Since the possibility of war with Iran is in the air, I’ll take the opportunity to note that the Armenian Church celebrates today one of its major feasts, marking the martyrdom of St. Vartan and 1,036 of his fellows at the hands of the Persians in the Battle of Avarayr in 451 A.D. Of course, peoples who have been sat on by history often harken to their glorious defeats, whether Gettysburg or Masada or Kosovo Field or Karbala. The difference is that the Battle of Avarayr was arguably history’s first battle strictly for freedom of conscience, unmixed with other political objectives. The Armenian nobility and clergy acknowledged continued Persian political supremacy, rejecting only the demand that they renounce Christianity. From their letter to the shah:

“From this faith, no one can shake us, neither angels nor men; neither sword, nor fire, nor water, nor any, nor all other horrid tortures. All our goods and possessions are in your hands, our bodies are before you; dispose of them, as you will. If you leave us to our belief, we will, here on earth, choose no other master in your place, and in heaven choose no other God in place of Jesus Christ, for there is no other God.”