View source for Varazdat

{{Short description|4th-century king of Armenia}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Varazdat
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| caption      = A modern imaginary depiction of Varazdat
| succession   = [[List of Armenian kings#Arshakuni (Arsacid) Kings of Armenia|King of Armenia]]
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| reign        = 374/375&ndash;378
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| predecessor  = [[Pap of Armenia|Pap]]
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| successor    = [[Arshak III]]<br>[[Vologases of Armenia|Vagharshak]]
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| house        = [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia|Arsacid]]
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| religion     = [[Armenian Apostolic]]
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'''Varazdat''' ({{Langx|hy|[[wikt:Վարազդատ|Վարազդատ]]}}; flourished 4th century) was the king of [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia|Arsacid]] [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]] from 374/375 until 378. He was installed on the throne by the Roman emperor [[Valens]] after the assassination of his kinsman King [[Pap of Armenia|Pap]].

== Name ==
The name Varazdat derives from [[Middle Persian]] ''warāz-dat'', meaning "given by the wild boar," the boar being one of the symbols of the Zoroastrian god of victory [[Verethragna]].{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}}

==Family and early life==
Varazdat's parentage is unclear. The classical Armenian historians [[Faustus of Byzantium]] and [[Movses Khorenatsi]] somewhat contemptuously refer to him as "a certain" member of the Arsacid house; Faustus also implies that Varazdat was not a true Arsacid but rather a bastard.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}}{{sfn|P'awstos Buzand|1985|loc=[http://www.attalus.org/armenian/pb14.htm 5.37]}} Based on this information, Robert Bedrosian and [[Stepan Malkhasyants]] speculate that Varazdat was the illegitimate child of Pap.{{Sfn|Malkhasyantsʻ|1968|p=51}}{{Sfn|Bedrosian|1983}} Faustus quotes Varazdat as declaring King Pap his paternal uncle, although a brother of Pap is never directly mentioned in the histories of Faustus and Khorenatsi.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}} A later anonymous Armenian work, the ''Vita'' of St. Nerses, reports that Pap had a younger brother named Trdat, who therefore may have been the father of Varazdat.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}} Faustus says nothing about the life of Varazdat before becoming king, but Khorenatsi gives a fanciful account of Varazdat winning in the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic games]] while in the Roman Empire.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}} According to Khorenatsi, Varazdat was a talented archer, fencer, wrestler, pugilist and fighter of wild animals.{{Sfn|Katvalyan|1985}} Khorenatsi also describes Varazdat's martial exploits against the [[Lombards]] and Syrian brigands.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}} Khorenatsi and Faustus both describe Varazdat as a brave and strong youth, but Faustus disparages him as "light-minded, with a child's capricious cunning."{{sfn|P'awstos Buzand|1985|loc=[http://www.attalus.org/armenian/pb13.htm#34. 5.34]}} 

There is no information about Varazdat having any children in the primary sources, but [[Cyril Toumanoff]] believed him to be the father of the later Arsacid kings [[Khosrov IV of Armenia|Khosrov IV]] and [[Vramshapuh]].{{Sfn|Toumanoff|1963|p=151}}

==Reign==
Following the assassination of Pap by the Romans, [[Valens]] appointed Varazdat King of Armenia.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}} At this time, a large Roman army was present in Armenia, and consequently the Armenian nobility had little choice but to accept Varazdat as king.{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=181}} Varazdat began his rule under the regency of [[Mushegh I Mamikonian|Mushegh Mamikonian]], the {{Transliteration|hy|''[[sparapet]]''}} (general-in-chief) and leader of the pro-Roman party in Armenia.{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=181}}{{Sfn|Manandyan|1957|p=224}} However, the young king soon clashed with Mushegh.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=91}} In the view of historian [[Hakob Manandian]], Varazdat sought to strengthen the Arsacid monarchy, which had been reduced to a subordinate role by the Romans and their allies the Mamikonians; for this reason he came into conflict with Mushegh.{{Sfn|Manandyan|1957|pp=224–227}} In Faustus's history, Varazdat's tutor ({{Transliteration|hy|dayeak}}), Bat [[Saharuni]], slanders Mushegh before Varazdat and incites him to assassinate the {{Transliteration|hy|''sparapet''}}. Among the accusations levied against Mushegh were that he was complicit in the murder of Varazdat's predecessor Pap and that he was conspiring with the Romans to turn Armenia into a Roman province and dethrone the Arsacids.{{Sfn|Manandyan|1957|p=227}} According to Manandian and [[Josef Markwart]], these accusations were not baseless, and Mushegh's policies were indeed reducing the power of the monarchy and would have likely ended in Armenia's total annexation by Rome.{{Sfn|Manandyan|1957|pp=224–227}}  

