<p><SPAN name="link182HCH0003" id="link182HCH0003"></SPAN></p>
<h2> Chapter XVIII: Character Of Constantine And His Sons.—Part III. </h2>
<p>The voice of the dying emperor had recommended the care of his funeral to
the piety of Constantius; and that prince, by the vicinity of his eastern
station, could easily prevent the diligence of his brothers, who resided
in their distant government of Italy and Gaul. As soon as he had taken
possession of the palace of Constantinople, his first care was to remove
the apprehensions of his kinsmen, by a solemn oath which he pledged for
their security. His next employment was to find some specious pretence
which might release his conscience from the obligation of an imprudent
promise. The arts of fraud were made subservient to the designs of
cruelty; and a manifest forgery was attested by a person of the most
sacred character. From the hands of the Bishop of Nicomedia, Constantius
received a fatal scroll, affirmed to be the genuine testament of his
father; in which the emperor expressed his suspicions that he had been
poisoned by his brothers; and conjured his sons to revenge his death, and
to consult their own safety, by the punishment of the guilty. <SPAN href="#link18note-50" name="link18noteref-50" id="link18noteref-50">50</SPAN>
Whatever reasons might have been alleged by these unfortunate princes to
defend their life and honor against so incredible an accusation, they were
silenced by the furious clamors of the soldiers, who declared themselves,
at once, their enemies, their judges, and their executioners. The spirit,
and even the forms of legal proceedings were repeatedly violated in a
promiscuous massacre; which involved the two uncles of Constantius, seven
of his cousins, of whom Dalmatius and Hannibalianus were the most
illustrious, the Patrician Optatus, who had married a sister of the late
emperor, and the Praefect Ablavius, whose power and riches had inspired
him with some hopes of obtaining the purple. If it were necessary to
aggravate the horrors of this bloody scene, we might add, that Constantius
himself had espoused the daughter of his uncle Julius, and that he had
bestowed his sister in marriage on his cousin Hannibalianus. These
alliances, which the policy of Constantine, regardless of the public
prejudice, <SPAN href="#link18note-51" name="link18noteref-51" id="link18noteref-51">51</SPAN> had formed between the several branches of
the Imperial house, served only to convince mankind, that these princes
were as cold to the endearments of conjugal affection, as they were
insensible to the ties of consanguinity, and the moving entreaties of
youth and innocence. Of so numerous a family, Gallus and Julian alone, the
two youngest children of Julius Constantius, were saved from the hands of
the assassins, till their rage, satiated with slaughter, had in some
measure subsided. The emperor Constantius, who, in the absence of his
brothers, was the most obnoxious to guilt and reproach, discovered, on
some future occasions, a faint and transient remorse for those cruelties
which the perfidious counsels of his ministers, and the irresistible
violence of the troops, had extorted from his unexperienced youth. <SPAN href="#link18note-52" name="link18noteref-52" id="link18noteref-52">52</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-50" id="link18note-50">
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<p class="foot">
50 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-50">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ I have related this
singular anecdote on the authority of Philostorgius, l. ii. c. 16. But if
such a pretext was ever used by Constantius and his adherents, it was laid
aside with contempt, as soon as it served their immediate purpose.
Athanasius (tom. i. p. 856) mention the oath which Constantius had taken
for the security of his kinsmen. ——The authority of
Philostorgius is so suspicious, as not to be sufficient to establish this
fact, which Gibbon has inserted in his history as certain, while in the
note he appears to doubt it.—G.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-51" id="link18note-51">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
51 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-51">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Conjugia sobrinarum diu
ignorata, tempore addito percrebuisse. Tacit. Annal. xii. 6, and Lipsius
ad loc. The repeal of the ancient law, and the practice of five hundred
years, were insufficient to eradicate the prejudices of the Romans, who
still considered the marriages of cousins-german as a species of imperfect
incest. (Augustin de Civitate Dei, xv. 6;) and Julian, whose mind was
biased by superstition and resentment, stigmatizes these unnatural
alliances between his own cousins with the opprobrious epithet (Orat. vii.
p. 228.). The jurisprudence of the canons has since received and enforced
this prohibition, without being able to introduce it either into the civil
or the common law of Europe. See on the subject of these marriages,
Taylor's Civil Law, p. 331. Brouer de Jure Connub. l. ii. c. 12. Hericourt
des Loix Ecclesiastiques, part iii. c. 5. Fleury, Institutions du Droit
Canonique, tom. i. p. 331. Paris, 1767, and Fra Paolo, Istoria del
Concilio Trident, l. viii.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-52" id="link18note-52">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
52 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-52">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Julian (ad S. P.. Q.
