Tigranes IV (30s BC–1)^[3] was a prince of theKingdom of Armenia and member of theArtaxiad dynasty who served as a Roman client king of Armenia from 8 BC until 5 BC and 2 BC until 1 AD.^[4]

Tigranes IV
Coin of Tigranes IV, minted during his second reign
King of Armenia 1st co-reign withErato
Reign	8–5 BC[1]
Predecessor	Tigranes III
Successor	Artavasdes III
King of Armenia 2nd co-reign withErato
Reign	2 BC–AD 1[1]
Predecessor	Artavasdes III
Successor	Erato(as sole monarch in 1–2 AD)[2] Ariobarzanes II(as king from 2 AD)
Died	1 AD
Spouse	Erato of Armenia
Dynasty	Artaxiad
Father	Tigranes III

Tigranes IV was the son born toTigranes III by a mother whose name is unknown.^[5] His known sibling was his younger paternal half-sisterErato who was born to another woman, whose name is also unknown.^[5] Although Tigranes IV was the namesake of his father, the nameTigranes was the most common royal name in the Artaxiad dynasty and was among the most ancient names of the Armenian Kings.^[6] Tigranes IV was born and raised either inRome where his father lived in political exile for 10 years^[7] from 30 BC until 20 BC or during his father's Kingship of Armenia in which he ruled from 20 BC until 8 BC.^[4]

Tigranes III died before 8 BC.^[8] In 8 BC, the Armenians installed Tigranes IV as King as the successor to his father.^[3] In accordance with Oriental custom^[5] orHellenistic custom, Tigranes IV married his sister Erato in order to preserve the purity of the Artaxiad royal blood line. Erato through marriage to her brother, became queen^[5] and hisqueen consort.^[9] From their sibling union at an unknown date, Erato bore Tigranes IV a daughter, whose name is unknown, who later married KingPharasmanes I of Iberia who ruled from 1 until 58, and by whom he had three sons:Mithridates I of Iberia,Rhadamistus and Amazaspus (Amazasp) who is known from a Greekinscription found inRome.

Although Tigranes IV and Erato were Roman client monarchs governing Armenia, they were bothanti-Roman and were not the choices of theRoman emperorAugustus^[10] for the Armenian throne, as their dual rule did not have Roman approval and they leaned towardsParthia for support.^[11]

Rome and Parthia competed with one another for their protégés to have influence and govern Armenia.^[12] Roman historian of the 4th centurySextus Rufus informs us that anti-Roman sentiment was building in Armenia during the reign of Tigranes IV and Erato. Rufus also emphasizes that the Kingdom of Armenia was very strong during this period.

The dispossessed and the discontent of the ruling Artaxiad monarchs and their subjects towards ancient Rome had instigated war with the aid of KingPhraates V of Parthia. To avoid a full-scale war withRome, Phraates V soon ceased his support to the Armenian ruling monarchs. This lead Tigranes IV and Erato, acknowledging Roman suzerainty;^[11] sending their good wishes and submission to Rome.^[13] Augustus receiving their submission to Rome and good wishes, allowed them to remain in power.^[13]

Tigranes IV issued bronze coins with portraits of himself with Augustus with the inscription in Greekβασιλεύς μέγας νέος Τιγράνης (of great new king Tigranes), also issued coins shared by Erato with the inscription in GreekΈρατω βασιλέως Τιγράνου άδελφή (Erato, sister of King Tigranes).^[14] Other coinage Tigranes IV and Erato issued together, is a portrait of Tigranes IV heavily bearded with Erato with the Greek legendgreat king, Tigranes.^[8]

Sometime about 1 AD Tigranes IV was killed in battle,^[15] perhaps ending an internal Armenian revolt^[16] of those who were infuriated by the royal couple becoming allies to Rome. The war and the chaos that occurred afterwards, Erato abdicated her throne and ended her rule over Armenia.^[17]

From the situation surrounding Tigranes IV and Erato, the Armenians requested to Augustus, a new Armenian king.^[15] Augustus found and appointedAriobarzanes as the new king of Armenia^[15] in 1 AD (or 2). Ariobarzanes through his father was a distant relative of the Artaxiad dynasty as he was a descendant of an Artaxiad princess whose name is unknown who was a sister of KingArtavasdes II of Armenia who married Ariobarzanes' paternal ancestorMithridates, a previous ruling king of MediaAtropatene.^[18]

• R. Naroll, V.L. Bullough & F. Naroll, Military Deterrence in History: A Pilot Cross-Historical Survey, SUNY Press, 1974
• E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III, Part I, Cambridge University Press, 1983
• W.G. Sayles, Ancient Coin Collecting IV: Roman Provincial Coins (Google eBook), F+W Media, Inc, 1998
• R.G. Hovannisian, The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Volume 1: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004
• Swan, Peter Michael (2004).The Augustan Succession: An Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History, Books 55-56 (9 B.C.-A.D. 14). Oxford University Press.
• V.M. Kurkjian, A History of Armenia, Indo-European Publishing, 2008
• M. Bunsen, Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, Infobase Printing, 2009
• M.A. Ehrlich, Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 1 (Google eBook), ABC-CLIO, 2009
• Armenia and Iran ii. The pre-Islamic period under Darius and Xerxes had much narrower boundaries than the future Armenia of the Artaxiads and the Arsacids. Armenia and Iran, ii. The Pre-Islamic Period: 3. The Artaxiad dynasty b. Tigranes the Great

• Coinage of Tigranes IV & Erato
• Coinage of Tigranes IV
• Coinage of Tigranes IV
• Coinage of Tigranes IV