Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/74

 54 THE DECLINE AND FALL of regaining the affection of their countrymen and of signalizing their immortal hatred to the Persian name. Since the conver- sion of the Armenians and Iberians, those nations considered the Christians as the favourites, and the Magians as the adver- saries, of the Supreme Being ; the influence of the clergy over a superstitious people was uniformly exerted in the cause of Rome ; and, as long as the successors of Constantine disputed with those of Artaxerxes the sovereignty of the intermediate provinces, the religious connexion always threw a decisive ad- vantage iiito the scale of the empire. A numerous and active iPap] party acknowledged Para, the son of Tiranus, as the lawful sovereign of Armenia ; and his title to the throne was deeply rooted in the liereditary succession of five hundred years. By the unanimous consent of the Iberians, the country was equally divided between the rival princes ; and Aspacuras, who owed his diadem to the choice of Sapor, was obliged to declare that his regard for his children, who were detained as hostages by the tyrant, was the only consideration which prevented him from openly renouncing the alliance of Persia. The emperor Valens, who respected the obligations of the treaty, and who was apprehensive of involving the East in a dangerous war, ven- tured, with slow and cautious measures, to sup])ort the Roman party in the kingdoms of Iberia and Armenia. Twelve legions [AD. 3T2] established the authority of Sauromaces on the banks of the Cyrus. The Euphrates was protected by the valour of Arin- theus. A powerful army, under the command of Count Trajan, and of Vadomair, king of the Alemanni, fixed their camp on the confines of 7.rmenia. But they were strictly enjoined not to commit the first hostilities, which might be understood as a breach of the treaty : and such was the implicit obedience of the Roman general that they retreated, with exemplar}- patience, under a shower of Persian arrows, till they had clearly acquired [AD. 373. a just title to an honourable and legitimate victory-. Yet these vagabanta] appearances of war insensibly subsided in a vain and tedious negotiation. The contending parties supported their claims by mutual rejn-oaches of perfidy and ambition ; and it should seem that the original treaty was expressed in very obscure terms, since they were reduced to the necessity of making their incon- clusive appeal to the partial testimony of the generals of the two nations who had assisted at the negotiations.^^^ The in- i'*i Ammianus (x.vii. 12, xxix. i, xxx. i, 2) has described the events, without the dates, of the Persian war. Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. 1. iii. c. 28, p. 261, c. 31, p. 266, c. 35, p. 271) affords some additional facts; but it is extreroely difficult to separate truth from fable.