Simon Simonian does not offer the legend of king Arshak for the higher grades. He recounts the story of the Armenian fighting the Persians in a long war that exhausted the nobles. Some even conspired against king Arshak. It is upon their urging that King Arshak presented himself to the Persian monarch who had him imprisoned in the Anhoush (forgotten) castle. The attached is my translation of king Arshak’s death as depicted from the tale of Faustus of Byzantium (also Faustus the Byzantine, Armenian: Փաւստոս Բուզանդ, romanized: P'awstos Buzand), who was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. Vahe H Apelian
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| Courtesy Simon Simonian history textbook |
“The Persian monarch Shabouh deceitfully invited king Arshak to the Persian capital city and had him thrown in the Anhoush (forgotten) castle. Along with the king, he also had captured a few Armenian noblemen and was keeping them in his court and whenever the need arose, he sent them to fight his enemies. Among those noblemen was the treasurer of the royal treasury Trasdamad.
At one time when waging war against his enemies, the Persian king Shabouh was besieged by the enemy soldiers. He faced either death or slavery, those were the fates awaiting the wicked Shabouh, had it not been for brave Trasdamad, who fell upon the enemies like a lion, killed a few of them and had the rest fleeing for their lives. The Armenian nobleman’s bravery and selflessness shook Shabouh to his core.
- Ask, you brave, whatever you desire as recompense for your heroism.
At that time Trasdamad sighed deeply and said nothing but started murmuring.
- Do not hesitate brave soul, you will receive whatever you request, you have my royal declaration.
- My lord monarch, I am in need of nothing, not treasury, not richness, nor estates. Let me visit the Armenian king Arshak, my real lord.
- You asked for a difficult thing. As long as the Persian Empire has been standing, there has been no one who has dared to mention about those imprisoned in the Anhoush (forgotten) castle. But since your service towards me has been so great, I let your wishes come true.
King Shabouh gave Trasdamad a body guard and a royal decree stamped with royal ring. Trasdamad immediately went to Khuzestan where the Anhoush castle was located.
The brave lord – nakharar – grieved very much seeing his lord’s grave state. He immediately had the king freed from the iron chains on his feet and arms. He had him take a bath and had him dressed in royal attire and had him anointed with perfume. Later on, he organized a royal dinner and had king Arshak seated. He offered the king wine and different kinds of dishes. To please the king, he ordered musicians who attempted to mitigate the king’s pain with Armenian music.
At the end of the dinner Trasdamad had fruits and sweets offered the king. He also gave him a knife to cut and eat the sweets and the fruits King Arshak was intoxicated a bit. He suddenly sprang from his seat and startespeaking with a broken heart.
- Woe to me, woe to king Arshak. Where he was, and where he ended.
As Trasdamad was looking at his king with teary eyes, the king trusted the knief into his heart. The Armenian king died seated at the dinner table, at the horrified gaze of his nakharar.
Trasdamard, distraught, gave a loud cry, fell upon his king, retrieved the knife from Arshak’s chest, and trusted it onto his.
In this manner the Armenian king and his royal nobleman had their tragic ends in the Anhoush castle, far from their homeland.”
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