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Armenia |
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Armenia (Akkadian Uraštu;
Old Persian Armina):
ancient kingdom, situated along the river Araxes (modern Aras), the
Upper Tigris
and the Upper Euphrates.
For the early history of Armenia, see Urartu. Achaemenid ArmeniaFrom the mid-sixth century onward, Armenia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid empire; how it had become part of the kingdom of the Persians, is unclear. One possibility is that the earlier kingdom called Urartu had been subjected to the Median empire, and this may have happened as early as 605, after attacks by nomads who lived north of the Caucasus (known to the Greeks as 'Scythians', Sakesinai or Cimmerians). The Medians were overthrown by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 550, and Urartu was annexed by the Persians at the same time. Alternatively, Urartu retained its independence and was conquered in 547, after a direct Persian intervention. |
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An Armenian on the East Stairs of the Apadana of Persepolis. |
However this may be, the country rebelled against its Persian overlords after the coup d'état of the Magian usurper Gaumâta (or Smerdis) had been suppressed by the counter-coup of Darius I the Great. The new king sent two armies against an unknown Armenian leader, commanded by the Persian Vaumisa and the Armenian Dâdarši. Vaumisa managed to secure the road to Armenia on 31 December 522 in a battle near Izalâ and continued to Autiyâra, where he won his second victory on 11 June 521. Both towns are situated on the banks of the Greater Zab river. Meanwhile, Dâdarši defeated the Armenians on 20 May 521 near Zuzza, on 30 May at Tigra and on 20 June at Uyamâ. The second name suggests that this second army moved along the Upper Tigris. These five battles, which are all mentioned in the Behistun inscription, meant the end of the uprising. From now on, Armenia was a stable possession of the Achaemenid empire. |
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Armenian coin, showing a colt (©!!) |
According to the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus (ca.480-ca.425), the tribes in the country belonged to the eighteenth and nineteenth tax districts. Every year, they had to pay five hundred silver talents. The geographer Strabo of Amasia mentions another tax: 20,000 colts. Under Persian rule, the Urartian language -related to Hurrian- was replaced by Armenian, which was the tongue of the common people. Probably, this was not caused by ethnic, but by political changes: when the Persians had conquered the country, they favored the latter language, which is related to Greek and -at a distance- Persian. |
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Xenophon |
Although the Armenians seem to have called themselves Haikh, Herodotus makes in his Histories a distinction between the Armenians and Alarodians (a rendering of "Urartians"). He also mentions the Chaldaioi, Kolchoi, Makrones, Mares, Moschoi, Mossynoikoi, Saspeires, Tibarenoi (Tabali in Persian), tribes that lived in Armenia (or in its neighborhood). Armenia was a tribal society, which means that the social and political units are loosely organized; old tribes disappear as new ones come into being, depending on the situation. The Athenian author Xenophon (ca.430-ca.355) informs us about it in book four of his Anabasis. He describes at great length how in 401/400 BCE an army of Greek mercenaries, which had supported the Persian pretender Cyrus the Younger, had to fight its way back from Babylonia to the Black Sea through Armenia. From the tribes mentioned by Herodotus, Xenophon also mentions the Chaldaioi, Kolchoi, Makrones, Mossynoikoi and Tibarenoi, but introduces the Chalybes, Drilai, Kardouchoi and Taochoi. |
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A fertile mountain plain between Savsat and Ardahan. |
Herodotus already knew that Armenia was rich in cattle (Histories, 5.49). Most tribesmen were poor cattle breeders who roamed with their herds -sheep, cows, horses- between the summer's and winter's pasture. Xenophon mentions no cities, but gives fine description of village live. [A group of our
soldiers] surprised the
villagers with their
headman, and seventeen colts which were being reared as a tribute for
the
[Persian] king, and, last of all, the headman's daughter, a young bride
only eight days wed. Her husband had gone off to chase hares, and so he
escaped being taken with the other villagers. The houses were
underground
structures with an aperture like the mouth of a well by which to enter,
but they were broad and spacious below. The entrance for the beasts of
burden was dug out, but the human occupants descended by a ladder. In
these
dwellings were to be found goats and sheep and cattle, and cocks and
hens,
with their various progeny. The flocks and herds were all reared under
cover upon green food. There were stores within of wheat and barley and
vegetables, and wine made from barley [i.e., beer]
in great big
bowls; the grains of barley malt lay floating in the beverage up to the
lip of the vessel, and reeds lay in them, some longer, some shorter,
without
joints; when you were thirsty you must take one of these into your
mouth,
and suck. The beverage without admixture of water was very strong, and
of a delicious flavor to certain palates, but the taste must be
acquired.
[Anabasis
4.24-26]
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In short, Xenophon's Armenians were a primitive nation, and it comes as no surprise that Xenophon mentions that their warriors fought with simple weapons, such as slings and arrows. The Persian garrisons, on the other hand, were oases of
luxury. For
example, Independent kingdomOne of the last Persian satraps of Armenia was Artašata, who became king of Persia under the name Darius III Codomannus (336-330). During his reign, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid empire (between 334 and 330), and Armenia regained its autonomy. (We learn of a new tribe, the Albanoi.) Several kings are known from this period: |
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Coin of Tigranes II the Great of Armenia, British Museum. |
After
200, parts of Armenia became incorporated in the Seleucid
empire under king Antiochus
III the Great. Soon, the country regained its
independence in the form
of two small kingdoms, west and east of the Euphrates. The western
kingdom
was known as Lesser Armenia and ruled by king Zariadris; the other
state
was called Greater Armenia and ruled by Zariadris' son Artaxias
(189-164). The latter rebuilt -following an advice of his Carthaginian
friend Hannibal-
Yerevan in 188, called it Artaxata, and made it his capital.
The younger capital Tigranocerta was built by a descendant of Artaxias, Tigranes II the Great (ruled c.95-c.55), who had been able to reunite Armenia and briefly ruled over the entire East, but was defeated by the Roman generals Lucullus in 69 and Pompey in 66 BCE. |
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"Armenia Capta": Roman coin, commemorating Trajan's temporary conquest. |
Armenia between Rome and Parthia
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Artaxias |
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Tigranes I |
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Artavasdes I |
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Tigranes II the Great |
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Artavasdes II |
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Artaxes |
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Tigranes III |
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Tigranes IV |
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Artavasdes II |
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Ariobarzanes |
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Artavasdes III |
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Tigranes V and Erato |
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Interregnum | |
Artaxias |
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Vonones |
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Arsaces of Parthia |
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Mithridates of Iberia |
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Radamistus |
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Tiridates |
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Tigranes VI 'the Cappadocian' |
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Tiridates (restored) |
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Axidares |
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Parthamasiris |
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Sanatruces |
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Roman province |
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Vologases |
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Unknown | |
Pacorus |
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Sohaemus |
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Unknown | |
Tiridates II |
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Unknown | |
Tiridates III |
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