The life and times of S. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder and patron saint of the Armenian church
Matthew of Tokat
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A 4 oe BE F Waterloo Place OXFORD sie a ae i ee High Street CAMBRIDGE .. - Me 3 oc Trinity Street THE LIFE AND TIMES S. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, The Founder i Patron Saint OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. TRANSLATED FROM THE ARMENIAN, BY Tan Rev. 8. C.,MALAN, M.A. VICAR OF BROADWINDSOR. RIVINGTONS, London, Orford, and Cambridge. 1868. PREFACE. THE question, asked some time ago,—whether or not, “ holy”’ stands before ‘‘ Catholic Church,” in the Armenian version of the Nicene Creed—led me to think that a few authentic documents in connexion with the Armenian Church, might prove acceptable to those who take interest in more than one branch of Christ’s holy Catholic Church on earth. I therefore gathered together and translated the following :— I. A short Summary of the Armenian Church and Nation, which is a reprint in a separate form from the Minutes of Home Administration in Russia, for the year 1843. The copy kindly lent me on this occasion by the Rev. R. W. Blackmore, Rector of Donhead 8. Mary, Wilts, was given him in 1843, by Nerses V., who was then Patriarch elect of Arme- nia, and was afterwards visited at Htchmiadzin by Muravieff, as mentioned by him in his travels. So that the information contained in this summary may be relied on as correct, so far as it goes. A 2 1V Preface. Il. The Acts and Martyrdom of S. Thaddeus and of S. Bartholomew, the Apostles of Armenia. These are translated from the Armenian, and give the tradi- tions on the subject commonly believed in the Armenian Church. III. The Infe and Times of S. Gregory the Illuwm- nator, the Founder and Patron Saint of the Armenian Church. The translation here given is from the original by the Vartabed Matthew (of Tokat ?), published at Venice in 1749. In preparing this, I had the choice of two things— either to select my own materials, and, acting as critic, to write a history of 8. Gregory; or to trans- late one already written from the best, if not the only available, authorities, namely, Agathangelos and Simeon Metaphrastes, by an Armenian, with Armenian sympathies for “the Sun of Armenia,” as S. Gregory is called among his own people. I chose the latter course as preferable; my object in this case being, not so much to sever truth from fiction, or, at least, probable facts from mere legends, as to put into English the history of the first Patriarch and Patron Saint of Armenia, as it 1s commonly received in his Church, without any comment of my own, beyond an occasional word or note by way of explanation, always enclosed within brackets. I therefore aimed only at giving a grammatical trans- lation, purposely leaving the idiom thereof such as Preface. Vv to remind the reader that both the original and the translation of it give other men’s thoughts, and not my own. IV. The Confession of Faith of the Armenian Church. I first began the translation of this treatise from the Russian work of Joseph, once Patriarch of -Armenia and Prince Dolgorucki, published at 5S. Petersburg in 1799, which is yet spoken of among Russian Armenians as the standard book on the subject. Although it professes to be translated from the Armenian, as stated on the title-page, I yet soon found that it is almost word for word the translation of Schreeder’s Confessio Hider Armenice LHcclesic, written by himself with notes of his own, and found in his Thesaurus Lingue Armenice, pp. 249—298. I then translated it from his copy, and the authorities given, from the Armenian; comparing Schrceder’s original with the Russian translation, which is tole- rably correct; except that it omits all the bits of scholarship or of close criticism given by the learned German. Lest, however, I should make a mistake, I wrote to 8. Petersburg; and through the kind offices of his Excellency Mr. De Golovnine, late Minister of Public Instruction, I ascertained from Mr. Delianoff, an Armenian, who is Senator, Secretary of State, at- tached to the Ministry of Public Instruction, and Director of the Imperial Library, that there exists vl Preface. no Armenian original of this Russian translation by the Patriarch Joseph; so, that we may look upon Schroeder’s treatise as the true expression of the Armenian faith. For the Patriarch calls God and men to witness that it is so; and challenges the latter to find aught amiss in it. We may therefore rely on the authenticity thereof; bearing in mind, however, that as it is the Confession of Faith of the Armenian Church, by which is always understood the Armeno-Gregorian, or Armenian Church of 8. Gregory, this Confession is always placed at the beginning of the Common Prayer Book (Jamakirk) of that Church; whence, therefore, 1t 1s with sundry prayers, removed, in the editions of that book published by schismatic or Romish Armenians. It is not found in the Jamakirk I have, published at Venice in 1837, while it forms, so to speak, the preface to the one I brought from Constantinople, published by Gregorian Armenians. V. The Order of Holy Baptism in the Armenian Church. I translated this from that order, as it is given in the Medz Mashdots, or Armenian Ritual : comparing it with the Russian translation thereof by the Patriarch Joseph, and with the Order of Bap- tism given me at Jerusalem by the Armenian Arch- bishop, and published by his authority. VI. The Office