{{Short description|Armenian king from 252 to 258}} {{Infobox monarch | name = Khosrov II of Armenia | title = | image =Khosrov II of Armenia killed by Anak.jpg | caption =Khosrov II of Armenia killed by Anak | succession = King of Armenia | reign = 252–258 | coronation = | predecessor = Tiridates II | successor = Tiridates III | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 258 | death_place = | spouse = | issue = Tiridates III<br>Khosrovidukht | full name = | dynasty = Arsacid dynasty | father = Tiridates II | mother = | religion = Zoroastrianism |alt=Khosrov II of Armenia killed by Anak}} '''Khosrov II''' (known in Roman sources as '''Chosroes''', died 258), also known as '''Khosrov the Brave''' was an Armenian king from the Arsacid dynasty in the mid-third century.
Khosrov II was the son of Tiridates II,<ref>Hovannisian, ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century'', p.74</ref> King of Armenia, and followed his father on the Armenian throne. He was the namesake of his paternal grandfather Khosrov I,<ref name="Hovannisian 71">Hovannisian, ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century'', p. 71.</ref> and the Parthian monarchs Osroes I and Osroes II, who were also known as Khosrau. In Armenian sources, Khosrov is often confused with his grandfather.<ref name="Hovannisian 71"/> Little is known of his life prior to becoming king.
From 226 until 238, Tiridates was in military conflict with Ardashir I, the founder and first king of the Sassanid Empire.<ref name="Chahin 217">Chahin, ''The Kingdom of Armenia: A History'', p. 217.</ref> Ardashir wanted to expand his empire by conquering Armenia. Khosrov's father had stubbornly resisted Ardashir.<ref name="Chahin 217"/> After twelve years of fighting, Tiridates defeated invaders, who withdrew their army, and left Armenia. Khosrov participated in his father's military campaigns against Ardashir, who was alarmed by their victories.<ref name="Hovannisian 72">Hovannisian, ''The Armenian People'', p. 72.</ref>
Tiridates II died in 252, and Khosrov II succeeded his father as King of Armenia. When Khosrov became king, his capital was Vagharshapat.<ref name="Ghazarian 173">Ghazarian, ''The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia During the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians With the Latins, 1080–1393'', p. 173.</ref> He had two children: a daughter, Khosrovidukht,<ref>[http://www.arak29.am/sharakan/templates/feasts/arm/2.php Biography] of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015071207/http://www.arak29.am/sharakan/templates/feasts/arm/2.php |date=2020-10-15 }}</ref> and a son, Tiridates.<ref>Hovannisian, ''The Armenian People'', p. 218.</ref>
In 258, Khosrov was murdered by Anak the Parthian.<ref>Chahin, ''The Kingdom of Armenia: A History'', p. 218.</ref> Like Khosrov, Anak was related to the Arsacids.<ref>Kurkjian, ''A History of Armenia'', p. 270.</ref> Ardashir and his son, Shapur I, incited Anak to murder Khosrov,<ref>Hovannisian, ''The Armenian People'', pp. 72, 218.</ref> promising to return Anak's domain as a reward.<ref name="Hovannisian 72"/> Anak went to Vagharshapat (now just outside of Yerevan), where he won Khosrov's trust, and treacherously murdered the king, along with his wife. The outraged Armenian nobles slew Anak and his entire family,<ref name="Hovannisian 72"/> except for his infant son, Gregory,<ref name="Hovannisian 72"/> who was taken to Cappadocia by his caretakers, Sopia and Yevtagh, who escaped the slaughter of Anak's family and eventually became the patron saint and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, converting Armenia from paganism to Christianity in 301.
Ardashir took possession of Armenia, which became a part of his empire.<ref>Agat’angeghos, ''History of the Armenians'', p. xxvii.</ref> However, troops loyal to Khosrov had taken his son, Tiridates, to Rome for protection.<ref name="Ghazarian 173"/> Tiridates was raised in Rome, while his sister, Khosrovidukht was raised at Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia.<ref>Eghiayean, ''Heroes of Hayastan: a dramatic novel history of Armenia'', p. 191.</ref> Khosrovidukht's foster father was Awtay, a nobleman from the family of the Amatunik; Awtay's wife was a noblewoman of the family of the Slkunik.<ref>Dodgeon, ''The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363'', p.270</ref>
In 298, Tiridates was restored to the Armenian throne by the emperor Diocletian, ruling until about 330. Tiridates may have instructed Agathangelos to write a biography on the life and kingship of Khosrov II.
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Sources== * {{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/23810856|last=Curtis|first=Vesta Sarkhosh|editor1-first=Markus|editor1-last=Williams|editor2-first=Sarah|editor2-last=Stewart|editor3-first=Almut|editor3-last=Hintze|year=2016|chapter=Ancient Iranian Motifs and Zoroastrian Iconography|title=The Zoroastrian Flame Exploring Religion, History and Tradition|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0-85772-815-9|pages=179–203}} * {{cite book |title=The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism |first = Albert |last = de Jong |editor-first1=Michael |editor-last1=Stausberg | editor-first2=Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw|editor-last2=Vevaina |editor-first3=Anna|editor-last3=Tessmann|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |year=2015|chapter=Armenian and Georgian Zoroastrianism}} * {{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=James R. |author-link1=James R. Russell |title=Zoroastrianism in Armenia |date=1987 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-96850-9}} * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Arsacids vii. The Arsacid dynasty of Armenia | last = Toumanoff | first = C. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arsacids-vii | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5 | pages = 543–546 | year = 1986 }}
{{Armenian kings}} {{Arsacid dynasty of Armenia}} Category:3rd-century kings of Armenia Category:Roman client kings of Armenia Category:People executed by the Sasanian Empire Category:258 deaths Category:3rd-century murdered monarchs Category:Arsacid kings of Armenia