Tigranes VI 60-62, 66/7 AD
Description
Tigranes VI (Gaius Julius Tigranes), a great-grandson of Herod the Great and nephew of Tigranes V, spent most of his life as a hostage-prince in Rome before Nero selected him to replace the Arsacid prince Tiridates I. Installed about AD 60 and supported by a Roman garrison at Artaxata, he ruled as a client king for roughly two years. His coinage from this first reign styles him βασιλεὺς μέγας (“Great King”), a title that probably reflects responsibility for both Armenia Major and Sophene. The bronze issues—closely resembling those of Tigranes V in style and fabric—were almost certainly struck at the same mint, probably Artagigarta.
Nero expected energy, and Tigranes delivered. He launched a bold raid into Adiabene, a Parthian vassal, and then helped hold Tigranocerta against counter-attacks, demonstrating his value to Rome’s eastern strategy. Locally, however, dependence on Roman arms made him appear an alien interloper. In AD 62 Vologases I dispatched forces under Monobazus of Adiabene; the campaign that culminated in the Roman reverse at Rhandeia compelled Corbulo to evacuate Tigranes and reopen negotiations. By late 62 Rome had withdrawn its protégé, clearing the way for Tiridates’ return under the forthcoming peace of Rhandeia.
Yet Tigranes did not vanish. Literary silence is balanced by numismatic proof of a second, limited reign in 66/67 AD. Bronze coins dated by the Aradian era and struck in three denominations—likely at Aradus or its mainland ports Came or Gabala—show jugate portraits of Tigranes and his wife, the queen depicted in a Phrygian cap, and the Tyche of Aradus on the reverse. They point to a residual power-base in Sophene and the Aradian Peraea from which Tigranes hoped to re-enter Armenia while Tiridates travelled to Rome for his coronation in 66. The outbreak of war in Judaea diverted Roman resources, and the bid lapsed.
Afterward, Tigranes fades from the political record; Rome probably compensated him with estates in Syria or Judaea. His legacy continued through his son Julius Alexander, who became king of Cetis under Vespasian.
Nero expected energy, and Tigranes delivered. He launched a bold raid into Adiabene, a Parthian vassal, and then helped hold Tigranocerta against counter-attacks, demonstrating his value to Rome’s eastern strategy. Locally, however, dependence on Roman arms made him appear an alien interloper. In AD 62 Vologases I dispatched forces under Monobazus of Adiabene; the campaign that culminated in the Roman reverse at Rhandeia compelled Corbulo to evacuate Tigranes and reopen negotiations. By late 62 Rome had withdrawn its protégé, clearing the way for Tiridates’ return under the forthcoming peace of Rhandeia.
Yet Tigranes did not vanish. Literary silence is balanced by numismatic proof of a second, limited reign in 66/67 AD. Bronze coins dated by the Aradian era and struck in three denominations—likely at Aradus or its mainland ports Came or Gabala—show jugate portraits of Tigranes and his wife, the queen depicted in a Phrygian cap, and the Tyche of Aradus on the reverse. They point to a residual power-base in Sophene and the Aradian Peraea from which Tigranes hoped to re-enter Armenia while Tiridates travelled to Rome for his coronation in 66. The outbreak of war in Judaea diverted Roman resources, and the bid lapsed.
Afterward, Tigranes fades from the political record; Rome probably compensated him with estates in Syria or Judaea. His legacy continued through his son Julius Alexander, who became king of Cetis under Vespasian.
Collection Tree
- ANCIENT
- Armenia Major
- Tigranes VI 60-62, 66/7 AD
- Armenia Major