Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/395

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 377 tribes from the shores of the Caspian. The satraps CHAP and crenerals were distributed according to their several ranks, and the whole army, besides the nvunerous train of oriental luxury, consisted of more than one hundred thousand effective men, inured to ftitigue, and selected from the bravest nations of Asia. The Roman de- serter, who in some measure guided the councils of Sapor, had prudently advised, that, instead of wasting the summer in tedious and difficult sieges, he should march directly to the Euphrates, and press forwards without delay to seize the feeble and wealthy metro- polis of Syria. But the Persians were no sooner ad- vanced into the plains of Mesopotamia, than they dis- covered that every precaution had been used which could retard their progress, or defeat their design. The inhabitants, with their cattle, were secured in places of strength ; the green forage throughout the country was set on fire; the fords of the river were for- tified by sharp stakes ; military engines were planted on the opposite banks, and a seasonable swell of the waters of the Euphrates deterred the barbarians from attempting the ordinary passage of the bridge of Thap- sacus. Their skilful guide, changing his plan of oper- ations, then conducted the army by a longer circuit, but through a fertile territory, towards the head of the Euphrates, where the infant river is reduced to a shal- low and accessible stream. Sapor overlooked, with prudent disdain, the sti'ength of Nisibis ; but as he passed under the walls of Amida, he resolved to try whether the majesty of his presence would not awe the garrison into immediate submission. The sacrilegious insult of a random dart, which glanced against the royal tiara, convinced him of his error ; and the indig- nant monarch listened with impatience to the advice of his ministers, who conjured him not to sacrifice the success of his ambition to the gratification of his re- sentment. The following day Grumbates advanced towards the gates with a select body of troops, and re- quired the instant surrender of the city, as the only