View source for Orontid dynasty

{{Royal house|
| surname        = Orontid 
| estate         = 
| coat of arms   = 
| parent house   = 
| country        = [[Satrapy of Armenia|Armenia]]
| titles         = 
*[[List of Armenian kings|King of Greater Armenia]]
*[[Kingdom of Sophene|King of Sophene]]
*[[Kingdom of Commagene|King of Commagene]]
| founder        = [[Orontes I Sakavakyats|Orontes I]]
| final ruler    = [[Orontes IV]] (Armenia)<br />[[Mithrobazane II]] (Sophene)<br />[[Antiochus IV of Commagene|Antiochus IV]] (Commagene)
| current head   = Extinct
| founding year  = 6th century BC
| dissolution    = 200 BC
| cadet branches = possibly [[Artaxiad Dynasty]]
}}
{{History of Armenia|expanded=age2|BC=1}}
The '''Orontid dynasty''', also known by their native name '''Eruandid''' or '''Yervanduni''' ({{lang-hy|Երվանդունի}}), was a hereditary [[Armenian nobility|Armenian]]<ref name="lang510">{{cite book|author=David M. Lang |editor=Ehsan Yarshater |title=The Cambridge History of Iran Volume 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanid Periods, Part 1 |chapter=Iran, Armenia and Georgia |orig-year=1983 |year=2008 |page=510 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521200929.016 |isbn=9781139054942 }}</ref> dynasty and the rulers of the [[Satrapy of Armenia|successor state]] to the [[Iron Age]] kingdom of [[Urartu]] (Ararat).<ref name="Toumanoff1963">{{cite book|last=Toumanoff|first=Cyril|authorlink=Cyril Toumanoff|title=Studies in Christian Caucasian history|url=http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Oront/oront278.htm|year=1963|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Georgetown University Press|pages=278ff}}</ref><ref>{{in lang|hy}} Tiratsyan, Gevorg. ''«Երվանդունիներ»'' (Yerevanduniner). [[Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia]]. vol. iii. Yerevan: [[Armenian Academy of Sciences]], 1977, p. 640.</ref> The Orontids established their supremacy over Armenia around the time of the [[Scythian]] and [[Medes|Median]] invasion in the 6th century BC.

Members of the Orontid dynasty ruled Armenia intermittently during the period spanning the 6th century BC to at least the 2nd century BC, first as client kings or [[satrap]]s of the [[Median Empire|Median]] and [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] empires who established an independent kingdom after the collapse of the Achaemenid empire, and later as kings of [[Kingdom of Sophene|Sophene]] and [[Commagene]] who eventually succumbed to the [[Roman Empire]]. The Orontids are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled the [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|ancient Kingdom of Armenia]] (321 BC–428 AD).

==Historical background==
[[File:Yervanduni Armenia, IV-II BC.gif|thumb|270px|left|The [[Satrapy of Armenia]] under the Orontid Dynasty.]]
Historians state that the dynasty was of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] origin,<ref>Garsoïan, Nina (1997). "The Emergence of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I, The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century''. [[Richard G. Hovannisian]] (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, pp. 46-47. {{ISBN|0-312-10169-4}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Babaie|first1=Sussan|last2=Grigor|first2=Talinn|title=Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis|date=2015|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1848857513|page=80|quote=Iranian culture deeply influenced Armenia, and Iranian dynasties ruled Armenia during several important periods, including the Orontids (c. sixth century - c. early second century BCE) and Arsacids (54-428 CE).}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | article = TIGRAN II | last = Garsoian | first = N. | authorlink = | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tigran-ii | editor-last = | editor-first =  | editor-link = | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | pages = | location = | publisher = | year = 2005 | quote = Tigran (Tigranes) II was the most distinguished member of the so-called Artašēsid/Artaxiad dynasty, which has now been identified as a branch of the earlier Eruandid [Orontid] dynasty of Iranian origin attested as ruling in Armenia from at least the 5th century B.C.E}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Allsen|first1=Thomas T.|title=The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History|date=2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0812201079|page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sartre|first1=Maurice|title=The Middle East Under Rome|date=2005|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674016835|page=23|quote=The Commagene kings claimed to be descended from the Orontids, a powerful Iranian family that had ruled the area during the Achaemenid period. They were related to the Achaemenids who had built a kingdom (...)}}</ref> and suggest (albeit not clear) that it held dynastic familial linkages to the ruling [[Achaemenid dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allsen|first1=Thomas T.|title=The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History|date=2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0812201079|page=37|quote=The Orontid dynasty of Armenia (ca. 401-200), whose ruling house was of Achaemenid origin, originally administered the territory as satraps and later as independent kings.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Payaslian|first1=Simon|title=The history of Armenia : from the origins to the present|date=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=1403974675|page=8|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7J-g7Wld1vEC|quote=(...) albeit not clear, historians suggest dynastic familial linkages to the ruling Achaemenid dynasty in Persia.}}</ref> Throughout their existence, the Orontids stressed their lineage from the Achaemenids in order to strengthen their political legitimacy.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Payaslian|first1=Simon|title=The history of Armenia : from the origins to the present|date=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=1403974675|page=8|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7J-g7Wld1vEC|quote=The Ervandunis certainly stressed their Achaemenian lineage to strengthen their political legitimacy.}}</ref>

