Ancient Champions: King Varazdat

In the 4th century Armenia was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire. The Sassanid King Shapur II conspired to replace the Arsacid dynasty with a non-Arsacid but still Armenian dynasty. Following the murder of King Papes, Valens, the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378, sent Varazdat, a nephew of Pap, who as a young man was highly reputed for his mental and physical gifts, to hold the Armenian throne. Shapur II, having failed on the battlefield, now proposed to Valens in 375 that Armenia be divided between the two powers. The emperor rejected the proposal but sent two legates, Victor Magistrianus and Urbicius of Mesopotamia to the Persian king to discuss the question. Shapur II was told that his demands were unjust because the inhabitants of Armenia had been granted the right to live according to their decisions. Shapur II was also told that unless Roman troops assigned to protect the Iberian king in the west were allowed to pass unhindered, Shapur II would be forced into war with Rome. Valens was confident of this threat because he was counting on filling the ranks of his army with auxiliaries from the Goths that he had permitted to settle in Thrace. The two legates made a blunder during their return trip by accepting two regions, Asthianene and Belabitene, under Roman rule without proper authorization. This gave Shapur II a new bargaining chip to revive negotiations and in late 376 he sent Suren with an embassy offering Valens these two regions illegally accepted by the legates in exchange for Roman concessions. Suren was sent back with the message that Rome was unwilling to negotiate and would launch a tripartite invasion of Persia the following spring in 377. Shapur II responded by seizing back Asthianene and Belabitene and harassed the Roman troops in western Iberia. The Goths revolted in early 377 and Valens was forced to negotiate, eventually withdrawing Roman forces from Armenia in order to use them against the Goths. Valens himself died fighting the Goths in August 378 during the Battle of Adrianople paving way for Theodosius I to become East Augustus and then later the Emperor of both east and west Rome.

The Roman emissary was tricked into exceeding the bounds of their authority in agreeing to the Persian proposal. In the meantime, the internal condition of Armenia was imperiled through friction between King Varazdat and the nakharars, culminating in the assassination of Musel Mamikonian, the leader of the latters' party. Manuel, the son of Musel, took up arms against the King and compelled him to flee from Armenia in 378, after four years of reign. Varazdat sought refuge in Rome. According to David Marshall in Armenia: Cradle of Civilization Valens sent Varazdat to the British Isles. His life was saved, but the country was thrown into confusion. The Persians took advantage of the turmoil and invaded Armenia; but their occupation was a short-lived one. Manuel formed a new provisional government allied with Persia. Shapur II garrisoned a 10,000 man army in Armenia under Suren, much like Valens in 377. Shapur II died in 379, and the Persians evacuated in haste. Manuel, the dynamic Mamikonian, had rallied a formidable national force for action. According to Faustus of Byzantium, Manuel was convinced that the Persian ruler was plotting against him and attacked the Persian emissary Suren and his 10,000 troops. Manuel decimated Suren's army but allowed Suren to live and leave. This led to an invasion of Armenia by the Persian forces. Armies under generals such as Varaz were sent to invade Armenia but were defeated by Manuel. According to Faustus, this led to seven years of peace for Armenia.He raised Arshak III and Vologases to the throne as co-kings of Armenia, under the nominal regency of their mother Zarmandukht. To end the political anarchy in the country, as Manuel was now the powerful regent-in-charge of Armenia, he married Arshaks III to his daughter Vardandukht. Manuel died in 385. Arshak III was king of Armenia until his death in 387.

I failed to find confirmation for David Marshall assertion that Valens had sent Varazdat to the British Isles or even details on it. Had Emperor Valens sent Varazdat to the British Isles just before being killed at the battle of adrianople one has to wonder when did Varazdat return to Rome and why was he boxing in the Olympics rather than fighting for his throne. There are two sources for Varazdat being a champion. The first is Moses of Chorene's History of Armenia which had been known to historians for centuries, but was considered a unreliable information until 1994 when a golden plaque was unearthed in an ancient athlete's clubroom for the Olympics which lists champions from the first century to 385. David Marshall's book was written in the 70s under the understanding that Moses was probably wrong but since the 90s the historical community has done an about face on Moses of Chorene's records. So perhaps David's assertion should be discounted because according to Mister Marshall's book he believes Varazdat was sent to the British Isles and died there in obscurity without ever returning to fight for his throne or in the Olympics however according to Moses in The History of Armenia not only did Varzadat compete in the Olympics which is validated by a golden plaque, but was imprisoned and sent to Thule by Emperor Theodosius for attempting to marry his way back to power. However, Moses does not provide us with any dates or much detail.

