Lesser Armenia

Lesser Armenia (or Armenia Minor) was the portion of historic Armenia and the Armenian Highlands lying west and northwest of the river Euphrates.^[2] It received its name to distinguish it from the much larger eastern portion of historic Armenia—Greater Armenia (or Armenia Major).

Lesser Armenia corresponded to the location of the Late Bronze Age Hayasa-Azzi confederation, which is thought by some scholars to be the source of the Armenian endonym hay and the original state of the Proto-Armenians.^[3] It has been suggested that the epithet "lesser" indicates that this territory was the older homeland of the Armenian people, while "greater" Armenia referred to a territory that was later settled.^[3][4]

Lesser Armenia may have formed a part of the territories of the Orontid dynasty, which ruled Armenia first as satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and then as kings.^[5] However, there is no clear evidence to support this claim.^[5] Lesser Armenia emerged as an independent kingdom after the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC, although the exact origin, size and history of this kingdom are murky.^[6] The capital of this kingdom is not known, but it may have originally been located at Ani-Kamakh or Kamisa before moving to Nicopolis in the early Roman period.^[7][6]

Following Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia, it is probable that Western (Lesser) Armenia remained outside of Macedonian control.^[8] Lesser Armenia may have been annexed by the Persian dynast, Ariarathes I, the former satrap of (Northern) Cappadocia, who continued to resist Macedonian authority in the region. Anson postulates that resistance to Macedonian rule in the region was sustained by tribesmen and Persian fiefholders who retained loyalty to the memory of Darius III, who had served as satrap of Western Armenia prior to becoming King of Persia, as well as by survivors of the failed Persian counter-offensive following the Battle of Issus and the remnants of Ariarathes' defeated forces.^[9] That such residual loyalty to the Persian cause persisted is suggested by Eumenes' ability in 320 BC to convince his troops that the defeated Neoptolemus)had raised a fresh army of Cappadocians and Paphlagonians, an argument that would have carried little weight had no hostile forces remained in the area.^[9] Following the death of Ariarathes I, his homonymous nephew, Ariarathes II, dispossessed of Cappadocia by the Macedonians, withdrew to Lesser Armenia.

Lesser Armenia apparently experienced the high point of its territorial expansion before the Mithridatic period; according to Strabo, its rulers held the Chaldaei and the Tibareni as subjects, extending their empire as far as Trapezus and Pharnaceia on the Black Sea coast.^[10] According to Strabo, it originally had its own royal dynasty.^[11] This dynasty's last ruler was Antipater, son of Sisines, likely a member of the Cappadocian nobility.^[12]

Lesser Armenia passed under the control of the Kingdom of Pontus when Mithridates VI Eupator (r. 120 – 63 BC) compelled Antipater to abdicate and acquired his principality, which encompassed not only Lesser Armenia but also the barbarian tribes between it and the Black Sea coast.^[13] It is said that Eupator built 75 fortresses in Lesser Armenia.^[11] Although it might have been expected that Tigranes the Great of Armenia (r. 95–56 BC) would have annexed Lesser Armenia into his growing empire, he refrained from doing so as Mithridates was his father-in-law and a crucial ally.^[14] After the Romans defeated Pontus in the Mithridatic Wars Wars, crushing Mithridates in 71 BC and forcing Tigranes into submission in 66 BC, Lesser Armenia became a client kingdom of Rome, who appointed various client kings to rule the kingdom.^[11]

The last of these client kings was Aristobulus of Chalcis of the Herodian dynasty.^[11] In 72 AD, Lesser Armenia was annexed by the Roman Empire and made a part of the larger province of Cappadocia.^[15]

The Roman general Pompey founded Nicapolis, on the site of his decisive defeat of Mithridates at present-day Piurk, after the end of the Mithridatic Wars.^[16][6] Nicapolis may have served as the capital for Roman client kings of Lesser Armenia. The chief city of Lesser Armenia, however, was Megalopolis ("Great City"), also said to have been founded by Pompey. During the reign of Augustus, the Romans annexed Megalopolis and its surrounding district, Megalopolitis, renaming the city Sebasteia in the emperor's honor (sebaste being the Greek equivalent of the Latin augustus).^[7]

All of Armenia became a Roman province in AD 114 under Roman emperor Trajan, but Roman Armenia was soon after abandoned by the legions in 118 AD and became a vassal kingdom. Lesser Armenia, however, was generally incorporated by Trajan, together with Melitene and Cataonia, into the province of Cappadocia. Lesser Armenia consisted of five districts: Orbalisene in the North; below that Aetulane; Aeretice; then Orsene; and finally Orbesine, the most southern. The more southern districts appended to Lesser Armenia were Meleiene, so called from its capital Melitene (modern Malatya) and the following four small districts of ancient Cataonia, namely, Aravene; Lavinianesine or Lavianesine; Cataonia, in the more restricted sense, or the country close upon Cilicia surrounded by mountains; finally, Muriane or Murianune, between Cataonia and Melitene, called likewise Bagadoania.^[17]

Lesser Armenia was reunited with the kingdom of Greater Armenia under the Arshakuni king Tiridates III in AD 287 until the temporary conquest of Shapur II in 337.^{[citation needed]}

Then it was formed into a regular province under Diocletian, and in the 4th century, was divided in two provinces: First Armenia (Armenia Prima), which contained most of Lesser Armenia, and Second Armenia (Armenia Secunda) that comprised all the southern tracts which had been added to Lesser Armenia, with the exception of Cataonia, which was incorporated with Cappadocia Secunda.^[18]

Its population remained Armenian but was being gradually Romanized. Since the 3rd century many Armenian soldiers were in the Roman army: later–in the 4th century–they made up two Roman legions, the Legio I Armeniaca and the Legio II Armeniaca.^{[citation needed]}

In 536, the emperor Justinian I reorganized the provincial administration, and First and Second Armenia were renamed Second and Third respectively, while some of their territory was split off to the other Armenian provinces.^{[citation needed]}

The borders of the Byzantine part of Armenia were expanded in 591 into Persarmenia, but the region was the focus of decades of warfare between the Byzantines and the Persians (the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars) until the Arab conquest of Armenia in 639.

After this, the part of Lesser Armenia remaining under Byzantine control (in a lesser extent) became part of the theme of Armeniakon.

After the downfall of Bagratid Armenia in 1045 and resulting subsequent losses of Byzantine Empire in the East after the Battle of Manzikert in 1073, Lesser Armenia fell to the Seljuks and then was part of the Mongol Empire for 92 years and of the Ottoman Empire from the late 15th century.

Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the term Lesser Armenia (sometimes called "Little Armenia") was applied to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, right until the formation of Turkey in 1923.

Ancient episcopal sees of the Roman province of Armenia Prima (I) listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:^[19]

Ancient episcopal sees of the Roman province of Armenia Secunda (II) listed in the Annuario Pontificio as titular sees:^[19]

For ancient episcopal sees of the Roman province of Armenia Tertia (III), see Roman Armenia#Episcopal sees.

Lesser Armenia is traditionally considered as part of Western Armenia, especially after the acquisition of Eastern Armenia by the Russian Empire in the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828.^[20]

The Christian Armenian population of Lesser Armenia continued its existence in the area until the Armenian genocide of 1915–23. Some Armenians still live in the area, albeit converted to Islam under Ottoman influence, mainly in the 17th century.^{[citation needed]}

• Hemshinli