| ARMENIA UNDER PERSIAN RULE. When Cyrus took over Astyages' kingdom in 559, the region was absorbed into the Persian Empire. Darius I (522–486) (See c. 522–486) made Armenia the 13th satrapy of his reorganized empire. It is in an inscription of Darius that the Armenians are first explicitly mentioned (519). In 401, Xenophon and the Ten Thousand arrived in the region, fleeing from the Persians (See c. 586–330). The satrap of Armenia at the time was Orontes I (c. 401–366). His son and successor, Orontes II (366–331) was killed fighting Alexander the Great at Arbela (See 331). Alexander appointed Orontes II's son, Mithanes, to be the satrap. The dynasty, the Orontids, eventually became kings and ruled Armenia until 200 B.C.E. | 2 |
