[PREVIEW] Hayk - Kingdom of Armenia

**KAM 2150** · December 23, 2018, 04:48 PM

Faction Preview: Hayk - The Kingdom of Armenia

Overview

The Kingdom of Armenia (Hayk) was a monarchy which existed from 321 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into successive reigns by three royal dynasties: Orontid (321 BC–200 BC), Artaxiad (189 BC–12 AD) and Arsacid (52–428). The legendary founder of Hayasdan was Hayk, a chieftain who called on his kinsmen to unite into a single nation, thus forming Hayasdan or Armenia. Urartu and subsequent kingdoms were centered around Mt. Ararat, a mountain still considered sacred by the Armenians. The root of the kingdom lies in one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia called Armenia (Satrapy of Armenia), which was formed from the territory of the Kingdom of Ararat (860 BC–590 BC) after it was conquered by the Median Empire in 590 BC. The satrapy became a kingdom in 321 BC during the reign of the Orontid dynasty after the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great, which was then incorporated as one of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Seleucid Empire.

After the destruction of the Seleucid Empire, a Hellenistic Armenian state was founded in 190 BC. It was a Hellenistic Greek successor state of Alexander the Great's short-lived empire, with Artaxias becoming its first king and the founder of the Artaxiad dynasty (190 BC – 12 AD). At the same time, a western portion of the kingdom split as a separate state under Zariadris. The new kings began a program of expansion which was to reach its zenith a century later. Their acquisitions are summarized by Strabo. Zariadris acquired Acilisene and the country around the Antitaurus, possibly the district of Muzur or the area west of the Euphrates. Artaxias took lands from the Medes, Iberians, and Syrians. He then had confrontations with Pontus, Seleucid Syria, and Cappadocia, and was included in the treaty which followed the victory of a group of Anatolian kings over Pharnaces of Pontus in 181 BC. Pharnaces thus abandoned all of his gains in the West.

At its zenith from 95 to 66 BC, Greater Armenia extended, forming the second Armenian empire. For a time, Armenia was one of the most powerful states in the Roman East. It eventually confronted the Roman Republic in a war, which it lost in 66 BC, but nonetheless preserved its sovereignty. Tigranes continued to rule Armenia as an ally of Rome until his death in 55 BC. Under Nero, the Romans fought a campaign (55–63) against the Parthian Empire, which had invaded the Kingdom of Armenia, allied with the Romans. After gaining Armenia in 60, then losing it in 62, the Romans sent the Legio XV Apollinaris from Pannonia to Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, legatus of Syria. In 63, strengthened further by the legions III Gallica, V Macedonica, X Fretensis and XXII, General Corbulo entered into the territories of Vologases I of Parthia, who then returned the Armenian kingdom to Tiridates, king Vologases I's brother. Another campaign was led by Emperor Lucius Verus in 162–165, after Vologases IV of Parthia had invaded Armenia and installed his chief general on its throne. To counter the Parthian threat, Verus set out for the east. His army won significant victories and retook the capital. Sohaemus, a Roman citizen of Armenian heritage, was installed as the new client king. But during an epidemic within the Roman forces, Parthians retook most of their lost territory in 166. Sohaemus retreated to Syria, аnd Arsacid's dynasty was restored power over Armenia.

Armenia was one of the first factions overhauled in....0.75 patch of DeI. Now it is again brought back to glory!

Faction Information

Faction name: Hayk

Faction leader title: Arqa

Social classes:
1. Azat-Nakharar
2. Ramik
3. Shinakan
4. Otarakan

Starting political parties:
1. Yervanduni
2. Syuni
3. Artsruni
4. Others

King as politician: