The Artaxiad Dynasty of Armenia

CNG 85, Lot: 9. Estimate $200. Sold for $270. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of ARMENIA. Tigranes I. 123-96 BC. Æ (17mm, 4.20 g, 11h). Head left, wearing indistinct four-pointed Armenian tiara / Uncertain figure standing right, holding scepter set on ground and eagle. CAA 5; AC 20. Fine, brown patina, some porosity.

The Artaxiad Kingdom of Armenia was founded by Artaxias, son of Zariadres, then satrap of the kingdom of Sophene in southwestern Armenia. Along with his father, Artaxias, led a successful coup against the Orontid king of Greater Armenia, Orontes IV, during the late 3rd century BC. Later freedom from Seleukid rule in 191 BC was confirmed in the Roman Senate by the Treaty of Apameia in 188 BC, thus forging a Romano-Armenian relationship which would prove troublesome in future encounters with both Syria and Parthia. The Artaxiad kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of Artaxias’ grandson, Tigranes II ‘the Great,’ who also ruled the Seleukid kingdom of Syria for fourteen years.