Moses of Chorene:

But the well-deserving Augustus Theodosius, called the Great, in his twentieth year made king of Armenia in succession to Pap a certain Varazdat from the same Arsacid family. This Varazdat was young in years, spirited, personable, strong, full of all deeds of valor, and very expert at archery. Earlier he had fled from Shapuh to the emperor's court and had become a noted champion first by winning the pugilistic contest at Pisa, and then at Heliopolis in Hellas at midday he had killed lions, for which he was praised and honored by the contestants at the Olympic games.

And as for his valor and bravery against the nation of the Longobards, I am bold to say that he was the equal of Saint Trdat for when five heroes from among the enemy attacked him, he killed them one after the other with the sword; and coming to some fortress he shot with arrows seventeen men on the wall, knocking them down one after the other like early-ripening fig trees blown down by a violent storm. He came as king to our country in the fifty-fifth year of Shapuh. In his first battle he encountered some Syrian brigands in the passes of Miran and putting them to flight he pursued them closely. But they crossed the Euphrates by the bridge at a narrow point and threw down the planks behind them. However. when he came up he jumped over the Euphrates, surpassing the long jump of twenty-two cubits by Chion the Laconian.There one could see a new Achilles jumping over the Scamander River. Terrified by this the brigands threw down their arms and surrendered.

Therefore, as in his youth he had steeped himself in valiant deeds, likewise during his reign he did not heed the advice of the commanders of the Greek army. So he sent messengers to Shapuh saying that if he would give him one of his daughters to wife he would restore to him the land of Armenia. When the Greek generals became aware of this they warned the emperor. Then Emperor Theodosius ordered him to he arrested if he did not come of his own will at the emperor's summons. Therefore, under pressure, he went of his own will, hoping to deceive the Augustus. The emperor did not even honor him with an audience, but had him taken in iron bonds to T'ule, an island in the Ocean.

 

From Moses's account of things and the dates given to us by the golden plaque it seems to me in 385 Varazdat was very much in the court of the Roman Emperor becoming a boxing champion and slaying lions. I assume the first "Shapuh" mentioned by Moses is Shapur II who you remembered conspired to remove Varazdat's dynasty setting into motion Vatazdat's exile from Armenia at the hands of Manuel and taking refuge in court of Emperor Valens and possibly being sent to the British Isles. I assume the later Shapur Moses mentions as "Shapuh" when speaking about Theodosius having Varazdat arrested is Shapur III son of the Shapur II because Shapur II died in 379 and Shapur III was the sasanian king from 383 to 388. Given Manuel Mamikonian died in 385 and the king he installed, Arshak III, died in 387 I don't think it's a great leap to suggest Varazdat was conspiring with or attempting to conspire with Shapur III to return their dynasties to power in Armenia and was exiled by Theodosius sometime between 387 and 388 for it. However, I have no sources for that. I couldn't find anything to confirm or debunk my theory.

I feel it's unlikely Moses would mean Shapuh as one individual man throughout his account because the use of names as titles like Augustus in Rome and because no single Shapur fits the entire description. Shapur III couldn't have helped Varazdat when dealing with Manuel and Shapur II was too dead to conspire a way back to the Armenian throne after Varazdat became champion. Shapur I and Shapur IV's lives are entirely too far removed from Varazdat's own to possibly be considered. It seems occam's razor points to Moses saying Varazdat fled from Shapur II to the court of the Emperor, became a boxing champion and a bit of a hero, attempted to regain his throne through marriage with a daughter from Shapur III and was exiled from Rome for it.

There's only three real sources for Varazdat from which all other works have derived their information, and while the three are not contradictory they do leave gaps. That said, I was able to pick up snippets for other sources to beef up the material and connect the three in a manner I believe is half decent. The three main sources for Varazdat are Moses of Chorene's "History of Armenia". Faustus of Byzantium "History of Armenians" and a mysterious bronze plaque that was excavated in the athlete’s clubhouse at Olympia in 1994 which listed winners from the first century A.D. to A.D. 385. To aid those sources I used Africanus, Aristotle, Eusebius, David Marshall's Armenia: Cradle of Civilization, and David C. Young's A Brief History of The Olympic Games. I may have quoted other books when looking at Valens and Theodosius's bits but other than a variant in word choice there isn't anything that I mention that can't be derived from one of the sources or one of the Davids' books.

I don't remember where I picked it up, but I'm pretty sure Varazdat means something to the effect of Boar Giver or some such similar. I didn't see it mentioned when going through the material for this post but I'm fairly certain I picked it up in the past from one the sources used for this post.

It's too bad there isn't much information on Varazdat himself, but I think by looking at the other figures in his life we can at least get some understanding of him.

At minimal I hope this was interesting, but either way I appreciate you taking a look. I apologize if this is hurting for a proof-read. I'm running out of time atm, but I'll reread it sometime soon and edit it where it's needed.

Link: [url]Heavyweight Champions from Ancient to Present[/url]

 

Wow, I didn't realize that myself. I can tell you that is corroborated by Eusebius's Chronicle though.