Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

180 6 Shared interests: Continuing conflicts
Ultimately, Armenia could not escape the ambitions of the early Sasanian
rulers. Xusrō’s successor on the Armenian throne, his son Tiridates, had to
flee and seek refuge in the Roman Empire. After Ardaˇsīr had tried already in
227 to take possession of Greater Armenia, 32 from 252/53 onwards the country
became part of the sphere of influence of the Sasanians, who followed
the Parthian tradition of appointing a member of their own dynasty as king
of Armenia. Hormizd-Ardaˇsīr, the oldest son of the second Sasanian king
ˇSāpūr I became the ‘Great king of Armenia’. 33 He was the only member of
ˇSāpūr’s family who was allowed to use the title of ‘Great king’, a circumstance
which reveals the important role Armenia played for the Sasanian
dynasty. During the reign of ˇ Sāpūr I’s successor, Hormizd I, Armenia continued
to be ruled by a Sasanian satellite king, probably the youngest son
of ˇ Sāpūr I, Narsē. 34 It looks as if this phase of Sasanian rule introduced
some internal stability in Armenia, which among other aspects involved an
assimilation of local religion and orthodox Mazdaism. 35
However, in the face of the changing balance of power towards the end
of the third century we observe renewed Roman attempts to increase their
influence in Armenia. Bahrām II (276–93) had to accept that Diocletian
invested Tiridates III and thereby once more a descendant of the Arsacid
dynasty as Armenian king, whose rule, however, was at first limited to Lesser
Armenia. 36 As a consequence of Narsē’s catastrophic defeat by Galerius
in the year 298 (6) and the resulting peace treaty of Nisibis strategically
important regions in southern Armenia became part of the Roman sphere
of influence (17); moreover, with Roman support Tiridates extended his
rule to all of Armenia. As Tiridates ‘the Great’, he captured a very special
place in Armenian history because during his reign the country turned
to Christianity. 37 Although the historical circumstances are complex and
the reconstruction of the ‘story’ subject to speculation, 38 one may say that
‘Armenia’ became the first ever Christian state, not long before a similar
change took place in the West. Against the opposition of the Armenian
nobility, who largely followed Iranian traditions, the country increasingly
opened up to Western influence. The Armenian churches and monasteries
32 Widengren 1971: 758. 33 Cf. SKZ, ˇ Greek text, ll. 40–1.
34 Cf. Humbach and Skjaervo 1983: iii 1, 28, 32 and 45; iii 2, 10–11, 36 and 72.
35 Chaumont 1987a: 426, with reference to Moses of Chorene ii.77.
36 For details cf. Winter 1988: 145–51.
37 Soz. ii.8.1; on the controversial dating of this crucial event within Armenian history – often the years
313 or 314 are given as the date but many Armenians prefer the year 301 – see Ananian 1961: 43–73
and 317–60.
38 There was already a Syrian current of Christianity that had percolated into southern districts; see
Garsoïan 1997: 81–3.