It is said that hard times create strong men. The first and second centuries bc were certainly a hard time for the diverse peoples of the ancient Near East. The disintegration of the once sprawling Seleucid Empire had fragmented the region into a series of warring states, all vying for dominance amid the creeping influence of Republican Rome and Parthian Persia. A number of strong men arose out of the chaos to seize power and etch their names into the annals of history. Among the most remarkable was from the mountainous Kingdom of Armenia.
In 115 bc Armenian King Tigranes I lost a costly war to the Parthians. He was allowed to keep his crown but was forced to send his son and namesake to the Parthian royal court in Ecbatana to serve as a hostage. For the next 20 years, the young prince wiled away his youth, carefully navigating the often deadly world of Persian court politics, acutely aware that his life could end at any moment depending on his father’s actions and the whims of his captors. It was a hard lesson in cunning and ruthlessness that would serve him well later in life.
In 95 bc, Tigranes’ luck abruptly changed when his father died and he successfully petitioned the Parthians to allow him to return to Armenia and claim the throne. The Parthians fully expected him to assume his father’s role as just another dutiful vassal in their vast empire. Tigranes gave them little reason to suspect otherwise. The 45-year-old ruler had spent most of his adult life in Persia and was more Persian than Armenian in his customs and manners. As a parting show of loyalty, he had even agreed to cede to Persia 70 Armenian valleys, a sizable territorial concession.
