Tigranocerta

Tigranocerta (, Tigranόkerta; Tigranakert; ), also called Cholimma or Chlomaron in antiquity, was a city and the capital of the Armenian Kingdom between 77 and 69 BCE. It bore the name of Tigranes the Great, who founded the city in the first century BC. There is so far no common agreement on the precise location of Tigranakert; it was either near present-day Silvan, Arzan (Arzn, in the Armenian province of Arzanene or Aghdznik), east of Diyarbakır, Turkey, or in the valley of the Garzan river mentioned by T. A. Sinclair. It was one of four cities in historic Armenia named Tigranakert. The others were in Nakhichevan, Artsakh and Utik, the 4 cities being in the old Armenian provinces Aldznik, Goghtn, Utik, Artsakh. History To create this city, Tigranes forced many people out of their homes to make up the population. Armenia at this time had expanded east to the Caspian Sea, west to central Cappadocia, and south towards Judea, advancing as far as the regions surrounding what is now the Krak des Chevaliers. The city's markets were filled with traders and merchants doing business from all over the ancient world. Tigranocerta quickly became a very important commercial, as well as cultural center of the Near East. The magnificent theater that was established by the Great King, of which he was an avid devotee, conducted dramas and comedies mostly played by Greek as well as Armenian actors. Plutarch wrote that Tigranocerta was "a rich and beautiful city where every common man and every man of rank studied to adorn it". The Hellenistic culture during the Artaxiad dynasty had a strong influence and the Greek language was in fact the official language of the court. Tigranes had divided Greater Armenia – the nucleus of the Empire – into four major strategic regions or viceroyalties. A Roman force under Lucius Licinius Lucullus defeated Tigranes at the Battle of Tigranocerta nearby in 69 BC, and afterwards sacked the city, sending many of the people back to their original homes.