Armenian tradition has preserved several legends concerning the origin of the Armenian nation. The most important of these tells of Hayk (Hayg or Haig), the eponymous hero of the Armenians who called them-selves Hay (Hye) and their country Hayk' or Hayastan. The historian of the 5th century, Movses Khorenatsi, also relates at some length the valiant deeds of Aram whose fame extended far beyond the limits of his country. Consequently, the neighboring nations called the people Armens or Armenians.

Archeology has extended the prehistory of Armenia to the Acheulian age (500,000 years ago), when hunting and gathering peoples crossed the lands in pursuit of migrating herds. The first period of prosperity was enjoyed by inhabitants of the Armenian upland in the third millennium B.C. These people were among the first to forge bronze, invent the wheel, and cultivate grapes. The first written records to mention the inhabitants of Armenia come from hieroglyphs of the Hittite Kingdom, inscribed from 1388 to 1347 B.C., in Asia Minor. The earliest inscription to be found directly upon Armenian lands, carved in 1114 B.C. by the Assyrians, describes a coalition of kings of the central Armenian region referring to them as "the people of Nairi." 

By the 9th century B.C., a confederation of local tribes flourished as the unified state of Urartu. It grew to become one of the strongest kingdoms in the Near East and constituted a formidable rival to Assyria for supremacy in the region. The Urartians produced and exported wares of ceramic, stone and metal, building fortresses, temples, palaces and other large public works. One of their irrigation canals is still used today in Yerevan, Armenia's capital - a city which stands upon the ancient Urartian fortress of Erebuni. In the 6th century Urartu fell to the Medes, but not long after, the Persian conquest of the Medes, led by Cyrus the Great, displaced them. Persia ruled over Armenia from the 6th century until the 4th century B.C. Its culture and Zoroastrian religion greatly influenced the spiritual life of the Armenian people who absorbed features of Zoroastrianism into their polytheistic and animistic indigenous beliefs.

As part of the Persian Empire, Armenia was divided into provinces called satrapies, each with a local governing satrap (viceroy) supervised by a Persian. The Armenians paid heavy tribute to the Persians, who continually requisitioned silver, rugs, horses and military supplies. The governing satraps of Armenia's royal Orontid family (Ervanduni Dynasty) governed the country for some 200 years, while Asia became acquainted with invading Greeks from the west. With the fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 331 B.C., the Greeks appointed a new satrap, an Orontid named Mithranes, to govern Armenia. The Greek Empire, which stretched across Asia and Europe, was one in which cities rapidly grew, spreading Hellenistic architecture, religion and philosophies. Armenian culture absorbed Greek influences as well. As centers at the crossroads of trade routes connecting China, India and Central Asia with the Mediterranean, Armenian cities thrived on economic exchange. The Greeks also infused Armenia's version of Zoroastrianism with facets of their religious beliefs. After Alexander's sudden death in 323 B.C., the partitioning of his empire and warring among his generals led to the emergence of three Greek kingdoms. Despite pressure from the Seleucid monarchy, one of the Greek kingdoms, the Orontids, continued to retain control over the largest of three kingdoms into which Armenia itself had been divided: Greater Armenia, Lesser Armenia and Sophene.

Seleucid influence over Armenia finally dissolved when, in the second century B.C., a local general named Artaxias (Artashes) declared himself King of Greater Armenia and founded a new dynasty - The Artaxiads (Artashesiank) (Artashesian) - (The Artain 189 B.C. Artaxias expanded his territory by defining the borders of his land and unifying the Armenian people. 

The "renaissance of Armenia" was accomplished during the reign of Tigran the Great (94-54 B.C.), who proclaimed himself "King of Kings." Under Tigran II, Armenia grew to a great degree of military strength and political influence. According to the Greek biographer Plutarch, the Roman general Lucullos said of this king, 

"In Armenia, Tigran is seated surrounded with that power which has wrested Asia from the Parthians, which carries Greek colonies into Media, subdues Syria and Palestine and cuts off the Seleucids."

And Cicero, the Roman orator and politician, adds, 

"He made the Republic of Rome tremble before the powers of his arms."

Armenia's borders extended from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. Tigran's victories were, however, destined to hasten his downfall, which occurred in 66 B.C. His son, King Artavazd II, governed Greater Armenia for 20 years until Anthony and Cleopatra had him brought to Egypt in chains. Artavazd refused to name Cleopatra as his queen and was executed. 

By 64 A.D. the new Arsacids dynasty (Arshakuni Dynasty), a branch of the Parthian Arsacids, came to power, and the country as a whole soon became a buffer zone over which the Romans and Parthians fought for domination. In order that we may realize the real implications of the history of Armenia and grasp the soul of this people, we must turn our gaze upon the beginning of the 4th century, which was momentous in its consequences for the growth of the nation. King Tiridates III (Trdat), having been converted by Gregory the Illuminator, proclaimed Christianity as the religion of the state in 301 A.D. Thus, Armenia became the first nation to embrace Christianity officially. This was 12 years before the Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan which declared tolerance of Christians in the Roman Empire. Gregory the Illuminator, later canonized, was elected Catholicos of the new Armenian national Church, the first in a long line of such clergy to be elected supreme head of the Armenian Church.

