Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/388

Rh 370 ARTAVASDES. found also in Hesychius, who quotes from the lines of Demetrius, and in Suidas, who refers to Polemon. [A. H. C] ARTASrRES. [Arsacidae, p. 364, b.] ARTAVASDES {"ApTaovda?>vs or 'ApraedaS-ns), ARTAUASDES('ApTaowc{(r5r?s),orARTABAZES ('Apragof'Tjs), called by the Armenian historians, Artawazt. 1. King of the Greater Armenia, suc- ceeded his father Tigranes I (II). In the expedition of Crassus against the Parthians, B. c. 54, Arta- vasdes was an ally of the Romans ; but when Orodes, the king of Parthia, invaded Media, and Artavasdes was unable to obtain assistance from the Romans, he concluded a peace with the Par- thian king, and gave his sister or daughter in mar- riage to Pacorus, the son of Orodes. When Pa- conis subsequently invaded Syria, in b. c. 51, Artavasdes threatened a descent upon Cappadocia ; and Cicero, who was then governor of Cilicia,made preparations to meet him ; but the defeat of Pacoms put a stop to his designs. (Plut. Crass. 19, 21, 22, 33 ; Dion Cass. xl. 16 ; Cic. odAtt. v. 20, 21, ad Fum. XV. 2, 3.) We next hear of Artavasdes in Antony's cam- paign against the Parthians in B. c. 36. Artavasdes joined the Romans, as he wished to injure his namesake Artavasdes, king of Media, with whom he was at enmity. He accordingly persuaded Antony to invade Media, but then treacherously deserted him, and returned with all his forces to Armenia. (Dion Cass. xlix. 25, 31 ; Plut. Ant. 39, 50 ; Strab. xi. p. 524.) The desertion of the Ar- menian king was one of the main causes of the failure of the Roman expedition [see p. 216, a.] ; and Antony accordingly determined to be revenged upon Artavasdes. After deferring his invasion of Armenia for a year, he entered the country in b. c. 34, and contrived to entice Artavasdes into his camp, where he was immediately seized. The Armenians thereupon set upon the throne his son Artaxias [Artaxias II.] ; but Artavasdes him- self, with his wife and the rest of his family, was carried to Alexandria, and led in triumph in golden chains. He remained in captivity till b. c. 30, •when Cleopatra had him killed, after the battle of Actium, and sent his head to his old enemy, Arta- vasdes of Media, in hopes of obtaining assistance from him in return. (Dion Cass. xlix. 33, 39, 40, 1. 1, li. 5; Plut Ant. 50; Liv. Epit. 131; Veil. Pat. ii. 82 ; Tac Amu ii. 3 ; Strab. xi. p. 532 ; Joseph. Ajit. XV. 4. § 3, B.J. i. 18. § 5.) This Artavasdes was well acquainted with Greek literature, and wrote tragedies, speeches, and historical works, some of which were extant in Plutarch's time. (Plut. Crass. 33.) Artavasdes II., perhaps the son of Artaxias II., was placed upon the Armenian throne by Augustus after the death of Tigranes II. He was however deposed by the Armenians ; and C. Caesar, who was sent into Armenia to settle the affairs of the coun- try, made Ariobarzanes, a Mede, king. (Tac. Ann. ii.'3, 4.) There was another king of the name of Arta- vasdes in the later history of Armenia, respecting whom see Arsacidae, p. 363, b. ARTAVASDES, king of Media Atropatene, and an enemy of Artavasdes L, king of Armenia. Antony invaded his country in b. c. 36, at the in- stigation of the Armenian king, and laid siege to his capital, Phraaspa. After Antony, however, had been obliged to retreat from Media with great ARTAVASDES. loss, Artavasdes had a serious quarrel with the Parthian king, Phraates, about the booty which had been taken from the Romans. In consequence of this dispute, and also of his desire to be re- venged upon the king of Armenia, Artavasdes offered peace and alliance to Antony, through means of Polemon, king of Pontus. This offer was gladly accepted by Antony, as he too wished to punish the Armenian king on account of his de- sertion of him in his campaign in Media. After Antony had conquered Armenia in b. c. 34, the alliance between him and Artavasdes was rendered still closer by the latter giving his daughter, lotape, in marriage to Alexander, the son of Antony. Artavasdes further engaged to assist Antony with troops against Octavianus, and Antony on liis part promised the Median king help against the Par- thians. With the assistance of the Roman troops, Artavasdes was for a time enabled to carrj' on the war with success against the Pai'thians and Ar- taxias II., the exiled king of Armenia; but when Antony recalled his forces in order to oppose Octa- vianus, Artavasdes was defeated by Artaxias, and taken prisoner. Artavasdes recovered his liberty shortly afterwards. Plutarch {Ant. 61) mentions Median troops at the battle of Actium ; but these might have been sent by Artavasdes before his captivity. After the battle of Actium, Octavianus restored to Artavasdes his daughter lotape, who had married Antony's son. Artavasdes died shortly before B. c. 20. (Dion Cass. xlix. 25, 33, 40, 41, 1. 1, li. 16, liv. 9; Plut, Ant. 38, 52.) ARTAVASDES or ARTABASDUS {'Aprd- SatrSos), emperor of Constantinople, was probably descended from a noble Armenian family. During the reign of Constantine V. Copronymus (a. d. 741 — 775), he was appointed Curopalatus, and mar- ried Anna, a daughter of this emperor. Constan- tine, as his nick-name Caballinus indicates, would have made an excellent groom, but was a bad emperor ; excited by fanaticism, he was active in the destruction of images in the churches, and thus acquired the name of the new Mohammed. Arta- vasdes, an adherent of the worship of images, pro- fited from the discontent of the people against Con- stantine, and during a campaign of the emperor against the Arabs, prepaied a revolt in Phrygia. Constantine, doubtful of his fidelity, demanded the sons of Artavasdes as hostages for the good conduct of their father, who refused to give them up, and suddenly sui-prised his master at the head of an army. Constantine was defeated, and fled into Phrygia Pacotiana, where he assembled his troops. Meantime, the rebel had won over the patrician Thcoplianes Monotes and Anastasius, the patriarch of Constantinople, to his cause. Both these men had great influence among the people, whom they persuaded that Constantine was dead ; and thus Artavasdes was proclaimed emperor. He and Con- stantine both tried to obtain the aid of the Arabs: but they assisted neither, and shewed hostility to both. Artavasdes re-established the worship of images. He conferred the title of emperor upon his eldest son, Nicephorus ; and he sent his second son, Nicetas, with an army into Armenia. Con- stantine found assistance among the warlike inha- bitants of Isauria, and early in 743 opened a cam- paign against Artavasdes, which terminated in the fall of the usurper. In May, 743, Artavasdes wfis defeated near Sardis ; and in Augxist, 743, his son Nicetas was routed at Comopolis in Bithynia : in