Agathangelos – (from Greek Ανγανονς Αιγγελος – angel, good messenger). (Dates of birth and death are unknown). A historian of the 5th century, he is the author of the historiography of the ancient Armenian religious bibliography – the work “History of Armenia”, which is also known under the titles “Book of St. Gregory” and “History and Life of St. Gregory”.
In the Middle Ages, it was one of those rare works that managed to receive wide recognition. It was accepted and canonized by the Armenian Church and used as a sacred and holy book.
In the preface, the author presents himself as a good Roman connoisseur of Latin and Greek languages, who arrived in Armenia as a royal secretary and, by the order of Trdat III, wrote his History. However, a little later Agathangelos presents himself as an Armenian (researchers have also paid attention to these contradictions).
The conclusion was made that Agathangelos was a historian of the 4th century (this was testified by Movses Khorenatsi, Lazar Parpetsi, Sebeos and others), the original of his book was written in Greek and translated into Armenian only in the 5th century, after the emergence of Armenian writing.
This traditional point of view was unconditionally accepted until the second half of the 18th century. The original “History of Armenia” by Agathangelos was first published in 1709 in Constantinople thanks to the efforts of Grigor Marzvanetsi. In 1762, Ov.
Stilting published the original Greek translation of the work by Agathangelos (later reissued many times) and a brief Latin translation. It was he who first questioned the authenticity of many historical facts transmitted by Agathangelos. The scientific study of Agathangelos was initiated.
The first initial publication of the Armenian original (compared to several manuscripts) in Venice (1835) and the development of Armenian studies sparked the emergence of numerous multilingual research into this work.
There are many disagreements surrounding the creation of Agathangelos’ work. According to many Armenian and foreign scholars, the 5th century work was compiled by the first Armenian translators and attributed to some fictional author, living in the 4th century (supposedly to raise credibility), and Agathangelos is not a real name, but a common name, translated from Greek as “good angel” or “good messenger”, just as evangelia means Gospel.
Accordingly, when saying “History of Agathangelos”, one should understand “History of the Good Messenger (i.e., Gregory the Illuminator)”. According to the opinion of other researchers, the work itself was written by the 4th century author Agathangelos, but was heavily altered and edited by 5th century translators (Koryun, etc.).
French translator of Agathangelos, V. Langlois, came to the opinion that he could not live in the 4th century and be a secular figure (secretary), however, he did not try to deny the assumption that the original was written in Greek.
Gutschmidt, using a comparative study of different editions, established that the original of Agathangelos did indeed exist in Armenian, and the Greek is just its translation.
The prevailing opinion is that Agathangelos was an Armenian historiographer and his work was written in the first half of the 5th century in a vibrant and lively Armenian language. Agathangelos studies were also conducted by B. Sarkisyan and R. Thomson, Paul de Lazare, N. Byzandatsi, T. Torosyan and A. Tashyan, G. Jarbhanalian, G. Khalatyants, G. Ter-Mkrtchyan, M. Abeghyan, N. Adonts, K. Melik-Ogandzhanyan, J. Garit, A. Ter-Ghevondyan, P. Muradyan and others.
The “History of Armenia” by Agathangelos covers the period from the 3rd and 4th centuries – the transition to the power of the Sassanids (226) and up to the last years of the reign of the Armenian king Trdat the 3rd the Great.
It consists of a preface and three parts. In the preface, the author talks about the goals and motives of the work.
In the first part, which is called “History and Life of St. Gregory”, Agathangelos talks about the fall of the urban dynasty of the Arshakids, the rise to power in Iran of the Sassanids, their hostile attitude towards the Armenian Arshakids, as well as the heroic battles of Khosrov I the Great against the Persians, about the conquest of Armenia after his treacherous murder (259), later – about the activities of Trdat III the Great and Gregory the Illuminator up to the end of the 3rd century, about their sufferings and about the holy virgins Rhipsime and Gayane.
The second part – “Teaching of St. Gregory” is more voluminous than all the other parts combined. Unlike the “History” of Agathangelos itself, the second part has come down to us only in the Armenian original.
Only its short version in the Georgian language is known, attributed to Hypothesis of Rome, under the title “For Faith”. The “Teaching” includes all the content of the New and Old Testaments, presented in short fragments and permeated with the author’s remarks and ideas on theological issues.
The topics of the Holy Trinity, the Creation of the world, the Creation of man, apostolic preaching, and resurrection of the dead are presented in relatively more detail. The “Teaching” is created in the likeness of oral preaching about the essence of Christianity, addressed to the Armenian people, in particular to King Trdat III the Great (without specifying the name) and his entourage.
The author urges them to become more prudent, to renounce their handmade idols and to worship the true God. In his consideration of preaching and theological issues, two main methods were used – proof and dialogue.
The author considered the testimony of the existence of the Lord as absolute proof in the argumentation of one or another point of theology.
In particular, he looked at the activity of the Son of God on earth as the fulfillment of long-predicted prophecies. The author very often referred to prophecies and used them as proof of the implementation of the will of the Lord.
Almost all biblical material in the “Teaching” was presented dialogically (most often in the form of questions and answers), so the “Teaching” can be considered one of the most significant works of Armenian dialogue literature.
According to experts, Agathangelos thoroughly mastered domestic literature, as numerous practical theses created by the fathers of the church were widely publicized in his work. According to R. Thomson, Agathangelos used the works of John Chrysostom and the work of Quereg of Jerusalem “Name of the Offering”. And B.
Sarkisyan, in turn, noted numerous similarities between the “Teaching” and the works of Barseg of Caesarea, Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory of Nazianzus, Quereg of Alexandria, and particularly John Chrysostom.
In the third part, which is titled “The Salvific Conversion of our country Armenia”, the author gives a detailed account of the destruction of ancient Armenian pagan temples and statues of gods, the seizure of property and wealth of priests, the baptism of the upper class and people, the foundation of churches and martyria, the establishment of Christianity, the order of clergy, and other events.
Agathangelos drew his “History” from the theses of Christian faith and church apologetics, seeking to substantiate the national independence of the Armenian church, the apostolic origin and highly respected virtue. As a historical source, this work is perhaps the only one of its kind showing the conversion of Armenia.
Agathangelos provides valuable information about the historical geography of Armenia, the kingdom, state institutions, armed forces, ministerial order, Armenian paganism (in particular some idols and their temples), and other information related to the internal life of the country. The “History of Armenia” by Agathangelos also has artistic value.
In the Middle Ages, it was translated into Greek, Arabic, Georgian, Latin, and ibish, and had about two dozen editions in 9 languages of the Middle Ages: Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Arabic, Latin, Ethiopian, Georgian, Egyptian (partially), and in Slavic variants as well.
The first translation was in Greek (which linguists believe to be from the 6th century), and it played a decisive role in the dissemination of Agathangelos’s work. Most of the translations from Greek were into Arabic, in particular, all the editions in other languages appeared from Greek.
It is fully known only in one manuscript, which is now in the Laurentian Library in Florence (Laurentianus, VII, 25).
In modern times, Agathangelos’s book was translated and published in Italian, French, German, and English. The work was fully published in the Ashkharabar (by A. Ter-Gevondyan) in 1983 in Yerevan.
Source: Encyclopedia “Christian Armenia”. Chief Editor Ov. Ayvazyan. Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing House, Yerevan 2002. pp.11-13.
Translated by Vigen Avetisyan
