Tigranes the Great

Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (Տիգրան Մեծ, Tigran Mets; Τιγράνης ὁ Μέγας Tigránes ho Mégas; Tigranes Magnus) (140 – 55 BC) was a king of Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries and reached its peak, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King or King of Kings. His empire for a short time was the most powerful state to the east of the Roman Republic. Either the son or nephew of Artavasdes I, Tigranes was given as a hostage to Mithridates II of Parthia after Armenia came under Parthian suzerainty. After ascending to the Armenian throne, Tigranes rapidly expanded his kingdom by invading the state of Sophene in 94 BC, then temporarily capturing Cappadocia in 93 BC, following that year, Tigran II captured Iberia and Caucasian Albania (92 BC). The most astonishing military campaign completed by Tigranes the Great was when he took advantage of a weakened Parthian Empire, also known as The Great Parthian Campaign of 87-85 BC, which had given him the title of King of Kings. In 86 BC, he had successfully annexed the Seleucid Empire. The prime of Tigran’s empire was when he had captured the Kingdom’s of Judea and Nabatea during 73-71 BC. Tigran decided to ally with Mithridates VI of Pontus by marrying his daughter Cleopatra. At its height, Tigranes' empire stretched from the Pontic Alps to Mesopotamia and from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. With captured vassals, he had even reached the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Many of the inhabitants of conquered cities were forcibly relocated to his new capital, Tigranocerta. An admirer of the Greek culture, Tigranes invited many Greek rhetoricians and philosophers to his court, and his capital was noted for its Hellenistic architecture. Armenia came into direct conflict with Rome after Mithridates VI was forced to seek refuge in Tigranes' court.