Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
16
MarekJanOlbrycht
etTigranescognomineDeus,aquosubactaestMediaetMesopotamia.That
TigranescognomineDeusmustbeTigranesofArmeniaduringhisconquests
(fromc.80b.C.),whenheusedthetitleTheos(LatinDeus).Alongwithhim
IustinusmentionsoneArtabanos.Thispassagehasarousedmuchcontroversyin
historicalresearch.ThementionofTigranes(96155b.C.)rightafteranaccount
oftheoriginsoftheParthiansunderArsacesI(2471211b.C.)isclearlyan
errorbytheepitomist.7Notimpossibly,theArtabanosmentionedtogetherwith
TigranesreallystandsforArtabazes,orArtavasdes,kingofArmenia.8
TheArsacidinterventioninArmeniaresultedinthatcountrybeingincluded
intheImperiumParthicum.WhileIustinuscallstheArmeniankingopposing
theParthiansbythenameofArtoadistes,whichisadistortedformofArtavas-
des,theTigraneshandedovertotheParthiansasahostagewas,accordingto
Appian(Syr.48),asonofTigranes:“Tigranes,thesonofTigranes,kingof
Armenia,whohadsubduedmanyoftheneighbouringnationswhichhadkings
oftheirown,andfromtheseexploitshadacquiredthetitleofKingofKings.”
Thisconfusionmaybeexplainedasfollows:Artavasdeswaskilledfightingthe
Parthians,andhisprobablesuccessorTigranes(I),madeadealwiththemand
handedoverhissonTigranes(II)asahostage.
Iustinus’saccountimpliesthattheconquestofArmeniaoccurredafterama-
jorcrackdownonthenomads,whichoccuredcertainlyafter119.9Theprobable
terminusantequemistheyear110,whenMithradatesIIassumedthe“King
ofKings”title.Intheyear111,MithradatesIIengagedinaninterventionin
theempire’snorthwest.babylonianAstronomicalDiariesofthetimespeak
ofanattackonthelandofHanigalbat(monthV
,year201oftheSeleukid
era,i.e.8August16September111b.C.).10Anearlierbabyloniantextfrom
165b.C.identifiesthe“landofHabigalbat”asArmenia.11Consideringthat
about1131111b.C.theParthiansweredeeplyengagedontheSyrianfrontier,
7Therefore,thewholepassageinParthicisutestconstitutum...DictusqueinexcessuAra-
biaesituswasmovedbyA.vonGutschmid(inaneditionofIustinusbyRuehl)totheprologue
ofbookXLII.DetailsarereferredtoinM.Schottky:MediaAtropateneundGross-Armenien
inhellenistischerZeit.bonn1989,p.209.
8J.Marquart:EranšahrnachderGeographiedesPs.MosesXorenac‘i(=Abh.Königl.
Ges.derWiss.Göttingen,phil.-hist.Klasse,N.F.III,no.2).berlin1901,p.645;M.Schottky:
Media...,pp.2111212.
9SeeM.J.Olbrycht:ArsakidIranandtheSteppePeoplesofCentralEurasia.Leiden
2011(forthcoming).
10A.J.Sachs,H.Hunger:AstronomicalDiariesandRelatedTextsfromBabylonia.
Vol.III:Diariesfrom164B.C.to61B.C.Texts(ÖsterreichischeAkademiederWissenschaften.
Philosophisch-HistorischeKlasse.Denkschriften247.band).Vienna1996,pp.3461347,no.110;
G.DelMonte:TestidallaBabiloniaHellenistica.Vol.I:TestiCronografici.Pisa1Roma
1997,pp.1531154.
11G.DelMonte:Testi...,pp.80181.
