Middle East Kingdoms

Ancient Anatolia

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Kingdom of Lesser Armenia
AD 56 - c.60

Lesser (or Little) Armenia was created out of the western section of Armenia during the divisions caused by the war between Rome and Parthian Persia in AD 56. Tiridates, a Parthian prince, was placed on the throne without Rome's agreement, and Rome and Persia went to war over the matter. As a result, Armenia was divided into Armenia, Armenia Sophene and Lesser Armenia.

AD 56 - ?

Aristobulo Asmoneo

c.60

Rome annexes Lesser Armenia.

Ruins at Satala

These ruins at Satala were occupied by the first century AD, and probably earlier. They formed part of Lesser Armenia when it was annexed by Rome around AD 60

Kingdom of Lesser Armenia (Erzindjan)
AD 389 - 391

Armenia was again partitioned by Rome and Persia in 387. Persia retained Greater Armenia to the east of the Euphrates while Rome gained the western section.

389 - 391

Archak III

Former king of all Armenia.

391

Lesser Armenia is absorbed by the Roman empire.

Kingdom of Lesser Armenia (Erzindjan / Cilicia)
AD 1080 - 1375

With the Mongol invasion of mid-eleventh century Armenia, a number of Armenians, led by Prince Reuben, were pushed westwards. In 1080 they established in Cilicia the state of Lesser Armenia, centred on Tarsus, north of Norman-controlled Antioch and west of Edessa. Lesser Armenia established very close ties with the Crusader States. It was still threatened by Byzantium, however, and appears to have come under Byzantine overlordship for short periods.

Cilicia (pr. silish) is an ancient region of south-eastern Asia Minor, in present southern Turkey, between the Mediterranean and the Taurus range. It included a high and barren plateau, Cilicia Trachia or Cilicia Tracheia, and a fertile plain, Cilicia Pedias.

(The main list is backed up with one that gives further names, but they are poorly dated. These additional names may not have been reigning kings, but were numbered as members of the dynasty. They may have been co-regents.)

1080 - 1095

Reuben I

1095 - ?

Constantine I

Prince in 1099.

1098 - 1099

Lesser Armenia is declared a kingdom as the Crusader states are established along its eastern and southern borders. For much of its existence it appears to be subject to Byzantine overlordship. King Constantine I, probably as part of an effort to cement ties with the new states around him, marries one of his daughters to Joscelin I, Count of Edessa.

Yilanlikale Castle

The Armenian fortress of Yilanlikale in Cilicia is more colourfully known by its Turkish name of Snake Castle. It was built in the eleventh or twelfth century as a Crusader castle

Theodore / Thoros I

c.1129 - 1137

Leon I

Captured by John II of Byzantium. Died in Constantinople.

1148 - 1168

Thoros II

Escaped Byzantine prison (1145?). Homage to Manuel (1158).

1168 - 1175

Reuben II

1175 - 1185

Reuben III

1185 - 1219

Leon / Levon II the Great

Prince 1185-1198.

1219 - 1269

Isabella / Zabel

1205 - ?

Constantine

Regent.

1205 - ?

Philip of Antioch

Son of Behemond IV of Antioch.

1226 - 1269

Hethoum I the Great / Hethum I

1270 - 1289

Leon III

1289 - 1305

Hethoum II the One-Eyed / Hethum II

ThorosIII

Possible co-regent.

1299 - 1303

The Il-Khan ruler, Mahmud Ghazan, marches on Syria, taking Aleppo. He is joined there by his vassal, King Hethoum II. Together they defeat the Mameluke Bahrids of Egypt and Damascus at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar on 23 or 24 December. The Bahrids are pushed back into Egypt and Damascus quickly falls to the invaders. The Il-Khans then withdraw, perhaps due to a lack of supplies. The attack is renewed in 1301, but it degenerates into a scattering of inconclusive battles and politicking. In the end, Ghazan's forces are defeated by the Mamelukes of Egypt at the Battle of Marj al-Saffar in April 1303 and withdraw, never to return.

1305 - 1307

Leon IV of Cyprus

Sempad

Possible co-regent.

Constantine II

Possible co-regent.

1305 - 1320

Oshin

1320 - 1342

Leon V

Constantine III

Lord of Neghir. Possible co-regent.