Athen. p. 270) charges his cousin Constantius with the whole guilt of a
massacre, from which he himself so narrowly escaped. His assertion is
confirmed by Athanasius, who, for reasons of a very different nature, was
not less an enemy of Constantius, (tom. i. p. 856.) Zosimus joins in the
same accusation. But the three abbreviators, Eutropius and the Victors,
use very qualifying expressions: "sinente potius quam jubente;" "incertum
quo suasore;" "vi militum."]</p>
<p>The massacre of the Flavian race was succeeded by a new division of the
provinces; which was ratified in a personal interview of the three
brothers. Constantine, the eldest of the Caesars, obtained, with a certain
preeminence of rank, the possession of the new capital, which bore his own
name and that of his father. Thrace, and the countries of the East, were
allotted for the patrimony of Constantius; and Constans was acknowledged
as the lawful sovereign of Italy, Africa, and the Western Illyricum. The
armies submitted to their hereditary right; and they condescended, after
some delay, to accept from the Roman senate the title of Augustus. When
they first assumed the reins of government, the eldest of these princes
was twenty-one, the second twenty, and the third only seventeen, years of
age. <SPAN href="#link18note-53" name="link18noteref-53" id="link18noteref-53">53</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-53" id="link18note-53">
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<p class="foot">
53 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-53">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Euseb. in Vit.
Constantin. l. iv. c. 69. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 117. Idat. in Chron. See two
notes of Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 1086-1091. The reign
of the eldest brother at Constantinople is noticed only in the Alexandrian
Chronicle.]</p>
<p>While the martial nations of Europe followed the standards of his
brothers, Constantius, at the head of the effeminate troops of Asia, was
left to sustain the weight of the Persian war. At the decease of
Constantine, the throne of the East was filled by Sapor, son of Hormouz,
or Hormisdas, and grandson of Narses, who, after the victory of Galerius,
had humbly confessed the superiority of the Roman power. Although Sapor
was in the thirtieth year of his long reign, he was still in the vigor of
youth, as the date of his accession, by a very strange fatality, had
preceded that of his birth. The wife of Hormouz remained pregnant at the
time of her husband's death; and the uncertainty of the sex, as well as of
the event, excited the ambitious hopes of the princes of the house of
Sassan. The apprehensions of civil war were at length removed, by the
positive assurance of the Magi, that the widow of Hormouz had conceived,
and would safely produce a son. Obedient to the voice of superstition, the
Persians prepared, without delay, the ceremony of his coronation.</p>
<p>A royal bed, on which the queen lay in state, was exhibited in the midst
of the palace; the diadem was placed on the spot, which might be supposed
to conceal the future heir of Artaxerxes, and the prostrate satraps adored
the majesty of their invisible and insensible sovereign. <SPAN href="#link18note-54" name="link18noteref-54" id="link18noteref-54">54</SPAN>
If any credit can be given to this marvellous tale, which seems, however,
to be countenanced by the manners of the people, and by the extraordinary
duration of his reign, we must admire not only the fortune, but the
genius, of Sapor. In the soft, sequestered education of a Persian harem,
the royal youth could discover the importance of exercising the vigor of
his mind and body; and, by his personal merit, deserved a throne, on which
he had been seated, while he was yet unconscious of the duties and
temptations of absolute power. His minority was exposed to the almost
inevitable calamities of domestic discord; his capital was surprised and
plundered by Thair, a powerful king of Yemen, or Arabia; and the majesty
of the royal family was degraded by the captivity of a princess, the
sister of the deceased king. But as soon as Sapor attained the age of
manhood, the presumptuous Thair, his nation, and his country, fell beneath
the first effort of the young warrior; who used his victory with so
judicious a mixture of rigor and clemency, that he obtained from the fears
and gratitude of the Arabs the title of Dhoulacnaf, or protector of the
nation. <SPAN href="#link18note-55" name="link18noteref-55" id="link18noteref-55">55</SPAN> <SPAN href="#link18note-5511"
name="link18noteref-5511" id="link18noteref-5511">5511</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-54" id="link18note-54">
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<p class="foot">
54 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-54">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Agathias, who lived in
the sixth century, is the author of this story, (l. iv. p. 135, edit.
