High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ruben I, also Roupen I or Rupen I, (1025/1035 ? Kormogolo, 1095) was the first lord of Armenian Cilicia or ?Lord of the Mountains? (1080/1081/1082 - 1095). He declared the independence of Cilicia from the Byzantine Empire, thus formally founding the beginning of Armenian rule there. The Roupenian dynasty ruled Cilician Armenia until 1219. The Armenian voluntary immigrations into the Byzantine Empire began as early as the 6th century; from the reign of Emperor Maurice (582-602) onwards they were solidly incorporated into the military fabric of the Byzantine army. The Armenian migration to the south-west, began when the Seldjuk invasions made life in the Araxes valley and by Lake Van no longer secure. By the mid 10th century, large numbers of Armenian settlements were well underway in Cilicia.