Armenian History - Great Armenia

After the fall Persian power and with the beginning of Hellenistic epoch which arrived thanks to aggressive campaigns of Alexander the Great, Armenia entered the new era of its development. By the beginning of this period the territory occupied by Armenians included three separate areas: Big or Great Armenia, Sofena, between the Euphrates and the Tiger, and Little Armenia - between the Euphrates the Lykos. In the 2 nd – the 1 st centuries BC these states merge in the uniform powerful slaveholding state – Great Armenia.

Ararat valley with the centre in the city of Artashat became the political, economic and cultural centre of Great Armenia. The 1 st century BC was the Golden Age of Great Armenia. I was the time of Tigran the Great (95-56) the grandson of Artashes I, the founder of Artashesid dynasty. Tigranakert became the capital of the state. The empire of Tigran covered the most part of Sothwest Asia from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, from Mesopotamia to the Kura. However, Great Armenia stayed within that borders not for long. From the 1 st century AD the territory of Armenia became the object of fierce struggle between Rome and Parthia. In 69-66 BC the empire collapsed. Its disintegration marked the end of Artashesid dynasty who had ruled the country for almost 2 centuries.