Louvre.) He derived his information from some extracts of the Persian
Chronicles, obtained and translated by the interpreter Sergius, during his
embassy at that country. The coronation of the mother of Sapor is likewise
mentioned by Snikard, (Tarikh. p. 116,) and D'Herbelot (Bibliotheque
Orientale, p. 703.) ——The author of the Zenut-ul-Tarikh
states, that the lady herself affirmed her belief of this from the
extraordinary liveliness of the infant, and its lying on the right side.
Those who are sage on such subjects must determine what right she had to
be positive from these symptoms. Malcolm, Hist. of Persia, i 83.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-55" id="link18note-55">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
55 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-55">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ D'Herbelot,
Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 764.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-5511" id="link18note-5511">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5511 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-5511">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Gibbon, according
to Sir J. Malcolm, has greatly mistaken the derivation of this name; it
means Zoolaktaf, the Lord of the Shoulders, from his directing the
shoulders of his captives to be pierced and then dislocated by a string
passed through them. Eastern authors are agreed with respect to the origin
of this title. Malcolm, i. 84. Gibbon took his derivation from D'Herbelot,
who gives both, the latter on the authority of the Leb. Tarikh.—M.]</p>
<p>The ambition of the Persian, to whom his enemies ascribe the virtues of a
soldier and a statesman, was animated by the desire of revenging the
disgrace of his fathers, and of wresting from the hands of the Romans the
five provinces beyond the Tigris. The military fame of Constantine, and
the real or apparent strength of his government, suspended the attack; and
while the hostile conduct of Sapor provoked the resentment, his artful
negotiations amused the patience of the Imperial court. The death of
Constantine was the signal of war, <SPAN href="#link18note-56"
name="link18noteref-56" id="link18noteref-56">56</SPAN> and the actual
condition of the Syrian and Armenian frontier seemed to encourage the
Persians by the prospect of a rich spoil and an easy conquest. The example
of the massacres of the palace diffused a spirit of licentiousness and
sedition among the troops of the East, who were no longer restrained by
their habits of obedience to a veteran commander. By the prudence of
Constantius, who, from the interview with his brothers in Pannonia,
immediately hastened to the banks of the Euphrates, the legions were
gradually restored to a sense of duty and discipline; but the season of
anarchy had permitted Sapor to form the siege of Nisibis, and to occupy
several of the mo st important fortresses of Mesopotamia. <SPAN href="#link18note-57" name="link18noteref-57" id="link18noteref-57">57</SPAN>
In Armenia, the renowned Tiridates had long enjoyed the peace and glory
which he deserved by his valor and fidelity to the cause of Rome. <SPAN href="#link18note-5711" name="link18noteref-5711" id="link18noteref-5711">5711</SPAN>
The firm alliance which he maintained with Constantine was productive of
spiritual as well as of temporal benefits; by the conversion of Tiridates,
the character of a saint was applied to that of a hero, the Christian
faith was preached and established from the Euphrates to the shores of the
Caspian, and Armenia was attached to the empire by the double ties of
policy and religion. But as many of the Armenian nobles still refused to
abandon the plurality of their gods and of their wives, the public
tranquillity was disturbed by a discontented faction, which insulted the
feeble age of their sovereign, and impatiently expected the hour of his
death. He died at length after a reign of fifty-six years, and the fortune
of the Armenian monarchy expired with Tiridates. His lawful heir was
driven into exile, the Christian priests were either murdered or expelled
from their churches, the barbarous tribes of Albania were solicited to
descend from their mountains; and two of the most powerful governors,
usurping the ensigns or the powers of royalty, implored the assistance of
Sapor, and opened the gates of their cities to the Persian garrisons. The
Christian party, under the guidance of the Archbishop of Artaxata, the
immediate successor of St. Gregory the Illuminator, had recourse to the
piety of Constantius. After the troubles had continued about three years,
Antiochus, one of the officers of the household, executed with success the
Imperial commission of restoring Chosroes, <SPAN href="#link18note-5712"
name="link18noteref-5712" id="link18noteref-5712">5712</SPAN> the son of
Tiridates, to the throne of his fathers, of distributing honors and
rewards among the faithful servants of the house of Arsaces, and of
