XVIII. CHAP. difcontented faction, which infulted the feeble age of their fovereign, and impatiently expected the A. D. 342. hour of his death. He died at length after a reign of fifty-fix years, and the fortune of the Armenian monarchy expired with Tiridates. His lawful heir was driven into exile, the Chriftian priests were either murdered or expelled from their churches, the barbarous tribes of Albania were folicited to defcend from their mountains; and two of the most powerful governors, ufurping the enfigns or the powers of royalty, implored the affiftance of Sapor, and opened the gates of their cities to the Perfian garrisons. The Chriftian party, under the guidance of the archbishop of Artaxata, the immediate fucceffor of St. Gregory the Illuminator, had recourse to the piety of Conftantius. After the troubles had continued about three years, Antiochus, one of the officers of the household, executed with fuccefs the Imperial commiffion of restoring Chofroes, the fon of Tiridates, to the throne of his fathers, of diftributing honours and rewards among the faithful fervants of the house of Arfaces, and of proclaiming a general amnesty, which was accepted by the greater part of the rebellious Satraps. But the Romans derived more honour than advantage from this revolution. Chofroes was a prince of a puny ftature, and a pufillanimous Spirit. Unequal to the fatigues of war, averse to the fociety of mankind, he withdrew from his capital to a retired palace, which he built on the banks of the river Eleutherus, and in the centre of a shady grove; where he confumed his vacant hours in the rural fports of hunting and hawking. CHAP: To fecure this inglorious eafe, he fubmitted to XVIII. the conditions of peace which Sapor condefcended to impofe; the payment of an annual tribute, and the restitution of the fertile province of Atropatene, which the courage of Tiridates, and the victorious arms of Galerius, had annexed to the Armenian monarchy ". fian war, A. D. During the long period of the reign of Conftan- The Pertius, the provinces of the east were afflicted by the calamities of the Perfian war. The irregular 337-360. incurfions of the light troops alternately spread terror and devaftation beyond the Tigris, and beyond the Euphrates, from the gates of Ctefiphon to those of Antioch; and this active fervice was performed by the Arabs of the defert, who were divided in their intereft and affections; fome of their independent chiefs being enlisted in the party of Sapor, whilft others had engaged their doubtful fidelity to the emperor ". The more grave and important operations of the war were conducted with equal vigour; and the armies of Rome and Perfia encountered each other in nine bloody fields, in two of which Conftantius himself commanded in perfon ". The event of the day was most commonly adverfe to the Romans, but in Singara. the battle of Singara, their imprudent valour had almost atchieved a fignal and decifive victory. The stationary troops of Singara retired on the approach of Sapor, who passed the Tigris over three bridges, and occupied near the village of Hilleh an advantageous camp, which, by the Battle of A. D. 348. CHAP. labour of his numerous pioneers, he furrounded in one day with a deep ditch, and a lofty rampart. His formidable hoft, when it was drawn out in order of battle, covered the banks of the river, the adjacent heights, and the whole extent of a plain of above twelve miles, which separated the two armies. Both were alike impatient to engage; but the Barbarians, after a slight refiftance, fled in diforder; unable to refift, or defirous to weary, the ftrength of the heavy legions, who, fainting with heat and thirft, purfued them across the plain, and cut in pieces a line of cavalry, clothed in complete armour, which had been posted before the gates of the camp to protect their retreat. Conftantius, who was hurried along in the pursuit, attempted, without effect, to reftrain the ardour of his troops, by reprefenting to them the dangers of the approaching night, and the certainty of completing their fuccefs with the return of day. As they depended much more on their own valour, than on the experience or the abilities of their chief, they filenced by their clamours his timid lemonftrances; and rushing with fury to the charge, filled up the ditch, broke down the rampart, and difper fed themfelves through the tents, to recruit their exhausted strength, and to enjoy the rich harvest of their labours. But the prudent Sapor had watched the moment of victory. His army, of which the greater part, fecurely pofted on the heights, had been fpectators of the action, advanced in filence, and under the shadow of the night; and his Perfian archers, guided by the XVIII. illumination of the camp, poured a shower of CHAP. arrows on a difarmed and licentious crowd. The fincerity of hiftory" declares, that the Romans were vanquished with a dreadful slaughter, and that the flying remnant of the legions was exposed to the most intolerable hardships. Even the tendernefs of panegyric, confeffing that the glory of the emperor was fullied by the difobedience of his foldiers, chufes to draw a veil over the circumftances of this melancholy retreat. Yet one of thofe venal orators, fo jealous of the fame of Conftantius, relates with amazing coolness, an act of fuch incredible cruelty, as, in the judgment of pofterity, muft imprint a far deeper ftain on the honour of the Imperial name. The fon of Sapor, the heir of his crown, had been made a captive in the Perfian camp. The unhappy youth, who might have excited the compaffion of the most favage enemy, was fcourged, tortured, and publicly executed by the inhuman Ro mans 62 Whatever advantages might attend the arms of Siege of Sapor in the field, though nine repeated victories Nilibis. diffufed among the nations the fame of his valour and conduct, he could not hope to fucceed in the execution of his defigns, while the fortified towns of Mefopotamia, and above all, the strong and ancient city of Nifibis, remained in the poffeffion of the Romans. In the fpace of twelve years, Nifibis, which, fince the time of Lucullus, had been deservedly esteemed the bulwark of the east, A. D. 338. fustained three memorable fieges against the power 346. 350. CHAP. XVIII. 63 64 of Sapor; and the disappointed monarch after urging his attacks above fixty, eighty, and an hundred days, was thrice repulsed with loss and ignominy This large and populous city was fituate about two days journey from the Tigris, in the midst of a pleasant and fertile plain at the foot of mount Mafius. A treble inclosure of brick walls was defended by a deep ditch ** ; and the intrepid refiftance of Count Lucilianus, and his garrifon, was feconded by the defperate courage of the people. The citizens' of Nifibis were animated by the exhortations of their bishop", inured to arms by the prefence of danger, and convinced of the intentions of Sapor to plant a Perfian colony in their room, and to lead them away into distant and barbarous captivity. The event of the two former fieges elated their confidence; and exasperated the haughty fpirit of the Great King, who advanced a third time towards Nifibis, at the head of the united forces of Perfia and India. The ordinary machines, invented to batter or undermine the walls, were rendered ineffectual by the fuperior skill of the Romans; and many days had vainly elapfed, when Sapor embraced a refolution worthy of an eastern monarch, who believed that the elements themselves were fubject to his power. At the stated season of the melting of the fnows in Armenia, the river Mygdonius, which divides the plain and the city of Nifibis, forms, like the Nile", an inundation over the adjacent country. By the labour of the Perfians, the course of the river was stopped below the town, and the waters |