of the Divine Liturgy of the Arme- man Church. This is translated from an original Preface. vu I bought at Constantinople, and compared with the translation by the Patriarch Joseph, with the Romish Armenian Liturgy published at Venice, and with the French translation by Dulaurier. The differences between all these are given in notes. VII. Instruction in the Christian Faith of the Armenian Church, by the Vartabed Mser, and pub- lished in Armenian at Moscow in 1850, under the auspices of the Patriarch Nerses V., already men- tioned. It ig an important treatise for the know- ledge of the Armenian faith, inasmuch as it gives native authorities for every point of doctrine put forward. VIIL. The Differences between the Armeman and the Greek Churches. This is an interesting and well written account by Muravieff, not only of the differ- ences in doctrine that sever the Armenian Church from the Greek, but also of all the efforts at re-union - between the two Churches, made chiefly by 8S. Nerses of Cla or Hromgla, and the Archbishop of Lampron. This account is translated from the Russian of Muravieff’s Travels, vol. 1. pp. 206—257. Of these several treatises, all prepared for the press at the same time, only the first three are now published. ‘The small interest still taken in such matters, in spite of a great deal of desultory talk about “the re-union of Christendom,” does not justify the publishers in attempting more at present. vil Preface. Yet, as the portion of the work left out is by far the most important as regards doctrine and matter of fact in Church history, should any encouragement be given to the publication of the treatises now omitted, they may see the heht at some future day. Church folk, however, are now so taken up with silks, lace, candles at noon-day, and other. ques- tions equally frivolous,—very much like children playing at dolls while their house is on fire,—that more solid lore and better sense meet with little or no favour. In sooth, the only inducement to an honest work- man to toil at an irksome task of this kind is assuredly not held out to him by man. But the labour is for Christ and for His Church; and this of itself is the greatest reward. S. C. MALAN. BROADWINDSOR, June 18, 1868. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH AND PEOPLE. PAGE I. Of the Armenian Kingdom and Nation , ; : 3 Il. Of the Armenian Church . . j P ? See a. III. Of the Armenian Hierarchy : : ee OU INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO ARMENIA. I. The Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus 66 II. The Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy ne Bar- tholomew . ; : ‘ ‘ os! HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF S. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR. CHAPTER I. Of the time and place of his birth . é ; we LOT x Contents. CHAPTER II. How S. Gregory was brought up by his nurse, and taught in the paths of wisdom, and of a godly life CHAPTER III. Of the marriage of S. Gregory while a layman, and of his giving up the married state after the birth of his two sons : : CHAPTER IV. How Tiridates, the son of Chosroes, king of Armenia, escaped with his sister out of the hands of Ardashir, king of Persia; of his birth, and deeds of valour, and how he received his crown from the Roman Emperor, in token of his triumphs over Armenia CHAPTER V. How Tiridates came with a great army to his own land of Armenia, and obtained the kingdom after much fighting. CHAPTER VI. Testimony of the holy Father Gregory the Illuminator, given before ‘Tiridates, king of Armenia, touching the faith of Jesus Christ, when the king tried, by entreaties as well as by threats, to turn him to the worship of his gods CHAPTER VII. Concerning the first sufferings S. Gregory willingly endured for the sake of Christ, out of love for Him PAGE 118 122 126 134 139 Contents. CHAPTER VIII. Of the second torture endured by S. Gregory; of his humility, patience, and of the prayers he then offered CHAPTER IX. Of the third and fourth tortures of S. Gregory, and of the heavenly joy with which he replied to the questions the king put to him : : : CHAPTER X. Of the fifth, sixth, and seventh torture of S. Gregory, and of the godly words in which he replied to the king’s inquiries Seat 3 : ‘ ‘ : : ; CHAPTER XI. Of the eighth torture to which they put the saint, and how sore it was; of the questions the king asked him, and with what holiness of soul he replied to them CHAPTER XII. Of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh tortures of S. Gregory, and of his words to the king : : ; CHAPTER XIII. Of the twelfth torture to which S. Gregory was put, and how wonderfully the Martyr of Christ remained through it unhurt and invincible. Of the pit into which he was cast to die, and how long he remained in it CHAPTER XIV. Concerning S. Rhipsime and her companions; who they were and whence they came into Armenia al PAGE 154 165 169 174 176 182 187 x Contents. CHAPTER XV, PAGE How king Tiridates heard of the arrival of S. Rhipsime ; what means he used to have her; and how, when taken, she was brought to the king’s palace. : . i: $3803 CHAPTER XVI. How S. Rhipsime, strengthened from above, struggled with the king; how she overcame him; and how gloriously she and her companions ended their course on earth . 9208 CHAPTER XVII. Of the martyrdom of S. Gaiane and her companions, of the insults they endured, and of the infamous punishment that came from the Lord upon the king and his servants. 