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

HISTORY OF ARMENIA. 121
Darius, irritated beyond measure at these a. d. ci.
successes of the Romans, ordered his general
Manech to set forward with the Persian cavahy
to mvade Upper Armenia, and to solicit aid from
the Assyrians in his expedition.
Manech's first
enterprize was directed against the city of
Aparan, where Tigranes the Little was holding
his court, to which he laid siege.
invasion being dispatched to
News of this
Rome, Nero sent
a body of troops to Tigranes, headed by Betus,
an eminent and warlike character, to maintain
him in the possession of his kingdom. Betus
attacked and took several fortresses, with such
rapidity, that he threw the whole country into a
state of consternation. Darius, on this being made a.d. 62.
known to him, hastened into Armenia, and bein^*
joined by great numbers of the population,
attacked and defeated Betus in every place
where he encountered him. Several Roman
standards were captured, and Betus was oblio-ed
to withdraw his forces into impregnable forts,
to save them from utter destruction. He then
sent to Corbulo for assistance, and the more
strongly to express the imminent danger in
which he was, he says in his letter, " Hasten
hither to preserve the Roman eagles, otherwise
they fall into the hands of the Barbarians!"
Immediately after this account reached Corbulo
he marched into Armenia, accompanied by oner