Tigranes II the Great 95-56 BC
Description
Under Tigranes II “the Great” Armenia rose from vassalage to empire. Freed from Parthian captivity and crowned in 95 BC, he immediately redeemed his hostage status by ceding the border districts of Gordyene and Nisibis (94 BC), then redirected his forces outward. Between 93 and 88 BC he subdued Sophene, Adiabene, and Atropatene, anchoring Armenia on the Upper Tigris and at Lake Urmia.
In 83 BC he marched west, toppling the moribund Seleucid monarchy, annexing Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, and founding the new capital Tigranocerta (c. 83–80 BC) to symbolize his dominion “from sea to sea.” That same decade he adopted the Achaemenid title “King of Kings,” ruling, Roman writers claimed, over “seventeen subject kings.” His marriage (c. 94 BC) to Cleopatra, daughter of Mithridates VI of Pontus, sealed an eastern coalition that challenged Rome during the First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) and again after 74 BC.
Rome struck back in the Third Mithridatic War. Lucullus invaded Armenia in 69 BC, defeating Tigranes at the battle of Tigranocerta (6 October 69 BC) and again near Artaxata (summer 68 BC). Though forced to abandon Mesopotamia and Syria, Tigranes avoided capture by retreating into the Taurus passes and waging a war of movement through 67–66 BC.
When Pompey replaced Lucullus, Tigranes, now in his sixties, chose negotiation over annihilation. Riding unarmed into Pompey’s camp in Autumn 66 BC, he surrendered his recent conquests, paid an indemnity of 6,000 talents, and was confirmed as king of a reduced, yet still substantial, Armenia Major. His rebellious son Tigranes the Younger was taken to Rome, while Tigranes II ruled on as Rome’s ally until his death in 55 BC.
Domestically, Tigranes reorganized the nobility, resettled Greek, Syrian, and Jewish captives to stimulate trade, and struck a monumental silver and bronze coinage that proclaimed his expanded titulature and displayed dynastic imagery. The brief eclipse of 69–66 BC could not erase the achievements of the previous quarter-century: under his guidance Armenia controlled the corridor from the Caspian to the Mediterranean (c. 83–69 BC), dictated terms to neighbors, and for a generation stood as the pre-eminent power of the Near East.
Tigranes' reign is marked by three historical periods in his coinage:
1) before Tigranocerta, as a Parthian vassal to an independent king;
2) the empire of Tigranes as "King of Kings," until its loss to Pompey; and
3) the Pompeian reorganization with Tigranes as a vassal of Rome.
In 83 BC he marched west, toppling the moribund Seleucid monarchy, annexing Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, and founding the new capital Tigranocerta (c. 83–80 BC) to symbolize his dominion “from sea to sea.” That same decade he adopted the Achaemenid title “King of Kings,” ruling, Roman writers claimed, over “seventeen subject kings.” His marriage (c. 94 BC) to Cleopatra, daughter of Mithridates VI of Pontus, sealed an eastern coalition that challenged Rome during the First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) and again after 74 BC.
Rome struck back in the Third Mithridatic War. Lucullus invaded Armenia in 69 BC, defeating Tigranes at the battle of Tigranocerta (6 October 69 BC) and again near Artaxata (summer 68 BC). Though forced to abandon Mesopotamia and Syria, Tigranes avoided capture by retreating into the Taurus passes and waging a war of movement through 67–66 BC.
When Pompey replaced Lucullus, Tigranes, now in his sixties, chose negotiation over annihilation. Riding unarmed into Pompey’s camp in Autumn 66 BC, he surrendered his recent conquests, paid an indemnity of 6,000 talents, and was confirmed as king of a reduced, yet still substantial, Armenia Major. His rebellious son Tigranes the Younger was taken to Rome, while Tigranes II ruled on as Rome’s ally until his death in 55 BC.
Domestically, Tigranes reorganized the nobility, resettled Greek, Syrian, and Jewish captives to stimulate trade, and struck a monumental silver and bronze coinage that proclaimed his expanded titulature and displayed dynastic imagery. The brief eclipse of 69–66 BC could not erase the achievements of the previous quarter-century: under his guidance Armenia controlled the corridor from the Caspian to the Mediterranean (c. 83–69 BC), dictated terms to neighbors, and for a generation stood as the pre-eminent power of the Near East.
Tigranes' reign is marked by three historical periods in his coinage:
1) before Tigranocerta, as a Parthian vassal to an independent king;
2) the empire of Tigranes as "King of Kings," until its loss to Pompey; and
3) the Pompeian reorganization with Tigranes as a vassal of Rome.
