Research Notes:

In an age of imperial competition, the Treaty of Rhandia remained an agreement regularly tested, and Parthian assertion of dominion over Armenia on the occasion of the elevation of new members of the Arsacid family elicited Roman response. Twice in the second century, Rome directly subjugated Armenia. Emperor Trajan (98-117) annexed Armenia in 114, while Emperor Hadrian (117-138) reestablished the Armenian kingdom and restored cosuzerainty with the enthronement of Vagharsh/Vologases I (117-140) as king of Armenia. Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) placed his own candidate, King Sohaemos (140-160, 163-180), on the Armenian throne, but Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) had to send troops to occupy the country in 163 to restore the Roman client. At the height of its power during the reign of the Five Good Emperors in the second century A.D., the enforcement of the Pax Romana, except when provoked by Parthian intervention, contributed to maintaining the integrity of Armenia. As a crossing point of the trade from East to West, Armenia also benefited from the great economic engine of the Roman Empire, with its insatiable consumption of luxury goods. Once again, the revenue of the central administration in Armenia could justisfy the founding of a new capital, Vagharshapat. ¹

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Vagharshapat was founded during the reign of the Arsacid king Vagharsh I (r. 117-140 CE), who gave his name to the new city, a common practice of the period. Artashat (Artaxata) remained the capital but Vagharshapat became the royal residence. The city was not entirely built from scratch but expanded upon the existing settlement of Vardgesavan. The city was protected by a new and encircling fortification wall. ²