214 CHAPTER XVIII. How 8S. Gregory was brought out of the pit by a divine revelation. How the king, while in the form of a boar, came and fell at his feet, he and they that were plagued with him. How the saint healed them all, and gathered together the relics of the holy martyrs . : . 220 CHAPTER XIX. How 8. Gregory comforted with words full of hope the king and the people who, for fear of God’s plagues upon them, were now at the Saint’s feet. How he prayed them to turn to God, to repent, and with an obedient heart to hearken to the  the king and to the whole Armenian nation during those sixty days and more wiz Contents. Xi CHAPTER XXI. PAGE Of the vision seen by 8. Gregory, and by him told to the king and to the whole multitude; and how he entreated them to build a temple to the holy virgin martyrs . . 389 CHAPTER XXII. Of the activity with which the people who were enlightened by the Illuminator set about building the convent of S. Rhipsime, and of the quantity of gifts and of other offerings they brought to the sacred remains of the martyrs ; and how the Saint restored at once the senses to the king, who still had the appearance of a boar; of the care with which the sacred relics of the holy martyrs were laid in separate chests and placed to rest in their tombs ; and how, after all this, the king was perfectly restored to his former state . : ; : : . 262 CHAPTER XXITI. How king Tiridates, together with S. Gregory, destroyed the temples of devil-idols in the land of Armenia, and determined to raise in their places temples to the true God. How the Saint drove away the devil when he rose up against him; and how he continued to shed abroad his light, by turning to Christ the whole Armenian nation through divine signs and the preaching of the Gospel . 2638 CHAPTER XXIV. How S. Gregory was chosen by king Tiridates and all the princes of the realm to be bishop of all Armenia, in con- sequence of a revelation. How he was sent to Caesarea to seek imposition of hands; by whom he was conse- erated ; and how he then returned . 3 : : wep ( 9 X1V Contents. CHAPTER XXV. PAGE Of the wonders wrought by S. Gregory after his return from Cesarea, with the power of the holy Cross, against the assaults of devils; how many idol-temples he de- stroyed; how many people he enlightened with holy Baptism, and who they were; and of the strange things that took place at the arrival of the relics of the holy Precursor [S. John the Baptist] and of the martyr Athanakini, which S. PEELE, Pre eet with him from Cappadocia. ; s : 4 Ss CHAPTER XXVI. How and when S. Gregory baptized king Tiridates and his house, and all his army, with the princes and generals thereof. Also concerning the wonders wrought from the Lord on the occasion of that solemnity . 5 ; 7) ago CHAPTER XXVII. Of the schools founded by the Illuminator in which pastors were taught and multiplied under the protection of the king ; and of the number of places wherein the preaching of the Gospel prospered ; of the many churches built and provided with ministers ; and of the convents filled with monks, and how he succoured them when they were in difficulty 3 ; ; : , : : : nes) CHAPTER XXVIII. In what manner S. Gregory, the Sun of Armenia, tended his flock without in any way neglecting his own salva- tion ; how, without diminishing aught in his care of them from the requisite work, yet did he retire from the crowd to give himself up to a close and secluded life 4 WEES B06 Contents. XV CHAPTER XXIX. PAGE How and for what reason S. Gregory, after having provided the country with abundance of spiritual pastors, retired, into the wilderness ; and how, at the request of the king, he consecrated his son bishop in his stead : 3 anil CHAPTER XXX. How it came to pass that S. Gregory and King Tiridates went to visit Pope Silvester and the Emperor Constan- tine the Great; and of the ag joy ee felt at meeting together ; : : ‘ a Oke CHAPTER XXXI. Of the reason for which S. Gregory, when summoned to the Council of Nicza, did not consent to go himself, but sent his son, §. Arisdaghes, in his place. Of his feelings at receiving from his son the decrees of that Council, which he caused to be published throughout Armenia by Aris- daghes ; and of what took place afterwards . : =) O20 CHAPTER XXXII. Of the side of the wilderness in which S. Gregory ex- changed this life for the next; and by what sort of people his body was found and unwittingly covered with stones ; when and where it was made known whose body it was, and where it was laid to rest; and in what part of the country the relics of his saintly  Tsogr-Alshan, or Ceele-Syria, read Tsogr [‘Thoghr]-Alsham, or the Borders of Syria. INTRODUCTION. A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH AND PEOPLE. INTRODUCTION. A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH AND PEOPLE!. I. Of the Armenian Kingdom and Nation. | Age the many and various nationalities of the Russian Empire at present gathered by Pro- vidence into one body, there is found in the Armenian people, also called Haiks or Haikans, the remnant of one of the oldest stocks or types of the human race. In spite of endless vicissitudes and _ revolutions during a long line of centuries, this people alone, among Hastern nations, still retains its peculiar features with, as it were, stubborn constancy and exclusiveness. It still cherishes its original customs, manners, and habits, together with the associations and ideas inherited from a high ancestry, not only wherever it 1s scattered over the whole earth, but especially at home, in