proclaiming a general amnesty, which was accepted by the greater part of
the rebellious satraps. But the Romans derived more honor than advantage
from this revolution. Chosroes was a prince of a puny stature and a
pusillanimous spirit. Unequal to the fatigues of war, averse to the
society 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 consumed his vacant hours in the rural sports of
hunting and hawking. To secure this inglorious ease, he submitted to the
conditions of peace which Sapor condescended to impose; 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. <SPAN href="#link18note-58"
name="link18noteref-58" id="link18noteref-58">58</SPAN> <SPAN href="#link18note-5811" name="link18noteref-5811" id="link18noteref-5811">5811</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-56" id="link18note-56">
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<p class="foot">
56 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-56">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sextus Rufus, (c. 26,)
who on this occasion is no contemptible authority, affirms, that the
Persians sued in vain for peace, and that Constantine was preparing to
march against them: yet the superior weight of the testimony of Eusebius
obliges us to admit the preliminaries, if not the ratification, of the
treaty. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 420. ——Constantine
had endeavored to allay the fury of the prosecutions, which, at the
instigation of the Magi and the Jews, Sapor had commenced against the
Christians. Euseb Vit. Hist. Theod. i. 25. Sozom. ii. c. 8, 15.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-57" id="link18note-57">
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<p class="foot">
57 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-57">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Julian. Orat. i. p.
20.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-5711" id="link18note-5711">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5711 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-5711">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Tiridates had
sustained a war against Maximin. caused by the hatred of the latter
against Christianity. Armenia was the first nation which embraced
Christianity. About the year 276 it was the religion of the king, the
nobles, and the people of Armenia. From St. Martin, Supplement to Le Beau,
v. i. p. 78.——Compare Preface to History of Vartan by
Professor Neumann, p ix.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-5712" id="link18note-5712">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5712 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-5712">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Chosroes was
restored probably by Licinius, between 314 and 319. There was an Antiochus
who was praefectus vigilum at Rome, as appears from the Theodosian Code,
(l. iii. de inf. his quae sub ty.,) in 326, and from a fragment of the
same work published by M. Amedee Peyron, in 319. He may before this have
been sent into Armenia. St. M. p. 407. [Is it not more probable that
Antiochus was an officer in the service of the Caesar who ruled in the
East?—M.] Chosroes was succeeded in the year 322 by his son Diran.
Diran was a weak prince, and in the sixteenth year of his reign. A. D.
337. was betrayed into the power of the Persians by the treachery of his
chamberlain and the Persian governor of Atropatene or Aderbidjan. He was
blinded: his wife and his son Arsaces shared his captivity, but the
princes and nobles of Armenia claimed the protection of Rome; and this was
the cause of Constantine's declaration of war against the Persians.—The
king of Persia attempted to make himself master of Armenia; but the brave
resistance of the people, the advance of Constantius, and a defeat which
his army suffered at Oskha in Armenia, and the failure before Nisibis,
forced Shahpour to submit to terms of peace. Varaz-Shahpour, the
perfidious governor of Atropatene, was flayed alive; Diran and his son
were released from captivity; Diran refused to ascend the throne, and
retired to an obscure retreat: his son Arsaces was crowned king of
Armenia. Arsaces pursued a vacillating policy between the influence of
Rome and Persia, and the war recommenced in the year 345. At least, that
was the period of the expedition of Constantius to the East. See St.
Martin, additions to Le Beau, i. 442. The Persians have made an
extraordinary romance out of the history of Shahpour, who went as a spy to
Constantinople, was taken, harnessed like a horse, and carried to witness
the devastation of his kingdom. Malcolm. 84—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-58" id="link18note-58">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
58 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-58">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Julian. Orat. i. p. 20,
21. Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 89, l. iii. c. 1—9, p. 226—240.
