Roman Armenia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

From the end of the 1st century BC onwards, Armenia

Armenia

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

was, in part or whole, subject to the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

and its successor, the East Roman or Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

. Emperor Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

created even a short-lived Province of Armenia between 114 and 118 AD.

History

Armenia was under direct Roman control as a province only for a few years under Trajan, but it had a far longer history as a vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

and client state

Client state

Client state is one of several terms used to describe the economic, political and/or military subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs...

of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

for most of the first three centuries after Pompey

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

's campaign in Armenia in 66 BC.

Struggle over influence with Parthia

With the eastwards expansion of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

during the Mithridatic Wars

Mithridatic Wars

There were three Mithridatic Wars between Rome and the Kingdom of Pontus in the 1st century BC. They are named for Mithridates VI who was King of Pontus at the time....

, the Kingdom of Armenia, under 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 made a Roman protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

by Pompey

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

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

Parthian Empire

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

influence disputed Roman supremacy, which was re-established by the campaigns of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Roman general and a brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula.-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family...

.

This conflict ended after the Battle of Rhandeia, in an effective stalemate and a formal compromise: a Parthian prince of the Arsacid

Arsacid Dynasty

The Arsacid Dynasty may refer to:* Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, see List of Parthian kings*Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia*Arsacid dynasty of Iberia*Arsacid Dynasty of Caucasian Albania*List of rulers of Parthian sub-kingdoms...

line would henceforth sit on the Armenian throne, but his nomination had to be approved by the Roman emperor.

Roman province of Armenia

In 114, Emperor Trajan

Trajan

incorporated Armenia into the Empire, making it a full Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

.
Indeed in 113 AD, Trajan invaded the Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

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

because he wanted to reinstate a vassal king in Armenia (a few years before fallen under Parthian control). In 114 Trajan from Antiochia

Antiochia

Antiochia or Antiocheia or Antiochea or Antiokheia may refer any of several Hellenistic cities in the Near East most, of which were founded or rebuilt by the several rulers named Antiochus during the Seleucid Empire:*Antioch , now Antakya, Turkey**Principality of Antiochia, a...

in Syria

Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It remained under Roman, and subsequently Byzantine, rule for seven centuries, until 637 when it fell to the Islamic conquests.- Principate :The...

marched on Armenia and conquered the capital Artaxata. Trajan then deposed the Armenian king Partamasiri and ordered the annexation of Armenia to the Roman Empire as a new province.

The new province reached the shores of the Caspian sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

and bordered to the north with the Caucasian Iberia

Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

and Albania

Caucasian Albania

Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...

, two vassal states of Rome.

As a Roman province Armenia was administered along with Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

by Catilius Severus of the gens Claudia.

The Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

issued coins on this occasion bearing the following inscription: ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P.R. REDACTAE, thus solidifying Armenia's position as the newest Roman province. A rebellion by the Parthian pretender Sanatruces

Sanatruces II of Parthia

Sanatruces II of Parthia, the son of Mithridates IV, was a pretender to the throne of the Parthian Empire during the disputed reign of his uncle Osroes I....

was put down, though sporadic resistance continued and Vologases III of Parthia

Vologases III of Parthia

Vologases III of Parthia claimed the throne of the Parthian Empire about 105, in the last days of Pacorus II of Parthia . He reigned over the eastern portion of the kingdom from 105 to 147...

managed to secure an area of south-eastern Armenia just before Trajan's death in August 117.

After Trajan's death however, his successor Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

decided not to maintain the province of Armenia. In 118 AD, 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

Osroene

Osroene, also spelled Osrohene and Osrhoene and sometimes known by the name of its capital city, Edessa , was a historic Syriac kingdom located in Mesopotamia, which enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BC to AD 244.It was a Syriac-speaking kingdom.Osroene, or...

in western Greater Armenia as a consolation.

Sohemus was named king of Armenia by Roman emperor Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...

in 140 AD. Just a few years later in 161 AD, Armenia was lost again to Vologases IV of Parthia

Vologases IV of Parthia

Vologases IV of Parthia ruled the Parthian Empire from 147 to 191. The son of Mithridates IV of Parthia , he united the two halves of the empire which had been split between his father and Vologases III of Parthia...