the land of its once powerful and glorious existence; where it now lingers among the ruins of its ancient cities, and the crumbling monuments of its great men of old. Yet in no respects is the Armenian people so whole and united ' Translated from Russian State Papers. See Preface. BZ 4 Of the Armenian as in matters of faith drawn from the first at the spring of Hastern light, through the preaching of Christ’s Gospel, which, owing to peculiar circum- stances, has caused a singular exception in the Chris- tian world’—namely, the isolated individual com- munity called the Armenian Church. Armenians themselves, relying on traditions still preserved among them, trace their origin up to Haik, a grandson of Japhet, who lived at the time of the Tower of Babel, and took part in it; and who, after the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of peo- ples that happened there, left the plains of Shinar for the foot of Ararat, that second cradle of the human race*. ‘There he established himself and his family, 2 [ This, from a Greek point of view, means only the Orthodox or Greek Church, from which that of Rome is excluded ; where- fore are Latins rebaptized by the Greek Church. “H rév Aariveyv duapopa (as regards Baptism) Aé€ye 6 péyas éxxAnovdpyyns Sid- Beortpos (th. &. kd. €.) aipecis éort, kal ottrws elyov aitnv ot mpd npav. ‘The Latins then,” continues the Greek commentator, “are heretics from olden time, and as such, they are unbaptized ; —they are laics, and besides being cut off from the Orthodox Church, have none of the graces whereby the priests of the Orthodox Church administer the holy mysteries.” Kavoy. ps’. tov. ay. Ar. épunv. pe 31, and Kav. €. rs B’ otk. Suv. p. 92. | > There are still found around Mount Ararat not only oral tra- ditions of the Ark, but also traces of the Universal Deluge as it is described in Holy Scripture, preserved in the names of several places. Thus the name of the town of “ Nakhitshevan” means ‘the first descent ”—of course, from the Ark ; likewise the name of the small place called “ Ag’ori” signifies, “he (that is, Noah) planted the vine ;” and the name of the district of “ Ar’noyudni,” means “at Noah’s feet.” [The name Ararat, mentioned for the first time in Gen. viii. 4, where it is said, not of a particular mountain but of the mountains of Armenia, is of native origin, and, according to Moses of Kingdom and Nation. 5 the parent stock of the people that called themselves Haikans, after him their ancestor, and gave the name of Haizdan or Haikstan to the land in which they first settled. The sixth descendant in a straight line from Haik, by name Aram, a cotem- porary and ally of the great Assyrian Ninus, dis- tinguished himself in so many ways, but especially by conquests and victories, that ever since, the sur- rounding nations called all Haikans Armenians, and their land, the land of Haik, Armenia. Any how, Chorene (lib. i. 14), was given to the first province of Armenia, on account of the defeat sustained there by Arai, son of Aram, against whom Semiramis made war ; Ararat being, according to this etymology, Arayi-arat, the blot or disgrace of Arai. Mount Masis (Mount Ararat), on which Armenians say the Ark rested, is situated in the province of Ararat, or Atrarat as it is sometimes written; hence its name. The tradition, however, that makes the Ark to have rested on the hills of Cardu (Cordyeni Montes), mentioned in the Targums, the Syriac version, and the Coran, is far more probable. ‘Those mountains rise on the north of the plains of Shinar in Mesopotamia, and were also reckoned to Ararat or Armenia. As to Nakhitshevan, in the province of Vasburagan, it is variously written Nakhdjavan, Nakhstchavan, Nakhstchevan, and Nakhtschuvan. St.-Martin (Mém. Armen. p. 267) however gives pretended etymologies for these words from other authors. ] 6 Of the Armenan the name of Armenia, variously written, appears from time immemorial and every where as the proper name of the land which, from the first, was called by its own people Haistan, and is so called unto this day*. * It is called “ Armenia” by Greeks, Romans, and Syrians ; “ Arminiakh” by Arabs, and “Armen” by Persians. In the ancient sacred books of Persia, attributed to Zerdhust, a tract of country corresponding to Armenia is there called Yeremeno or Eeremeno, which is the same name; due allowance being made for the changes of letters peculiar to the Zend language. It is most probable that this name is connected in more ways than one, or than that of syllables alone, with the name of “ Aram,” given in the Old Testament to the countries called by the Greeks Syria and Mesopotamia, on the borders of Armenia. In the books of the Old Testament, Armenia is properly called Ararat (Gen. viii. 4.11. 2 Kings xix. 37. Isa. xxxvii. 38). Besides, in these same regions may one remark the biblical names ‘‘ Ashkenaz” (Jer. li. 27) and “‘ Togarmah” (Ezek. xxvii. 14; xxxviii. 6). In con- sequence of this, Armenian writers call themselves Ashkenazians and 'Togarmians. [ Without dwelling on the fact that these appellations are claimed by other nations of Europe and of Asia, we may notice that our author omits the word in Jer. li. 27, which is most to the point, namely, Meni or Mini, whence the etymology proposed by Bochart (Geogr. Sacr. col. 20) and others, Ar-ment, the Mount-Meni, ren- dered by J. Bryant the “ Mount of the Moon,” meni, piv, being the well-known name for the moon, with which he connected the worship of the Ark. Be this as it may, we can but notice, in addition to what they say, this passage of Eustathius, in his com- mentary on Dionys. Perieg. 