Armenia and its role in international politics from the seventh century BC until the year 224 AD

Abstract

       Armenia is the largest and highest mountainous region in Western Asia, it located at the border between Asia and Europe. Nature blessed it with landscapes that bring for them welfare and blessing and other times wickedness and affliction for the Armenians. In addition, Armenia has an important transit area between East and West, therefore a huge profits gained from its economic activity. The major powers incited to control and looting and robbed its freedom. Also it annex Armenia with its reign. Since its appearance in the seventh century BC, sequential both Assyrians and then Medes occupied it, and after Achaemenid Cyrus II king squat on, Median state and joined it to his possessions of empire. Although Alexander eliminated that empire benefited the Armenians as he achieved their independence for them, but that independence did not last for long time. After his death and the division of his empire among his commanders, the Seleucids (301-64 BC) claimed sovereignty over Armenia due to its proximity to their position in Syria, since the history of Armenia had become a struggle with them , until it able to achieves its independence after the victory of Roman over Antiochus III in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. However, it barely reaped results of that conflict until it had become a scene of continuous wars between two might giants, Roman Empire and Parthian State, so it was sometimes leaning to this side and at other times to this side. And its capabilities fluctuated between them, and as for its Armenian kings, they were mostly deaf, driven by the hands of the two empires, so they applied their expansion policy in harmful way to the country and its people  .