ARMENIA was a country of Asia, which probably derived its name from Aram, the son of Shem ; who, if we may believe tradition, settled in that region, and peo pled it with his descendants. We are not ignorant, that some writers of respectability have tortured their in genuity in assigning derivations ; hut as they ap pear to have no found ion, and as the field of conjec ture ought never to be trodden by the historian, we pass them over as unworthy of notice. This country was bounded on the west by the Euphrates, dividing it from that part of Cappadocia, which, in the time of Antiochus the Great, was erected into a separate kingdom, under the name of Armenia Antler ; on the north, by Mount Caucasus, separating it Iron' Iberia and Albania, which bear the modern appellation of Georgia ; on the cast, by the two Medias, which are now called Snirvan ; and on the south by Mount Taurus, dividing it from Mesopota mia and Assyria, which are known to us by the names of Diarbec and Curuistan. Ilence, the ancient kingdom of Armenia had almost the- same boundaries with mo dern Turcomania, whose western division is now a pro vince of the Turkish empire, whilst the eastern belongs to the kingdom of Persia.
The early history of this, as well as of every other ancient kingdom, is involved in obscurity. Even the few events which have been transmitted to the present day, arc so indistinct and incompatible with each other, that it is scarcely possible to connect them into a con sistent and unbroken narration. If credit is due to its first annalists, Armenia became at a very early period an independent kingdom ; and one Scytha had the honour of filling the throne. From him the sceptre descended to Barzanes ; who, if we follow Berosus, was driven from his dominions by Ninus, king of Assyria ; but, if we chose rather to depend upon the authority of Diodorus Siculus, we shall believe that he entered into an alliance with that monarch, and assisted him in a war against the Bactrians. At his death Armenia was divided into a number of petty dynasties. These were soon united under Araxes, who, in a war with the Persians, was commanded by an oracle to sacrifice his two daughters, as the infallible means of victory ; but who, endeavour ing to deceive the gods, substituted in their place two daughters of a nobleman called Miesalcus. Miesalcus, justly roused to vengeance, not only slew the daughters of the king, but pursuing him to the Helmus, forced him into the stream, and endeavouring to swim across it, he was drowned, and thus gave his own name Araxcs to that river. These events may be disfigured by fable, but we will not hesitate to believe Xenophon, who in forms us, that Astyages, king of Media, at a later period, subdued Armenia, and rendered its kings tributaries. But when Media was conquered by Cyrus, Armenia be came a province of the Persian empire, its native race of kings was extinguished, and its government was con ducted by prefects appointed by the conqueror. The martial talents of Alexander the Great, however, after a lapse of two centuries, dissolved the Persian empire, annexed Armenia to his Macedonian dominions ; and Mithrinus, Phratapherncs, and Orons, successively, were appointed by Alexander and Perdiccas, to govern that country. Diodorus Siculus would have us believe, that at the death of Orons, the Armenians revolted from their conquerors, appointed kings of their own, and secured their independence. If they did, which is more than doubtful, they must have enjoyed only for a short time the pleasure and the pride of freedom, as we are cer tain, that, under the reign of Antigonus, who succeeded to one of the divisions of Alexander's dominions, they were subject to their former masters ; and after him, to tl e Seleucidx in Syria, till Antiochus the Great, as cended that throne.
When Antiochus succeeded to the kingdom of Syria, he appointed prefects over the different provinces of his dominions, lnd Artaxias and Zadriades received the government of Armenia. The tender youth of that monarch, and the unsuccessful wars which be then waged, inspired these chiefs with the ambitious hopes of erecting for themselves independent kingdoms. For this purpose they roused the Armenians to vindicate their ancient freedom, and having' joined their forces, subdued several provinces which belonged to the neigh bouring nations. The territories which were thus sub jected to their power, they divided ; and each seized the sceptre of that division which belonged to him. The country, whose limits we have already marked, and which from this period liras called Armenia Major, owned the authority of Artaxias. The country, which, lying on the other side of Euphrates, was bounded on the east by that river ; on the south, by Mount Taurus, dividing it from Cilicia ; and on the west and north, by the mountains Scordiscus, Amanus, and Antitaurus, separating it from Cappadocia, received the appellation of Armenia Minor, and composed the kingdom of Za spirit of Antiochus did not tamely bear the rebel lion of his subjects, and the dismemberment of his do minions. But the powerful army, which he conducted to reduce Armenia into subjection, was unable to extin gu'sh the flame of liberty which the two princes had raised, or to recover a single province which they had 'wrested from his hands. Wearied with several unsuc cessful attempts to subdue them, and meditating ven geance at a more auspicious period, he was forced to accede to a peace, and to acknowledge the independence of his revolted subjects. To shelter the weakness of the infant states, the two princes entered into an alliance with the Romans, and, under the shade of their protec tion, governed the kingdoms which they had founded. Zadriades, during the future period of his reign, enjoyed that tranquillity which is the best reward of youthful activity and prowess. At his death, he transmitted his sceptre to his posterity, who, during several generations, appear to have reigned in peace, without performing one action calculated to illustrate the page of history, till Artenas, the last of his race, ascended the throne. Ar taxias built the city of Artaxata, to be the capital of his kingdom, upon a peninsula formed by the bending of the river Araxes, which surrounded it like a wall, except on the side of the isthmus, which was defended by a deep fosse and a strong rampart. Some time after, he seems to have formed an alliance with Antiochus the Great, and even, in some measure, to have become de pendent on that monarch. But, when Antiochus was defeated by the Romans, he renounced his allegiance, and joined the conquerors. Antiochus Epiphanes, how ever, succeeding to the Syrian throne, inflicted upon him the punishment which his levity merited ; routed, in a decisive battle, his,numerous army ; and threw the king, whom he had made captive, into chains. It is probable that the death of Epiphanes restored him to liberty and to his dominion ; for, immediately afterwards, we find him waging war against Mythrobuzanus, son of Zadriades. Artaxias not only expelled him from his dominions, but had the meanness and cruelty to solicit Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, at whose court he sought refuge, to put him to death, and to divide his territories. The gen erous virtue of the Cappadocian prince, however, was so indignant at the infamous proposal, that, at the head of a powerful army, he re-established the fugitive king upon his throne.