II as ruler in Armenia, and between 279 and 287 he was in possession of the western part of Armenia. But the Sassanids incited some nobles to revolt, in the course of which Chosroes II was killed. When Narseh ascended the Persian throne in 293, Chosroes' murderer became king. Nonetheless, Rome defeated Narseh in 298, and Chosroes' son Trdat III. gained control of Armenia with the help of Roman soldiers.

Christianization

The baptism of Trdat III.

314 converted Gregory the Illuminator King Trdat III. and the members of the court to Christianity. According to Mikayel Chamchian, this event is traditionally set to the year 301. The Armenian alphabet was designed by Mesrop 406 with the intention of translating the Bible, and so the beginning of Christianization also marks the beginning of Armenian literature . According to Moses von Choren , Isaac the Great translated the Gospel from Syrian around 411. This work must have been regarded as imperfect, so that soon afterwards Johann von Egheghiatz and Joseph von Baghin were sent to Edessa to translate the scriptures. They traveled as far as Constantinople and brought copies of the Greek text with them. With the help of other copies from Alexandria the Bible was the basis of the Greek text of the Septuagint and the Hexapla of Origen translated '. This version, still in use today by the Armenian Church , was completed around 434.

Decline

In 337 during the reign of Chosroe II the Little Shapur II invaded Armenia. During the following decade, Armenia was once again a disputed territory between Eastern Stream and the Sassanids, until a final agreement in 387 that lasted until the Arab conquest of Armenia in 639. The Arsakid rulers remained with interruptions (in competition with the Bagratid princes) in possession of a certain power and served as governors of the Byzantines or as Marzbane of the Sassanids until 428.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Olson: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires , Greenwood Press, 1994, p. 42.
  2. ^ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities , 18.42-47.
  3. ↑ Tacitus, Annals, 2.43, 2.56.
  4. ↑ Statius Silvae 5.1; Cassius Dio 68.17.1 .; Arrian Parthica frs 37/40
  5. ↑ Cassius Dio 68.17.2-3
  6. ↑ Sellwood Coinage of Parthia 257-60, 268-77; Debevoise History of Parthia 245; Cassius Dio. 71.2.1.
  7. ↑ Historia Augusta (HA) Marcus Antoninus 9.1, Verus 7.1; Cassius Dio. 71.3.
  8. ↑ HA Verus 8.1-4; Dio Cass. 71.2.
  9. ^ Academic American Encyclopedia, Grolier Incorporated, p. 172.
  10. ↑ The date varies between 284 and 314. 314 is preferred by most historians, according to Garsoïan ( op.cit. P. 82, following the research of Ananian) and Seibt (2002).

literature

  • Kevork A. Sarafian: History of Education in Armenia. La Verde Leader, La Verne CA 1930.
  • Agop Jack Hacikyan (Ed.): The heritage of Armenian literature. Volume 1: From the oral tradition to the golden age. Wayne State University Press, Detroit MI 2000, ISBN 0-8143-2815-6 .
  • Werner Seibt (ed.): The Christianization of the Caucasus. = The Christianization of Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania) (= Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. Memoranda. Vol. 296 = Publications of the Commission for Byzantine Studies . Vol. 9). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7001-3016-3 .

Web links

Coordinates: 41 °  N , 44 °  E