The conversion to Christianity was inevitably to bring in its wake complications of a political nature and to arouse grave anxieties in neighboring Persia. The Sassanian Persians took advantage of Armenia's inner weakness and launched a campaign to stamp out Christianity there and replace it with Mazdaism. Under this common threat, the princes, nobility and the people of Armenia rallied, and in 451 under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief Vartan Mamikonian, the Armenians heroically faced the Persians at Avarair in defense of their faith and national heritage. Heavily outnumbered, they were defeated; Vartan Mamikonian and many valiant men fell fighting. But guerrilla warfare continued in the mountainous regions. Vahan Mamikonian, a nephew of Vardan, continued the struggle. This time the Persians, realizing the futility of their policy, were obliged to come to terms with the Armenians. Freedom of religious worship was restored with the Treaty of Nvarsag. 

In the 7th century, the mighty Arabs stormed into Armenia and conquered the country. Beginning in the 9th century, Armenia enjoyed a brilliant period of independence when the powerful Bagratids Dynasty (Bagratuni Dynasty) asserted political authority. Resumption of international trade brought prosperity and the revival of artistic and literary pursuits. The capital of Ani grew to a population of about 100,000, more than any urban center in Europe. Religious life flourished and Ani became known as the "city of one thousand and one churches." In the middle of the 11th century, most of Armenia had been annexed by Byzantium. The destruction of the Bagratid Kingdom was completed by raids of new invaders, the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia. With little resistance from weakened Byzantium, the Seljuk Turks spread into Asia Minor as well as the Armenian highlands.

The Seljuk Turks invasion compelled a large number of Armenians to move south, toward the Taurus Mountains close to the Mediterranean Sea, where in 1080 they founded, under the leadership of Ruben (Rubenian Dynasty), the Kingdom of Cilicia or Lesser Armenia. Close contacts with the Crusaders and with Europe led to absorbing Western European ideas, including its feudal class structure. Cilician Armenia became a country of barons, knights and serfs. The court at Sis adopted European clothes. Latin and French were used alongside Armenian. The Cilician period is regarded as the Golden Age of Armenian Illumination, noted for the lavishness of its decoration and the frequent influence of contemporary western manuscript painting. Their location on the Mediterranean coast soon involved Cilician Armenians in international trade between the interior of Western Asia and Europe. For nearly 300 years, the Cilician Kingdom of Armenia prospered, but in 1375 it fell to the Mamelukes of Egypt. The last monarch, King Levon VI, died at Calais, France in 1393, and his remains were laid to rest at St. Denis (near Paris) among the kings of France.

While in the 13th century the Armenians prospered in the Cilician Kingdom, those living in Greater Armenia witnessed the invasion of the Mongols. Later, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Armenia was divided between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran. With the annexation of the Armenian plateau, the Armenians lost all vestiges of an independent political life. The Persian leader Shah Abbas I inaugurated a policy of moving populations of entire Armenian regions to his country to create a noman's land in the path of the Ottoman advance, and to bring a skilled merchant and artisan class to his new capital, Isfahan. The Armenian community of New Julfa, a suburb of Isfahan, was held by Shah Abbas I in great esteem and became one of the economic bases of the Safavid state. 

Persians ruled Eastern Armenia until 1828, when it was annexed by Russia. However, it was the Ottoman Turks who governed most of the Armenian land and population (Western Armenia). During the 19th century, Armenians under Turkish rule suffered from discrimination, heavy taxation and armed attacks. As Christians, Armenians lacked legal recourse for injustices. They were taxed beyond their means, forbidden to bear arms in a country where murdering a non-Muslim often went unpunished, and were without the right to testify in court on their own behalf. During the late l9th century, the increasingly reactionary politics of the declining Ottoman Empire and the awakening of the Armenians culminated in a series of Turkish massacres throughout the Armenian provinces in 1894-96. Any illusion the Armenians had cherished to the effect that the acquisition of power in 1908 by the Young Turks might bring better days was soon dispelled. For in the spring of 1909, yet another orgy of bloodshed took place in Adana, where 30,000 Armenians lost their lives after a desperate resistance. World War I offered a good opportunity for Turks to "solve the issue." In 1915, a secret military directive ordered the arrest and prompt execution of Armenian community leaders. Armenian males serving in the Ottoman army were separated from the rest and slaughtered. The Istanbul government decided to deport the entire Armenian population. Armenians in towns and villages were marched into deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia and Arabia. During the "relocation" many were flogged to death, bayoneted, buried alive in pits, drowned in rivers, beheaded, raped or abducted into harems. Many simply expired from heat exhaustion and starvation. 1.5 million people perished in this first genocide of the 20th century. Another wave of massacres occurred in Baku (1918), Shushi (1920) and elsewhere. 

The defeat of the Ottoman Turks in World War I and the disintegration of the Russian Empire gave the Armenians a chance to declare their independence. On May 28, 1918, the independent Republic of Armenia was established, after the Armenians forced the Turkish troops to withdraw in the battles of Sardarapat, Karakilisse and Bashabaran. Overwhelming difficulties confronted the infant republic, but amid these conditions the Armenians devoted all their energies to the pressing task of reconstructing their country. But due to pressure exerted simultaneously by the Turks and Communists, the republic collapsed in 1920. Finally, the Soviet Red Army moved into the territory (Eastern Armenia) and on November 29, 1920, declared it a Soviet republic. Armenia was made part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic in 1922, and in 1936, it became one of the Soviet Union's constituent republics.

