Anob was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Prince from the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia who lived in the 4th century. Anob was the first known child born to the Arsacid Prince Arsaces II (Arshak II) by an unnamed mother. He was born to his father at an unknown date from a union prior to his father’s Kingship of Armenia. Arsaces II ruled as the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Client King of Armenia from 350 until 368 and Anob was one of the grandsons to the previous ruling Roman Client Armenian King Tiran (Tigranes VII) who ruled from 339 until 350. The mother of Anob appeared to have died before the year 358. The Armenian Historian of the 5th century,

Faustus of Byzantium Faustus of Byzantium (also Faustus the Byzantine, hy, Փաւստոս Բուզանդ, translit=P'awstos Buzand) was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. Faustus' ''History of the Armenians'' (also known as '' Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk) exists ...

in his writings ''History of the Armenians'' (Book IV, Chapter 15) indirectly mentions Anob as a cousin of Gnel and

Tirit Tirit, also known as trit, is a Turkish dish prepared by soaking broken-up stale bread in a broth prepared from offal, and then seasoned with ground pepper and onion. Some variants add cheese or yogurt. Tirit is based on cooking techniques f ...

. Sometime during the reign of his paternal grandfather, the Sassanid King

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigned fo ...

launched a war on Rome and her allies, firstly by persecuting the

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

that lived in Persia and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

. Shapur II’s war by capturing these territories began to dealt a severe blow to

prestige in the East. Eventually the Sassanid King with his army had invaded Armenia, taking the members of the royal family including Anob as hostages as they were betrayed to Shapur II by Tiran’s chamberlain. Anob with all members of his family had become Sassanid political prisoners in which his paternal grandfather was blinded and thrown into prison after Shapur II accused Tiran of collusion with

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The nobles of Armenia were infuriated by the brutality of Shapur II and his treatment of the Armenian royal family, took up arms and fought against Shapur II and his army with assistance from the Romans. They successfully drove Shapur II and his army out from Armenia. After Shapur II was defeated, he had signed a treaty and Anob with members of his family were released from prison. As Tiran being depressed and blinded from his experience in captivity, had abdicated his throne and Arsaces II succeeded Tiran as Armenian King in 350. Little is known on the life of Anob when his father reigned as King of Armenia. In Persian fashion during his kingship, Arsaces II had two wives at the same time who were:

Olympias Olympias ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC) was a Greek princess of the Molossians, and the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip II, the king of Macedonia a ...

and

Pharantzem Parandzem ( hy, Փառանձեմ, translit=Pʻaṛandzem; died winter 369/70) was the consort of King Arshak II of Armenia. She was a member of the noble house of Siwni. She was regent of Armenia during the absence of her spouse and son in 368� ...

. With Pharantzem, Arsaces II had another child, a son called Papas (Pap) as he was the only known child born to Arsaces II during his Armenian Kingship, hence was the younger paternal half-brother of Anob. When Arsaces II died, it was Papas not Anob that succeeded their father as King of Armenia. According to Saint

Mesrop Mashtots Mesrob or Mesrop ( hy, Մեսրոպ) is an Armenian given name. Mesrob / Mesrop may refer to: *Mesrop Mashtots, also Saint Mesrop, Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. Inventor of the Armenian alphabet **Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manu ...

, who was a Priest and Historiographer of the Catholicos Nerses the Great, Anob married an unnamed woman by whom he had a son called Varasdates (Varazdat). Varasdates would serve as a future King of Armenia from 374 until 378 and proclaimed himself as the nephew of Papas.Faustus of Byzantium, ''History of the Armenians'', Book IV, Chapter 37

References

{{reflist

Sources

, ''History of the Armenians'', 5th Century
Encyclopaedia Iranica: Armenia and Iran II. The pre-Islamic period
* R.G. Hovannisian, The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004 * V.M. Kurkjian, A History of Armenia, Indo-European Publishing, 2008 Arsacid dynasty of Armenia 4th-century Armenian people