Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/345

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. JJ27 the five provinces beyond the Tigris. The miUtary CHAP. 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 negociations amused the patience, of the im- perial court. The death of Constantine was the signal of war''; and the actual condition of the Syrian and Armenian frontier, seemed to encourage the Persians by the jn-ospect 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 re- stored 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 most important fortresses of Mesopotamia'. In Armenia, the renowned Tiridates had long enjoyed the peace and glory which he deserved by his valour and fidelity to the cause of Rome. The firm aUiance 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 Ar- menia was attached to the empire by the double ties of policy and of 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 dis- turbed by a discontented faction, which insulted the feeble age of their sovereign, and impatiently expected ^ Sextus Rufus, (c. 26.) who on this occasion is no contemptible autho- rity, affirms, that the Persians sued in vain for peace, and that Constantine was preparing to march against them : yet the superior weight of the testi- mony of Eusebius, obliges us to admit the preliminaries, if not the ratifica- tion, of the treaty. See Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, torn. iv. p. 420. ' Julian, Orat'. i. p. 20.