The tumultuous changes occurring throughout the Soviet Union beginning in the 1980's inevitably had repercussions in Armenia. In 1988, a movement of support began in Armenia for the constitutional struggle of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) Armenians to exercise their right to self-determination. (This predominantly Armenian populated autonomous region had been placed under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan by an arbitrary decision of Stalin in 1923.)

That same year, in 1988, Armenia was rocked by severe earthquakes that killed thousands, and supplies from both the Soviet Union and the West were blocked by the Azerbaijani Government fighting the Armenians in Nagorno Karabagh. Both of these issues have dominated Armenia's political arena since the first democratic election held in Armenia during the Soviet era. In 1990, the Armenian National Movement won a majority of seats in the parliament and formed a government. On September 21, 1991, the Armenian people overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence in a national referendum, and an independent Armenia came into being.

2350 - 1700 B.C. 

Haig (Hayg)
Armenag
Aramais
Amassia
Gegham
Harma
Aram (The Armens)

Ara Keghetzig
Ara Kardos
Anoushavan
Paret
Arbag
Zaven
Varnas
Sour
Havanag

Vashtak
Haikak
Ampak
Arnak
Shavarsh
Norir
Vestam
Kar
Gorak
Hrant
Endzak
Geghak

Horo
Zarmair
Perch
Arboun
Hoy
Houssak
Kipak
Skaiordi

1250 B.C. - Arrival of the Armeno-Phrygians in Thrace.Crossing of the Bosphorus by the Armeno-Phrygians in Phrygia
1000  B.C. - Settlement of the Armeno-Phrygians in Phrygia
800 B.C. - The Armenians seperate from the Phrygians

860-843 - Arameh 
835-820 - Sarduris I 
820-800 - Ispunis 
800-780 - Menuas I 
780-755 - Arkisdis I 
755-730 - Sarduris II 
730-714 - Russas I 
714-680 - Arkisdis II 
680-675 - Russas II 
675-670 - Yeremenas 
670-645 - Russas III 
645-620 - Sarduris III 
620-600 - Irgias 
600-580 - Menuas II 

600  B.C. - Occupation of the Ararat region 
590-550 B.C. - Median rule (Cyaxares) 
550-330 B.C. - Achaemenian Rule of Persia

401-344 - Ervand (Orontes) I
344-331 - Ervand (Orontes) II
331-317 - Mithranes
317-260 - Ervand (Orontes) III
260-228 - Samus
228-212 - Xerxes
212-200 - Ervand (Orontes) IV

330-315 B.C. - Macedonian Rule
215-190 B.C. - Rule of the Selucides

190-159 B.C. - Artaxias or Asrtashes I 
159-149 B.C. - Artavazd I 
149-123 B.C. - Tigran I or Tiran 
94-54 B.C. - Tigran II, the Great 
55-34  B.C. - Artavazd II 
34-31 B.C. - Alexander 
30-20 B.C. - Artashes II 
20 B.C. - 8 A.D. - Tigran III 
8-5 B.C. - Tigran IV 
8-5 B.C. - Erato 
5-2 B.C. - Artavazd III 
2-1 B.C. - Tigran IV and Erato (Second time)

2-4 A.D. - Ariobarzan (Median) 
4-6 - Artavazd IV (Median) 
6-14 - Tigran V (Jewish) 
14-15 - Erato (again) 
16-17 - Vonon (Parthian) 
18-34 - Artashes III (or Zeno, Roman) 
34-35 - Arshak I (Parthian) 
35-37 - Mithridates (Georgian)
37-47 - (Transition Period)
47-51 - Mithridates (Georgian)(Again)
51-53 - Hradamizd (Georgian)

52-59 - Trdat I (Parthian) 
60-61 - Tigran VI 
66-75 - Trdat I (Parthian)(Again)
75-100 - Sanadroog 
100-113 - Asxadar (Exedares) 
113-114 - Parthamasiris 
116-117 - Parthamaspates 
117-140 - Vologases or Vagharsh I 
140-162 - Sohemus 
162-163 - Pacorus 
164-185 - Sohemus (again) 
185-190 - Vagharsh II 
190-216 - Khosrov I 
216-238 - Trdat II or Khosrov II, the Great 

226 A.D. - End of Parthian Kingdom, 
226 A.D. - Sassanian Dynasty founded in Persia

252-261 - Artavazd V 

261-272 - Palmyrian Rule

287-330 - Trdat III 
305 - Conversion of Armenia to Christianity

331-339 - Khosrov III (Kotak, "the short") 
340-350 - Tiran 
350-367 - Arshak II 
367-374 - Pap 
374-378 - Varazdat 
378-389 - Arshak III 
378-386 - Vagharshak (Valarsas) 

387 A.D. - Division of Armenia, Between the Romans and the Persians

385-387 - Khosrov IV 
387-414 - Vramshapuh 

406 A.D. - Invention of the Armenian alphabet & translation of the Bible

415 - Khosrov IV (restored) 
416-428 - Shahpur 

420-423 - Interregnum, Persian rule, 

423-428 - Artashes 
428 A.D. - End of Arsacid Dynasty in Armenia.

In all 35 Marzpans, of which 29 Persians and 6 Armenians. 

