Geography and power
At the beginning of the first century BCE, Tigranes the Great created a state whose political and economic territory was far larger than that of the earlier Armenian kingdoms. The new capital had to be closer to the central regions of the expanded realm and at the same time embody the imperial ambitions of the king. For this purpose, Tigranakert was founded in the 80s BCE.
The precise location of the city remains a subject of scholarly debate, but it is generally placed within the territory of the province of Aghdznik in Greater Armenia. The historical capital of Tigranakert should therefore not automatically be identified with later Diyarbakir or with other cities that bore the name Tigranakert.
Tigranakert was conceived as the center of a wealthy and multiethnic empire. Residents of conquered territories, artisans, merchants, and bearers of Greek culture were resettled there. Palaces, fortifications, a theater, and royal gardens were constructed. Hellenistic urban planning was combined with elements of Iranian court culture within the city. In this way, the capital not only served the administrative needs of the state but also represented the ideological image of Tigranes the Great’s authority.
However, the rapidly constructed city had not yet had time to form a natural and enduring urban community. Part of the population had been moved there by royal command and had not developed the stable attachment to the capital that emerged in cities with centuries of history. When Roman forces under Lucullus approached Tigranakert in 69 BCE, the city came under siege and was eventually captured. This defeat exposed the internal vulnerability of Tigranes the Great’s vast empire.
Historical evidence
Plutarch’s Life of Lucullus is a major written witness. It narrates the war through the career of a Roman commander. Modern researchers test its army figures against other evidence and the terrain. The siege account illuminates the city’s history without supplying an exact plan of its streets or walls.
Later history of the city
After the fall of Tigranakert, the functions of the capital returned to Artashat. This return was not accidental: the kingdom was losing its distant conquests and once again concentrating around the core Armenian territories. Artashat continued to exist, but in the following centuries it repeatedly became the object of conflict among Rome, Parthia, and Armenia. The destruction of the city and political instability gradually created the need for a safer royal residence.
Sources and further reading
Plutarch, Life of Lucullus, 25–29 · Appian, Mithridatic Wars, 84–86.