The perfect agreement between the vague hints of the contemporary orator,
and the circumstantial narrative of the national historian, gives light to
the former, and weight to the latter. For the credit of Moses, it may be
likewise observed, that the name of Antiochus is found a few years before
in a civil office of inferior dignity. See Godefroy, Cod. Theod. tom. vi.
p. 350.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-5811" id="link18note-5811">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5811 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-5811">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Gibbon has
endeavored, in his History, to make use of the information furnished by
Moses of Chorene, the only Armenian historian then translated into Latin.
Gibbon has not perceived all the chronological difficulties which occur in
the narrative of that writer. He has not thought of all the critical
discussions which his text ought to undergo before it can be combined with
the relations of the western writers. From want of this attention, Gibbon
has made the facts which he has drawn from this source more erroneous than
they are in the original. This judgment applies to all which the English
historian has derived from the Armenian author. I have made the History of
Moses a subject of particular attention; and it is with confidence that I
offer the results, which I insert here, and which will appear in the
course of my notes. In order to form a judgment of the difference which
exists between me and Gibbon, I will content myself with remarking, that
throughout he has committed an anachronism of thirty years, from whence it
follows, that he assigns to the reign of Constantius many events which
took place during that of Constantine. He could not, therefore, discern
the true connection which exists between the Roman history and that of
Armenia, or form a correct notion of the reasons which induced
Constantine, at the close of his life, to make war upon the Persians, or
of the motives which detained Constantius so long in the East; he does not
even mention them. St. Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 406. I have inserted M.
St. Martin's observations, but I must add, that the chronology which he
proposes, is not generally received by Armenian scholars, not, I believe,
by Professor Neumann.—M.]</p>
<p>During the long period of the reign of Constantius, the provinces of the
East were afflicted by the calamities of the Persian war. <SPAN href="#link18note-5813" name="link18noteref-5813" id="link18noteref-5813">5813</SPAN>
The irregular incursions of the light troops alternately spread terror and
devastation beyond the Tigris and beyond the Euphrates, from the gates of
Ctesiphon to those of Antioch; and this active service was performed by
the Arabs of the desert, who were divided in their interest and
affections; some of their independent chiefs being enlisted in the party
of Sapor, whilst others had engaged their doubtful fidelity to the
emperor. <SPAN href="#link18note-59" name="link18noteref-59" id="link18noteref-59">59</SPAN> The more grave and important operations of
the war were conducted with equal vigor; and the armies of Rome and Persia
encountered each other in nine bloody fields, in two of which Constantius
himself commanded in person. <SPAN href="#link18note-60"
name="link18noteref-60" id="link18noteref-60">60</SPAN> The event of the day
was most commonly adverse to the Romans, but in the battle of Singara,
their imprudent valor had almost achieved a signal and decisive victory.
The stationary troops of Singara <SPAN href="#link18note-6011"
name="link18noteref-6011" id="link18noteref-6011">6011</SPAN> 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 labor of
his numerous pioneers, he surrounded in one day with a deep ditch and a
lofty rampart. His formidable host, 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 resistance, fled in disorder; unable to resist, or desirous to
weary, the strength of the heavy legions, who, fainting with heat and
thirst, pursued them across the plain, and cut in pieces a line of
cavalry, clothed in complete armor, which had been posted before the gates
of the camp to protect their retreat. Constantius, who was hurried along
in the pursuit, attempted, without effect, to restrain the ardor of his
troops, by representing to them the dangers of the approaching night, and
the certainty of completing their success with the return of day. As they
depended much more on their own valor than on the experience or the
abilities of their chief, they silenced by their clamors his timid
remonstrances; and rushing with fury to the charge, filled up the ditch,
broke down the rampart, and dispersed themselves through the tents to
recruit their exhausted strength, and to enjoy the rich harvest of their
labors. But the prudent Sapor had watched the moment of victory. His army,
of which the greater part, securely posted on the heights, had been
spectators of the action, advanced in silence, and under the shadow of the
night; and his Persian archers, guided by the illumination of the camp,
poured a shower of arrows on a disarmed and licentious crowd. The
sincerity of history <SPAN href="#link18note-61" name="link18noteref-61" id="link18noteref-61">61</SPAN> 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 tenderness of
panegyric, confessing that the glory of the emperor was sullied by the
disobedience of his soldiers, chooses to draw a veil over the
circumstances of this melancholy retreat. Yet one of those venal orators,
so jealous of the fame of Constantius, relates, with amazing coolness, an
act of such incredible cruelty, as, in the judgment of posterity, must
imprint a far deeper stain on the honor of the Imperial name. The son of
Sapor, the heir of his crown, had been made a captive in the Persian camp.