387-451 - Vartan Mamigonian
June 2, 451 A.D. - Battle of Avarair (Start of the Vardanank' War)

454 - Ghevontiank Martyrized 
464 - Return of Vahan, Vasak & Ardashes (sons of Vartan's brother Hemayak)
480-510 - Vahan Mamigonian 
484 - Agreement of Nvarsak 

510-564 - Vart Mamigonian 

564-642 - Armenia divided between Persia and Byzance 

604 - Kayl Vahan's heroic battles 

652 - Fall of the Persian Empire

12 Governors succeeded each other from 591-705

640 A.D. - The Arabs break into Armenia

Arab Domination - Ostikans or Governors-Generral

26 Ostikans are listed for this period running from 654-851

Bagratids Dynasty (Bagratuni)
Third period of independence

885-890 - Ashot I 
890-914 - Sembat I 
914-929 - Ashot II, "of Iron" 
921 - Ashot, the Usurper 
929-953 - Abas 
953-977 - Ashot III, "the Merciful" 
977-989 - Sembat II, the Conqueror 
989-1020 - Gagik I (Shahenshah) 
1020-1042 - Sembat III or Hovhannes Sembat 
1020-1042 - Ashot IV 
1042-1045 - Gagik II (died 1079 at Cyzistra) - Surrender and sale of the city of Ani.
1045-1064 - Byzantine domination 
1047 - Second invasion by Seljukides. City of Ani Captured 

Kingdom of Vaspurakan (Ardzruni) 

914-937 - Katchik-Gagik 
937-953 - Derenik-Ashot 
953-972 - Abousahl-Hamazasp 
972-983 - Ashot-Sahak 
983-1003 - Gourgen-Khatchik 
1003 - Seneqerim-Hovannes (died 1026) 
1027-1037 - David, at Sivas
1037-1080 - Atom, at Sivas 
1037-1080 - Abousahl, at Sivas 

Kingdom of Kars 

962-984 - Mushegh 
984-989 - Abas 
1029-1064 - Gagik (died in Greece 1080)

Kingdom of Armenian Albania 

David died 1046 
1046-1082 - Koriké 

The Principality and Kingdom of Cilicia (1080)
Fourth period of independence

Roupenian Dynasty

1. Barons

1080-1095 - Roupen I 
1095-1099 - Constantine I, The Crusaders in Armenia
1099-1129 - Theros I 
1129-1137 - Leon I, died 1141 in Constantinople 
1137-1145 - Rule of the Byzantines 
1145-1169 - Thoros II 
1170-1175 - Mleh - Prince of Cilicia
1175-1187 - Roupen II 
1187-1196 - Leon II (Levon), then as King Leon I 1196-1219 

2. Kings & Queen

1196-1219 - Leon I  (crowned 1199) 
1219-1252 - Queen Zabel 
1222-1225 - Philip 

Hetoumian Dynasty (Kings)

1226-1270 - Hetoum I 
1270-1289 - Leon II 
1289-1297 - Hetoum II 
1293-1295 - Thoros 
1296-1298 - Sembat 
1298-1299 - Constantin I 
1301-1307 - Leon III 
1308-1320 - Oshin 
1320-1342 - Leon V 

Lusignan Dynasty (Kings)

1342-1344 - Guy de Lusignan or Constantin II 
1344-1363 - Constantin III 
1363-1365 - Leon IV 
1365-1373 - Constantin IV 
1374-1375 - Leon VI, Died in Paris, 1393
End of the Cilician Kingdom

End of 14th c. to 17th c. - A period of impoverishment & decadence in Armenian Culture.

End of 14th c. - Tamburlaine invades Armenia

1512 - First Armenian book printed, in Venice.

Mid 15th c.-1585 - Ottomans & Iranian Safarids Dynasty fought for dominion over Anatolia & the Caucasian region

1585 -Ottomans succeeded in annexing the eastern part of Armenia as far as the Caucasus.

1602-1620 - Armenians deported from Julfa (Djugh) to Isfahan (New Julfa) by king Shah Abbas I of Persia, (100,000 people). 

Liberation Movements - The start of the "Armenian question"

1677-1711 - Israel Ori: independence struggle

1715 - The Mekhitarist Fathers in Venice

1722-1730 - Davit' Bek fights the Ottomans

1762-1796 - Attempts by General Hovsep' (Joseph) Emin & Archbishop Hovsep' Arghut'ian to form an anti-Islamic coalition between Gorgia, Russia & the Armenians failed.

1828 - The treaty of Turkmencay - Eastern Armenia annexed by Russia under the rule of Czar Paul I.

1839 - Tanzimat movement, promoted by Sultan Mahmud II as a stimulus and program for an approach by the Ottoman Empire to the Western culture.

1840-1880 - The Reawakening (Zart'onk) - Expansion of schools and attempts to set up the periodical press. Abolition of clerical monopoly over culture. Changes in the day to day lifestyle. New merchant classes emerged along with professional people, artisans and above all a new class of intellectuals.

1885-1890 - The founding of the three main Armenian political parties: Armenakan (1885, Armenian); Hntchakian (1887, socialist); and Dashnaktsakan (1890).

1893-1894 - Arrests and most atrocious treatments were being carried out by the Ottoman Turks against the Christians (Armenians). Heavy taxes were imposed, hundreds of Armenian civilians were cast into Turkish prisons, stripped of their clothes and tortured in the most diabolical manner. A new low by the Turkish gov. saw the word "Armenia" stricken out of every book. Rights to worship the Christian religion was suppressed. Many more restrictions and laws were put forth to further suppress the Christian communities in the Turkish empire.

1908 - The Ramkavar political party was founded and few years later the Armenian Communist Party.

