Chosroes II

Chosroes II: Armenian leader (second half third century CE), member of the Arsacid dynasty.

Chosroes II is mentioned by the Armenian historian Agathangelos as king of Armenia and as father of Tiridates III. This would place him before 287 CE and makes him plausibly one of the sons of Tiridates II, who fled from Armenia in c.252. The Byzantine author Zonaras tells the story:

Armenia was subdued by them, its king, Tiridates, having fled, and his children going over to the Persians.note

The source of this piece of information cannot be identified but there is no reason to doubt that Tiridates left his kingdom and abandoned Armenia to Shapur I, the second of the Sasanian Persians. Armenia was from now on governed by a Sasanian prince, first Hormizd I, later Narseh.

The Armenian historian Agathangelos mentions that Chosroes raided the Persian Empire and was killed by an assassin, which is not impossible although it contradicts Zonaras' words that the sons of Chosroes sided with the Persians.note A possible explanation is that Chosroes later revolted and claimed the kingship, even when he was in fact a brigand.

Still, it must be noted that Agathangelos also makes Chorsroes a contemporary of the Sasanian king Ardašir, which certainly is impossible. It is possible to overestimate the quality of Agathangelos' information.

This page was created in 2019; last modified on 21 April 2020.