Arshak II (Armenia)

This article deals with the Armenian king Arshak II, who is called Arsaces II in Latin. The ruler of the Parthian Empire of the same name can be found under Arsakes II .

Arsak II ( Armenian Արշակ Բ , Latinized Arsaces , Greek called Arsakes ; * 4th century ; † around 368) was probably King of Armenia from around 338 to around 368 . The chronology is uncertain, however, a reign from 350 to approx. 368 is also possible. He belonged to the Arsacid dynasty and is occasionally referred to in research as Arsakes III. counted.

His reign was marked by the role of Armenia as the bone of contention in the Roman-Persian rivalry . Arsak sided with the Romans, as the Sassanids had overthrown the previously ruling Arsakid dynasty in the Parthian Empire . In this context, his marriage in 351 to Olympia, the daughter of the Roman consul Flavius ​​Ablabius , should be seen, for which the Roman emperor Constantius II was responsible, whose friend Arshak was considered. Arshak was able to keep Armenia out of the conflict between Rome and the Sassanid Empire until 361.

Historical provinces of Armenia

In the year 363, however, the war broke out: after the failure of the campaign of Emperor Julians , in which the Armenians only played a defensive role, his successor Jovian negotiated the peace of 363 in which he made extensive concessions to the Sassanids and Rome thus from the Fighting was eliminated. Then the Sassanid great king Shapur II was able to attack Armenia unhindered. Rome did not intervene, especially since the now reigning Emperor Valens was struggling with internal problems. Assak was able to repel the attack under joint leadership with the general Mamikonian , but was lured into an ambush and taken prisoner under the pretext of peace negotiations. According to legend, Arshak committed suicide while in captivity.

After Arshak's death, Armenia came under Sassanid rule for a short time, and his son Pap (Latin: Papas ), who was 17 years old at the time, succeeded him as king in 370 .

Others

The composer Dikran Tschuchadschjan composed an opera called Arshak II in 1868 , which is considered to be the first Armenian opera.

literature

• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1. Cambridge 1971, p. 109.

Remarks

1. ↑ Thus in PLRE I, p. 109 and in Alexander Demandt : Die Spätantike . 2nd edition Munich 2007, p. 147. In Der Neue Pauly he is referred to as Arsakes II .
2. ↑ Alexander Demandt: The late antiquity . 2nd edition Munich 2007, p. 147f.
3. ↑ Nueva Vista: Armenian Music and Dances  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 18, 2012  

predecessor	Office	successor
Trdat III.	King of Armenia 338–367	Pap