rus and there rallied. The Armenians, arriving at the banks of the same river, prepared to attack them. The Alan king, however, uneasy on account of his son, who was prisoner, sent overtures of peace, promising that, if his son was restored, the Alans should never again disturb Armenia. Artaces refusing to listen to these terms, Sathinik, the beautiful sister of the captive prince, came to the banks of the river, and thus addressed the king: "O thou powerful and brave Artaces, who hast conquered the warlike. Alans, hear the prayer of the distressed daughter of the king of that people, and restore to him the youth my brother. It is unbecoming to indulge rancor and enmity against a fallen foe. Let us conclude a treaty of peace and friendship between our two great nations." Artaces, hearing her thus speak, and greatly admiring her person, as she was exceedingly beautiful, sent a messenger to the king, offering to make peace if he would give him his daughter in marriage. The king consented; a treaty of peace was concluded, and Artaces became possessed of the beautiful and good Sathinik, with whom he returned to his capital, Artashad, and there celebrated his marriage with great magnificence. This king and queen were greatly beloved, and their memory is still cherished in song. At his death, it is said, all ranks of people clad themselves in mourning. The following is an account of his burial: "The coffin, in which his remains were placed, was of gold, and the shroud in which he was wrapped was of fine linen, richly embroidered. He lay in state for some time on a bed or couch of costly workmanship, his head being adorned with a crown, and a golden shield placed by his side. He was borne to his tomb in similar state, surrounded by his sons and nearest relatives. The troops preceded his corpse in their peculiar war dress, and at intervals the trumpets sounded solemn dirges, which rendered the spectacle still more impressive. On all sides men, women, and children vied with each other, in their expressions of grief for the loss of their excellent monarch.” This interesting account introduces us to many of the customs of this old nation as they existed some 1730 years ago. Though idolatry, mingled with the worship of fire and of the heavenly bodies, prevailed in Armenia during the second and third centuries, yet, from reliable sources, it is evident there were very many Christians in the kingdom during all this time. Under the reign of Diocletian we have accounts of severe persecutions inflicted upon the Armenians in Sivas, Malatia, and other places. In the Ararat region many thousands suffered martyrdom when the Roman Empire extended its authority, for a time, into this part of Armenia. Chosrove, who ruled from 214 to 259, was a cruel persecutor of the Christians, compelling them to labor, as Pharaoh did the children of Israel, in the erection of public edifices, such as temples, palaces, caravanseries, and fortifications. They were also employed in building cities, towns, and villages throughout the kingdom, and in these labors they received, as a remuneration, barely sufficient to support life. Many were put to death by him on account of their faith. From The cities of Armenia at this time were numerous. the second century before, to the fourth century after Christ, a vast number were built that were both large and beautiful. Among them, the two most celebrated, perhaps, were Artashad (Artaxata) and Valarshabad; the former becoming the capital of the kingdom about 189 years B. C., and the latter about the year A. D. 200. Long before the Christian era, when Grecian idolatry held sway in Armenia, the last mentioned city was known by the name of Ardimet, or city of Diana, as it was celebrated for her worship, and here a splendid temple was erected to her honor. This city was celebrated in the third century after Christ, as being the birth place of St. Gregory the Enlightener, who was the great apostle of Armenia, and by whose labors and preaching the Armenians, as a nation, were led to embrace Christianity. It was under the reign of Chosrove, about the year 257, that this event took place, under the following circumstances: The father of St. Gregory was a Parthian prince, and was employed by the King of Persia, as a secret agent, to assassinate the king of Armenia. With this intent, he came to reside in the royal city. It was long before an opportunity offered for the execution of his wicked purpose, and, during this time, Gregory was born. At last, when at one time admitted into the royal presence, drawing from under his robe a concealed dagger, he struck the king to the heart and fled. Being overtaken, he was slain, and all his family were put to death, with the exception of the infant Gregory, whom his nurse concealed, and fled with him to the city of Cæsarea, in Asia Minor. Here he grew up and was converted, and about the year 300 returned, and preached the Gospel with wonderful success to the Armenians. After suffering great persecution from the king Tiridates, he was at length instrumental