KnightOfArmenia

Domino! I thought I remembered you; Turkey.com's forums, eh? I ended up being banned from the forums. Take that as a matter of pride, actually

I'm a History major, what can I say? That aside, the Bulgars and Avars were the general group name of the tribes that swarmed down into the Balkans; similarly, the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths, along with their cousins the Visigoths, the Western Goths) dominated the former Roman territories after the Western Empire's collapse. The Ostrogoths and Visigoths even briefly controlled the city of Rome itself. Goths were always a thorn in the side of the Empires, both Roman and Byzantine. But although they were happy about what was happening to the Armenians, they also didn't want full open destruction of Christianity in the region, since they realized that they would need Armenian assistance in future wars against the Persians. If the Armenians fell, the Persians and the European barbarians could surround and destroy the Byzantines. They needed a buffer state in the area, and Armenia served their purposes well, even though it was technically bounced back and forth between Constantinople and Ctesiphon.

Is this serious? The date as 937 A.D.; by the 400s, Armenia was completely Christianized, with the pagan elements having been wiped out in the time of Grigor the Illuminator (that is the name history has given him, and I'm not going to call him something like "the Deluminator"). And it shows the completely wrong flag, as well; that is the banner of the Artashesians, whose dynasty ended in about 1 AD. In 937, it was the Bagratunis that ruled Armenia (the Kingdom of Ani). Christ, what's the point... Return to the ancient Armenian gods? Ten bucks says this... person... can't name five of them.

Uhm... Vartan was a general of the Byzantine Empire; it was due to internal troubles and to quell the Ostrogoths and the Bulgars (especially) that the Byzantines did not send troops to aid the Armenians. That aside, it was 66,000 Armenians against 300,000 Persians, though the numbers are almost surely inflated; more likely, maybe 15-20,000 Armenians against maybe four or five times that number. The point is, however, that the Armenians were not simply a peasant army, holding their pitchforks against trained troops. The Armenian forces were small in number, but well trained, well disciplined, and well equipped; the Persians relied on conscript troops; usually a whipmaster driving four or five naked or rag-covered young men carrying a long, pointy stick. The Avarayr plain was by the river; the Armenian positions were entrenched on the opposite side, forcing the Persians to attempt to fjord the water against hostile forces. It was only when Vassak Syuuni showed the Persian Immortal cavalry a hidden shallows that the Persians were able to flank the Armenian position and smash it. And even despite the tactical loss, it WAS a strategic victory; the Persian army, one of the strongest in the world, had its nose bloodied by a small army for a cause that would only ensure a heavy price of gold and blood. Before the battle, the Persians were adamant on converting the Armenians; afterwards, especially after the years-long guerrilla war waged by Vartan's nephew, Vahan Mamikonian, the Persians made an unheard-of peace with the Armenians, even appointing Vahan as the Marzban and giving Armenia autonomy. I guess you could say that the Persians "won the battle, but lost the war."