Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/392

 374 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, who, after this splendid success, received the name of XIX. __^_!_ Sarmaticus from the acclamations of his victorious army **. The Persian While the Roman emperor and the Persian mon- A.^D?358." arch, at the distance of three thousand miles, defended their extreme limits against the barbarians of the Dan- ube and of the Oxus, their intermediate frontier expe- rienced the vicissitudes of a languid war, and a preca- rious truce. Two of the eastern ministers of Constan- tius, the pretorian prefect Musonian, whose abilities were disgraced by the want of truth and integrity, and Cassian duke of Mesopotamia, a hardy and veteran soldier, opened a secret negociation with the satrap Tamsapor*^. These overtures of peace, translated into the servile and flattering language of Asia, were trans- mitted to the camp of the great king; who resolved to signify, by an ambassador, the terms which he was inclined to grant to the suppliant Romans. Narses, whom he invested with that character, was honourably received in his passage through Antioch and Constan- tinople : he reached Sirmium after a long journey, and, at his first audience, respectfully unfolded the silken veil which covered the haughty epistle of his sovereign. Sapor, king of kings, and. brother of the sun and moon, (such were the lofty titles affected by oriental vanity,) expressed his satisfaction that his brother, Constantius Caesar, had been taught wisdom by adversity. As the lawful successor of Darius Hystaspes, Sapor asserted, that the river Strymon in Macedonia was the true and ancient boundary of his empire ; declaring, however, that, as an evidence of his moderation, he would con- tent himself with the provinces of Armenia and Meso- ' potamia, which had been fraudulently extorted from his ancestors. He alleged, that, without the restitution of these disputed countries, it was impossible to estab- lish any treaty on a solid and permanent basis; and he relius Victor. In a pompous oration pronounced by Constantius himself, he expatiates on his own exploits with much vanity, and some truth. '^ Ammian. xvi. 9.
 * > Genti Sarmatarum magno dfecori considens apud eos regem dedit. Au-