The unhappy youth, who might have excited the compassion of the most
savage enemy, was scourged, tortured, and publicly executed by the inhuman
Romans. <SPAN href="#link18note-62" name="link18noteref-62" id="link18noteref-62">62</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-5813" id="link18note-5813">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
5813 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-5813">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ It was during this
war that a bold flatterer (whose name is unknown) published the
Itineraries of Alexander and Trajan, in order to direct the victorious
Constantius in the footsteps of those great conquerors of the East. The
former of these has been published for the first time by M. Angelo Mai
(Milan, 1817, reprinted at Frankfort, 1818.) It adds so little to our
knowledge of Alexander's campaigns, that it only excites our regret that
it is not the Itinerary of Trajan, of whose eastern victories we have no
distinct record—M]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-59" id="link18note-59">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
59 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-59">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Ammianus (xiv. 4) gives
a lively description of the wandering and predatory life of the Saracens,
who stretched from the confines of Assyria to the cataracts of the Nile.
It appears from the adventures of Malchus, which Jerom has related in so
entertaining a manner, that the high road between Beraea and Edessa was
infested by these robbers. See Hieronym. tom. i. p. 256.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-60" id="link18note-60">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
60 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-60">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ We shall take from
Eutropius the general idea of the war. A Persis enim multa et gravia
perpessus, saepe captis, oppidis, obsessis urbibus, caesis exercitibus,
nullumque ei contra Saporem prosperum praelium fuit, nisi quod apud
Singaram, &c. This honest account is confirmed by the hints of
Ammianus, Rufus, and Jerom. The two first orations of Julian, and the
third oration of Libanius, exhibit a more flattering picture; but the
recantation of both those orators, after the death of Constantius, while
it restores us to the possession of the truth, degrades their own
character, and that of the emperor. The Commentary of Spanheim on the
first oration of Julian is profusely learned. See likewise the judicious
observations of Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 656.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-6011" id="link18note-6011">
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<p class="foot">
6011 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-6011">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Now Sinjar, or the
River Claboras.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-61" id="link18note-61">
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<p class="foot">
61 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-61">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Acerrima nocturna
concertatione pugnatum est, nostrorum copiis ngenti strage confossis.
Ammian. xviii. 5. See likewise Eutropius, x. 10, and S. Rufus, c. 27.
——The Persian historians, or romancers, do not mention the
battle of Singara, but make the captive Shahpour escape, defeat, and take
prisoner, the Roman emperor. The Roman captives were forced to repair all
the ravages they had committed, even to replanting the smallest trees.
Malcolm. i. 82.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-62" id="link18note-62">
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<p class="foot">
62 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-62">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Libanius, Orat. iii. p.
