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

PART IV.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PREFECTS, "WHICH
LASTED 456 YEARS.
A. D. 428. On the removal of the royal dignity from
Armenia, by the destruction of the power of the
Arsacidae, this country was stripped of her glory,
and sunk into a state of the lowest degradation.
Henceforward she was governed by prefects;
that dignity being sometimes held by Armenians,
oftener by foreigners of various nations
and religions.
Prefects were first sent by the
Persians to govern Armenia. They possessed
three distinct powers: first, as viceroys on behalf
of Persia ; secondly, as having the supreme
government of the land, without referring to any
state or prince ; thirdly, the power of life and
death, and the nomination and recal of the
governors of the provinces at will.
They were,
however, restricted from altering the different
orders of nobility, and from seizing by force any
towns or villages and appropriating them to their
private purposes. They were not accustomed
to entertain foreign troops to any great amount,
they had merely a small force from their own