Provincia Armenia in the Light of the Epigraphic Evidence

Abstract

One very prominent context of the Pre-Christian history of Armenia of course lies with its relations with the great neighbouring empires of Parthia and Rome. These relations were mainly the result of Armenia’s geopolitical location between the two empires, its natural resources and its control of strategic long-distance routes. From a Roman point of view, Armenia certainly was the most important geopolitical concern in the East. Roman-Armenian relations therefore are a vast and complex subject, and their history extends over many centuries. In the years between 114 and 117 AD these relations assumed an extraordinary albeit short-lived condition when the kingdom of Greater Armenia became a Roman province. The present contribution reviews the Roman inscriptions that can be dated to this period, as well as the historical evidence they provide for the history of Greater Armenia as a Roman province.