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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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The Armenian government, during the Arshakounian dynasty, , enjoyed a relatively broad and developed central power. Faustus of Byzantine noted that during the reign of the last Arshakounian king, the number of administrative civil servants was around 1 000 men. This doubtless included the higher official positions at the court, but the regional administration, which was led by the local princes, was not included in this number.

The capital of Armenia, where the royal court was located, was the city of Artaxata. When this city was razed to the ground for the last time by the Roman commander Priscus (during the 2nd century A.D.), the Armenian kings moved their court to the city of Vagharshapat (present-day Etchmiadzin), which became the capital of the country until the invasion of the Arabs.

Military Aspects

During this entire period, and even on those rare occasions when the rule of the Roman Empire over Armenia was not just an apparent one but highly real, Armenia had its own army. We have earlier witnessed that the Romans preferred a strong Armenia and worked toward the country acting as a shield, not only towards the Persians, but also against savages from the northern Caucasus and the southern parts of presentday Russia. For that reason the Romans even gave financial support to Armenia for the maintenance of their army. 71

During the periods when Armenia was at war against Rome, the Armenian army, with support from the Persians, proved its knowledge and courage, especially in Rhandie and Elegeia (Erzurum), where the Roman army suffered two heavy defeats.

But in time the battles between Armenia and Rome became harder, because the Romans eventually came to realize that the key to successful military campaigns in Armenia was a question of logistics and ensuring the supply of provisions to the army. Hence, the successors of Nero made sure that major transport roads were built along the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea to Armenia. These roads facilitated the transport of provisions, as well as the movement of equipment and units (e.g. relocating the legions in the Danube to Armenia). A historian has even compared the building of these roads with the building of the railroad between the two continents during the 19th century. It was precisely these roads which allowed Trajanus, and later Marcus Antonius, to move their great armies and supply them with provisions, something that resulted in fast and decisive victories in Rome's last war against Armenia and Persia. 72

But the battles of Armenia against Rome were only a part of the country's military history during this period. There was yet another picture as well, and that was the alliance between Armenia and Rome against the Persians during the first Roman appearances in the Middle East. A permanent alliance with Rome, which would transform Armenia into a shield that was going to protect Rome or to create order and a balance of power in the region (e.g. during the involvement of the Romans which ended with the campaign and the conquering of a part of Iberia during the reign of Emperor Vespasianus (Titus Flavius), who ruled between 69-79).

And finally when the Arsacid dynasty was dissolved in Persia and replaced by the Sasanids, Armenia saw its future with the Romans and fought their battles against the Persians.