Tigranes IV was an Armenian prince and the son of the King Tigranes III

Tigranes III

Tigranes 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...

. He was the husband to his half-sister Erato of Armenia

Erato of Armenia

Erato was a Princess, queen of Armenia and the last member on the throne of the Artaxiad Dynasty. She was the daughter of Armenian King Tigranes III and half-sister/wife of King Tigranes IV. In the centuries before Christianity, incestuous marriages were common at Hellenistic courts in order to...

. Triganes ruled from 12 BC-1 BC. The reign of these last kings in the Artaxiad Dynasty

Artaxiad Dynasty

The Artaxiad Dynasty or Ardaxiad Dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in AD 12. Their realm included Greater Armenia, Sophene and intermittently Lesser Armenia and parts of Mesopotamia...

 was characterized by various civil wars which weakened Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

.

The ruling of Tigranes IV characterized with the raise of anti-Roman campaign within Armenian Kingdom. According to Xiphil, the Roman Empire did not approve Tigranes IV on the Armenian throne due to the strengthening of Parthia's influence and pro Parthian camp in Armenia. As another major regional power Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...

 permanently competed with Rome over expanding the influence in the Armenian Kingdom. Roman historian Sextus Rufus informed about Armenian resistance against the Roman Empire during the reign of Tigranes IV. He emphasized that Armenians were strong at that period of time. However, the Roman Empire enabled to set down Armenian resistance and temporarily established its hegemony over Armenian crown through pro Roman-oriented nobles. Lately, in 2 BC, Tigranes IV returned to power in Armenia likely with the help of Parthian Kingdom. However, his second term was very short since in 1 BC, he was killed during a war against one of the Caucasian tribes.

2 to 53 AD

After the death of Tigranes IV, who was the last king in the Artaxiad Dynasty, Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

  sent his grandson, Gaius Caesar

Gaius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...

, together with an army to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, so that King Ariobarzanes II of Media Atropatene, would hand over the Armenian throne to him. The Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 historian Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

wrote that the Armenians accepted him because of his outstanding beauty and bravery.