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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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As soon as the Romans came to a suitable place further down by the river, they crossed it. The Armenian army had taken position on the opposite side of the river. Tigran was in the core of the forces and led the army. The right flank of the army was under the command of the Medes-Azeri king, while the left flank was led by the king of Adiabéne (present-day Mosul), both subjects of the Armenian king. Tigran himself was personally leading the famous heavily armoured Armenian cavalry, which was positioned at the rear end of the right flank. This was a fatal mistake, since the placing of such a heavy-manoeuvred unit at the end of a flank exposed it to a grave danger.

Lucullus was extremely competent when it came to quickly discovering the weaknesses of enemy formation, a skill which characterises great military or political leaders, and he realised that if he could take out the famous Armenian cavalry, then he would paralyse the entire Armenian force. Therefore he attacked the Armenian army from the side, with his special cavalry and from the rear with two infantry legions. The Armenian infantry was made for attacking and not for defence. In order to regroup and to make more manoeuvring space, the army forces started to rotate to the only side which was free from attack, i.e. to the left where Tigran's other forces were positioned, and this resulted in total chaos in the entire Armenian army. This was the seed for the catastrophic outcome for Tigran. Mommsen confessed that the reported number of casualties on each side, according to Lucullus, is exactly as a pupil of Sulla would have done and was far from reality, but at the same time he conceded: "This was one of the most beautiful warfare arts in the military history of Rome, at the same time that it was glorious." 68

The catastrophic battle ended with the fall of Tigranakert shortly afterwards and Lucullus was able to capture the enormous treasures of the Armenian court, and also 10,000,000m3 wheat to provide his hungry army with food.

This loss led also to the fact that many of the regions under Tigran's control now had the opportunity of liberating themselves, but the majority of them fell under the rule of Lucullus.

With this defeat Tigran lost all the lands south of the Taurus Mountains, except the city of Nisibis, which was ruled by Tigran's brother Gouras, who withstood Lucullus' army for another year.

The Second War of Lucullus Against Armenia (68 B.C.)



It is highly possible that Tigran could have reached a peace agreement by extraditing Mithradates. But in spite of heavy losses Tigran chose to continue the war. He used the winter of 69-68 BC to rearm his army. He received a great deal of assistance from Mithradates.

He tried to get the Persians on his side and even if he did not get their help, he could at least ensure himself of their neutrality which would mean that he did not have to wage a war on two different fronts at the same time.

During the winter of 69-68 B.C. and the spring of 68 BC Tigran mobilised large groups of the population and trained them in the art of battle. The Armenian army now was made up exclusively of Armenian soldiers, except for Iberian archers, and was transformed into a real national army which started to manufacture all kind of weapons and ammunition. 70 Large amounts of provisions were stored in strategically important places in order to avoid transport difficulties in the narrow mountain passes. In this way the Armenians managed to gather an army of 50 000 foot-soldiers and 20 000 cavalry During all this time Mithradates was of great assistance to the Armenian king. Together with his old officers and veteran soldiers from the Pontic army which he had brought with him, he played a major role in the disciplining the new army and teaching them new tactics and formations. Even the thousands of soldiers from the old Pontic army played a major role in the training and rearmament of the Armenian army.