133, with Julian. Orat. i. p. 24, and Spanneism's Commentary, p. 179.]</p>
<p>Whatever advantages might attend the arms of Sapor in the field, though
nine repeated victories diffused among the nations the fame of his valor
and conduct, he could not hope to succeed in the execution of his designs,
while the fortified towns of Mesopotamia, and, above all, the strong and
ancient city of Nisibis, remained in the possession of the Romans. In the
space of twelve years, Nisibis, which, since the time of Lucullus, had
been deservedly esteemed the bulwark of the East, sustained three
memorable sieges against the power of Sapor; and the disappointed monarch,
after urging his attacks above sixty, eighty, and a hundred days, was
thrice repulsed with loss and ignominy. <SPAN href="#link18note-63"
name="link18noteref-63" id="link18noteref-63">63</SPAN> This large and
populous city was situate about two days' journey from the Tigris, in the
midst of a pleasant and fertile plain at the foot of Mount Masius. A
treble enclosure of brick walls was defended by a deep ditch; <SPAN href="#link18note-64" name="link18noteref-64" id="link18noteref-64">64</SPAN>
and the intrepid resistance of Count Lucilianus, and his garrison, was
seconded by the desperate courage of the people. The citizens of Nisibis
were animated by the exhortations of their bishop, <SPAN href="#link18note-65"
name="link18noteref-65" id="link18noteref-65">65</SPAN> inured to arms by the
presence of danger, and convinced of the intentions of Sapor to plant a
Persian colony in their room, and to lead them away into distant and
barbarous captivity. The event of the two former sieges elated their
confidence, and exasperated the haughty spirit of the Great King, who
advanced a third time towards Nisibis, at the head of the united forces of
Persia and India. The ordinary machines, invented to batter or undermine
the walls, were rendered ineffectual by the superior skill of the Romans;
and many days had vainly elapsed, when Sapor embraced a resolution worthy
of an eastern monarch, who believed that the elements themselves were
subject to his power. At the stated season of the melting of the snows in
Armenia, the River Mygdonius, which divides the plain and the city of
Nisibis, forms, like the Nile, <SPAN href="#link18note-66"
name="link18noteref-66" id="link18noteref-66">66</SPAN> an inundation over
the adjacent country. By the labor of the Persians, the course of the
river was stopped below the town, and the waters were confined on every
side by solid mounds of earth. On this artificial lake, a fleet of armed
vessels filled with soldiers, and with engines which discharged stones of
five hundred pounds weight, advanced in order of battle, and engaged,
almost upon a level, the troops which defended the ramparts. <SPAN href="#link18note-6611" name="link18noteref-6611" id="link18noteref-6611">6611</SPAN>
The irresistible force of the waters was alternately fatal to the
contending parties, till at length a portion of the walls, unable to
sustain the accumulated pressure, gave way at once, and exposed an ample
breach of one hundred and fifty feet. The Persians were instantly driven
to the assault, and the fate of Nisibis depended on the event of the day.
The heavy-armed cavalry, who led the van of a deep column, were
embarrassed in the mud, and great numbers were drowned in the unseen holes
which had been filled by the rushing waters. The elephants, made furious
by their wounds, increased the disorder, and trampled down thousands of
the Persian archers. The Great King, who, from an exalted throne, beheld
the misfortunes of his arms, sounded, with reluctant indignation, the
signal of the retreat, and suspended for some hours the prosecution of the
attack. But the vigilant citizens improved the opportunity of the night;
and the return of day discovered a new wall of six feet in height, rising
every moment to fill up the interval of the breach. Notwithstanding the
disappointment of his hopes, and the loss of more than twenty thousand
men, Sapor still pressed the reduction of Nisibis, with an obstinate
firmness, which could have yielded only to the necessity of defending the
eastern provinces of Persia against a formidable invasion of the
Massagetae. <SPAN href="#link18note-67" name="link18noteref-67" id="link18noteref-67">67</SPAN> Alarmed by this intelligence, he hastily
relinquished the siege, and marched with rapid diligence from the banks of
the Tigris to those of the Oxus. The danger and difficulties of the
Scythian war engaged him soon afterwards to conclude, or at least to
observe, a truce with the Roman emperor, which was equally grateful to
both princes; as Constantius himself, after the death of his two brothers,
was involved, by the revolutions of the West, in a civil contest, which
required and seemed to exceed the most vigorous exertion of his undivided
strength.</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-63" id="link18note-63">
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<p class="foot">
63 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-63">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ See Julian. Orat. i. p.
27, Orat. ii. p. 62, &c., with the Commentary of Spanheim, (p.
188-202,) who illustrates the circumstances, and ascertains the time of
the three sieges of Nisibis. Their dates are likewise examined by
Tillemont, (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 668, 671, 674.) Something is
added from Zosimus, l. iii. p. 151, and the Alexandrine Chronicle, p.
