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 328 THE DECLINE AND FALL C II A P. the hour of his death. He died at lengtli after a reign ' of fifty-six years, and the fortune of the Armenian mon- A.D. 342. archy expired with Tiridates. His lawful heir was driven into exile, the christian priests were either murdered or expelled from their churches, the barbar- ous tribes of Albania were solicited to descend from ■ their mountains; and two of the most powerful govern- ors, usurping the ensigns or the powers of royalty, im- plored 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 Ar- taxata, 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, exe- cuted with success the imperial commission of restoring Ohosroes, the son of Tiridates, to the throne of his fathers, of distributing honours and rewards among the faithful servants of the house of Arsaces, and of proclaim- ing a general amnesty, which was accepted by the greater part of the rebellious satraps. But the Ro- mans derived more honour than advantage from this re- volution. 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 ha^vking. 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 pro- vince of Atropatene, which the courage of Tiridates, and the victorious arms of Galerius, had annexed to the Armenian monarchy ". ™ Julian, Orat. i. p. 20, 21 ; Moses of Chorene, 1. ii. c. 89. 1. iii. c. 1—9. p. 226 — 240. The perfect agreement between the vague hints of the con- temporary orator, and the circumstantial narrative of the national historian, gives light to the former, and weight to the latter. For the credit of Moses