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But the Armenian people, who had gathered around their brave Queen Parandzem, continued the battle against the Sasanid invasion army. The Armenian forces, under the leadership of queen Parandzem, positioned themselves in the strong fortress of Artagerkt (near Kaghizman) and Shapour surrounded the fortress. After four months of courageous defence the fortress fell finally into the hand of the Persians. Queen Parandzem was raped and murdered.

The Sasanid invasion of Armenia was followed by a number of horrible events and this was the first time in history that the Armenians had met with such a bloodthirsty and merciless opponent. The main reason for this treatment was that Armenia now was Christian and the Sasanids had not just come face to face with them but also with Christianity, which was the religion of their archenemy, i.e. Byzantine. For political reasons they wanted, at all costs, to force the Mazdeism religion upon the Armenians and that way smash the union of faith between Armenia and the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Persians attacked even the Jews in Armenia (these Jews were the fragments of the population in Palestine whom Tigran II had, by force, moved to the southern parts of the country or else belonged to that group of Jews who had come to Armenia after the destruction of Jerusalem and fought side by side with the Armenians against their common enemy 64). Moreover, the Mazdeists regarded them as equivalent to Christians and thought that they were two closely related religions with the same basic ideas. Shapour forced the majority of the Jews who were living or trading in the Armenian cities to move to Persia in order to strengthen trade between Asia and the west in Persia and to contribute to the economic development of Persia.

But in spite of the fact that Armenia had been deserted by the Byzantine Empire, the Armenians refused to give up. One of the great Armenian leaders, Moushegh Mamikonian, who was a member of the same noble family that some generations previously was responsible for the military power in the country, managed, with the help of the Romans, to fight back the Persians and force them out of Armenia and put the son of Arshak II, King Pap, on the throne. The decisive battle took place on the plains of Bagrevand, a battle which ended with the defeat of the Persians and their allies (i.e. the peoples of Transcaucasia).



This was a harsh and bloody war, but the Armenians showed that they possessed something which their fanatic enemy lacked. Proof of this was evidenced when the harem of Shapour fell into the hands of King Pap and his supreme commander, Moushegh Mamikonian. Despite the treatment that king Pap's mother and father had received from Shapour, the prisoners were treated with great respect and king Pap sent back the women of the harem and other prisoners of war to the Persian camp, escorted by Armenian forces.

The great Armenian writer, Raffi, devoted a beautiful historical novel to this period in Armenian history. 68 There is also a very good and short description, written by Gibbon, about these decisive wars during the Arshakouni dynasty which were fought for the survival of Armenia. 69

King Pap, who ruled between AD 369-374, had time to strengthen the position of the court and managed to get the feudal lords in the country under his control. He fell into conflict with the Armenian Church, which had enormous assets and unlimited authority. The conflict ended with his closing several monasteries and claiming that Armenian nuns would serve their country much better if they married and raised a family. He also confiscated more than half the lands of the church since he thought that the remaining lands were more than sufficient for the church to provide itself with. Unfortunately King Pap fell victim to a plot, staged by one of the Byzantine legionary leaders and was murdered.