1. 694, da’ ovpeos “Appeviovo—éru 76 "Appeviov dpos—aréoracpa elvat ToD Tavpov, taparetvov ews Kal eis "Appeviay THY ovTw KAynOeicav H ard TOD pyOévTos “Appeviov dpovs, 7 aro twos “Appévov “Podiov avdpés—that this Ar-meni, or Mountain of Armenia, is a branch of the Taurus that extends. into Armenia, thus called, either from that mountain, or from a certain Armenus, a native of Rhodes, who is said to have gone thither with Jason. Strabo, however (lib. xi. c. 14. § 12; ¢. 4. § 8), makes this Ar- menus a native of a town of that name in Thessaly, on the autho- rity of Cyrsilus Pharsalius, who followed Alexander the Great in Kingdom and Nation. 7 There was a time when the frontiers of Armenia or Haistan extended far and wide. They embraced his expedition ; adding, in proof of it, the similarity there was between the Armenian and the Thessalian dresses. This “Mount Armenios” is mentioned by Armenian writers on the authority of Steph. Byz. and other Greek writers (Indjidj. Antiq. i. p. 94). Josephus, Ant. i. 4, quotes Nicolas of Damascus about 76 trép thy Muvdda péya Opos Kata tHv Appeviar, Bdpis Neyopevov, wherein we find Meni, Minyas, in connexion with this mountain, in which some will see the Ark (Baris), thus alluded to by Berosus (lib. ii. p. 57, ed. R.), tpocoxetAay 76 mAotov oper TwWi—xKal Omov eioty (Xisuthrus and his family) 7 yapa *Ap- pevias éeotiv. Something also is made of Amos iv. 38, where ha-harmona, translated “the palace” in the Authorized Version, is rendered 76 dpos 76 ‘Poppdy in the LXX., and written “the mountain of Remana” in the Armenian Version; but in Targ. Jonathan and the Syrian Version, “beyond the mountains of Armenia ;” which the Arabic Version reads ‘on the mountain of Rama;” and the Vulgate, ‘in mount Armen.” One would naturally look for this Ar-ment in Pehlevi, and- for hara-meni or for some such compound word in Zend, as one finds Ar-burg and hara- berezarti for Alborz, the highest summit of the Iberian and of the Bactrian Caucasus; but no such term occurs, nor yet Hermeno, as said by our author, either in Pehlevi or in Zend, so far at least as Lknow. But this subject would carry us too far. The fact remains, that, as Indjidjean says, whereas the terms ‘‘ Armenian ” and ‘‘ Armenia” are never once used by Armenians themselves, the terms Haik and Haistan, by which they name themselves and their country, are not once heard of in ancient historians of other countries. The family of Togarmah, as it is given by Georgian and Armenian writers, viz. Haik, the eldest son, then Karthlos, who gave his name to Georgia (Karthli), and Partos, Movgan, Legan, Keros, Govgas, Ekres, rests on local traditions. The son of Haik was Armenak ; and from a passage in Moses of Chorene (lib. i. ec. 11), where Armenak is said to have settled in a plain at the foot of the Aragadz mountains, to the north of the province of Ararat, it is not impossible that the name of Armenia may have come from him, the second king of the country. See Tchamitch, Hist. of Arm., vol. i. c. 8, and Hist. of Orpel. ch. 1, cet. For, as regards Hermeno, as St.-Martin gives it from Anquetil’s Avesta (Mém. Armen. p. 269), it isa myth. The real word is airyaman, 8 Of the Armenian first and foremost the high table-land crowned by _ the hills of Ararat, which, spreading in the form of a triangle, between the chains of the Caucasus and Taurus, reached unto three inland seas, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Mediterranean, where this forms the Bay of Alexandretta. There lay the original kernel of the Armenian nation, which, in after time, developed itself so far, as to be no longer held within the ranges of the Caucasus and of Mt. Taurus, but to be thus obliged to push into Asia Minor on the one side, and on the other as far as the mountains of Iran. Formerly Armenia was divided by geographers and historians into Greater and Lesser ; being parted the one from the other by the Euphrates, that takes its source in the interior of Armenia proper ; Greater Armenia being on the left bank or eastern side of the river, and Lesser Armenia on the western side of it. “obedient,” also “prayer” and “the Genius of prayer” (see Spiegel Vendid. xxxiil. Farg. tr. note), and not the name of a country ; though it be derived from Airya, “noble, true, loyal ;” also an Arian, an inhabitant of Aryana, or Iran. Neither has the name of a city or country “ Irman,” mentioned in the Shah-nameh, any thing to do with it. | Kingdom and Nation. 9 Greater Armenia was then divided into the follow- ing fifteen provinces:—I. Pardzr-Haik, or upper Armenia; IJ. Daik, afterwards called Akhaltzik ; III. Kukar, the Gogarene of the Ancients, now called Somkhet; IV. Udi, formerly called Otena, now Shaki; V. Charrod-Haik, or fourth Armenia, on the borders of the Sophene of Greek and Latin writers; VI. Duruperan, or Taron of the ancients; VII. Ararat, the heart of Armenia; VIII. Vasbura- gan, called Aspuragan and Vasparagan by Byzantine historians; IX. Siunik, otherwise called Sisagan, probably the Sacasene of classic authors; X. Artsak, now Karaban; XI. Pkhaidagaran, to which belongs the present Shirwan, called by Armenian writers Khorin-Haik, that is, Inner Armenia; XII. Agtsnik, otherwise Agtsen, the Arzana and Arzanena of By- zantine writers; XIII. Mokk, probably the classic Moxoene; XIV. Gord-Haik, that is, Kurdish-Arme- nia, the Gordene or Cordiene of Greek and Latin authors; and lastly, XV. Parska-Haik, the Persian Armenia of classic authors. Lesser Armenia, on the other hand, on the western side of the Euphrates, contained only five provinces, which were :—I. Aratchin-Haik, or First Armenia ; II. Ergrort-Haik, or Second Armenia; III. Errort- Haik, or Third Armenia; IV. Euphratesia, called Comagene by ancient writers; and V. Cilicia, other- wise Zemlia-Sisskaia (the Land of Sis) and Tsogr- _ Alshan, or Coele-Syria°. 