Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/379

Rh ARSACIDAE. tu8, and with the Parthians. The historj' of tliis dynasty is involved in great difficulties, as the Latin and Greek authors do not always agree with the Armenian historians, such as Moses Chorenensis, Faustus Byzantinus, and others. The Romans do not call the d}'nasty of the Armenian kings by the name of Arsacidae ; they mention several kings of the name of Arsaces, and others descended from the Piuthian dynasty of the Arsacidae, and they seem not to have known several kings mentioned by the Armenijin historians. On the other hand, the Annenian writers know but one dynasty reigning in Armenia during that period, and they do not mention several kings spoken of by the Romans ; or, if they mention their names, they do not con- sider them as kings. The consequence of this is, that every account based exclusively on Roman and Greek writers would be incomplete ; they want to be compared with the Armenian historians, and thus only a satisfactory result can be obtained. Several attempts have been made to reconcile the different statements of the western and eastern historians, as the reader may see from the notes of the brothers Whiston and the works of Vailkint, Du Four de Longuerue, Richter, and especially St. Martin, which are cited below. The expression "kings o/" Armenia" is in many instances vague, and leads to erroneous conclusions, especially with regard to the Arsacidae. The trans- actions of the Romans with Annenia will present much less dithculties if the student will remember that he has to do with kings iw Armenia, and kings of Armenian origin reigning in countries bej^oud the limits of Armenia. The history of the Arsjx- cidae cannot be well understood without a previous knowledge of the other dynasties before and after that of the Arsacidae ; for Armenian kings were known to the Greeks long before the accession of the Arsacidae ; and the annals of the Eastern em- pire mention many important transactions with kings of Armenia, belonging to those dynasties, which reigned in this country during a period of almost a thousand years after the fall of the Arsa- cid.ae. But as any detailed account would be out of place here, we can give only a short sketch. I. Dynasty of Haig, founded by Haig, the son of Gathlas, who is said to have lived B.C. 2107. Fifty-nine kings belong to this dynasty, and among them Zarmair, who, according to the Ar- menian historians, assisted the Trojans at the siege of their city, where he commanded a body of As- syrians; Dikran or Tigmnes, a prince mentioned by Xenophon {Cp'op. iii. 1, v. I, 3, viii. 3, 4); and Wahe, the last of his house, who fell in a battle with Alexander the Great in B. c. 328. 'l"he names of the fifty-nine kings, the duration of their reigns, and some other historical facts, mixed up with fabulous accounts, are given by the Ar- menian historians. II. Seven Governors appointed by Alexander, and after his deatli by the Seleucidae, during the period from 328 to 149 B. c. III. Dynasty of the Arsacidae, from b. c. 149 to A. D. 428. See below. IV. Persian Governors, from a. d. 428 to 625. V. Greek and Arabian Governors, from A. D. 632 to 855. VI. Dynasty of the Pagratidae, from 855 to 1079. The Pagratidae, a noble family of Jewish origin, settled in Armenia in b. c. 600, according to ARSACIDAE. 361 the Armenian historians. They were one of th« most powerful families in Armenia. After they had come to the throne, they sometimes were com- pelled to pay tribute to the khalifs and to the em- perors of Constantinople, and in later times they lost a considerable part of Armenia. A branch of this family reigned at Kars for a considerable time after 1079. Another branch acquired the kingdom of Georgia, which it possessed down to the present day, when the kst king, David, ceded his kingdom to Russia, in which country his descendants are still living. The princes of Bagration in Russia are likewise descended from the Pagratidae, an- other branch of whom settled in Imerethia in the Caucasus, and its descendants still belong to the principal chiefs of that country. VII. Dynasty of the Ardzrunians, said to have been descended from the ancient kings of Assyria. Several members of it were appointed governors of Armenia by the first khalifs. In a.d. 855, this family became independent in the northern part of Armenia in the country round the upper part of the Euphrates. Adom and Abusahl, the last Ardzrunians, were killed in 1080 by the em- peror Nicephorus Botaniatcs, who united their do- minions with the Byzantine empire. VIII. Mohammedan dynasties. 1. Of Kurd- ish origin, from A. d. 984 to a. d, 1085. 2. Of Turkoman origin, from a. d. 1084 to a. d. 1312. They resided in diflferont places, and the extent of their dominions varied according to the military success of the khalifs of Egypt and the Seljukiaji princes. IX. Dynasties of different origin, from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. Some kings belonged to the Pagratidae, among whom was the celebrated Haython I. or Hethum in 1224; and some were Latin princes, among whom was Leo VI. of Lusignan, who was driven out by the khalif of Egypt, and died in Paris in 1393, the last king of Armenia. Otto, duke of Brunswick, from whom is descended the present house of Hanover, was crowned as king of Armenia in Germany, but he never entered the country. The Dynasty of the Arsacidae. (See above. No. III.) It has already been said, that there are considerable discrepancies between the statements of the Romans and those of the Arme- nians concerning this dynasty. The Romans tell us that Artaxias, governor of Armenia Magna for Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, made himself independent in his government B. c. 1 88 ; and that Zadriates became king of Armenia Minor, of which country he was praefect. The descendents of Ar- taxias became extinct with Tigranes III., who was driven out by Caius Caesjir ; and among the kings who reigned after him, there are many who were not Arsacidae, but laelonged to other Asiatic dynasties. The Armenians on the contrary say, that the dynasty of the Arsacidae was founded by Valarsaces or Wagharshag, the brother of Mithri- dates Arsaces [Aksaces III.], king of Parthia, by whom he was established on the throne of Armenia in B. c. 149. A younger branch of the Arsiicidae was founded by Arsham or Ardsham, son of Ardashes (Artaxes) and brother of the great Tigranes, who reigned at Edessa, and whose de- scendants became masters of Armenia Magna after the extinction of the Arsacidae in that country with the death of Tiridates I., who was establish- ed on the throne by Nero, and who died mobt