Tigran, who was under attack from two different fronts and had also been betrayed by his own son, was forced on to his knees against Pompey, who could rely on the political resources of Rome together with his own knowledge of warfare.
Maybe if Tigran had not gone as far as he did in the pursuit of power and had not aimed at ruling over entire Middle East, but contented himself with a powerful and homogenous Armenia, then he would somehow have found a balance where conflict could have been avoided. In this way not only Armenia but also the entire Middle East and even the Rome itself would not have been harmed
As Jacques de Morgan put it: If Mithradates' hunger for power was on a collision course with the policy of Rome for Asia Minor, it was not so in Armenia's case at all. This country as the borderland between the conquests of Rome and the Arsacids, the arch-enemies of Rome, could through its presence alone serve Rome in a perfect way. 107 De Morgan noted: "Tigran was a noble prince and a competent warrior and if Mithradates had not dragged him into an unnecessary striving for power, then he would have been a great and deep-thinking politician. If he had done more long-term reasoning then he would have been able to create an even more enduring dynasty. Armenia would have, in one way or another, become a Roman pawn in the battle against the Arsacids, but its policies would still have been influenced by Tigran and his ability to make of Armenia an ally of Rome, not a slave or a subject. Tigran's competence and his mental prowess, together with the blood that the Armenians sacrificed bravely, would have borne better and nobler results than the bitter fruits which it tasted during the years to come." 108
However, the reign of Tigran II was not entirely fruitless and some of his more important work bore lasting effect, despite the unfortunate events that overtook him. Among these we can mention the alliance which he created in the Armenian highland. The joining together of Armenia Major and Armenia Minor paved the way for an Armenian Armenia, if not as powerful a nation at least as an enduring and united nation that was to exist for another five centuries in the shadow of Persia and Rome. 109 And finally, as Toynbee noted, contact between Armenia and the west began during Tigran's reign. Before his reign Armenia was a country that looked to the east, but Tigran broke this isolation and established new relations with the western world.
And Rome, as we will see later, did not profit much from this weakened Armenia,.. Instead of a dynasty transformed into a good friend and an extra protection against the blows of the Arsacids, Rome, by the degradation and weakening of Armenia, created an enemy for itself. Rome would need a shield in the war against Persia, a war which would go on for several centuries and that continued even after Rome's fall, when the empire was succeeded by the Byzantines and when the Arsacids in Persia gave place to the Sasanids.
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