ABSTRACT
The interest of Emperor Valens in Armenia was of a strategic order, because both the Byzantines and the Persians often interfered in the home affairs of this country. He was one of the fiercest persecutors of the Nicaean Creed, while St Basil was a true follower of the Athanasius of Alexandria, who, in spite of the hardships suffered, had defended unflinchingly the divine humanity of Jesus Christ. St Basil knew that, by accepting a mission entrusted to him by an Emperor, even an Arian one, he would succeed not only in consolidating his position but also his authority. St Basil understood better than anyone else at that time the importance of maintaining good diplomatic relations between the Church and the imperial court. The mission entrusted to St Basil by the Emperor referred not only to Armenia Minor, but to the whole Armenian territory, and the respective period of the mission was probably in 373–374.
