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-24444 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
crafts and industries. Moreover, their country was fertile,
and furnished products of commercial value ; as we have
seen, their trade expeditions to Babylon are mentioned already
in Herodotus.
The Armenians, therefore, found it comparatively easy to
acquire wealth, and this, together with their great fecundity,
accounts for the amazing staying-power which enabled them
to survive the repeated devastations of their country. They
sought shelter from their enemies in their inaccessible moun
tains, and when the invaders retired they could return to their
lands to make a fresh start, unless the necessary system of
irrigation had been too thoroughly destroyed for them to
repair it again. In the latter event they had to migrate, and
the land became a desert once more. Even in Strabo (XI,
14, io) we read oftheir wealth, which was so great that Tigranes
was able to pay Pompey (see below) the enormous sum of
six thousand talents in silver. It must have been this pros
perity that enabled the people, or their Church and rulers, in
spite of constant wars, to carry on vigorous building activities
and develop a remarkably high standard of architecture. No
doubt their constant intercourse with foreigners also gave
them new impressions and inspirations which had a stimulating
effect upon their intellectual life.
The geographical position of the country may thus have
helped to develop certain outstanding national traits. On
the one hand the constant presence of armies in their valleys
and plains accustomed them to oppression ; but with their
stubborn vitality they never abandoned hope, and set to work
again and again to recover the lost ground. On the othcr
hand, their industry and thrift combined with their skill in
trade and handicrafts made them specially suited to get on
wherever they went, and enabled them to form colonies in
foreign countries, where, however, their cleverness has not
always earned them the esteem of the native population. A
people subject to continual oppression and persecution is
apt to develop characteristics which are not altogether
attractive.
Although circumstances compelled the Armenians to
carry on many wars, they do not seem to have been a conspicu
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