Marwan 2 was the son of Muhammad 2 and a cousin of the caliph Hisham 1; in c. 728/729 Hisham gave him authority over Armenia and the surrounding areas; he made his capital at Maipherqat (Myprqyt), where his descendants still lived long after his death: Chron. 1234, §164 (p. 310), cf. §§170-171 (pp. 316-317) (governor of Armenia in 744). Son of Muhammad 2, in 744 Marwan 2 was Arab governor of Armenia (τὴν Ἀρμενίαν διέπων); at the news that the caliph al-Walid II (Walid 2) was dead and had been succeeded by Yezid 4, Marwan 2 seized Mesopotamia, apparently in support of the children of Walid 2 and in opposition to Yezid 4; following the death of Yezid 4 and the accession of Yezid 4's brother Ibrahim 1, Marwan 2 marched against him with the troops of Mesopotamia and near Damascus met and defeated Sulayman 2; he entered Damascus to find that Sulayman 2 in his flight had killed the children of Walid 2; Marwan 2 killed many of the leading figures there as well as all those involved in the murders of Walid 2 and of his children, and then transferred all the money and treasures from Damascus to Carrhae in Mesopotamia: Theoph. AM 6235, cf. Chron. 1234, §172 (pp. 317-318) (his seizure of power; he was proclaimed caliph at Damascus on Friday, 2 November 744).

Marwan 2 was caliph from 744 to 750. He crushed the rebellion of Thebit and Dachak (al-Dahhak 1) near Emesa; he allowed the election of Theophylaktos 5 as patriarch of Antioch on the death of Stephanos 9; at Emesa he crucified many Chalbenoi and executed Abas 2, who had shed much Christian blood and had had a hand in the murder of al-Walid (Walid 2): Theoph. AM 6236. Marwan 2 defeated Sulayman 2 and then, faced with revolts at Emesa, Heliopolis and Damascus, sent his own son to face al-Dahhak 1 and himself attacked and took Emesa; he then met al-Dahhak 1 in Mesopotamia and defeated and killed him (in 746); Marwan 2 killed all the surviving kinsmen and followers of the former caliph Hisham 1 and destroyed the walls of Heliopolis, Damascus and Jerusalem, killing their leaders and mutilating the other inhabitants: Theoph. AM 6237. His victory is recorded in Theoph. AM 6239 (under the year 748). His rule, categorised as brutal and oppressive, and the wars against him are narrated in Chron. 1234, §§172-175 (victories over Thabit, Dahak and Sulayman).

From 748 to 750 Marwan 2 faced a major revolt from Khorasan organised by Abu Muslim 1; he was defeated with overwhelming losses in a battle at the river Zab and fled westwards to Carrhae (Harran) and from there he took all his wealth and his household and fled into Egypt: Theoph. AM 6240. In the following year (750) his enemies caught up with him and after another hard-fought battle he was killed; his reign (described as a captivity - ἅλωσις) lasted six years: Theoph. AM 6241. His final years, defeat and death are described in Chron. 1234, §§176-180 (pp. 324-332). On the end of his reign, see Shaban, Islamic History I, p. 189.

After the overthrow of the Umayyads, Marwan 2's surviving sons and kinsmen fled via Egypt and Africa to Spain, where they joined with members of the family who had gone there in the days of Mu`awiya 1; they were still living there "to this day" (μέχρι τοῦδε τοῦ χρόνου): Theoph. AM 6241. His preserved head was displayed to opponents of Abbasid rule, which usually ended resistance: Theoph. AM 6242.

After the deaths of Yezid 4 and Ibrahim 1 Marwan 2 came from Armenia, defeated Sulayman 2 and became ruler of the Arabs: Mich. Syr. II 505. His rule is described as oppressive and ended when he was defeated and killed by Abdullah 5: Mich. Syr. II 505, 517. Marwan 2 succeeded Hisham 1 as ruler of the Arabs and ruled for six years; he was succeeded by Abdelas (see as-Saffah 1): Const. Porph., DAI 22, 56ff. See further Encyclopaedia of Islam, VI, pp. 623-624.

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