5 Armenians attribute the subdivision of Armenia into Greater and Lesser, as well as into First, Second, Third, &c., to Aram 10 Of the Armenian According to home traditions, almost the whole of this region was under the descendants of Haik, who governed it at times as independent rulers, and at others, as more or less dependent on their powerful neighbours of Assyria, Persia, or Media, until the dismemberment of ancient Asia, wrought by the conquests of Alexander the Great. The last king of the race and dynasty of Haik was Baghe, who perished, they say, while fighting against the Mace- donian conqueror, as ally of the ill-fated Darius Codomanuus (8.0. 328) °. From that time Armenia has been a prey to the troubles that convulsed Western Asia in conse- quence of the utter extinction of her line of native kines. After the death of Alexander, Armenia, himself, from whom the country received the name of Armenia. It is however most probable, that at least the numerical division into First, Second, &., belongs to the Roman‘period. [From the expression used in Jer. li. 27, “the kingdoms of Ararat,” or of Armenia, it would seem that the country was subdivided at a comparatively early period. ] ° During the whole reign of the Haikan dynasty, ie seat of the Armenian government was at Armavir on the Araxes, in the province of Ararat, now only an insignificant village, called Surmeli by the Turks. The most celebrated of the Sovereigns of the race of Haik was Digran or Tigranes I., a cotemporary of Cyrus, and it would seem also an ally of his in his wars with ' Astyages the Mede, who, according to Armenian traditions, perished on the field of battle by the hand of Tigranes himself. This same Tigranes is also said to have founded the city of Tigra- nocerte, now called Amid or Diarbekr by the Turks. [Sert, near the Murad Chai, situated on a high table-land, difficult of ap- proach, and commanding a magnificent view of the high hills of Armenia, is also by some supposed to be the Tigranocerta of olden times. ] Kingdom and Nation. EL which then stood in the position of a conquered province, endeavoured in vain to recover her former independent state. For the Seleucidz, who helped themselves to all the lands brought by Alexander under his own dominion, were not disposed to keep their hands off Armenia; but they obliged her to be governed by rulers of their own choice. Under Antiochus the Great, however, two native Armenians, Artaxias and Zadriad, who had been appointed by the Seleucidz governors of Greater and of Lesser Armenia respectively, took advan- tage of the defeat of Antiochus by the Roman army (B.C. 199), and proclaimed once more their native land independent; each of them continuing ruler of his own division of the country. Zadriad, who governed Lesser Armenia, handed down his throne to his descendants, whose rule continued until the final overthrow of North-western Asia by Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus. Then, after various changes, this part of Armenia was added to the Roman Empire under Vespasian. But Greater Armenia, no later than in the days of Artabazd’, son of Artaxias, surrendered herself willingly into the hands of Arsaces VI. (or Mithri- 7 According to Greek historians, the celebrated Hannibal, when obliged by the Romans to seek refuge at the court of Antiochus the Great, fled to Artaxias, and built for him in the province of Ararat, on the Araxes, the city of Artaxata (in Armenian Ar- dashad or Ardashar), which was for some time after that the capital of the Armenian kingdom. There now remains of it nothing but somewhat remarkable ruins in the neighbourhood of Erivan. 12 | Of the Armenian dates I.), king of Parthia, surnamed Arsaces the Great, who then made his own brother king over her, and after him his son Valarsaces, called Volo- geses in classic authors, who founded his own new dynasty of Armenian kings that retained the title of Arsacides, as well as that of kings of Parthia. The rule of the Arsacide continued in Armenia for nearly six centuries, from B.c. 149 to a.p. 428. The beginnings thereof were both the happiest and brightest times for Armenia. But when Mithridates the Great fell, and the barrier that kept off the Romans from North-western Asia was thus thrown down, Armenia, that lay on the road to Parthia, became the scene of the most bloody contests and of disastrous wars, between those two European and Asiatic Empires, struggling with each other on that field of battle for the sovereignty of the then known world. Affinity of blood and of nation, however, led Armenia to side with the Parthians, with whom she found a natural protection against the Romans; a boon which had to be purchased at a high price by submission on the part of the younger Armenian Arsacide to the elder Parthian branch of the same dynasty. But when the elder Arsacide were put down by Ardashir or Artaxerxes, who restored the Persian Monarchy in the centre of Asia, for the sake of the Sassanidian dynasty which he founded, this new dynasty brought to bear all the hereditary and family jealousies of the elder