The Tumultuous History of Armenia and Parthia: A Chronicle of Conflict and Alliance

In 54 BC, the Roman army, led by Marcus Crassus, crossed the Euphrates River from Assyria and arrived at the city of Haran in Armenian Mesopotamia, with the aim of attacking Parthia. At that time, the Parthian king Orodes was invited by Artavazd to Artashat. The alliance between Armenia and Parthia was renewed and cemented by the marriage of Artavazd’s sister to Orodes.

In the main battle near Harran, the Roman army was defeated in 53 BC, and Crassus was killed. His head was taken to Artashat and shown to Artavazd, Orodes, and the people in the theater where a theatrical performance was taking place.

Fifteen years later, in 39 BC, Prince Paccorus went with an army to Assyria and Phoenicia, but the Roman army defeated Paccorus’ forces and killed him. In 34 BC, Mark Antony attacked Armenia at the head of the Roman army and approached Artashat, where negotiations with Artavazd began.

During the negotiations, Antony deceitfully captured Artavazd. The Armenian prince Artashes attacked Antony to rescue his father but was unable to do so. Antony took Artavazd to Alexandria, where he imprisoned him with his wife Cleopatra, and three years later, Artavazd was killed. In 31 BC, Antony himself died in battle with Octavian, and Cleopatra committed suicide. In the same year, Artashes, the son of Artavazd, became Caesar of Greater Armenia and destroyed the Roman army that occupied Armenia.

In 20 BC, another Roman army arrived in Armenia. Artashes III was killed, and his brother Tigran III became Caesar of Greater Armenia (20-8 BC), pursuing a policy of independence from Rome. This policy was followed by his son Tigran IV (8-5 BC) and then his uncle Artavazd III (5-3 BC).

The continuation of Roman aggression against Armenia and Parthia led to greater consolidation of the Armenian-Parthian alliance and strengthening of relations. In 51 AD, Vologes I Arsacid became the king of Parthia and allied with the Armenian kings. The high lords of Armenia decided to establish the closest relations with Parthia before inviting the Arsacids to the Armenian throne.

In 52 AD, Vologes I’s brother Trdat became the Armenian king Trdat I. However, Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) did not want to agree and sent a Roman army to the East, to Armenia, with Corbulo, who occupied Artashat and then Tigranakert in 59 AD.

Trdat I settled in Tigranakert in 61 AD. Vologes I arrived in the Roman province of Assyria, and Corbulo was forced to agree to a peace agreement and recognize Trdat I as the independent king of Greater Armenia.

But Nero did not agree and sent another army to Armenia with Peter as commander. This army was defeated by the united Armenian-Parthian army in 62 AD. Nero, in 64 AD, was forced to recognize Trdat I as the king of Greater Armenia. At the end of the 1st century BC, the Arsacid dynasty became the forefather of the Armenian throne as the Aarshakuni dynasty.

Nero, as a sign of consent to recognize Trdat I, invited him to Rome, organized a magnificent reception, placed a crown on Trdat’s head, and gave him a huge amount of gold as compensation for the restoration of the destroyed Artashat after Corbulo’s occupation. Rome was unable to occupy Armenia and turn it into a Roman province, as happened with Egypt, Assyria, Cappadocia, Judea, and other countries.

Artatsolum

Based on an excerpt from Paris Herouni’s book “Armenians and Ancient Armenia”