Map Close  
Person info Close  
Information Close  
Source reference Close  
  Svenska
 
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

Previous page Page 15 Next page Smaller font Larger font Print friednly version  
Alexander the Great

During the 4th century B.C. the Persian Empire gradually weakened because of several wars against Greece. The empire finally could not withstand the enormous army of Alexander and was dissolved when Darius III was assassinated in the year 331 B.C.

The army of Alexander meant two things for Armenia: 1) that the country, directly or indirectly, regained its independence; 2) it came into direct contact with Greece and the Hellenic civilisation.

The foundations of the Hellenic civilisation differed completely from those civilisations that existed in the east, such as Chaldea, Egypt and Persia. In contrast to these, the Greeks had freed themselves from the idea of the state being founded on religious grounds and had begin to base their civilisation on thought and common sense. 21

The First Independence, 322-215 B.C.

In contrast to former theories, which held that Armenia fell under Macedonian rule between 330-215 B.C., most historians are today agreed that Armenia partly because of its natural geographical position and partly because of the fierce resistance of its people, was never in fact conquered by the Macedonian army.

W. Tran noted: "Alexander the Great appointed Mithrinés as the satrap of Armenia and sent him there, but the country was never conquered." 24 Later he continued: "The successors of Alexander came quickly to the conclusion that it was wiser to give up any hope of having a satrap in Armenia, since the country already had become independent and was ruled by a dynasty founded by Orontés, the former satrap of Darius III in Armenia." 26 The fact is that Alexander never had the time to concentrate his forces against Armenia and died shortly after having conquered Persia. His successors had neither the Alexander's drive nor his skills in warfare. And besides that, they were fully occupied with dividing his empire among themselves.

In this way the first Armenian kingdom was created around 322 B.C. The dynasty was founded by Yervand I. We should not forget that the Armenian people in the cities had already, in the middle of 4th century BC, revolted against foreign rule 29, as evidenced by an already existing movement for independence, long before the disintegration of Persia. However, these revolts had been in vain. Despite them the Armenians remained loyal to the Persian king and fought in the Persian army against the soldiers of Alexander. Yervand seized the opportunity at the time of the disintegration of the Persian Empire to declare the independence of Armenia.

There is not enough amount of historical evidence from that era to determine whether the first Armenian dynasty was drawn from among Armenians or from the Persians who were sent as satraps to Armenia. The Armenians managed to defend their independence for almost 100 years before they lost it for a period of time (215-190 B.C.)