ARMENIAN KINGDOM. Tigranes II the Great (95-56 BC). AR tetradrachm (25mm, 16.01 gm, 11h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5. Tigranocerta, ca. 83-70 BC. Diademed and draped bust of Tigranes II right, wearing jeweled tiara with starburst between eagles standing outward looking inward; bead-and-reel border / BAΣIΛEΩ-Σ / TIΓPANOY, Tyche seated right on rock, palm in outstretched right hand, river god Orontes swimming right before; AP monogram in right field, HΔ monogram on base of rock, laureate border. Kovacs 74.1. AC 30. Shimmery pearl luster. As king from 95 to 55 BC, Tigranes II (140 – 55 BC) expanded Armenia to the largest extent in its history. Tigranes’ career began when Artavasdes I, the former king of Armenia (related by an unknown familial connection), was forced to give Tigranes to Mithradates II of Parthia as a hostage while under suzerainty in 120 BC. Tigranes was schooled in Parthian court until ca. 96 BC, when Mithradates released him to be crowned as the new king of Armenia. The kingdom had a powerful foundation of the Artaxiad dynasty, but feudal nakharars, or nobility, had strong influence over the regions of Armenia. Tigranes would thus consolidate his power and would begin working on expanding his empire. His alliance with Mithradates and his marriage to Cleopatra of Pontus, placed him in a favorable position to conquer eastern Roman land. Mithradates aided in this feat but would die sometime after failing to conquer Cappadocia from Rome. Between Parthia’s succession disputes and Rome’s Social War, Armenia became the strongest power in the east under Tigranes. By 83 BC, he would successfully conquer Syria, then Phoenicia and Cilicia - the last remnants of the Seleucid Empire. This would stretch his empire from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea and from Mesopotamia to the Pontic Alps. Tigranes’ rapidly expanding empire is reflected in his high production of coinage, which offered a powerful form of propaganda: to spread his likeness across his empire, and to establish a physical representation of his strong developing economy. The representation of Halley’s Comet on all his coinage reflected his divine right to rule, as the comet had passed over the sun in August of 87 BC - right before his first acquisitional victory. His expansion would come to an end in 66 BC when Tigranes, then in his seventies, surrendered to Pompey during the Roman invasion of Armenia. Tigranes II ruled Armenia as a client-king of Rome until his death in 55 BC. HID09801242017 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

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