Universal History

Asoghik, being a recognized clerical figure, had close contacts with the Catholicosate office of the supreme head of the church and the Bagratuni royal court; therefore, he was well-informed about the historical events that had occurred and were occurring, as well as the internal life of Armenia. Through written sources, he was well-versed not only in the history of Armenians but also that of the Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Georgians, and other states and peoples neighboring Armenia. He also knew foreign languages, was well-informed about the calendar and tomaragitsutyun chronology/calendar science, often turned to Eusebius of Caesarea's "Chronicon," and frequently performed chronological calculations. However, unlike the Father of History, Khorenatsi, he did not write a critical history; in some places, he even presented the same historical event again according to disparate facts reported by other sources.

Stepanos Asoghik is a patriotic historian; he is a proponent of the united Armenian kingdom and the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is against Chalcedonism and has launched a specific struggle against dyophysitism the doctrine of two natures in Christ. For this very reason, he included in the 3rd part of his book the extensive response "Letter" written by order of Catholicos Khachik I of Armenia against the Chalcedonian metropolitan of Sebastia, which, with its religious-philosophical depth and argumentation, is one of the masterpieces of dogmatic literature.

Stepanos Taronetsi, in his final speech at the end of his book "Word of Completion for the Glorious Memory of this Finished Memoir," specifically noted the time of the completion of his "History": the year 1004, although there is a viewpoint according to which the book was completed in the year 1000.1 Asoghik wrote in this memoir of his:

"Having examined [the timeline], we found from Adam to us to be 6282 years, and from the crucifixion of the life-giving torments of the Lord: 972 years. And according to the Greek dating from Emperor Philip: 757 years, and according to our Armenian dating standard: 453 years."
He even wrote that it is the thirty-first year of the reign of the Greek Emperor Basil, the fifteenth year of the reign of Gagik, king of Greater Armenia, and the thirteenth year of the patriarchate of Lord Sargis, the patron of his book.2

The author's calculations are correct.

Prof. A. G. Abrahamyan examined this issue, taking as a starting point that to convert the "Roman (i.e., Greek — G.M.) dating" to our current dating, if it is before Navasard the first month of the Armenian calendar, it is necessary to add 247, and if it is after Navasard, one must add 248.3 From the Greek Emperor Philip, 757 years have passed, that is: 757 + 247 = 1004 AD. Armenian 453 + 551 (the start of the Great Armenian Era) = 1004 AD.

Thus, Asoghik completed his History in the year 1004.

At the end of the 46th chapter of the third part, there is a date that is questionable:

"And then Gurgen dies in the year 452, and Senekerim holds the throne of the kingdom for 20 years."4
As is obvious, the notation of 20 years here is a distortion, because in Vaspurakan, Gurgen and Senekerim ruled together until the Armenian year 452 (1003); after Gurgen's death, Senekerim again ruled for 20 years, so up to 1023...

1. M. Chamchyan, History of Armenians, Vol. II, p. 877.
2. Stepanos Taronetsi, p. 285.
3. A. G. Abrahamyan, Armenian Script and Writing, Yerevan, 1973, p. 128.
4. Stepanos Taronetsi, p. 281.