The name Orontes is the Hellenized form of a masculine name of [[Iranian language|Iranian]] origin; [[wikt:Երուանդ|Երուանդ]] ''Eruand'' in [[Armenian language|Old Armenian]].{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} The name is only attested in Greek (Gr.:[[wikt:Ὀρόντης|Ὀρόντης]]). Its Avestan connection is ''Auruuant'' (brave, hero) and Middle Persian ''Arwand'' (Modern Persian اروند Arvand).{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} Various Greek transcriptions of the name in Classical sources are spelled as Orontes, Aruandes or Ardoates. The presence of this dynasty is attested from at least 400 BC, and it can be shown to have ruled originally from [[Armavir, Armenia|Armavir]] and subsequently [[Yervandashat (ancient city)|Yervandashat]]. Armavir is called the "first capital of the Orontid dynasty". The Greek inscriptions at Armavir indicate that the upper classes used Greek as one of their languages.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Manandian|first=Hagop|title=The Trade and Cities of Armenia in Relation to Ancient World Trade|publisher=Armenian library of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation|year=1965|isbn=|location=|pages=37|language=English}}</ref>

Under [[Orontes IV|Ervand the Last]] (r. ca. 210–200 B.C.), the structure of governmenthad begun to resemble Greek institutions, and Greek was used as the language of the royal court. Ervand had surrounded himself by the Hellenized nobility and sponsored the establishment of a Greek school in Armavir, the capital of the Ervanduni kingdom.<ref>Tiratsyan, “Hayastane vagh hellenizmi zhamanakashrjanum,” pp. 514–15</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Payaslian|first=Simon|title=THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT|publisher=PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™|year=2007|isbn=978–0–230–60064–5|location=|pages=12}}</ref>

The precise date of the foundation of the Orontid Dynasty is debated by scholars to this day but there is a consensus that it occurred after the destruction of [[Urartu]] by the [[Scythians]] and the [[Medes]] around 612 BC.

==Orontid Kings and satraps of Armenia==
[[File:Orontid Armenia -250-en.svg|thumb|left|Orontid Armenia in 250 BC]]

[[Xenophon]] mentions an [[Armenians|Armenian]] king named [[Tigranes Orontid|Tigranes]] in his ''[[Cyropaedia (Xenophon)|Cyropaedia]]''. He was an ally of [[Cyrus the Great]] with whom he hunted. Tigranes paid tribute to [[Astyages]]. His elder son was also named Tigranes. Upon the outbreak of hostilities between the [[Medes]] and [[Babylonia]]ns, Tigranes had renounced his treaty obligations to the Medes. As a successor of Astyages, Cyrus demanded to be paid the same tribute. [[Strabo]] corroborates this in his ''[[Geographica (Strabo)|Geography]]'' (xi.13.5). In 521 BC, with the disturbances that occurred after the death of [[Cambyses II of Persia|Cambyses]] and the proclamation of [[Smerdis]] as King, the Armenians revolted. [[Darius I of Persia]] sent an Armenian named [[Dâdarši]] to suffocate the revolt, later substituting him for the [[Persian people|Persian]] Vaumisa who defeated the Armenians on May 20, 521 BC. Around the same time, another [[Armenians|Armenian]] by the name of [[Arakha]], son of Haldita, claimed to be the son of the last king of [[Babylon]], [[Nabonidus]], and renamed himself [[Nebuchadnezzar IV]]. His rebellion was short-lived and was suppressed by [[Intaphrenes]], Darius' bow carrier.

