AGATANGELO. - An Armenian historian of the 4th century, of Roman nationality. By order of King Tiridates, he wrote the history of the latter, of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and of the conversion of Armenia to Christianity.
However, critical studies by A. von Gutschmid, Sarghissian, Tašian, and others demonstrate that the work attributed to Agatangelo is composed of various writings: History of Tiridates and of St. Gregory the Illuminator; History of the Martyrdom of the Virgins Hriphismiankh; Doctrine of St. Gregory the Illuminator; Vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator, compiled in the 5th century by an Armenian in the Armenian language, while the History of Tiridates in its primitive form may have been composed by Agatangelo himself in Greek or Latin. The Acts of St. Gregory the Illuminator have also come down to us in Greek and Arabic; the Greek is a translation of the Armenian text and was published with a Latin version by P. G. Stilling in the Acta SS. Septembris, VIII, Brussels 1867, pp. 320 ff. The Mechitarists of Venice produced an Italian translation of Agatangelo with notes, revised in style by N. Tommaseo (Venice 1843).