. In 163 AD a Roman counter-attack under Statius Priscus defeated the Parthians in Armenia and reinstalled Sohemus as the Romans' favored candidate on the Armenian throne. Sohemus' tomb probably is the only actually well-preserved Roman temple in Armenia: the Garni Temple

Garni Temple

Garni is a temple complex located in the Kotayk Province of Armenia, situated approximately 32 km southeast from Yerevan.The first traces of human occupation date back to the 3rd millennium BC and are concentrated in an easily defensible terrain at one of the bends of the Azat river. In the 8th...

.

Thereafter 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 Sassanids.

Indeed Rome's power and control increased even more, but Armenia retained its independence (even if as a vassal state), although from now on, it was Rome's loyal ally against the Sassanian Empire. For instance, when Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...

attacked Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...

, many Armenian soldiers were in his army: later -in the 4th century- they made up two Roman legions, the Legio I Armeniaca

Legio I Armeniaca

Legio I Armeniaca was a pseudocomitatensis legion of the Late Roman Empire, probably created in the late 3rd century.The name of the legion could refer to it being originally part of the garrison of the Armeniac provinces, but the unit, together with its twin legion II Armeniaca, appears to have...

and the Legio II Armeniaca

Legio II Armeniaca

Legio II Armeniaca was a legion of the late Roman Empire.Its name could mean it was garrisoned in the Roman province of Armenia, but later, together with its twin, I Armeniaca, it was moved into the field army as a pseudocomitatensis legion. The legion is reported to have built a camp in Satala...

.

In the second half of the 3rd century the Sassanid capital Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon

and areas of southern Armenia were sacked by the Romans under Emperor Carus

Carus

Carus , was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. During his campaign against the Sassanid Empire he sacked their capital Ctesiphon, but died shortly thereafter...

, and all Armenia, after half a century of Persian rule, was ceded to Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

in 299 AD as a "vassal" territory.

Eastern Roman Armenia

After the division of Armenia by the East Roman (Byzantine)

Byzantine Empire

and Sassanid Persian empires in 384, Lesser Armenia, along with western regions of Greater Armenia, became part of the Byzantine Empire. It was formed into a regular province under Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

, and in the 4th century, was divided in two provinces, "First Armenia" and "Second Armenia". Its population remained Armenian, but was being gradually Romanized.

Indeed in 363, a treaty

Peace of Acilisene

The Peace of Acilisene was a treaty between the East Roman Empire and the Persian Empire in 387 which divided Armenia between these two empires.-Sources:* Lang, David Marshall. Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. Boston: George Allen & Unwin, 1970. p. 163...

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 Akilisene (usually dated ca. 387), which established a definite line of division, running vertically from a point just east of Karin (soon to be renamed Theodosiopolis) south to west of Nisibis

Nisibis

Nusaybin Nisêbîn) is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey, populated mainly by Kurds. Earlier Arameans, Arabs, and Armenians lived in the city. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009.-Ancient Period:...

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

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

, which had been constituted into full provinces

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

(Armenia I and Armenian II) under the Diocese of Pontus

Diocese of Pontus

The Diocese of Pontus was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of northern and northeastern Asia Minor up to the border with the Sassanid Empire in Armenia. The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian, and its vicarius, headquartered at Amaseia, was...

already in the time of Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

, 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. 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

Sophene

Sophene , or ) was a province of the Armenian Kingdom and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom. It currently lies in modern-day southeastern Turkey....

, Anzitene, Asthianene, Sophanene and Balabitene. The local Armenian nakharar

Nakharar

Nakharar was a hereditary title of the highest order given to houses of the ancient and medieval Armenian nobility.-Nakharar system:Medieval Armenia was divided into large estates, which were the property of an enlarged noble family and were ruled by a member of it, to whom the title of Nahapet...

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

Zeno (emperor)

Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...

(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. Emperor Justinian I

Justinian I

Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...

(r. 527–565) carried out a series of comprehensive administrative reforms. Already soon after his accession in 527, the dux Armeniae (responsible for Armenia Minor) and the comes Armeniae were abolished, and the military forces of the Armenian territories subordinated to a new magister militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

per Armeniam at Theodosiopolis. 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 Khosrau II

Khosrau II

and Maurice

Maurice (emperor)

Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...

ceded most of Persarmenia to the Eastern Roman Empire.

Later history

The region was the focus of prolonged warfare in the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628

Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628

The Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire. The previous war had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice had helped the Sassanian king Khosrau II regain his throne. In 602, Maurice was murdered...

