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The Battle of Tigranocerta was fought on 6 October 69 BC during the Third Mithridatic War when the Roman army of Consul Lucullus besieged the Armenian capital of Tigranocerta. The Romans defeated King Tigranes the Great's army when it took the field to oppose them, resulting in the Roman capture of the city.

Background[]

By 71 BC, the tide of the Third Mithridatic War had turned as King Mithridates VI of Pontus, having lost control of Anatolia and been betrayed by his own son Machares, was forced to flee to the safety of his son-in-law Tigranes the Great's kingdom in Armenia. Machares failed to convince Tigranes to surrender, as Tigranes was immensely powerful, controlling a vast swathe of territory extending from the Caucasus to the Levant.

Battle[]

In 69 BC, Lucullus and a Roman army of 35,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry invaded Armenia, facing Tigranes' army of 80,000 troops (including Iberian and Albanian troops). Tigranes was eager to fight the Romans, but, while Tigranes was still recruiting troops, Lucullus besieged the Armenian capital of Tigranocerta. Shortly after, the Armenian army approached, and the Romans withdrew across the river to give battle. Lucullus' outnumbered army formed a single line to avoid being outflanked, with legionaries holding the center and cavalry holding the flanks; Bithynian skirmishers screened his infantry. Rather than commit to a full-frontal assault, Lucullus lured out the Armenians by feigning cavalry charges and retreats. Lucullus then personally led two maniples of his infantry in a flanking maneuver around the Armenian right while the Armenians were distracted. The Armenians broke formation to pursue the Roman cavalry, and Lucullus charged downhill into the rear of the Armenian cataphrachts. The Armenian cavalrymen charged into their own infantrymen while trying to escape, causing the Armenians to break formation. Tigranes escaped with his baggage train, and the Armenian army was almost entirely broken in the ensuing disaster. The Armenian capital of Tigranocerta then surrendered, and Lucullus followed up his victory by pushing Tigranes further east and winning another victory at Artaxata in 68 BC.

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