Tigranes VI of Armenia

Who is Tigranes VI of Armenia?

Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century.

Tigranes was of Jewish, Nabataean, Edomite, Greek, Armenian and Persian ancestry. He was the child born to Alexander by an unnamed wife. His mother was a noblewoman that flourished in the reigns of the first two Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. He was the namesake of his paternal uncle Tigranes V, who served as a previous King of Armenia during the reign of Augustus. His father’s parents were Alexander and Glaphyra. Tigranes appears to be the only grandchild born to his paternal grandparents.

His paternal grandfather Alexander was a Judean Prince of Jewish, Nabataean and Edomite descent and was a son of King of Judea, Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne. His paternal grandmother Glaphyra was a Cappadocian Princess of Greek, Armenian and Persian descent. She was the daughter of the King Archelaus of Cappadocia and her mother was an unnamed Princess from Armenia, possibly a relation of the Artaxiad Dynasty.

Tigranes’ name is a reflection of his Armenian and Hellenic lineage. The name Tigranes was the most common royal name in the Artaxiad Dynasty and was among the most ancient names of the Armenian Kings. Josephus states that his ancestral line had been kings of Armenia. Like his father and paternal uncle, Tigranes was an apostate to Judaism. It is unlikely that Tigranes attempted to exert influence on Judean Politics.