Armenia reached the zenith of its political power and territorial expansion under King Tigranes (Dikran) the Great,
When the Persian King Yezegrid II (Hazgerd II) ordered the Armenians to become Zoroastrian fire worshipers, they replied: "No one can dislodge us from this Faith; neither angels nor men, not even the fire or the sword or any horrible torture . . . your sword and our necks."