. After the fall of the
Artaxiad dynasty as a result of
Pompey's campaign in Armenia in 66 BC, the
Kingdom of Armenia was often contested between the Roman Empire and the
Parthian Empire during the
Roman–Parthian Wars. Throughout most of its history during this period, under the reign of the
Arsacid dynasty, the
Armenian nobility was divided among Roman-loyalists, Parthian-loyalists, and neutrals. Armenia often served as a
client state or
vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the
Byzantine and
Sassanid empires. During the
Byzantine–Sasanian wars, Armenia was ultimately
partitioned into
Byzantine Armenia and
Sasanian Armenia.
Struggle over influence with Parthia With the eastwards expansion of the
Roman Republic during the
Mithridatic Wars, the Kingdom of Armenia, under the
Artaxiad dynasty, was made a Roman
client kingdom by
Pompey in 66–65 BC. For the next 100 years, Armenia remained under Roman influence. Towards the middle of the 1st century AD, the rising Parthian influence disputed Roman supremacy, which was re-established by the
campaigns of
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. This conflict ended after the
Battle of Rhandeia, in an effective stalemate and a formal compromise: a Parthian prince of the
Arsacid line would henceforth sit on the Armenian throne, but his nomination had to be approved by the Roman emperor.
Roman province of Armenia (114–118 AD) In 114, Emperor
Trajan incorporated Armenia into the Empire, making it a full
Roman province. In 113, Trajan invaded the
Parthian Empire because he wanted to reinstate a vassal king in Armenia (a few years before fallen under Parthian control). In 114, Trajan from
Antiochia in
Syria marched on Armenia and conquered the capital
Artaxata. Trajan then deposed the Armenian king
Parthamasiris and ordered the annexation of Armenia to the Roman Empire as a new province. The new province reached the shores of the
Caspian Sea and bordered to the north with the
Caucasian Iberia and
Albania, two vassal states of Rome. As a Roman province Armenia was administered along with
Cappadocia by
Catilius Severus of the
gens Claudia. The
Roman Senate issued coins on this occasion bearing the following inscription: , thus solidifying Armenia's position as the newest Roman province. A rebellion by the Parthian pretender
Sanatruces was put down, though sporadic resistance continued and
Vologases III of Parthia managed to secure an area of south-eastern Armenia just before Trajan's death in August 117.
Roman protectorate After Trajan's death, his successor
Hadrian decided not to maintain the province of Armenia. In 118, Hadrian gave Armenia up, and installed
Parthamaspates as its king. Parthamaspates was soon defeated by the Parthians, and again fled to the Romans, who granted him the co-rule of
Osroene in western
Greater Armenia as a consolation. holding a crown on the Armenian King's head
Sohaemus was named king of Armenia by Roman emperor
Antoninus Pius in 140. Just a few years later in 161, Armenia was lost again to
Vologases IV of Parthia. In 163, a Roman counter-attack under
Statius Priscus defeated the Parthians in Armenia and reinstalled Sohaemus as the Romans' favored candidate on the Armenian throne. Armenia was in frequent dispute between the two empires and their candidates for the Armenian throne, a situation which lasted until the emergence of a new power, the
Sasanians. Rome's power and influence increased over the years since, but Armenia retained its independence, even if only as a vassal state, although it was a Roman ally against the
Sasanian Empire. When Roman emperor
Septimius Severus sacked the Parthian capital of
Ctesiphon, many Armenian soldiers were in his army. Later in the 4th century, they consisted of two Roman legions, the
Legio I Armeniaca and the
Legio II Armeniaca. In the second half of the 3rd century, the Sassanid capital of
Ctesiphon and areas of southern Armenia were sacked by the Romans under Emperor
Carus, and all Armenia, after half a century of Persian rule, was ceded to
Diocletian in 299 as a vassal territory.
Eastern Roman Armenia In 363, a treaty was signed between the
East Roman and
Sassanid Persian empires, which divided Armenia between the two. The Persians retained the larger part of Armenia ("Persarmenia") while the Romans received a small part of Western Armenia. Another treaty followed between 384 and 390, the
Peace of Acilisene (usually dated c. 387), which established a definite line of division, running from a point just east of Karin (soon to be renamed
Theodosiopolis) to another point southwest of
Nisibis in Mesopotamia. The area under East Roman control thus increased, but still, about four fifths of the old Kingdom of Armenia remained under Persian rule. Unlike
Armenia Minor west of the
Euphrates, which had been constituted into full
provinces (
Armenia I and
Armenia II) under the
Diocese of Pontus already in the time of
Diocletian, the new territories retained a varying level of autonomy.
Armenia Maior, the northern half, was constituted as a
civitas stipendaria under a civil governor titled
comes Armeniae, meaning that it retained internal autonomy, but was obliged to pay tribute and provide soldiers for the regular
East Roman army. Under
Roman rule, Melitene was the base camp of
Legio XII Fulminata. It was a major center in
Armenia Minor (''P'ok'r Hayk'''), remaining so until the end of the 4th century. Emperor
Theodosius I divided the region into two provinces: First Armenia (Hayk', ), with its capital at Sebasteia (modern
Sivas); and Second Armenia (), with its capital at Melitene. The
satrapies in the south on the other hand, which had been under Roman influence already since 298, were a group of six fully autonomous principalities allied to the Empire (
civitates foederatae):
Ingilene,
Sophene,
Antzitene,
Asthianene,
Sophanene and
Balabitene. The local Armenian
nakharar were fully sovereign in their territories, and were merely required to provide soldiers upon request and to dispatch a golden crown to the emperor, as a token of submission. In return, they received their royal insignia, including red shoes, from the emperor. The situation remained unchanged for near a century, until a large-scale revolt by the satraps in 485 against Emperor
Zeno (r. 474–491). In its aftermath, the satraps were stripped of their sovereignty and their rights of hereditary succession, being in effect reduced to the status of tax-paying and imperially-administered
civitates stipendariae. In 536, new reforms were enacted that abolished the autonomy of the trans-Euphrates territories and formed four new regular provinces.
Armenia Interior was joined with parts of
Pontus Polemoniacus and
Armenia I to form a new province,
Armenia I Magna, the old
Armenia I and
Armenia II were re-divided into
Armenia II and
Armenia III, and the old Satrapies formed the new
Armenia IV province. In 538, the Armenian nobles rose up against heavy taxation, but were defeated and forced to find refuge in Persia. In 591, the treaty between
Khosrow II and
Maurice ceded most of Persarmenia to the Eastern Roman Empire.
Later history The region was the focus of prolonged warfare in the
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. After the onset of the
Muslim conquests and the
Arab conquest of Armenia, only the western parts of Armenia remained in Byzantine hands, forming part of the
theme of
Armeniakon. Armenia remained dominated by the Arabs thereafter, and was ruled by a succession of Caliphate-appointed emirs as well as local princes. With the ebbing of the Caliphate's power and the fracturing of its outlying territories into autonomous statelets, the Byzantines were able to re-assert their influence over the Armenian principalities during the campaigns of
John Kourkouas in the early 10th century. In the first half of the 11th century, under
Basil II and his successors, most of Armenia came under direct Byzantine control, which lasted until the
Battle of Manzikert in 1071, when all Armenia fell to the
Seljuks. == Episcopal sees ==