1894 onward - Massacres of Armenians at Sassun, Trebizond, Erzrum, Harput, Antab, Marash, Urfa, Bitlis and many other Armenian towns and surrounding villages.

1908-1909 - The "Young Turk" Regime came to power in Turkey - Sultan Abdul-Hamid was deposed and exiled to Salonika

1915-1918 - World War I - Over 1.5 million Armenians were massacred and deported out of their homeland by the Turkish Government.

May 28, 1918 - Sardarabat battle (Independence Day) and the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia (1918-1920)

1920 - Treaty of Sèvres

1920-1991 - Soviet Armenian Republic

The New Independent Republic of Armenia

September 21, 1991 - Independence day - The establishment of the second Republic of Armenia

October 16, 1991 - Levon Ter-Petrosian elected first President of the Republic of Armenia

April 1998 - Robert Kocharyan was elected the second President of the Republic of Armenia

The first Armenian dynasty was that of the Ervanduni, from the name Er-Vand (Eruand), known in Greek historiography in the form Orontes or Aroandes. But it was a short-lived sovereignty, for the Ervanduni were soon subjugated to the rule of Darius I, who shared out their territory between the two satrapies, the XIII and the XVII, of his administrative system. Thus, among the twenty-three populations dominated by Darius were the Armenians, alongside the Medes and the Susians, in Adapadana of Persepolis.

Then began a long period of Achaemenian supremacy for Armenia, which still took place within the framework of a certain internal administrative automomy. It was led by its own dynasty, the Orontids who, being related to the Persian court, acted as satraps, or provincial governors. The political supremacy of the Achaemenians was accompanied by a strong influence, particularly in the use of the Persian language, which is revealed by the large number of words, often fairly common ones, borrowed from Persian.

Only Macedonian expansion put an end to the Achaemenian domination, after the victory of Arbela in 331. A general tendency towards autonomy ensued, above all in the central-eastern regions, which were to be called Greater Armenia (Armenia Major).

Xenophon had already spoken of "Western Armenia" as a distinct administrative entity, but subordinated to "Armenia" (Anabasis III, 5, 17), which was led not by a satrap, but by a hyparchos, that is, a lieutenant. Further developments, the consequences of various political and cultural factors, were to result in the formation of two distinct territorial entities known respectively, around the middle of the fourth century, as Greater Armenia and Armenia Minor. The former was to include the eastem regions of the Euphrates, while the latter extended roughly over the territory delineated by the present-day cities of Sivas, Erzincan and Malatya, west and north of the upper elbow of the Euphrates.

Although it often possessed its own rulers, this area was to be deeply affected by the political and cultural influence of the Hellenistic world, finding itself in direct contact with the heavily Hellenized regions of the Pontus and Cappadocia. Greater Armenia, on the other hand, which was more protected from this point of view, was to have a more harmonious development, with greater emphasis on Armenian identity.

The first two decades of the second century b.c. were a particularly important turning point for ancient Armenia. During this period, its political and cultural unification and consolidation took place. Also during this time, Armenia started to advance toward a political power never again to be equalled in that country, not even during the more fortunate economic and cultural periods that followed.

At the roots of this evolution was the foundation, around 190 b.c., of the Artaxiad dynasty by Artaxias (Artashes) I (c. 190-159) with the proclamation of independence from the Seleucids, who had constituted the ascendent power in Armenia immediately after the collapse of Alexander's empire. Artashes had the approval and acknowledgement of the Romans for, having defeated Antiochus at Magnesia in 190, they were interested in having the Armenian sovereign as an ally.

According to Strabo (XI, XIV, 15), it was during the reign of Artashes that Armenian became the common language throughout the country. This must be taken as the expression of a widespread ethnic harmony that had already existed in those regions for a long time.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to conceive how the Armenian language could have become so important in only a few decades; an achievement that had not been accomplished over far longer periods of domination by the Persians and Greeks.

One of Artashes' most important accomplishments was the construction of the new capital, Artashat (Artaxata), not very far from the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan, which is to the south, at the entrance to the plainlands of the River Araxes, at a point where the watercourse forms a near peninsula. Hannibal, who had taken refuge in Armenia after escaping from the Romans, had pointed out to Artashes the strategic and military importance of the place.

The most outstanding representative of the Artaxiad dynasty was Tigran (Tigranes) II, called the Great. During the forty years of his reign (95-55 b.c.), he extended the boundaries of Armenia to their fullest, making an ally of rival Rome. In addition to Sophene, he annexed Armenia Minor, sharing the territorywith his father-in-law, Mithridates Eupator, the famous king of Pontus. He later incorporated Atropatene Media (the western regions of Persia) into his kingdom, and then all of Mesopotamia, as far as Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and the western coasts of Syria as far as Phoenicia, part of Cappadocia and Cilicia. Tigran was now at the height of his power, the "king of kings," as was stated on the coins he had minted. The position of Artaxata now seemed somewhat marginal in the rest of the vast territory, so Tigran set about constructing a new capital in a more central position further south, near present-day Diyarbekir in Turkey. He called it Tigranakert (Tigran's construction).

