Tiran of Armenia

Tiran was an Arsacid king of Armenia in the second quarter of the fourth century. The chronology of his reign is problematic, and scholars have proposed different dates for its beginning and end. According to one version, he succeeded his father Khosrov III in 338, placed on the throne by the Roman emperor Constantius II after a Persian invasion of Armenia. His reign appears to have marked the beginning of the antagonism between the Arsacid kings and the Armenian Church, possibly because of the Arsacid kings' promotion of Arianism, in following with contemporary Roman policy. Tiran ordered the assassination of the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Husik. He also came into conflict with the nobility because of his attempts to centralize power. During the course of the Sasanian king Shapur II's campaigns against the Roman Empire in the 340s, Tiran was reportedly betrayed by one of his vassals, captured by the Persians, and blinded. He was later allowed to return to Armenia and abdicated in favor of his son Arshak II. According to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, Tiran was later strangled on Arshak's orders.