In early 377, the Roman units in Armenia were withdrawn and sent west to fight the [[Goths]].{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=184}} It was probably after this that Varazdat had Mushegh assassinated at a banquet.{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=184}} Varazdat then appointed his tutor Bat Saharuni as {{Transliteration|hy|''sparapet''}}, depriving the [[Mamikonian]]s of their hereditary office.{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=91}} After this, Mushegh's kinsman [[Manuel Mamikonian]] escaped from captivity in Persia and marched against Varazdat to avenge his relative and reclaim the office of {{Transliteration|hy|''sparapet''}}. According to Faustus, the forces of Varazdat and Manuel met on the field of [[Erzurum|Karin]] and the two engaged in single combat, with Manuel emerging victorious but sparing the young king's life.{{sfn|P'awstos Buzand|1985|loc=[http://www.attalus.org/armenian/pb14.htm 5.37]}} Varazdat then fled to the Roman Empire.{{sfn|P'awstos Buzand|1985|loc=[http://www.attalus.org/armenian/pb14.htm 5.37]}} Manuel made the two young sons of Pap, [[Arshak III|Arshak]] and [[Vologases of Armenia|Vagharshak]], co-rulers of Armenia under the formal regency of their mother [[Zarmandukht]].{{Sfn|Lenski|2002|p=185}}{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1997|p=91}} 

Movses Khorenatsi gives a different, less likely version of Varazdat's reign, in which Varazdat conspires with the Persians, for which he is called before the Roman emperor (whom Khorenatsi erroneously calls [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]]) and exiled to the island of [[Thule]].{{Sfn|Garsoïan|1989|pp=423–424}}

==See also==
* [[List of Armenian Olympic medalists]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{Cite journal |last=Bedrosian |first=Robert |date=1983 |title=The ''Sparapetut'iwn'' in Armenia in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries |url=https://ia801600.us.archive.org/29/items/TheSparapetutiwnInArmeniaInTheFourthAndFifthCenturies_667/sparapet.pdf |journal=[[Armenian Review]] |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=6–46}}
* {{Cite book |last=Garsoïan |first=Nina |title=The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-312-10169-4 |editor-last=Hovannisian |editor-first=Richard G. |editor-link=Richard Hovannisian |volume=1 |location=New York |chapter=The Aršakuni Dynasty |author-link=Nina Garsoïan}}
* {{Cite book |last=Garsoïan |first=Nina G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSnXAAAAMAAJ |title=The Epic Histories Attributed to Pʻawstos Buzand (Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ) |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-674-25865-7 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1985 |title=Varazdat |encyclopedia=[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia]] |location=Erevan |url=https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_11.djvu/305 |last=Katvalyan |first=M. |editor-last=Hambardzumyan |editor-first=Viktor |volume=11 |pages=305–306 |language=hy}}
* {{cite book |last=Lenski |first=Noel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=paowDwAAQBAJ |title=Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. |publisher=University of California Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-520-28389-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Malkhasyantsʻ |first=Stepʻan |title=Pʻavstos Buzand, Patmutʻyun Hayotsʻ |publisher="Hayastan" hratarakchʻutʻyun |year=1968 |location=Erevan |language=hy |author-link=Stepan Malkhasyants}}
* {{Cite book |last=Manandyan |first=Hakob |url=http://serials.flib.sci.am/Founders/H.%20Manandyan,%20QnTes-%20h.B%20masn%20A/book/index.html#page/204/mode/2up |title=Kʻnnakan tesutʻyun hay zhoghovrdi patmutʻyan, hator B, masn A |publisher=Haypethrat |year=1957 |location=Erevan |language=hy |trans-title=Critical theory of the history of the Armenian people, volume II, part I |author-link=Hakob Manandian}}
* {{Cite book |last=P'awstos Buzand |url=http://www.attalus.org/armenian/pbtoc.html |title=History of the Armenians |year=1985 |location=New York |translator-last=Bedrosian |translator-first=Robert |author-link=Faustus of Byzantium}}
* {{Cite book |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/505712128 |title=Studies in Christian Caucasian History |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=1963 |oclc=505712128 |author-link=Cyril Toumanoff}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071217174909/http://www.nature-ic.am/NCSA/Publication/SPAN_eng.pdf Photo of Varazdat’s statue bust on p.8 at Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia – Specially Protected Nature Areas of Armenia]

{{Arsacid dynasty of Armenia}}
{{Ancient Olympic winners}}
[[Category:4th-century kings of Armenia]]
[[Category:Roman-era Olympic competitors]]
[[Category:Ancient boxers]]
[[Category:Armenian male boxers]]
[[Category:Ancient Olympic competitors]]
[[Category:Arian Christians]]
[[Category:Roman client monarchs]]
[[Category:Arsacid kings of Armenia]]