Page:The History of Armenia - Avdall - Volume 1.djvu/90

 HISTORY OF ARMENIA. Page 45

king of the posterity of Haicus, who held the sovereignty of Armenia. In the beginning of his reign he proved exceedingly fortunate in all the enterprizes in which he engaged, but success forsook him at length, and he lost his crown and his life at the same moment. Alexander the Macedonian, about this period, was engaged in war with the Persians, and as the Armenians were allies of the latter, Vahey sent to their assistance an army of 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry. Darius the Persian king, having been defeated and killed, Vahey, listening only to the suggestions of his friendship for that monarch, assembled a vast army, composed of Armenians, Huns, Alans, Georgians, Aluans, and other nations, with which he advanced against Alexander, determined to revenge the death of Darius or perish in the attempt. The latter fate befel him; for in an action that shortly after followed, Vahey was defeated and fell, after performing the most heroic exploits, having reigned about twenty-three years. A vast number of his army perished on the field; many were made prisoners; and the whole of Armenia fell into the hands of Alexander. From this period royalty was unknown in Armenia until the rise of the Arsacidae.