Arsacid dynasty of Armenia
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2015) |
Arsacid Արշակունի Arshakuni | |
---|---|
Parent house | Arsacids of Parthia |
Country | Kingdom of Armenia |
Founded | 12 |
Current head | Extinct |
Final ruler | Artaxias IV |
Titles | King of Armenia |
Dissolution | 428 |
History of Armenia |
---|
Timeline • Origins • Etymology |
The Arsacid dynasty, called the Arshakuni (Armenian: Արշակունի, romanized: Aršakuni) in Armenian, ruled the Kingdom of Armenia, with some interruptions, from 12 to 428.[1] The dynasty was a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Arsacid kings reigned intermittently throughout the chaotic years following the fall of the Artaxiad dynasty until 62, when Tiridates I, brother of Parthian King Vologases I, secured Arsacid rule in Armenia as a client king of Rome. However, he did not succeed in establishing his line on the throne, and various princes of different Arsacid lineages ruled until the accession of Vologases II, who succeeded in establishing his own line on the Armenian throne, which ruled the kingdom until its abolishment by the Sasanian Empire in 428.[1]
Two of the most notable events under Arsacid rule in Armenian history were the
Early Arsacids
The first appearance of an Arsacid on the Armenian throne occurred in 12 when the Parthian king Vonones I was exiled from Parthia for his pro-Roman policies and Occidental manners.[2] Vonones I briefly acquired the Armenian throne with Roman consent, but Artabanus II, incorrectly known as Artabanus III in older scholarship, demanded his deposition, and as Emperor Augustus did not wish to begin a war against the Parthians, he deposed Vonones I and sent him to Syria. Soon after the deposition of Vonones I, Artabanus II installed his son Orodes on the Armenian throne. Emperor Tiberius had no intention of giving up the buffer states of the eastern frontier and sent his nephew and heir Germanicus to the East. Germanicus concluded a treaty with Artabanus II in which he was recognized as king and friend of the Romans.
In 18, Armenia was given to Zeno, son of Polemon I of Pontus,[3] who assumed the Iranian name Artaxias (a.k.a. Zeno-Artaxias).[4] The Parthians under Artabanus II were too distracted by internal strife to oppose the Roman-appointed king. Zeno's reign was remarkably peaceful in Armenian history. After Zeno's death in 36, Artabanus II decided to reinstate an Arsacid on the Armenian throne, choosing his eldest son Arsaces I as a suitable candidate, but his succession to the Armenian throne was disputed by his younger brother Orodes, who had been overthrown by Zeno. Tiberius quickly concentrated more forces on the Roman frontier and once again after a decade of peace, Armenia was to become the theater of bitter warfare between the two greatest powers of the known world for the next 25 years.
Tiberius sent an
In 51 Mithridates' nephew Rhadamistus invaded Armenia and killed his uncle. The governor of Cappadocia, Julius Pailinus, decided to conquer Armenia but settled with the crowning of Rhadamistus, who generously rewarded him. Parthian King Vologases I saw an opportunity, invaded Armenia and succeeded in forcing the Iberians to withdraw from Armenia. The harsh winter that followed proved too much for the Parthians, who also withdrew, thus leaving open doors for Rhadamistus to regain his throne. After regaining power, according to Tacitus, the Iberian was so cruel that the Armenians stormed the palace and forced Rhadamistus out of the country, and Vologases I got the opportunity to install his brother Tiridates on the throne.
Between Rome and Parthia
Unhappy with the growing
Vologases I considered this an act of aggression from Rome and restarted a campaign to restore Tiridates I to the Armenian throne. In the following Battle of Rhandeia in 62, command of the Roman troops was again entrusted to Corbulo, who marched into Armenia and set a camp in Rhandeia, where he made a peace agreement with Tiridates. It stated that Tiridates was recognized as King of Armenia, but he agreed to become a Roman client king and go to Rome to be crowned by Emperor Nero. Tiridates ruled Armenia until his death or deposition around 110, when the Parthian king Osroes I invaded Armenia and enthroned his nephew Axidares, the son of the previous Parthian king, Pacorus II, as King of Armenia.
The encroachment on the traditional sphere of influence of the Roman Empire started a new war between Parthia and Rome and ended the peace that had endured for about half a century since Nero's time.[5] Roman Emperor Trajan marched towards Armenia in October 113 to restore a Roman client king in Armenia. Envoys from Osroes I met Trajan at Athens, informed him that Axidares had been deposed and asked for Axidares' elder brother, Parthamasiris, to be granted the throne. Trajan declined the proposal and in August 114 captured Arsamosata, where Parthamasiris asked to be crowned, but instead of crowning him, he annexed his kingdom as a new province to the Roman Empire.[6] Parthamasiris was dismissed and died mysteriously soon afterwards.
