07 April 2003, 20:28
Artavazd the Second
The czar of Greater Armenia in 56-34 B.C., son of the czar Tigran the Second. Struggled for independence from Rome. Romans' defeat by the Parthians in the battle of Carrs in 53 B.C. and Parthian-Armenian union strengthened the independence of Greater Armenia; Artavazd the Second regained Sofena and Minor Armenia that had earlier been annexed by Rome. Later, with Parthia's decline, was forced to acknowledge dependency on Rome. In 37 B.C., Artavazd the Second refused to participated in a military campaign against Parthia. In 34 B.C., the Romans invaded Armenia, captured Artavazd the Second by fraud, conveyed him to Egypt, and executed him three years later, in 31 B.C. Artavazd the Second is known as a playwright and historian.
