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was repulsed in 34. Artavasdes I of Armenia revolted against his former ally, and Antony crushed the
entire country, making it a Roman province. Parthian ambitions were powerful, however; around 30
B.C., Phraates IV of Parthia reconquered the territory and placed Artaxes on the throne.
Augustus recognized the need for a strong frontier defense and, in or around 20 B.C. and as part of his
broad peace pact with the Arsacids, he sent Tiberius into Armenia with legions. Following the murder of
Artaxes by his own people, Tigranes was crowned king of Armenia.
The Roman emperors maintained a policy of client kingdoms that were dependent upon Rome but not
directly under Roman rule, thus acting as buffers to the enemy. Emperor GAIUS CALIGULA summoned
Mithridates I of Armenia to Rome circa 41 A.D., and for no reason threw him into prison and then forced
him into exile. Parthia, taking advantage of the situation, moved quickly against Armenia. Emperor
Claudius, in 42 or 43, sent Mithridates back to his homeland, where, with Roman assistance, he regained the
throne. Nero tried to place a number of doomed pretenders on the throne of Armenia, men such as
Tigranes V in 60 A.D., who was quickly deposed by the Parthians. Finally, in 66, Nero officially gave the
kingdom to an Arsacid supposedly loyal to Rome: Tiridates. This king played the role of manipulator,
paying slight loyalty to Rome while maintaining good relations with his Parthian associates and his
brother Vologases I, the king of Parthia.
Tiridates accentuated the general unreliability of Rome's clients, a problem that had only one ultimate
solution, adopted by Trajan during his Eastern Campaign of 113-117. Armenia was overrun, Chosroes of
Parthia lost Mesopotamia and his capital, Ctesiphon. Armenia was proclaimed a province, garrisoned
with Roman troops and ruled by a king who was closely watched. Control was easier with possession of
Mesopotamia, but in the 3rd century Rome began to lose its dominance in the East. This weakening led
to changes.
The Sassanid destroyers of the Arsacids in Persia immediately initiated ambitious policies. Shapur I, the
son of the dynasty's founder, Ardashir, was defeated by Timesitheus, the Praetorian prefect of Gordian
III, but the next emperor, Philip the Arab, concluded a peace, reestablishing the old borders at the
Euphrates.
Armenia was to be independent, meaning under Roman domination. In 296, Diocletian signed a treaty
with Narses, the Sassanid king, giving all Armenia to Rome as a protectorate.
Armenia adopted Christianity very quickly, although the Sassanids did not tolerate its presence during
their eras of influence. Christianization was inevitable, given the trade routes that went through Armenia.
The kingdom remained under Roman control until 387, when, by agreement, the Sassanids took half, thus
allowing a strategic balance. So it remained for nearly three centuries.
Armenia Minor was never so hotly contested. Adhering to the policy of client state buffers, Roman
political figures from Pompey to Gaius Caligula, placed various non-Roman claimants on the throne.
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