Yervand I

According to ancient authors ( Herodotus , Strabo , Diodorus Sicilian , Plutarch , Pompey Trog , Demosthenes and others), Yervand I (referred to in Greek sources under the name Orontes) was the son of a Persian military commander , who came from Bactria . He served the Persian king Artaxerxes II , was a satrap of Armenia, including Sophena and Mitanni ^[1] . He received these lands after the battle of Kunax in 401 BC. e. In this battle, he supported the forces of Artaxerxes II against Cyrus the Younger , who, with the help of Greek mercenaries , tried to seize the throne, bypassing his older brother ( Anabasis Cyrus ). In the same year, Yervand married Rodogun, daughter of Artaxerxes II from one of his concubines.

Yervand I also participated in the war with the king of the Cypriot city Salamis Evagor I : by intrigue he took the place of commander in this campaign, removing Tiribaz , and concluded with Evagor I a peace treaty favorable for the latter, thereby incurring the king’s disfavor.

Yervand I took part in the uprising of the Asia Minor satrapies of the Persian kingdom in 361-360 BC. e., in connection with which he was deprived of the satrapy of Armenia and was appointed satrap of not so significant Mysia . In 357 BC e. he rebelled against King Artaxerxes III and conquered Pergamum , but he soon reconciled with the king and returned the Pergamum to it. Having concluded a trade agreement with Athens , Yervand received Athenian citizenship as a sign of appreciation. Died after 349 BC e.

Yervand I was the grandfather of Yervand II , through whom the Armenian branch of the Ervidov clan developed. A descendant of Erwand II, Antiochus I , was the founder of the kingdom of Commagen . Through the wife of Yervand I, Rodogun, the Yervidov family was related in kinship with the Achaemenid dynasty.

According to the "Geography" of Strabo , the Syrian river Typhon (now among the Arabs of Nahr al-Asi ) from the 4th century BC. e. bore the name of Orontes (in the Greek version of the name of Ervand I, who crossed it during the war with Evagor I).

From the message of Diodorus of Sicily about the letter of Yervand I, written in Syriac letters, it follows that already at that time they used Aramaic writing in the territory of Armenia ^[2] .

• Eckart Olshausen . Orontes 2. // Der Neue Pauly (DNP). Band 9, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-01479-7 , Sp. 49.