Parthian Arsacide, upon the younger Armenian branch of that same Kingdom and Nation. Lo family, and for this reason it tried to put them under the dependency of Rome. When, however, the seat of the Roman Empire was brought to the Bosphorus, on the borders of Asia, the nearer approach of the Roman armies to those of Persia, which had taken up the place, and acted the part of Parthia in the Hast, only tended to increase their mutual jealousy. Then did Armenia fare still worse. She had to suffer not only from every encounter of these formidable neighbours, but also from others; until the end of it was, that the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius the Great and the Persian Shah Shapur III. (4.p. 387) parted that unfortunate country between themselves. The Ar- sacidee continued yet a little while among the faded remains of their ancestry, with a mere shadow of power, as vassals both of Emperors and of Shahs. Then came a moment when one of these, Chosroes III., gathered once more the whole of the former kingdom of Armenia under his rule, proclaiming himself tributary both of Byzantium and of Iran. This, however, did not last long. For Shah Behram V. deposed Ardashes IV., the successor of Chosroes, thus putting an end to the power of the Armenian Arsacide, and, withal, effacing in Armenia the faintest trace of her independent existence’®. § During the reign of the Arsacide, the central power of Ar- menia removed towards the south, to the banks of the Tigris, in the province of Agtsnik, where the kings then fixed their resi- dence, at first at Nisibis, in Armenian, Metsbin (B.c. 149 to a.p. 14); then they went to Edessa, in Armenian, Oorfa or Oorha (a.D. 14—55) ; then back again to Nisibis (aA.pv. 55—79); and 14 Of the Armenian After this, and for about two hundred years (A.D. 4.28—632), the greater portion of Armenia continued under the rule of the Persian Shahs, being governed by men of their own choice, called ‘ Marzbans.” Meanwhile the Byzantine Emperors who had posses- sion of sundry fragments of the Armenian kingdom, would not give up their pretensions to the whole. In time, however, the Sassanidian monarchy fell during the political convulsions caused in the very heart of Asia by the religion of Mahomet and the conquests of the Caliphs (4.p. 632). And then, Armenia, groaning under the Arab yoke, gave her- self up of her own accord to the Emperor Heraclius, who made. for her a new order of rulers, with the Byzantine title of ‘‘ Patricians’’ or “ Curopalates.” These Curopalates and Patricians were in general thence the Arsacide Sanadrug returned to reside at Armavir, the ancient capital of the Haikan kings. But his successor, who was not of the Arsacidz, Erovant IT., lived (a.p. 58—78) in the city of Erovantashad, built by himself in the province of Ararat, near the confluence of the Akhurean with the Araxes. Then Erovant’s successor, a son of Sanadrug, Ardashes III. (4.p. 78—120), rebuilt Artaxata or Ardashad, an ancient city in those parts [ built by Hannibal; see note above, p. 11], and in it fixed the seat of his kingdom, which continued there until Vagharsh, or Valarsaces, a nephew of Ardashes (A.p. 178—198) brought it to the city of Valarshabad, which he rebuilt, and where it remained for nearly a century and a half, until a.p. 344. Valarshabad was abandoned by Chosroes II., who, at first, went thence to Ardashad, and then to the new city of Tovin or Tevin, built by himself (4.p. 350). From that time Tovin, or Tevin, became the residence of the Arsacide until their downfall; but a part at least of this, the capital city of Armenia, continued to subsist some time later, even in the tenth century. Kingdom and Nation. — _ 15 chosen from native Armenians, as the Marzbans had also been chosen by the Persian Shahs ’°. But the Caliphs who had inherited the power of the Sassanid, received also with it all their preten- sions to the land of Armenia. They soon, therefore, shared with the Cesars the right of government in Armenia; but later, having succeeded in bringing the whole country under their sole dominion, they set over it Governors of their own, called ‘‘ Osdi- gans.” This state of things lasted about two centuries (A.D. 693—859), during which Armenia was a prey to continual revolutions and domestic troubles, caused on the one hand by the fanaticism and the despotism of Mahomedan princes, and on the other hand, also, by remnants of national vanity and self- love, fed and flattered by powerful native families accustomed to lord it over their own race with the titles of Marzbans, Patricians, or Curopalates'. * Among the Marzbans, Armenian historians particularly notice Vakhan-Medz, or Vakhan the Great, of the Mamagonian race, who governed Armenia under the Shahs Balash and Kobad (a.p. 485—511); and of the Curopalates and Patricians, the most note- worthy belong also to the same race, Khamasasb (4.p. 654) and Gregory (A.D. 659—683). The latter perished in battle against the Khazars, who were making an irruption into Armenia. [The Mamagonian or Mamiconian race sprang from a certain Mamgo, son of a celebrated king of Djenasdan, or of the Djens, whose country, Moses of Chorene says (Geogr. 96), was near China. See the same writer for particulars respecting the Mamiconian race, lib. ii. ¢. 