Among the above mentioned works, mostly translated into Armenian during the 3rd century and was made available for the general public, were many religious works and holy books, but also various philosophical and historical books.
The translation of the Bible into Armenian is still today regarded as one of the greatest literary achievements in the Armenian language. Other translated works into Armenian during this period include the translation of the famous "History of the Church and Spirituality", written by Eusebius, archbishop in Caesarea; the translation of the book about the life of Constantine; the translation of different religious sermons; and the book "The Worship of the Christian Faith", written by Aristides (a 2nd century Greek philosopher), and several other translations, most of them religious works but also translations of the works of Aristotle.
E. Dulaurier writes: "Athens, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome witnessed hurrying Armenians who came in groups and sat down at the gathering places where the teaching of the science, literature and philosophy of those days were conducted at. The majority of them went to the schools in Athens and were more salient in that city. The most famous among these Armenian representatives in the Greek capital was Proaeresius (Pariur), whom Eunape mentions in his book, "The History of Philosophy". He is described as a speaker who reached such a great fame that they raised a statue of him in Rome. The Armenians showed a great interest for studying Greek literature and translated the very best works of the Greek authors, poets, historians, philosophers and mathematicians to Armenian." 109
After this generation of Armenian translators came a generation of writers who created great and important works. As the great French scientist A. Meillet has pointed out: "In those days when French had yet not separated itself from Latin and the oldest literatures of most European people had yet not been created, there were important Armenian literary works." 110
Victor Langlois has said that Armenian literature during the 4th and 5th centuries is one of the most fecund and interesting among the Christians in the Orient. "Armenian authors have appeared in almost all literary areas and even though their work, prose as well as poetry, has strongly been influenced by religious thoughts which the clergy had on the masses, the Armenian non religious work is much richer than any other Christian people in the East. The study of history has during almost the entire history of the Armenian people been one of the most popular occupations among its authors. For this reason, the amount of information left by the Armenian historians about the events in the western Asia, since the beginning of the Ancient time until the present, constitutes a very precious coherent documentary." 111
From these 5th century writers, Faustus of Byzantine deserves special mention. His detailed history book about the period during the last Arsacid kings is full of life and excitement which truly invokes the smell of the Armenian soil. Other important authors include Koriun who wrote "The Life of Mesrop"; Elyssé Vartapet who described Armenia's war against the Sasanids (a work which is not only of great importance for Armenia, but also gives insight into the Sasanid Persia, with a very detailed description of the Mazdeism); Lazar of Farbia who wrote "The History of Armenia During the 4th Century"; and Agathange who wrote "The History of Grigor Lousavoritch and Armenia's Acceptance of Christianity".
Perhaps the most famous and celebrated of all works, however, was written by Movses Khorenatsi, a pupil of and a colleague to Mesrop Mashtots, and even named the Herodotus of the Armenian people: a history book detailing the history of Armenia from the appearance of the Armenian people until the disintegration of the Arshakouni dynasty. Despite containing incorrect facts and exaggerated religious myths, this work is of enormous importance and interest if read with discretion and ability to differentiate myths from historical facts. This book is not only of a great importance for Armenia, but also for many different countries in the Middle East. Movses Khorenatsi was also thought to have written an important geographical treatise, but today this claim has been dismissed since the book is regarded to have been written after his time, during the 7th century.
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