[[File:Hay pers.jpg|thumb|left|An Armenian tribute bearer carrying a metal vessel with griffin handles. 5th century BC.]]
[[File:Xerxes I tomb Armenian soldier circa 470 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Armenian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BC. [[Xerxes I]] tomb relief.]]
These events are described in detail within the [[Behistun inscription]]. After the administrative reorganization of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], Armenia was converted into several [[satrap]]ies. [[Armenians|Armenian]] satraps regularly intermarried with the [[Achaemenid dynasty|family of the King of Kings]]. These satraps provided contingents to [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]' invasion of [[Greece]] in 480 BC. Herodotus says that the Armenians in the army of Xerxes "were armed like the [[Phrygians]]."  In 401 BC Xenophon marched through Armenia with a large army of Greek mercenaries as part of the [[March of the Ten Thousand]]. Xenophon mentions two individuals by the name Orontes, apparently both Persian. One was a nobleman and military officer of high rank, belonging to the royal family; as the commander of the citadel of [[Sardis]], he waged war against [[Cyrus the Younger]] and he tried to betray him to [[Artaxerxes II Memnon]] shortly before the [[battle of Cunaxa]], but was taken prisoner and sentenced to death by a court martial. Xenophon's ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'' has a detailed description of the country, where it is also written that the region near the river Centrites was defended by the satrap of Armenia for [[Artaxerxes II]], named [[Orontes I|Orontes]], son of Artasyras, who had [[Armenians|Armenian]] contingents as well as [[Alarodian]]s. Tiribaz is mentioned as hipparchos (vice-governor) of Armenia under Orontes, who later became satrap of [[Lydia]].

[[File:Silver Rhyton.jpg|thumb|right|Silver Rhyton, Yerznka, Armenia, 5th century BC.]]
[[File:Orontes I.jpg|thumb|right| [[Orontes I]] Gold coin held at the National Library, Paris, dated to 362 BC.]]

In 401 BC Artaxerxes gave him his daughter Rhodogoune in marriage. In two inscriptions of king [[Antiochus I of Commagene]] on his monument at [[Nemrut (mountain)|Nemrut]], an [[Orontes I|Orontes]], called Aroandes (son of Artasouras and husband of Artaxerxes's daughter Rhodogoune), is reckoned, among others, as an ancestor of the Orontids ruling over [[Commagene]], who traced back their family to [[Darius I]]. [[Diodorus Siculus]] mentions another Orontes, possibly the same, that in 362 BC was satrap of [[Mysia]] and was the leader of the Satrap Revolt in [[Asia Minor]], for which position he was well-suited because of his noble birth and his hatred of the king. Misled by his love of power and fraud, he betrayed his fellow satraps to the king. But he revolted a second time, probably owing to his dissatisfaction with the king's rewards, and launched several attacks, which were continued in the reign of the new king [[Artaxerxes III Ochus]]. During that time he also conquered and occupied the town of [[Pergamum]], but finally he must have become reconciled with the king. In 349 he was honored by a decree of the [[Athens|Athenians]] with civic rights and a golden wreath. Many coins were struck by him during the Satraps' Revolt in [[Clazomenae]], [[Phocaea]], and [[Lampsacus]]. All subsequent Orontids are his descendants. [[Darius III]] was the satrap of Armenia following Orontes, from 344 to 336 BC. An Armenian contingent was present at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]] under the command of Orontes and a certain Mithraustes. Diodorus mentions that Orontes was a friend of the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] general [[Peucestas]]. Armenia formally passed to the Macedonian Empire, as its rulers submitted to [[Alexander the Great]]. Alexander appointed an Orontid named Mithranes to govern Armenia following the defeat of Orontes II. With the agreement at Babylon after Alexander's death (323 BC) Armenia was assigned to [[Neoptolemus (general)|Neoptolemus]]<!---{{r|phot_82}} undefined reference--->, and kept it till his death in battle in 321 BC. Around 302 BC the capital was transferred from Armavir to Yervandashat by Orontes.

Starting from 301 BC Armenia is included within the sphere of influence of the [[Seleucid Empire]], but it maintained a considerable degree of autonomy, retaining its native rulers. According to [[Polyaenus]], in 227 BC the Seleucid rebel king [[Antiochus Hierax]] took refuge in Armenian territory governed by King Arsames, founder of the city [[Arsamosata]]. Towards the end of 212 BC the country was divided into two kingdoms, both vassal states of the Seleucids: Greater Armenia and Armenia Sophene, including Commagene or Armenia Minor. [[Antiochus III the Great]] decided to suppress the local dynasties, and besieged Arsamosata. Xerxes, the satrap of Sophene and Commagene, surrendered and implored the clemency of the king, whom he accepted as his sovereign. Antiochus gave his sister Antiochis as a wife to Xerxes; she would later murder him. Greater Armenia was ruled by an Orontid descendant of Hydarnes, the last Orontid ruler of Greater Armenia (Strabo xi.14.15); he was apparently subdued by Antiochus III the Great, who then divided the land between his generals [[Artaxias I|Artaxias]] (Artashes) and [[Zariadres]] (Zareh), both of whom would claim descent from the Orontid family.