It was inevitable that this imperial expansion should culminate in a head-on collision with Rome. Mithradates, already in open conflict with the Romans, provided the stimulus. He had taken refuge with his son-in-law, who had skillfully remained on the sidelines of the dangerous game his father-in-law was playing with Rome. Now, against his will, Tigran suddenly found himself personally involved. Tigran's first rival was Lucullus. Having won an initial battle in 69, Lucullus came off badly in the second campaign, being drawn into a trap Tigran had set for him inside the Armenian plateau. So in spring of 67, the Armenian counter-offensive managed to regain the positions they had lost, and Lucullus was called back to Rome (taking the cherry and the apricot - prunus armeniaca - with him). His place was taken by Pompeo, who inflicted a harsh if partial defeat upon Tigran. Tigran had somewhat haughtily underestimated the military power of the Romans; his exclamation when he saw the Roman legions has gone down in history: "If they have come as ambassadors, they are too many; if they have come to fight, they are too few."

Pompeo nevertheless turned out to be chivalrous towards the bitter old sovereign. He spared him the humiliation of having to lay down his crown at the victor's feet and made a stout ally of him.

The long affair ended with the peace treaty of Artaxata in 66 b.c

For a period of only two years, Armenia became an effective Roman province, after Trajan annexed it in 114. But his death and the revolt of the Jews in 117 rendered the plan to dominate the Parthian kingdom ineffective, and Trajan's successor, Hadrian, preferred to observe the treaty of Rhandeia.

In 224, the international political scene changed sharply, with the advent of the Sassanids in Persia. Although the Armenian Arsacids had been able to escape the extermination inflicted on their Parthian relatives, they nevertheless found an inflexible adversary in the new ascendant power. The Sassanids' plans for Armenia - political dominion and cultural-religious assimilation - were only partly fulfilled, on the political side, with the extinction of the Arsacid dynasty in 428. Tension ran particularly high on account of Armenia's having been converted to Christianity during the reign of Trdat III (287-330) by St. Grigor Lusavoritch (the Illuminator). Military vicissitudes between the Roman Empire of the East and the Sassanids made it inevitable that Armenia should be divided into two, and this took place in 387, with a north-to-south demarcation line that passed through the city of Karin or Theodosiopolis, present-day Erzerum. Unfortunately, the part that remained to the west of the line, under Byzantine hegemony, was subjected to cultural-religious pressure no less forceful than that exerted by the Sassanids.

Indeed, given the religious community, a not insignificant part of the Armenian population in those regions was practically Hellenized. The eastern regions, on the other hand, having remained under Persian control, were able to keep their etlinic-cultural identity. Apart from the influence of religious and sociopolitical factors in making this possible, another crucial factor was the invention of the Armenian alphabet in 406 by vardapet Mesrop Mashtots, who was venerated like a saint by the Armenian church. The western, regions, under the Byzantine administration, were also partly affected by this.

Once the Mamikonians had disappeared from the scene, the Bagratids began their ascendancy. They had a more flexible approach to the Arabs. One of the oldest and most influential dynasties of Armenia, never yet exposed to the hazards of struggles for power, the Bagratids had, since the times of Artashes I, by tradition and by acquired right, held the title of t'agatir, that is, crowners (of the king) while the Mamikonians had held the title of sparapet, commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Unlike the feudal possessions of the Mamikonians, which occupied a practically continuous strip starting from the regions of T'aron, west of the lake of Van, and ending in the area around Mount Ararat and Mount Aragatz to the north east, the fiefs of the Bagratids were spread a little everywhere throughout Armenia and were later to extend even further into the Iberian kingdom (present-day Georgia).

Another family of nakharar, one of the few that survived the repression, were the Artzruni, whose dominions lay to the east of the lake of Van. On account of their less drastic attitude towards the Arabs, both the Bagratids and the Artzuni were able to profit from the confiscation and dismemberment of the property of the Mamikonians and other dynasties allied to them and enlarge their own possessions. The Bagratids assumed the role of representatives and promotors of this new conscience.

At practically the same time, in 888, a Bagratid branch of the Tayk' (Tao) lineage, near the borders between Armenia and Georgia along the river Djorokh (Coruh), created the Iberian kingdom of the Bagratids. This was to haae an extremely long life, lasting more than 1,000 years, thanks to the geopolitical situation in Georgia, which was more favourable than Armenia's. The new kingdom unfortunately collapsed in 1045.

The foundation of the Bagratid kingdom in Armenia emerged from the revolt of Prince Smbat Bagratuni about halfway through the eighth century. Despite the partial failure of the insurrection, at the end of which Smbat was captured and sent off to Baghdad, the growth of Byzantine power under the young dynasty of the Macedonians ( of Armenian origin) forced the Arabs to adopt a more moderate policy, ensuring a certain equilibrium in Armenia and, thus, greater guarantees of safety for Arab interests.

In 861, Ashot, son of Smbat, was recognized by the court at Baghdad as prince of princes, a measure that did not fail to provoke a violent reaction on the part of the semiautonomous Arab emirates that had been established in the very heart of Armenia. They attacked Ashot with an army of 80,000 men. Ashot's forces were only half those of the Arabs, but nevertheless defeated them soundly. Ashot's prestige was now at its peak. In 855, the caliph sent him the crown and recognized him as shahnshah, king of kings of the Armenians. Basil I, emperor of Byzantians, made haste to do the same. This was perhaps one of the happiest periods in the tormented history of Armenia: two empires were vying with each other not to dominate Armenia with arms but to gain its sympathy and consolidate its independence.

