Home Region: Anatolia-Caucasus (Southwest Asia)

Armenian Kingdom

188 BCE 6 CE

D G SC CC

EQ 2020 am_artaxiad_dyn / AmArtax

Preceding Entity:

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Succeeding Entity:

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General Description

The founder of the dynasty was Artaxias I who ascended as King of Greater Armenia in 188 BCE.^[1]
Although Armenia had a strong Iranian culture, particularly with religion, it was greatly influenced by Hellenistic Greek culture and religion, although it was one of the regions that had not been conquered by them. Some of the contemporary Armenian coins describe the kings as ‘Philhellenes’; lovers of Greek culture.^[2] ^[3]
Artaxiad Armenia was at its peak power during the reign of Tigranes the Great (95-55 BCE). Tigranes was able to unifiy the country’s various autonomous regions, which were governed by the nakharars, and brought central control to the kingdom.^[4] His empire, though only this large for a short time, stretched “from the Caucasus mountains and Media in the northeast to Lebanon in the southwest.”^[5]
During the reign of Tigranes the Great the ongoing wars between the Roman and Parthian Empires led to the demise of the Artaxiad dynasty. Tigranes had allied himself (officially through marriages) with Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus in Anatolia and as the Romans won victories and conquered the surrounding regions, they eventually forced Tigranes to surrender. The Romans, under Pompey, allowed Tigranes to remain on the throne, but reduced the Armenian territory and forced him to become a Roman ally, hence leaving the Armenian kingdom as a buffer between the Roman and the Parthian Empires.
Tigranes son and successor, Artavasdes II, remained an ally to the Romans. However, upon Mark Antony’s rule of Rome’s eastern territories, he invaded Armenia, captured Artavasdes II and had him executed, while then placing his own son, Alexander Helios, on the Armenian throne. Artavasdes’ son Artaxias II, again allied with the Parthians and took back the throne. After a rule of ten years, he was murdered and the Armenian kingdom broke out in civil war led by two factions, pro-Roman and pro-Parthian. Though the Artaxians remained in power, the region became a Roman protectorate under emperor Augustus and the dynasty eventually died out completely with the final Roman overthrow in 12 CE.^[6]
Overall, there is a general lack of information about the social and cultural nature of the Armenian Empire, and a lot of the information is taken from Roman sources and Armenia numismatic evidence.^[7]

[1]: Hovannisian 2004: 47. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU

[2]: “Artaxias I,”. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7V7RMBLQ

[3]: Hovannisian 2004: 50. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU

[4]: “Artaxiad Dynasty,” https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IVLMP6Q8

[5]: Hovannisian 2004: 64. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU

[6]: Hovannisian 2004: 58-62. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU

[7]: Bournoutian 2003: 36. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/645FKRNL

General Variables

Identity and Location

1 Utm Zone

1 Original Name

2 Capital

3 Alternative Name

Temporal Bounds

1 Peak Years

1 Duration

Political and Cultural Relations

Language

Religion

1 Religious Tradition

Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale

1 Population of the Largest Settlement

Hierarchical Complexity

1 Settlement Hierarchy

1 Religious Level

1 Military Level

1 Administrative Level

Professions

1 Professional Priesthood

Bureaucracy Characteristics

1 Full Time Bureaucrat

Law

1 Formal Legal Code

Specialized Buildings: polity owned

1 Market

1 Irrigation System

1 Communal Building

1 Utilitarian Public Building

1 Symbolic Building

1 Entertainment Building

Transport Infrastructure

1 Road

1 Port

1 Canal

Special-purpose Sites

1 Trading Emporia

1 Enclosure

1 Ceremonial Site

1 Burial Site

Information / Writing System

1 Written Record

1 Script

1 Phonetic Alphabetic Writing

Information / Kinds of Written Documents

1 History

1 Fiction

Information / Money

1 Precious Metal

1 Indigenous Coin

1 Foreign Coin

Information / Postal System

Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications

Military use of Metals

Projectiles

Handheld weapons

Animals used in warfare

Armor

Naval technology

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.

Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

Crisis Consequence Cases

1 Crisis Consequence

Power Transitions

9 Power Transition

Instability Events

44 Instability Event

General Variables

Identity and Location Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Utm Zone	38 N	188 BCE 6 CE
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Original Name	Armenia Kingdom	188 BCE 6 CE
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Capital	Artaxiasata	188 BCE 77 BCE
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Capital	Tigranocerta	77 BCE 69 BCE
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Alternative Name	Artashesian	188 BCE 6 CE
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Alternative Name	Artaxiad Armenia	188 BCE 6 CE
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Alternative Name	Ardaxiad	188 BCE 6 CE
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Temporal Bounds Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More
Peak Years	[95 BCE ➜ 55 BCE]
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Duration	[188 BCE ➜ 6 CE]
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Political and Cultural Relations Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Language Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Religion Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Religious Tradition	Ancient Anatolian Religion	188 BCE 6 CE
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Social Complexity Variables

Social Scale Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Population of the Largest Settlement	100,000 people	188 BCE 6 CE
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Hierarchical Complexity Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Settlement Hierarchy	6	188 BCE 6 CE
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Religious Level	3	188 BCE 6 CE
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Military Level	3	188 BCE 6 CE
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Administrative Level	3	188 BCE 6 CE
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Professions Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Professional Priesthood	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Bureaucracy Characteristics Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Full Time Bureaucrat	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Law Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Formal Legal Code	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Market	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Irrigation System	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Communal Building	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Utilitarian Public Building	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Symbolic Building	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Entertainment Building	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Transport Infrastructure Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Road	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Port	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Canal	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Special-purpose Sites Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Trading Emporia	Present Inferred	188 BCE 6 CE
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Enclosure	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Ceremonial Site	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Burial Site	Present Inferred	188 BCE 6 CE
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Information / Writing System Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Written Record	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Script	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
History	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Fiction	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Information / Money Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)
Precious Metal	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Indigenous Coin	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Foreign Coin	Present	188 BCE 6 CE
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Information / Postal System Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Information / Measurement System Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)

Fortifications Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Military use of Metals Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Projectiles Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Handheld weapons Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Animals used in warfare Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Armor Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Naval technology Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)

Religion Variables

Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More

Human Sacrifice Armenian Kingdom (am_artaxiad_dyn)

Variable	Coded Value / Certainty Tags	Year(s)	See More