YEREVAN (Realist English). Fair and just distribution of money in the society is the key to Armenia’s prosperity and defense capability, Realist Information Agency Editor-in-Chief Sarkis Tsaturyan believes.
“Historians often cite the example of the Great Armenia of Tigranes II as the largest Armenian state in history, which bordered Egypt in the west and the Caspian Sea in the east. But much less often there are notes that say that Armenia under Tigran was the richest country in the world.
How to estimate the scale of her wealth? Suffice it to refer to Plutarch, who explains that after the capture of Tigranokert, the Roman commander Lucullus took 8 thousand talents of silver out of the city: according to the rates for the last quarter of the XIX century, this amount is about 48 million gold francs, 34 million German gold marks or about 17 million gold rubles. And after making peace with Pompey, Tigranes paid him a contribution of 6 thousand talents, which is about 36 million gold francs.
For comparison, we remind that in 1867, the United States bought Russian Alaska for 11 million gold rubles. Armenian hoarding is impressive, isn’t it?
Why do I reminisce about money? The nobility under Tigranes the Great was extremely rich, perhaps the richest in the Middle East, but it was never able to defeat the Romans, and a hundred years after the death of the “king of kings” it completely fell into vassalage to Rome.
That is, it is not so much the amount of money in the state that is important, as the ability to distribute it correctly. It is not by chance that only the nobility gets richer among the Armenians, and the people have lived in poverty and continue to live in it,” believes the Editor-in-Chief of the Realist Information Agency.
According to Tsaturyan, “it’s time to learn this lesson of history”: “It [this lesson] is one of the most difficult: the super-rich often protect not their homeland, but their money. The homeland is defended by ordinary guys from the people. Therefore, the care of the state should be addressed to these simple guys — through a fair and just distribution of money in the society. There is no other way: the life will force you to share.”
