Page:The History of Armenia - Avdall - Volume 1.djvu/94

 HISTORY OF ARMENIA. Page 49

tyrannical character, he took every occasion to distress the Armenians, and by this means to revenge the injury he had formerly sustained from them when he was driven out of the country.

A quarrel however took place between him and Eumenes the illustrious governor of Cappadocia, who had advised him to treat the Armenians with mildness. Having by flattery engaged Ardward, the great chief, to espouse his cause, by his means he raised troops, and being joined by some discontented Macedonians residing in Cappadocia, boldly advanced towards Eumenes, but being defeated by the latter, he was obliged to seek safety by flight.

A second battle took place shortly after, in which the chiefs of the two armies had a personal encounter. Such virulence and rancour were displayed by them in this conflict, that they resembled two wild beasts encountering with a determination not to desist until after the destruction of one. Dropping the reins of their horses, they grappled each other by the armour, and falling in this position to the ground, gave and received several dreadful wounds. Eumenes had stabbed Neoptolemus in the thigh; but the latter, undaunted, continued to fight on his knees, inflicting three severe wounds in the other's arm and thigh. Eumenes, however, succeeded in killing his antagonist,