in his conversion, whom, with thousands of his subjects, he baptized into the new faith. This Gregory was one of the most distinguished men of Oriental Christendom. Devoted heart and soul to the Gospel, he endured all imaginable sufferings for its sake, and, at the same time, evinced a wonderful invention in all earthly means by which it might be established. At his command and that of the king, after the conversion of the latter, schools were everywhere established, in which the children, especially those of the heathen priests, were instructed in the new doctrine, and in the Greek and Syriac languages. The heathen altars were thrown down, and, in their stead and on their sites, Christian temples were erected. The first church in Armenia was raised on the very spot where, formerly, a statue of the heathen god Hercules had stood. Christianity, extending itself in Armenia, regenerated the kingdom and gave it a new existence. Persia had long coveted its complete possession, and, with this intent, had been for ages exciting and carrying on the most bloody wars upon its borders. Her efforts had also been persistent and unwearied in imposing her religion upon the people. When, therefore, the Christian faith was preached and embraced, the new religion caused a moral schism, a separation perpetual and profound, between the Armenians and the sect of Zoroaster. The struggle, however, was long protracted, fierce and bloody. Indeed, the conflict of the early Armenian church with the religion of the Magi was one of the severest and most important to which the Church has been called since the time of After Christ. But the church was finally the conqueror. The Armenian strength and spirit in literature developed with wonderful rapidity. One of the first fruits of this development under Christianity was the Bible, the first literary monument in the Armenian language, and the first work in the Armenian character. Previous to this, the Persian, Syriac, Chaldee, and Greek characters had been more or less in use among the people, but the light of a new faith spreading over the land, scholars flocked to Alexandria, Constantinople, and Athens, for instruction. These scholars, accomplished in the Greek and Syriac, gave themselves at once to the work of translating the scriptures, and the influence of this translation was so great, that the Armenian language was suddenly brought to a high state of perfection and regularity, and this to such a degree, that the fifth century has ever been called the golden age of Armenian literature. Throughout the whole land there were, at that period, schools and institutions of learning, and from that time to the present, there have never been wanting authors among the Armenians. 1 J The history of Armenian literature is a subject which merits, as has before been intimated, more attention than it has yet received. This is particularly true of the historical literature of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and even to the twelfth centuries. The literature of this period opens an entirely new field to the student of history, and introduces him to that time and region of the Asiatic world, where clouds have ever rested, and which clouds no historians of other nations have ever been able to dispel. Without making mention of the many interesting notices given of the primitive nations, by the Armenian authors of those times, it may truly be said that the additional light they throw upon the Persians, Parthians, Arabs, Moguls, Scythians, Tatars, and Turks, is most valuable. They enable us to correct and complete much of what is furnished by Byzantine historians. They give us, in their various writings, almost a complete history of the Parthians and Sassanidæ; and being neighbors of the Tatars, their historians have known and described with more exactitude and detail than the historians of any other nation the origin and migrations of those people. A history of the Albanians upon the Caspian, as well as one of the Huns, might be compiled from Armenian sources. Dulaurier says, "Armenian authors can furnish a valuable complement to the Arabic and Persian historians, and be accepted as faithful and exact narrators." They were, in fact, contemporary or ocular witnesses of the events which they relate. But of those authors who distinguish themselves during these centuries, we cannot speak in detail, as it would lead us into the history of the literature of the nation, which must be made the subject of another Article. The political condition of the country, during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, presents nothing of particular interest. Sometimes tributary to the Greeks, and sometimes to Persia, and, at other times still, striving unsuccessfully to regain its former independence, it became weakened and divided into factions. After the fall of the Arsacidæ (428), the family of Sassan, the Persian, nominally exercised rule over Armenia, and during this time, the government was administered by Marsbans, of Persian origin, though sometimes they were |