History of Armenia, by Father Michael Chamich; from B. C. 2247 to ...

104 HISTORY OF ARMENIA.
with hereditary right of succession, but in the
event of a
failure of issue, the offspring of his
brothers should occupy the throne.
In the mean
time, the highest rank should be accorded to the
Persian princes, who were styled Pahlavies
from the name of their birth-place Pahl, and
that they should yield precedence to none in the
kingdom except tl»e king. The young princes
agreed to this, and unanimity was restored
among them. From these two younger princes
of Persia are descended the two illustrious
families of the Pahlavies, these are the Carani
Pahlavies, and the Sureni Pahlavies.
The Aspahapeti Pahlavies, not less noble than
the other two, are the descendants of Coshm
the daughter of Arshavir, sister of the three
princes; the appellation Aspahapeti being de-
A. D. 23. rived from the name of her husband. After
the settling of these affairs Abgar fell sick,
being attacked by elephantiasis, and was obliged
to return in haste to Edessa. At this time,
Abgar was accused by the Emperor Tiberius
of having gone to Persia for
the purpose of exciting
a rebellion, but he cleared himself from
the charge. Another accusation started up
against him from the hatred of Herod Antipas.
For the purpose of vindicating his fame, he dispatched
two messengers, accompanied by his
courier Ananey, a faithful and diligent man, to