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Index

Armenia

The Urartu Civilisation

Victory for Independence

Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne

Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

The Acceptance of Christianity

Defending Christianity

Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty

Cilicia - the New Armenia

Armenia Under Turanian Rule

The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia

The Eastern Question

Russia in the Caucasus

The Armenian Question

Battle on Two Fronts

Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians

The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I

The First World War

The Resurrection of Armenia

Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918

Eastern Armenia

Western Armenia

"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)

"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)

The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia

Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917

Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)

War and Independence (April-May, 1918)

The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia

The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)

In conclusion

Soviet Armenia

The Second Independent Republic of Armenia

Epilogue

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Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids

"The rule of Rome over Armenia was similar to that of the German empire's over Italy which, even if it just stayed on the paper it was written on, was interpreted as hostile and was the cause of several wars." Mommsen

Artavazd III (56-34)



When Tigran II died in 56 B.C., he was replaced by his son, Prince Artavazd III. He was an educated prince who would rule over twenty years and his reign witnessed a worsening of relations between Rome and Armenia 4. During those twenty years Rome lost the opportunity of making Armenia its permanent ally in the battle against the Persians. The fundamental cause of this was actually the Romans themselves, who had Crassus (Marcus Licinius) as their representative in the east. He was an old man who had only one thing in his mind, namely money. Singlehandedly he would lead Rome towards the greatest military fiasco in the history of the empire, after which Marcus Antonius (Marcus Antonius), a great soldier but a poor politician, would bring further damage.

Crassus' Campaign Against Persia

The year was 60 B.C., i.e. the end of the reign of Tigran II, and the year when Pompey, Crassus and Caesar founded the first triumvirate rule of Rome and divided the world among themselves. We place these names in that order since Pompey was the greatest of the three, thanks to his great conquests. Crassus distinguished himself by just being enormously rich. Caesar, at this point of time, was only a shrewd and educated politician, but also dissolute and corrupt and, as Tacitus wrote, "thoroughly rotten with many flaws."

In the division of the empire Crassus received the largest share. Despite this his attention was focussed on the Persian capital of Tizbon and its enormous treasures and assets. In 56 B.C. he began staging his greatest masterpiece, i.e. the war against the Persians which was the last great power that had not yet been defeated and the bare existence of which threatened the eastern borders of the Roman Empire.

Artavazd III was, according to the peace treaty, forced to take the Roman side in that war. He suggested a reasonable plan: that the Roman army would come to Armenia, where the army would first of all have access to provisions and, secondly, could better attack Persia itself, which lay closer and was the true centre of Persian power. Mesopotamia, where the Persians had moved their capital , was merely part of their extended empire. Besides that, Mesopotamia with its open plains and deserts was not an ideal place to face the fast manoeuvring Persian cavalry, while the mountains in Armenia and northern Persia suited the Roman army much better.

But Crassus, who could barely restrain himself from getting his hands on the wealth of Tizbon, rejected this plan and marched together with his army of seven legions (around 42 000 men) directly from Syria towards Mesopotamia. He also had an army of 6 000 Armenian cavalry which he received from Artavazd, and a small army led by the Arabian emir Aghbar. Meanwhile, the Persians prepared their army against the Romans in the east and the Armenians in the north.