For having successfully ruled over a great kingdom located between the Roman republic territories and its long-lasting rival – the Parthian Empire – for over twenty-five years and the final confrontation with the armies of Pompey, Tigranes II the Great (95–56 BCE) really deserved his title of ‘King of Kings’.

Following the fall of the Seleucid Empire, one of the Hellenistic empires continuing Alexander the Great’s conquests, the Artaxid dynasty ruled over the traditional Armenian territory and beyond during Tigranes II’s reign. Using coinage as a political tool, an important production of silver tetradrachms portraying him wearing the traditional Armenian tiara celebrated his rule, while remembering the Hellenistic heritage he sustained.

The iconography on the reverse of his coins seemed to have served two objectives; reinforcing his rule over Antioch, the city established by the founder of the Seleucid Empire, and the inauguration of his own capital, Tigranocerta.