Tiran (died ) was an Arsacid king of Armenia in the second quarter of the fourth century. The chronology of his reign is problematic, and scholars have proposed different dates for its beginning and end. According to one version, he succeeded his father Khosrov III in 338, placed on the throne by the Roman emperor Constantius II after a Persian invasion of Armenia. His reign appears to have marked the beginning of the antagonism between the Arsacid kings and the Armenian Church, possibly because of the Arsacid kings' promotion of Arianism, in following with contemporary Roman policy. Tiran ordered the assassination of the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Husik. He also came into conflict with the nobility because of his attempts to centralize power. During the course of the Sasanian king Shapur II's campaigns against the Roman Empire in the 340s, Tiran was reportedly betrayed by one of his vassals, captured by the Persians, and blinded. He was later allowed to return to Armenia and abdicated in favor of his son Arshak II. According to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, Tiran was later strangled on Arshak's orders.
The name Tiran () is of Iranian origin and derives from the name of the Zoroastrian deity Tir, who shares a name with the Armenian god of scribal arts Tir. Robert H. Hewsen argues that there was no Armenian king named Tiran in the fourth century, and that tiran was actually a title of the earlier king Tiridates III. Nina Garsoïan considers this version unlikely. Tiran has incorrectly been referred to as Tigranes VII in some sources.
Tiran was a child of King Khosrov III Kotak. According to the fifth-century Armenian history Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû (traditionally attributed to Faustus of Byzantium), Tiran had a sister named Bambishn, who married Atanagines, son of Catholicos Husik, and bore Nerses I, who later became catholicos himself. However, this poses certain chronological and genealogical difficulties, as Atanagines's father Husik is said to have married a daughter of Tiran, which would mean that Atanagines married his own great-aunt. Additionally, Bambishn was a title borne by royal ladies in the Sasanian period, so this is probably a title rather than her actual name.
Tiran succeeded his father, King Khosrov III. The chronology of Tiran's reign is problematic. According to Nina Garsoïan, he was likely the kingâÂÂnot mentioned by nameâÂÂreturned to the Armenian throne by the Roman emperor Constantius II in 338 after a Persian invasion, as recorded in the emperor Julian's panegyric to Constantius. Robert H. Hewsen argues that the beginning of the reign of Arshak II should be dated to 338 and that Tiran's reign should be eliminated altogether. M. L. Chaumont accepts the 338 dating of Arshak's accession but places Tiran's reign before that, ending in or not long after that.
The antagonism between the Arsacid kings and the Armenian Church seems to have started during Tiran's reign. The Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû attributes this antagonism to Tiran's sinful behavior. According to Nina Garsoïan, it was more probably the result of the Arsacid kings' support of Arianism, in following with the policy of the Byzantine court at the time. Suren Yeremian suggests that Tiran sought to free himself from the tutelage of the clergy and adopt a more lenient attitude towards his non-Christian subjects, thus winning over the anti-Roman and anti-Church section of the nobility. According to the Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû, Tiran ordered the murder of Catholicos Husik, the head of the Armenian Church, after the catholicos denied him entry to a church in Sophene on a feast day. After this, the prominent chorbishop Daniel was also murdered on Tiran's orders, and the leadership of the Armenian church passed, for a time, from the Gregorids to the patriarchs of the line of Albianos, who were obedient to the king. The Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû also records Tiran's conflict with the Armenian nobility, incited by the eunuch official Hayr Mardpet. In particular, Tiran is said to have ordered the massacre of the Rshtuni and Artsruni houses, provoking the outrage of the Mamikonians. In Yeremian's view, Tiran, with the help of Hayr Mardpet, centralized royal authority, punished the Armenian magnates with "separatist aspirations" and seized their holdings; this turned the nobility, especially its pro-Roman wing, against him.
During Tiran's reign, the Sasanian king Shapur II launched against Rome, during which Armenia was devastated by the Persians. Both Khorenatsi and the older Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû report that Tiran was captured and blinded by the Persians, after which he was succeeded by his son Arshak II. However, the two accounts differ on some details and are mixed with epic elements. Per the Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû, Tiran was betrayed to the Persians by his chamberlain () Pisak Siuni. According to Yeremian, at one point Tiran attempted to appease Shapur, which angered the Romans and the pro-Roman party in Armenia; after this, the Romans executed Tiran's son Trdat, who was being held as a hostage in Constantinople (as reported by Khorenatsi). Tiran's grandsons Gnel and Tirit were also hostages in Constantinople and were under threat. At this point, writes Yeremian, Tiran changed his policy and reconciled with the pro-Roman party, provoking Shapur's wrath. During the Roman-Sasanian fighting in 344, Tiran was captured and blinded by the Persians. However, after the Battle of Singara and the death of the Persian prince Narseh, he was allowed to return to Armenia in 345 to be succeeded by his son Arshak II. Garsoïan estimates the date of Tiran's capture and deposition as 350. Hakob Manandian considers the story of Tiran's capture and blinding to be an invention of the Armenian epic tradition. According to the fourth-century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Tiran's successor Arshak II was blinded by the Persians. It is possible that Tiran and Arshak were confused in the Armenian epic tradition, from which the Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû drew heavily. Khorenatsi writes that Tiran spent the rest of his years in the village of Kuash on the slopes of Mount Aragats, until he was strangled on Arshak II's orders after he admonished his son for his treatment of Gnel, Arshak's nephew; the Buzandaran Patmutûiwnkû gives no information about Tiran's death.
