Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

26 Armenia 179
an embassy, [urging] that his relatives should come in support and should stand
against them with his kingdom, and that help would be given to him from the
regions of the Kūˇsān and from that border and from their own country, by brave
peoples and military forces, that they would come in support, the houses, the chiefs
and nobles and family-heads of the Parthians, did not pay heed because they had
accepted and submitted to the sovereign rule of Ardaˇsīr rather than the sovereignty
of their own relative and brother.
During the Parthian and Sasanian eras the history of Armenia was closely
linked to that of Iran. 28 Accordingly, the testimonies of Armenian historiography
are very valuable for us, not least because they yield numerous
details regarding the history and culture of the Sasanian Empire. However,
frequently these sources show a pro-Armenian or rather anti-Iranian
bias and – as they were composed during a later period – also confront us
with problems of chronology. 29 This applies above all to the early phases
of Sasanian history. The passage above is an excerpt from an Armenian
history, several revised editions of which have survived under the author’s
name ‘Agathangelos’. Although the author claims to have been an eyewitness
during the reign of Tiridates the Great (who ruled until c. 330),
his work is most likely a compilation of the fifth century. Agathangelos
describes the reaction in Armenia immediately after the Arsacids had been
overthrown by the Sasanians. 30 Xusrō, the king of Armenia and brother
of the last Parthian king, feared that the events would jeopardise his own
position. Being of Arsacid offspring himself, he did not want to acknowledge
the Sasanian dynasty and sought allies in order to continue the fight
against the Sasanians. 31 Agathangelos’ list of Xusrō’s various initiatives in the
Caucasian region once more points to Armenia’s geo-strategic significance,
which steered the activities of the great powers in the region. However,
Xusrō’s efforts were unsuccessful. In the face of the resolute actions of the
first Sasanian king the initial resistance against Ardaˇsīr within the Sasanian
Empire broke down quickly.
28 For a historical survey see Chaumont 1987a: 423–38.
29 As the Armenian script was invented between 410 and 420 and did initially not have any biblical
focus the work cannot predate c. 450; see also Wiesehöfer 2001: 156.
30 On the conflicting accounts of Western and Armenian historiography and the resulting difficulties
in establishing a chronology of the events in Armenia see especially Schottky 1994: 226–31; cf. also
Toumanoff 1969: 233–81.
31 Cf. Chaumont 1987a: 426, ‘The dynastic upheaval in Iran transformed the political scene in Armenia.
The Armenian sources state that the country’s king at the time was Khosrov “the Great”. He was
probably a close relative of the last Parthian monarchs, and he evidently wanted to make his realm
an Arsacid bastion against the Sasanians. Since his own forces were too weak, he needed Roman
support and remained resolutely pro-Roman.’