A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he was the son and successor of Tigranes the Great (r. 95–55 BC),[1] who ascended the throne of a still powerful and independent state.

[4] In c. 54 BC, Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the Roman triumvirs, who had become proconsul of Syria, had been preparing to invade the Parthian realm.

[5] Artavasdes II, who was an ally of Rome, advised Crassus to take a route through Armenia to avoid the desert and offered him reinforcements of a further 10,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry.

[11] The death of Pacorus I in 38 BC and succession of Orodes II's other son Phraates IV damaged the relations between Parthia and Armenia.

[15] Although Artavasdes II gave refuge and supplied the defeated Romans, in 34 BC Antony planned a new invasion of Armenia to take revenge for the betrayal.

[16] First he sent his friend Quintus Dellius, who offered a betrothal of Antony's six-year-old son Alexander Helios to a daughter of Artavasdes II, but the Armenian king hesitated.

[19] Cleopatra VII of Egypt awaited the triumvir on a golden throne, but Artavasdes II refused to render homage to the Egyptian Queen by proskynesis.

[22] From a wife whose name is unknown, he had two sons: Artaxias II,[23] Tigranes III,[24] and a daughter[25] who possibly married King Archelaus of Cappadocia.