Tiridates II of Armenia

Tiridates II (fl. 3rd century) was an Arsacid prince who was King of Armenia from 217 to 252. In the old Armenian sources, the events of his reign are associated with a "Khosrov the Brave".

In 214, Tiridates' father, King Khosrov I, was arrested by the Roman emperor Caracalla, provoking a rebellion in Armenia. Caracalla's successor Macrinus recognized Tiridates as King of Armenia in 217. Tiridates subsequently spent most of his reign fighting against the Sasanians, who overthrew his Arsacid kinsmen and took over Iran c. 224. While Armenia was able to resist the Sasanians during the reign of Ardashir I, the next Sasanian king Shapur I won several victories over the Romans and succeeded in subjugating Armenia. Tiridates fled Shapur's invasion of Armenia in 252. According to one historian, he continued to rule over a smaller, Roman-controlled portion of Armenia until his assassination on Shapur's orders in 256.

After Tiridates' flight, Shapur made his own son Hormizd-Ardashir the king of Armenia, and Armenia was ruled by Sasanian princes until the 290s. According to historians Hakob Manandyan and Cyril Toumanoff, Tiridates had a son named Khosrov II who later became King of Armenia (per Toumanoff, only of the western, Roman-controlled sector). According to historian Suren Yeremian's version, there was no Khosrov II, and Tiridates II was the father of Tiridates III, who eventually became King of Armenia and converted the kingdom to Christianity.