Page:The History of Armenia - Avdall - Volume 1.djvu/192

 HISTORY OF ARMENIA.

��they were accustomed^ on Sundays, to give three or four blows with their hammers on their anvils, that Artavazd might not get loose during their cessation from work. Tiran the First, brother of the last monarch, succeeded him. He remained in a state of peace and a. d. 131. tranquillity, spending almost all his time in hunting and other amusements. He had two horses of such swiftness, that it is said they went with the velocity of birds. One day, Datakey, prince of the Buznunians, wishing to reprehend the carelessness of the king in riding, requested the latter to lend him one of his horses. On mounting it, and discovering the value of the animal, Datakey exclaimed, '' If I possessed ' such horses, I should deem myself happier than the most powerful of kings." When Antoninus a. d. i38. Pius became emperor of Rome, Tiran sent ambassadors to him to renew the treaty made by Trajan and Artaces, between the two states. Antoninus, in token of the friend- ship and protection of the Romans, sent him a royal crown and purple robes. The em- peror also caused medals to be struck, on which were two figures engraven : one repre- sented Antoninus himself, the other Tiran ; the former with his hand placed on the shoulder of the latter; and the whole surmounted by this inscription, "Rex Armeniis datus/' that is, *^a

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