Trajan 98-117 AD
Description
Under Emperor Trajan, Rome’s policy toward Armenia shifted from influence to outright annexation – albeit briefly. By Trajan’s time, Armenia had returned to an Arsacid ruler under Parthian influence, and Parthia was testing the limits of the status quo established under Nero. In 113 AD the Parthian king Osroes I deposed the Armenian king (Trajan’s approved client) and installed his own nephew Parthamasiris on the Armenian throne without Roman consent. This unilateral act violated the longstanding agreement that Rome would approve Armenian monarchs. Trajan, a soldier-emperor with expansionist aims, saw it as a casus belli. In 114 AD, he marched east in a full-scale invasion – the first time a Roman emperor personally led an army into Armenia.
Facing Trajan’s rapid advance, King Parthamasiris rode into the Roman camp to surrender. According to contemporary accounts, Parthamasiris expected to be confirmed as client king (as had happened in the past when Armenian princes appealed to Rome). Instead, Trajan famously refused the diadem. He publicly rejected Parthamasiris’ plea to be crowned and annexed Armenia outright as a Roman province. Shortly after, Parthamasiris was dead – later Roman writers claim he was either killed attempting escape or executed on Trajan’s orders.
Trajan’s conquest did not stop at Armenia; he pushed further into Parthian territory, capturing Mesopotamian cities and briefly reaching the Persian Gulf. Armenia, meanwhile, was reorganized under Roman governors. However, this dramatic extension of Roman rule proved fleeting. Fierce resistance erupted, and Trajan’s fortunes waned with ill health.
Upon Trajan’s death in 117, his successor Hadrian promptly reversed course. Trajan’s campaign marked a watershed: it was the zenith of Roman military intervention in Armenia – the moment Rome turned this buffer kingdom into a province, however short-lived.
Facing Trajan’s rapid advance, King Parthamasiris rode into the Roman camp to surrender. According to contemporary accounts, Parthamasiris expected to be confirmed as client king (as had happened in the past when Armenian princes appealed to Rome). Instead, Trajan famously refused the diadem. He publicly rejected Parthamasiris’ plea to be crowned and annexed Armenia outright as a Roman province. Shortly after, Parthamasiris was dead – later Roman writers claim he was either killed attempting escape or executed on Trajan’s orders.
Trajan’s conquest did not stop at Armenia; he pushed further into Parthian territory, capturing Mesopotamian cities and briefly reaching the Persian Gulf. Armenia, meanwhile, was reorganized under Roman governors. However, this dramatic extension of Roman rule proved fleeting. Fierce resistance erupted, and Trajan’s fortunes waned with ill health.
Upon Trajan’s death in 117, his successor Hadrian promptly reversed course. Trajan’s campaign marked a watershed: it was the zenith of Roman military intervention in Armenia – the moment Rome turned this buffer kingdom into a province, however short-lived.