290.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-64" id="link18note-64">
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<p class="foot">
64 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-64">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Sallust. Fragment.
lxxxiv. edit. Brosses, and Plutarch in Lucull. tom. iii. p. 184. Nisibis
is now reduced to one hundred and fifty houses: the marshy lands produce
rice, and the fertile meadows, as far as Mosul and the Tigris, are covered
with the ruins of towns and allages. See Niebuhr, Voyages, tom. ii. p.
300-309.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-65" id="link18note-65">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
65 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-65">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The miracles which
Theodoret (l. ii. c. 30) ascribes to St. James, Bishop of Edessa, were at
least performed in a worthy cause, the defence of his couutry. He appeared
on the walls under the figure of the Roman emperor, and sent an army of
gnats to sting the trunks of the elephants, and to discomfit the host of
the new Sennacherib.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-66" id="link18note-66">
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<p class="foot">
66 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-66">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Julian. Orat. i. p. 27.
Though Niebuhr (tom. ii. p. 307) allows a very considerable swell to the
Mygdonius, over which he saw a bridge of twelve arches: it is difficult,
however, to understand this parallel of a trifling rivulet with a mighty
river. There are many circumstances obscure, and almost unintelligible, in
the description of these stupendous water-works.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-6611" id="link18note-6611">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
6611 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-6611">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ Macdonald Kinnier
observes on these floating batteries, "As the elevation of place is
considerably above the level of the country in its immediate vicinity, and
the Mygdonius is a very insignificant stream, it is difficult to imagine
how this work could have been accomplished, even with the wonderful
resources which the king must have had at his disposal" Geographical
Memoir. p. 262.—M.]</p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-67" id="link18note-67">
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<p class="foot">
67 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-67">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ We are obliged to
Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xiii. p. 11) for this invasion of the Massagetae,
which is perfectly consistent with the general series of events to which
we are darkly led by the broken history of Ammianus.]</p>
<p>After the partition of the empire, three years had scarcely elapsed before
the sons of Constantine seemed impatient to convince mankind that they
were incapable of contenting themselves with the dominions which they were
unqualified to govern. The eldest of those princes soon complained, that
he was defrauded of his just proportion of the spoils of their murdered
kinsmen; and though he might yield to the superior guilt and merit of
Constantius, he exacted from Constans the cession of the African
provinces, as an equivalent for the rich countries of Macedonia and
Greece, which his brother had acquired by the death of Dalmatius. The want
of sincerity, which Constantine experienced in a tedious and fruitless
negotiation, exasperated the fierceness of his temper; and he eagerly
listened to those favorites, who suggested to him that his honor, as well
as his interest, was concerned in the prosecution of the quarrel. At the
head of a tumultuary band, suited for rapine rather than for conquest, he
suddenly broke onto the dominions of Constans, by the way of the Julian
Alps, and the country round Aquileia felt the first effects of his
resentment. The measures of Constans, who then resided in Dacia, were
directed with more prudence and ability. On the news of his brother's
invasion, he detached a select and disciplined body of his Illyrian
troops, proposing to follow them in person, with the remainder of his
forces. But the conduct of his lieutenants soon terminated the unnatural
contest.</p>
<p>By the artful appearances of flight, Constantine was betrayed into an
ambuscade, which had been concealed in a wood, where the rash youth, with
a few attendants, was surprised, surrounded, and slain. His body, after it
had been found in the obscure stream of the Alsa, obtained the honors of
an Imperial sepulchre; but his provinces transferred their allegiance to
the conqueror, who, refusing to admit his elder brother Constantius to any
share in these new acquisitions, maintained the undisputed possession of
more than two thirds of the Roman empire. <SPAN href="#link18note-68"
name="link18noteref-68" id="link18noteref-68">68</SPAN></p>
<p><SPAN name="link18note-68" id="link18note-68">
<!-- Note --></SPAN></p>
<p class="foot">
68 (<SPAN href="#link18noteref-68">return</SPAN>)<br/> [ The causes and the
events of this civil war are related with much perplexity and
contradiction. I have chiefly followed Zonaras and the younger Victor. The
monody (ad Calcem Eutrop. edit. Havercamp.) pronounced on the death of
Constantine, might have been very instructive; but prudence and false
taste engaged the orator to involve himself in vague declamation.]</p>
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