 Armenia reached the height of its golden era during his reign and that of his sons and successors, Smbat II (977–89) and Gagik I (990–1020).During the first year of his reign Ashot launched a military assault to free the city of Dvin from Muslim rule, an undertaking that ultimately ended in failure.Despite this setback, he took steps to centralize power in the kingdom, patronizing the Armenian Church in exchange for its support.