| Battle of Artaxata | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofThird Mithridatic War | |||||||
 View ofKhor Virap Monastery. The hill where the monastery was built is the location of now ruinedArtaxata | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Roman Republic |  Kingdom of ArmeniaMithridates VI of Pontus | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Lucius Licinius Lucullus | Tigranes II Mithridates VI of Pontus | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 15,000+ infantry 1,500+ cavalry an unknown number of allies | Unknown but a significant number of cavalry and infantry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown but higher[citation needed] | ||||||
  Battle of Artaxata (Caucasus Mountains) Show map of Caucasus Mountains | |||||||
TheBattle of Artaxata was fought near theArsanias River in 68 BC between an army of theRoman Republic and the army of theKingdom of Armenia. The Romans were led byproconsulLucius Licinius Lucullus, while the Armenians were led byTigranes II of Armenia, who was shelteringMithridates VI of Pontus, his father-in-law and refugeeKing of Pontus. The battle was part of theThird Mithridatic War and ended in a Roman victory.[1][2][3]
After being defeated by the Romans inAsia Minor and in his nativekingdom of Pontus, Mithridates VI of Pontus fled to his son-in-law Tigranes II of Armenia. Lucullus sent his brother-in-lawAppius Claudius Pulcher to negotiate the surrender of Mithridates but this effort failed.[1] In 69 BC Lucullus suddenly marched his relatively small army into Armenia catching the Armenian king off guard. Tigranes assembled a large (but untrained) army and the two forces met at Tigranocerta, the kingdom's new capital, with Lucullus decisively winning theensuing battle.[4][5] Tigranes and Mithridates fled north to Armenia's old capital of Artaxata, where they recruited, trained and equipped a new army. The next year, Lucullus marched his army north intend on forcing his enemies into a decisive battle.
The Romans were marching towards Artaxata, the Kingdom's old capital, to force Tigranes into fighting apitched battle. Tigranes, on Mithridates' advice, had been avoiding a battle after beingdefeated at Tigranocerta. He knew his untrained army was no match for the disciplined and battle-hardened Roman troops. Since the Romans' objective [Artaxata] was clear to them, Tigranes and Mithridates had been preparing and training their army for the unavoidable battle but needed time. Lucullus was not inclined to grant them the time needed and marched straight for the capital. Eventually Tigranes had little choice and confronted the Romans. Lucullus made sacrifices to the gods, marched out from his camp and put his army into battle order.
The Armenian force consisted of a significant cavalry and infantry array protected by mounted archers and Iberian lancers. There was an initial skirmish between theseIberians and the Roman horse, and soon the Iberians were in full flight. Tigranes then showed up with a huge contingent of cavalry. He halted his cavalry's pursuit of the Iberians and advanced the infantry on theAtropani who were massed opposite it. These were routed, and soon the entire Armenian army was in retreat.[1][6][7]
Soon after the battle, there was a near mutiny in Lucullus' camp. His troops were worn out after marching for 960 miles (1,500 km) and fighting many battles with little to show for it. They refused to march after Tigranes and Mithridates and forced Lucullus to turn south and invade the Armenian possessions inMesopotamia. Mithridates and Tigranes turned toguerrilla warfare and soon, Armenia was back in Tigranes' hands. Mithridates returned to Pontus where he was able to regain power after theBattle of Zela . Eventually, theRoman Senate sentPompey the great to replace Lucullus and finish off Mithridates. Pompey was successful, and Mithridates was defeated at theBattle of Lycus in 66 BC, while Tigranes became a client-king of the Roman Empire.[8] In 63 BC, the third Mithridatic war finally ended when Mithridates, at the age of 68, committed suicide after his son rebelled atPhanagoria, along the eastern shore of theCimmerian Bosporus.[9]
Foiled in this, Lucullus now decided on a midsummer (68 B.C.) offensive deep into Armenia, to crush his «exhausted antagonists»Mithridates and Tigranes who, anticipating such a move, had assembled another large army with a powerful cavalry force to harass his foragers. He brought them to battle north of Lake Van, somewhere on the upper Arsanias, an eastern tributary of the Euphrates, and put their army to flight (PLUT., Luc., 31, 5). Tigranes at once retreated to his capital, Artaxata.