==Orontids of Commagene==
[[File:Turkey nemrut dagi 1.jpg|thumb|left|Nemrut Dağı, Statues at East Terrace]]

In Nemrut Dagi, opposite the statues of Gods there are a long row of pedestals, on which stood the steles of the Greek ancestors of Antiochos. At a right angle to this row stood another row of steles, depicting his Orontid and Achaemenid ancestors. From these steles the ones of Darius and Xerxes are well preserved. In front of each stele is a small altar. Inscriptions have been found on two of those altars. Antiochos expended great effort to ensure that everyone was aware that he was related to the dynasty of the King of Kings, Darius I, by the marriage of princess Rhodogune to his ancestor Orontes. The father of Rhodogune was the Persian king, Artaxerxes. In 401 BC Artaxerxes defeated his younger brother, who tried to depose him. Because of the help Artaxerxes received from Orontes—his military commander and satrap of Armenia—he gave his daughter in marriage to him. Their descendant, the Orontid [[Mithridates I Callinicus]] married Seleucid Princess [[Laodice VII Thea]].

==Orontid Kings in Armenian tradition==
*[[Orontes I Sakavakyats]] (570–560 BC)
*[[Tigranes Orontid]] (560–535 BC)
*Vahagn (530–515 BC)
*[[Hidarnes I]] (late 6th century BC)
*[[Hidarnes II]] (early 5th century BC)
*[[Hidarnes III]] (middle of 5th century BC)
*[[Artasyrus]] (2nd half of 5th century BC)

==Kings and Satraps==
*[[Orontes I|Orontes]] (401–344 BC)
*[[Darius III|Darius Codomannus]] (344–336 BC)
(Note: Some dates are approximate or doubtful).
* [[Orontes II]] (336–331 BC)
* [[Mithrenes|Mithranes]] (331–323 BC)
* [[Perdiccas]] (non-dynastic) (323 BC)
* [[Neoptolemus (general)|Neoptolemus]] (non-dynastic) (323–321 BC)
* [[Eumenes]] (non-dynastic) (321 BC)
* [[Mithrenes|Mihran]] (321–317 BC)
* [[Orontes III]] (317–260 BC)
* [[Sames of Sophene]] (Armenia and Sophene c. 260 BC, unknown previous tenure as Satrap of Sophene)
* [[Arsames I]] (260–228 BC) (Armenia, Sophene, and Commagene)
* [[Charaspes]] (doubtful)
* [[Arsames II]] (Sophene c. 230 BC, possibly same person as Arsames I)
* [[Xerxes of Armenia|Xerxes]] (228–212 BC) (Sophene and Commagene)
* [[Abdissares]] (212–200 BC) (Sophene and Commagene)
* [[Orontes IV]] (228–200 BC) (Armenia)
* [[Ptolemaeus of Commagene|Ptolemaeus]] (201 BC–163 BC) (Commagene)
* [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] rule (200–189 BC)
* [[Artaxiad Dynasty|Artaxiad]] rule (189–163 BC)

==Orontid Kings of Commagene==
*[[Ptolemaeus of Commagene|Ptolemaeus]] 163–130 BC
*[[Sames II Theosebes Dikaios]] 130–109 BC
*[[Mithridates I Callinicus]] 109–70 BC
*[[Antiochus I Theos of Commagene|Antiochus I Theos]] 70–38 BC
*[[Mithridates II of Commagene|Mithridates II]] 38–20 BC
*[[Mithridates III of Commagene|Mithridates III]] 20–12 BC
*[[Antiochus III of Commagene|Antiochus III]] 12 BC–17 AD
*Ruled by [[Rome]] 17–38 AD
*[[Antiochus IV of Commagene|Antiochus IV]] 38–72 AD and wife, [[Julia Iotapa (daughter of Antiochus III)|Iotapa]]

==See also==
*[[Artaxiad Dynasty]]
*[[Commagene]]
*[[List of rulers of Commagene]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = ORONTES | last = Schmitt | first = Rüdiger | authorlink = | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/orontes | editor-last = | editor-first =  | editor-link = | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica | pages = | location = | publisher = | year = 2002 | isbn = |ref=harv}}

==Further reading==
*[[Cyril Toumanoff]]. "A Note on the Orontids." ''Le Muséon''. 72 (1959), pp.&nbsp;1–36 and 73 (1960), pp.&nbsp;73–106.
*{{in lang|hy}} Hakop Manandyan. ''Քննական Տեսություն Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմության'' (''A Critical Study of the History of the Armenian People''). vol. i. Yerevan: Haypethrat, 1944.

==External links==
*[http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/armol-2-R.html The Yervanduni Dynasty-A. Richard Diebold Center for Indo-European Language and Culture]

{{Armenia topics}}
{{Royal houses of Europe}}

[[Category:Orontid dynasty| ]]
[[Category:6th-century BC establishments]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC disestablishments]]
[[Category:Ancient royal families]]