city that was defended by both the Arabs and Ashot II. In 923, the Caliph, facing troubles at home, released Yusuf, who traveled back to Armenia to unleash his fury against Ashot II. He began demanding tribute from the Armenian rulers but faced considerable resistance from Ashot II. Time and again, Ashot II was able to defeat and rout the Arab armies sent against him for several years. A second unsuccessful attempt by Kourkouas to take Dvin in 927/8 coincided with Ashot II's victory over an invading Muslim army near Lake Sevan and again north of Dvin. Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos soon turned his attention to the east to fight the Arabs in Syria, leaving Ashot II master of his domain at the end of his reign. Ashot II died in 929 without any sons or heirs and was succeeded by his brother Abas I. Family Ashot II was married to an unnamed daughter of Prince Sahak Sevada, the powerful ruler of Gardman (whom Ashot II had blinded after a failed revolt). In modern-day Armenia In 2012, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Armed Forces of Armenia, the cross that Ashot II is said to have carried into battle with him was declared the "Guardian of the Armenian Army" by Catholicos Karekin II. During the Armenian Independence Day parade in 2016, honor guards posted the flag of King Ashot II the Iron before the parade proceedings. Popular culture Ashot II features prominently as a character in Muratsan's nineteenth-century historical novel Gevorg Marzpetuni. References Bagratuni dynasty Kings of Bagratid Armenia 928 deaths 10th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown 10th-century Armenian people