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During the reign of Khosrov II (330-339) Armenia was drawn in a war against the Transcaucasian peoples (the Iberians and Albanians), who were led by king Sanesan. Khosrov II displayed great incompetence in warfare which made him an unworthy son to such a great king as Tirdat III. Despite the disaster Armenia was saved, thanks to the leadership of two other great warriors, namely Vatche Mamikonian and Vahan Amatouni. Sanesan was killed during the war and his army was defeated.



But against the Sasanids, Khosrov II assumed a more cautious policy and distanced himself from anything that could lead to a confrontation between the two countries. For that reason he gave up the present Iranian Azerbaijan, which the Roman emperor Diocletianus has given to Armenia as a token of appreciation for the great efforts of Tirdat III in the war against the Persians. 54



The successor to Khosrov II, his son Tiran, was crowned in AD 340. During his reign Armenia was weakened by the conflicts between the royal court and the church. When the Sasanids, during the reign of their king Shapour, attacked Armenia, king Tiran was betrayed by a court servant who handed the Armenian king, the queen and their children to the enemy. Shapour blinded Tiran. The Armenian nobility continued the war on their own and called for the assistance of the Romans. The Sasanids suffered a heavy loss at Oshka in Armenia and were forced to request peace. The blind king Tiran, who until now had been imprisoned in Persia, together with his wife and family, were set free. Tiran's blindness forced him to hand over the throne to his son, Arshak II.

Arshak II, who had married a Roman princess and ruled between 351 and 367, found himself in a very difficult situation. Armenia had been threatened and attacked by the Sasanids, during the reign of king Shapour II, who was famous for his ruthlessness and betrayals. The blows from these attacks were so strong that Armenia never managed to fully recover from them.. On top of that, the Byzantine Empire was now ruled by the anti-Christian emperor, Julianus Apostata (apostate).

The Byzantine Empire, as we will see later, showed such weakness that it was not at all worthy of its predecessor the Roman Empire, and while Armenia displayed great courage and withstood the Persian attacks, the Romans did not dare to confront the Sasanids. In AD 363 the Byzantine Empire signed a disgraceful treaty with the Persians by which they gave all the lands in northern Mesopotamia and north eastern Syria to the Persians. These areas included the fortress of Nisibis, which in reality was the gateway to the west. At the same time Armenia was left to handle its own destiny.

This treaty, and especially the dishonourable agreement over Armenia, meant that this former valuable ally to the Byzantine Empire was left abandoned and alone. 59

As Gibbon pointed out, there had been examples of Rome abandoning some provinces to the enemy after defeats in war, but it had never abandoned an allied country in this manner before.

The Sasanid king Shapour could now concentrate his forces against Armenia which now was alone and Armenia, under the leadership of its general Vasak Mamikonian, was able to resist the Persians for only four more years. Finally Shapour managed to lure the Armenian king, Arshak II, and general Mamikonian in to a trap by inviting them to negotiations. The Armenian king was thrown in jail while Shapour murdered General Vasak Mamikonian. After that the Persian king indulged himself in his favourite occupation namely spreading disagreement between the Armenian nobility and dividing the country. To achieve his goal he sometimes was forced to use violence and sometimes just gave empty promises. At the same time he wanted to eradicate Christianity in Armenia and towards that end he used two traitors among the Armenian nobility to whom he had promised the Armenian throne.