. After the onset of the Muslim conquests

Muslim conquests

Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...

and the Arab conquest of Armenia

Arab conquest of Armenia

The Arab conquest of Armenia was a part of the Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad in AD 632.Persian Armenia had fallen to the Byzantine Empire shortly before, in AD 629, and was conquered in the Rashidun Caliphate by AD 645.-Islamic expansion:...

, 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

John Kourkouas

John Kourkouas , also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His successes in battle against the Muslim states in the East definitively reversed the course of the centuries-long Byzantine–Arab Wars and began Byzantium's 10th-century...

in the early 10th century. In the first half of the 11th century, under Basil II

Basil II

Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...

and his successors, most of Armenia came under direct Byzantine control, which lasted until the Battle of Manzikert

Battle of Manzikert

The Battle of Manzikert , was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Seljuq Turks led by Alp Arslan on August 26, 1071 near Manzikert...

in 1071, when all Armenia fell to the Seljuks.

Roman Christianity

The influence of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

was felt in the 1st century after Christ: Christianity was first introduced by the apostles Bartholomew

Bartholomew

Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and is usually identified as Nathaniel . He was introduced to Christ through St. Philip, another of the twelve apostles as per , where the name Nathaniel first appears. He is also mentioned as “Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee” in...

and Jude Thaddeus

Saint Jude

Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James, Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus...

. Thus both Saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...

.

Apostle Bartholomew is said to have been martyred in Albanopolis

Albanopolis, Armenia

Albanopolis was a city in Armenia....

in Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded, but a more popular tradition holds that he was flayed alive and crucified, head downward. He is said to have converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Astyages, Polybius' brother, consequently ordered Bartholemew's execution.

Armenia became the first country to establish Christianity as its state religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

when, in an event traditionally dated to 301 AD, St. Gregory the Illuminator convinced Tiridates III, the king

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

of Armenia, to convert

Convert

The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

to Christianity.

As a consequence of Diocletian

Diocletian

Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

's victory over the Sassanids, all of Armenia was once again a vassal state of Rome by 299 AD: Rome secured in this way a wide zone of cultural influence east of Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

, which led to a wide diffusion of Syriac Christianity

Syriac Christianity

Syriac or Syrian Christianity , the Syriac-speaking Christians of Mesopotamia, comprises multiple Christian traditions of Eastern Christianity. With a history going back to the 1st Century AD, in modern times it is represented by denominations primarily in the Middle East and in Kerala, India....

from a center at Nisibis

Nisibis

in the first decades of the 4th century, and to the eventual full Christianization of Armenia.

Before this, the dominant religion in Armenia was Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

(promoted by the Parthian/Sassanid Empire) and to a smaller degree local Paganism

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

. St Gregory and his son Aristaces were successful in the full Christianization of all Armenians in the first half of the 4th century, mainly after Roman emperor Constantine

Constantine I

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

legalised Christianity

Edict of Milan

The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...

in the Roman Empire in 313 AD.

It is a well recognized historical fact that the Armenians were the first nation in the world to formally adhere to Christianity. This conversion was followed in the 4th and 5th centuries by a process of institutionalization and Armenization of Christianity in Armenia. Indeed St. Gregory the Illuminator became the organizer of the Armenian Church hierarchy. From that time, the heads of the Armenian Church have been called Catholicos and still hold the same title.

St. Gregory chose as the site of the "Catholicosate" the capital city of Vagharshapat (actual Ejmiatsinin) in Armenia and built there the Etchmiadzin Cathedral as a vaulted basilica in 301-303 AD (Vahan Mamikonian

Mamikonian

Mamikonian, Mamikoneans, or Mamigonian was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron, Sasun, Bagrevand and others...

, Roman governor of Armenia, in 480 AD ordered the dilapidated basilica to be replaced with a new cruciform church, still standing in the modern Republic of Armenia).

The continuous upheavals, which characterized the political scenes of Armenia in the next centuries, made the political power move to safer places often related to the Eastern Roman Empire. The Church center moved as well to different locations together with the political authority, ending in Byzantine Cilicia

Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

in the 13th century

Sources

Migliorati, Guido. Cassio Dione e l'impero romano da Nerva ad Antonino Pio: alla luce dei nuovi documenti. Editore Vita e Pensiero. Roma, 2003 ISBN 8834310659
Mommsen, Theodore. The provinces of the Roman Empire. Barnes & Noble Books. New York, 1996 ISBN 0-76070-145-8

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Struggle over influence with Parthia

Roman province of Armenia

Eastern Roman Armenia

Later history

Roman Christianity

See also

Sources