Geography and power
Artashat was founded around 176 BCE by King Artaxias I. The founder of the new dynasty sought to unite the Armenian lands and create a centralized kingdom, and therefore required a capital whose location and structure would correspond to that plan. Artashat was established in the area of the Khor Virap hills near the Arax, at a site protected by water on three sides and capable of being fortified by walls and a moat on the fourth.
Ancient authors preserved a tradition according to which the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal advised Artaxias on the selection of the site and the layout of the city. Not every detail of this account can be fully confirmed, but it reflects Artashat’s reputation among contemporaries as a well-planned city of international importance. Compared with earlier capitals, Artashat was easier to defend and stood closer to the major trade routes of the period.
The city’s economic rise was driven by its control over the routes passing through the Arax Valley. Merchants, artisans, and diplomatic delegations from different countries gathered there. Artashat became not only a royal residence but also a major marketplace, a center of monetary circulation, and an important environment for the spread of Hellenistic culture. The fortified hills, residential quarters, workshops, and public buildings of the city testify to an organized urban life.
Historical evidence
In 2019 the Armenian-German expedition examined foundations of an unfinished Roman aqueduct. Geophysical survey had revealed a regular pattern, whose structure was then tested by excavation. Its unfinished state matters: it documents an intended supply route but cannot establish that water ever flowed through it.
Later history of the city
However, as a result of the conquests of Tigranes the Great, Armenia’s borders expanded so greatly that Artashat found itself on the northeastern edge of the new empire. The city continued to remain the traditional center of the Armenian kingdom, but it was no longer suitable for governing a state extending from Syria to the Caucasus. This mismatch led to the creation of a new imperial capital, Tigranakert.
Sources and further reading
Plutarch, Life of Lucullus, 31 · Strabo, Geography, XI.14 · Armenian-German Artaxata Project.