This was a difficult objective, to say the least. Indeed, the kingdom of Ashot's son, Smbat I (892-914), was one continuous round of harsh struggles against the Arab emirates that surrounded the young kingdom. Only by paying this high price was the Armenia of the Bagratids able to reach the peaks of economic, social and cultural prosperity which, according to Muyldermans, constituted a period of incomparable splendour in Armenian history, from about 920 to 1020. The best evidence of this was the fabulous city of Ani, built by Ashot III (952-977), with its "thousand and one churches." Jacques de Morgan has this to say: "In Europe, we still haae a large number of cities surrounded by their medieval fortified walls: Avignon, Aigues-Mortes, Carcassone, in the south of France alone. But none of these can be compared with Ani because of the deep impression that dead city still arouses in us today: lost in the middle of an immense solitude, still bearing the deep wounds it receivetl during its agony. Ani under the Bagratids was a great, beautiful city, embellished with numerous churches, palaces, beautiful walls in many-colored stone." (In Histoire du peuple armenien, p. 121).

When Ani fell into Byzantine hands in 1045, that was the end of the kingdom. Unfortunately, Byzantium's expansionist policy with regard to Armenia, developed above all under Basil II, was ultimately to the detriment of the empire itself, for it had done away with that buffer state that had for centuries served as a bulwark against forces from the East. In Grousset's view, 1045 marks the beginning of the collapse of Byzantium, in spite of its apparent prosperity. This was illusory, as soon became apparent with the terrible defeat of Romano Diogenes at Manzikert in 1071 by the Seljuks of Alp Arslan, which opened the gates of Anatolia fully and for good.

The arts and culture in general flourished greatly in the reign of the Artzruni too (908-1021). The now well-known church of Aght'amar, the marvellous architecture of the school of Ani, and the mystical poetry of St. Grigor of Narek, with its passionate accents and flowing lyrics, embody the highest values of this artistic peak.

With the fall of the Bagratids and the occupation of historical Armenia, everything now seemed lost. But it was precisely at this moment of maximum dispersion that we see the re-emergence of a strength that led to the formation of a newArmenian state, through some miracle of the tenacious will to survive. The little kingdom took shape on a territory not far from historical Armenia, to the south west, in Cilicia, which had housed Armenian colonies since the very early days. There were many of these colonies and they were consistent, a consequence of the mass migrations that took place after the kingdoms of the motherland had collapsed.

The founder of the new dynasty in Cilicia was a prince named Ruben, probably a relative of the last king of Ani, Gagik II. After a series of long, harsh battles, Ruben succeeded in establishing his authority in the mountainous regions of Cilicia, founding a principality that bore his name: Rubinian. This is generally held to have occurred in 1080.

One most important point is exactly how this state was formed. Strictly speaking, it had nothing to do with the principle of free conquest that governed invasions. The Armenian princes and feudal families that had emigrated to Cilicia and the neighbourring regions had been driven there by the Byzantine government itself, which gave them land in exchange for the territories the empire had confiscated. The formation of an autonomous Armenian state in Cilicia was the outcome of the revolt against this vassalage, in an attempt to recover lost dignity.

The most critical period for the principality was from 1137 to 1145, when John II Comnenus invaded Cilicia and captured Prince Levon (Leo) I, taking him off to Constantinople in chains. It was then up to T'oros n, son of Levon, to escape from prison and reorganize the Armenian state of Cilicia, at the harsh cost of terrible battles waged against far superior forces led by Emperor Manuel I Comnenus himself (1143-1180).

Now sure of its existence, the principality soared dizzily higher and at the close of the century officially declared itself a kingdom. In 1199, Prince Levon II, who came to the throne in 1187, managed to have himself recognized as king by the three great powers of the times, the Germanic empire, Byzantium and Saladin.

With Levon, dubbed the Magnificent and known as Levon I in the royal succession, Armenian Cilicia lived through its period of greatest splendour. Levon died in 1219, leaving his daughter Zabel, only nine years old, as his only successor. In 1226, Zabel married Prince Het'um, from the powerful Het'umian family of Lambron (Nemrun). These bitter rivals of the Rubinian dynasty now pacifically took over the throne. One of the most significant accomplishments of Het'um I in his very long reign ( 1226-1270) was his journey to distant Karakorum in Mongolia (from 1253 to 1256) in order to form an alliance with the Mongol sovereign Mangu Khan, grandson of Genghis. The main object of the alliance - which was drawn up before the conversion of the Mongols to Islam ( 1295) and is a mark of Hat'um's great political perspicacity and wisdom - was the defeat of Sultans of Aleppo and Egypt. The Mongolian khan promised Het'um he would restore Jerusalem to the Christians once he had occupied Syria and Palestine. The allied Armeno-Mongolian forces defeated the Sultan of Aleppo, advancing as far as Damascus and Jerusalem.

But the untimely death of Mangu ( 1259) obliged his brother Hulaghu, commander of the allied forces, to withdraw to the north to ensure his succession to the throne. The Armenians were now alone with their closest rivals. Another noteworthy event in Het'um's reign, important from a humanitarian-ethical viewpoint, was his refusal to deliver Gait-ed-Din, the Seljuk Sultan of Iconia (Konya), an old adversarywho had taken refuge with him, to the Mongol invaders, even though the latter were his allies. Instead, he sent his own son Het'sun as hostage.

The last stage of the kingdom of Cilicia began in 1342 with the advent of a new dynasty, that of the Lusignan Princes of Cyprus, who were of French origin and came to the Armenian throne through matrimonial ties when the last of the Het'umians, Levon IV, died heirless. This was the most turbulent period for the kingdom. Internal discord among the princes, aggravated by religious dissent and the Latinizing attitudes of Western missionaries, of certain Armenian milieux, and of the Lusignans themselves, did no more than aggravate an already precarious situation, which ended sadly in 1375 with the surrender of the capital city, Sis, to the Mamelukes of Egypt.

