The first History Lessons
Before we continue with this new era of Armenian history, remarkable for the reign of Tigran II known as Tigran the Great, it would be as well to recap some of the earliest history of the country. The antiquity of the nation is remarkable and the fact that Armenians still call themselves by the same name as their forefathers did and use the same language. The forebears of presentday Armenians coexisted with civilisations which have long disappeared in the mists of time.
According to the Russian author, Valeri Brussov: "The Armenian people were born at a time when, not only the present European people did not exist, but also when the classic nations of antiquity had just taken their first steps on the stage of world history".
At the time Rome was being built (9th century B.C.), Hayk and the Armenian people came to their new homeland. During the first empire of Medes and when the Persian Empire gained control over the Middle East, the Armenians fought their first national battles and won a relatively high degree of independence with their own national satraps. Then, as a result of the miraculous emergence of Alexander the Great , Armenia enjoyed its first century of independence and developed close ties with the Hellenic culture and civilisation.
However, this should not be seen as Armenia being given its independence on a silver platter . The independence of Armenia was gained and defended only after bloody struggles with its mighty neighbours, especially the Seleucids and the Arsacids, battles in which the Armenian nation showed that it absolutely deserved its independence. even though the diplomacy of Rome helped them during their struggles.
As Mommsen pointed out, among the governments that were founded in the wake of the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire (e.g. Armenia, Medes Atropatene (Persian Azerbaijan), Sophene, Osročne, etc.), Armenia was the only one with the organisational competence under the Artashisian dynasty to reach a high level of power, development and durability. 61
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