This article is about the specific polity Kingdom of Armenia and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was a kingdom in the middle east that originated from the Achaemenid satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its peak, from 83 to 69 BC under Tigranes the Great. After the reign of Tigranes, Armenia was for centuries under the domain of either the Romans or the Persians (with brief exceptions) until being conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate.
Establishment
January 189 BC: The defeat of the Seleucid King Antiochos III by the Romans at Magnesia Sipylus in 190 BC redraws the political map of the Middle East. Under the terms of the Peace of Apamea (188 BC), Antiochus III could no longer intervene north of the Taurus, creating a political vacuum which was immediately filled by new independent kingdoms. From 190 BC. BC, the satrap of Armenia Artaxias, with whom the Carthaginian Hannibal took refuge, founded on his advice the city of Artaxates (south of present-day Yerevan) on the banks of the Araxes, and makes it the capital of a kingdom of Armenia of which he proclaims himself king, with the blessing of the Romans.
January 189 BC: In the 2nd century BC, Armenia was established in the parts of Caucasian Albania to the right of the Kura River.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Military conquests of Armenian King Tigranes the Great.
January 94 BC: Sophene conquered by Tigranes the Great 95 BC.
January 87 BC: Upon the death of Mithridates II of Parthia, in 88 BC, Tigranes took advantage of the confusion of his ally, to reappropriate the lands ceded as a ransom and to further expand his kingdom with the annexation of Gordiene and part of Mesopotamia.
January 87 BC: In -88, Osorene was conquered by Tigranes II of Armenia. Osorene was a region located in present-day eastern Syria and western Iraq. Tigranes II was a powerful ruler of the Kingdom of Armenia, known for his military conquests and expansion of his empire.
January 87 BC: Tigranes II of Armenia, also known as Tigranes the Great, was a powerful Armenian king who expanded his kingdom to include Atropatene in -88. This territory was previously a vassal of the Parthian Empire. Tigranes II was known for his military conquests and for establishing a strong Armenian empire in the region.
January 79 BC: Mithridates Callinicus is thought to have accepted Armenian suzerainty during the reign of Tigranes II the Great.
1.1.Armenian-Parthian War
Military campaign of Armenian King Tigranes the Great against the kingdoms of Osroene and Atropatene.
January 84 BC: The armies of Tigranes the Great victoriously entered Northern Mesopotamia and the kingdoms of Osroene and Atropatene pledged their loyalty and support to Tigranes the Great.
1.2.Armenian Occupation of Syria
Military campaign of Armenian King Tigranes the Great to conquer the Seleucid Kingdom, which at the time was reduced mainly to Syria.
January 82 BC: In 83 BC, after bloody strife for the throne of Syria, governed by the Seleucids, the Syrians decided to choose Tigranes as the protector of their kingdom and offered him the crown of Syria. Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch. He then conquered Phoenicia and Cilicia, effectively putting an end to the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire.
Were three conflicts fought by Rome against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 BC and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars.
2.1.Third Mithridatic War
Was the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. The conflict ended in defeat for Mithridates, ending the Pontic Kingdom, ending the Seleucid Empire (by then a rump state), and also resulting in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome.
January 77 BC: Due to the death of Roman Dictator Sulla, Cappadocia was left without aid of the Roman Republic. Mithridates persuaded his son-in-law, Tigranes II of Armenia, to invade Cappadocia as if it were his independent action. But this artifice failed to deceive the Romans. The Armenian king invaded the country of Cappadocia.
December 74 BC: Towards the end of autumn, Eumacus, a general of the King of Pontus, invaded Phrygia and killed a large multitude of Roman citizens, including wives and children. Then Eumacus also subjugated the populations of Pisidia, Isauria, and Cilicia.
January 72 BC: Roman General Gaius Valerius Triario set sail for Apamea which he occupied.
October 69 BC: Battle of Tigranocerta: The Roman force, led by Consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus, defeated Tigranes, and as a result, captured Tigranes' capital city of Tigranocerta.
