Painting of Tigran The Great, King of Kings entering Parthia. Tigranes II, The Great, King of Kings
Painting of Tigran The Great, King of Kings entering Parthia. Tigranes II, The Great, King of Kings of the Artaxiad Dynasty reigned over a vast Armenian empire in the years 95–55 B.C.. Here are seven facts about Tigranes The Great that you probably did not know: 1. As a young prince, Tigranes was held as a hostage at the Parthian court of King Mithridates II until he was 45 years old. To buy his freedom Tigran had to hand over 70 valleys of Armenia to Parthia. 2. After returning home and placing the crown on his head, the first act of Tigranes as a king was to annex the neighboring Armenian Kingdom of Sophene, ruled by King Zareh. He was not able to annex Lesser Armenia, since the area was already taken by the Kingdom of Pontus by the time Tigranes became king. Instead to secure his flank on the western part of his kingdom, Tigranes married the daughter of the king of Pontus Mithridates VI, named Cleopatra. 3. Tigran had four sons, of which three were from Cleopatra. Two of them were slain by his own hand, the fourth one Artavazd II succeeded him. 4. Tigranes had a harem. When Lucullus, in charge of the Roman army, attacked Tigranakert, at night Tigranes sent a group of his troops to rescue his harem and treasury from the city. 5. After securing his alliance with Pontus, he attacked Parthia, taking back not only the 70 valleys he had given in exchange for his freedom, but also the entire region of Atropatene (modern day Iranian Azerbaijan) and Adiabene, a district near the present-day borders of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. 6. After defeating the Parthians, sacking the royal city of Ecbatana in the ancient province of Media and becoming emperor, Tigranes took on the title of King of Kings. The “ King of Kings” never appeared in public without having four kings attending him. 7. Tigran the Great, died with the title of King of Kings at the age of 85 in the year 55 B.C. -- source link