78. ] 1 The ancient organization of the Armenian kingdom under the Haikan dynasty, admitted of certain inferior and petty sovereigns, subject to the king’s authority, who were called princes, with the 16 Of the Armenian Such was, in general, the ancient, illustrious, and powerful family of the Bagratide, for whom Arme- nian tradition claims a Hebrew origin, and who certainly did exist in Armenia in the times of the Haikan dynasties; while under the Arsacidex they still constituted a powerful aristocratic family, which alone had the right to crown the kings of Armenia. During the Persian and the Byzantine periods, many of them were governors of Armenia. Under the Caliphs they yielded with bad grace to the authority of the “ Osdigans”’ appointed by them, and often managed to get themselves appointed governors of their country, with the Byzantine title of “ Patri- clans,’ wrung by force from the Caliphs. At last one of them, Ashod, surnamed the Great, obliged the Caliph Motovakkel to acknowledge him inde- pendent governor of Armenia, with the title of “Prince of Princes” (A.p. 859), which was after- wards changed by the Caliph Maatmed into the full title of “ King” (a.p. 885). Thus was founded the Third Dynasty of native Armenian kings, some of whom reigned under the pompous title of ‘‘ Shahan- 999 shah,” that is, ‘* Prince over Princes’. privilege of handing down their rank and power from father to son. Thence issued a number of powerful families in Armenia. After the period of the Arsacide they numbered 117 in the fourth century. Some of them equalled in power the reigning kings, with whom they disputed the government of the country, and who, by reason of these princes that were subject to them, took the title of “king of kings.” 2 The founder of the Bagratidian or Bagratian race is said to have been a Jew, brought by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, who Kingdom and Nation. 17 Yet the sentence against Armenia had gone forth. The dynasty of the Bagratidz soon began to grow weaker and weaker through internal decay, divided, as it was, In many branches, every one of which claimed the title of ‘“‘ King.’’ The chief of these royal families that retained for itself the title of *“‘Shahanshah”’ exhausted its resources, not only with internal dissensions, but also in fruitless at- tempts to resist the growing power of the Seldjucide Turks in the interior of Asia, and was thus obliged to make over to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monachus (4.p. 1045) its assumed rights and the pompous but empty titles of a power all but extinct. The branch of the Bagratidz that reigned in Kars soon followed that example towards the Emperor Constantine Lucas (a.p. 1064), and the third off- shoot of that ancient family, that had ruled for cen- turies in the Armenian Albania, held out a little went and settled in Armenia under Rhatch, of the Haikan dynasty, some six centuries before Christ. Their name came to them from Pakrat or Bagrat, to whom Vagharshak (Valarsaces), first of the Arsacide, gave the hereditary dignity of ‘‘Asbed” or knight. Under the Arsacide, the Bagratide princes were already very powerful; and afterwards they still increased in importance. Their influence spread all over Armenia, but it concentrated itself especially towards the interior, under the chain of Ararat, and round the sources of the Euphrates, of the Chorok, and of the Araxes. Ashod, the son of Symbat, who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the ferocious Buga, the last of the Osdigans (A.p. 856), lived at first in Kars, then in Eraskavors, the present Shiragvan, then in Ani, all three cities in the province of Ararat. But on his taking the title of ‘ prince,” he removed to Tovin. Ashod III., however, removed the seat of his government thence back to Ani, about a.p. 961. C 18 Of the Armenian longer, but in the same pitiable plight. The last known descendants of it were, towards the end of the thirteenth century, in bondage among the Mon- gols, where they finally disappeared for ever *. But the ancient and illustrious Empire of Byzan- tium was not in a condition to maintain its hold on the provinces of Armenia which it had acquired, much less to extend its dominion over that country. It is true, indeed, that soon after the Bagratidee had ceased to govern, under the Emperor Nicephorus Botaniates (4.p. 1080), Byzantium gained a few de- tached portions of ancient Armenia, that was raised by the Caliph Moktaderbillah (4.p. 908) to the rank of an independent and separate kingdom, on behalf of the Ardzrunian family, that belonged to some of the principal and most distinguished in Armenia ‘*. But this was the last advantage the Hastern Empire ® The last kings of the first two branches of the Bagratide family, both called Kakiks, died violent deaths at the hands of the Byzantine Greeks. The third branch of the Bagratide, called Goridjian, from the name of its founder, Goridj or Kurken (George), son of the Shahanshah Ashod III., had the seat of its government in Lori, in the province of Daik; but afterwards, having been deprived of all its power by the Georgians, it was reduced to the single fortress of Madznapert, in which it lived. After that, a separate offshoot of the Bagratidian race reigned in Georgia until lately ; and besides kings of the houses of Kartha- linia, Kakheth, and Imereth, it furnished many illustrious families, some of which were long since adopted in Russia under the name of Bagrations, and with the title of “ princes.” * The kingdom of the Ardzrunian race embraced the whole of the province of Vasburagan, and the seat of the government was in Van, which, according to Armenian traditions, was founded by Semiramis, wherefore is it also called Shamiramagerd. 