As a Roman province, Armenia was administered along with Cappadocia by Lucius Catilius Severus. The Roman Senate issued coins that celebrated this occasion and borne the following inscription: Armenia et Mesopotamia in potestatem P.R. redactæ ('Armenia and Mesopotamia brought back into the power of the people of Rome'). After a rebellion led by a pretender to the Parthian throne (Sanatruces II, son of Mithridates V), was put down, some sporadic resistance continued, and Vologases III had managed to secure a sizeable amount of Armenia just before Trajan's death in August 117. However, in 118, the new Roman emperor, Hadrian, gave up Trajan's conquered lands, including Armenia, and installed Parthamaspates as King of Armenia and Osroene, although the Parthian king Vologases held most Armenian territory. Eventually, a compromise with the Parthians was reached, and Vologases was placed in charge of Armenia.
Vologases ruled Armenia until 140. Vologases IV, the son of the legitimate Parthian King Mithridates V, dispatched his troops to seize Armenia in 161 and eradicated the Roman legions that had been stationed there under legatus Gaius Severianus. Encouraged by the spahbod Osroes, Parthian troops marched further west into Roman Syria.[7]
Marcus Aurelius immediately sent Lucius Verus to the eastern front. In 163, Verus dispatched General Statius Priscus, who had been recently transferred from Roman Britain along with several legions, from Syrian Antioch to Armenia. The Artaxata army, commanded by Vologases IV, surrendered to Priscus, who installed a Roman puppet, Sohaemus (Roman senator and consul of Arsacid and Emessan ancestry), on the Armenian throne and deposed a certain Pacorus, who had bien installed by Vologases III.[8]
As a result of an epidemic within the Roman forces, Parthians retook most of their lost territory in 166 and forced
Sassanids and Armenia
In 224, Persian King
To preserve the autonomy of Arsacid rule in Armenia, Tiridates II sought friendly relations with Rome. That was an unfortunate choice because Sassanid King Shapur I defeated the Romans and made peace with Emperor Philip. In 252, Shapur invaded Armenia and forced Tiridates to flee. After the deaths of Tiridates and his son Khosrov II, Shapur installed his own son, Hurmazd, on the Armenian throne. When Shapur I died in 270, Hurmazd took the Persian throne, and his brother Narseh ruled Armenia in his name.
Under
Christianization
As late as the later Parthian period, Armenia was predominantly Zoroastrian.[10] However, that was soon to change. In the early 4th century AD, Saint Gregory the Illuminator converted King Tiridates III and members of his court to Christianity, making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion.[11][12]
The
Decline
During the reign of
Culture
Out of the three phases (Achaemenid, Arsacid, Sasanian) of Iranian influence in Armenia, the Arsacid one was the strongest and most enduring. The phase began with the ascendance of the Parthians in the 2nd century BC and reached its zenith following the establishment of an Arsacid branch on the Armenian throne in the mid-1st century AD. The Arsacid kings of Armenia attempted to base their court on the same model as the one in Ctesiphon.[13] Many Parthian aspects were directly imported into Armenian civilization, such as the gusan, which resembled a bard or minstrel.[13] In Arsacid Armenia, the custom of aristocratic children being raised by foster parents or tutors was widespread, as in the rest of the Iranian commonwealth.[14]
The Arsacid kings knew Parthia and regarded it as their native country.
The Armenians viewed the bond between their country and the royal houses of Parthia as indestructible.[18] Armenian sources use the terms "king" and "Arsacid" (Aršakuni) as synonyms.[19][18] The Arsacid king was regarded as the bnak tērn ašxarhis ("natural lord of this country").[19]
Imperial ideology and religious practices
The Arsacids were advocates of Iranian legitimacy, which they remained even after the fall of the Parthian Empire.
The ancient sanctuary of Bagawan was of high importance to the Arsacids, who celebrated the Iranian New Year's festival (Nowruz) there.[27] The boar, which was the favourite totem of the yazata Verethragna (Vahagn in Armenian), was the symbol of the Arsacids.[28]
Language and naming traditions
While the culture of Armenia was dominated by Hellenism under the Artaxiads, the reign of the Arsacids marked the predominance of Iranianism in the country, with Parthian replacing Greek as the language of the educated. However, Armenian Hellenism was not eradicated, as the Arsacids of Iran were proud philhellenes.[1] Armenian was considered a "vulgar" language and so the Parthian language was spoken amongst the upper class and at the court. It was during that period that Classical Armenian incorporated most of its Iranian loanwords.[13] The modern historians R. Schmitt and H. W. Bailey compare the Parthian influence on Armenian to that of the French influence on English after the Norman Conquest of 1066.[29]
After their conversion to Christianity, the Arsacids continued to preserve their Iranian naming traditions, as demonstrated by the male names Trdat, Khosrov, Tiran, Arshak, Pap, Varazdat and Vramshapuh and the female names Ashkhen, Zarmandukht, Khosrovdukht, Ormazdukht, Vardandukht. Notably the name of Nerses I's mother, Bambishn, means "queen" in Persian.[30] Overall, the Christian Arsacids remained true to their Arsacid Iranian traditions.[13]
Arsacid kings of Armenia
This is a list of the kings of Armenia between c. 12–428, most of whom were members of the Arsacid dynasty. The list also mentions the non-dynastic rulers of Armenia as well as periods of interregnum.[31] Note that some dates are approximations.