With the end of the kingdom of Cilicia, the national political unity of the Armenian people began to break up, and foreign domination ensued. Only in 1918, more than 500 years later, was it possible once more to set up a new, independent Armenian state, in a tiny portion of historical Armenia.

The kingdom of Cilicia distinguished itself for the many new developments it brought in. They were mostly the outcome of the new geographical position and immediate contact with other ethnic groups, with the Western world above all. The consequences of this economic, social, cultural, religious and political - were many and far-reaching. Of special importance was the reorganization of the Armenian feudal system along Western lines. While the old feudalism of Armenia had always been based on a subdivision of land, the system in Cilicia, especially with the reign of Levon I, was linked with the conception of donations made by princes, a far clearer afFrmation of monarchical power than in the past.

The Cilician epoch was a period of great achievements in art, especially with the splendid miniature work of T'oros Roslin and many other masters. Particularly worthy of mention are the many fortresses that were built, rebuilt or reshaped by the Armenians. In literature, we note a greater variety of themes and a broader awareness of the ordinary people, their language and their problems. Profane poetry, little of which had endured from earlier periods, became the interpreter of all these ferments, revealing a new spirit, a new vision of society and of the world. In classical literature, two giants dominate the scene: St. Nerses (Narsete, 1102-1173), called Shnorhali, a term that denotes mildness along with a wealth of natural and supernatural gifts; and St. Nerses Lambronatsi (1152-1199) (a relative of the latter). Their religious stature is so great that they emerge from the whole context of medieval Christianity as the ante litteram precursors of ecumenical spirit and principles.

The joint action of religious and cultural factors in the preservation of the Armenian ethnos was to be confirmed, about half way through the fifth century, by an event that was so important that it was to remain a turning point in the political and religious history of Armenia. It was the so-called war of the Vardanank', in which one sees crystallized in its heroes and renegades, both the epic virtues and the defects that in manyways characterized the national life of the Armenians. The war lasted for the whole latter half of the century. Indeed, although the main battle of Avarair (under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief Vartan Mamikonian) lasted no more than a day, the second of June, 451, it was followed by year after year of tenacious passive resistance and bitter guerrilla warfare, wisely championed, moreover, by the wives of the princes that had died on the battle field or had been exiled. Then at last, in 485, the King of Persia, Valash, reluctantly had to grant the Armenians freedom of worship, conscience, and culture.

The peace conditions proposed by the Armenians at the end of this victorious guerrilla warfare constitute a lesson in civilization that goes well beyond the concept and practices prevailing in those times as regards human rights. This had very much to do with the condition of a people that simply could not aim at the domination of others but merely desired to live undisturbed with due respect granted to their faith and identity. Peace was therefore concluded on the basis of three principles that the Armenians proclaimed they would not renounce, even at the risk of annihilation: 

• No one was to be forced to change religion
• People were not to be judged on the basis of their social condition, but rather according to their actions
• No action based merely on hearsay was to be taken by the authorities against anyone; rather, they could act only with full knowledge of the case in point. 

It would by no means be superfluous to draw special attention to one point, obvious though it may be: the war of the Vardanank' was not a religious war in the generally accepted sense of the term. On the part of the Armenians, it was fought with no intention whatever of imposing a belief, nor was it motivated by any desire to implement religious discrimination or intolerance: it was no more than a revolt against arrogance in defence of the religious freedom and identity of a people.

After the peace treaty drawn up at Nvarsak, Valash bestowed upon the commander-in-chief of the Armenian forces, Vahan Mamikonian, the title of marzpan, that is, plenipotentiary governor, and he effectively governed Armenia with full powers. This situation of relative tranquillity and prosperity lasted for forty years or so, after which Armenia became yet again the theatre of encounter between Byzantium and Persia and was to remain thus for nearly all the sixth century.

Halfway through the century, under the rule of Justinian, the Byzantine drive to Hellenize Armenia reached its peak. Justinian initiated a type of administration that was quite new for the territories under Byzantium, dividing them into four regions and entrusting their government to an imperial official, thus eliminating once and for all the power of the nakharar, who had until that time been the mainstay of the Armenian political system. The final anti-Chalcedon trends of the Church in Armenia ran parallel to these developments and certainly helped to trigger and organize ethnic defense mechanisms against the policy of assimilation the Empire surreptitiously pursued by religious means, among others.

The effects of the victory of Heraclius over the Persians in 629 were rather deceptive (the event led to a momentary reconciliation with the Greek Church, incidentally) in that the first Arab invasion occurred in 642. From that moment on, for almost 200 years, there reigned on Armenian soil a continuous stream of wars and bloody rebellions in which the Byzantine armies too were often involved. One of the most outstanding political figures of the time was T'eodoros Rshtuni, who managed to initiate a policy of compromise between the Arabs and the Byzantines.

The eighth century and the first half of the ninth marked a period of crisis and stasis for Armenian culture, since the Arab invasion and the subsequent events had cut short the marvellous artistic boom that had begun in an earlier period and had produced such masterpieces as the famous cathedral of Zvart'nots and the church of the Hripsimiank', (for Hripsime and her companions, martyrs in the early sixth century).