Portal:Biography/Selected article/April 15

Tiridates I (Armenian: Տրդատ Ա, EA: Trdat I, WA: Drtad I) was king of Armenia beginning in 53 AD and the founder of the Arshakuni Dynasty, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58 to 63. In an agreement to resolve the Roman-Parthian conflict in and over Armenia, Tiridates (who was the brother of Vologases I of Parthia) was crowned king of Armenia by the Roman emperor Nero in 66 AD; in the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but his appointment required approval from the Romans. Even though this made Armenia a client kingdom, various contemporary Roman sources thought that Nero had de facto ceded Armenia to Parthia.

In addition to being a king, Tiridates was also a Zoroastrian priest and was accompanied by other magi with him on his journey to Rome in 66 AD. This is about the same time that the Gospel of Matthew recorded a journey of wise men from the east to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. This may lay behind the later Christian legend of the Three Magi. In the early 20th century, Franz Cumont speculated that Tiridates was instrumental in the development of Mithraism, which—in Cumont's view—was simply Romanized Zoroastrianism. This "continuity" theory has since been collectively refuted.

The dates of his birth and death are unknown. (Read more...)