The continuity of the period of the Armenian Arsacidae makes it the
time when the process of national solidification and unification was
carried out to the point that made Armenia a nation, and beyond this
point. Raffi asserts that the introduction of Greek culture during
the Arsacid dynasty not only changed the religion of Armenians,
but also so affected their language and customs that they became
different from the Persians, which is proof that a process of social
readjustment was going on. [34] It was during this period that the
wandering minstrels spoken of by Langlois journeyed from one end of
the nation to the other, singing their songs, repeating the national
legends, relating the news of the world and the court gossip which
probably made up the largest portion of it.
Les chants de l'antique Armenie rappellent principalement des
evenements la plupart heroiques et legendaires, accomplis a des
epoques tres differentes, ce qui donne a penser qu'ils ont du etre
composes a diverses reprises, par des rhapsodes dont les noms
ne nous sont point parvenus. Les sujets traites dans ces chants
demontrent clairement qu'ils n'ont ete inspires ni a des pretres
paiens, ni a des poetes qui auraient vecu sous leur influence,
en vue d'etre recites dans des fetes religieuses ou en face des
autels. Au contraire, on reconnait de prime abord que ces chants
sont l'oeuvre de bardes nationaux, ayant un libre acces dans les
palais des souverains et a la cour des satrapes. C'est ce qui
fait supposer que ces poemes sont peutetre dus a des menestrels,
a la solde des rois et des nobles et ayant pour emploi de celebrer
leurs vertus et leurs prouesses. [35]
This is putting the case conservatively, for Moses speaks often of
"les chantres" and "les chants." They traveled as far as Persia and
returned, for it is related by the Italian Countess Evelyn Martinengo
how a wandering minstrel, who had just returned from that country,
was entertained by an Armenian patriarchal family living in the
kind of underground habitation described in the beginning of this
thesis. [36] No one was ever more welcome than the minstrel. He was
assigned to the guest chamber usually prepared especially for him,
and always the best chamber in the household. His head and feet were
washed for him by the wife of the patriarch, and at meal time all the
delicacies of the household were spread before him. All guests were
welcome, but no guest more welcome than the minstrel. They must have
listened to his tales in a kind of petrified awe, and heard him sing
his songs in speechless enjoyment.
It was a practice among the minstrels of the time to compete with
each other in public, and it is related how two minstrels entertained
by a Persian prince were led out upon an open grass plot and seated,
one facing the other. Five thousand people made a circle around the
competitors while the rivals contended in song and verse, riddle
and repartee. Each began where the other left off, until finally one
failed to perceive the drift of his adversary, and answering at random,
the spectators proclaimed him beaten. The triumphant bard was led to
the vanquished, whose lyre was taken from him and broken. Robed in
a prince's mantle, the victor was taken to the highest seat in the
banquet hall.
That the people were the judges of the contest, indicates how well
they must have been acquainted with the current folk-songs, legends,
and tradition. How generally and frequently the custom of minstrel
competition was practiced throughout Armenia is not known, but it
certainly is proof, besides Moses' own statements to the same effect,
that the national legends and folk-songs were the possession of the
common people. And what is more important, this same body of legends,
folk-songs, and tradition did more than any other one thing to weld
the sentiments of the people into a single national sentiment, which
crystallized into a real patriotism, a real loyalty and devotion
to any cause that was a national cause, because it was the natural,
spontaneous expression of the life and thought of the people, and no
mean, artificial thing superimposed from outside. [37]
There are other reasons for giving this period the social importance
that I have ascribed to it. The conversion of the people to
Christianity about the third century after Christ was achieved in
no sentimental fashion, but, as I believe, in a manner in which it
alone could have been done, namely, at the point of the sword of their
own king, Tiridates, who was converted from paganism to Christianity
by Gregory the Illuminator. The traditions in connection with this
important event will be told later. Suffice it to say at this point
that the whole process of conversion was carried out so thoroughly
and completely, that it may be described as a national volte-face,
and therefore did not result in the disintegration, civil strife,
and social chaos that would unquestionably have been the result
had the process been carried out by means of peaceful penetration
and propaganda.
The third and last argument in support of the social and national
importance of the period of the Arsacid kings is in respect to the
alphabet which was compiled by St. Mesrob Maschtotz. St. Mesrob was
a former secretary of the king, and desired to extirpate the last
remnants of paganism in the province of Akoulis, but in the absence of
an alphabet he was unable to carry out any scheme of propaganda. He
therefore besought the king, Vramschapouh, to put an end to this
state of things and the latter, in response to the request, placed
all available material at the disposal of the saint. The task was
accomplished in 404, somewhat at the expense of the future devotees
of the language, for the alphabet contains thirty-eight letters. [38]
Nevertheless, most of the sounds of foreign languages were represented,
making it particularly useful as a foundation language for other
languages. St. Mesrob, with a body of translators trained by himself
and St. Sahak, then proceeded to the translation of the Bible,
which was not completed until 433. Liturgies and song-books quickly
followed. To be sure the effect of the invention of the alphabet and
the distribution of the various religious publications that followed
were not felt during the period of the Arsacidae, for the Bible was
not published until after the break-up of the kingdom in 428, when it
was divided between Persia and Rome. But the important point is that
the time had come when the need for an alphabet was making itself very
strongly felt, and this could not have been true of a diversified,
heterogeneous population.
For the three reasons above mentioned, i.e., first, the work of
minstrels, second, the Christianizing of the nation, and third,
the invention of the alphabet, all occurring during the successive
reigns of the Arsacid kings, I should ascribe to this period (150
B.C.-A.D. 428) the integration of the Armenian people into a national
unit. [39] Christianity must have come as a disrupting force, as a
terrible shock, necessitating a complete social readjustment, but the
fact that the readjustment was made shows that the people were ready
for it. For better or for worse the yoke of Christianity was fastened
to the neck of the people, and with it they had to replow the social
soil. The job was a good one, for the Armenian church has been the
chief power during the last ten or fifteen centuries in keeping alive
the streams of national life, and in holding the people together in
the face of invasion and repeated attempts at proselytization by the
Persians and by the Greek and Roman Catholic churches.