Sanesan invasion of Armenia (335-336)

Sanesan invasion of Armenia (335-336)
Part of Maskute invasions of Armenia
Date335–336
Location
Kingdom of Armenia
Result Armenian victory
Belligerents
Maskut tribe Arsacid dynasty of Armenia
Commanders and leaders
Sanesan † Khosrov III the Small
Vache I Mamikonian


The Sanesan invasion of Armenia was a military conflict fought around 335–336 between the Kingdom of Armenia, ruled by King Khosrov III, and a coalition led by Sanesan, the Arsacid king of the Maskut.

Taking advantage of the royal succession following the death of Tiridates III, Sanesan, who is also identified in some historical sources as Sanatruk, formed an alliance with the Alans and the Caucasian Albanians. He assembled a diverse army composed of these allies as well as other nomadic groups, including the Huns,[1][2][3] and various Caucasian peoples. The coalition invaded Armenia with Sanesan asserting a claim to the throne based on his own Arsacid lineage, which he shared with the Armenian royal house.[4][5]

Background

An Arsacid king, identified as Sanesan by the historian Faustus of Byzantium and as Sanatruk by Movses Khorenatsi, led an invasion of Armenia around 335–336 AD.[6] This king ruled the Maskut, a people located along the Caspian coast. Although both Faustus and Khorenatsi describe the same invasion against the Armenian king Khosrov III (r. c. 330–339), they present different narratives for its cause.

Khorenatsi's account connects the invasion to the martyrdom of St. Grigoris, the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator. In this version, Sanatruk is a distant Arsacid relative of King Tiridates III who was tasked with escorting Grigoris on a mission to the land of the Maskut. According to Khorenatsi, upon hearing a report that the Armenian king had died, Sanatruk murdered Grigoris and launched his bid to usurp the throne.

In contrast, Faustus presents Sanesan as a foreign aggressor rather than an internal traitor. His account does not connect the invasion to Grigoris but portrays it as a political and military event instigated by the Sasanian emperor Shapur II.[7] Faustus also notes the remote Arsacid kinship between Sanesan and the Armenian royal house, a detail that underscores his status as a member of a separate branch of the clan with no legitimate claim to the Armenian throne.

According to the historical accounts, the invasion began with the capture of Paytakaran,[8] an Armenian-controlled province on the Caspian coast that served as a staging ground.[9]

Invasion

Around 335, Sanesan launched a large-scale invasion of Armenia, plundering territories from the Roman frontier city of Satala to the region of Ganjak. The occupation lasted for approximately a year and forced the Armenian king Khosrov III, and the head of the Armenian Church, Catholicos Vrtanes I, to take refuge in the fortress of Darewnk.

The Armenian commander-in-chief (sparapet), Vache Mamikonean, who had been in the Roman Empire, returned to assemble an army. He launched a surprise dawn attack on the main invading camp at a site known as Mt. C'low Glowx ("Bull's Head"), inflicting a total defeat on the forces there. Mamikonean then marched to the Ayrarat plain and surprised a contingent of the invading forces in the capital city of Vagharshapat. The invaders fled to the defensible rocky terrain near the fortress of Oshakan, where a severe battle took place.

In the engagement at Oshakan, Sanesan was killed. Other Armenian commanders, including Bagrat Bagratuni, Garegin Rshtuni, Vahan (the nahapet, or hereditary lord, of the Amatuni house), and Varaz Kaminakan, joined the campaign to rout the remnants of the invading coalition.[10][2] Following the battle, Sanesan's head was presented to King Khosrov.[11]

An alternative account is recorded by the historian Movses Kaghankatvatsi, who attributes the killing of Sanesan to Vahan Amatuni, in whose domain of Oshakan the final battle was fought.[12] The primary narrative, which centers the victory on Vache Mamikonean, is derived from the work of Faustus of Byzantium, an account that some scholars suggest contains a pro-Mamikonian bias.

References

  1. ^ Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies: JSAS. Vol. 1–3. The University of Michigan: The Society. 1984. p. 41.
  2. ^ a b Eghiayean, Biwzand (1993). Heroes of Hayastan: A Dramatic Novel History of Armenia. Armenian National Fund. pp. 208–209.
  3. ^ Maenchen-Helfen, Otto J. (2023-11-10). The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture. Univ of California Press. p. 458. ISBN 978-0-520-31077-3.
  4. ^ Syvänne, Ilkka (2015-09-09). Military History of Late Rome, 284–361. Pen and Sword. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4738-7183-0.
  5. ^ Moses, (of Khoren) (2006). History of the Armenians. Caravan Books. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-88206-111-5.
  6. ^ "Հայկական Սովետական Հանրագիտարան (Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia)" (in Armenian). pp. 78–79.
  7. ^ Edwards, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen; Bowman, Alan; Garnsey, Peter; Cameron, Averil (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337. Cambridge University Press. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-521-30199-2.
  8. ^ "The Caucasian Albanian palimpsests of Mt. Sinai | WorldCat.org". p. 15.
  9. ^ Gippert, Jost; Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2023-06-19). Caucasian Albania: An International Handbook. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 63. ISBN 978-3-11-079468-7.
  10. ^ Alemany, Agustí (2000). Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation. BRILL. p. 292. ISBN 978-90-04-11442-5.
  11. ^ Fragmenta historicorum graecorum (in French). Vol. 5. Editore Ambrosio Firmin Didot. 1867. p. 216.
  12. ^ Movses Dasxurantsi, Robert Bedrosian (2010). History of the Aghuans. p. 22.
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