Tigran II, younger brother of Artavazd II and ruler of Armenia from 95 to 55 B.C., obtained the throne by ceding to the Parthians the districts which their predecessors had wrested from the Medes and Iberians, a seizure which supplied the excuse for the expedition of Mithridates II of Parthia. A quarrel arose between him and King Ardan (or Vardan) of Sophene, and Tigran attacked the latter, vanquished him and took over his domain. When Euphratean Armenia was thus suppressed, Tigran's kingdom then extended from the valley of the Kur to Melitine and Cappadocia. Mithridates VI of Pontus, who aspired to the annexation of Cappadocia, sought an alliance with Tigran by marrying one of his daughters to him. So by the treaty which followed the marriage, Cleopatra, a girl of courage as well as high education, became the Queen of Armenia.
The ensuing invasion of Cappadocia in 93 B.C. compelled Ariobarzan, its king, to yield and hurry to Rome for aid. His appeal won a ready response. The Roman general Sulla came to Asia Minor, reinstated Ariobarzan on his throne and forced the Armenian army to retreat to the east bank of the Euphrates. The Eastern allies did not, however, admit defeat. The civil war which raged in Rome in 90 B.C. gave them the opportunity of regaining their advantage on the field of battle, and once more Ariobarzan was put to flight.
Tigran's star was now in the ascendency. When Parthia's great king, Mithridates II, died in 86, Tigran felt himself equal to the task of proving his supremacy over the Parthians. He recaptured the lands which had been ceded to them, and marched still further to seize Atropene, Gordiene and a part of Mesopotamia, thus once more subjugating the territory of old Kingdom of Ararat. To this were soon added the domains of Adiabene, Mygdonia and Osrhoene. The Armenian armies penetrated further into Greater Media and reduced its capital, Ecbatana, in whose royal palace Tigran had once been held as a hostage. It of course followed that he had now become the "King of Kings," a title which he inscribed on his coins. So the supremacy of Asia, which had belonged to Parthia under the Achaemenids and Seleucidae, was in this triumphant moment transferred to Armenia.
Tigran's glory attained its apogee when he was invited to Antioch in 83 B.C., and offered the crown of the Seleucid dynasty. Syria, which had long been torn by internal strife, under Tigran's rule enjoyed full peace for eighteen years. His power reached even beyond the confines of Syria proper, to include Palestine on the south and Cilicia on the west. But like most Oriental monarchies, his kingdom was only an assembling of uncongenial peoples, with no cohesion. The expansion of his domain to the south and west made necessary the creation of a new and more centrally located capital. Artashat (Artaxata), the old capital, isolated in a remote province, lay too far to the north. Tigran therefore built in the southern part of Armenia the new city of Tigranakert (Tigranocerta), named in his honor. It was probably northwest of Nissibin, at the foot of the spurs of the Taurus chain. As one enthusiastic writer says, the city seemed to spring from the earth as if by enchantment. In the splendor of its palaces, gardens and parks, in the richness of its ornaments and stored treasure, it is thought by some to have rivalled Nineveh and Babylon. Its walls were fifty "brasses" or fathoms (300 feet) high, and stables for the horses were built into their lower parts. The royal palace was in the suburbs, surrounded by a park, in which were many dens for wild game and ponds for fish. Tigran also constructed a strong fort near the palace.
By royal order, the grandees of Armenia were compelled to transfer their residence to the new city. Thousands of Greek families were deported from Asia Minor, as were others from Adiabene, Assyria, Gordiene and Arabian Mesopotamia, to build up the population of the new capital, which at once took on a cosmopolitan character.
However, great though Tigran II was in ability, the empire created by him was doomed to be short-lived and a mere flash of lightning in history because of Roman ruthlessness and the mad audacity of his father-in law Mithridates. The verbal treaty made between Sulla and Mithridates in 84 B.C., was only an armistice. Murena, the Roman governor of Asia, arbitrarily and without the approval of the Roman Senate, renewed hostilities, but his attacks were repulsed. Mithridates appealed to Rome for peace, but in vain; the internal politics of Rome required brilliant victories abroad. Lucullus came to Asia with a powerful army and navy, and Mithridates, forsaken by his own officers, was badly beaten, even his son seeking favor with the invaders. There was nothing left for him but to take refuge in Armenia. Tigran alone hesitatingly promised him aid, though it meant fighting not only the Romans but also the Parthians, who (according to Gutschmid) held a bitter grudge against him and were already formally at war with him. Plutarch, always ready to besmirch Tigran, attributes to him a cold and unconcerned attitude towards his father-in law. Other historians give us a different picture of Tigran, who in answering a demand by Lucullus for the surrender of Mithridates, replied: "The whole world and my own conscience would condemn me if I should surrender the father of my wife to the enemy."
Pompey set out towards Artashat with his army, but was still fifteen miles away when the heralds of old Tigran appeared, followed by the King himself. He had come humbly to ask for peace. At the gate of the camp, a lictor helped him to alight from his horse. When he saw Pompey, he removed his diadem, and was about to prostrate himself before the Roman general, but the latter prevented him, made him sit by his side, and consented to a peace, on condition that Tigran renounce his acquisitions in Syria and Asia Minor, and pay 6,000 talents indemnity and recognize young Tigran as the King of Sophene.
The aged, weary monarch accepted these terms, promising to the Roman troops a gratuity of fifty drachmas per soldier, one thousand per centurion, and one talent to each tribune. But his son, who had hoped to occupy the throne of Armenia, could not conceal his discontent. He carried on secret intrigues with the Parthians which were presently discovered, and he was put in chains by Pompey. This was a violation of such international law as prevailed then, and was a humiliation inflicted upon the King of the Parthians. Phraates sought the liberation of his son-in law but in vain; young Tigran, his wife and children were sent to Rome to be paraded in the triumph of Pompey. The peace granted by Pompey obliterated all the conquests of Tigran the Great, and reduced Armenia's terrain once more to her ancient borders.
There were a number of reasons for Armenia's greatness being so short-lived. She was surrounded by an agglomeration of peoples whom she could not assimilate until she could overcome the powerful Roman and Parthian influences upon them. Also, Armenia herself was disrupted by internal strifes, the result of her feudal form of government. This explains to some degree why the attempt of Tigran the Great had been unique in his country's history, and why he, notwithstanding his mistakes and defeats, represents a brilliant page in the story of Armenia.
Heroes never forgot
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