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==The defeat of Armenia==
[[File: 1200px-Armenian Empire.png |300px|thumb|left|300px| The Empire of Tigranes at its greatest extent]]
Tigranes after he became king of Armenia, exploited Parthian and Seleucid weakness and created a vast Empire. He captured Mesopotamia and conquered the remnants of the once mighty Seleucid Empire. Tigranes made Armenia the greatest power in the region, even greater than Parthia. Lucullus defeat of Tigranes weakened the Armenian and much of his newly acquired lands revolted against his rule. He was forced to withdraw from the war with Rome and abandoned his ally, Mithridates. In the aftermath of Lucullus victory at Tigrancertta, the Armenian Empire collapsed into near anarchy. Pompey allied with the Parthians and as a result, a chastened Armenian became a client kingdom of Rome, which it remained for centuries. This allowed Rome to secure a strategic advantage for itself on its Eastern frontier, until at least the rise of the Sassanian Empire. If Lucullus had not defeated Tigranes, the Armenian Empire may have endured, and this could have changed the history of the Near East. However, there was one unexpected outcome of the defeat of Tigranes and that was that it allowed Parthia to emerge stronger. It was to become the main foe of first the Republic and then later the Empire in the East.
==Lucullus and the arts==