January 67 BC: Siege of Nisibis (68 BC): the Romans conquer the city of Nisibis.
January 67 BC: The Battle of Artaxata was fought near the Arsanias River in 68 BC between an army of the Roman Republic and the army of the Kingdom of Armenia.
January 65 BC: To Ariobarzanes, Pompeus gave back, once again, Cappadocia, now adding Sophene and Gordiene, as well as the city of Ierapolis Castabala and others of Cilicia.
January 65 BC: Pompey passed through the Taurus Mountains and waged war both against Antiochus I of Commagene, forcing him to seek peace, and against Darius of Media, whom he put to flight because he had aided Antiochus or Tigranes before him.
January 65 BC: Tigranes of Armenia surrendered to Rome and was allowed to retain the heartland of his kingdom as a Roman buffer state, while all of his conquests were annexed.
Following the Roman general Lucullus' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII.
January 68 BC: Following the Roman general Lucullus' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII.
Was a war between the ancient Kingdoms of Iberia and Armenia.
January 52: Iberia subdues Armenia.
January 54: However, faced with this upset of the regional balance and fearing that Armenia and Iberia would unite as a single powerful kingdom in the hands of Rhadamistus, Tiridates entered Armenia with Parthian support in 53 AD.
January 56: After 2 years of war, the Armenian nobility revolted and replaced Rhadamistus with the Arsacid prince Tiridates. Armenia becomed de facto a protectorate of Parthia.
Were a series of Wars between Rome (first the Roman Republic then the Roman Empire and finally the Eastern Roman Empire) and Persia (the Parthian Empire, and then its successor, the Sasanian Empire). The wars were ended by the early Muslim conquests, which led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and huge territorial losses for the Byzantine Empire.
5.1.Military Campaigns of Shapur II in Syria and Mesopotamia
Was a military campaign by Sassanid King Shapur II against the Roman Empire.
January 338: It seems that during the year (probably shortly after the death of Constantine on May 22), the Armenians revolted against the Sasanid domain, driving them out of their territories.
January 342: Constantius managed to gain the loyalty of the ruler Arsaces II and of the Armenian aristocracy through diplomatic channels as early as 341.
5.2.Byzantine-Sasanian War of 572-591
Was a war fought between the Sasanian Empire of Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony.
April 572: Early in 572, the Armenians under Vardan II Mamikonian defeated the Persian governor of Armenia.
January 573: The Persians retook the city of Dvin.
February 573: The Sasanian Empire was captured by combined Armenian and Byzantine forces and direct hostilities between Byzantines and Persians began.
September 591: Khosrow II gives the Byzantine Empire most of Persian Armenia.
September 591: Persian Armenia was annexed directly to Persia.
In the Battle of Varnakert (702) Armenian prince Smbat Bagratuni defeated the 8,000-strong Umayyad army from the garrison in Nakhichevan.
January 703: In the Battle of Varnakert (702) Smbat Bagratuni defeated the 8,000-strong Umayyad army from the garrison in Nakhichevan. Smbat, with the aid of Byzantine Empire, managed to re-conquer the majority of Armenia and drive the Arabs out of the country.
January 13: The remaining Artaxiad kings ruled as clients of Rome until they were overthrown in 12 AD due to their possible allegiance to Rome's main rival in the region, Parthia.
Disestablishment
January 706: Despite this success, the Umayyad generals Muhammad ibn Marwan and Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik soon restored Armenia to subject status, and secured Muslim control by organizing a large-scale massacre of the princely families (nakharar) within the cathedral of Nakhchivan in 705.
Selected Sources
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 105
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 106
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 67
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 75
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 77
Appian, XII - The Mithridatic Wars, 86
Cassius Dio: Roman History, XXXVI, 53.5-6
Plutarch: Parallel Lives, Lucullus, 25.3-4
Plutarch: Parallel Lives, Lucullus, 31.4-8
Plutarch: Parallel Lives, Lucullus, 32.4-5
Kingdom of Armenia
