Tigranes
Encyclopedia
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Tigranes (sometimes Tigran or Dikran; ; ) was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
The earliest Tigranes is mentioned in the Cyropaedia and in Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
historical sources. He was an Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
king from the Orontid Dynasty
Orontid Dynasty
The Orontid Dynasty The Orontid Dynasty The Orontid Dynasty (also known by their native name, Yervanduni was a hereditary Armenian dynasty and the rulers of the successor state to the Iron Age kingdom of Ararat...
and an ally of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
. One of his sons was also named Tigranes. This son is usually assumed to have succeeded his father, but nothing is known about him.
Tigranes the Great
Tigranes the Great was emperor of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House...
, king of Armenia from 95 to 55 BC, who founded a short-lived Armenian empire. His father, who ruled from 115 to 95 BC, was also named Tigranes, as were several later kings of Armenia.
There is some lack of consistency in assigning dynastic numbers to these kings. The earliest Tigranes and his son are usually not included, making Tigranes I the father of Tigranes the Great. However, Tigranes the Great is also sometimes known as Tigranes I, in his capacity as a successor to the Seleucid dynasty
Seleucid dynasty
The Seleucid dynasty or the Seleucidae was a Greek Macedonian royal family, founded by Seleucus I Nicator , which ruled the Seleucid Kingdom centered in the Near East and regions of the Asian part of the earlier Achaemenid Persian Empire during the Hellenistic period.-History:Seleucus was an...
.
Another Tigranes was a member of the Achaemenid family who, according to Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, commanded the Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
in the army of Xerxes
Xerxes I of Persia
Xerxes I of Persia , Ḫšayāršā, ), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire.-Youth and rise to power:...
during the invasion of Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
.
Tigranes is the Hellenized form of the name, found in classical sources. Tigran and Dikran are closer to local Armenian usage.
See also
- Tigranes OrontidTigranes OrontidTigranes I Orontid the Great Armenian King of Orontid Dynasty reigning in the period between 560 BC – 535 BC.According to Moses of Khorene during the reign of Tigran I Yervanduni the territory of Armenia spread for about 400 sq. km....
560 BC – 535 BC - Tigranes ITigranes ITigranes I of Armenia reigned as King of Armenia from 115 BC to 95 BC. Artavasdes I did not leave any heir; his brother, Tigranes ascended to the throne of the Artaxiads. Some historians claim that Tigranes II the Great was the son of Tigranes I and not Artavasdes I....
115 BC - 95 BC - Tigranes the GreatTigranes the GreatTigranes the Great was emperor of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House...
, sometimes known as Tigranes II, ruled 95 BC – 55 BC - Tigranes IIITigranes IIITigranes III was king of Armenia from 20 BC until 8 BC. He was the son of Artavasdes II and brother of Artaxias II.Tacitus says that in 20 BC, the Armenians sent messengers to Roman Emperor Augustus to tell him that they no longer wanted Artaxias II as their king, and asked that his brother...
ruled 12 BC - 8 BC - Tigranes IVTigranes IVTigranes IV was an Armenian prince and the son of the King Tigranes III. He was the husband to his half-sister Erato of Armenia. Triganes ruled from 12 BC-1 BC...
ruled 12 BC - 1 BC - Tigranes VTigranes V of ArmeniaTigranes V, also known as Tigran V was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia from the years 6 to 12.-Family & Life in the Herodian Court:...
ruled 6 - 12 - Tigranes VITigranes VI of ArmeniaTigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century....
ruled 58 - 63