It was this number of men which fought during the great wars of the 3rd and 4th centuries against the Sasanids, and which later was mobilized during the middle of the 7th century against the Arabs. In comparison with the Sasanid and Arab armies, however, it was a relatively small force.
Furthermore, from the 7th century onward, the Armenian army seldom matched this number of 40,000. None of the wars against the Arabs ever witnessed the union of the armies of each and every principality: they were rather local battles triggered by the Armenian princes, one after the other, against the invaders. These small armies of the princes consisted of a maximum of 5,000 men, a mere fraction of the national potential. 53
In addition, a vital weakness of Armenia, especially during the reign of the last kings of the Arshakouni dynasty, was its lack of a professional and organized army serving the king, a force which had existed during the reign of Tigran II. The existence of such an organized and professional army, parallel to prevailing the feudal armies and guerrilla fighters, was necessary for maintaining the power and the authority of the king in time of peace and in assisting the feudal armies in time of war.
Indeed, the secret of the Ottoman successes during the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the new age was without a doubt the fact that, a-side from the feudal armies, they also had a small professional and permanent army consisting of Janissaries, which, with its discipline and important contributions, was the foundations of Ottoman power.
Once the royal house of Armenia fell, there were no possibilities to have such a permanent and professional army serving the king; nevertheless if all the feudal armies had fought in unison against external enemies, that would have been a significant force. Unfortunately, such a unison, apart from very rare occasions, was prevented by ongoing conflicts between the different Armenian principalities, conflicts which were provoked skilfully, first by the Sasanids and then by the Arabs. Thus the Armenian ishkhans or the nakharars often fought on their own, without coordinating their efforts.
Yet the Armenians were not eliminated during their sporadic and uneven wars, first because of their skills in warfare, and secondly because of their knowledge in architecture and building, which strengthened them in the defence of their land. During the period from the 3rd to the 8th centuries, Armenian architectural art within the religious arena reached its peak and played a crucial part in the development of Christian architecture (we will return to this subject again later).
Aside from religious architecture, however, there was also an abundance of military architecture, which is often mistaken as civilian. Armenian military architect created several masterpieces in the form of mighty fortresses high in the mountains, home to the nobles but more importantly fortresses which could be seen across the country, a very important factor in the defence of the country.
As an example of this architectural skill we can mention the great fortress Vorhagan which was situated on the plain of Moush, which was home to the Mamikonian family. Apart from its high and fortified walls and towers, this fortress also had the advantage of long passages running underneath it which were cut into the mountain and led all the way to the river near-by. This provided the fortress with fresh water even during an enemy siege. The passages continued all the way to the nearby forests so that the contact with the outer world could always be sustained.
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