- Vonones I 12–18
- Artaxias III (Zeno Artaxias, non-Arsacid) 18–34
- Arsaces I of Armenia 35
- Mithridates of Armenia (Pharnavazid dynasty) 35–37
- Orodes of Armenia 37–42
- Mithridates of Armenia (again) 42–51
- Rhadamistus (Pharnavazid dynasty) 51–53, 54–55
- Tiridates/Trdat I 52–58, 62–66, officially 66–88
- Tigranes VI (Herodian dynasty) 59–62
- Sanatruces (Sanatruk) 88–110
- Axidares (Ashkhadar) 110–113
- Parthamasiris (Partamasir) 113–114
- Roman annexation 114–117/8
- Vologases I (Vagharsh I) 117/8–144
- Sohaemus (non-Arsacid) 144–161, 164–186
- Pacorus (Bakur) 161–164
- Vologases II (Vagharsh II)186–198
- Khosrov I 198–217
- Trdat II 217–252
- Khosrov II c. 252
- Hormizd-Ardashir (Sassanid dynasty) 252–c. 270
- Narseh (Sassanid dynasty) c. 271–293
- Trdat III 287–330
- Khosrov III 330–339
- Tiran 339-c. 350
- Arshak II c. 350–368
- Sassanid conquest (Shapur II) 368–370
- Pap 370–374
- Varazdat 374–378
- Arshak III 378–387 with co-ruler Vagharshak 378–386
- Khosrov IV 387–389
- Vramshapuh 389–417
- Possibly Khosrov IV (again) 417–418
- Shapur (Sassanid dynasty) 418–422
- Artashes/Artashir 422–428
References
- ^ a b c d Toumanoff 1986, pp. 543–546.
- ^ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 18.42–47
- ^ Olbrycht 2016, p. 605.
- ^ Garsoïan 1985, p. 181.
- ^ Statius Silvae 5.1; Dio Cassius 68.17.1.; Arrian Parthica frs 37/40
- ^ Dio Cassius 68.17.2–3
- ^ Sellwood Coinage of Parthia 257–260, 268–277; Debevoise History of Parthia 245; Dio Cass.71.2.1.
- ^ HA Marcus Antoninus 9.1, Verus 7.1; Dio Cass. 71.3.
- ^ HA Verus 8.1–4; Dio Cass. 71.2.
- ^ Boyce 2001, p. 84.
- ^ Academic American Encyclopedia – Page 172 by Grolier Incorporated
- ^ Estimated dates vary from 284 to 314. The latter is the date favored by mainstream scholarship, see Garsoïan (op.cit. p.82), following the research of Ananian, and Seibt (2002)
- ^ a b c d Chaumont 1986, pp. 418–438.
- ^ Rapp 2014, p. 89.
- ^ Russell 2004, p. 41.
- ^ Russell 2004, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Russell 2004, p. 1066.
- ^ a b Garsoïan 1985, p. 180.
- ^ a b Russell 1987, p. 163.
- ^ Lang 1983, p. 518.
- ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 44.
- ^ Rapp 2014, p. 246.
- ^ Rapp 2014, p. 112.
- ^ Russell 1987, p. 159.
- ^ Russell 1987, p. 451.
- ^ Canepa 2018, p. 230.
- ^ Canepa 2018, p. 115.
- ^ Russell 2004, p. 170.
- ^ Schmitt & Bailey 1986, pp. 445–465.
- ^ Garsoïan 1985, p. 201.
- ^ Garsoïan 2004, p. 94.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0415239035.
- ISBN 9780520379206.
- Chaumont, M. L. (1986). "Armenia and Iran ii. The pre-Islamic period". In ISBN 978-0-71009-104-8.
- ISBN 9780857728159.
- ISBN 978-0860781660.
- ISBN 1-4039-6421-1.
- ISBN 0-521-20092-X.
- ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
- Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2016). "Germanicus, Artabanos II of Parthia, and Zeno Artaxias in Armenia". S2CID 193648886.
- Rapp, Stephen H. (2014). The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4724-2552-2.
- ISBN 978-0674968509.
- Russell, James R. (2004). Armenian and Iranian studies. Harvard Armenian Texts and Studies. Vol. 9. ISBN 978-0935411195.
- Schmitt, R.; Bailey, H. W. (1986). "Armenia and Iran iv. Iranian influences in Armenian Language". In ISBN 978-0-71009-104-8.
- Toumanoff, C. (1986). "Arsacids vii. The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5. pp. 543–546.
Further reading
- Vacca, Alison (2021). "Bahl Šahastan in the land of the K'ušans: Medieval Armenian memories of Balkh as an Arsacid capital". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 84: 19–45. S2CID 233342114.