In 350 AD, the Persian Varazshapuh, marzban of Atropatene, began negotiations with Tiran II on behalf of the Persian royal court. During these negotiations, TiranâÂÂs chamberlain, Pisak, who served as Tiran's delegate, played a disruptive role. Betraying Tiran, Pisak advised Varazshapuh to demand TiranâÂÂs best stallion as a gift. Varazshapuh sent a messenger to Tiran to demand it. Unwilling to part with his own horse, yet not wanting to ruin relations over a single animal, Tiran sent a different horse that resembled his own to the marzban. Pisak revealed TiranâÂÂs deception to Varazshapuh. Infuriated, Varazshapuh came to Kingdom of Armenia with 3,000 men. Under the pretext of negotiations, he deceitfully captured Tiran, blinded him, and took him prisoner to Sasanian Empireâ¤
To form an understanding of the foreign policy pursued by Tiran, the following words of Movses Khorenatsi are of great importance:
Judging by the information provided by the historian, Tiran succeeded in maintaining peace in the country; he paid certain taxes to the Romans and the Persians, and pursued an independent foreign policy, remaining faithful to the Armenian-Roman alliance concluded during the reign of Trdat the Great, while simultaneously normalizing relations with Persia. Movses Khorenatsi's reports that Shapur II established friendly relations with King Tiran, even acting as a protector and ally by saving the Armenian king from the attacks of northern tribes, prove that at a certain point, a rapprochement took place in Armenian-Persian relations. Tiran reaffirmed his loyalty to Rome⤠Initially, Armenian troops, along with the Romans, participated in the Battle of Singara, where Emperor Constantius II was defeated. The information from Movses Khorenatsi, stating that the Armenian king went to meet Constantius, provided auxiliary troops, and gave hostages as a sign of loyalty, likely refers to the EmperorâÂÂs time in the East in 345 AD:
Zora, the nahapet of the Rshtunik and commander of the southern division of Kingdom of Armenia, was supposed to participate in the Persian campaign with the Romans. However, hearing the news of the murder of Husik, he said:
Having persuaded his troops to join him, he returned and fortified himself in Tmorik. Upon learning this, Emperor Constantius sent a letter to Tiran through couriers with the following content:
Seeing this, Tiran became angry and sent the Hay Mardpet to Zora. Finding himself alone, Zora was forced to come to the king. Upon capturing him, the king seized Aghtamar, his strong fortress, and slaughtered everyone. Only a small child, the son of his brother Mehendak, survived, having been spirited away by his nurses, and the Armenian King Tiran appointed Saghamut, the lord of Anzit, in his place.
The reign of King Tiran II (30s-40s of the 4th century) is one of the periods in Armenian history when the Arsacid court undertook a decisive policy to strengthen the centralized state. Tiran's internal policy is characterized by the consolidation of royal power, which was accompanied by clashes with both the noble aristocracy (nakharars) and the clergyâ¤
The historian Pavstos Buzand closely links TiranâÂÂs internal policy and his attitude toward the noble houses with the activities of the chamberlain, Hay Mardpet. Buzand characterizes him as an "unlawful and meddlesome" man who, through his slander and intrigues, constantly incited the king against noble houses. According to the historian, many nobles fell victim to Hay Mardpet's schemes, but his most brutal blow was directed against two major houses: the Rshtunis and the Artsrunisâ¤
By Tiran's order, these two houses were exterminated; not only the men were killed, but also the women, so that the lineages would be forever "childless." According to Buzand's account, only two children miraculously survived: Tachat, the son of Mehendak Rshtuni, and Shavasp, the son of Vache Artsruni. They were saved by Artavazd and Vasak Mamikonyan, who were the tutors of the crown prince Arshak II. Risking their lives, the Mamikonyans smuggled the children to their domains in Tayk, nurtured them, and later married them to their own daughters, preventing these houses from disappearing.
The other key direction of King Tiran's internal policy was his relationship with the church. As long as St. Vrtanes I was alive, the king avoided open confrontation. However, in 341/342, when Vrtanes' son St. Husik I ascended to the catholicosal throne, the situation escalated. Despite his young age and the fact that he was married to Tiran's daughter, Husik adopted a policy of church independence and opposition to the courtâ¤
Tiran was concerned about the growing economic and political influence of the church. As a counterweight, he began to sponsor the return of certain pagan customs, which is characterized by Buzand as "conduct not according to the will of God." The conflict reached a tragic end when, on a festive day, Tiran tried to enter the church of Benaberd, but Husik forbade him, saying: "You are not worthy, why do you come?" By the order of the enraged king, Husik was beaten in the church, from which he soon died.
After the murder of Husik, the king tried to seat someone obedient to him on the catholicosal throne. First, Daniel I of Armenia was proposed, but as soon as he met the king, he began to accuse him of following paganism and murdering Husik. Tiran ordered Daniel to be strangledâ¤
Finally, the patriarchate was handed over to Pharen I of Armenia. Well aware of the cruel fate of his predecessors, he adopted a policy of complete obedience and never rebuked the king or the nobles. Thus, Tiran managed to temporarily subordinate the church to the royal will.
Tiran was succeeded by his son Arshak II. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Tiran's eldest son was named Artashes and predeceased him. Artashes was the father of Tirit, later killed by Arshak. Khorenatsi also names a third son of Tiran named Trdat, who was the father of Gnel (also later killed by Arshak) and was executed while a hostage in Byzantium.